On Sunday 19th July, the PAGB Inter Club PDi Championship 2026 was held at Warwick. This was the first time Colchester had qualified for this event in quite a while and our available image bank was strong. Unfortunately our strong set of people pictures were rendered unusable by the unexpectedly low scores (typically 10) that even very good people shots were getting. With very good landscape also only getting 12 marks, this left us just short of the top ten clubs after round 1 and a real selection dilemma for round 2 where we needed to get some high scores to secure a place in the final round by finishing in the top 8. Unfortunately these selections didn’t really lead to the improvement we needed and we remained 11th overall at the end of the first two rounds.
On Monday 13th April, we travelled to Ipswich for our Annual Battle. The competition consists of 15 prints and 15 pdi images with a maximum of one per author across the entire competition.
In a keenly contested first half, we tied the prints with 137.5 marks each. The judge decided to spread the marks a little more in the second half and we won the pdi section, scoring 130.5 marks to 125.5.
Club
Prints
PDI
Total
Colchester
137.5
130.5
268
Ipswich
137.5
125.5
263
Congratulations to the following authors who scored the maximum mark of 10 on the evening: Chrissie Hart for ‘Chance Encounter’, Shaun Hykel for ‘Beautiful Autumn Colours’, Ben Heather for ‘Social Wasp Stripping Wood’ and Andrew Bailey for ‘On the edge of the mist’.
On Sunday 15th March, we travelled to Fulbourn for the EAF Print Championships.
We got off to an unbelievably strong start with several scores of 14 and also a 15. Although our marks came down slightly, we were one point behind the Beyond Group as we started the second half of the judging, with 5 prints left per club. Despite not quite managing to catch them, we were delighted to finish in 2nd place overall and so we have once again qualified for the Print Championships of Great Britain, which is to be held in October in a new venue in the west Midlands.
Congratulations to Chris Aldred, whose image ‘Room with a View’ scored 14 and picked up Bob Moore’s judges award for his favourite print of the day. Congratulations also to Colin Westgate, whose image ‘Fence and Snow, Iceland’ picked up the award from the backroom print handlers.
Congratulations also to Roy Essery, Chris Aldred, Chrissie Hart and Andrew Bailey who had scores of 14 or more.
Well done to all authors who had images selected – please let me know if you get an image worthy of consideration for the National Finals which takes place later in the year in October, as we will be hoping to assemble as strong a selection of prints as possible.
On Tuesday 3rd March we travelled south to Braintree for the Braintree Mono Challenge. The competition comprises six monochrome prints from each club. Five of our six prints were held back and the judge seemed to react very favourably to our work.
Position
Club
Score
1
Colchester PS
54.5
2
Chelmsford
52
3
Maldon
50.5
4
Halstead
49.5
5
Clacton
46
6
Dunmow
45
6
Great Notley
45
8
Springfield
44.5
9
Braintree
43
10
Pierrefitte
42
Our six images fared as follows
Title
Author
Score
Gale Force 8
Shaun Hykel
8.5
Model Interior
Jeff Scott
10
Julio Napolis and Friend
Roy Essery
10
Destitution Road
Colin Westgate
8
Protection
Chrissie Hart
9
Seeking Enlightenment
Kate Jackson
9
‘Model Interior’ and ‘Julio Napolis and Friend’ were two of only four prints that were given maximum marks on the evening.
Congratulations to all authors for having their work selected.
On Sunday 15th February, we travelled to Fulbourn for the EAF PDI Championships, hoping to qualify for the National Finals, which is usually held at Warwick School in July.
The marking was incredibly tight (a complete contrast to the marking at Blackburn, where if you scored an 11 out of 15 you were falling behind). This time, 11 was quite a good mark, a score of 12 and above and you were doing very well.
Although not really having many high scores, we had quite a number of 11s and 12s in the first round and managed to avoid getting many 9s, which were liberally given out to many images on show. This left us in third place at the end of the first round.
After lunch, we held off a strong fightback from Cambridge to finish third overall and I am delighted to say that we have now qualified for the PDi Championships at Warwick. This is a great day out and an opportunity to see the very best of club photography in Great Britain. I will forward details of this event when I have them.
Congratulations to Robert Macdonald, whose image Fighting Fieldfares scored 15 and was awarded best image on the day.
Congratulations to all authors who had images selected – please let me know if you get an image worthy of consideration for the National Finals as we will be hoping to assemble as strong an entry as possible for Warwick over the next couple of months.
All rounds of the Mersea Island Challenge Trophy have now been completed and I am delighted to be able to report that Colchester were the top scoring club in the 12 rounds of this year’s competition.
Position
Club
Total
Average
1
Colchester PS
1107
18.5
2
Selby
1078
18.0
3
Norwich and District
1062
17.7
4
North Norfolk
1037
17.3
5
X Rolls Royce
1035
17.3
6
Dingwall
1032
17.2
7
Dalston
1030
17.2
8
South Liverpool
1004
16.7
9
Mersea
973
16.2
10
Rochdale
959
16.0
11
Ivybridge
945
15.8
12
East Ipswich
935
15.6
Our six images fared as follows
Title
Author
Total
Average
The Pounce – Arctic Wolves
Derek Howes
223
18.6
Territorial Dispute
Chris Aldred
227
18.9
The Guardians
Colin Westgate
211
17.6
Herringfleet Mill in freezing fog
Andrew Bailey
229
19.1
Fighting Fieldfares
Robert Macdonald
217
18.1
Discarded
Roy Essery
220
18.3
Our images scored consistently very highly, with ‘Herringfleet Mill’ and ‘Territorial Dispute’ both in the top 5 scoring images from all club entries, closely followed by ‘The Pounce – Arctic Wolves’. ‘Discarded’ was the top scoring of the tiebreak images from all clubs.
We will see if we can defend the title in next year’s competition!
We have now completed this year’s competition with Wetzlar. Each club’s entry consists of 15 colour pdi and 15 mono pdi images and we used a maximum of one image per author in each section with lots of different authors contributing to our selection.
Leg
Mono
Colour
Total
Colchester Leg – Colchester
135
128
263
Colchester Leg – Wetzlar
130
121
251
Wetzlar Leg – Colchester
126
127
253
Wetzlar Leg – Wetzlar
104.5
119
223.5
Combined totals were
Club
Mono
Colour
Overall
Colchester
261
255
516
Wetzlar
234.5
240
474.5
Congratulations to all authors who had their work used and I believe this shows the strength in depth that we have at Colchester Photographic Society.
Four images achieved a perfect score: Territorial Dispute by Chris Aldred, Gale Force 8 by Shaun Hykel, Eddie by Steve Ball, and Red Fox by Derek Howes.
This year the Exhibition is now in the second year of the new venue at The Apex Gallery, Charter Square, Bury St. Edmunds, IP33 3FD, running from Saturday 2nd May 2026. The official opening will be at 2.00pm by the then Federation President, Paul Radden, DPAGB, E/FIAP/g, PSA4*, followed by the presentation of awards and a full-screen-projected display of the accepted PDI images. The Exhibition closes at 1.00pm on Sunday 17th May. With this newer location we are hoping that more people will attend and visit the exhibition, with more on offer around the local area.
I appreciate that it may seem a long way off at present but now is the time to start thinking about your image selection. This is one event where you can choose which images you want to submit and, although they are submitted through the club, the selection committee have no say in what gets entered, so I am giving you plenty of notice.
The rules and entry form are all on the Society’s website and are attached below; please read them carefully. You can submit a maximum of 4 PDI’s, 4 Colour and 4 Mono Prints. Please do not use any other entry form other than our entry form which is available on the club’s website.
We will be using the club’s ‘Photo Entry System’, which everyone seems to have mastered. The deadline will be Tuesday 3rd March. You will also need PDI’s to accompany all your prints.
Please download the word document entry form, also linked below. The file name of any PDI submitted must be the exact same as the PDI or Print title entered on the entry form and in the case of prints, the exact same as the title on the back of the print itself, top left as you view the print from the rear. (variations in the past have caused problems). Please send it to Steve Robinson, raffle@colchesterphotosoc.co.uk by no later than Tuesday 3rd March, No late entries please. The cost is 60p per image, payable in cash only please, to Steve Robinson.
Prints can be handed to me before, but by no later than, Tuesday 10th March, which is the ‘3 on a Theme and Tryptych’ competition. As there may be a shortage of prints this year, please give it some thought and make a submission. Sadly, there will be some prints that will not be selected. These will be returned on Tuesday 7th April club night which is the third and final round of the Mono Print League.
I hope to see a good response from you all; in the past you have not let us down.
On Thursday 13th November, we travelled to Halstead for the Twin Towns competition. This year there were a full complement of 6 clubs taking part, submitting 11 PDI images to the competition.
I was impressed with Mike Fuller’s judging, giving each image a well rounded critique and drawing out the positives in each of the images. Fortunately he seemed to like the style of the Colchester images and we were rewarded with five of the seven 20s given on the night. Congratulations to the authors of these images.
The final positions were
Position
Club
Score
1st
Colchester
204
2nd
Halstead
187
3rd
Wetzlar
184
4th
Pierrfitte
167
5th
Braintree
165
6th
Haubourdin
163
Our images fared as follows
Title
Author
Score
Psychedelic Walkway
Hilary Knight
16
Dundee V & A
Steve Ball
17
Shall we Dance?
Chris Pugh
20
Llyn Dinas Morning
Roy Essery
20
Territorial Dispute
Chris Aldred
20
Storm Jorge Lightshow
Kate Jackson
17
Golden Eagle
Marny Macdonald
20
Stokksnes, Iceland
Colin Westgate
18
Gale Force 8
Shaun Hykel
18
The Pounce - Arctic Wolves
Derek Howes
18
Fighting Fieldfares
Robert Macdonald
20
The icing on the cake was the award of best image to Shall we Dance? by Chris Pugh. In fact, this was the second consecutive year that Chris has won best image – an impressive feat!
Colchester’s images that were used on the night can be seen in the attached PDF below.
Our next external competition is via zoom against Wetzlar in December.
On Tuesday 21st October, we enjoyed the 8 by 8 competition at Christ Church. It was lovely to see such a high standard of print on display from a variety of different genres and authors which goes to show the art of printing is still a strength in this region. It was neck and neck at half time, with a three way tie for the lead. The scoring was high on the night and one low score proved to be tough to make up. We were fortunate in that the judge liked all of our prints and although we only had one 20 (Colin Westgate’s ‘The Guardians’, well done Colin!) we averaged 19 across all 8 prints, 3 marks ahead of our nearest rivals. Thanks to all members who helped to put on a delightful buffet in the interval and for being so welcoming with our guests from other clubs.
On Saturday 18th October, the PAGB Inter Club Print Championship 2025 was held at Blackburn. This was the third time in three years that Colchester had qualified for this event and our available image bank had been depleted after the previous two years. Nevertheless, we had a strong set of 12 images for the ‘qualifying round’ and had some hopes that we would finish in the top 8 and qualify for the final.
The EAF is thrilled to announce a brand-new event designed to bring our photographic community closer together — the EAF Duxford 26, taking place at the iconic Duxford Imperial War Museum!
Wow, didn’t we do well on Sunday! One never expects to come out on top, and we certainly didn’t. So, it was a shock when it was officially announced. There had been murmurs over the lunch break that we may have won, but you don’t count your chickens until they have hatched.
This means that we will again represent the EAF in the National Championships in Blackburn in October.
The full results are linked below, as is the picture (taken by our esteemed Chairman) of Chris and I receiving the EAF Trophy and Certificate from Nick Akers, ARPS, BPE 4*, Federation President.
Well done to all of you who had images accepted to represent the Society and thanks also to those who attended in support, as well as to Chris for co-ordinating it all. A fantastic day.
The Fulbourn Centre (Townley Memorial Hall), 31 Home End, Fulbourn, Cambridge CB21 5BS.
There will also be a display of last year’s PAGB ‘Masters of Print’ Exhibition.
Entries are now closed but tickets are still available at £8.50 from Hugh Spence: ChampionshipSec@eaf.org.uk If you are considering applying for a photographic award of merit here’s an opportunity to see the type of images that could do well. Your club doesn’t have to enter the competition.
Everyone is welcome. We are delighted to announce that after lunch there will be a print talk by one of our judges Roger Reynolds HonFRPS APAGB FBPPA FBPE.
The 2025 EAF PDI Championship was held at Fulbourn and there were 23 clubs taking
part, rather fewer than usual this year. Sport and Nature images scored very well.
The event was won by Beyond with a decisive 313pts
Position
Club
Points
1
Beyond
313
2
PICO
299
3
Bury St Edmunds
298
4
Melbourn
289
5
North Norfolk
287
6
Cambridge
286
7
Colchester
284
Best Image went to Robin Lee of Bury St Edmunds with “Little Crake”
Colchester’s best score was 14 for Marny Macdonald’s “Golden Eagle chases Magpie from it’s meal”
This year the Exhibition has moved to a new venue at The Apex Gallery, Charter Square, Bury St. Edmunds, IP33 3FD, running from Saturday 3rd May 2025. The official opening will be at 2.00pm by the Federation President, Nick Akers, ARPS BPE4*, followed by the presentation of awards and a full-screen-projected display of the accepted PDI images. The Exhibition closes at 1.00pm on Sunday 18th May. With this new location we are hoping that more people will attend and visit the exhibition, with more on offer around the area.
I appreciate that it may seem a long way off at present but now is the time to start thinking about your image selection. This is one event where you can choose which images you want to submit and, although they are submitted through the club, the selection committee have no say in what gets entered, so I am giving you plenty of notice.
The rules and entry form are all on the Society’s website and are attached here; please read them carefully. You can submit a maximum of 4 PDI’s, 4 Colour and 4 Mono Prints. Please do not use any other entry form other than our entry form which is available on the club’s website.
We will be using the club’s ‘Photo Entry System’, which everyone seems to have mastered. The deadline will be Tuesday 4th March. You will need PDIs to accompany all your prints.
Please download the word document entry form on the club website, (or use the one attached). The file name of any PDI submitted must be the exact same as the PDI or Print title entered on the entry form and in the case of prints, the exact same as the title on the back of the print itself, top left as you view the print from the rear. (variations in the past have caused problems). Please send it to Steve Robinson, raffle@colchesterphotosoc.co.uk by no later than Tuesday 4th March, No late entries please. The cost is 60p per image, payable in cash only please, to Steve Robinson.
Prints can be handed to me before, but by no later than, Tuesday 11th March, which is the ‘3 on a Theme and Tryptych’ competition. As there may be a shortage of prints this year, please give it some thought and make a submission. Sadly, there will be some prints that will not be selected. These will be returned on Tuesday 1st April club night, which is a presentation “His and Hers” by Pat and Melvyn Frewin.
I hope to see a good response from you all; in the past you have not let us down.
Report on Halstead “Twin Towns” PDI Competition - Thursday 14th Nov 2024
The competition took place at the Methodist Church in Halstead.
The Judge was Mike Fuller again this year.
This year there were only five clubs entered as Wetzlar’s organiser recently passed away suddenly, so they felt they couldn’t participate, they will be back next year.
Results
Club
Score
Colchester
204
Haubourdin
176
Halstead
175
Braintree
168
Pierrfitte
163
The Best Image went to Chris Pugh of CPS for “ The Forgotten Woman”
Four other of our members were awarded a maximum score of 20.
Steve Ball for “Donald Trump devours a Lighthouse”
CPS qualified to enter this event by finishing in the final at last years event. There were 38 clubs qualified to enter one of which withdrew, leaving 37 participants.
The 29th April was the annual CPS V Ipswich competition at Ipswich this year, Judged by Julie Hutson
Ipswich won the print competition by a tiny half point margin, but CPS came back well on the PDI competition beating Ipswich by 6.5 points and thus won the overall competition by 6 points.
We have had the last round of this years competition held at Tonbridge and judged by Paul Parkinson CPAGB.
CPS won this round with 91 points from North Norfolk and Tonbridge both on 87 points. So Colchester were Second overall from North Norfolk and Tonbridge were third.
The Final scores were:-
Club
Score
North Norfolk
1079
Colchester
1057
Tonbridge
1028
Dalston
1006
XRR
990
Dingwall
990
Rochdale
986
Ivybridge
976
St Austell
972
Mersea
948
E Ipswich
941
Newport
938
Full results from all rounds can be found in Master Scoresheet document.
Total CPS individual Scores:-
Author
Image
Score
Colin Westgate FRPS MPAGB
Sunrise, Mersea Island
208
Chrissie Alexander
Piercing Souls with Beauty
206
Marny Macdonald DPAGB
Lammergeier
215
Roy Essery MPAGB
Man in a Headscarf
215
Derek Howes DPAGB
Goldfinch versus Chaffinch
213
Chris Aldred ARPS DPAGB
Contemplation
211
Full results from all rounds can be found in documents below.
AWARDS FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC MERIT (APM) ADVISORY DAY supported by the PAGB
Foxton Village Hall, Hardman Road, Foxton, Cambridge, CB22 6RN
Sunday, 1st September 2024, 10.00am – 5.00pm
Foxton is situated south west of Cambridge, five miles from the M11 at junction 10. The centre is fully accessible for the disabled.
The advisory day will be led by Rod Wheelans with other members of the PAGB APM Team. In the morning they will clearly explain the various PAGB Photographic Awards and the standard of work necessary to achieve the BPAGB, CPAGB, DPAGB, EPAGB and MPAGB distinctions.
In the afternoon delegates will get the opportunity to have an initial panel of work assessed to give an overview of their current standard, plus guidance about which level they might aim for and what they will need to do to achieve this.
The cost of the event, including light refreshments, will be £24.00 for those requiring assessments and £12.00 for observers. (Please note that lunches are not available at the venue). Numbers will be limited and the event is likely to be popular so an early application is recommended.
A completed application form (see link below), together with your cheque payable to EAF, should be sent to: Vic Hainsworth ARPS DPAGB APAGB, 5 Magazine Farm Way, Lexden, Colchester, Essex CO3 4ER.
E-mail: AwardsOfficer@eaf.org.uk Applications to be received by no later than Monday, 19th August 2024.
The championships that were held at Fulbourn, the result has been amended as Norwich entered 6 nature images, one more than the permitted! Have had the score for that image deleted from their total dropping them from 3rd to 9th position.
The results are now:
1st PICO
2nd Beyond
3rd Colchester Photographic Society
Of our images it was pleasing to see that Ben Heather’s “Banded Demoiselle” achieved our highest individual score of 14, and that “Pasque Flower” by Mary Battye scored 13.
Images by Robert Macdonald and Colin Westgate also scored 13.
The judges seemed to be fair and treated all genres of subject with respect.
Full results and CPS individual scores can be found below.
This event wil take place at the Wingfield Barns in Suffolk from Saturday 4th May 2024 with the official opening by the President followed by the presentation of the awards at 2.00pm and a full screen projected display of the accepted PDI images. The exhibition closes at 1.00pm on Sunday 19th May, is well worth a drive up there.
I appreciate that it may seem a long way off at the moment but now is the time to start thinking about your selection. This is one event where you can choose which images you want to submit and, although they are submitted through the club, the selection committee have no say in what goes forward, so lam giving you al plenty of notice.
The rules and entry forms are all on the Society’s website; please read them carefully. You can submit a maximum of 4 PDIs, 4 Colour and 4 Mono Prints. Please do not use any other entry form other than our club entry form which is available on the clubs website.
This year we are again going to use the ‘Photo Entry System’, which everyone seems to have mastered. The deadline will be Tuesday 5th March. You will need PDIs to accompany lal print entries.
Please download the word document entry form from the club website. The file name of any PDI submitted must be the exact same as the PDI or Print title entered on the entry form and, in the case of the prints, the exact same as the title on the back of the print itself, (variations in the past have presented problems). Send it to Steve Robinson, publicitysecretary@colchesterphotosoc.co.uk by no later than Tuesday 5th March. No late entries please. The cost is 60p per image, payable in cash only please, to Steve Robinson by that date.
Prints can be handed to me before, but by no later than, Tuesday 12th March, which is the “Little Print Show” by Jonathan Vaines. Again, no late entries please.
As there could be a shortage of images this year, please give it some thought and make a submission. Sadly, there will be some prints which will not get through selection on Sunday 7th April. These wil be returned on Tuesday 9th April club night which is the final round of the monochrome league.
I hope to see a good response from you all, and the very best of luck. Vic
CPS qualified to be one of the clubs representing the EAF at this event by coming 4th at
the EAF InterClub Championships in March 2023. The other EAF Clubs were PICO Beyond
and Melbourn.
Last Tuesday evening Colchester Photographic Society hosted their annual “8 x 8 Inter-Club Competition”, so called because eight clubs are invited to compete each offering up 8 prints from 8 individual club members.
This season marks a very special anniversary as it is Vic Hainsworth, our Club Presidents 50th year as a member of Colchester Photographic Society. The first night of our 2023/24 season saw a celebration by the club of this acheivement.
The EAF enters the PAGB Inter-Fed Competition and Exhibition every year, with images selected from the high scoring and award winning entries to our Exhibition held immediately beforehand.
This year the Inter-Fed was again for Prints only and comprised three sections – Nature, Open Colour and Open Mono.
The EAF came 4th in the Colour Print section, 5th in the Mono and 2nd (Equal with MCPF and WCPF) in the Nature.
A good showing for the EAF in a close fought competition against 13 other Federations. Overall marks were very close at the top with just 4 points between 2nd and 1st places in the Nature, 7 points between us and the 1st place in the Mono and 14 points in the Colour sections.
From our entry we had 6 images accepted for exhibition from the Colour section, 6 from the Mono and 6 from the Nature sections. A total of 8 images were given awards – three certificates, three PAGB Ribbons and two Judge’s Choice awards.
Very well done to all those who had images selected for the competition and especially well done to all of those who had acceptances and awards from the judging!
Chelmsford Camera Club Challenge Shield Competition for a Panel of 6 Prints
The competition is open to all EAF clubs and requires competing clubs to submit up to two panels, each of six prints. The production of panels is a valuable discipline we would like to encourage and this competition is one way of doing so.
This Year’s Competition will be held on Saturday 7th October 2023 at 2.00pm at:
Springfield Parish Centre St Augustine’s Way Springfield Chelmsford CM1 6GX
It’s nearly the end of the 2022/23 season and it seems like a good time to ask people to share their thoughts on a couple of topics that the club committee would value your opinions on.
Below you will find a link to the CPS Members Questionnaire 2023. It should take no more than 10 minutes to complete and your feedback would be hugely valued.
—SURVEY CLOSED—
Many thanks for reading and taking the time to complete the questionnaire,
Last weekend the EAF Print Championships were held at Fulbourn when we did exceptionally well to come 2nd out of 18 clubs competing, only one point behind the winners, (full report elsewhere). CPS will now go on to help represent the EAF at the PAGB Inter-Federation Print Championships at Blackburn in October.
This event will take place at the Wingfield Barns, Eye, in Suffolk from Saturday, 29th April, with the official opening by the Federation President and presentation of the awards at 2.00pm, and closing at 1.00pm on Thursday, 11th May. Showcasing some of the best photography in our region, this is well worth a visit. You could have lunch at the nearby De La Pole Arms restaurant, Church Road, Wingfield, IP21 5RA, (advisable to book in advance).
I appreciate that it may seem a long way off at the moment but now is the time to start thinking about your selection. This is one event where you can choose which images you want to submit and, although they are submitted through the club, our selection committee have no say in what goes forward, so I am giving you all plenty of notice.
The rules and entry forms are all on our Society’s website (see below); please read them carefully. You can submit a maximum of 4 PDIs, 3 Colour and 3 Mono Prints. Please do not use any other entry form other than our club entry form.
This year we are again going to use the ‘Photo Entry System’, which everyone seems to have mastered so far. The deadline will be Tuesday, 28th February. You will need PDIs to accompany all print entries.
Please download the word document entry form from the club website. The file name of any PDI submitted must be the same as the PDI or Print title entered on the entry form and, in the case of the prints, the same as the title on the back of the print itself (variations in the past have presented problems). Send it to Steve Robinson, publicitysecretary@colchesterphotosoc.co.uk by no later than Tuesday, 28th February. No late entries please. The cost is 60p per image, payable in cash only please, to Steve Robinson by that date.
Prints can be handed to me before, but by no later than, Tuesday, 7th March, which is the final round of the Colour Print League. Again, no late entries please.
There could be a shortage of images this year, so please give it some thought and make a submission. Last year we had a very good entry with many of you getting acceptances. Sadly, there will be some prints which will not get through the judges’ selection on Sunday, 2nd April. These will be available on Tuesday, 11th April club night which is the final round of the Mono league.
I hope to see a good response from you and the very best of luck to you all.
A competition between Halstead, Braintree, Colchester and their twin European towns of Haubourdin, Pierrefitte and Wetzlar.
Eleven images entered from each club.
Mike Fuller judged the competition and gave a very considered critique of each image.
The event was sponsored by London Camera Exchange and was attended by Mayors from all the UK clubs.
On Tuesday 18th October the club hosted the 8x8 Trophy competition where 8 clubs enter 8 images each from a different author.
The competition was judged by Clive Tanner FRPS MPAGB APAGB who did an excellent job in critiquing the images.
Four of our member’s prints scored 20, Colin Westgate, Chrissie Hart, Chris Aldred and Roy Essery whose “At home with Julio Napolis” was awarded best print of the evening.
Club members brought in an impressive spread of food for the break at half time. A successful evening.
Vic Hainsworth, our illustrious club President, has now assumed Presidency of the EAF having been handed over the responsibility from outgoing President Colin Birch.
Our President, Vic Hainsworth was recently awarded the PAGB distinction of APAGB. The letters signify ‘Award for Meritorious Service’ and are in recognition of services over many years within the PAGB community of member Federations and affiliated Clubs. The presentation of Vic’s Certificate and badge was made by the current EAF President, Colin Birch, at a meeting of Colchester PS on 4th January.
I regret to advise you that the North Essex Inter-club PDI competition, due to be held on the 30th November, has had to be cancelled due to several clubs disappointingly failing to support the event this year. As we were the winning club last year, we were due to host the event this year, but this will now be carried over to next season, when it will be held in November or early December.
However, the cancellation is a “mixed blessing” , as I am delighted to say that our own Tony Bramley has kindly agreed to step in and will be giving his talk “Principles and Elements of Art in Photography”. This promises to be a fascinating and instructive presentation and I am looking forward to it.
Last night the 8 x 8 Print Trophy took place with Sarah Kelman, ARPS, DPAGB having the job of appraising the prints. The standard was quite high considering the majority of clubs have not been holding print competitions. Results are as attached.
Chelmsford Camera Club were the clear winners with three of the seven 20 marks awarded; our picture shows Sally Freeman, CPAGB from Chelmsford receiving the main trophy. Sally’s print is in the background and was one of their higher scoring prints.
Gill Beckett, ARPS, CPAGB from Halstead and District PS won the over-all Best Print, for “Cuban Car”, presented to her in front of her print.
Congratulations go to Jonathon Dadds from our club, achieving a 20 for his “The Jewish Museum, Berlin”. Jonathon narrowly missed being awarded Best Print.
Sadly, due to the current situation, attendance was quite low. I had restricted numbers from the other clubs so the numbers would be manageable in present circumstances. However, two of the participating clubs had no attendees and there was a low turn-out from our members.
There was no buffet this year but thanks go to those members who turned up early to help put out equipment, run the evening and clear away afterwards. As Sarah Kelman said, this was her first outing to judge live since before Covid and it was great to see actual PRINTS. The audience seemed to agree and we received many positive comments at the end.
Hopefully, we will be able to return to our normal format next year, including our usual buffet.
On Saturday afternoon, 16th October, Chelmsford’s 4C’s Panel Competition took place in the Springfield Community Centre. Each club can enter two panels of 6 prints on any theme. Sadly, the number of clubs entering was down this year; however, the standard was very high. The judge, Clive Tanner FRPS MPAGB, was from Tonbridge, Kent, who had the unenviable task of appraising them and did an excellent job of selecting the top three plus four highly commended. (You will be able to see Clive in action next month when he pays us a visit to judge a print competition)
Ipswich retained the trophy with a very challenging set of low light nature prints by Martin Hancock. Second was another stunning set of prints of high and low key figure studies by Jane Barratt from Benfleet and in third place was our Derek Howes with “Humpback Whales Bubble-Net Feeding”. Tony Bramley achieved a Highly Commended for “Glasgow Street Art”. So congratulations go to both our members, with both our panels achieving awards out of the seven given.
The Committee now feel sufficiently comfortable to proceed with the programme as presented and to recommence normal meetings at the hall from our start date on 14th September.
The PAGB wishes, if at all possible, to hold the Inter-Club Print Championship in 2021. They do not know what restrictions may be in operation in October, the usual time to hold this competition, and so their objective is to plan for maximum flexibility.
Revised and updated guide and rules for preparing PDI’s for competition
The requirements for image entries into PDI competitions have been revised, in that the inclusion of the members’ name in the image file name is no longer required. This makes things a little easier for members and also the competition secretary when offering entries for remote judging. However, it is to be noted that such details are still required to be entered into the image meta-data.
Images submitted are judged to standards set by whomever they have received patronage from and a week or two later, the results for the salon are published. Photos that have won awards, commendations or honourable mentions are then sent certificates, small trophies/medals and in rare cases a salon may offer cash prizes. The rest of the images are either accepted or declined and each photographer is given a report card showing how well they did.
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