THE winners of the Vale of Evesham Camera Club National Photographic Exhibition 2008 were selected by judges at Wickhamford Village Hall on Saturday (8).

Entries were divided into four categories of colour, creative, monochrome and natural history and judges spent over seven hours choosing the winners from 2,426 entries, an increase of 23 per cent on last year.

The gold medal winners for best image in each category were Colour - Simple Diet' by Christine Widdal from Saddleworth, Oldham; Creative - Flying high' by Matt Johnston from Houston, Scotland; Monochrome - Let Us Pray' by Graham Heywood from Nottingham; Natural History - Potato Grouper and Snappers' by Len Deeley from Wormley, Surrey.

Club chairman John Kellet said: "We would like to thank our four distinguished PAGB accredited selectors Russell and Barbie Lindsay, Tony Wharton and Irene Froy. Their efforts, supported by the camera club team, has created another quality exhibition."

Now in its sixth year, the original Evesham Camera Club exhibition was the first totally digital format exhibition in the UK. It hosts accepted entries on the internet, and to-date it is still the largest national digital entry photo exhibition in the country.

The club has also started a project in association with the Vale of Evesham Historical Society to create an archive of images showing how the area has changed over time and those areas likely to change in the near future, such as Evesham's old indoor market, with the finished archive displayed in The Almonry.

The full gallery of this year's exhibition images can be seen at www.photo2008.net.