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 SLR 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 the British Life Photography Awards .