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Print of the Year – Judging Evening with Steve Walters BPE3, EFIAP

At our December meeting we were delighted to welcome Steve Walters BPE3, EFIAP, who judged our Print of the Year competition.

The competition was open to prints up to A4 in size, with all images taken during 2025. Steve approached the judging in a thoughtful and constructive manner, taking time to comment on every image. He highlighted what he felt worked particularly well in each print, while also offering clear and helpful suggestions on how images might be improved.

Steve selected his four favourite prints and ranked them from first to fourth place. These images, together with extracts from Steve’s comments, are shown below.

Following the judging, Steve treated us to a selection of his own outstanding prints. These covered a wide range of genres, including landscape, portraiture and architectural photography, as well as a variety of striking and thought-provoking images. He concluded his presentation with examples of his specialist macro work, featuring insects and other small creatures, which demonstrated both technical excellence and a deep understanding of his subjects.

Our thanks to Steve for an engaging, insightful and thoroughly enjoyable evening.

🥇 1st Place

Flora – Veronica

Judge’s comments:

Steve loved the image, from the girl’s ‘downward gaze, looking into the bottom left of the frame. He loved the overall feel of the image and the way that the unusual effects blended with and enhanced the overall image, and had been cleverly placed to ensure that the girl’s face was still the focus of the image.
Congratulations (again) Veronica.

🥈 2nd Place

Blue Footed “Jitterbug” Booby – Sue

Judge’s comments:

Steve was very impressed with the image, and again didn’t highlight any downsides. He loved the subject, the pose and position, the focus, the sharpness and the tone.

Another truly superb image. I’m fairly sure that most members would also choose these two entries as their top two.

Sue took the photo on a recent (November 2025) trip to Galapagos. She called her image “Jitterbug” as the bird was trying to scratch off a bug – making it look like it was dancing.
Tourism to the islands is very controlled. sue says, “The wildlife have absolutely no fear of human presence , as they don’t see us as a threat”

🥉 3rd Place

Flower – St. John

(Awaiting image)

Judge’s comments:

The judge was impressed with the image. He particularly liked the leading lines to the focal centre of the flower.

4th Place

Tower Bridge and the Thames from The Shard – Chris B

Judge’s comments:

The judge liked the image, the curving line of the Thames, looking  East from Tower Bridge towards Canary Wharf and Greenwich Hill. He also liked the overall feel, and commented favourably on the tone and sharpness.

November’s competition topic was ‘HISTORY’. As expected, this produced some unusual and diverse entries.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS: 

1st: Sue
2nd: Chris B
3rd: Iain E
4th equal: Tom & Chris R

GROUP RESULTS:

1st: Chris B
2nd equal: Sue & Iain E
3rd equal: Simon & Chris R
4th: Sam

For the while we have no images available from Sue or from Sam.

I Have published all the available group entries which also contain all the available individual entries. I will add some context shortly).

Sue West’s group and individual entries. (Whissendine Windmill).

Chris Brook’s group and individual entries.

Iain’s group and individual entries.

Simon’s group and individual entries.

Tom’s group and individual entries.

Chris R’s group and individual entries.

Thursday 11th December – Print of the Year Competition

We’re delighted to welcome Steve Walters BPE3, EFIAP as our judge for this year’s Print of the Year.

Steve, based in Giltbrook, Nottinghamshire, is the President and Lecturers’ Secretary of N&EMPF and is closely involved with Ilkeston Photo 2000, which meets in Awsworth.

Alongside his wider photographic work, Steve has carried out a substantial study of the insect life of the Erewash Valley, on the Nottinghamshire–Derbyshire border. He presented this fascinating project to Beeston Camera Club in November 2024, and we look forward to benefiting from his experience and insight at our meeting.

October Competition – Landscape (Up to A4)

A big thank you to our guest judge Malcolm Sales QEP BIPP ARPS of Buttercross Photography, Bingham for judging this month’s Landscape competition.

Malcolm not only selected our winning images but also gave an excellent and informative talk, sharing insights from his professional work and offering valuable feedback to members.

Malcolm chose the following images as his top four:

1st: Simon Curly – Wells Harbour
Picture-postcard-perfect.

September Meeting: 

There were no club competitions in August or September, but plenty has been happening! We enjoyed the summer barbecue in July, kindly hosted by St John, and in September we were treated to an inspiring talk by Kevin Pigney on his passion for wildlife and photography.

Next Meeting: Thursday 16th October 2025

Competition: Landscape – up to two images, A4 or equivalent.
Guest judge Malcolm Sales QEP BIPP ARPS joins us from Buttercross Photography, Bingham. After a successful career in marketing, Malcolm moved into photography — first weddings and portraits, now property and landscape work across the East Midlands. His project “Nobody Lives Here Anymore” was inspired by visits to neglected buildings. Malcolm enjoys both landscape and street photography, especially when travelling, and will share some of his own images after judging the competition.

Inviting members to turn their lenses toward the everyday theatre of street or urban life. From pubs to promenades, pizzerias to posters – and, of course, plenty of people.
Some were candid, some composed – All together they reflected the character, rhythm, and humanity of our streets.

Individul Results:

1st – Iain Evans

2nd – Tom Carlill (Joint)

2nd – Veronica Watson (Joint)

3rd – Sheila Rodgers

4th – Martin Rodgers

Group Results:

1st – Tom Carlill (Joint)

1st – Ian Evans (Joint)

2nd – Veronica Watson

3rd – Martin Rodgers

4th – St. John Burket

A huge but tiny subject – and it certainly showed-off the skills, observation and imagination of our members a treat, with bugs and plants providing much of the subject-matter.

Individul Results:

1st – Sheila – with a beautiful but evil mired bug.

2nd – Tom – with an anonymous  seed-head posing artistically.

3rd – Nigel Jolly – (we have no image as yet)

4th – Veronica – with this elegant self-portrait.

Group Competition Results

1st – Veronica – Four beautifully observed flower and lichen close-ups.

2nd – Sue West’s bugs and nymphs – Don’t you love the variety that’s close at hand when you start to look!

3rd – Dave Hodson – Another example of what you can see if you look. The moth caterpillar is a beauty? What is it Dave? A puss moth?

4th – Tom – A masterclass in form, design, composition and subtle beauty.

The breadth of May’s competition subject “The colour red” made for a huge variety of themes and styles, and some very impressive entries.

Here are the top four.

First was Nigel Jolley with this super-sharp macro. Precision meets creativity – a lesson in how to convert a simple subject into a great photo.

Second. Martin Rogers with this abstract twist on the ordinary. (I missed the explanation and I still can’t quite work out the what or the how of this image. Beach-huts gone nuts?

Third. Iain Evans. Contrasts of shape within the muted background  – all contrasted with the bright red subject.

And in Fourth place, St John’s bright and joyful poppy-field. Uplifting!

Apologies for the delay and brevity of April and May updates.

April’s portrait competition was judged by Steve Myall EFIAP BPE5* (of Keyworth Camera Club).
By all accounts it was an enjoyable and informative evening, with some excellent entries from members.

Unfortunately we have only two of the top four – and here they are.

First was Sue W with “Time to Think”.

Third was Veronica with “Love Lights”

2nd and 4th respectively were Iain Evans and Dave Baxter:

Here’s a link to Steve Myall’s website for those that haven’t yet visited: Steve’s website

A very well-attended meeting with a huge breadth of subjects submitted in the monthly competition. The variety made it very difficult to choose and rank photographs – the competition could have gone many ways depending really on personal preferences.

To end the evening, Nigel gave us a very informative and helpful demo-talk on macro skills, techniques and equipment.

Competition results are as follows. [If you upload your images after publication of this month’s post, please let me know and I’ll add them on].

Individual results:

1st equal. Shared by Dave Hodson and Chris Read.

Here’s Chris’s. A semi-tropical Salvia flower at Barnsdale Gardens. (We’ve not got Dave’s images yet.)

2nd Veronica. The contrast between the ultra-modern, waffle-like Metropol Parasol and the baroque-style church – placed just in the right spot – makes for a fabulous photograph.

3rd Chris B (awaiting image)

4th equal – Shared by Nigel Hume and Tom

Here’s Nigel’s Alpine scene, taken (I think) from a chair-lift. The patterns and lines add more interest to a great monochrome photo.

And from Tom, a super misty morning by the river. Stark shadows, bright highlights on the water and eye-catching mist rising. The low sun even low-lights the goose’s path.

Group Results:

1st Chris Read with more images of plants that look a bit like other things.

2nd Dave Hodson with these fine and unusual portraits and architectural shots from Papplewick Pumping Station.

3rd Equal Veronica and Chris B

Veronica’s set of high-contrast architectural photos is a treat.

(Awaiting Chris B’s photos)

4th Was Sue with these impressive and beautiful shots of zebras in their natural habitat in Namibia.

APRIL COMPETION – PORTRAIT

We are very much looking forward to welcoming Steve Myall EFIAP BPE5* to our society on Thursday evening, 17th April. He will be adjudicating our Portrait Competition, and hopefully treating us to some of his own images. Steve enjoys photographing a wide range of images, and, shortly after joining a camera club, became interested in competitive photography. His interests today are less competitive, and he more recently took up a new project, entitled The 100 Stranger Project, as his favourite subjects are people. This culminated in an 8-page feature in the Canon EOS magazine in 2023, which was very well received. The 17th April should be an extremely interesting evening.

Here’s a link to Steve’s website.

All the photos submitted this month were totally unique—some were super creative, and others were simply stunning!
(Sadly some of the best have not been submitted for publication – yet!)

Individual results:

1. Nigel J (No image submitted)

2 Dave H

3. Iain (No photo)

4. Chris

Group Results

1. Tom

2. Dave H

3. Sam (no photos)

4. Chris R