2014 was a huge year for sport in Scotland, with both the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup giving our sports snappers an opportunity to showcase their skill. And they certainly stepped up to the plate.
The saying, ‘a picture paints a thousand words’ is especially true of Scotland’s sports photographers. The right shot can perfectly illustrate the moment or mood when a match, marathon or other physical endeavor was decided or expressed in a way that words can only allude to.
To celebrate this great talent, here is a peak at the winner and shortlisted entries of this year’s Scottish Press Awards, which took place in April. We think you’ll agree these pictures are medal-worthy themselves.
The winner of Sports Photographer of the Year was Stewart Attwood for his work in The Herald, The Times and the Sunday Herald.
Stewart, like all of these shortlisted sports photographers, was front and centre at the 11 days of sporting magic, during which he managed to capture many powerful images. One is this stunning image of Jennifer Abel, Canadian diver during the women’s 3m springboard at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh.
The competition was tough, and amongst the other shortlisted photographers was this moving image captured by Bill Murray for SNS Group. The Guardian’s sports picture editor noted this photograph out of over 80,000 received during the Commonwealth Games as one that particularly stood out. He stated that it never occurred to him before how a competitor with no arms would greet his opponent.
A piece of imagery that put photographer Nick Ponty on the shortlist was this shot of the men’s 10,000 metre race. It was entitled “the long road to 10,000 metres glory…” and, with the clever use of light and movement, is pretty glorious itself.
Herald & Times Group photographer Jamie Simpson captured this emotional image of Commonwealth Games silver medalist Lynsey Sharpe as she completed her 800m run. She had been battling an illness whilst training, and Jamie managed to capture the note she had written herself on her hand to get her through.
Finally, Sammy Turner was shortlisted for this great photograph of the marathon during the Games. Not only does the shot capture the testing moments of the marathon but it also gives a beautiful snapshot of Buchanan Street, Glasgow lined with excited spectators.
This is only a flavour of the hundreds of images which could have been included and we hope to share more examples of the stunning photographic talent on display every day in the publications of Scottish Newspaper Society members.
*Please note, these images remain the copyright of the photographers who took them. Please contact the photographer directly through the links provided above for permission to use them in any form on any medium.