News

BPIC Photographer of the Year (Advanced) Results

After a ridiculously close contest I am pleased to announce the top three in BPIC’s Photographer of the Year Advanced Section for 2018. But first I need to commend our adjudicator tonight on his great insights and decision- making on such an important night. Donal has contributed significantly to BPIC’s season and we look forward to him doing so next season.

After seven rounds of competition the owner of the Advanced title was settled by only three points. The top three demonstrated their enviable talents throughout the season and showcased some fantastic images round after round.

So without further ado I can announce that in third place is Lionel Mitchell. Lionel scored highly in rounds three and five and made a big impact on tonight’s proceedings. We look forward to Lionel‘s highly valued contributions to the club next season.

In in second place is Matthew Canning. I really do not need to say how highly rated Matthew’s work is and scoring 12 in one round says everything. Matthew’s value to the club cannot be overstated and he pushed the winner right to the last category of the last round of POTYA. Well done Matthew.

The winner of the POTYA 2018 is Brian Maguire. Brian has sustained the quality of the competition with his stunning images. Brian’s images speak for themselves and what they say is “pay attention”. Congratulations are well deserved.

Kevin Vernon, Vice Chairman and Competition Secretary.

BPIC Photographer of The Year (Novice) 2018 - Results!

The BPIC Photographer of The Year (Novice) 2018 Final Round took place at Morton on Thursday 26 April 2018.

The overall BPIC Photographer of the Year (Novice) 2018 was Steven Pratt.

Second Place Mark Davison.

Third Place Glen Banna.

Well done to everyone who took part in the BPIC POTY (Novice) 2018 competition. After a closely fought campaign that took things right to the last round I am pleased to annouce that this year's BPIC POTY (Novice) is Steven Pratt. Steven produced some fine work over the year and is a worthy winner.

Matthew Canning judging the mono entries

In second place is Mark Davison. Mark mirrored Steven in quality and effort the whole way done the line.

In third place Is Glen Banna. Glen produced some beautiful images during the competition and should be proud of his achievement.

The quality of work presented by each spoke for itself with some astonishingly high scoring rounds from all three over the course of the competition.Congratulations to all three and well done to Steven.

A special mention to Matthew Canning who stepped up to the plate to judge tonight. His knowledge and passion was clear for all to see. Many thanks.

Well done also to Chris Andrews with his fine portrait "Deep in Thought" which took best mono print. And to Steven Pratt for his shot of "Donaghadee" which took best colour print.

A great evening and well done to all.

Gold for Matthew!

Intensity, by Matthew Canning LIPF - PAGB Gold Medal

A massive congratulations to BPIC member Matthew Canning LIPF for winning a Gold PAGB medal in the South Birmingham BPE Exhibition with his superb portrait 'Intensity' which was awarded the maximum 15 points by the judges.

Matthew also had acceptances for his images 'Jude' and 'Dingle Stone'.

Matthew's winning image 'Intensity' was actually taken during a BPIC Club Studio night when Matthew was still a novice - it has been very successful in the British Photographic Exhibitions to date and was also part of the 2016 BPIC exhibition at Belfast City Hospital.

Matthew also had acceptances for his images 'Jude' and 'Dingle Stone'.

Intensity, Dingle Stone and Jude were accepted into the Exhibition which will take place on Saturday 12th May 2018, at Kings Heath Friends Meeting House, Colmore Road, Birmingham B14 7PE.

Celtic Challenge 2017

The Celtic Challenge is an informal grouping of 7 or 8 Celtic regions in the British Isles and Brittany which together organise the annual Celtic Challenge. There are three sections, Monochrome Prints, Colour Prints and PDIs. The venue for the competition and responsibility for its organisation rotates around the Celtic Regions, and a judge is chosen from outside these regions. The Celtic Challenge is won by the region which has the highest total of marks over the three sections.

Individual awards are given to the authors of the top entry in each section. Entries for the competition are selected by NIPA from the work of individual members of its member clubs. Club members can submit mono prints, colour prints, and open PDIs (including Nature PDIs) for selection for the 2017 Celtic Challenge. Prints should be mounted on 50cm x 40cm boards. PDIs should be in JPEG format and not more than 1600 pixels wide and 1200 pixels high.

This year a significant set of images were considered by NIPA to select the NI entry and the following images were selected:

Well done to Brian Maguire on having two of his image sselected as part of the NIPA entry - his images are below.

Tower Trails

Round 1 Inter Club Competition 2017

Round 1 adjudication of the NIPA Inter Club competition was jointly hosted by CPA & BPIC at Morton Community Centre on Wednesday 25 October and saw BPIC achieving a very respectable third place position, with two images by Brian Maguire being starred. Several other BPIC entries scored highly, with images by Matthew Canning, Stephen Pratt and Gareth O'Cathain all scoring 12 points. Full results are here.

And here are Brian's starred images.

More LIPF Success for BPIC

A massive congratulations to Kevin Vernon LIPF - the latest BPIC member to achieve his Licentiateship accreditation with a fantastic panel of images which he presented at the IPF Distinctions sitting at Carlow on Saturday 23rd September 2017. Kevin's panel is below - more examples of successful BPIC panels can be seen here.

LIPF Success for BPIC Members

A huge congratulations to Matthew Canning on achieving his LIPF accreditation at Mullingar on Saturday 13th May 2017.

Also successful at Mullingar was the panel of the late Lesley Porter, who sadly passed away the previous day.

Lesley Porter LIPF

It is with great sadness that I have to announce the passing of our dear friend and fellow member Lesley Porter on Friday morning. Our deepest sympathies and thoughts are with her husband Stewart and the rest of their family at this very difficult time.

Lesley was a really lovely warm person, a fabulous photographer and much respected by all of our members. She was just recently confirmed as BPIC Novice Photographer of the Year, and she leaves a huge legacy of fantastic images, some of which will be on display later this year at the Belfast City Hospital exhibition. Her love of photography stayed strong throughout her illness and it is both fitting and poignant that her LIPF panel was successful at Mullingar today, where IPF officials praised Lesley's work.

Lesley will be greatly missed by everyone at BPIC.

POTY Results

BPIC Advanced Photographer of the Year 2017 is -

Brian Maguire

Brian has been the epitome of consistency over the year with 14 images selected out of 42. No less than 4 were either starred by NIPA or selected as top image in POTY rounds. Brian’s win is well deserved and a recognition of his abilities and commitment to the high standards the club aspires to.

Congratulations and well done Brian.

BPIC Novice Photographer of the Year 2017 is -

Lesley Porter

The quality of Lesley’s work is reflected in the fact that out of 42 submissions 12 of her photographs were selected in the various rounds of the competition. That’s a success rate only bettered by one other club member.

Congratulations and very well done Lesley.

Overall BPIC Photographer of the year for 2017 is

Brian Maguire

Brian pipped Lesley by only 5 points. Both should be appreciated for the consistently high quality of the work they submitted throughout the year but Brian shaded it by the number of stars/first places he achieved.

Congratulations again go to Brian.

BPIC Success at NIPA 2017 Novice Competition

Each year the Northern Ireland Photographic Association hosts a 'Novice Competition' to allow all folk, new to photography, to compete in a competition that is only open to them. The competition is organised by NIPA for individual members of its member clubs. There are actually three competitions - one each for Monochrome Prints, Colour Prints and Projected Digital Images. The Novice Competitions are to encourage genuine novices to submit work at a competitive level and is open to all those photographers who comply with the NIPA Novice definition. Entries for the competition are selected by members of NIPA clubs from their own work.

This year's competition was held at The Fountain Centre in Bangor on Saturday 8th April 2017. The three judges were Louise Borbely (Central Photographic Association), Hugh Wilkinson (Catchlight Camera Club), and Brian Maguire (BPIC).

In what was a very strong field, BPIC members enjoyed some great success, winning a total of seven certificates. And here are the winning images.

2nd Place - Monochrome Print - Old Medical Records - by Lesley Porter — 2nd Place - Monochrome Print - Old Medical Records - by Lesley Porter

3rd Place - PDI - Frozen - by Lesley Porter

Highly Commended - PDI - Aurora - by Lesley Porter

Highly Commended - Colour Print - Calm Day at Portstewart - Lesley Porter

Highly Commended - Colour Print - Winter Flow - Jim Murray

Highly Commended - Colour Print - Evening Skye - Jim Murray

Highly Commended - PDI - Pine Island - Glen Banna