The Enniskillen Photographic Society Annual Exhibition was held in the Ardhowen Theatre on Thursday 15th May. Almost 30 members and friends arrived with bated breath to discover how their prints had fared.
The Judge was Jim Moreland FBIPP FMPA FRPS from Christian Brothers Past Pupils Union Camera Club. Jim has been a professional photographer for 35 years and hold four different fellowships. His BIPP fellowship panel of 20 monochrome hand printed images won Panel of the Year award in 1997.
More than 140 entries from 19 different authors were received for the exhibition and Jim began, section by section, picking the 10 best in each class. Along the way Jim gave his critique on a number of images always with a degree of enthusiasm and ended up with a total of 70 to display.
In the 1st Class – Black and White Portraiture Derek Preston's well printed image of a one man band immediately caught the Jim's eye. Gail McGowan's informal shot of a young giggler got second with Teresa McMahon's portrait of her father in law received third.
In the Pictorial section of Black and White Terry McCartney's picture of the 18th green at Lough Erne Golf Course covered in snow was awarded 1st place because of the fantastic range of tones closely followed by Teresa McMahon's print of a man feeding pigeons with blurred movement.
Class 3 Colour results meant that Teresa McMahon received her first piece of EPS silverware for the stunning portrait of her niece called Brown Eyed Girl. Jean Harron made a fantastic comeback to the society with a second place with wistful – a picture of a young girls staring through a window with rain running down it. She also achieved two highly commended awards in this section. Derek Preston's Man of the Sea took third place.
Theresa also secured first place in the Colour Pictorial class for Misty Trees – a morning shot taken just outside Rosslea. The judge was thoroughly impressed with the quality of entries in this section. Mavis Dean made the podium with a shot of a bleeding heart plant which the judged made great comments about. Adrian Kelly made an impact at the end of his first year out of the Novice Section with a third place and a Highly commended for Claddagh Glen and Sunset Jetty respectively. Terry McCartney was achieved two highly commended awards in this section.
The slides classes suffered through lack of entries because of the advent of digital photography but David Robertson still managed to retain the portraiture trophy from last year with a slide entitled Patriarch Man. Terry McCartney was awarded 1st place in the pictorial slide section for his rally slide Slippery When Wet.
David Robertson was also able to maintain his possession of the Theme trophy for a panel of prints about the Triumph of Life over Death. He also secured third place with Stephen Hetherington's Mud Bath coming second.
Jim Moreland was also suitably impressed with the EPS Novice sections. Linda Phair showed her camera skills with a shot of a misty marina on Lough Erne closely followed by Stephen Hetherington's jaw dropping picture entitled The Realities of Life. Linda achieved third place with a portrait taken at one of the EPS monthly studio sessions. The Black and White Novice award went to Sandra Colton for her image of an Icicle. The sun sparkle on the piece of ice and the whole composition suitable impressed the judge. Two of Esther Robinsons pictures received the second and third places – Orange rose and Light of Changing Seasons.
After commenting on the high standard of the Exhibition, Jim awarded the Fermanagh District Council Top Print to Teresa McMahon's Misty Trees.
The chairman of Enniskillen Photographic Society, Terry McCartney, thanked the Judge for coming to critique the Exhibition and choosing the winners. Terry also paid tribute to those members of the EPS Committee who had helped set up the Exhibition and ensured the night went well. The winning prints will be available to view on www.enniskillenphotosociety.com.The next meeting will be the Annual General Meeting and Dinner on Thursday 22 May in Franco's Restaurant.
