LOUISE Woodhead raced into pole position at Blackburn College’s art exhibition with her popular photographs of her pet racing whippets.

Louise, 20, has just finished her level 3 extended diploma in photography at Blackburn College and took the impressive shots for her final exhibition.

“My hobby is racing whippets and I wanted my assignment to be something really close to me, so I chose to photograph them racing.

“Not many people know much about racing whippets but it’s something I’ve done all my life.”

Louise and her family have been racing whippets for more than 50 years and when they are not on the track, the dogs are at home as the family pets.

She said: “We have the dogs from puppies and when they get old they retire on the settee.

“We’ve got one dog at the minute that’s just gone in to the veteran category. He’s called Boybelle and he sleeps at my bedside.”

The student from Brownhill, Blackburn blurred her images to give the pictures a feeling of speed and motion.

She said: “I took my camera and followed the dogs down the track.

“It was very difficult because they go from a standing start to 30 miles an hour so getting the shot took a lot of practice. I ended up taking over 500 pictures.”

Louise has received a positive response to her photographs and is looking forward to studying a Foundation Degree at University Centre Blackburn College — and, winning more races with Boybelle.