A greenkeeper at a famous Highland golf course has scooped a top award for snapping a spectacular shot of the Northern Lights behind the clubhouse.
Darren Chisholm has won the annual photography award presented by the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (Bigga) for the stunning image taken at Castle Stuart, near Inverness.
The winning snap was chosen from thousands submitted from across the country and earned Mr Chisolm some glowing tributes from the association.
It is one of hundreds of pictures the 30-year-old has gathered of the aurora borealis in the north of Scotland since taking up photography little over a year ago.
The spectacular winning photograph was taken in February at about 11pm using a Nikon d7100 camera. Mr Chisolm used a torch to light the clubhouse while keeping the sky dark to show off the aurora.
He said: “I’m delighted to win this award. I never thought I would come close to winning and was shocked more than anything to find out that I had after seeing the quality of photos that were entered into the competition.”
The association’s chief executive, Jim Croxton, said: “Photography is a passion for many greenkeepers and their work environments provide them with wonderful and varied opportunities.
“The combination in the winning shot of the Northern Lights and Castle Stuart’s iconic clubhouse clearly caught the imagination of our membership as Darren’s photo was a clear winner of the member vote.”
From the thousands of pictures received, a shortlist of 24 entries was drawn up and they were voted on by the association membership across the world.
The 12 most popular photographs will be included in Bigga’s 2016 desktop calendar and, having scooped the most votes, Mr Chisolm’s picture has won him an iPad and a framed version of his aurora shot.
He will be presented with the prizes at the Bigga Turf Management Exhibition, Europe’s leading showcase for turf professionals and buyers, at the Harrogate International Centre in January.
Mr Chisolm has been part of the greenkeeping team at Castle Stuart for seven years, and has been interested in the Northern Lights since his childhood in Dornoch where they were regularly visible.
He now lives in Inverness and regularly pursues the phenomenon, using weather forecasts and moon-rise statistics to roughly predict when the aurora will be out and how strong it will be.