Shona Dickson Photography

21/08/2025

Bad Habits

Smoking doesn’t just take years off your life — it takes the quality of your life away too.

This image, “Bad Habits,” shows the harsh reality: a skeleton strapped to an oxygen mask, cigarette still burning. It’s darkly symbolic, but the truth behind it is no exaggeration. Smoking remains one of the leading causes of preventable death worldwide. Every puff delivers poison that scars the lungs, clogs the arteries, and damages the body beyond repair.

For many, the story ends like this — tied to oxygen tanks, struggling for every breath, still craving the very thing that’s destroying them.

⚠️ The facts are brutal:

Smoking kills over 8 million people each year globally.

Half of all long-term smokers will die from smoking-related illness.

Diseases like lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease, and stroke are all linked directly to ci******es.

And yet, quitting works. The body begins to heal almost immediately once you stop:

After 20 minutes, the heart rate and blood pressure drop.

Within 12 hours, carbon monoxide levels return to normal.

In 1 year, the risk of heart disease is cut in half.

In 10 years, the risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of a smoker.

This photograph is not just art — it’s a warning. Bad habits can kill. But breaking them can save your life.

Thank you to for awarding the image with a silver bar 🥰

23/07/2025

HELP NEEDED!
Are you – or do you know – a family from Dumfries who were on holiday in Agadir, Morocco, and went on a camel tour around the 12th of March 2025 ?

We happened to be on the same tour and I took a few lovely family photos of you by the camels. I’d love to pass them on as a gift — they turned out beautifully!

Please share or tag anyone who might help me find them 🐪📸🙏

Photo of camel for attention 😄

20/07/2025

GOLD AWARD for June's entry this one was a bit of a labour of love with all the AI we see on social media these days I often wonder if it's all worth it , but getting creative and creating art with the camera lens is much more rewarding that typing words into a machine ! Once again I was modelling for myself 🤣🥰

🌟 June 2025 Gold Award – Illustrative 🌟
🏆 Shona Dickson - ILSWPP
📸 Website: https://www.instagram.com/shona_dickson_photography/

03/06/2025

The Forbidden Feast

If a picture could sum up coeliac disease I would like to think this could be it .

Aaron was diagnosed in June 2024 since then we try to create art together to help educate and spread awareness.

the idea behind this image was to describe what happens to the body when gluten is consumed. The immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own tissues causing damage to the small intestines.

I was delighted to find out it scored Highly commended in the The Society of Photographers this month too myself and Aaron are very happy with the result :)

Thank you to Dimplybean for helping create the image by making me a custom intestine it was so lifelike Aaron thought it was real when he first seen it and said it was disgusting 😂 which is exactly what I was aiming for ! ❤

02/05/2025

Dying to be seen

We’ve all been there, stuck in the system—waiting for an appointment, a diagnosis, a decision. And while we wait, the world doesn’t pause with us. It moves on. Sometimes, without us.

The skeleton isn’t just a macabre joke—it’s a metaphor for those who have fallen through the cracks. It’s the elderly man in need of a hospital bed. The woman waiting months for a specialist. The person whose paperwork was “lost in the system.” It’s every voice silenced by delay.

Anyone else feeling the pain from waiting on the NHS ?

26/04/2025

🌟 March 2025 Gold Award – Illustrative 🌟
🏆 Shona Dickson ILSWPP

16/04/2025

A pure picture of happiness 😂 3 different moods in less than 20 mins each , got to love the attitudes of toddlers ! thanks for visiting DARCI- MAE although I don't appreciate being called nanna it's aunt shona ! 😂

02/04/2025

When Pets Grieve Too

Losing a beloved pet is one of the most heart-wrenching experiences a person can go through. The emptiness they leave behind is profound, and the grief can feel overwhelming. But what many people don’t realize is that our pets grieve, too. Animals form deep emotional bonds, and when they lose a companion—whether human or another pet—they feel that loss in ways we often overlook.

The Silent Mourning of Pets

Just like humans, animals exhibit behaivior that reflect sorrow and mourning. A dog who has lost their lifelong companion may wander the house, searching for them, or sit quietly in places they once shared. Some may refuse food, become withdrawn, or even whimper as if calling out for their lost friend.

As many of you know we lost one of our dogs recently the lovely lady storm, so I wanted to create an image that represents pet loss The image below captures this sentiment beautifully. my remaining dog mr storm stands before a framed photograph of his lost companion, a quiet reflection of the love and memories they shared. It’s a reminder that grief is not just a human experience.

Thank you the judges at The Society of Photographers for my gold award .❤

08/03/2025

Stitched in Strength: A Reflection for International Women’s Day

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, I find myself drawn to the story within my self-portrait. A woman, weary yet enduring, seated at a sewing machine—an image that speaks of resilience, labor, and the unseen efforts of countless women throughout history.

Women have long been the quiet architects of strength, stitching together families, communities, and societies with patience and perseverance. Like the unfinished cloth spilling to the floor, our work is never truly done. We fight for equality, for recognition, for our voices to be heard. We push forward, despite exhaustion, despite obstacles, despite a world that too often underestimates us.

This portrait is not just my story—it is the story of so many women who have toiled in silence, who have fought battles no one sees, who have carried burdens heavier than they should. It is a tribute to the hands that have built, nurtured, and mended.

Today, we honor those women. The ones who came before us, the ones beside us, and the ones yet to come. We celebrate not just our achievements, but our endurance—our ability to rise, to persist, and to create beauty even in struggle.

May we continue to thread change into the fabric of this world. May we continue to uplift one another. And may we never forget that even in our moments of exhaustion, we are powerful, we are resilient, and we are enough.

Happy International Women’s Day.

06/03/2025

Happy !! Roahl Dahl is one of my favourite children's authors I have done a few of his other characters in the past this year we went for James and the giant peach, did you know the first edition of this book was released in 1961 ! Not only that but he dedicated the book to his daughter Olivia who passed away from measles encephalitis at 7 only years old . This image was also awarded highly commended with The Society of Photographers ❤️

04/03/2025

sharing the love for my super talented friend and fellow photographer Debby Munro Photography she captured photographs of my son and his amazing girlfriend, who gave me the most precious granddaughter I will forever treasure these images and wee ruby who has been Patrick's companion for almost 11 years now !

01/03/2025

As some of you will know we lost our beautiful girl mrs storm in January . This is one of my recent photographs I had taken of her, when I got her ashes back I knew I wanted something special to remind me of her and I reached out to Cumbria Life Casting and asked if they could make me a ring with her ashes that colour matched with her photograph . This morning I received the most beautiful stacking ring honestly so blown away by how stunning it is thank you so much ❤