iPhone snaps winning photo

A close-up shot taken on a smartphone of a bee hovering by a foxglove has won a photographic competition celebrating the role green spaces play in people’s lives.

The picture was taken by Laura Elliot from Co Fermanagh, in her parents’ garden, and won her the overall prize out of more than 5,700 entries to Britain’s National Trust competition.

She also scooped the smartphone section top spot, using an iPhone 4 and the instagram app to take her winning image.

“I was shocked to find out I’d won. I’m studying dentistry at university and photography is just my hobby,” Ms Elliot said.

“It was late in the afternoon so there was just enough light to capture the shot. I feel this photo represents my space, reflects my love for nature, photography, and captures the spirit of the competition.”

The trust asked people to capture the spirit of founder Octavia Hill, a British social reformer who believed in the importance of spending time outside.

The 10 years and under category was won by nine-year-old James Ashton, from Doncaster, who took a ground-level picture of ducks feeding in a Nottinghamshire park.

Tilly Rose Bellinger, 16, from Wiltshire, won the 11 to 16-year-old category with an atmospheric black and white shot of the Jurassic coast in Dorset.

Eleanor Bennett, from Cheshire, won the over-16s category for her picture capturing silhouetted walkers through trees in local Lyme Park.

The top images were chosen by a panel of experts including top photographers.

Photographer judge Joe Cornish said: “Laura’s image is stunning, The colours sing and the composition is striking. This is a photo that you want to blow up and hang on your wall.”

The winners receive a day’s tuition with photographer and judge Charlie Waite, while Ms Elliot also receives one of his prints and two nights’ accommodation in a National Trust holiday cottage.