Niels Rasmussen's picture of The Summit of Sallows

A frosty shot of a Lakeland summit has scooped top prize in a competition run by devotees of the late author Alfred Wainwright.

Professional photographer Derry Brabbs judged Niels Rasmussen’s The Summit of Sallows top image in the themed ‘Upon Reaching the Summit’ class of the 2015 photographic contest run by the Wainwright Society.

Dabbs, who collaborated with Wainwright to provide the pictures in the author’s coffee-table books, also picked Ed Hamblett’s shot of Derwent Water as winner in the open class.

Derry Brabbs said of Hamblett’s entry: “This is a very strong composition laden with atmosphere.

“The strong silhouette of the gate and fence leading down into the heart of the image take the viewer’s eye up to the line of fells on the horizon. The clouds are very strong and their reflections on the water combine to make a strikingly graphic image.”

But Rasmussen’s picture of the summit of the 615m (1,693ft) fell above Kentmere was chosen as best in the competition.

Brabbs said: “I had the unenviable task of choosing which of the two class winners should be awarded the accolade of ‘best in show’.

Ed Hamblett's shot of Derwent Water won the open category

“Both images were outstanding but in the end I had no qualms about selecting The Summit of Sallows as it readily passed the ‘which picture would I never tire of looking at on my wall test’ and so my congratulations to the frostbitten photographer who braved the harsh elements to capture that stunning image.”