An amateur photographer from Easter Ross has achieved recognition for capturing an exceptional image of one of Greece's most photographed tourist destinations. Emma Deeth from Tain won top honors in the monochrome print category at the Highland Challenge, an annual photography competition that brings together camera clubs from across northern Scotland.
The Highland Challenge, hosted this year by Inverness Camera Club, allows each participating club to submit up to 10 images in either color or monochrome format, covering any subject matter. Entries can be presented as either traditional prints or digital projected images. Emma Deeth represented the East Sutherland Camera Club with two of her photographs, including her winning shot of the iconic windmills on the Greek island of Mykonos.
According to Andy Kirby, secretary of the East Sutherland Camera Club, holiday photography is often underestimated as merely casual snapshot-taking for memory purposes. However, he emphasized that traveling to foreign locations presents unique creative opportunities for serious photographers willing to look beyond the obvious. "The windmills on the Greek island of Mykonos must have been photographed millions of times and are the most photographed spot on the island," Kirby explained. "Emma, however, created something very special from her trip there."
The judge at the Highland Challenge was so impressed with Deeth's work that it earned her the best monochrome print award. While some photographers might consider monochrome photography old-fashioned in an era of advanced color cameras and smartphones, Kirby noted that monochrome can eliminate the potential distraction of color and allow viewers to focus on other essential elements of composition.
In Deeth's winning photograph, the monochrome treatment enabled her to highlight what initially caught her artistic eye: the structure, texture, and interlocking shapes within the scene. The technique also proved particularly effective because she was working with conditions other than the typical bright blue Greek sky that characterizes most images of the location. By choosing monochrome, she was able to make the most of the atmospheric conditions she encountered, transforming what could have been a limitation into a creative advantage that distinguished her work from countless other images of the same subject.
