Press & Journal photographer Colin Rennie, who was once personally requested by the Queen Mother to cover a story, is celebrating 30 years with Aberdeen Journals.

Colin, (48), worked up a rapport with the Queen Mother when he photographed her annual visits to Balmoral and when she opened a respite centre, the Queen Mother made sure Colin was there to cover the event for the P&J.

He said that along with the 1996 Dunblane massacre, it was one of the most memorable stories he has covered since he secured a job as a snapper in 1993.

Colin said: “The Queen Mother was just over 100 then but she came out of her Land Rover and we were chatting away. She put me so much at ease and was asking about digital cameras – she was very easy to talk to.”

Colin began his career with the paper as a compositor in the caseroom in 1974 but moved to the darkroom in the late 1980s before applying to become a photographer.

He said: “I’ve always been interested in photography and when some redundancies came in the late 1980s I applied for a job in the darkroom. At that time photographers took the pictures and gave them to the darkroom guys so I got experience from that side of it.

“Jim Love was a photographer at the P&J who I always looked up to and admired. When he left, I applied for the job, got a six-month trial and I’m still here really enjoying it.”

Aberdeen Journals managing director Alan Scott presented Colin with a clock to commemorate the anniversary and thank him for his outstanding service to the company.

Colin, (right), said: “I have enjoyed the job ever since I started. It is varied and every day is different whether it is news, court, features, sport, fashion or business.”

In March this year Colin was third in the Daily Routines category of Northcliffe Newspapers’ The Everyday photography competition. He was also highly commended at the 2000 BT Scotland Press and Broadcast Awards in the News Photographer of the Year category.

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