I really like Brecon in Winter – the contrast in light and color as you move through the image, the sense of autumn gradually turning to winter. For me, it epitomizes the beauty of the South Wales landscape where I grew up. But I also had other images that didn’t get shortlisted, so I guess you’ve got to just roll the dice and hope the judges are on your side.
For any competition, it helps to look at successful images from previous years – not to copy them, but to get a feel for the style of photography that has been successful. One thing I like about the UK Landscape Photographer of the Year is that it tends to favor what I would describe as an authentic style of landscape photography, in contrast to some of the more heavily processed images that you increasingly see nowadays.