Stanbury man Joe White is snap happy.

He is the proud winner of the Keighley News photographic competition, beating competition from more than 80 excellent entries.

Judges – who were overwhelmed by the quality of the photos – managed to eventually whittle down the superb submissions to ten top of the shots finalists.

And readers were then invited to vote for their favourite.

Mr White said he was delighted to win the contest, which was organised in conjunction with Keighley’s Airedale Shopping Centre and Max Spielmann.

His successful photo is of a rustic footpath sign pointing to Bronte country on moorland close to his home.

“It’s on the route of a walk I do between my house and Top Withens,” said Joe, 26, a buyer for Morrisons in Bradford.

“I was just trying to capture the image from a different perspective.

“I’m delighted to win the competition. I’ve done a lot of trekking all over the world, and some of my travel photos have been chosen for use online, but I’ve never won a specific photo contest.”

Keighley News editor, Richard Parker, said: “Congratulations to Joe – his fantastic photo really is a worthy winner.

“Both myself and fellow competition judge, Airedale Shopping Centre manager Steve Seymour, were hugely impressed with this atmospheric image when we first saw it. It was one of a handful of top quality entries that made it straight into our top ten selection.

“It’s an iconic image that perfectly portrays the beautiful corner of the world we live and work in.

“Joe really has got an eye for a great photo, and I truly hope this is the start of big things for him if he ever decides to pursue photography as a career.”

Joe’s interest in photography has snowballed during the past couple of years, and he has a particular passion for landscape shots.

For the more technically minded, his winning photo was taken using a Nikon D300, with a 10-20mm wide angle lens.

His prize is a state-of-the-art Nikon D3100 15-55 VR digital camera, worth £350, a camera bag and two 16GB memory cards.

His picture will also be scanned onto a giant canvas by the Airedale Shopping Centre’s Max Spielmann outlet.

And he has been offered an opportunity to snap up free temporary use of a purpose-built studio in the Keighley shopping centre to try to sell some of his imaginative images.

Runners-up in the competition were Darren Smith, of Greengates, with a shot of the River Worth, and David Smith, of Keighley, with a winter’s evening photo of Town Hall Square. They will each receive a £100 canvas of their entry from Max Spielmann.

Mr Parker added: “I can’t thank everyone who entered enough for backing this competition to help celebrate the launch of the Keighley News in full colour.

“Such was the level of interest, I hope we can make this an annual competition.”