2023 Photo Competition
(For previous years, click on the year: 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014; no competitions were held in 2020, 2021 and 2022 because of Covid-19).
All entries were shown in the clubroom on 30 March 2023, when our judge Ian Smith congratulated the club on a good set of pictures. He said that we do seem to be taking note of his suggestions for improvement (better use of cropping overall) but that we should not be afraid to use software to tweak saturation, brightness, unwanted interferences etc.! Many thanks to Ian for once again rising to this task.
Congratulations to Martin Whitaker, who pipped Frank Mellor to the Shield by 13 points to 12. Here is Martin with Ian (left).
The winning entries (click on each image to show at larger size) in each of the 4 categories were:
Action – 1st – Frank Mellor – (using a telephoto lens!) A walking and skiing week in Seefeld. Jennifer required several attempts before she cleared the trees.
Action – 2nd – Martin Whitaker – Sport climbing in the Grande Grotta on Kalymnos, Greece. I’m not certain of the route, but it is possibly DNA (7a)
Action – 3rd – Martin Whitaker – Climber falling off the mantelshelf on King Kong (E3, 6a), High Neb, Stanage. he got a lot higher than most!
Action – 4th – Chris Lunn – Andrew M on Corvus, 30 years to the day since he first climbed it! – and on the hottest day of 2022.
Pictorial abroad – 1st – Frank Mellor – Light through trees. La Palma (Canaries). Post capture processing included exposure adjustment and increased saturation of the natural orange colour in the forest floor. I am a bit surprised by this choice but on the other hand I remembered that Ian has a penchant for atmospheric lighting.
Pictorial abroad – 2nd – Elen Rees – Windmill in the salt pans of Trapani, Sicily. Taken on a cycling trip.
Pictorial abroad – 3rd – David Pendlebury – Descending towards Pothia, Kalymnos on the Italian Path, an ancient track rebuilt and paved by the Italian army in the first half of the 20th century
Pictorial abroad – 4th – Bill Boley – Aiguille d’Entreves, head of the Glacier du Geant, France. Walked around crevasses constantly hearing and seeing rockfalls due to melting permafrost. We had climbed the Cosmique Arete the day before, which subsequently suffered a partial collapse. Another great day!
Pictorial UK – 1st – Bill Boley – High Cup Nick, taken on a bike ride with Elen over the tops to Dufton then back in the snow, during the club’s December meet at Middleton-in-Teesdale.
Pictorial UK – 2nd – Frank Mellor – The Shropshire Hills. Approaching Caer Caradoc at dusk. Most of foreground cropped off to give a panoramic look and underexposed to render silhouetted figure.
Pictorial UK – 3rd – Martin Whitaker – Higgar Tor from Carl Wark, on a day of exciting November light.
Pictorial UK – 4th – Chris Huxham – Loch Chon, Trossachs. Reflections from a wild swimmers’ paradise. Cold but magical!
Nature – 1st – Martin Whitaker – Cormorant “drying out” at Le Lac d’Issarlès, Ardeche region, France.
Nature – 2nd – Elen Rees – A tulip blossom
Nature – 3rd – Martin Whitaker – Wild Boar in transit. Mum, Dad and 3 piglets were seen, but only this shot showed “Dad” against the skyline. Taken on a walk up to Lac des Beraudes, Val de la Claree, France.
Nature – 4th – Frank Mellor – My latest attempt at the bee in the crocus. I submitted a similar effort a few years ago but this is a different flower and, I think, a different bee.
