Our final competition that contributes towards the aggregate points score for the Mayors Cups was held on Tuesday and judged by Clive Greenland from Corsham.

With everything still to play for, the judges comments and scores were keenly followed throughout the evening. A healthy number of prints were submitted and first place was awarded to “The Felucca Captain” by Adam Kowalczyk.

The DPIs were viewed using our newly acquired projector which had been hastily calibrated before the meeting started.  The winning image was “Push off” by Geoff Snowball.

This was Clive’s second judging visit to the Club and he outlined the positive aspects of each image and followed this with some suggestions regarding how the image could be further enhanced.  In many cases this involved alternative cropping arrangements and equalisation of space around the image to create a more balanced approach.

We now have a break in competitive activities until our Annual Competition which takes place in June and this will allow members time to reflect upon the comments and advice received from judges to date.

This second Quad Battle was hosted by Stratton Camera Club  and pitted us against Stratton and Devizes Camera Clubs and Swindon Photographic Society. Each Club entered 15 images with no more that 2 from any one photographer. The Battle was judged by Sandy Watson who gave articulate and constructive feedback. He looked for connections between the elements of the image and emphasised the need to avoid being overwhelmed by the total view of a landscape and crop judiciously.

By the halfway stage, Devizes had opened up a lead with RWB in second place, followed by Swindon and then Stratton.  This order was maintained during the second half and the final scores were:

1st Devizes Camera Club                  273 points

2nd RWB Camera Club                     264 points

3rd Swindon Photographic Society   263 points

4th Stratton Camera Club                  260 points

An enjoyable and entertaining evening was enjoyed by all who attended and thanks go to Stratton Camera Club for their kind hospitality

The Club hosted a battle with Cricklade Camera Club which was the first occasion the two clubs have competed head-to-head. Digital entries were judged by David Sage from Lacock Positive Photography Club, who is a recently qualified judge and did a sterling job.

Each club submitted 30 Open subject images in total and half were viewed and judged before breaking for refreshments, with the remainder judged afterwards. As expected the Open category attracted a wide array of images covering many genre which made judging even more challenging. Each image was scored out of 20 points and by the tea break Cricklade CC had built up a small lead. The second half proved to be even more successful for Cricklade with three of their images scoring maximum points and they ran out overall winners on the evening.

Attendees were treated to a high quality collection of images which made for an enjoyable evening. It is hoped to make this battle an annual event and we will strive hard to reverse the outcome next year.

Club members were given the opportunity to share their work with other members and discuss any comments arising. Audio visual presentations were particularly well represented with contributions from several members. Adam started the evening by showing an AV of his recent visit to various locations in Egypt. Despite many images having been taken through the tour bus window, the judicious use of a black screen to remove unwanted reflections had worked well. Barry showed a number of his AVs including the Channel Islands, Portsmouth dockyard and Norwegian seasonal changes. All were accompanied by stirring sound tracks.

Peter showed some recent images taken in Brussels and Bruges covering some well known sights. Brian concluded the evening by sharing some of his New Zealand AVs featuring zoo animals, North Island scenery and haka ceremonies. However, he didn’t suceed in getting any members to practice their Maori dance moves. An entertaining evening was enjoyed by all.