Graeme is a winner at the double
A talented photographer has been crowned the top snapper in Scotland for a second year running.
Graeme Hewitson, from Johnstone, once again walked away with the prestigious nod for Photographer of the Year at the Scottish Master Photographers Association awards.
The 47-year-old was a big winner at the event, which sees the best photographers in the country gather to celebrate each other’s work.
However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the glitzy bash in Grangemouth was postponed and organisers held a virtual event.
Dad-of-five Graeme still got dressed up alongside his wife Cherie and their kids for the awards night at home.
And Graeme ‘took home’ a staggering 14 awards for his photographs across ten separate categories including merits and awards of excellence in newborn, commercial, monochrome, child, digital art, family portrait and pet photography.
He also enjoyed category wins in classical portraiture and fashion photographer of the year.
His haul of impressive accolades helped him secure the most coveted award of the night - which Graeme said he thought would only ever happen once in his life.
He said: “It was a huge honour to win Scottish Master Photographer of the Year last year – it was the highest award of my career.
“But to repeat what I believed would be a oncein-a-lifetime achievement was overwhelming.
“It was really strange that it was all online, but we still had a great night.
“Most of us were all dressed up and we had a celebration party on Zoom once all the awards had been given out.
“It was great that we all managed to make the most of it.”
Graeme has been working as a freelance professional photographer for over 20 years and has run his own business, Monument Photos, for more than a decade.
Last year, the former graphic designer achieved a Fellowship of the
Master Photographers Association – which is the highest qualification level in professional photography.
He is one of only six people in Scotland to have received the accolade.
His work was picked out as some of the best against 1,000 photographs that were submitted to awards judges.
There were 22 different award categories covering everything from Animals and Pets to Weddings, Newborn Babies and Commercial photography, as well as the four top awards – Portrait Photographer of the Year, Wedding Photographer of the Year, General Photographer of the Year and the Overall Photographer of the Year 2020.
Despite his success, Graeme remains humble about his achievements.
He added: “I did not think I would have achieved what I have in my career, but I will never know it all.
“Even now while on lockdown I have been on YouTube learning about new techniques and trying them out in the studio.”
“There will always be something new for me to try out.”