Daniel Smith and Hannah Smith are two of Scotland’s best young rock climbers. Daniel is a Team GB Junior Lead Climbing representative and Hannah won the Scottish Youth Bouldering Championship (SYBC) the day before our shoot. The siblings train hard together and have a busy competition schedule all managed around their school life. 

I shot a few portraits of them climbing at a newly opened Edinburgh based bouldering centre (Eden Rock) for a charity they had both just become youth ambassadors for - Urban Uprising. Spending an hour with them, it was obvious to see that they get on well with each other and both were easy going, relaxed in front of the camera and definitely psyched to climb. I didn’t realise at the time that Hannah had won the SYBC so it was only later that I noted how humble she had been when I asked “How did yesterdays competition go then?” and she replied enthusiastically with “Yeah good really well thanks” without mentioning that she won it. They both expressed their excitement at getting to send some of the competition routes they previously hadn’t had chance to climb and this attitude of staying excited and focused on the opportunities that are immediately in front of them is clearly a contributing factor to their successes!