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The Awards showcase quality Scottish nature photography and we recognise that books are a great creative outlet for photographers and that they inspire, inform and entertain the public.

We asked the public to vote online for their favourites from seven shortlisted books, which highlighted a variety of Scottish nature subjects.

This is the third time the biennial poll has been conducted and we received more votes than ever before. It was great to see the public's support for all the books, and we're grateful to everyone who took part.

The winner of the Scottish Nature Photography Awards Favourite Scottish Nature Photography Book 2014 was.....

 

Naturally Orkney
Author: Raymond Besant
Publisher: The Orcadian

   


"I am really delighted that Naturally Orkney has won this award. I loved working on the images, trying out new techniques, observing animal behaviour and bringing Orkney's wildlife to a wider audience so they can enjoy it too.

"A satisfying aspect has been people's surprise at some of the species found here. Whilst lots of folk know that Orkney is a great place to see Hen Harriers, it's less known that when you've finished watching them you can stop off and observe something equally beautiful like the Emerald Damselfly which is a new coloniser in Orkney.

"I'm humbled that folk have taken to the book so much and if it helps or inspires them to spend a bit more time searching for and enjoying Orkney's wildlife then so much the better." -
Raymond Besant

"We are absolutely thrilled that Raymond's work has been recognised at a national level. He was born and bred in the islands, where he developed a boyhood passion for nature and photography; subsequently turning his hobby into a profession.

"When we first started working on the book and he submitted the early photographs, it was crystal clear that this was a highly skilled craftsman at work; someone who knew what image he wanted to capture and had the ability to pull it off. He is still a relatively young man, is obviously going places, and has the capacity to be among the best on an international stage.

"The standard of entry for this award was extremely high but there can only be one winner. As a small, parochial publisher we are delighted it is us. Our design and printing teams have produced a top quality book and we are both honoured and humbled by this award."
- James Miller, The Orcadian



2nd Place: Winter in Glen Lyon
Author: Jamie Grant
Publisher: Aberfeldy Watermill




3rd Place: Otters: Return to the River
Authors: Laurie Campbell &
Anna Levin
Publisher: Birlinn

Everyone who participated in the online vote was entered into our free prize draw for one lucky winner to win the entire shortlist of books. Our thanks go to the publishers for their kind donations of books for the prize draw.



The lucky winner was....

Julian Hall

Congratulations Julian. Happy browsing!


The shortlisted books were:


Moray Firth Dolphins
Author: Tim Stenton
Publisher: Bassman Books

Publisher's description: The Moray Firth dolphins are one of Britain's greatest wildlife spectacles. This lavishly illustrated book gives an insight into their world and that of the other marine mammals living in the beautiful Moray Firth.

For more information about this book, please visit:
www.russellturner.org/dolphins

104 pages, paperback.

 


Naturally Orkney
Author: Raymond Besant
Publisher: The Orcadian

Publisher's description: Orcadian Raymond Besant has an instinctive knack of finding and photographing Orkney nature as few have seen it. Naturally Orkney includes some unique images from the islands' outdoors; a Red Throated Diver, sitting on her nest, being pestered by midgies; an inquisitive young seal, nosing and nudging a hand-held underwater camera; an otter, wrestling with a huge, freshly caught Conger Eel...they all feature in this book.

For more information about this book, please visit:
www.orcadian.co.uk/shop

192 pages, hardback.

 


Otters: Return to the River
Authors: Laurie Campbell &
Anna Levin
Publisher: Birlinn

Publisher's description: This book is a celebration of the return of the otter to our rivers and freshwater wetlands after a drastic decline in the last century.

For more than two decades, award-winning photographer Laurie Campbell has documented these lithe, elusive predators on the River Tweed and its tributaries near his Berwickshire home. The resulting photographs create an intimate portrait of their lives through the changing seasons, including their riverside habitat and the other wildlife that shares it.

Writer Anna Levin sets this work in the context of Laurie's own life's story as she accompanies him to the riverbank. Her notebooks offer a vivid glimpse of the photographer at work and of the otters that enchant them both.

For more information about this book, please visit:
www.birlinn.co.uk/Otters-Return-to-the-River

128 pages, paperback.

 


Scotland's Still Light
Author: Andy Hall
Publisher: Luath Press

Publisher's description: Scotland's Still Light explores the relationship beween photographic imagery and the words of some of Scotland's most highly-respected writers. It is not an attempt to illustrate the texts but to give a sense of place through the combination of words and images. Sometimes it is a whole piece, sometimes a paragraph or verse, a few lines or occasionally a single line that encapsulates the experience of trying to capture 'the moment' with a camera.

All of the photographic images have a evolved from a study of the unique quality of light that prevails in the exquisite diversity of Scotland's landscapes and cities.

For more information about this book, please visit: www.luath.co.uk/scotland-s-still-light

96 pages, hardback.

 


The Pool
Author: Iain Sarjeant
Publisher: Triplekite Publishing

Publisher's description: Iain's book features images entirely from one small pool - no more than 2 meters wide, close to his house. It is fringed by grasses and ferns, and surrounded by birch trees. The images explore the layers of shapes and shadows reflected in the surface of the pool - a hidden abstract world which is at first chaotic and lost to the naked eye.

For more information about this book, please visit:
www.triplekite.co.uk/book-shop/iain-sarjeant-the-pool
60 pages, hardback.

 


Winter in Glen Lyon
Author: Jamie Grant
Publisher: Aberfeldy Watermill

Publisher's description: Over 100 black and white photographs revealing Glen Lyon in all its winter glory. With landscapes of winter days and moody mists, the local people at work and play, Scotland longest glen is brought to life through the eye of local resident and photographer Jamie Grant.

For more information about this book, please visit:
www.aberfeldywatermill.com/books

128 pages, hardback.

 


Zero Footprint
Authors: Ted Leeming &
Morag Paterson
Publisher: Leeming + Paterson  

Publisher's description: This portfolio consists of images taken over a five year (and counting) period from precisely the same location our hillside studio in the Glenkens area of Dumfries and Galloway. Having built a low carbon house on the hillside we were inspired to see if we could apply some similar principles to our photography.

The restriction is a geographical one only - we can use any lens and point the camera in any direction, taking advantage of the changes in season and dramatic variances in natural light. Although it's a beautiful outlook, our view doesn't necessarily lend itself to a good composition for a traditional landscape photograph and we quickly realised that some of the bests shots we would get are those of the banks of fog and mist that roll in and often spend the entire day moving like a tide backwards and forwards in the glen.

For more information about this book, please visit:
www.leemingpaterson.com/section736672

112 pages, hardback. Limited edition of 1250  

Favourite Scottish Nature Photography Book 2010
Favourite Scottish Nature Photography Book 2012
Favourite Scottish Nature Photography Book 2014
Favourite Scottish Nature Photography Book 2016
Favourite Scottish Nature Photography Book 2018
Favourite Scottish Nature Photography Book 2020
Favourite Scottish Nature Photography Book 2022