As part of our commitment to showcase Scottish nature, wildlife and landscape photography, the Scottish Nature Photography Awards include an award that recognises the merits of photographic books through our biennial public vote to find the Favourite Scottish Nature Photography Book.

The eleven books shortlisted for the 2018 award highlight different aspects of Scottish nature and landscape with stunning photography. Each is a credit to the work of the photographers, with visual storytelling which is the culmination of their commitment and creativity. The award is also an acknowledgement of the role of the publishers in helping to bring these works to fruition. Informative, inspirational and entertaining, these books offer something to everyone who loves Scottish nature and the art of photography. The winner of the Scottish Nature Photography Awards Favourite Scottish Nature Photography Book 2018 is:



The Secret Life of the Mountain Hare
Author: Andy Howard
Publisher: Sandstone Press Ltd.

Robert Davidson, managing director of Sandstone Press said: "All of us at Sandstone Press are delighted by Andy Howard’s win. He is a supremely dedicated professional and, most wonderfully, in love with this species, the Mountain Hare.

"The Secret Life of the Mountain Hare is a perfect merging of images, thoughts and feelings of and for this amazing animal. Andy deserves all the praise he gets, and the Hares deserve not to be persecuted."

Andy Howard said: ‘To win this award with my first book is both fantastic and humbling, especially taking into account the high standard of the other books on the shortlist.

"Mountain Hares are amazing creatures and I hope The Secret Life of the Mountain Hare is a fitting tribute to their beauty."




2nd Place: Northwest
Author: Alex Nail
Publisher: Alex Nail

Alex Nail said: “It’s fantastic to come second amongst an amazing collection of books from other authors. Producing Northwest was a massive effort both in terms of the photography and in going down the self-publishing route, but I’m blown away at the reception, thank you!”




3rd Place: The Red Squirrel – A Future in the Forest
Author: Neil McIntyre and Polly Pullar
Publisher: SCOTLAND: The Big Picture

Neil McIntyre said: "The list of books shortlisted this year was exceptional and many congratulations to the 1st & 2nd placed books.”

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 is....

Kim Crosbie

Congratulations Kim. Happy browsing!


The shortlisted books were:

Eilean: The Photography of Margaret Fay Shaw
Author: Margaret Fay Shaw
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd.

Publisher: Birlinn Ltd. Publisher's description: Margaret Fay Shaw took her first photographs of the Hebrides in 1924 whilst travelling through the islands by bicycle. It was her photography which first brought her to the attention of folklorist John Lorne Campbell, and after their marriage in 1935 they began their unique career together, creating the world’s finest treasury of Hebridean song, story, image and folklore.

Her collection of some 9,000 photographs and film were taken mainly on the Hebridean islands of Uist, Barra, Mingulay, Eriskay, Canna and the Irish Aran Islands, and form a key part of the magnificent Campbell collections at Canna House, where she and John made their home for 60 years. In 1981 they gifted the island of Canna and its collections to the National Trust for Scotland, who now curate the material for future generations to enjoy.

This book features over 100 of the best of Margaret Fay Shaw’s Hebridean photographs, with extended captions by Fiona J. Mackenzie and an introductory essay by the collection’s former archivist, Magdalena Sagarzazu.

For more information about this book, please visit: www.birlinn.co.uk/Eilean.html

128 pages, hardback.

Northwest
Author: Alex Nail
Publisher: Alex Nail

Publisher's description: NORTHWEST is a photographic book of the Highlands of Scotland, showcasing wild mountain vistas and dramatic light displays captured by International Mountain Photographer of the Year Alex Nail.

Shot over many years in all seasons and weather conditions, the book is packed full of spectacular mountain images, most of which have never been published.

Woven into the photographic story are tales of adventure and solitude in the mountains, documenting the thousands of hours Alex spent backpacking in one of the most isolated parts of the UK.

Foreword by Chris Townsend.

For more information about this book, please visit: www.alexnail.com/book/
152 pages, hardback. Standard edition and limited edition.

Photographing Scotland
Author: Dougie Cunningham
Publisher: fotVUE Ltd.

Publisher's description: PHOTOGRAPHING SCOTLAND is a photography-location and visitor guidebook.

If you are a keen photographer who can’t miss a sunrise or are on holiday using a mobile phone camera, this guidebook will take you to the most beautiful and photogenic places in Scotland.

In this extensive photo-location and visitor guidebook, award winning Scottish photographer Dougie Cunningham explores and describes the most beautiful places in Scotland to visit and photograph. From Glencoe to Glen Torridon, Skye to Shetland, Callanish to Cairngorm, this guidebook reveals the islands and mountains, glens and lochs, rivers and coastline and visits ancient stone circles, fortified houses, medieval castles, crofts and peel towers. The classic views are included and many more lesser known and hidden gems amongst the Lowlands, Highlands and Islands of this spectacular country.

Foreword by Ed Byrne. For more information about this book, please visit: www.fotovue.com/shop/books/photographing-scotland/

592 pages, softback.

Scotland: A Rewilding Journey
Author: Susan Wright, Peter Cairns and Nick Underdown
Publisher: SCOTLAND: The Big Picture

Publisher's description: It wasn’t so long ago that vibrant, wild forest stretched across much of Scotland. Beavers and cranes were at home in extensive wetlands. Salmon and trout filled the rivers. Lynx, wolf and wild boar roamed wooded glades. Today, although it’s easy to be seduced by the raw beauty of the Scottish landscape, it is sadly an ecological shadow of its former self. Our large carnivores have gone, our woodlands are small and fragmented, and a bare, degraded landscape supporting little life stretches across millions of acres.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

SCOTLAND: A Rewilding Journey is a rallying call for a wilder Scotland, where forests abundant with life are regenerating, where rivers lined with alder and willow run freely, where damaged peatlands are revitalised and where oceans support the great whales. This landmark conservation book portrays a vision for a wilder Scotland - a place where nature works as it should, where wildlife flourishes and crucially, where people prosper.

For more information about this book, please visit: www.scotlandbigpicture.com/Store/books/scotland-a-rewilding-journey

216 pages, hardback.

Skye – A Photographic Communion
Author: Allan Wright
Publisher: Allan Wright Photographic

Publisher's description: The nature and topography of the Isle of Skye are celebrated in this photographic essay by leading landscape photographer Allan Wright. After two years immersing himself in the visual and atmospheric delights of the island, he has drawn together a collection of images that both reveal and lyricise one of Scotland’s most prized landscapes.

For more information about this book, please visit: www.scottishbookstore.com/catalog/product?products_id=12697

130 pages, softback.

St. Kilda – The Silent Islands
Author: Alex Boyd
Publisher: Luath Press Ltd.

Publisher's description: Using a ‘battered medium format camera’ once belonging to Fay Godwin, Alex Boyd captures the archipelago of St Kilda in a new light, from a 21st century perspective. From the crumbling Cold War military base to the wild beauty of the natural landscape, this book is both an ode to the history of the islands and an insight into the modern day lives of those who live and work on St Kilda today.

For more information about this book, please visit: www.luath.co.uk/art-and-photography/st-kilda-the-silent-islands

The Living Cairngorms
Author: Anke Addy
Publisher: Anke Addy

Publisher's description: A Photo Essay inspired by Nan Shepherd's Books 'The Living Mountain'.

The book is in full colour, with over 150 photographs of the Mountains, Plants and Insects, Air and Light, Water, Snow and Ice, Birds, and Mammals.

The book includes quotes from Nan Shepherd’s book ‘The Living Mountain’ with foreword by Erlend Clouston, Nan Shepherd’s literary executor.

For more information about this book, please visit:www.ankeaddy.com

144 pages, hardback.

The Red Squirrel – A Future in the Forest
Author: Neil McIntyre and Polly Pullar
Publisher: SCOTLAND: The Big Picture

Publisher's description: The Red Squirrel: A future in the forest showcases one of Britain’s favourite mammals and at the same time, makes the case for the expansion of its native woodland home.

The book’s stunning imagery comes from renowned Cairngorms photographer Neil McIntyre, who has spent 20 years following the lives of his local squirrels. Neil's images are perfectly complemented by the insightful and evocative words of celebrated nature writer Polly Pullar.

For more information about this book, please visit: www.scotlandbigpicture.com/Store/books/the-red-squirrel-a-future-in-the-forest

170 pages, hardback.

The Secret Life of the Mountain Hare
Author: Andy Howard
Publisher: Sandstone Press Ltd.

Publisher's description: This beautifully crafted hardback takes readers through the four seasons and the life of the mountain hare.

Featuring stunning photography by Andy Howard, a leading expert on the subject, and field notes from his time on the hills tracking these majestic creatures and a charming narrative about the life of the mountain hare, this will be a comprehensive guide to the Secret Life of the Scottish Mountain Hare.

Foreword by Welsh conservationist and TV presenter Iolo Williams.

For more information about this book, please visit: www.sandstonepress.com/books/the-secret-life-of-the-mountain-hare

208 pages, hardback.

Tir a'Mhurain
Author: Paul Strand
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd.
Publisher's description: Tir a’Mhurain is a collection of photographs that reflects the impressions gathered by Paul Strand and his wife Hazel during their 3-month visit to the Hebrides in 1945.

Juxtaposing people and landscape, Strand’s beautifully sequenced photographs depict the perfect complicity he saw between nature and habitation in their wild terrain. Whether it is a view of the rocks and the sea or a grinning shepherd boy; scuddling clouds hanging over seaside house or the wrinkled face of an old lady framed by a knitted shawl, Strand’s images transcend the ephemeral. This extended portrait captures the essence and complexity of a singular place. This is a true masterpiece of photography.

For more information about this book, please visit: www.birlinn.co.uk/Tir-a-Mhurain.html  

Wild Light – Scotland’s Mountain Landscape
Author: Craig Aitchison
Publisher: Vertebrate Publishing

Publisher's description: Wild Light is a stunning panoramic exploration of the Scottish landscape by photographer Craig Aitchison, winner of the inaugural Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year competition.

Produced over seven years and shot entirely using a traditional Hasselblad film camera, this remarkable body of work captures the essence of the Scottish wilderness through the seasons and portrays the Highlands and Islands at their most beautiful.

Featuring over eighty panoramas, this book celebrates the rich natural heritage, incredible geodiversity and varied landscape for which Scotland is internationally renowned. Among a glittering cast of many are the dramatic heights of Suilven, An Teallach and Aonach Eagach, and the otherworldly landscapes of the Lairig Ghru in the Cairngorms and Glen Etive.

Craig Aitchison’s Wild Light will delight anyone who treasures the Scottish mountain landscape.

For more information about this book, please visit: www.v-publishing.co.uk/books/categories/wildlife-photography-and-outdoors/wild-light.html

160 pages, hardback.


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