News / Photography award for Austin
SHETLAND-based photographer Austin Taylor has won a Highland Challenge award for his striking monochrome digital image of an isles mother and baby.
Austin is a member of Islesburgh Photographic Club, which enters various competitions throughout the country, and also a regular and valued contributor to the pages of Shetland News.
Those include the Highland Challenge, which features nine clubs across the Highlands and Islands, and this year Austin took first prize in the monochrome digital image section. The Islesburgh club finished second overall.
He said the victory – for his portrait of Hazel Ann Johnson – was “particularly satisfying” for a variety of reasons.
“Firstly, it’s black and white and I don’t often do black and white portraits, though it’s a style I very much like,” Austin said. “Secondly, I was very much intending the finished image to be square right from the time I initially set it up and am pleased with the final composition.
“The light, Hazel’s expression and stance and all the other details that make the image work are all key elements of this image, but there’s an element of luck in that the catch-light in the hair just caught on a stray breeze at exactly the right moment.
“Finally, this is one of my favourite images and, unlike some others which I really like but will be replaced by newer favourites, I think this will remain one of my favourites for a long time, mainly because I still think ‘wow, I created that stunning image of Hazel’ every time I see it.”
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