Trevor Douglas won a bronze award in the amateur landscape category of the 2017 Epson International Pano Awards, for his aerial photo of the Moeraki boulders.
The recently retired plastics fabricator was one of 2380 entrants from 71 countries in the category and he was delighted with his placing in the competition.
``It's amazing. Quite incredible. I was very surprised to win the award because I'm just an amateur photographer up against professionals.''
Inspiration for the prize-winning photo came after he bought himself a drone to which he mounted his Ricoh camera.
Ever since, he has been looking for eagle-eye views to photograph.
``It gives me a lot more scope for different angles.
``The only problem is the rules for drone use are very strict. A lot of people have been doing silly things with them.
``The most difficult part with places like Moeraki is dealing with the crowds. You're not allowed to fly them above people. So I had to do it early in the morning before tourists started arriving.''
Mr Douglas had used the drone in places like Loganburn Dam where he took photos of the old trolley bus there.
He hoped the bronze award would be the start of a spool of award-winning drone photos.
