For the first time, Kilmaurs Photographic Club, celebrates joint winners of our annual league, with a superb show of photography across our 2024-25 season.

Jim Stevenson had kept up his usual very high standards during the first three qualifying competitions. He seemed to be running away with the league. That was until Dale Powell caught him at the final Annual competition, closing a five point gap.

So, this year’s league is shared by Jim & Dale who both finished on 234 points, showing excellent consistency. Congratulations to both!!

Third was Ian Mortimer with 212 points, then Kevin Thorne with 210 and Ian Johnstone with 203.  There were many 18’s 19’s and 20’s scored over the season, too many to list but congratulations to everyone who achieved a top three.

The Improvers League is held to provide encouragement to those members in their early years of competition photography. The Improvers Salver was won by Roger Bingham. Well done, Roger!!

For those of us who love great photography, it’s clear that excellence in images doesn’t come easily. The higher skills of photography require an artistic mindset, an ability to harness the technology and a dedication that involves years of hard work. Competitions aren’t the only focus of our club activities; it’s more about participation with learning and understanding how we can improve and progress. Our top photographers give us ideas, inspiration and really give us a great show on competition nights.

Thanks to all our members who have participated this year. We’re looking forward now to the summer activities.

The Judging of our Annual Exhibition 2025

It was a great night of photography for all members — an even better one for Dale Powell who succeeded in gaining the top spot in all three sections of our Annual Competition. Top Judge, Stephen Philips of Bearsden and Milngavie Camera Club had his work cut out reviewing almost ninety images which members had submitted for his review and commentary.

In the Monochrome Print section, Dale’s portrait of a ‘young kitten entitled ‘Maine Coon Kitten’ was selected by the judge just edging out Ian Mortimer‘s ‘Axe to Grind’ with dramatic sparks flying from a grinding tool.

In the Colour Prints section, the runner-up spot fell to Jim Stevenson‘s amazing shot of a ‘White-tailed Eagle in Flight’, while Dale again won the section with an image of not one, but a pair of kingfishers, a subject that Dale is well known for with nature being his speciality.

But it was Dale’s razor-sharp macro image of a female blue-tipped damselfly (above) that not only won the projected image section but took away the overall trophy. Second in this category, unusually was a still life / product of ‘The Dalmore’ submitted by Martin Clark.

Other photographers getting competition places included Kevin Thorne, John Sommerville, Martin Hancock and Ian Johnstone.

Something different this week. Members had swapped raw files with a partner, and then had processed both their own raw file and their partner’s raw file, each creating two and sometimes more final images. It was both an engaging and instructive evening!

The range of images in the raw files was considerable and included: a performer at Edinburgh Fringe; the Auld Brig at Ayr; a castle tower; dog statues; a still morning at Loch Leven; a dog portrait; a cross-country cyclist; a Mediaeval market courtyard; a robin on a bench; a vintage bride-and-groom image; and a coiled snake.

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Following presentations by speakers in recent weeks – like Douglas Annan and our own Robert Quig, the club syllabus brought us back to our programme of competitions. An Open competition allows members to enter images of any subject of their choosing.

Our Second Open Competition of our season attracted a high-standard of entry.  Andy Stark, our judge for the evening, then chose Jim Stevenson’s “Fly Fishing” as the overall best image. This astonishing capture was of a swallow, skimming the surface of the water, about to capture a flying insect. Congratulations, Jim, this photograph was a worthy winner, and thanks to Andy Stark for very fair judging of the high-quality entries. Just a few more of these images are presented below.

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You don’t actually need anything other than your smartphone to enter any of our club competitions. But as arranged last year, we arranged an informal session where we could show off only our favourite smartphone images – no fancy cameras and lenses allowed. Some smart guy once said, “the best camera for photography is the one you’ve got with you when you see a photo opportunity”. Nowadays, that smartphone is nearly always handy.

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