Wonderful image of Northern Lights in Lapland gets the votes.

If there's one lesson to be learned from Max Pickering's winning picture, it is that persistence pays off. The picture was taken by Max earlier this year, while on holiday in Lapland - his seventh visit to within the Arctic Circle.

"I go primarily for the photography," says Max, of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. "It's pretty much become an annual holiday because of the aurora, which is at its best around the spring and autumn equinox."

The winning picture was taken on the last night of his week-long visit and owes much to his careful planning.
"In the evening at about 9pm I'd go out to a location and set up the cameras and plant myself there for several hours, just trying to stay warm."
Temperatures at the time were averaging -25C, he says.
With light levels so low, long exposures of 20-30 seconds were required for each shot. But so as not to miss a shot if one camera was in the middle of an exposure, Max took three cameras - all digital SLRs (single lens reflexes) - which snapped in rotation.

Max's mantra
The winning image was taken with a specialist ultra-wide angle lens (an expensive piece of equipment) to capture that broad sweep of sky.

So what are his tips for anyone who might hope to take a picture to rival this winning image? Some pricey kit, perhaps?
"For me photography is 75% anticipation. I'm always looking for a shot that's about to happen, but staying open minded enough to switch at the last minute. You don't need expensive equipment to take good pictures. It's in the eye," says Max, who, since taking the picture, has gone professional.

"This picture is a good example - getting everything ready to be in the right place, at the right time; setting stuff up so you can operate it with boxing gloves on and then just being ready to get the shot."

Did he use any post production to boost the colour?
"Absolutely not. The aurora is amazing. I took it to be printed up and they said they couldn't - the printer couldn't render that amount of green."

To see the winning image click here.

To visit Lapland to take your own images and experience the Northern Lights click here.