Graeme snaps up honour
Joy for top photographer
Talented Renfrewshire photographer Graeme Hewitson has snapped up a top honour.
Graeme, who runs Monument Photos in Johnstone, was recently awarded Master Photographer status at the NEC Birmingham by the Master Photographers Association.
This makes him the only Master Photographer in the area and he is thrilled with the honour.
Delighted Graeme told us: “I love working with people and find great satisfaction capturing stunning portraits that tell a story, so that is the category I opted to enter.
“The process involved submitting 20 images of the highest standard to be assessed by the Master Photographers Association panel of judges.
“Judging took place at NEC, Bi rmingham, during the photography show on Monday last week.
“Mounted prints are displayed and each examiner judges images one by one in silence before combining their scores. Among the criteria marked are control and composition, lighting, technical ability and post processing.”
Graeme studied photography in the 1990s at Glasgow College of Building and Printing and was given his first film camera on his 21st birthday.
He added: “I found a growing passion for photography, which transitioned to the digital age several years later.
“In 2002 I released an urban landscape collection of images, including Paisley, that sold over quarter of a million prints and gave me the platform to develop a fulltime professional business with a studio based in Johnstone.
“Channel 4 made a short documentary on my work and I also appeared on Sky TV.
“My digital photography has been published widely in magazine, print and postcard format.
“My main work for last 10 years has been photographing people in many fields - elegant wedding photography, family portraits, model folios, corporate images and school photography.”
Graeme admits the whole process of achieving the Licentiate of the Master Photographers Association award was “daunting”.
He explained: “Submission and supporting documents took a year to put together, so I was delighted to be officially awarded Licentiate of the Master Photographers Association award.
“I was amazed to discover that I am the MPA’s only registered master photographer in Renfrewshire, which brings a real sense of achievement that I feel very honoured about.”