JANUARY can feel a bit of a let down after the festive excesses of Christmas and New Year.

For many it means a return to work amid dark, frosty mornings but this week Camera Club members proved there is plenty to enjoy during the first month of the year by heading outdoors.

We had a plethora of entries for our 'winter walks' theme with the Oxfordshire countryside and wildlife captured in many stunning images.

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Some of our favourites included Becca Collacott's shot of trees reflected in the Thames near Abingdon during sunrise and Elaine Lanighan's snap of an early morning at Blenheim Palace.

We love the pale light and silhouettes in both photographs, with the latter especially capturing the frozen feel of a winter morning.

While many submissions featured walks taken in the last few days, we also had images of outdoors excursions taken in previous years.

We particularly liked Benjamin Waller's black and white image of lengthy shadows created by trees.

Sharing the image in the Oxford Mail Camera Club Facebook page earlier this week, he wrote: "Taken just shy of three years ago during a punishingly cold but glorious winter morning over at Cornbury Park in Charlbury".

We also enjoyed a pair of snowy scenes by Allen Dannfald and Simon Logan that put the current weather in perspective.

No walk would be complete for many pet owners, meanwhile, without a canine companion and we received a wide array of snaps featuring dogs.

One of our favourites was Ian White's image of a dog engrossed by a familiar figure in the water as it stares at its own reflection.

We also love the perspective used in Ian Marriott's image of being taken on a winter walk by his dog Lady.

There was plenty of wildlife out and about despite the colder weather as well, with Geoffrey Hill capturing a group of ducks out for their own winter walk along frozen water.

Next week's theme is 'black and white' and we eagerly await your monochromatic images.

Join our Camera Club – which now has more than 900 members – by visiting facebook.com and searching for Oxford Mail Camera Club.

This week’s winner will be announced in tomorrow’s paper.

Happy snapping!