Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition
This exhibition is on at the Nature in Art gallery, Twigworth, Gloucester, GL2 9PG, from 4th February till March 29th, and is well worth going to see. The gallery is open Tues-Sunday 10am - 5pm. Nature in Art
Christmas Meal
For our Christmas meal for 2019 we returned to the Stonemill Restaurant. Everyone had a great time and the food was delicious. Many thanks to Jackie for organising and to Anne for remembering to bring a camera and take photos!
Scapes Competition
There were some truly stunning and amazing images entered in our "Scapes" competition on 6th December, giving the judge a difficult job in choosing his favourites. Congratulations to Christopher Jones who took first place with his lovely image, Sunrise", and also second place with "Dawn". (Well done for getting up early enough to get the shots too!) Third place went to John Crowland for "The Prince of Wales Bridge". Five images were highly commended: "Sunlit Scowle" by Brian Challis, "Savernake Forest" by Janet Cox, "Severnscape" by Adrian Butcher, "Splashscape" by Lyn Sharples, and "Moody Durdle Door" by Keith Sharples. Eight images were commended: "Committee Meeting" by Alison Stace, "Old Harry Rocks Dorset" by Arthur Winch, "Anglesey Beach" and "Mull Bothy" by Catherine Jones, "Sunset at Burryport" by Jackie Poulter, "Cold Harbour" by Brian Challis, "Winter Golf" by Bill Stace, and "NYC from Brooklyn Bridge" by Christopher Jones. Many thanks to the judge, Les Loosemore ARPS, DPAGB, AWPF, for his informative and considered critiques of all the images. Everyone was very appreciative of the time and effort he had obviously put into judging the images. Go to the Competition Results 2019-2020 page to see the first three images.
Results for October/ November's online competition "Transport": 1st place, WHR Garrett at Pont Croesor by Terry Rees-Pedlar. 2nd place, Usk Cyclist by Terry Rees-Pedlar, 3rd place, MOT Failure by Chris Morris. Two images were highly commended: Off to School by Elisa Best and No Bikes by Chris Morris. One image was commended, 44806 by Catherine Jones. Congratulations everyone, and especially Terry Rees-Pedlar for achieving first and second place in his first competition! Go to the Online Competition Results page to see all the images and the judges comments for each image. Go to the Online Competition Gallery to see all the images full size.
Six members attended the Stanley Chell competition on 23rd November. Twenty five clubs from South Wales had entered the competition, each club putting in four prints. It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, giving those present a chance to see one hundred of the region's best prints. The competition was judged by Rob Mitchell MA (Photography), who gave an informative and considered critique on each image. Monmouth's images were: Cardinal Fritillary by Sue Carter, Melancholy by John Crowland, The Abbey by Chris Morris and Penmon Lighthouse by Keith Sharples. Our highest scoring image was John's "Melancholy" which scored 19. The scores overall were close, the winning club was Llanelli with a total of 75 points, and Afan Nedd were 2nd with 74 points. We came 20th out of the 25 clubs with a total of 68 points. The competition was very well organised by Aberdare Camera Club, (including a fantastic buffet!). We look forward to entering again next year.
The National Museum of Wales in Cardiff are currently running a photography season. The exhibition shows work from four influential photographers: August Sander, Bernd and Hilla Becher, and Martin Parr. The exhibitions predominantly comprise loaned photographs, a number of which have never been exhibited before, and all of which will be displayed for the first time in Wales. Entry is free and It runs until 1st March 2020
Congratulations to Sue Carter for gaining her AWPF, (Associateship of the Welsh Photographic Federation), recently. To achieve this Sue had to submit a panel of 12 images for consideration. Each image needed to be of an excellent quality and the twelve images had to work together as a whole to produce a coherent panel. At this adjudication 21 photographers submitted images but only 12 of those were judged to be of the required standard. Well done Sue, and well deserved.
Yet again a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon at the Pixels competition. Thirty-nine clubs entered from the WPF and the NWPA. Excellent judging by Michael Krier ARPS AFIAP MA(Photography), excellent organisation by Gwynfa Camera Club, and an excellent buffet! We were very pleased to come joint 7th out of 39. Our images and scores were: Three Arrows by John Crowland scored 18, Feeding Time by Lyn Sharples scored 20, Harvest Time by Iain McCallum scored 18 and Calm Sail by Keith Sharples scored 17, giving us a very respectable total of 73. Congratulations to the winners, RPC with a total of 79. Mold Camera Club came 2nd and Gwent Photographic Society were 3rd.
The Stanley Chell competition is an inter club print competition open to all clubs in the WPF. It is organised and run by Aberdare Camera Club. This is always an enjoyable event to come and watch with a chance to see some of the best prints that WPF clubs are producing. Monmouth have entered again this year so come along and support us. The competition is being held on Saturday 23rd November at St Fagan's Community Hall, Windsor St, Trecynon, Aberdare, CF44 8LL, starting at 1pm.
Our first print competition was held on Friday 18th October. There were 52 entries and as the subject was open this resulted in a huge variety of images. The judge, Leigh Woolford, Hon FWPF, DPAGB, EFIAP, AWPF, BPE3*, praised the high standard of entry. Congratulations to John Crowland whose lovely portrait "Melancholy" won first place. Iain McCallum came second with his intriguing drone shot "Harvest Time". Third place was awarded to Lyn Sharples for "Safe Passage". Six images were highly commended: "Looking Up" by Bill Stace, "On Shed" by Christopher Jones, "Aber Falls" by John Crowland, "Fox on the Beach" by Sue Carter, "Last Boat of the Day Port Talbot Steelworks" by Janet Cox and "Tide's Out" by Lyn Sharples. A further 12 images were commended. Go to the Competition Results page to see the full list of placings and the first three images.
Results for August/September's online competition: 1st Place, On the Beach by Keith Sharples. 2nd place, Porth Beach by Adrian Butcher. 3rd place, The Beach Castle by John Crowland. Three images were highly commended: Carswell beach by Janet Cox, Cogden Beach by Adrian Butcher and The Beach Sunset by John Crowland. Two images were commended: Early Morning Swim by Peter Farrar and Good Beach Weather by Lyn Sharples. Congratulations everyone and especially to new member Adrian Butcher for achieving two placings in his first competition! Go to the Online Competitions Gallery to see the images.
Seven members of the club enjoyed a trip to Dorset recently. We stayed in a lovely old Oast House at a fantastic location, (once we found it!), right in the middle of Weymouth. Wild and windy, (but mostly dry), weather was a photographer's dream giving us stormy seas and cloudy skies. We all particularly appreciated the spectacular Dorset coastline with visits to places such as Kimmeridge Bay, Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, Portland Bill and Chesil Beach. The area is full of amazing landscapes and places of interest and our four days there only gave us a small taste of what Dorset has to offer. Go to the Field Trips and Outings Gallery to see some of the images from the trip.
Congratulations to Iain McCallum for his success in the Civil Service Sports Club photography competition recently. Iain won two silver medals and in addition his image "Hornblower" (shown), won best overall image. The image really captures the fun and enjoyment of the CSSC games.
Our recent visit to the Secret Forest was certainly interesting. The path through the enchanting woodland leads you past gnarled and twisted ancient trees, shimmering leaves and sudden patches of sunlight, and through 'scowles' (limestone rock formations). Photography was challenging in the low light conditions, but the stunning natural features made it worth the effort. We also saw a number of fairies along the way! Then emerged from the forest to an area of replicated iron-age round houses. Refreshments in the quirky 'curiosity shop' cafe were also much enjoyed. Go to the Field Trips and Outings Gallery to see some of the images from the Secret Forest.
It was that time of year for the market stall again where we display some of our members' prints in order to publicise the club. It was a long hot day but a lot of people stopped to look and considerable interest was shown in the images. Several people expressed an interest in joining, so fingers crossed, we may see some new faces when meetings start again in September. Many thanks to those who contributed images and to all the members who helped on the day.
Nine of us enjoyed a lovely sunny Saturday at Lacock Abbey and village recently. Lacock is known as the birthplace of photography, (Henry Fox-Talbot), and there was certainly an abundance of photographic opportunities during our visit. The picture-postcard village is full of old buildings, with narrow streets, picturesque cottages, a church, three pubs and a packhorse bridge! The medieval Abbey, which later became the home of the Talbot family, is owned by the National Trust along with the extensive grounds. It also houses the Fox-Talbot museum of photography. Go to the Field Trips and Outings Gallery to see some of the images from the day.
The results are now in! Congratulations to John Crowland who was awarded first place for "Beware of Trains", and second place for his image " Night Watch". "Trapped in Slate" by Janet Cox was third. Two images were highly commended: "Sandy Shadow" by Janet Cox, and "Wavy Chair by Peter Farrar. Two images were commended: "Angel of the North" by Catherine Jones" and "Montevideo, a capital skyline" by Mike Roberts.
The camera club stand at Monmouth show, exhibiting some of our work and information about the club, attracted a lot of interest. Also, congratulations to Iain McCallum and Keith Sharples who both won prizes in the photography competiton at the show.
The Barrian Cup competition took place on Saturday 8th June. Twenty-four clubs from around South Wales took part, each club entering five prints from five different authors. It was an interesting afternoon with a total of 120 prints being critiqued and judged by Peter Gennard MFIAP, EFIAP/Platinum. Monmouth's prints were "Wall Light" by Brian Challis, "LLanddwyn Lighthouse" by John Crowland, "Walking in Winter" by Lyn Sharples, "Albatross" by Sue Carter, and "Our First Selfie" by Keith Sharples. We came a slightly disappointng 17th out of 24, with a total of 69 points. The winning club was ISO Group with 89 points. Our highest scoring prints were "LLanddwyn Lighthouse" and "Albatross", both scoring 15 points.
Results for the online competition as follows: 1st place, Splashed Red by Keith Sharples. 2nd place, Colour Co-ordinated by Lyn Sharples. 3rd place, Tomatoes by Brian Challis. Two images were highly commended: A Splash of Red (1) by Pat Hopkins, and Chinese Bride by Mike Roberts. Two images were commended: Church lights by Janet Cox, and Ferraris by John Crowland.
Five images have been selected from members of Monmouth Club to represent the Welsh Federation in the PAGB Inter- Federation competition. The selected images are: Bee Eaters by Sue Carter (Nature DPI); Farrier by Keith Sharples (Mono Print); Our First Selfie! by Keith Sharples (Mono Print); Feeding Time by Lyn Sharples (Colour Print); and Sunlight over the Water by Lyn Sharples (Colour Print).
The event takes place on the 15th June at The Priory Centre, Church Road, Stretton, Burton on Trent. DE13 0HE. Tickets are £7.50 via the PAGB web site.
Congratulations to Arthur Winch who was presented with the Chairman's award at the AGM. This award is given by the chair annually to a club member who has both improved photographically, and shown commitment to the running of the club. Well done Arthur!
Our AGM was held on 24th May 2019. Our committee for next season was elected as follows: Chair - Chris Morris, Treasurer - Sharon Thomas, Secretary - Alison Stace, Programme Secretary - Iain McCallum, Competition Secretary - Keith Sharples, Webmaster - Lyn Sharples, and Ordinary member - Janet Cox. Chris Morris announced he will definitely be resigning as Chair at the end of next season. Arthur Winch has expressed an interest in taking on this role and will be shadowing Chris this year in preparation. The Chairman, Treasurer, Programme Secretary and Competition Secretary all gave reports on this season, which on the whole has been very successful. The Chairman's award was presented to Arthur Winch. Certificates were presented to all who gained placings in any of the year's competitions, and the 'Photographer of the Year' award was won by Lyn Sharples. Minutes of the meeting will be sent to all members in due course.
On Saturday 18th May the third "Only Mono" competition took place. This national monochrome print competition is run by Cymru Monochrome. This year 42 clubs from Wales, England and Scotland took part, each club entering four monochrome prints. Monmouth's entry was: "Persil White" by Alison Stace, "Red Deer, Loch Garry" by Lyn Sharples, "Sky Ride, Bristol" by John Crowland, and "Our First Selfie" by Keith Sharples. The Judge, Roger Parry MPAGB, ARPS, EFIAP, Hon PAGB, ESFIAP, gave a critique and mark to each print, keeping up a good pace whilst giving constructive comments on all of the 168 entries. At the end of the afternoon we were very pleased to have gained a total of 65 points, putting us in joint 10th place overall, (with Tenby), and ahead of clubs such as Bridgend, Cotswold Mono, Cwmbran, Cymru Monochrome, Swansea, and Cardiff. Our two highest scoring images were "Red Deer, Loch Garry" and "Our First Selfie", both of which scored 18 points and were highly commended. The competition was won by a new club, The ISO Group, who gained 72 points. Three clubs tied for second place with 71 points, Inn Focus, Hailsham, and Dorchester. Many thanks to Cymru Monochrome, and in particular Gareth Martin, for organising the competition and providing us with a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
A really good set of images was entered into our annual open competition. Well done to all those who entered and congratulations to those who got placings. Sue Carter, John Crowland, Christopher Jones, Chris Morris and Keith Sharples all had images commended. Third place was Lyn Sharples, Second place Keith Sharples and First place Lyn Sharples with her image "Red Deer, Loch Garry".
Our "Seasons" dpi competition took place on May 3rd, with images judged by members present on the night. There were some lovely images with a lot of different ideas on how to represent each of the four seasons. The results were as follows: first place Spring, Iain McCallum; first place Summer, Dilys Aspin; first place Autumn, Keith Sharples; first place Winter, Lyn Sharples. Lyn Sharples set of four images was also chosen as the best set.
Congratulations to John Crowland on achieving his CPAGB recently. (Award for Photographic Merit at the Credit level from the PAGB.) To gain the award John had to have ten images judged by a panel of six judges. Each image is marked out of a possible total of 30, and the photographer has to receive a minimum of 200 points overall to be awarded CPAGB.
The images have been judged and the results are in! There were a good number of entries for the competition with plenty of different ideas on the theme of "Three". First place was awarded to Jackie Poulter's intriguing image of three benches in the floods at Ross. Other members winning placings or commendations were: Christopher Jones, Mike Roberts, John Crowland, Catherine Jones, Alison Stace and Brian Challis. Congratulations to all.
Three Monmouth Photographic Club members were successful in getting prints or projected images accepted into the Welsh Salon this year. Congratulations to Sue Carter, Keith Sharples and Lyn Sharples. The Salon Exhibition is always well worth a visit. This year it is being held in the The Cynon Valley Museum, Aberdare, CF44 8DL. It opens on May 1st and closes on May 31st.