Tag Archives: competition

Annual PDI Trophies

The Annual PDI was our final competition for this year, taking place on Wednesday 31st March via Zoom. Our judge for the evening was the excellent Richard Speirs DPAGB APAGB BPE2* of Morton Photographic Society, who is always entertaining and offered experienced, constructive critique of the images. There were 3 sections: Nature, People & Portraits, and Open with all club members competing equally.

The People & Portraits section contained some wonderfully diverse photographs, with three images receiving top marks: Seamus Bryans’ Summer Haze & Portrait of a Young Man, and Jo Knight’s The Enemy Outside. Congratulations to Seamus who was awarded the trophy for his beautifully lit studio portrait.

The Nature section was very strong, with two images receiving 20 points: Russell Millner’s Family of Bears on Baffin and Jo Knight’s Displaying Black Kites. Russell was this year’s deserved trophy winner with his stunning Polar Bear shot.

Our final section was Open, which contained both colour and monochrome images. Again, three pictures were awarded top marks: Jo Knight’s Beneath The Waves & Life Behind Bars, and Phil Drayton’s Castle Star Trails. Well done to Jo who was awarded the trophy for her detailed creative picture of life caged.

Not for the first time this year the judge commented on the quality of Kendal’s images and how diverse a subject matter we cover. There really were some excellent photographs and we should be rightly proud as a Club of our achievements this season.

Members’ Evening Trophies

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Over the season our club has 6 Members’ Evening competitions and the scores from each of those are added together to give an overall winner for the year. The 2020-21 winners have just been announced and big congratulations go to the members outlined below 🏆

CLUB COLOUR – winner Ann Dallaway

CLUB MONO – winner Kim Rigg

ADVANCED COLOUR – winner Dylan Reynolds

ADVANCED MONO – winner Maureen Smith

This concludes our Members’ Evening competitions for this season and we would usually have a presentation of the various trophies, but of course Covid has put paid to that. In addition, this year we tried something different by splitting members into 2 leagues in the form of Club and Advanced so stay tuned for how the trophies will work!

L&CPU Club Annual Competition

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The Photographic Alliance of Great Britain is divided up into area Federations and Kendal Photography Club is part of the Lancashire & Cheshire Photographic Union (L&CPU) Federation. Each year, the L&CPU hold an Annual Club PDI and print competition where Clubs from within the Federation submit individual images from their members, the scores from which are added together to give an overall score for each Club.

The PDI Club Championship took place on Saturday 20th March via Zoom (any Club member could log on to watch the judging) and contained 2 sections: Open and Nature.

The event began with the Open section, which had over 600 entries from 40 Clubs, a wide variety of genres and a mix of both colour and monochrome. Our judges for the day were Phil & Gwen Charnock of Wigan 10.

The overall winning Club in the Open Section was Oldham Photographic Society, but we were delighted to come joint 11th out of 40, sharing our place with Alsager Camera Club 😀. This is a superb achievement considering this was our very first entry into the Championship! Well done to Jo Knight whose image Ophelia was one of only 9 images in the competition to score the maximum 20 points.

We had a short lunch break and resumed judging at 1pm with the Nature Section. The standard in nature competitions is exceptionally high and unfortunately we didn’t score quite as well as we had in the Open, coming 25th out of 40 clubs. However, in my opinion it is the toughest of all photography genres and we have traditionally been more of a landscape orientated Club. Well done to both Dylan and Jo who achieved our highest points for their images with a very respectable 17.

I am thrilled to report that overall we came 18th out of 40 Clubs, which for our very first entry into the Championship is a brilliant achievement! Thanks to the organisers for their hard work in putting our submission together – all the individual image scores are in the Members’ Section of our website.

Competition: Macro

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Our final competition took place on Wednesday 17th March and had a set theme of Macro. For the Club League (beginners & intermediate) all aspects of close-up photography were allowed, whereas the rules were more strict for the Advanced League in that images should be as close to true macro 1:1 magnification as possible, whether achieved with a macro lens or by cropping in post production.

Our judge was long time friend of the club Paul King CPAGB from North Fylde Photographic Society, who gave some excellent tips and critique throughout the evening though was arguably lenient in allowing a photograph of the Moon to be classed as “macro” 😆.

We kicked off with Club colour, where four members were awarded 18 points: Cathy Cath with Butterfly on Buddleja; Kim Rigg with Pollen Laden Hellebore; Martin Rowe with A Busy Bee and Phil Drayton with Garden Bumble Bee. No second place was awarded, which left our 20 point winner Phil Drayton with his tack sharp image of a Fly – congratulations Phil!

Next was Advanced colour, with 3rd place and 18 points being shared by: Dylan Reynolds with Hugs; Jeff Bagnall with both HD TV Pixels & Cellar Spider with Egg Sack; Russell Milner with Helvellyn and Simon Raven with Zipped. Second place and 19 points was shared between Simon Raven with Only A Tenner and Dave Nelson with both Flamenco Dancer & Looking At A Peacock’s Eye. Congratulations to our well deserved 20 point winner Dylan Reynolds with his impressive 4th Instar Comatus Jumping Spider.

Following a short break, the competition continued with the Club Monochrome section where 3rd place and 18 points was awarded to Phil Drayton with Tree Bumble Bee. Second place and 19 points was shared between Cathy Cash with Woodlouse and Martin Rowe with Watch Detail. Big congratulations to Martin who also scooped the winning 20 points with Oak Leaf!

Last but not least was Advanced monochrome, with 3rd place and 18 points being shared between Maureen Smith with Veins and Simon Raven with Just A Drop. Second place and 19 points was awarded to Jeff Bagnall with Polymer £20 Note, and a huge well done to Jeff who was also our winner with 20 points for his beautifully detailed Fob Watch.

Next Wednesday we are treated to a Zoom evening with Roy Carr, whose talk is entitled ‘From very near, to not so far’. Club members are reminded that the deadline for entries into the Club’s Annual PDI competition is this Sunday, March 21st and to please submit your images on time and sized correctly.

Competition: Panel

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Our annual Panel competition took place on Wednesday 10th March, judged by Gerald Chamberlain EFIAP DPAGB of Morton Photographic Society. Gerald is a very experienced judge and we’d like thank him for his helpful and thoughtful critique and feedback on a diverse mix of styles and genres. Although it’s been rubbish not to be able to meet in person this season due to Covid, Zoom was a positive bonus on this particular Club night as the wind raged and the rain lashed down. I think everyone was grateful they didn’t have to venture outside!

Our panels consisted of 3 images which may be quite ordinary when viewed individually, but when viewed together had strong visual impact.

Top tips for creating a winning panel include:

Being well balanced – no image dominates.
Of a consistent subject/theme, but not just 3 shots taken with the motor-drive!
Of close and matching mood, tonal range, colour saturation, sharpness or softness, contrast etc. Colours should be similar or match well in the overall panel.
Any objects with “direction” e.g. a flying bird or leaning post, should “point into” and not “out of” the panel.

Entries were divided into two sections, colour and monochrome, though we didn’t differentiate between Club and Advanced members.

We started with the colour section, where Maureen Smith was awarded third place with ‘Late Autumn At Buttermere’. Second place went to Jo Knight with ‘Turning The Tables’ and well done to our deserved winner Seamus Bryans with his stunning & beautifully lit ‘Super Hero’.

Third place in the mono section was awarded to Simon Raven with ‘Cobbles’. Second place went to Seamus Bryans with ‘A Nostalgic Day Out’ and big congratulations to our winner Gavin Lowe with his striking & unusual ‘Up And Down’.

Thanks and a round of applause to Jeff, who had the daunting task of running his very first Zoom club meeting which was no easy task due to the weather affecting wifi and a complicated competition! Next week is our last Club competition of this season on the theme of Macro – hope to see you all there.

Competition: Food & Drink

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Our penultimate Club competition of the season took place on Wednesday 17th February and was judged by Ken Ainscow of Lytham St Annes Photographic Society. Ken is a long standing friend of our Club and has judged for us many times over the years, with members all appreciating his skill and critique. Sadly for us this was to be his last judging as he is retiring from the circuit at the end of this season, however we do hope that he will visit us in other capacities in the future.

There were some cracking images and Ken stated more than once that he was impressed by the standard of the pictures on show. We began with the Club open colour section and our congratulations go to winner Kim Rigg with Fishy Encounter, while new member Cathy Cash was runner up with Pouring Pomegranates. Both Kim and Cathy are very new to photography, so it’s a joy to see their images doing so well.

Next to be judged was the Advanced open colour section, with several photographs scoring top marks. 19 points were awarded to Dylan Reynolds with Familiar Taste of Poison, Jeff Bagnall with Red Hot Chilli Pepper and Simon Raven with Fresh Apple. Once again Maureen Smith and Jo Knight battled it out for the top spot, with Maureen’s An Apple A Day and Jo’s two images Gravity and Repast all being awarded 20 points. Well done to Jo who’s light painted Gravity (not a composite she is at pains to add!) was announced as overall winner.

As there were so many images to get through we forewent our usual half time break, though I snuck off to raid the biscuit tin as all the pictures of delicious food had given me the raving munchies 😆.

The next section to be judged was Club monochrome where 19 points were awarded to Phil Drayton for Dissolving Skittles, while Kim Rigg’s Line Caught Mackeral was announced overall winner. Kim’s skills have come on in leaps and bounds this season and I’m sure all our members are delighted to see her hard work and dedication rewarded 🙂.

An administrative glitch meant that Ken hadn’t seen or pre-scored the Advanced mono images, so he was very much put on the spot to judge blind which is a big ask. However he did an admirable job and commented on the strength of all the images shown. 19 points were awarded to Dave Nelson for Eggs, Maureen Smith for Love a Coffee and Jo Knight for Coffee with Milk. The top spot was fought over by Dylan Reynolds with The Core Explosion, Gavin Lowe with What’s Cooking and Jeff Bagnall with Egg. Our congratulations to Dylan whose image The Core Explosion was announced as overall winner.

Next week is critique night, with club members sending in images they need help with which will be viewed by 3 of our more experienced photographers who will offer advice on how the image could potentially be improved. The aim is to help members who are struggling with particular pictures, but we also hope the evening will act as a learning experience for all club members.

Competition: Inter-Club Battle

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Wednesday 27th January saw our annual inter-club battle with Morecambe Camera Club. Due to the lockdown we were unable to meet in person, which is a real shame as these events are a rare opportunity to meet up with members from other Clubs, however the competition went ahead via Zoom and was judged by Nick Hilton DPAGB EFIAP BPE5* of Southport Photographic Society.

It was fabulous to see such a wide variety of styles and genres in both colour and mono represented in the competition, with 50 images submitted overall, so I think it’s fair to say some members were disappointed that nearly two thirds of the entries from both clubs scored 15 points or less despite receiving generally positive critique from the judge. There was also disappointed in our Club that images which had been awarded multiple gold medals in Salons and Federation competitions didn’t score highly. It can be quite confusing when a picture does well in some competitions but badly in others and as a beginner photographer it’s something I found utterly bewildering. However, judging is a difficult job (don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it!) and always subjective – it would be a dull world if we all liked the same things.

Congratulations to Morecambe who were the overall winners on the night (not said through gritted teeth, honest 😁). For the second open competition in a row nature dominated the top spots, with all of the 18, 19 and 20 points awarded to wildlife images (sadly only one of which belonged to Kendal *sob*). There really were some cracking pictures and it was a delight to sit back with a brew and view so many inspiring photographs. We aim to try harder next year 😉.

Next Wednesday is our annual Editing Competition, which each member being given 3 random pictures to ‘improve’ as they see fit. The only rule is that there are no rules, though we are under strict instructions to have fun and be creative! Both guests and new members are welcome at our Zoom meetings, with half price membership fees for the rest of the season. Please see our membership page for more information and to book your slot.

Competition: Open

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Our first competition of 2021 was held via Zoom on Wednesday 20th January and judged by Simon Ray of Lytham St Annes Photographic Society. With two leagues (club and advanced) and separate competitions for colour and mono there were a huge amount of images covering just about every genre of photography, which made for a full evening though without our usual coffee break!

The winner of the advanced colour section was Russell Millner with his beautifully captured image of an ‘Arctic Tern in flight’. Dylan Reynolds’ cute pet jumping spider was runner up in his image ‘Sleepy Hollow’.

Nature themed images dominated the night, with Russell also winning the monochrome section with his evocative ‘Shaking in the Sun’. Runners up were Jo Knight with ‘The Stag’s Head’ and Simon Raven with ‘Mist on the Lake’.

Wildlife success continued in the club league, where the winner of the colour section was Robert Metcalf with his very well captured ‘Four Spotted Chaser’. Second place was shared between Kim Rigg’s ‘Over Kendal roof tops’ and Elaine Elrick’s ‘Looking at you, looking at me’.

Rounding off our outdoor themed winners was Ann Dallaway’s ‘Herdwick’ in the club monochrome section, with second place shared between Elaine Elrick’s ‘That Wanaka Tree’ and Alvina Labsvirs’ ‘Where To Now’.

Next week is our annual inter-club “battle” with Morecambe Camera Club. It’s a shame that, due to the pandemic, we can’t meet in person however the evening will proceed via Zoom, kicking off at our usual 7.30pm. Guests and new members are welcome – please see our Membership page for details of how to join in.

Competition: Leading Lines

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Our third club competition of the season was held on Wednesday 2nd December and judged by John Wiliams EFIAP/b, MPSA, DPAGB of Penrith & District Camera Club. A very experienced PAGB judge who has seen hundreds of thousands of images over his photography career John was nevertheless impressed with the quality of our images and admitted choosing the outright winners was a difficult task!

Two pictures were awarded 20 points in the Club Colour section: Going South by Ann Dallaway and Going Straight to Mount Cook by Elaine Elrick. Both photographs were an excellent representation of the leading lines theme and would have held their own in the Advanced league, so big congratulations to Elaine who was declared overall winner.

The Club Mono section was equally hard fought, with three images scoring 20 points: View from Under the Bridge by Elaine Elrick, Walk to the Pier by Kim Rigg and Wintry Road by Phil Drayton. Well done to Kim whose atmospheric Pier shot was overall winner.

The quality of images carried through to the Advanced League, with two photographs again being awarded 20 points: Bir Hakeim Bridge by Jeff Bagnall and Runaway by Jo Knight. I wouldn’t have liked to be the one to choose between these two very different pictures, so congratulations to Jo whose creative image just scraped the top spot.

Three photographs battled it out for first place in the Advanced Mono section: Glasgow Walkway by Dave Nelson, Beetham Tower by Maureen Smith and Walk to the Lighthouse by Simon Raven. Well done to Simon who was overall winner with his strong and dynamic Lighthouse picture.

Next week club members have the challenging task via Zoom of judging images sent to us from North Fylde Photographic Society. It’s always a joy to look at images from photographers outside of our own club and I’m sure it will be a fun and interesting night. Guests are welcome for a small fee – see our membership page for details and to book a Zoom place.

Competition: L&CPU club knockout

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Having had individual success in the Federation annual competition during the summer, our Club decided for the first time to enter the L&CPU Club Knockout competition which was held via Zoom on Saturday 21st November.

The rules requested we send in 8 images, although only the first 7 would be used in the competition, the 8th image being held back in the case of a tie break. We had to send the images in the order we wished them to be shown, and the first 4 pictures had to be from 4 different authors although up to two images per author were allowed.

At the start of the event, all images were shown on screen before judging began and we noticed that 3 of our entries were missing. Our External Competitions Secretary queried this and we were told that as 160 images had been received for the competition only 4 per club would be shown. Apparently, the rules state that “the number of images used in the competition will depend on the number of clubs entered”, although as a club we had no clue how many other clubs had entered or that there was a 160 image cap. So we had some very disappointed photographers who had gone to the effort of sending in their images only for them not to be used 🙁.

Of the four images used in the competition, three were thrown out in the first round. However, Jeff Bagnall’s ‘Broken Politics’ saved the day getting through to the final round of 11 images which is a fantastic achievement considering the high standard and number of entries. The judge, Mike Sharples of Smethwick PS, was clearly impressed with Jeff’s photograph and it was solely down to his image that Kendal ended up in joint 8th place overall out of 41 clubs.

I think it’s fair to say that our first forage into the Federation Club knockout was a learning curve in terms of how the event is run, but we’ll know for next year. Big congratulations, however, to Jeff on his very well deserved success and for representing the club 🙂.