With more than 1500 entries for the Perth Royal Show’s 34th National Photography Competition this year Lesmurdie resident Sam Markham was awarded first prize in the youth category for his photograph Arabian Luminosity.
Mr Markham has been interested in photography since his stepfather introduced him to it when he was in year seven.
Since then he has been pursuing it as a hobby and refers to himself as a self-taught photographer.
“Neither of us knew a lot about it so it was a lot of self-research then coming together to share what we’d learnt,” he said.
“It was a good experience for us to share and bond over.”
Mr Markham said his interest had mainly been in long exposure, light painting, light trails and star trails photography.
He said his photograph Arabian Luminosity was also awarded the Best Youth Print and People’s Choice Award at the 2019 Perth Royal Show.
“I was pretty surprised, I received an email saying that I was invited to the awards evening,” he said.
“I thought maybe I might receive a merit but I was really surprised I actually got an award, let alone first place.
“That was pretty exciting to see when I walked in and saw my photo with a big first place ribbon, that was definitely good to see.”
Mr Markham has excelled in the creative arts but his focus recently has turned to photography, which he hopes to pursue in the future.
Sam