Monmouth Photographic Club

News

Barrian Cup 2025

The Barrian cup took place on the 7th June with fifteen clubs competing, each club submitting five prints. It was an afternoon of viewing wonderful photography, (and some great food - thank you Barry club!). The judge was Gareth Martin, AWPF, CPAGB, who gave his thoughts on each print and a mark out of 20. It was a closely fought competition with five clubs, including Monmouth, within two points of each other at the top of the running at the halfway break. After two more rounds the final results continued to be extremely close. Monmouth were delighted to come in joint first place along with Bridgend club, with 97 points each. In third place with 96 points was Rhondda club. The Dave Cowdry Trophy for best landscape was awarded to Rhondda club for "Lone Surfer" and the Mike Lewis Trophy for best print in the competition went to RPC for "Having a Splashing Time".
Our prints and scores were: "Erlestoke Manor waiting" by John Crowland - 18 points, "Hokkaido Dawn" by Peter Wyles - 20 points, "Red Sail" by Lyn Sharples - 19 points, "Bobcat Yellowstone Winter" by Terry Wall - 20 points, and "Full Throttle" by Lin Wyles - 20 points. Well done Monmouth, a fantastic result. Thanks to all who entered prints for the competition.

Erelestoke Manor by John Crowland, Hokkaido Dawn by Peter Wyles, Red sail by Lyn Sharples, Bobcat Yellowstone Winter by Terry Wall, Full Throttle by Lin Wyles, and Keith Sharples accepting the cup on behalf of Monmouth club.

AGM 2025

The AGM was held on Friday 16th May. Annual reports were given by the chairman, treasurer, competition secretary and programme secretary.
Three proposals were agreed: to keep the membership fees at the same level as currently; a slight change to the rules of the five print challenge (images to be labelled with both the title of the image and the category); and to introduce an Overseas Membership category with a reduced subscription rate.
A proposal to make all competitions open subject and a proposal to introduce a new separate monochrome competition for the monochrome trophy were discussed. Many different views were expressed and it was agreed to keep the competition programme in place as it is for the coming season with further discussion and a look at potential for change for the 2026/27 season.
A proposal for MPC to run a South Wales wide competition was discussed. It was approved in principal but to go for further consideration by the committee especially as there would be some financial implications.
Nominations for the committee were voted on, there have been some changes. Having completed the maximum term of three years as chair Fintan Healy stepped down. Terry Rees-Pedlar now takes over as the new chair. Mike Roberts remains as treasurer, Adrian Butcher as programme secretary, and Lyn Sharples as webmaster. Keith Sharples is the new competition secretary. Currently the position of secretary is vacant and we do need a member to take on this position.
This year the chairman's award goes to Janet Cox for her involvement and contributions to the club throughout the year.
The Photographer of the Year award was won by Terry Wall, the Monochrome Trophy was won by Peter Wyles, and the Tony Cutting Trophy (Five print challenge) was won by Lin Wyles.

Fintan presenting Janet with the Chariman's trophy.

Welsh Salon Awards Day

The Welsh Salon exhibition official opening and awards presentation was held on 3rd May. Following a very successful entry for Monmouth members, a total of 54 acceptances and 10 awards, (see further down the page for details), Peter Wyles, Lyn Sharples and Keith Sharples attended for the presentation of their awards.
The exhibition which is well worth visiting is being held at Cynon Valley Museum, Aberdare, CF44 8DL, (next to Tesco), until 30th May, (Tuesday - Saturday 10am-3pm).

Annual Open Print Competition and Monochrome Trophy Competition

May 2nd saw our annual open print competition where the 'best of the best' from throughout the season are judged. Many thanks to our Judge, Dave Bennett, who did an excellent job for us critiquing the images and with something positive to say about every print. Dave praised the high standard of entries as reflected in the high marks overall. In first place was "Bagan Dawn" by Peter Wyles. Peter was also awarded second place for "Angel's Wings Paternoster Square". Third place went to "Tears of Kilt Rock, Skye" by Steve Lord. All three of these images scored the top mark of 20 points. Ten prints scored 19 and were highly commended: "Yawning Leopard" and "Spotted Hunter" by Elisa Best, "Wading Wildebeest" by Lin Wyles, "Night Train" by John Crowland, "Tangle Creek" and "Weed Dancer" by Terry Wall, "Red Sail" and "Dune Riders" by Lyn Sharples, "Through Mud and Rain" by Sue Carter, and "The Old Lifeboat Station, Birnbeck" by Steve Lord. Two images scored 18 and were commended: "Beach Walkers" by Keith Sharples and "Nun's Cross" by Adrian Butcher. The monochrome trophy was awarded to Peter Wyles print "Angel's Wings Paternoster Square". Well done to all who entered for providing us with a great competition and enjoyable evening. To view all the images from the competition go to the Gallery.

LRPS Award

Congratulations to Fintan Healy for gaining his LRPS distinction. Below is the panel of images that Fintan submitted.

Welsh Salon 2025

A fantastic result for Monmouth club in the Welsh Salon this year with members achieving 54 acceptances in the salon, including 10 awards. Chris Morris had one dpi accepted, Wendy Conway had three dpis accepted, and Terry Wall had four dpis accepted. Elisa Best had five acceptances, three colour print and two dpi. Keith Sharples had seven acceptances including the award for the Best Monochrome Scape for his print "Beach Walkers". Lin Wyles had twelve acceptances, 100% of her entered images were accepted into the exhibition. Lyn Sharples had eleven acceptances including four awards: Best Colour Scape for "Red Sail", Julie Morgan's judge's award for "Dune Riders", a colour print ribbon for "Serenity" and a mono print ribbon for "Avocet Impressions". Peter Wyles had eleven acceptances including five awards: Best Colour Print for "Hokkaido Dawn", Leigh Woolford's judge's award for "Buffalos and Lions", a mono print ribbon for "Bull Elephant", a mono print ribbon for "Angels Wings Paternoster Square", and a dpi ribbon for "Bagan Dawn".

The Welsh Salon Exhibition will be held at the Cynon Valley Museum, Depot Road, Aberdare CF44 8DL, (next to Tesco), from 3rd May - 31st May (Tuesday-Saturday 10am-3pm).

Images above: Hokkaido Dawn by Peter Wyles, Red Sail by Lyn Sharples, Inle Lake Fishermen by Lin Wyles, Beach Walkers by Keith Sharples, Tree Agama by Elisa Best, Travertine Terraces by Terry Wall, European Rollers Food Pass by Wendy Conway and Also Ran by Chris Morris.

Battle with Orkney 2025

Our annual Zoom battle with Orkney Camera Club took place on Tuesday 25th March. Each club submitted 20 dpis judged for us by Johnnie Rogers ARPS DPAGB AWPF AFIAP. Johnnie gave a considered critique for each image pointing out the strengths of the image and possible improvements. After an enjoyable evening of viewing the images from both clubs Monmouth were pleased to finish in the lead with 346 points in total to Orkney's 315 points. Two images were awarded the maximum mark of 20, both from Monmouth club, "Badger" by Terry Wall and "Nash Point" by John Crowland.

"On This Day" Competition

Many thanks to Martyn Pinches AFIAP AWPF for stepping in to judge this dpi competition for us. His comments were well received by all members. It was an open subject competition but all entries had to be photographed on 15th February 2025. Three images scored 20 points: "Jackdaw" by Terry Wall, "Raid" by Victoria El Bay, and "Taking Five" by Adrian Butcher. Three images scored 19: "Feather" by Wendy Conway, "Sheep in the Mist" by Keith Sharples, and "Siskin" by Terry Wall. Six images scored 18: "10.19 on the 15th February" by Fintan Healey, "Dalmatian Pelican Snowstorm Landing" by Victoria El-Bay, "Fruits From The Forest" by Iain McCallum, "Mogul 75069" by John Crowland, "Snowdrops" by Lyn Sharples, and "Try To Get My Darkside" by Iain McCallum. Congratulations to the winners and well done to everyone who braved the weather on 15th February to take part. To view all the images go to the Gallery.

Norfolk Wildlife

Terry Wall and Wendy Conway recently had a very successful trip to Norfolk to photograph wildlife with norfolkphotosafaris.com. Go to the Field Trips and Outings page for more details.

Five Print Challenge 2025

Our first Five Print Challenge was held on March 7th. Entrants had to submit five prints across five genres (one for each). The categories were: Open Colour, Open Mono, People, Scapes, and Nature. Seventeen members entered giving a total of 85 prints to be judged. Luckily our judge for the evening, Paul Branchflower, was well up to the task and did an excellent job critiquing and marking each section.
In the first section, Open Colour, four images were awarded the top mark of 20, "A Dog's Day Out" by Lin Wyles, "Elephant Tussle" by Terry Wall, "Hokkaido Dawn" by Peter Wyles, and "Sanhu by Ganges" by Janette Hill. The judge's favourite was "Hokkaido Dawn". In the Monochrome section three prints achieved 20 marks, "Tangle Wood" by Terry Wall, "Angel Wings Paternoster Square" by Peter Wyles, and "Lone Tree" by Wendy Conway, with "Tangle Wood" being awarded judge's favourite. Two images scored 20 in the People category, "On the Hindu Kush" by Sue Carter and "The Novice" by Peter Wyles, which was also the favourite. After the tea break we went on to the Scapes section. "Red Dunes" by Lin Wyles and "Dead Trees in Lake" by Janette Hill both scored 20 with the latter being chosen as the favourite. In the final section, Nature, three prints achieved the top mark, "Coupled Flesh Flies" by Lin Wyles, "Bobcat Yellowstone Winter" by Terry Wall and "Red Squirrel" by Helen Lord. The Flesh Flies were the judge's favourite.
It was a close run contest with the lead changing between members throughout the competition. The standard was very high for all entries. At the end of the evening Lin Wyles was the overall winner, just beating her husband Peter by one point! Final top six scores were, (out of a possible maximum of 100 points): 1st - Lin Wyles 98, 2nd - Peter Wyles 97, 3rd - Janette Hill 96, equal 4th - Terry Wall and Wendy Conway 95 and 6th Fintan Healy 93. Congratulations to all the winners and to everyone who took part giving us a brilliant evening of 85 fantastic prints. To see all the images from the evening go to the gallery. (Use the drop down menu to change from 'All Photos' to each section).

Print Competition "Boats"

An amazing variety of boat images featured in our third competition of the season held on the 7th February. Our judge, Julie Morgan AWPF, had spent time studying the entries and gave helpful critiques for each image. First place was awarded to "Red Sail" by Lyn Sharples, John Crowland's "Irene at Purton" came second, and third was "Boat Sunrise" by Peter Wyles. Two images were highly commended: "Topsham Estuary" by Janet Cox, and "Wye Sculler" by Peter Wyles. Commended were: "Beached" by John Crowland, "Evening Mooring" by Kim Denyer, "Out of the Vortex" by Terry Wall, and "Victim of War" by Iain MacCallum. The standard of all the entries was very high and Julie gave positive remarks about every image.

Adrian Webster Memorial Competition

Eight clubs competed in the Adrian Webster, (postponed from November 2024), which was hosted by Western Valley Camera Club at Cross Keys Rugby Club. The eight clubs were : Monmouth P.C., Bargoed, Western Valley, Maesycwmmer, Caerphilly, Cwmbran, Abergavenny, and Gwent.
Six images were entered by each club as DPIs. The judge was Trevor James.

Monmouth's scores were as follows: first up was Angel Wings Paternoster Square by Peter Wyles. It scored 17. This was closely followed by Beak to Beak by Wendy Conway. It also scored 17. Next came Bobcat Yellowstone Winter by Terry Wall. It scored 20. The Stare by Lin Wyles was our next offering. It scored 18. Waiting by John Crowland came next. It scored 19. Our final image was Yawning Leopard by Elisa Best. It scored 20.

Monmouth Photographic Club had a cumulative score of 111. The winning club was Gwent with 114 points. We were placed second, a very pleasing result. Thanks to all who entered images for selection and to the selectors. Congratulations to Terry and Elisa for their top scoring images. Thanks to Western Valley Camera Club for hosting the competition.

Welsh Photographic Federation Memorial Trophies Day 2025

Club members from throughout South Wales begin to arrive for the Memorials Trophies Day at Bridges Community Centre Monmouth

What a fantastic day we had at this annual event, held this year at the Bridges Community Centre, Monmouth, and hosted by our club. Fourteen club members volunteered to help run the event on the day alongside members of the WPF team. Everyone was kept busy with tasks including assembling equipment, selling raffle tickets, meeting and greeting visitors, serving refreshments and sorting out the prints as they arrived into the correct order for both the colour print and monochrome competitions. Over sixty people attended from clubs throughout South Wales and everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the day.
The judge was John Tilsey ARPS DPAGB APAGB from Dorchester Camera Club. The day consists of three competitions, the first being the Walter Morgan Trophy dpi competition. Seventeen clubs entered the dpi competition which was won by Bridgend Camera Club with 72 points overall. Monmouth came a very creditable equal 5th with 69 points. Our images were: "Johanna" by John Crowland - 16 points, "The Stare" by Lin Wyles - 17 points, "Elephant Family" by Sue Carter - 16 points, and "Snow Monkey" by Terry Wall - 20 points.
The second competition was the Past Presidents' Trophy for colour prints. Thirteen clubs entered and Tenby Camera Club were the winners of this trophy with a total of 76 points. Again we came in a pleasing 5th place, this time with 71 points. Our prints were: "Through the Mud and Rain" by Sue Carter - 16 points, "Impala with Oxpeckers" by Wendy Conway -18 points, "Leopard Grooming" by Elisa Best - 19 points, and "The Chase" by Terry Wall - 18 points.
In the afternoon the third competition of the day was held, the Gwyn Morgan Trophy for monochrome prints, with thirteen clubs entering. This is run slightly differently, there are no individual marks for images, each club's set of prints are put up, four clubs at a time, and then the judge's least favourite set is eliminated. The next club's set is then put up and again one set is eliminated, until eventually you end up with just three sets remaining, from which the judge chooses first second and third place. Monmouth were delighted to be awarded first place for our set of images, Gwynfa Camera Club were second, and Bridgend third. Our images were: "Cheetah with Cub" by Terry Wall, "On the Alert" by Wendy Conway, "Power and Beauty" by Sue Carter and "Spotted Hunter" by Elisa Best.
Many thanks to all who enabled the day to be such a success, those who helped out on the day, John Crowland for organising the selection of our club's entries, those whose images were used on the day, and everyone who put forward images for selection.

Click on the link to go to the WPF e-book showing all the images from all the clubs.

The winning set of monochrome images and their authors, John receiving the Gwyn Morgan Trophy on behalf of the club, the monochrome authors receiving a plaque from John at a club meeting.

DPI Competition

We held an open subject dpi competition on 6th December, judged for us by Trevor James BA (hons) Photography, ARPS, AWPF. There were 71 images altogether in the competition, all of a high standard. Lin Wyles' image "Wading Wildebeest" was awarded first place. Second was "Dune Riders" by Lyn Sharples, and in third place "Day Dreaming" by John Crowland. Seven images were highly commended: "Yawning Leopard" by Elisa Best, "Zebras Fighting" and "Badger Smelling the Flowers" both by Terry Wall, "Roller Girl" by Dani Emerson, "Buffalo with Oxpecker" by Victoria ElBay, "Forgotten" by Keith Sharples, and "Elephant Family" by Sue Carter. Four images were commended: "Jackal, Evening Light" by Janette Hill, "Through the Mud and Rain" by Sue Carter, and "Waiting" and "Green Damselfly" both by John Crowland. Well done to members and to our judge who braved 'Storm Darragh' to attend on the evening!

Gold Medal

Well done Elisa Best who was awarded a FIAP gold medal in the Edinburgh Salon for her image "Yawning Leopard".

New Committee Member

We are pleased to announce that following a call for more members to join the committee James Turner has now joined the committee as an ordinary member. Thank you James for coming forward. This brings the number on the committee to eight. There is still space for another ordinary member if anyone else would like to join.

DPAGB Success

Congratulations to Lin and Peter Wyles who both gained their DPAGB distinctions on 24th November.
To gain this distinction you need a set of 15 images at national exhibition standard. The images are assessed by six judges who give a mark for each image between 2 and 5, (each image then receiving a mark between 12 and 30). To achieve the distinction you need to have a total of at least 300.

Stanley Chell Competition 2024

Twenty-five clubs entered this competition organised by Aberdare Camera Club, and we had a wonderful afternoon of excellent photography, attended by five members from our club. Each club entered four prints judged by Ralph Snook ARPS, EFIAP/b, DPAGB, who had spent time examining all the prints and gave considered and thoughtful critiques before giving a score for each image. At the end of the afternoon three clubs were at the top with 75 points. With two of the clubs having two images with the maximum 20 points, both Gwynfa and Cwmbran clubs were awarded joint first place, and Afan Nedd was placed third. Monmouth scored a total of 69 points and achieved a respectable ninth place in the competition. Our scores were: "Protection on the Mara" by Sue Carter, 17 points, "Leopard Grooming" by Elisa Best, 18 points, "Kingfisher with Catch" by Wendy Conway, 16 points, and "Grizzly Bear Dispute" by Terry Wall 18 points. The award for best monochrome print was given to "Marilyn" by Aberdare club; best colour print went to Bridgend for "Golden Eagle Moving Magpie On"; and Gwynfa club were awarded best landscape print and best image in the competition for "Lone Photographer". Many thanks to Aberdare for hosting this very enjoyable competition, (and for the welsh cakes!), to John Crowland for organising our club entry, and to members who provided prints for the competition.

Salon Success

Congratulations to all those members who had acceptances at Smethwick International Exhibition. Peter Wyles and Lin Wyles each had seven images accepted, and Peter's "King Penguin Beach" received a maximum score and a PSA ribbon. Elisa Best had three nature images accepted; Janette Hill had seven dpis accepted, and Sue Carter had five dpis accepted. A brilliant result for our club members.
Below are "King Penguin Beach" by Peter Wyles, "Sri Lankan Tea-Picker" by Lin Wyles, and "Four at Waterhole" by Janette Hill.

Memorial Trophies Competitions

This is a day of competitions organised annually by the Welsh Photographic Federation, (WPF), with competitions in colour prints, dpi's and monochrome prints. Excitingly the next Memorial Trophies Day will be hosted by Monmouth Club at Bridges Community Centre, Monmouth. The date is Saturday 25th January 2025 and we will need Monmouth members to volunteer to help on the day. Put the date in your diary and come along to watch. Monmouth club will be entering and it's great fun to follow and see how we do, with lots of images to view from clubs from all over South Wales.

AWPF

Well done to Elisa Best who has achieved another photographic distinction and been successful in obtaining an AWPF, (Associateship of the Welsh Photographic Federation). This involves putting together a panel of twelve prints of a high enough standard but which also work together as a panel. Elisa's panel is shown below. Congratulations Elisa, well deserved.

FIAP Awards

The five members who gained their FIAP qualifications recently, were presented with their awards this week. Many thanks to Ron Lines, president of the WPF, for coming to our club to present the awards. Congratulations again to Elisa Best, Janette Hill, Sue Carter, and Lin and Peter Wyles on their achievements.

First Competition of the New Season

Our first competition was held on 18th October and was an open subject print competition. We had a fantastic entry of 50 prints, well done to all who entered giving us a great variety of subject matter and styles of photography. Thank you to our judge, David Straker, from Abergavenny, who had spent a great deal of time studying our prints and gave a considered critique for each image. First place was awarded to Terry Wall for his image "Dispute". Iain MacCallum was second with "United Colours of Aaliyah"; and "Warm Blue Seas" by Terry Rees-Pedlar was awarded third place. Seven prints were highly commended: "Up and Away" by Gordon Hay, "Sunset" and "Nash Point" both by John Crowland, "Shipping Warning" by Chris Morris, "Sailing on By" and "House by the Dunes" both by Lyn Sharples, and "Langdale Pikes by Fintan Healy. A further seventeen images were commended, go to the competition results page for details. It was a very enjoyable evening with a chance to see so many amazing prints.

FIAP Success

Well done to several members who gained FIAP awards recently. Lin Wyles and Peter Wyles both got their AFIAP. Janette Hill, Elisa Best and Sue Carter all achieved EFIAP. Congratulations to you all, a fantastic achievement.

To be awarded AFIAP you need to have:
a) At least 40 Acceptances in FIAP salons with at least 15 different photographs. Four different works must have each received at least one acceptance in “Print” salons under FIAP Patronage.
b) This success must have come from at least 15 different salons with FIAP Patronage, and those salons must be spread over at least 8 different countries.

To be awarded EFIAP you need to have:
a) At least 250 Acceptances (including those gained at AFIAP) with a total of at least 50 different photographs. Twelve different works must have each received at least one acceptance in “Print” salons under FIAP Patronage.
b) This success must have come from at least 30 different salons with FIAP Patronage, and those salons must be spread over at least 20 different countries.
c) To have at least two different photographs that have each received at least one award. These awards must have been gained in different salons from different countries.

Usk Show Photography Competition

Congratulations to two members who both enjoyed success in the Usk Show photography competition. Dani Emerson was awarded first place in the "Sports" section and a first and second place in the "Architecture" section. Dani was also highly commended in the "Nature's Textures" section. Terry Rees-Pedlar was awarded second place in the "Sports" section and third in the "Nature's Textures" section. Well done Dani and Terry.

Dani's Sport, Nature's Textures, and Architecture images.

Sport and Nature's Textures by Terry Rees-Pedlar.

Photo-Marathon Winners

The votes are in and we now have winners for each section of the 2024 Photo-Marathon, (see further down the page for details of the competition). Monmouth members voted for their favourite image for each title and for their favourite author set. Julie Morgan from Abergavenny Club who set the titles for us, also chose her favourites.

Title 1, "It's Quiet Here", was won by Lisa Jordan, Mike Gwilliam's image was Julie's favourite.

Title 2, "Man's Best Friend", was won by Mike Gwilliam, this was also Julie's favourite.

Title 3, "Power", was won by Lyn Sharples, Julie's favourite was by Lisa Jordan.

Title 4, "Three of a Kind", was won by Adrian Butcher, Brian Challis' image was Julie's favourite.

Title 5, "Blink and You'll Miss It!", was won by Adrian Butcher, Julie also chose this image as her favourite.

Title 6, "Symmetry", was won by Adrian Butcher, this was also Julie's favourite.

The winning Author set was by Adrian Butcher. Julie chose the set by Lisa Jordan as her favourite set.

Well done to all winners, but also to everyone who took part and completed the challenge on the day. To see all the images go to the Galleries page.

Monmouth Win The Jubilee Trophy Competition 2024

The Diamond Jubilee Trophy is an inter-club photographic competition hosted by Cwmbran Camera Club, held this year on 4th September. The competition involved five clubs: Cwmbran, Abergavenny, Monmouth, Western Valley, and Hay. Each club submitted ten images: five as prints, and five as DPIs.
The judge, Les Loosemore, assessed the images and scored each up to a top-score of 20 points per image. Thus, the maximum aggregate score for any one club would be a perfect 200.
There were two rounds of judging: the first being prints and the second DPIs. The judge scored each image- with some being awarded Highly Commended, or Commended. The judge also awarded 1 st , 2 nd , and 3 rd place to his favourites in each round.
In the print round, one of Monmouth’s images was awarded 3 rd place, and three images were commended. In the DPI round, Monmouth scoped 1 st place, 2 nd place, and one commended, (full scores below). The totals for both rounds were added together to give a final score, with Monmouth coming in first place with 183 points. We were closely chased by Western Valley and Cwmbran clubs, both with a score of 179. Hay scored 176 and Abergavenny 171.
Thanks to Keith for organising Monmouth’s submission, all members who submitted images, and all who attended the evening. It was great to see Monmouth coming out on top!

Print scores:
Going Home From Work by Sue Carter 18, Commended
Green Roofed Sheiling by Lyn Sharples 16
Squacco Heron Fishing by Elisa Best 18, Commended
Museum of Liverpool by Iain MacCallum 18, Commended
Left to Rot by Keith Sharples 19, 3rd place.
DPI scores:
Sunset in the Empty Quarter by Fintan Healy 20, 1st place
New Street Station by John Crowland 18
Yawning Leopard by Elisa Best 18, Commended
Coast by Lyn Sharples 20, 2nd place
Tea Break by Keith Sharples, 18.

Market Display

At the end of August we had a stand for the day at Monmouth Market to publicise the club and hopefully encourage new members to join. There was a lot of interest in the stand and lots of positive comments about the photos on display. Thanks to all who allowed their prints to be used and to those members who helped to man the stand. We also have a small display of prints in Monmouth Library for the next three weeks.

Photo Marathon 2024

Monmouth Photographic Club's second ever photomarathon took place on Saturday 17th August. We were lucky to have nice sunny weather, although the bright sun and harsh contrast made conditions challenging for some photos. The challenge was to complete six photos in three hours. The six titles were given out at the 10am start and the participants had to try and produce the best photos they could to illustrate the six titles before the finish at 1pm. All photography had to be in camera, no photo manipulation allowed. The titles, (kindly set for us by Julie Morgan of Abergavenny Camera Club), were as follows: 1- It's Quiet Here, 2- Man's Best Friend, 3- Power, 4- Three of a Kind, 5- Blink and You'd Miss It, and 6- Symmetry. Photographers could go wherever they wanted, take the images in any order, and take as many shots as they liked, but had to return at the end of the morning with only six images on their card, one for each title. It was a good challenge and great fun. We finished at the Estero Lounge, Monmouth, where our images were immediately downloaded, and then we enjoyed lunch together to finish off the fun. Thank you to the many members of the public out and about in Monmouth who posed for photos! All the images can now be viewed in the Gallery and club members can vote on their favourites from each section.

Cobalt Calendar

Congratulations to Elisa Best whose image "Crane Boys" was one of twelve winners chosen from hundreds of entries in the Cobalt "Capture a Moment" competition, and will feature on the Cobalt 2025 calendar.

PAGB Inter-Club PDI Competition 2024

Monmouth club were delighted to be taking part in this national PAGB competition held at Warwick on 21st July. Two clubs represented the WPF, us and Bridgend Camera Club. There were 37 clubs taking part from across the UK, from each of the regional photographic federations. Each image in the competition was scored by a panel of three judges who could give a score between 2 and 5, giving each image a total score of between 6 and 15. The participating clubs all had an image bank of no more than 40 of their club's images from which to choose on the day.
Round one was eight images selected before the event, (no more than two from any one author and no more than two nature images). Our scores ranged from 9 to 12 and our total score at the end of round one was 86 points. Our highest scoring images were "Sunset on Empty Quarter" by Fintan Healy, "The Farrier" by Keith Sharples, and "Where's Mum?" by John Crowland which all scored 12. Round two was eight different images selected on the day after round one, again with the same restrictions. This time our total was 90 points, again with three images scoring 12 points, "Wild Dogs Hunting" by Elisa Best, "Tea Break" by Keith Sharples, and "Coast" by Lyn Sharples. The top scoring eight clubs from the total of these two rounds go forward to the final, (actually on this occasion ten clubs were in the final as three were in equal eighth position). We came 32nd out of 37 so were not in the final! However all the remaining non-finalists then have a further round of eight images for the "Plate Competition". In this third round you are allowed to re-use up to four of the images already used in the first two rounds, again with the same restrictions on authors and nature. The selection had to be made on the day, trying to take into account what sorts of images seemed to be liked by the judges so far in the competition. Our score for this round was 91, making us joint 23rd out of the 27 clubs in the Plate Competition. Our highest five scoring images in this round, (all with 12 points), were: "Green Roofed Sheiling" by Lyn Sharples, "Squacco Heron" by Elisa Best, "Yawning Leopard" by Elisa Best, "Our First Selfie" by Keith Sharples and "Where's Mum?" by John Crowland.
This was a really fantastic event to take part in, with an enjoyable day of seeing hundreds of images including some of the best photography by some of the best clubs in the country. Many thanks to Pat Hopkins for organisation and selection before the event, and to Keith Sharples and Elisa Best for attending and selecting on the day. Also, of course, thanks to everyone in the club who put forward images for the event, without a wide choice of images to make up a diverse and extensive image bank and to provide the best possible selections on the day, entering this event would not have been possible.

Congratulations to Chorley PS who were the overall winners of the competition, and to Arden Photo Group who won the Plate competition.

Below are our highest scoring images from the competition:

PAGB Inter-Federation Competition 2024

Two Monmouth members had prints chosen to represent the Welsh Photographic Federation in the 2024 PAGB Inter-Federation Competition. Sue Carter had two prints selected, "Mother and Son" and "Protection on the Mara"; and Lyn Sharples also had two prints selected, "Green Roofed Sheiling" and "Into the Blue".

APOY 2024

Congratulations to Elisa Best for having two images shortlisted for Amateur Photographer of the Year in the 'Animal Kingdom' category. An amazing achievement and let's hope they go even further beyond the shortlist.

Barrian Cup 2024

On Saturday June 8th Pat and Brian travelled to Barry to attend the Barrian cup competition on behalf of Monmouth club.
Pat reported back that there were some absolutely stunning images in the competition, ours included! All told there were 18 clubs that participated in the event with 5 photo entries per club. The competition was judged by Nick Jenkins AWPF, ARPS.

The Barrian Cup, (which we won last year), went to top scorer Tenby & District this year with a total score of 95 points. Tenby was followed by Bridgend in 2nd place with 94 points, Western Valley and Rhondda tied with 93 points in 3rd place, and with 91 points Monmouth PC tied for 5th place with Thornbury and Gwent camera clubs. The scores ranged from 95 for top to 84 points for last place; we placed well in the top of the field.

Individual scores for our club were as follows:

Steps Into The Misty Darkness by Iain McCallum 18

Squacco Heron Fishing by Elisa Best 18

Dune Grasses by Keith Sharples 17

Relaxed Leopard by Sue Carter 18

Green Roofed Sheiling by Lyn Sharples 20

Thanks to all club members who put images forward to be considered for this competition.

Photographic Workshops

Keith's summer workshops are now under way. He has already held a Zoom tutorial on ISO, f-stops and shutter speeds and how they work together. This was followed up with a practical workshop on using aperture priority and the affects you can achieve, and a second workshop on using different shutter speeds. More tutorials and workshops are to follow throughout the summer. If you are interested in joining any and have not yet signed up, let Keith know asap.

AGM 2024

The AGM was held on Friday 17th May. Annual reports were given by the Chairman, Treasurer, External Competition Secretary, Internal Competition Secretary, Programme Secretary, New Member and Training Officer, and Publicity Officer. There were two proposals from the committee: 1. To maintain the club fees at the current level, and 2. To repurpose the Tony Cutting Trophy to be given to the winner of the Five Print Challenge, (a new competition being introduced in 2025). Both proposals were passed. The Chairman's award was given to John Crowland for his contribution to the club over the year especially in getting members to various outside events and photo opportunities. There was a slight change to the committee with both Jackie Poulter and Iain MacCallum standing down. John Crowland became the new Internal Competition Secretary for both print and dpi competitions. Terry Rees-Pedlar took on the role of Publicity Officer in addition to his role of Secretary. Fintan Healy noted that this will be his final year as Chairman.

Annual Open Competition 2024 and Monochrome Trophy

Our final competition of the season was, as usual, the Annual Open Print competition. This is the only competition where members can choose to re-enter images already used in this season's competitions. We had a good selection of both old and new work, for our judge, Peter Young, LRPS CPAGB AFIAP HonPAGB to consider. An additional element this year was that the highest scoring monochrome in the competition would win the new Monochrome Trophy. First place in the competition was awarded to "Dune Grasses" by Keith Sharples. Keith was also awarded second place for "Left to Rot", which meant he also won the monochrome trophy with this print. It was a good evening for the Sharples with Lyn Sharples awarded third place for "Taking a Break" and HC for "Green Roofed Shieling". A further HC was awarded to Sue Carter for "Relaxed Leopard". Five prints were commended: "Steps Into Milky Darkness" and "Museum of Liverpool" by Iain MacCallum, "Squacco Heron Fishing" and "Lions in the Rain" by Elisa Best, and "Usk Lighthouse Sunset" by Terry Rees-Pedlar. Well done to all who entered, and many thanks to Peter for his constructive and carefully considered judging.

Bill Ward

After last years fantastic presentation by Bill Ward we are thrilled to be having a return visit from Bill, this time with his presentation "North by Northwest". Join multi-award winning photographer and actor Bill Ward as he takes you on a journey along the rugged and remote North West edge of the British Isles. From Applecross to Durness, and from Stornaway to Vatersay, Bill has travelled the length and breadth of the Outer Hebrides, as well as walking the far North West corner of the Scottish Mainland. Expect seascapes a-plenty, standing stones, and Bill’s unique mix of Creative Photography: Abstracts, ICMs, and In Camera Multiple Exposures.

This is a ticket only event, tickets to be purchased in advance. Monmouth members free (see link emailed to you). Visitors £6.50 Visitor Ticket Link

Anglesey Trip

Our recent trip to Anglesey was very successful. So many photographic locations, and lots of fun and laughter. To read more about the trip go to the Field Trips and Outings page, and to view the images go to the Gallery.

Photographic Workshops

Keith Sharples will be running various workshops for club members over the summer. According to demand possible subjects are:

Photoshop:
Image Resizing
Stroke Lines
Understanding and using layers / layer masks for various purposes
Blending colour and monochrome images together to enhance the texture/grittiness in an image
Taking Tiffs and Jpegs into the raw converter.
How to look at your images as a judge does and eradicate some of the problems

Printing and Mounting:
Prepare images for printing
How to cut window mounts and how to mount prints for club and exhibition entry.

Audio Visual sequence using “Pictures to Exe” program:
How to prepare your images for use and build a sequence with transitions and music. Also how to add sound effects if required.

Practical:
Understand how shutter speed, aperture and iso work together to generate a balanced exposure.
How to use Aperture priority, the thought processes and what the effect is
How to use Shutter priority, the thought processes and what the effect is
How to use slow shutter speeds for effect.
How to take ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) images
How to use a flash gun/speed light creatively
Using reflectors to enhance and also to remove light
Using Studio flash equipment

If you are interested in any of the above please contact Keith asap and he will let you know if places are available.

Only Mono 2024

Only Mono is an annual competition run by Gareth Martin and Cymru Monochrome Club held at Port Talbot. This year forty clubs entered, lots of Welsh clubs but also clubs from all over Britain from Thurrock to St Austell. Each club enters four monochrome prints which are scored out of 20. The judge this year was Colin Trow-Poole FRPS, FIPF, MPAGB, who gave a critique for each image before giving it a mark. It was an intense afternoon with 160 images to get through. Scores ranged from 12 to 20. Monmouth's images scored as follows: "A Mother's Love" by John Crowland - 15, "Taking a Break" by Lyn Sharples - 16, "Museum of Liverpool" by Iain MacCallum -16, and "Seilbost Beach" by Keith Sharples -16, giving a total of 63 points. We came a respectable 19th out of 40 clubs. The winning club was Dorchester CC with 72 points. Bristol PS and Rhondda CC both scored 71 points. The winning image was "Survivor" from Bristol PS. Thanks to Gareth and Cymru Monochrome for organising a great event.

Battle with Ross 2024

Following our battle with Orkney we had a second battle this week, this time our annual battle with Ross P.S., held this year at Monmouth. Each club entered 10 dpis and 10 prints, and our judge for the evening was David Straker from Abergavenny club. It was a very close run contest. At the end of the first half, after the dpis, Monmouth were ahead with182 points to Ross's 177. After a break for refreshments and chat we continued with the judging of the prints. Ross gained some ground and it was a nail-biting finish with final scores of 356 points to Ross and 357 points to Monmouth. Victory again to Monmouth - by just one point! Three of our images were awarded the maximum 20 points, "Protection on the Mara" by Sue Carter, "Squacco Heron Fishing" by Elisa Best, and "Left to Rot" by Keith Sharples. "Circular Thinking" by Pat Hopkins, "Colourfall" by Jackie Poulter, "Firestarter" by Iain MacCallum, and "Green Roofed Sheiling" by Lyn Sharples all got 19 points. It was great to see so many amazing images and lovely that a good number of Ross members were able to join us for the evening.

Battle with Orkney

Wednesday 3rd April saw our second battle with Orkney Camera Club, (via Zoom). Each club submitted 20 dpis which were judged for us by Douglas Allan. At the end of the evening, having viewed some brilliant images from both clubs, the total scores were 328 points to Orkney and 344 points to Monmouth, so a win for Monmouth once again. Our highest scoring images were "Protection on the Mara" by Sue Carter and "Under the Bridge" by Adrian Butcher which both achieved 20 points. "Circular Thinking" by Pat Hopkins, "Firestarter" by Iain MacCallum, and "Squacco Heron Fishing" by Elisa Best were all awarded 19 points. It was a very enjoyable evening, and lovely to see images from a club at the other end of Britain. We look forward to another battle with Orkney club next year.

Welsh Salon 2024

Members of Monmouth club were successful in the Welsh Salon this year with a total of ten acceptances in the exhibition and three awards from four different members. Elisa Best had one acceptance in the dpi section "Leopard in a Tree", which was also given a judge's choice award. Keith Sharples had two acceptances, a colour print and a mono print. The mono print "Seat of Government" was highly commended. Lyn Sharples had three acceptances, one colour print, one mono print and one dpi. Sue Carter had four acceptances, a colour print, a mono print and two dpis. Sue's dpi "Male Weaver Nest Making" was highly commended. Several members also had 'near misses' with images that scored 11 (one point below the acceptance mark). Well done to all.
The exhibition will be held at Cynon Valley Museum, Aberdare, CF44 8DL, from Saturday 4th May till Saturday 25th May (9:30 - 3:30 Tues-Sat).

Midphot Nature Trophy

Following her success in Midphot with her image "Protection on the Mara" Sue Carter was presented with her Trophy at Smethwick recently.

DPI Competition 15th March 2024

Thank you to Dave Russell AFIAP for judging this open subject dpi competition for us. There were forty images entered in the competition. First place was awarded to "Leopard in Tree" by Elisa Best. Two images came second, "Squacco Heron Fishing" again by Elisa Best, and "Steps into Milky Darkness" by Iain MacCallum. Third equal were "Walking on Gold" by Keith Sharples and "Nash Point" by John Crowland. Eight images were highly commended: "The Texter" by Chris Morris, "Jade" by John Crowland, "All by Myself" by Lyn Sharples, "Yellow and Fluffy" by Brian Challis, "Firestarter" by Iain MacCallum, "Dungeness Desert" and "Protective Mother" both by Sue Carter, and "The Cloisters" by Elisa Best. Well done to all who entered, as usual the high standard of images gave us an evening of viewing excellent photography. To see all the images in the competition go to the Gallery.

It was a good night for Elisa all round as not only did she win the competition but she was also awarded with her certificate for the CPAGB which she achieved last November!

Birmingham Canals and City Trip

A group of members recently visited Birmingham for a photographic day out. They walked along some of the canals, followed by some of the city squares and then visited New Street Station where they had arranged to take photos within the station. A very full day involving lots of fun resulted in all coming back with a good number of successful images. For more detail go to the Field Trips and Outings page, and to view more photos go to the Gallery.

FIAP Gold

Huge congratulations to Elisa Best who was awarded a FIAP gold medal for her image "Yawning Leopard" in the ICE Group Snowy Island 2024 Exhibition. Elisa also had a further five acceptances into the exhibition including two Honourable Mentions.

Southampton International Salon

An excellent result for Elisa Best in this exhibition. Elisa's image "Lions in Rain" was awarded a FIAP ribbon.

Midphot Success

Congratulations to Sue Carter who had five images accepted into the Midphot 2024 Exhibition, and her dpi "Protection on the Mara" was awarded the Midphot Nature Trophy.

WPF Memorials Trophies Day 2024

Five from the club attended the Memorials Trophies event at Talbot Green and had a great day viewing some amazing images from the fifteen clubs that took part.

In the DPI "Walter Morgan Memorial" portion of the event we came in a respectable joint 5th of 15 clubs. Gwynfa CC and Rhondda CC were tied in 1st place with 79 points; our score was 76 with Elisa Best scoring a full mark of 20 and a certificate for her "Squacco Heron Fishing". Sue Carter's "Protection on the Mara" scored 19, Keith Sharples' "The Seat of Government" scored 18, and John Crowland's "Freya" 19. Low scoring clubs of the day scored 69 points. Congratulations to Elisa on her brilliant results for an outstanding photo.

We did not weather as well in the Past President's Memorial for Coloured Prints. Winning joint clubs for this competition were: Afan Nedd CC and Tenby and District CC tied with 78 points.

We were tied with two other clubs for joint 11th place with 71 points. In this category Sue Carter's "Going Home From Work" scored 19; Lyn Sharples' "Abandoned" 18, Chris Morris' "Painted Skyline" 17, and Pat Hopkins' "Ageing Beauty" 17.

The Gwyn Morgan Trophy is a panel judged event so all four submissions are displayed as a "set" and then there is an elimination process until they arrive at the final three. The four photos we submitted were Lyn Sharples' "Taking a Break"; Sue Carter's "Relaxed Leopard"; John Crowland's "A Mother's Love", and Iain McCallum's "Museum of Liverpool". As each photo is not considered on its own merit there are no individual scores: We are either included or eliminated as the sets are presented. The 1st place ticket in this event went to Tenby and District CC.

Thanks to everyone who put images forward and well done for being willing to put in the effort to play on a bigger stage competitively.

AFIAP Awards

Ron Lines from the WPF came to our first meeting of 2024 to present AFIAP certificates to Elisa Best and Sue Carter. Congratulations again to Elisa and Sue on their achievement.

Adrian Webster Trophy 2023

Many thanks to Western Valley Camera Club for hosting the battle for the Adrian Webster Trophy. Seven clubs took part this year, each club submitting 8 dpi images. The final scores were as follows: 1st Bargoed 145 points, 2nd Cwmbran 144 points, 3rd Maes y Cymmer 141 points, equal 4th Monmouth and Caerphilly 137 points, 6th Abergavenny 136 points, and 7th Western Valley 135 points. Thanks to Gareth Martin AWPF CPAGB for judging, and to Western Valley for the buffet!
Monmouth's entry and scores were: "Amazing Value" by Lyn Sharples 17, "Ben Moore" by Fintan Healy 17, "Brown Bears in Cotton Fields" by Sue Carter 18, "Calanais Stones" by Keith Sharples 18, "Close Formation" by John Crowland 16, "Leopard Grooming" by Elisa Best 18, "Quiet" by Pat Hopkins 17, and "The Thrill of the Race" by Terry Rees-Pedlar 16. Thanks to all members who submitted images for use in the competition.

CPAGB Success

Elisa Best was successful in achieving her CPAGB award at the recent adjudication. For this Elisa needed to submit 10 images to be assessed by six judges. Each image is scored between 12 and 30 and applicants need to achieve a total score of at least 200 across the 10 images to gain the award. Elisa easily managed this with a total score of 229 for her images. Well done Elisa, an excellent result.

Stanley Chell Competition 2023

Twenty -three clubs entered the Stanley Chell competition this year with each club entering four prints. The judge was Peter Weaver LRPS, CPAGB, APAGB who gave a critique and score for each image. The winners were Tenby with 78 points overall, Afan Nedd were second with 77 points, and Gwnfa were 3rd with 76 points. Monmouth were pleased to come in a respectable 6th place with 74 points. Our entries and scores were: "The Chase" by Sue Carter - 19 points, "Misty Sail" by Keith Sharples - 18 points, "Where's Mum?" by John Crowland -19 points, and "Quiet" by Pat Hopkins -18 points. It was a very enjoyable afternoon for those attending having a chance to see so many wonderful prints. Thanks to Aberdare for organising the event, and congratulations to the winning clubs.

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