Steven MacDougall
DC Thomson
I have submitted three pictures for your consideration. The first image is a protest scene shot during the recent Conservative leadership hustings in Perth, August 2022. The image appeared on the front page of The Courier on Wednesday 17th August 2022. The event was met with impassioned crowds that periodically stormed the entrance. I feel this image successfully captures the passion and intensity of the moment, which was over almost as quickly as it started. I captured the second image during recent floods in Perth in September 2022. The photograph shows two men struggling to walk across a road that had temporarily become a river. There is shock value in the contrast between the copious floodwater and the residential street with parked cars and bus stop etc. The image successfully shows the scale of the incident with a long perspective view of the street and the two brightly adorned figures, engulfed by the torrent. The image appeared on page 4 of The Courier, Thursday 15th September 2022. I feel the image would have been a strong front page contender had it not have been the same day The Queen passed away. The final image is the most recent, showing a stunt bike team performing at a cycling event at Lochore Meadows in Fife, Saturday 8th October 2022. The photograph captures the moment stunt rider Danny Stewart eclipses the sun during an airborne manoeuvre above an awestruck crowd. The composition and timing were key to the success of this image. I wanted to show the crowds in relation to the stunt riders so I shot wide and low and chose a spot that lined up with the beaming sunshine. The result is a visually stunning, almost graphic image as the shape of the rider silhouettes against the autumnal sun. The photograph appeared on Page 7 of The Courier, Monday 10th October 2022. There was a similar shot of mine used on the front page of the same edition, but I feel the submitted image is the stronger of the two due to the halo effect of the rider against the sun.