All members are encouraged to enter competitions, whatever their level of experience. New members may find the idea daunting but competitions are an excellent way to improve your image-making.
Constructive feedback from experienced visiting judges is often very useful and it can boost your learning process to see your work on display and being discussed. Competitions are also a good incentive to keep working on your style, technique and new ideas but if you decide not to take part that’s fine; you can learn a lot just by looking at other members’ images and hearing the judge’s comments.
The current schedule comprises six regular competitions during the season – three with a set subject and three ‘open’ competitions with no set theme – and the scores from those are totalled at the end of the season.
Each of those six regular competitions has a Print and a DPI (Digital Projected Image) section and you may enter up to three images in each.
Seamus Whelan, Alan Taylor, Andrea Thrussell, Stuart Alexander and Barry Hennedy
There are also two standalone competitions during the season – ‘The Mike Goldie Trophy’ and ‘Digital Art’ – which have their own trophies.
The season’s finale is the ‘Image of the Year’ competition, for which members may re-submit a maximum of three digital and three print entries that were previously entered into that season’s competitions.
The set themes for 2025-26 (in order) are:
Frame or Framed
Construction
Empty
For those who like to plan ahead, the set themes for 2026-2027 will be:
Back Alleys
Reflections
Sport
The theme for the 2025 Mike Goldie Trophy, as selected by 2024 winner James Joyce, is ‘Motion’. Bring up to three entries on a USB stick to the first meeting on 10th September 2025.
Paul Thomas, Sue Clegg, Louisa Harris, Barry Hennedy, Andrea Thrussell and Gwen Tuck
