Ark Royal portrait snaps up top Naval picture prize; Praise for Liverpool photographer, 40.Byline: BEN SCHOFIELD A LIVERPOOL-BORN Royal Navy seaman is celebrating after he collected one of the service's top photography awards. His moody picture of flagship vessel HMS Ark Royal HMS Ark Royal is a name that has been borne by five ships in the British Royal Navy.
The Scottish Highlands (A' Ghàidhealtachd scooped Maritime Image of the Year. Leading Airman Gregg Macready, from Walton, took the picture while based on the aircraft carrier. LA Macready will add the award to the Maritime Air Prize that he won last year for a picture of a Merlin Helicopter on-board Ark Royal. LA Macready, 40, told the Daily Post: "It is fantastic to get the recognition. Winning prizes in two consecutive years, doing a job I love - it's an incredible feeling." Describing how he got the pictures, he continued: "The ship was going through the Strait of Mull and our skipper just wanted pictures of Ark Royal, so he sent me out in the sea boat and it was a case of getting what I could. And that was one of the shots that I got. You always try to get the best you can with the elements working for you as well." The awards were judged by Fleet Street picture editors and a for mer Royal Navy photogr apher. LA Macready joined the Royal Navy in 1990 and initially trained and as an electronic warfare Noun 1. electronic warfare - military action involving the use of electromagnetic energy to determine or exploit or reduce or prevent hostile use of the electromagnetic spectrum EW military action, action - a military engagement; "he saw action in Korea" engineer, serving on several warships. But, around five years ago, he changed tack and qualified as a photographer and image analyst at the Defence School of Photography in RAF Cosford. He joined the Fleet Regional Photographic Unit in Portsmouth and has since undertaken various photographic tasks taking him around the world, including stays in the USA, Caribbean, Gulf, Falklands, South Georgia South Georgia, island, c.1,450 sq mi (3,760 sq km), S Atlantic Ocean, c.1,200 mi (1,930 km) E of Cape Horn. A dependency of the Falkland Islands from 1908 to 1985 (along with the South Sandwich Islands, a group of nine small, volcanic islets c. and the Mediterranean. LA Macready won the award as part of the Royal Navy's annual Peregrine Trophy competition. The Peregrine aims to promote high professional standards in naval photography. As a photographer, LA Macready is technically part of the Fleet Air Arm, better known for providing the Royal Navy's air force. The Navy started employing photographers around 90years ago to monitor the accuracy of naval gun fire and to analyse ballistics data. Handing LA Macready his award at a ceremony in Por tsmouth naval base A naval base primarily for support of the forces afloat, contiguous to a port or anchorage, consisting of activities or facilities for which the Navy has operating responsibilities, together with interior lines of communications and the minimum surrounding area necessary for local yesterday, the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, said: " Without the photographic branch, the Royal Navy would not have such high visibility, and this is a really powerful image." TO SEE video of the Ark Royal in Liverpool, log on to www.liverpooldaily post.co.uk/video CAPTION(S): Leading Airman Gregg Macready's image of Ark Royal, set against the Scottish Highlands, won him a top Royal Navy award LA Gregg Macready |
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