Beach snap in final of photography competition

Photographer Chris Gorman took the photo of Bude's Christmas Day dip on his drone

A photo of a Christmas swim in Cornwall has reached the final of National Geographic's annual photographic competition.

Photographer Chris Gorman took the picture of Bude's Christmas Day dip on his drone.

The image, which shows hundreds of revellers taking to the sea, was runner-up in the 'People' category for National Geographic Traveller Magazine's competition.

Mr Gorman described getting in the publication as a "bucket list" moment.

'Really humbling'

He said he had been visiting friends in Newquay over the Christmas period and was "always on the lookout for new things to shoot".

The photographer decided to make the commute to from Newquay to Bude after researching previous festive swims at the beach.

He said: "In the five minutes before, when it became obvious how big the crowd was, the adrenaline started going for me because I thought this could be an amazing picture."

Mr Gorman said finding out the image had been selected amongst other talented photographers was a "really humbling" experience.

'So glad'

"I will admit that I’ve been published almost everywhere you can think of, but never National Geographic," he said.

"You do get a little bit conditioned when you have pictures everywhere, but National Geographic is pretty special, to be chosen amongst some of the photographers there is a really humbling thing.

"I love going to slightly unusual locations. It might not seem unusual to people in Cornwall but let’s face it we live in a London-centric world and Bude I’m sure doesn’t get as much publicity as maybe it should.

"I’m so glad that I shot the picture, I have to admit it was one of the best things I’ve ever done on Christmas Day really."