Photographer scoops national award for toad shot

A wildlife photographer has scooped a prestigious award for his image of a toad taken in a pond near his home.

Paul Hobson, from Sheffield, said "to say I was chuffed is putting it mildly" when he discovered he'd placed first at the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2026.

The striking black and white image, shot from below the surface of the water, shows the amphibian swimming across the woodland pond in the Rivelin Valley.

"It's a bit of a surprise – when you enter a competition, you always hope to do well but you never really think you're going to win it," he explained.

Hobson, 67, who started taking pictures more than 40 years ago, said it wasn't an easy shot to capture, requiring patience and a homemade waterproofing technique.

He knew the pond was used by toads for breeding.

To try and capture an image looking up from the bottom of the pond, he built a glass box to put his camera in, setting up the lens and focus beforehand.

"The main problem is a glass box full of air doesn't want to sink," he said.

"I had to mess about with bits of lead and stone to make sure it would sink, and sit neatly on the bottom of the pond."

Tripod legs and a spirit level were then glued to the box to keep it level, before it was sunk below the surface, and the camera was triggered by Hobson using a long cable release.

However, it took "hundreds of photos" before he got his award-winning shot, he added as well as "sitting there and waiting" for a toad to line itself up perfectly.

His "abiding message" to aspiring photographers is to work at one subject for one time, so that alongside "bread and butter shots", they can explore their creativity.

"Most often the toads are swimming beneath the surface of the water and often sit on the top of the glass box, so you'd have to wait until they moved off," he said.

"But every now and then a toad would swim across the surface and it creates ripples, and that's the thing I like about the image.

"If you look at its back feet, you can see these beautiful ripples."

Former environmental science lecturer Hobson's photography has taken him all over the globe, but the Sheffield area is a particular favourite for capturing wildlife, he explained.

The variety of landscapes and nature within the city boundary makes it a perfect location to perfect his craft, and "a vibrant place to live", he added.

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