THOSE sultry, simmering summer days . . . the photograph above could have come straight from the tropics.

But it was shot on a windswept hilltop in Bolton.

And now the steamy savannah scene has won a top prize for the young Bolton photographer who created it.

Catherine Taylor, aged 22, won nearly £2,000 worth of flash equipment with her portrait of two friends next to the Pigeon Tower, near Rivington Pike. Competition judges from a national photographic magazine were more than impressed with her eye-catching image.

Now she wants to put other budding fashion models from Bolton in the picture while getting herself in the frame for further awards.

Former Canon Slade School pupil Catherine said: "I'd never entered a competition before and I couldn't believe it when I won. But this is only the beginning. Now I need to find more models to help me make even more imaginative pictures."

Catherine became interested in photography while she was still at school. Teachers were amazed at the way her talents developed.

She went on to do a photography degree at Manchester Metropolitan University and now runs a studio in Great Moor Street, Bolton,with her friend Heather Beckett.

She hopes to go into fashion photography one day but first wants to make her name as one of Bolton's best photographers.

"I love to do fashion shoots all the time and hope to make my name in Manchester or London someday.

"But first I want to do well in my home town by taking pictures of local people."

Anyone who thinks they might make a suitable model for Catherine should call the Heather B Studios on 01204 534002.