An award-winning British photo journalist yesterday praised the quality of photography displayed by students and amateur photographers of the UAE, calling it unique.

Roger Payling, who has been commissioned by some of the best blue chip companies in the UK to carry out assignments for them, spoke to Gulf News while choosing the most creative photographs among 500 entries in the Nikon Photographic Competition.

Payling said he was amazed by the quality of work submitted by the students and amateurs. "These photographs are very encouraging indeed. Their cropping is very good. Several of them have a very good eye."

Abdulla Ghazi Khoory's Door was named the best in the student category while Maxwell Starr's Harmony was second and Salama Al Mansouri's Merrah was third. In the digital category, Firas Abouzeid won first prize with The Pump while Nada Abdalla's Untitled 6 got the second prize and Wael Hamadeh's Down to Earth won the third prize.

The photographs will be on display at the Dubai International Arts Centre, Jumeirah, from today till April 4. Payling, who was flown in by Air Malta, said today a photographer can create wonders on images with the help of graphics. "But at the same time, it can limit his abilities in becoming creative.

"What a photographer needs is a fresh eye and a fair understanding of light and composition. When you have a creative mind, fresh eye and a good knowledge of light and object, then the camera as an instrument becomes irrelevant, what make, brand or model. "A very good camera is not crucial to get the best image. The man behind the camera is what matters most."

Payling said a good photographer needs to have patience. "Sometimes one needs to wait the entire day to get the right kind of environment . It is very important. Film is cheap, time is not." "Many people can operate a camera, but few can take good pictures. That's where professional photography becomes important and we make a living."

Payling, who studied photography at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art, graduated with distinction and began his career as a professional photographer in 1975. He has been commissioned by Sony, Benson and Hedges and National Westminster Bank among others. Till today, he remains a committed freelance photographer specialising in advertising, corporate, illustrative and still life work.

During the last quarter of a century he received many accolades, including winning the Benson & Hedges, Blue Ribbon and Gold Cleo Awards a few times for shooting the best retail and pharmaceutical advertisement visuals.

Choosing a career in freelancing can be very rewarding, he said. "Dubai is a good market for freelance photography where budding talent can try their hands. A freelance photographer can command between £1,500 to £2,000 for an assignment in the UK.

There are at least 20,000 freelancers in London who make a living by shooting for clients. The competition in the UK is very stiff. But if you are good and get the right kind of image, you can hit the top very fast."

Photography is an art, and one needs to enjoy doing it, he stressed. "I am one of the rare people in the world who are engaged in a profession they enjoy very much. Photography for me is not a job. It's a way of life."