Katie Lowndes, 37, got to take pictures of the famous Fife crime author as part of an assignment for her HNC in photography at Fife College.
She had to do portrait photography as part of the course at Dunfermline Learning Campus, and one of the smaller projects involved the students photographing someone that is a Fifer.
Katie with a copy of Silent Bones. (Image: Katie Lowndes)
Explaining how the opportunity arose, Katie told the Press: “Most of the other students went for everyday people and all the rest of it, whereas I decided that I wasn’t.
“I was going to push my luck and see if I could get someone that was a well-known, famous celebrity.
“I managed to get a reply from Val McDermid’s agent, and she said that she would be more than happy to be involved.
“I had a look into her and found that she actually grew up in Wemyss. So, I asked if she had a location in mind and if she thought Wemyss Caves would be okay.
Famous crime author, Val McDermid. (Image: Katie Lowndes)
“She loved it and it turned out that that’s where she used to go when she was a child to tell stories to all the other kids. She lived in the village and grew up there.”
After doing the shoot, Katie sent the images over to Val’s agent.
From there, the images went to Val’s publisher, who asked if they could include them in her latest novel, Silent Bones, which is part of her Karen Pirie series.
Now, Katie also has a shoot booked in with crime author, Ian Rankin, later in the year and is preparing to officially graduate from Fife College in November.
She is also looking forward to continuing her education at Edinburgh College to undertake a bachelor’s in photography there.