October 5th saw the second Bridgend 12 Way print battle sponsored by Fotospeed. The judge was Tony Byram ARPS, AWPF, DPAGB, EFIAP from Bristol,.
What a great night excellent turnout from all clubs and congratulations to Gwynfa for winning. It was very close right to the end. They now join Ebbw Vale as winners of this Trophy.
The Bottom three clubs drop out every year and three new clubs take their place next year. There is a long waiting list to get into the battle but if your club is interested then drop me a line Gareth Martin cortez34@virginmedia.com
You can read a report and view the Gwynfa winning images plus the individual winners of two boxes of Fotospeed paper each on this link.ÂÂ
It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death of Harry Vagg this week.
Harry was a well-known photographer in South Wales and an Ex-general Secretary of Western Valley Camera Club.
His funeral will take place on Thursday, 29 October 2015, with a service in St Paul’s Church, Newbridge, at 01:15 pm, followed by cremation at Gwent Crematorium, Croesyceiliog at 02:30pm.
Family flowers only please. Donations, if desired, may be given to The Salvation Army and St David’s Foundation at the service.
Funeral Directors: Ellis Williams Funeral Directors, High Street, Newbridge, NP11 4FX. Tel: 01495 243623
The WPF Executive would like to congratulate Leigh Woolford and Jenny Hibbert who have now been officially accepted as PAGB judges. This means the WPF now have seven accredited PAGB judges. Leigh and Jenny will join the other five judges in the next PAGB Handbook.
Jenny Hibbert has had an image selected for the BBC Countryfile Calendar. It was one of just 12 prints selected from over 33,000 images entered. A great achievement. Well done Jenny. All the money from sales of the calendar goes to children in need.
She has also gained her EFIAP, had 3 prints selected for Edinburgh International, Selectors medal in the Beyond Group International. BOFK HM Ribbon in the Arctic International, NCPF Ribbon Commended in the Northern Counties, & 2 SIEP Commended in Sydney International.
Congratulations to Norman Lemon of Neath PS who, at the recent Cotswold Salon, received a selectors award from Barbie Lindsay for his print ‘SA1-1AS‘ (see below).
Congratulations on running Wigan 10 so close. It’s great to see a WPF club up there with the top clubs. It won’t be long before a Welsh club is the top of the tree.
Your club has again done us proud and on behalf of myself and the WPF. Many many thanks and I look forward to you and your members reaching the pinnacle of the best of British photography.
Alan Shepherd of Gwynfa Camera Club not only had 5 out of 9 prints accepted in the 2015 Cotswold Salon, he also had a highly commended and a Silver Medal for ‘Steelworks Reflection. Well done Alan.
The PAGB National PDI Championships at Warwick very nearly saw a first win for a Welsh club with the Inn Focus Group finishing the final round tied on 243 points with Wigan 10, three points ahead of the third placed club, Dumfries.
For a short while we thought they had won but the otherwise flawless team behind the scenes projected one incorrect image from Wigan 10 in the final round. The re-projection of the correct image got one more point than the one it replaced. This saw them move from 242 to 243. All above board or course but tantalising nonetheless.
Locked together the two teams headed in to a nail-biting tie break of five new photographs from five different photographers. The tension built – both clubs scored 13 (from 15) with their first image, then 12 each, then 12 each once more. It was the fourth image that saw Wigan sneak ahead 13 to 12. Ten each in the next round sealed the Wigan 10 win by a single point. Well done to them.
When presenting the Silver medal to Ian Munro of Inn Focus, Roy Thomas, former President of the WPF and now President of the PAGB, expressed his pride at their achievement. They also received quite an ovation for coming so close. Indeed it is probably fair to say that, in the great British underdog tradition, everyone other than Wigan 10 was rooting for Inn Focus. However, the team from up t’North proved to be a tough nut to crack yet again. They are multiple winners of this trophy which makes the Inn Focus effort all the more worthy.
The other WPF club, Gwynfa, had a midfield day but thoroughly enjoyed seeing they fellow WPF friends do so well and the Welsh contingent created quite an atmosphere.
Here are the full results for the FIAP Biennial held in Smethwick.
Whilst Wales only managed 13th place congratulations go to both Dave Edwards with his Adelie Penguins  & Alan Jenkinson with his Early Tarn, both of whom were awarded FIAP Honourable Mentions for their prints.
