Results 2017-18 – Ponteland Photographic Society

Set Subject – Knockout #2 20 March 2018
2018 saw the first time we have ever run two Knockout Competitions in a single season! But this time there was a slight restriction – only pictures which had been taken during the season could be entered into the competition. The idea was to showcase images members had produced as a result of the sessions held earlier in the year. This produced lots of interesting portraits of other members which raised a chuckle and some really good Christmas special effects. After several rounds of voting Phil Robson’s storm lashed “Lighthouse” was voted into 1st place. 1st Phil Robson - Lighthouse In 2nd place was Bill Norfolk with a very cold and delicate looking “Crocus Drift” which had been taken in his garden just a few days before! 2nd Bill Norfolk - Crocus Drift 3rd place was taken by Ian Morton for the beautifully colourful shot of a pair of trees taken at sunrise and titled, “Morning Glory”. 3rd Ian Morton - Morning Glory In almost total contrast John Atkinson’s monochrome study, “Quayside” was voted into 4th place. 4th John Atkinson - Quayside Mono The full set of pictures entered is available on our Flick webspace – click here

Set Subject – Happiness 12 March 2018

This PDI set subject certainly tested members imagination! There was plenty of happiness during the evening and some laugh out loud moments from the audience. Our judge for this competition was Mavis McCormick LRPS who is President of Hexham Photographic Society. Mavis chose John Atkinson’s black & white study “You’re ‘aving a larf!” as the winning entry and the subjects were definitely enjoying themselves. 1st place You're 'aving a Larf! - John Atkinson Almost in total contrast the rustic colours of 2nd placed Ruth Oatway’s “It’s a Dog’s Life” brought some real ‘aaaahs’ from the audience. 2nd place It's a Dog's Life - Ruth Oatway 3rd place was again very different to the preceding pictures. Mike Sadler’s “Up in the Air” was full of excitement and adventure! 3rd place Up in the Air - Mike Sadler Mavis also selected six pictures as Highly Commended. “A Good Mouthful” by Bill Norfolk, “Class of 2017” by Ian Morton, “Elephant Sand Bath” by June Atkinson, “November Sunflower” by Kath Guellard and two more of John Atkinson’s images, “Flying High” and “Happiness is Being Engaged”.

All of the entries for the competition are available on our Flickr webspace – click here

Next competition; Season’s Knockout – 19th March 2018

Open Print Competition 12 February 2018
Our judge for the competition this year was David Illingworth of Morpeth Camera Club. David has been a good friend of PPS over the years and his specialism in the print sector is always worth welcoming to the club.
David started the night with some useful pointers on mounting and handling of prints to keep them in the best condition. His recommendations on types of mounting board and the tape to secure everything together were particularly useful and well received by members.
Once we moved on to the actual images it quickly became apparent that this was no ordinary judging session. David actively invited comments from his audience which led to an entertaining discussion on the pro and cons of the photographs. Finally David selected “Groynes” by John Atkinson as the winning entry despite him not being a fan of the slow shutter speed on water technique! 1st place Groynes by John Atkinson In second place was the beautifully balanced “Eastern Blue Mosque” taken by Fara Serajan 2nd place Eastern Blue by Fara Serajan Third place was taken by another of John’s prints, “The Vennel” – a different view of Edinburgh Castle.David also selected four prints as Highly Commended. Steampunk, another mono image from John Atkinson, (who has almost swept the board in this competition), Wet Hare by Bill Norfolk and two pictures from Helen Bradley – High Level Bridge and the intriguingly titled Smile, (but watch your fingers). All of the winning prints are available on our Flickr webspace – click here

Set Subject – Urban Landscape 8 January 2018
There were almost 50 entries for the first competition of 2018 and Jim Walsh LRPS, CPAGB, APAGB of Blyth Photographic Society was kind enough to be our judge for the evening. The subject had been highly favoured by members at last year’s AGM but on the night most agreed this was a particularly challenging subject.
Jim gave a well received commentary for each entry but it was Kath, our Competitions Secretary, who pointed out that there were lots of entries which included rubbish – in the image! Phil Robson’s dusk study of the “Tyne Bridges” was selected as overall winner with it colourful balancing reflections.
In second place was Kath’s own image from Northern Spain, “San Sebastian – La Gomera” of which Jim stated he couldn’t see a single person in the picture!
The competition saw several monochrome entries of which “Streets Ahead” by Hank Craggs was awarded third place.
Full results including the Highly Commended entries are on our Flickr webspace – click here.

Knockout 6 November 2017

Veronica compared this year’s Knockout Competition and after brief discussion about which was the left screen and which was the right screen we had an interesting 90 minutes as members whittled down the initial 36 entries to find the most striking photograph.
The winner was Ian Morton with “Women’s Work” which was taken at an open market near Taunggyi in the Shan State of Myanmar (Burma). Hill tribe people meet every week to sell their wares in an organised open market that moves around villages within the immediate location. The shot was not posed with only one lady noticing the camera which adds interest.
Womens Work by Ian Morton
Second Mike Sadler, “Canal in Winter” which was photographed in mid-winter in Tamworth, Staffordshire on a cold January morning. This scene lent itself to Black and White treatment, evoking the days when canals were an important transport link. Broken panes of ice gently knocked together producing a magical tinkling sound as canal boats passed slowly by.
2nd Canal in Winter Mike Sadler
Third Tony McCann’s “Gannets” which was taken on a windy day at Bempton Cliffs, just south of Filey on the North Yorkshire coast. Tony took lots of shots of flying gannets and of the fluffy chicks. This is a picture of two young gannets that were standing near the top of the cliffs. 3rd Gannets by Tony McCann
In Fourth spot was Bob Morgan’s “Starling Walk” taken at the harbour in Seahouses. The birds were eyeing up a bag of chips!
4th Starling Walk by Bob Morgan As usual all of the images entered for this competition can be seen on our Flickr webspace – click here

OPEN PDI 23 October 2017

This year we were very lucky to have Keith Suddaby FRPS MPAGB EFIAP FBPE as our judge for the Open Projected Digital Images Competition. With almost 50 entries Keith certainly had his hands full but still managed to provide an interesting critique of every picture. We were also given an insight into the strange world of judging and how Keith considers every image as a candidate for his exhibition!

The first placed entry this year went to a highly original wildlife photograph taken by Tony McCann on the Farne Isles entitled “Quick! Down the Burrow“.

Second place was also awarded to Tony for something completely different – “Milk Drop with Gels“.

In third place Phil Robson’s spectacular waterfall shot, “Roughing Linn“, was justification for some serious cross country trekking!

We were back to Tony’s pictures again for “Sage at Sunrise” which was awarded fourth spot.

And to complete the top five John Atkinson’s “Steampunk” presented a wonderful character shot in black and white.

Keith also selected nine images as Highly Commended. This, he pointed out, was a high ratio of selected images to the total entry demonstrating the incredible quality of the complete competition. You can see the pictures Keith selected on our Flick webspace here and the full list of entries here

Ponteland Photographic Society

Competition Results 2017-18