Photographers from the regional press enjoyed a successful night at this year's Picture Editors' Awards, collecting seven of the 14 individual awards up for grabs.
Among the winners was Ian Rutherford from The Scotsman, who was named Getty Images Regional Photographer of the Year during a ceremony at the Guildhall in London.
He won the title with a portfolio of pictures that included a photograph of the Queen and another of the World Sevens rugby series at Twickenham.
Together with all the other winners, he was presented with his award by Alistair Campbell, the Prime Minister's chief press spokesman.
Eastern Daily Press photographer Simon Finlay scooped the Fujifilm Photographer of the Year title for local newspapers, while Colin Mearns from The Herald in Glasgow was this year's Fujifilm News Photographer of the Year.
One of Simon Finlay's winning images
Used courtesy of the Eastern Daily Press Simon said: "It's very nice to win, especially because picture editors have voted for it. It's the best recognition you can get."
Matthew Austin from the Express & Echo in Exeter also scooped a top honour, being named Diageo Young Photographer of the Year.
Meanwhile Kirsty Anderson from the Sunday Herald walked away with two top prizes, winning the Getty Images Magazine Photographer of the Year title along with the Business & Industry Photographer of the Year award.
The Corporation of London Student Award was presented to Veronique De Viguerie, who works for the Lincolnshire Echo.
One of Veronique De Viguerie's winning imagesThe awards recognise and reward the very best of photographic journalism in the UK and Ireland and more than 2,200 entries were received this year.
A jury of 25 picture editors put together a shortlist of 45 photographers for the awards and then picture editors from all daily, Sunday, and evening titles, together with WPA agencies, were then invited to vote for the ultimate winners.
For the first time, a Popular Vote was also introduced to allow other picture professionals to take part.
Two awards were also handed out to recognise the newspaper and magazine deemed to have made the best use of pictures.
The Daily Mirror and the Glasgow-based Sunday Herald were named Getty Images Newspapers of the Year, and the Getty Images Newspaper Magazine of the Year was awarded to The Herald Magazine.
To see a full list of award winners, click here.
The Getty Images Gallery in London will be hosting an exhibition of the winning entries from this year's Picture Editors' awards from June 10 until June 21.Back to the photography index
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