ASPC is rightly fond of local amateur photographic talent, having entered into a third year of inviting amateur photographers to submit entries to our photography competition. The response has been impressive and we found it difficult to limit ourselves to twelve winners.

In addition to receiving a modest gift, one of 12 winners is featured on our website homepage every month.

Our June winners, Alex and Beth Dawson-Edwards, sent us a striking view of Slains Castle. Situated a little North of Cruden Bay, the ruins of the castle have acquired a degree of fame due to an association with Dracula and the author Bram Stoker. He is reputed to have gained inspiration for Count Dracula’s castle from a visit to Buchan.

Buchan is a coastal district of Aberdeenshire and is generally thought to comprise the area between the rivers Deveron and Ythan. Its main town is Peterhead - a bustling fishing port and oil industry service centre. It’s believed to be the busiest white fish market in Europe. 

While the coastal scenery is, perhaps, the most widely known facet of Buchan, a word about the interior would not go amiss. The broad coastal plain of Buchan contains a sweep of productive farmland dotted with settlements. There is a feeling of wide open space here and the landscape and sky can provide enthralling views in their own right.

The rocky coastline is renowned for its cliffs and wildlife, particularly cliff dwelling seabirds. It’s not all cliffs, however. There are also beautiful beaches in the coastline, such as Peterhead, Cruden Bay, the Ythan estuary at Newburgh, and Balmedie.

We liked this photograph for its ability to capture the rugged relationship between the land and the sea in our North East corner of Scotland.

If you’re interested in learning more about each one of our images as part of our photography competition, then why not take a look at one of our previous submissions, here.