Sports photographer, Roger Evans MPAGB, FBPE, EFIAP was the judge for our annual print and PDI competition against Nantwich. Nantwich made us most welcome in their new venue. Both clubs entered 15 PDIs and 15 prints in each competition. Roger told us that as it was an end of the season competition, the standard of images was very high, so some images will score lower than they would be in league competition. In the first half, we were treated to viewing some top quality prints. Nantwich won that half by 254 to 252 marks. I was delighted to see John Royle’s ‘Guardian of the Blubells’ score 20 and win print of the competition. Roger acknowledged that it was a difficult photograph to compose with there being so much going on. He liked the spider like shape of the tree and limited colour pallet, which was well exposed. Keith Mulliner’s studio portrait ‘The Lady of the Castle’ scored 19. Roger liked the period setting and costume, and said it was well lit. Crewe’s third placed image was Paul Hill’s pleasant ‘Springtime Walk’. Roger enjoyed the fresh ambiance it created and thought the people gave it some human interest. It’s a photograph that you can walk into.

The PDI competition took place in the second half. It was keenly contested and Roger decided to spread out the marks. This time it was Crewe’s turn to pip Nantwich to a win by 248  to 244 marks. Our top image was Ian Whiston’s ‘Ruppell’s Vulture Landing’. Roger liked a lot about this one. He thought Ian had caught the bird landing well, giving it a good shape and composition. The neutral background and fine detail also helped it gain top marks. Keith Mulliner’s studio portrait ‘Chloe Playing Harp’ scored 19. Roger couldn’t find much wrong with this one. He liked the overall composition, costume and background. Ray Hill recorded a brace of 18s with two wonderful bird photographs. Roger thought ‘Nuthatch Looking For Danger’ and ‘Goldfinch on Teasel’ both had fine detail, good colours and a none distracting background.

When the final scores are combined, Crewe won the competition by 500 to 498 marks. It couldn’t have been much closer. Either side could have won it and at the end of the day, it went down to the judge’s personal preference. See Crewe’s images that score 18 and over above.