The Scottish Nature Photography Awards 2021 winners have been selected by the judging panel, photographers Kit Martin, Rebecca Nason and Niall Irvine. Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year 2021 is landscape photographer Darren Cole, whose winning image portrays a dramatic scene of a muirburn fire below snow-covered peaks near his home on the Isle of Harris. Ice and Fire won the Environmental category before being chosen as the overall winner against stiff competition from a range of abstract, botanical, wildlife and landscape categories.
© Darren Cole
Kit Martin said: “Ice and Fire is stunning. The competition was fierce in the Environmental category, but this stood out as a striking image telling a story without the need for words. It was unanimously decided on as the overall winner for its originality and visual impact. Muirburn is a controversial subject and one that is current and active, with passionate voices on both sides. Congratulations Darren!“
Darren, who has his own gallery, Hebscape, on the Isle of Harris said: “It was a real thrill to learn that I had won this year’s competition and I’m so grateful to the judges for choosing my image Ice and Fire, especially as it is the first time an image from the Environmental category has been chosen.
“As a seasoned landscape photographer, I’m used to spending hours walking on the beaches and mountainsides near my home, looking for that elusive, perfect shot. So it was with some irony that the scene from which Ice and Fire was created, appeared by chance on my doorstep. Following reports of possible wildfires on the island and after several fire engines had raced past my house in north Harris, I opened the front door to be greeted by an Icelandic style scene of snowy mountains and raging fire. The juxtaposition of the dramatic white peaks and the red, rivers of fire below was truly spectacular and just begging to be photographed. With the snow-covered mountains reflecting what little daylight remained, the dark foreground allowed the fire to really pop, creating a stark and dramatic level of contrast in the scene. With the sky cloudless as well, there was little to detract from the almost Tolkienesque vista.
“A few days later, I discovered that the fire was started deliberately in order to burn the top layer of heather away allowing fresh vegetation to grow through, a process known as a muirburn.”
The winner of the Junior Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year 2021 (under-18s) with Peregrine Playtime, is Kaitlyn Clark (11) from Inverness. Kaitlyn previously won the title when she was just 8 years of age.
Kaitlyn said: “This was taken near Inverness on a day out with my dad. We were super lucky to have a family of peregrines feeling comfortable enough near us that they started playing and practising for life – this picture I believe to be two youngsters playing with each other. It took me a bajillion attempts to catch anything like this, never mind keeping it in frame with such a big lens.”
© Kaitlyn Clark
Rebecca Nason said: ”11-year-old Kaitlyn’s image of two immature peregrine falcons, jostling in mid-air was a wonderful entry, and a clear 1st place for the judges in the Junior category. Seeing such interesting, wild Scottish natural history behaviour is exciting in itself, but to be able to capture this fast, aerial playtime so expertly is quite another and Kaitlyn has clearly shown excellent technical photographic skill here to produce a high quality, well exposed, pin-sharp image.
“A special image of a very special Scottish species, and one I would have been delighted to have taken. An inspiring shot from a young budding wildlife photographer.”
Student Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year 2021 is Murronrose Dunn, a final year HND Photography student at New College Lanarkshire. Her portfolio of three images on the theme of motion, Passing Time, focuses on freezing the motion of water in three landscape locations, across a noon to dusk timeframe.
Murronrose said: “The three images were shot during the restrictions last year, where the furthest I could travel was Glencoe. Landscapes were initially required for my course, however I enjoyed taking each image. They were also a moment to just connect with nature and step back from the world. Each image focuses heavily on water and freezing the motion to create a smoothed out milky effect.
Niall Irvine said: “Murronrose’s portfolio shows three very well considered images in different light conditions. They are fine examples of landscape photography. The successful use of long exposures in all three has given us a cohesive portfolio and a sense of motion in the water. Murronrose met the brief in every aspect – one to watch in the future.”
Winner of the Scottish Nature Video Award 2021 for short nature films is Springtime in the Pond: The Toads, a short film recording the annual return of the toads to a local pond to breed, made on the Black Isle by Pat Douglass. Pat, who has been a photographer since she was 17, says that it is only in the last few years that she has started taking video and exploring the opportunities to tell a visual story through photography. Her winning film was a lockdown project.
Winning images and videos will form an exhibition later in the year and will be published along with the shortlisted entries in a Portfolio Yearbook in the summer. Details at www.scottishnaturephotographyawards.com