A PUB landlady who has developed a passion for taking photos has become a semi-finalist in an international photography competition for her picture of a bar-headed goose flying over the Thames.

Tracy Hudson, 45, who runs the Duke of Cambridge pub in Queens Road, submitted the photo into the animals and pets category of the International Amateur Photography Contest, based in America.

The photo won the hearts of the judges for what they described as its "unique perspective and artistic vision" and is also being published in a book entitled On The River Thames.

Its success has been something of a surprise to Mrs Hudson, who has only just discovered her hidden talent.

She said: "Everyone keeps telling me that I have missed my vocation but I say no I've just found it. I bought a camera with a long, 70-to-300mm lens from one of my customers Del. I've had no training in photography whatsoever but when I downloaded my pictures from the disk I thought did I really do this?'"

She owns a boat named Lucy Luck II and while out on the Thames she has been snapping all of the wildlife she sees.

So far she has taken snaps of swans, geese, great crested grebes, cormorants, kingfishers, herons, red kites and even parakeets.

She said: "There's hundreds of them. You can hear them it's like being in a zoo. Every time I bring my photos out everyone says that's not in Marlow is it?' "I just thought it would be nice for people in Marlow to see what's down the river. I guess I just see a lot more because I'm on a boat but you have to have an eye for it."

Mrs Hudson is not stopping at just one competition she is entering her picture of a fly into another competition run by Notcutts in Booker. She also hopes to one day make a calendar featuring her photos.