Judges Don Byatt ARPS EFIAP MPAGB

Paul Keene FRPS EFIAP/P MPAGB

Ian Platt FRPS MFIAP

We do it again!

At the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain Annual Slide Championship at Warwick University on the 21 July 2007 we came joint 4th , which means once again we do not have to qualify for the competition next season. This follows on from our 3rd position last year.

Despite all of the floods and diversions all of the participating clubs were able to deliver their slides. Our first round scores were as follows

FIRST ROUND

1 Cuban bar Phil Ball 12

2 Red eyed tree frog Gary Irvine 12

3 Proud champion Phil Joyce 9

4 The winner Dave McKay 11

5 The splash Phil Ball 12

6 Abandoned Colin Harrison 12

7 The Priest Gary Irvine 11

8 Melancholy Colin Harrison 14

After a quick committee meeting, as the judges did not appear to like landscapes we selected our 8 for the next round

SECOND ROUND

9 After the bomb Harry Harris 10

10 Our Dog Phil Ball 11

11 Wild Red Deer Niall Riddell 13

12 Riding the waves Ian Lees 10

13 Wilderbeast crossing Ivor Porter 12

14 Evacuation Colin Harrison 12

15 The Kiss Phil Ball 15

16 Stop Colin Harrison 12

This gave us a combined total 187 points from both rounds which easily put us into the finals.

THE FINAL

We were now down to the top 8 clubs and we knew it was not going to be easy.

We had to lose 8 of our original images and produce 10 new ones. We were also restricted by a maximum of four images per person and a maximum of four natural history. Once again a quick committee meeting, and some tactical selection, we chose our top 20 slides..

1 Corner shop Peter Warrington 11

2 Hurrying home Peter Warrington ` 10

3 Old Window Peter Warrington 9

4 Didcot Power station Harry Harris 9

5 Common Blue Tony Marsh 12

6 Biodegradable Phil Ball 9

7 African Blues Gary Irvine 12

8 The Priest Gary Irvine 10

9 Red eyed tree frog Gary Irvine 12

10 Promenade walkers Phil Joyce 10

I knew there was a big gap between our best 16 images and the remainder of our 40 banked images. So I was not too worried at the halfway stage when we were in last position with 104 points with our best images to come.

11 The splash Phil Ball 11

12 The winner Dave MacKay 11

13 Dusky Dolphins Dave Foster 10

14 Latin Lovers Colin Harrison 13

15 Cuban bar Phil Ball 12

16 Stop Colin Harrison 12

17 The Kiss Phil Ball 15

18 The Journey Colin Harrison 11

19 Wild Red Deer Niall Riddell 14

20 Melancholy Colin Harrison 13

Our scores gradually picked up to a total of 226points, 22 points more than we had in the first half, and gaining joint 4th position.

The final results were as follows

1st Wigan 10 250

2nd Smethwick PS 238

3rd Amersham PS 228

4th Oxford PS 226

4th Dorchester CC 226

The icing on the cake, congratulations to Phil Ball for his slide, “The Kiss” being awarded one of the Selector’s medals

The Plate competition for the clubs not contesting the final was won by Bristol PS.

In Round 1 they were leading the main competition at the half way stage, but they had a very poor second half and missed out going into the final.

Many thanks to all our supporters who came to Warwick last Saturday. It was a fantastic day and once again it proves that we are one of the strongest and most consistent clubs in the UK . To get this far firstly you need around 15 good images and three or four very good images. Secondly all the OPS competitions need to be monitored during the season, and the Warwick selection for 2008 needs to be started this September.

Finally many thanks to Dave McKay for his help with the selection and all the members who supplied slides and digital files.

Didn’t we do well!

See you all in September and all we need is three new gold medal winners for Warwick 2008!

Best Wishes

Colin

Colin Harrison

FRPS FBPE EFIAP MPAGB

OPS External Competition Secretary

Following on from Colin's report, and adding my views from a judge's perspective...the most pleasing thing for me was people saying afterwards that the scoring had been fair and consistent - and they don't say that every year! Of course it helps when the three judges are in tune and that seemed to be the case this year...so no erratic decisions like one judge giving 2, another 5. And thankfully this year the number of 15s was more realistic and those who got one (well done Phil B) thoroughly deserved to.

Well done to Colin for getting his "tactics" right - although he sailed a bit close to the wind perhaps! At the half way stage one of the other judges, Paul Keene, said "what's happened to Oxford?" I could only shrug my shoulders. In fact Dave told me afterwards that Oxford had scored 3 nines, so to come back from this was quite remarkable. Special mention for Phil, when "The Kiss" came up this was an automatic 15, no hesitation from any of the judges. And when Ian Platt said he wanted this for his selector's award (even before we went to the "back room") I didn't try to dissuade him!

So well done to Oxford, as Colin says in his report OPS are now a respected force in the country - you don't get into the top positions year after year without having real depth. However, next year is going to be tough as Colin will be judging and we won't be able to use his slides or expertise in selection. In the coming months Dave and I will be making notes of any Warwick possibles, so please let us have your work if we ask for it and help support your club. And real pressure on the Golden Boy - can we have another one as good as the Kiss please? Or more than one if you can manage it Phil?!

Finally to say I thoroughly enjoyed the day (as I'm sure Colin will next year) and after nearly 15 years of judging at various clubs it has certainly been a highlight. Does this mean it's all downhill from now on...perhaps I should retire gracefully!!

Don

Rose Bowl 3rd round at Harpenden 20 Feb 2007

1st Oxford PS 271

2nd Buckingham 251

3nd Harpenden 243

4th BA 238

This should get us to the final. Well done to Phil B and Steve F for stars on Kings Charles Square and Frozen Tree.

Judge Stan McCartin

The top 33 Clubs in the United Kingdom participated

OPS First round scores

1 WINTER TREE STEVE FIELD 14
2 THE OLD PRIEST GARY IRVINE 12
3 OUR STREET PETE WARRINGTON 12
4 STONE CURLEW GARY IRVINE 11
5 PARK LIFE PHIL BALL 12
6 CHEETAHS ON KILL IVOR PORTER 14
7 DURDLE DOOR TIM SIMMONS 13
8 BLENHEIM SNOW COLIN HARRISON 13

OPS Second round scores

9 OLD BUSES COLIN HARRISON 14
10 HELLOWWWW COLIN HARRISON 14
11 HYENAS ON KILL IVOR PORTER 11
12 RIVER CROSSING IVOR PORTER 14
13 SILENT PROTEST DON BYATT 12
14 KING CHARLES SQUARE PHIL BALL 14
15 FROZEN TREE STEVE FIELD 13
16 THE CLUMPS HARRY HARRIS 12

OPS Final scores

1 WINTER TREE STEVE FIELD 14
2 DURDLE DOOR TIM SIMMONS 14
3 BLENHEIM SNOW COLIN HARRISON 14
4 CHEETAHS ON KILL IVOR PORTER 13
5 OUR STREET PETE WARRINGTON 12
6 BOTHY GARY IRVINE 11
7 NEGATIVE EQUITY COLIN HARRISON 13
8 PUFFIN IN FLIGHT TONY MARSH 9
9 SMALL SKIPPER TONY MARSH 12
10 SPOOKEY NUN DON BYATT 14
11 SHELLS SHELAGH ROBERTS 11
12 BLUE DAWN SHELAGH ROBERTS 7
13 LONESOME DOUG VERMMILION 13
14 TAKE A BATH DOUG VERMMILION 13
15 FISHING LAKE TANA GARY IRVINE 12
16 FROZEN TREE STEVE FIELD 14
17 KING CHARLES SQUARE PHIL BALL 13
18 RIVER CROSSING IVOR PORTER 15
19 OLD BUSES COLIN HARRISON 14
20 HELLOWWWWWW COLIN HARRISON 15

Round 1- leading teams

Wigan 10 105
Cambridge 105
Paisley 104
Northampton 103
Beyond Group 102
Smethwick 102
OPS 101

Round 2- leading teams to final

Wigan 10 105 = 210
Beyond Group 106 = 208
OPS 104 = 205
Northampton 103 = 202
Smethwick 99 = 201
Paisley 96 = 200

FINAL POSITIONS

1st Wigan 10 262
2nd Amersham 254
3rd OPS 253
4th Beyond Group 247
5th Smethwick 245
6th Paisley 241

SCORES ON THE DOORS

If you look at the scores in all of the rounds it was very close. A bit of luck we could even have won it.
So third place was not too bad!
Look at some of the most successful clubs in the country behind us.

I have already started collecting images for Warwick next year, as we do not have to qualify. So please keep on taking your award winning images as you now know what is expected at Warwick.

The PAGB want to produce a CD with the top 3 club images on it from Warwick (slides ) and Connors Quay (prints) –might be worth having next season at the club if we can fit it in.

Next step PAGB print finals at Connors Quay. We need our top prints including those that have done well at exhibitions over the last few years.
More details to follow later.

Once again many thanks to all the people who supported the club at Warwick.

Colin H

CACC Interclub Slide and Print Championship 2006 Amersham Sun 5 March 2006

Despite not winning we ended up second to Amersham in both competitions. This means we are through to the PAGB National finals in both the prints and slides

Our scores were as follows:

SLIDES

1. The White House Peter Upton 13

2 The Pier Peter Warrington 10

3 Cathedral Light Dave McKay 10

4 Male Damoiselle N Ivor Porter 11

5 Lost in the Snow John Boteler 10

6. Stone Curlew N Gary Irvine 14

7. Lindisfarne Hulk Pete Warrington 12

8. Two sides to a war Don Byatt 10

9. Derelict Interior Harry Harris 9

10. Sisters, Harar Gary Irvine 11

11 Great Grey Owl Ivor Porter 11

12 Fishing Lake Tara Gary Irvine 10

13. Spooky Nun Don Byatt 12

14 Remember the few Don Byatt 11

15. Llantwit Major, Glamorgan Tim Simmons 13

16. The Old Buses Colin Harrison 13

17. Puffin in flight Tony Marsh 10

18. Hellowwwww Colin Harrison 12

19. Durdle Dor Tim Simmons 14

20. Blenheim Snow Colin Harrison 14

PRINTS

1 THE RACE PHIL BALL 10

2 BEEN SHOPPING PETER UPTON 12

3 SLEEPING POLICEMAN IAN SMITH 13

4 SWEAT PEAS SHELAGH ROBERTS 11

5 VIKING DAWN IAN LEES 12

6 TREES STEVE FIELDS 12

7 GREY HERON TAKING OFF GARY IRVINE 11

8 REMEMBRANCE PHIL JOYCE 10

9 THE FISHES SHELAGH ROBERTS 11

10* LABURNAM SEEDS SHELAGH ROBERTS 10

11* AMARYLLIS DON BYATT 10

12* THE DRIVER COLIN HARRISON 12

13* LONGHORN BEETLE N DAVE McKAY 10

14* BIG BROTHERS WATCHING YOU ADRIAN TRIGGS 11

15* BOTHY GARY IRVINE 12

* 10 to 15 to be used for CACC Best Panel of Prints

CACC Print and Slide Finals at Amersham on Sun 7 May

Many thanks to all the members who gave us prints and slides for selection.

Up and coming Competition Dates

Aylesbury Photo Images exhibition

Prints to be collected 28 January from Gallery between 10am and 12am
Tony can collect on Monday if nobody can collect on Saturday- Colin Harrison to phone Mary O’Connor to confirm

Tue 28 Feb Rose Bowl 3rd round at home

Don or Colin

1 - to notify 3 visiting clubs now to ask for list by 14th
2 - send them maps and timings
3 - Catering?

Sun 5 March CACC Print and Slide Championship at Amersham

Entry form to CACC by 13 Feb

Selection - 20 slides and 15 prints required -

Slides - must not have been used at Wycombe before or Warwick. ALL Rose Bowl slides used this season are eligible, need poss. another 10 to choose from.

Prints - must not have been used before at Wycombe day
Max 3 per person
Max 3 Natural History in set

Last date to collect images 7 February as I will not be there on that night - Phil Joyce to pass to Peter Forbes to deliver to Colin Harrison on 10th

Rose Bowl print panel of 6 images to be nominated from 15 prints
Max 2 per person
Cannot be same as any Rose Bowl Final Slides

Tue 7 March Wantage Digital Print and projected image competition

Entry form in by.....

CD Images ....... Prints................. Colin Harrison to find out

Use prints from Sat print comp - not used out of 6 held by CACC for print panel or duplicates could be used

Digital Colin Harrison to contact people to get images on floppy or CD - NB sizes- good chance to us good new work

Thurs 16 March Central Club Digitally Projected Image Competition at Milton Keynes

Entry plus £10 club fee by 23 February

We need our best work for this - poss from Rose Bowl (if people have digital copies)
5 images plus one reserve required

Sun 7 May CACC Print Panel/ Rose Bowl Finals/ Slide of year and AV at Amersham

AV & Entry - 5 March

Slide of year/ Rose Bowl Slides - Form 18 April - Slides by 30 April
8 Slides- Max 2 per person

CACC Chiltern 100 Print Exhibition

Individual print exhibition entry fee £3 for 4 prints

Entry Form and prints to Colin Harrison to deliver at Wycombe Trophy Day on 5 March
See Entry Form from Colin H

PAGB Inter Federeation Print Competition

No entry fee up to 6 colour and 6 B&W can be put forward for selection.
To Don Byatt by 8 May 2006

Colin
OPS External Competition Secretary