A cafe owner who took up photography 'as a hobby ' has won a top British award for a dramatic storm image . Carla Regler , 31 , who runs Seadrift cafe in the little fishing and holiday town of Porthleven with her partner Chris Brooks , used a digital SLR camera to take a stunning picture showing the awesome , furious power of the sea . Her amazing image of Porthleven being battered in last year 's ferocious storms has won the weather category in the British Life Photography Awards . Scroll down for video . Carla Regler snapped this shot of Porthleven being battered in last year 's ferocious storms , and has won the weather category in the British Life Photography Awards . A beautiful photograph of Porthleven take at Christmas last year , somewhat more serene than the powerful storm shots . Last year she won bronze in the Epson International Pano Awards for a different picture of the same scene , both taken on February 5th , the day that the harbour defences were breached . The Cornwall cafe owner said of her latest award 'This photo was taken at sunrise - the sun is trying to come through and that 's what gives it that mood . 'It was a quite an emotional day for Porthleven . It was the day the boats were damaged . 'With everything that happened , it 's nice to have been able to capture that moment . 'It 's fantastic to get this award and I am really pleased . ' The British Life Photography Awards recognises the country 's 'obsession ' with the weather . On the category section , it states : 'Blessed with four seasons , British weather moulds our landscape , coast , the environment and communities . ' And the photos the judges are after are 'Images from parched landscapes to flooded meadows , windswept moors to spring sunlight . ' Many households on the coast were left without power after ferocious storms swept in from the Atlantic . Unsurprisingly , all trains lines were suspended in Cornwall at the height of the storm , with structural engineers working overtime . In January and February 2014 hundreds of homes were flooded as the worst storms in 20 years continued to cause misery across the country . Waves as high as 30 feet battered the coastline at Porthleven as Storm Hercules reared its ugly head after moving across the Atlantic over the early part of last year . There were thousands of 999 calls in Cornwall alone , and the Environment Agency issued as many as 340 storm warnings across the country , warning of serious risk to life . ' Carla and Chris , 39 , moved to Cornwall from Wiltshire four years ago and took on a former wool shop in Porthleven , converting it into the seaside cafe of their dreams . But while Chris is the chef , Carla has become so successful at photography that they have turned the upstairs into a gallery to show off her work . Six months ago she was approached to do pictures for a lifestyle company , and she now also runs photography courses , which is amazing considering she has never had any lessons herself and is completely self-taught . Waves reached as high as 30 feet on the Porthleven coastline as Storm Hercules battered Britain in the early part of 2014 . She has two Canon digital SLR cameras , one costing £1,000 , the other £4,000 which she used for the award-winning images . ' I tend to stick to landscape and seascape pictures , and I also like taking photos of horses ' she said . 'Obviously the scenery along this coast is beautiful and dramatic so you can get some great pictures , in all types of lights and colours depending on the weather . 'The storms were something else - the town took a proper pounding and they are only just finishing repairs to the harbour wall . 'In fact we got swamped in two ways - the harbour area was battered and flooded , then we had loads of tourists coming down to take pictures of it all ! '
Carla Regler , 31 , runs Seadrift café in the little fishing and holiday town of Porthleven , Cornwall . She used a digital the British Life Photography Awards camera to take a stunning picture showing the awesome , furious power of the sea . Her image of Porthleven being battered has won the weather category in SLR .