HORROR photographer Clinton Lofthouse has snapped up a $7,000 dollar prize for his work after scaring off competition.

The self-taught 35-year-old from Queensbury is building up a worldwide reputation for his dark work and hopes one day to be able to give up his daytime job as a spray painter in a warehouse to go full-time in the world of photography and digital art.

He already has a big USA following for his work and recently was called on by Eli Ross from America’s Crypt TV to do some promotion shots for his company.

His recent Fear Awards win, announced in California, will up his profile even more as well as demand for his work, he hopes.

And he is excited about getting his prestigious Fears Award trophy through the post soon. It is being specially made by an artist from Face Off, an American reality television game show on the Syfy cable network in which a group of prosthetic makeup artists compete against each other.

“I can’t wait for it to arrive. It’ll take pride of place at home,” said Mr Lofthouse who calls on a number of volunteers and known alternative models to help him create his images.

He has been invited to Canada and New York next year to lead workshops and has signed up with an agent to get him work on promo shots and stills for horror film industry.

Mr Lofthouse, who has a son, has always been a big fan of horror films and admits it was his his infatuation with Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street that got him hooked on horror art at the start.

Six years ago he started out by taking pictures of household objects to experiment with photo techniques and Photoshop.

He then progressed to landscapes around his home city, seeking out the district’s abandoned buildings.

Inspired by other horror photography he had found on the internet, he had a go at it himself and was stunned when he later found one of his own photographs on an American website.

“I’m hoping at some point I’ll be ready to go full-time into my photography. I’d love to get work doing stills and promotion photography for horror films as a career. It’s an ambition I’m determined to make happen,” he said.

In the meantime, Mr Clinton is continuing to juggle his photography and digital artwork with his spray painting to keep paying the bills at home.

The $7,000 prize is is to be spent on Facebook advertising which he hopes will also bring him in more business.

“I’ve got quite a following abroad and in England now so my ambition is becoming reality,” he added.

Other plans coming soon are to run on-line tutorials for people wanting to learn about using Photoshop.

To see more of his work go to clintonlofthousephotography.com