Dip with a Nip



Some were braver than others!




"Team Lovely" aim to raise £2,000 for Clic Sargent.





Three of the many Thurso Baywatch Babes who found the water a bit colder than California





The paint was proper emulsion!



The childrens cancer charity "Clic Sargent" organised the first ever Boxing Day dip in the sea at Thurso Beach, called "Dip with a nip".  The nip refers to the whisky donated by Old Pulteney and not the cold weather!

Over 100 hardy souls  braved the sub zero air temperature. The water was actually warmer! There was a large crowd of around 500 cheering everyone on.

Didn't get too many pics as everyone dashed out of the water to get warm and dry.  The whole event only lasted a few minutes as nobody was keen to stay in the water.

Halkirk snow scenes

Some Halkirk snow scenes from Sunday morning (when light was dull and flat) and Monday evening.

Magazine feature

The Jan 2011 issue of Photoplus (Canon edition) magazine has one of my pics as the readers "shot of the month".  It is my lineout pic taken at the Scotland vs England RBS Six Nations match last March.

The only comment was to make the background crowd less prominent by slightly desaturating them.

SWPP & BPPA awards for Nov

Upgraded from silver to gold - Scotland vs England at Murrayfield in March 2010



Upgraded from silver to gold - Caithness Cycling Club Racing weekend in May 2010




silver award - Swallow Falls near Betws-y-Coed, Wales




silver award - O'Neill Cold Water Classic international surfing event at Thurso in April 2010

 The Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers (SWPP) and the British Professional Photographers Associates (BPPA) announced their awards for November and I received 2 silvers and 2 gold upgrades.

I was also informed that my two gold upgrades have been shortlisted for the Photographer of the Year awards, due to be held in London in January (http://www.swpp.co.uk/convention/awards_night.htm). Only the best three pics in each of the three sports categories (ball, general and motors) are selected for the finals.  The Societies have thousands of members from all over the world, so I'm totally chuffed at being chosen.

The rugby pic is also being shown in a national projected image exhibition after gaining a merit award in the Dingwall Camera Club annual competition. Only 27 pics out of around 2,500 entries from all over the UK gained merits.

Pets

Sky the whippet is very young and would not stand still when indoors and was nearly too fast when outdoors!

Haggis is our Jack Russell.

Da Doonie Day in Thurso

The first ever "Da Doonie Day" was held in Thurso today (Friday). It was organised by Thurso Rotary Club and Thurso High School's Interact Club and celebrated Scottish and Viking heritages in the far north.

There was a special appearance of the Sigurd "Snake Eye" Ragnarsson - Lerwick 2010 Jarl Squad.  36 squad members travelled by sea from Shetland for a whole day of events. The highlight was the burning of the impressive Viking Galley at the riverside. 

I nearly missed the galley burning as my car got stuck in the snow and I got caught in the traffic gridlock in Thurso.  With the town centre closed to traffic, drivers found it hard to find a car parking space and Janet Street was at a standstill with huge queues in both directions.

The Jarl squad met up with officials from Thurso FC who are nicknamed "The Vikings" and some brave souls had a kickabout at the Dammies in the snow.

St Peters & St Andrews church had a Christmas concert after the burning and the Jarl squad made a special appearance to sing two of their squad songs.

There are 8 local squads that are all dressed up and they are travelling around various venues in Thurso to perform sketches and songs. I didn't manage to take pics of the other squads apart from the Interact Club who were at the civic reception in the Pentland Hotel.