Competitions
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Are you seeing any imaging trends in particular at themoment in the exhibition? Every year there seems to be a trend but they rarely continue year on year. Currently though I would say that kingfishers are in vogue, along with dogs, horses and dancers. But who knows what this year’s exhibition will bring. Composite images seem to be a point of contention in the camera club scene, what is the exhibition’s stance on them? It is an open exhibition and so they are more than welcome. The judges however may become fed up with seeing too many obvious composites, so one should be careful not to follow trends but to start their own. I do feel though that sometimes people get a bee in their bonnet and think that there are more composites than there are in reality. Last year for example, many of the top awards went to exquisite landscapes. So the best will always stand out no matter what they’re up against. What do you think a good exhibition image is? Quality first forme, then impact andoriginality. Nobody wants to see an open exhibition full of similar images or styles. I would be hoping for a balanced exhibition so that you will please all of the people some of the time. It can be inspirational to others when you have a variety within the acceptances. Are there any common pitfalls that you see across the entries? Over-sharpened images have been overtaken to some degree by the overuse or inappropriate use of HDR. Best to get that image sharp at the taking stage. What advice would you give to someone entering the exhibition? Read the rules and then go for it! How do you foresee the Beyond Group exhibition growing in the future? We are constantly listening to our entrants and visitors
PAGB handbook outside the region, alongside one Beyond Groupmember. There can be no conflict here, as no Beyond Group member can win any award except one designated solely for the best Beyond Group member in print and another in digital. This year we have Adrian Lines MPAGB, FBPE, EFIAP, ARPS, and Jane Lines DPAGB, LRPS from the Lancashire and Cheshire region alongside Liz Cutting ARPS, DPAGB, BPE4*. Howdoes the judging process work? We have a silent scoring system using electronic keypads linked to a PC. Scores are from two to five. A score of two means that the judge doesn’t consider it up to the standard for a national exhibition whilst a score of four means that they think it should be in the exhibition. A five means that the judge will personally be considering it for an award. A three however means they are undecided and basically leaves it up to the other two judges to decide. Normally an overall score of 11 or 12 is the acceptance level. Awards are chosen from the highest scores and only then are any of the images discussed between the three selectors. If there is only one image scoring maximum marks then it automatically gets the gold medal. Can you tell us about the exhibition’s awards? There are six PAGB gold medals for best in each section and 18 PAGB silver medals awarded by the selectors for their own personal awards. There are then numerous commended and highly commended ribbons awarded in each section too. There is the Hexagonal Award for the best author over all sections in the exhibition and the Visitors’ Vote in prints, both sponsored by Van Cols School Photography, as well as six special theme awards sponsored by Beyond Group members:
alike and hope to continue to be innovative and to be the best exhibition on the circuit.
ABOVE Water Phoenix Common Kingfisher, Special Theme, Jamie Macarthur RIGHT The Prize Fighter, Special Theme, Reginald Clark LRPS BPE2
The Beyond Group National Exhibition has BPE status and as such welcomes entrants exclusively from the UK. There are three categories to enter in both print and digital formats: colour, monochrome and nature. Entries can be submitted by post or online up until the closing date of 20 July. Entrants are charged £1.50 for each image entered, with a minimum entry fee of £6 and a maximum of four images can be entered into each section. The exhibition will be held in Ipswich Town Hall from 16 September ending after the awards ceremony on 20 September. Are there any plans tomove the competition over entirely to digital format? We hope never to go back to digital only, as it is always nicer to see a print in its original form hanging on a wall. But it does depend on exhibition gallery space which increasingly seems to be getting more and more difficult to acquire at affordable prices. Council cutbacks always seem to affect the arts first. Closing venues, rising prices or limiting opening hours. But as long as we can find a suitable venue we will continue with a print exhibition. Is there anything else youwould like to add? Everyone has at least one photograph they are proud of. I would love for them to share it with us and possibly the rest of Britain. If you don’t enter, we’ll never know what talent is out there. Exhibitionentry
Everyone has at least one photograph they are proud of. I would love themto share it withus and possibly the rest of Britain
• Best Live Performance in Digital Colour • Best Landscape in Digital Monochrome • Best UK Wildlife in Digital Nature • Best Creative in Colour Print • Best Portrait in Monochrome Print • Best Flora/Fungi in Nature Print
π To find out more, go to www.beyondgroup.org.uk.
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Issue 9 | Photography News
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