Competition day.

..up before 6 to do the chores. Met readings taken. Dog walked down the croft and onto the hill, the cats come too!.. Chickens fed, watered and eggs collected, and back to the house to feed the cats and dog. Then it's my turn!..

D turned up at 7:15, and I was almost ready! And then the drive to Cromarty for the 2015 Highland Challenge photography competition. A beautiful run through with brilliant sunshine in our eyes all the way. Deer on the road going over Dirrie, and plenty to talk about on the way.. We both share a love of our surroundings, and while D is fascinated by the geology, I'm perhaps more interested in Man's impact on the surroundings. Both share a need to gain knowledge, and understand the area. And trains!

Arrived around 9:30, quite early, and amongst the first to arrive after he 120 mile journey. Got the closest parking spot though! R and Croftcrafts turned up a bit later. The first speaker hadn't turned up, so Ian Cameron (transientlight) stood in with his talks. After a coffee break, the speaker still hadn't turned up, so Ian continued with an extra talk..

After a super lunch, Ian continued with the judging, giving good constructive comments, and marks. Very informative on his interpretations of our pictures (each club entered 10 pictures). Standards were again high, like the previous year, but the projection of the images was much better than last year.

I had three pictures in, simply because our club has been a bit disorganised, and only chose our final images a few days before the closing date. Our club scored a total of 137 points (from 200), with my pics scorring 13, 15 and 15, with 15 being the highest score for our entries. Quite pleased with that for a rush entry.

We didn't win any prizes, and like last year, nothing in the raffle either! The club improved it's position from last year when we were 10th. This year we came 8th, but still in last position with 2 fewer clubs entering!

Stopped off for a meal afterwards in Ullapool, before returning home to a warm welcome from Tanni..

All in all, a good day, with plenty learned. I said it last year, but next year we will do better!