Pentland Utd vs Thurso Swifts

A clearance by a Swifts defender via an overhead scissors kick

One half of a big crowd at the match, closely watch the action

Willie Steven tries in vain to stop Pentland Utd's No.10 from scoring the opening goal

The top of the table clash between Pentland Utd and Swifts was played in perfect sunny conditions this evening. I caught most of the second half, but had to leave with 10 mins to go. Pentland Utd were leading 1-0 after their No.10 blasted a screamer into the net - even too quick for my camera! The match was very evenably balanced and it took a brilliant effort to break the deadlock.

I have been trying for the last year to catch an overhead scissors kick and I finally succeeded tonight. These type of kicks are very rare and even rarer to catch on camera.

SWPP photo competition

After looking through the results of the SWPP competition for April 2009, I'm pleased to say that I have won my second gold award. Like the first one, it was of a photo of Eden Court in Inverness. The striking blue sky is a good contrast to the yellow/mustard colour of the new extension.

I also won another silver and it was a photo taken of singer Becky Hobbs at the Northern Nashville Caithnes Country Music Festival. I'm particularly pleased as it was my first ever attempt at taking pics at an indoor concert.

Halkirk's Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant

Halkirk's new Indian restaurant and takeaway, the Taj Mahal, opened on Monday with over 100 invited guests tucking into a delicious buffet over the course of the evening. I was asked by the Miah and Ahmed families to take photos of the guests and of themselves. Their website address is www.tajmahalindian.co.uk.

Caithness Motox Round 2

Colin Gregory and I took photos at the Caithness MotoX second round in the summer series held last Sunday at Ravenshill. Plenty of mud and thrilling racing! I managed only an hour, but got some airshots at the first table top jump, plus caught the riders going round the tight hairpin.

Caithness RFC Sportsman's dinner

Scottish rugby legend and British Lion Jim Calder, twin brother of another legend Finlay Calder, gives his after dinner speech.

Caithness RFC held a sportsman's dinner in the Weigh Inn Hotel on Saturday night. Guest speakers were Scottish rugby internationist and British Lion, Jim Calder and John Thurso MP. An auction with donated prizes was held to raise money for a new clubhouse and combined with other money raising activities on the night, a grand total in excess of £9,000 was gathered.

I set up a display of sport photos and also ran a background slideshow via a laptop and projector, which seemed to go down well.

Jim Calder presented the player of the year trophy to Scottish U19 Internationalist Kris Hamilton (see above), the young player of the year was Gordon MacLeod and the most improved player was Gary MacKay.

Navertech Ltd manage the club'c website and they were runners-up in the Highland Sports Development Association Club of the Year Award. Award for the best Website.

Halkirk Utd Presentations

Halkirk Utd's star striker, Mark Nichol, receives the cup for the players player of the year from Elizabeth MacDonald

Halkirk Utd players, officials and guests line up behind the 3 cups that were won during the season in the North Caledonian League, plus the two club trophies for player of the year and most promising young player (Sandy Sutherland). The presentations were captured by Colin Gregory during the club's annual dinner in the Ulbster Arms Hotel last Saturday evening.

Halkirk U11s vs Thurso Pentland

Halkirk Under11s played Thurso Pentland tonight in the Caithness Junior League. In a closely fought match, Pentland took their chances while Halkirk didn't and the Thurso side won 4-2.

Halkirk vs Pentland Utd

Halkirk's Lee Elder celebrates his equaliser by running behind the goal and salutes the crowd.

Halkirk's Paul Mackay, last year's young Caithness player of the year, with an overhead scissors kick to keep the ball in play.

Lee Elder sweeps past Gary MacKay to score his goal.

Halkirk FC played Pentland Utd in Division One of the Caithness AFA league on 12th May and the village side were unlucky to be beaten 2-1.

MacKay's of Keiss Golf Tournament

On the 25th of April the annual Mackay's of Keiss golf tournament was held at Thurso Golf Club. Trophies in memory of John and Bill MacKay, Master Butchers from Keiss, were the incentives for a dozen members of the family. Cousins travelled from Inverness, Edinburgh and Glasgow for the sporting & social event. In the evening, Sandy & Andrew Mackay laid on a meal in their newly named Castletown hotel. The winner (by a clear mile) of the stableford tournament was Angus MacKay and the winner of the par 3's was Doug MacKay.

Angus MacKay receives the John Mackay Memorial cup from Irene MacKay. Margaret MacKay presents the Bill MacKay trophy to Doug MacKay.

A quick rest at the 11th hole.

The classiest follow-through of the day.

Halkirk Utd Cup winners

As I was busy at the Wick Academy vs Cove Rangers game on 2nd May, Colin Gregory kindly went to Halkirk's Recreation Park to capture Halkirk beating Golspie 2-0 in the North Caledonian cup final.

3 sports in one weekend

The Caithness Cycling Club held their annual racing weekend with a 25 mile Time Trial from Thurso to Watten and back on Saturday. There were showers of hail and it made poor light conditions. I tried to perfect the panning technique where the background is blurred and the cyclist is pin sharp – it’s not easy to swing the camera at the exact same speed as the bike. My son Christopher grabbed my old digital camera and I set it up for sports mode and he froze the action pretty well. On Sunday a 24 mile hilly race around Calder was held in bright sunny conditions and a new course record was set by Peter Alexander from Moray Firth. I set up on a fast downhill stretch and the cyclists must have zipped past me at over 40 MPH.




The Caithness summer football is in full swing and the first round of the Highland Amateur cup was held on Saturday. I was at Halkirk’s Recreation Park to catch some action pics of their match vs Lairg Rovers. Halkirk cruised to win 5-0.




The first ever Castle of Mey 10K run was held on Sunday 10th May and I was asked to take pics of the 250 runners out on the course. The weather was perfect for photos and I also managed to take a few of the castle for the first time. A small selection of the photos are in my gallery. A bigger selection will be posted on the Castle of Mey 10K run website: www.mey10k.co.uk

First ever blog

I thought I would try blogging to keep you updated with what I have been up to. It frees up some space on my website, so that more photos can be posted.