A veteran DC Thomson photographer whose 40-year career took him from the cockpit of a fighter jet to shaking hands with Clint Eastwood has given a presentation to Cupar Camera Club.
Dougie Nicolson, of Dundee, who worked for the Evening Telegraph and The Courier before retiring in November 2020, gave a talk entitled The Good, the Bad and the Rest.
The 59-year-old told how he started in DC Thomson & Co Ltd Photo Lab in Bank Street, Dundee, in August 1980.
Those were the days of black and white film and ‘wet’ processing.
“I was the apprentice for two years before going onto shifts, which meant I was working in the darkroom printing,” he said.
“Also, I was now trusted to go out on photographic jobs for the Evening Telegraph, and The Courier.
“As we were based in the city centre, we could nip out and do these, when required.”
Perks of the job
Dougie explained how they then moved up to the Kingsway plant of DC Thomson in 1992.
This also heralded the start of colour printing, which involved ‘dry’ processing and printing.
In May 1999, he was promoted to full time photographer on The Courier.
“In my time I covered 24 RAF Leuchars Air Shows and 22 Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award presentations at the Palace Of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh,” he said.
“I also covered five Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone for The Courier.
“Other highlights have been G8 at Gleneagles, meeting Clint Eastwood and Richard Branson and covering Scotland football matches at Hampden.”
High-flying exploits
Amongst the top memories of Dougie’s career were his regular trips to RAF Leuchars.
It also gave him the opportunity to fly with the RAF several times.
Dougie added: “I achieved my boyhood dream of flying in a fast jet in 1995, when I flew in a Tornado F3, with 43 Squadron at RAF Leuchars, a fantastic two hour trip!
“I was also lucky enough to fly with the Red Arrows in 1999, when they flew over Edinburgh, in formation with Concorde, for the opening of the Scottish Parliament.
“Along with covering all the different aspects of news, sport, political, royal visits, and everything in between, I had a fantastic, fortunate career with DC Thomson.
“I took early retirement in November 2020, after 40 years, with so, so many happy memories of time there.”
Amongst those invited to attend Dougie’s Cupar Camera Club presentation on Thursday December 8 were his former boss – Courier journalist and former Courier news editor Michael Alexander who often attended Leuchars jobs with Dougie as a reporter back in the day.
Also invited was Dundee-born investigative journalist and former RAF Public Relations Officer for Scotland Michael Mulford, also now of Cupar, who facilitated many of the RAF Leuchars visits over the years.
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