A PHOTOGRAPHER has become one of the best qualified in the country – thanks to a portfolio very different from her usual work with babies.

Tracy Willis, of Bournemouth, has passed her fellowship qualification with the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (SWPP) – an accolade gained by only one per cent of members of the main photographic societies.

She normally photographs newborns and her business is called Maternity 2 Mischief. But the photographs that earned her the qualification were based around the deserted Purbeck village of Tyneham.

Tracy, a 45-year-old former nightclub doorwoman, was named Photographer of the Year by the Guild of Photographers in 2012.

She said: “For the SWPP Fellowship, the requirement is to show 20 printed images which have to show the photographer’s style as well as being technically and visually perfect.”

She added: “I am known for my studio portrait/studio lighting and also teach this to other photographers so I wanted to create something a bit different to show I am not a ‘one trick pony’.

“I was scouting the local area for somewhere interesting to shoot as I’d settled on shooting outdoors and using 100 per cent natural light, the total opposite of my usual work. Via the internet I discovered Tyneham.

“I hadn’t heard of Tyneham before, which is amazing as I was born and bred locally.”

The village was commandeered by the Ministry of Defence in World War Two and its residents were never allowed to return.

“I wondered what it would have been like for the children to return to the village and find their homes and belongings vanished,” said Tracy.

“My panel depicted the children returning to find the village destroyed and only a few battered toys remaining and showed their mixed emotions. Some discovered their friends, some were alone.”

She had to find children with a ‘timeless’ look and spent much time scouting for clothes and props in charity shops and on eBay.

“As Tyneham is only open at weekends and holidays I had to time my trips according to when the children were available and when Tyneham was open and I wasn’t working. Weather was also a factor,” she said.

“Each shot took patience too as there are some very busy days there and no shot could have the general public in it.”