Peel’s camera club’s top photographic awards have once again gone to David Salter, successfully defending the title he won last year when he was a newcomer to the westerners’ society.
After a long but thoroughly enjoyable final competition of their season, the Western Photographic Society’s blue ribbon awards of Photographer of the Year and Best Overall Image went to the Port Erin-based cameraman.
Dave has been a member of the Southern Photo Society for several year but joined the Peel club last year, along with his good friend John Keelan, who is the southerners’ chairman.
Travelling the world on business in connection with his own chemical consultation business, Dave’s street photography, taken mostly in China, North American and the subcontinent is as varied as it is visually stunning.
These, together with equally impressive surfboarding images, mostly of his 18-year-old son, Greg, whose skills are of top professional quality, have won Dave several of the Open, Assignment and Sports-related competitions throughout the season since it began last September.
He was the strong favourite for the club’s top accolade, and tipped to romp ahead with ease. But, in a fantastic tussle on the night itself, he was closely chased throughout by one of the club’s two junior members, 13-year-old Rueben Allan.
And, when the judge’s scores were totted up in the closing minutes, Rueben had only been pipped by a single mark, he getting 83 out of a possible 100, and Dave Salter with 84.
Medal-winning Rueben, whose flora and fauna images have impressed judges for several years, and whose camera skills belie his age, had entered five cracking images, all of which were either placed or commended with high marks.
The annual open is the 11th and final competition in the Society’s calendar, and is where active members usually enter their best images which have done well in the previous ten. It is also where most of the hardware is up for grabs, six cups and trophies being vied for.
Every contestant enters five of his/her best images in any of the four classes; the three prints classes, mono, large colour up to A3, smaller A4, and the two digitally projected classes, mono and colour. Whilst limited to five images apiece, these can be can all be in one class or spread across all five sections, at the worker’s discretion.
It was judged this year, not for the first time, by former top island civil servant, the now retired David Killip, a long-term friend of the club. He was invited, as always, to award each image marks out of 20, placing his top five in each class and offer commendations to others at his choosing.
Opening the evening at Peel’s British Legion HQ, David revealed that 20 of the Club’s member had decided to contest the championship. As each had five images, they were each aiming for a total 100 marks.
These even numbers had allowed him some interesting calculations, he said. With 20 member going for 100, the total possible score in the comp. was 2000. When given the entries, the week before the event, and having made his choices and allocated each mark, he said the total achieved was 1535.
‘This was 76.75 per cent of the total marks available,’ he added. ‘If you were a university student, graduating with marks of 70% you would have achieved a first class degree.
‘So I think it’s fair to say that this club has every right to call itself fist class, and back that up with the stats!’
As he had perused the 100 images in him home in the week preceding the competition night itself, the judge said he had decided that 56 of them had been worthy of a commendation of some description, or had actually won its class.
In terms of numbrs, the mono prints section was least supported with only 12 entries. But what they lacked in quantity they gained in quality, and he said every one of them was commended to some degree, or had actually won its class.
In fact the mono image which did win this print section was one of Dave Salter’s five entries, a stunning informal portrait of an elderly Indian man carrying a heavy-looking bundle on his head as he walked through the streets of Mumbai. Dave also came third in this section with a superb surfboarding shot taken in Port St Mary Bay.
In the colour prints class, Dave Killip chose a simple but beautifully captured image by Ruth Nicholls, featuring an urn set in a Santorini seascape, which could easily have graced the pages of a Greek holiday brochure.
In the smaller A4 class David selected a crisp and colourful image of woodland fungi, taken by Carol Basnett, as his winner. Carol was also second in this class, and had a third image commended.
Moving to the digital images, projected on the big screen, the mono section went to Dennis Wood, who took first and second place. But Dave Salter took his already healthy points tally on the up by taking 3rd and fourth place.
Finally, in the Colour DPI section, a head and shoulders image by Doug Allan, featuring a Household Cavalry guard on duty, with just one eye peering menacingly into the lens from under his ornate helmet, which took the honours.
This became only the second image of the night to be awarded a faultless 20 marks out of 20, the other being the top black and white print by David Salter entitled ‘A Load on the Mind’.
Dave Killip said he consequently had to choose between these two informal portraits as to which he awarded the Best Overall Image of the Year Trophy. He chose the mono print, and when the points were totalled up this put Dave Salter with the additional much coveted Photographer of the Year trophy too.
Thanking the Club for inviting him back to judge their top competition, Dave Killip said it was, as ever, so difficult when presented with a hundred top class images. As it was an open comp., the range of subject was across the board, comparing macro images of insects with sweeping landscapes, or portraits with architectural patterns.
‘It’s like trying to compare Tchaikovsky with JMW Turner,’ he declared. ‘How do you start comparing apples with pears?’
It was obvious to all members whose images had been scrutinised, adjudicated and, it was felt, appreciated by David that he had spent many hours of his own free time doing so. He was thanked for this by Carol Basnett, standing in for husband Stan, the retiring Club chairman.
Results: 1st Dave Salter, 84 marks; 2nd Rueben Allan, 83; joint 3rd Patricia Tutt and Dennis Wood, 82; 5th Carol Basnett, 78; joint 6th Jim Lace and Doug Allan, 77 marks.
To view all the winners go to www.westernphotographic.org and follow the links from Annual Open and ‘Winning Images’.