Congratulations to Ian Whiston who won the Jim Harrison Trophy in our Annual PDI competition. Some members may not know of our treasured former member, Jim Harrison. You can read about him here.
Judge Tillman Kleinhans ARPS EFIAP/g DPAGB BPE5* Hon LCPU admitted that it was a difficult task to decide on the award winners and in the end it came down to his personal preference. In Ian’s image, he liked how it told the story of the bird building its nest. Tillman thought the colour pallet worked well, and the background was beautifully diffused. He also appreciated the fine detail of the bird’s feathers. Ian has visited Kenya many times to take stunning photographs, but this winner was spotted closer to home in Chester Zoo!
So Ian’s weaver bird image won the Nature section and Tillman awarded Ray Hill’s excellent study of a ‘Nuthatch looking for danger’ second place. Ian’s ‘Lioness Bonding with Cub’ took third place. He thought Ray’s image was sharp with good colours and the bird stood out well from the background. Tillman told us Ian’s beautiful image of a lioness licking its cub had a circular composition, emphasizing the unity. Wallace Baxter’s ‘Little Egret in Flight’, Paul Hill’s ‘Northern Gannet gliding’ and Keith Mulliner’s ‘No listen to me’ were all highly commended. While Ray Hill’s ‘Goldfinch on Teasel’ and ‘Swan take off’, and Ian’s Lion cub hunting sibling’ were all commended.
The General section was also highly competitive, where Stephen Coyne’s Lake Inle Evening’ won, Peter Robinson’s ‘Speedy Biker’ came second and Stephen’s ‘Glacier Dawn’ came third. Tillman liked the warm tones and atmosphere of the winning image. He thought Peter’s biker was well panned and Stephen’s Glacier image had plenty of detail and a good shape. Ian’s equestrian image, ‘Zara’ was highly commended, while Kath Hill’s horse race, ‘Rivals’ and landscape ‘South Stack Evening Light’, and Wallace Baxter’s cricket action image, ‘I’m going to be out’ were all commended.
The Mono section had a strong entry of well processed images. It was won by Stephen’s composite ‘Take Care’. Ray Hill’s image of Graham Currey called ‘The Wonders of Nature’ came second and Stephen’s The Village Matriarch’ came third. In the winning image, Tillman liked the subject worried expression and the scary background figures which created an intimidating atmosphere. For Ray’s image he liked the strong detail and post production treatment which suited the subject. For the third placed image, he told us it was an environmental portrait with a complementary background. Paul Hill’s ‘Peak District farm in Winter’, Keith Mulliner’s ‘Carla’ and Stephen Coyne’s ‘Adolescence’ were all highly commended. Peter Robinson had a hat-trick of commendation with his ‘Drummer’, Tough Ladies play Rugby’ and Hayley Strangelove’.
Well done to all the winners. See all the images that received an award above, and all the results can be found in our results page.