Jura, Here I Come!

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Over the years I’ve occasionally entered external competitions, with some success now and again – it’s another use for images taken for DPS competitions.

The Jura / VisitScotland competition caught my eye, and having enjoyed visiting many of the Hebridean islands but not Jura, I thought I’d have a go – nothing to lose…

The prizes on offer for the three main winners were amazing: an all expenses paid stay for two at Jura Lodge (worth around £3000), VIP tours of island and distillery, two days’ photography masterclass with National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson, entry photograph made into a postcard (with percentage of sales), and an Olympus E-PL1 worth £500.

One winner was to be chosen from UK, one from North America, and one from the rest of the world. The theme was “Wish you were here….” and the photo of a favourite place that inspired you, the hard part being the short spiel giving an explanation of why it was special to you.

My picture of ‘Silver & Gold’, autumn birches reflected in a Glen Clova loch was submitted, with the text –  “Glen Clova, one of the beautiful Angus Glens, has been special to me for almost forty years. I have walked in it, fished in it, often with my family, and photographed it in all seasons and weathers. I have often admired these lochside silver birches.”

Eventually an email and phone call told me my photo was the UK winner, and in August we join the other winners, from New York and Italy, at the exotic, eccentric (and expensive!) Jura Lodge. A few years ago the Jura whisky people wheeled in a famous Paris designer to give the interior a ‘different’ look and she’s certainly succeeded. I look forward to photographing inside the lodge, as well as around Jura and Islay.

Meantime it’s a good feeling that a picture taken in the local glen is up there with the other winners, from the exotic locations of Namibia and India.

Malcolm McBeath

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