Sunday Post Magazine August 6th 2000. Having a Wonderful Time... interviewed by Ahrlene Ferguson

When secretary Sue Anderson decided she needed a change in lifestyle, back in 1985, she took the advice of Tory minister Norman Tebbit literally, got on her bike and went to find work. Armed with a £40 Enterprise Allowance Grant, the germ of an idea, a camera her father had given her and an old bike, she took six photographs of the tiny island of Coll, just west of Mull, where she lived. She had the photographs turned into postcards and persuaded the local shop to display them. The rest, as they say, is history.

Sixteen years later Sue is recognised as a specialist in Scottish islands photography and her postcards, calendars and photographs can be found the length and breadth of the west coast of Scotland - and indeed all over the world. "Not so long ago I sold my millionth postcard - that's an incredible milestone for me," she says from her new home near Duror in Argyll. Now Sue has the contract to do six new postcards of the Western Isles each year. The bike, however, was replaced, first by a moped - easier for transporting camera equipment around - then, after Sue was blown off the moped in a strong wind on Shetland, by a car. The car eventually became a camper van in which she could lie in wait for sunrise or sunset. "Many people think photography is all glamour and beauty, but often there are howling winds, pouring rain and freak weather conditions," says Sue.

And her favourite view? "The beaches in Tiree are beautiful and those cards are very popular," she says. "Port Askaig in Islay is also a favourite, but my own personal choice would be the postcard I have of two puffins standing back to back. This was the first image I ever sold."

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