Uncategorized Archives - Athy Photographic Society

Paddy Joe takes top spot

Long standing member Paddy Joe Ryan has been recently crowned Athy Photographic Society Photographer of the Year for 2018. He proved to be a hugely popular winner with a great panel of 6 wildlife images. The competition was held on November 21^st. at the Athy Family Resource Centre.

The format of the Photographer of the Year has changed and now it is decided on a panel of 6 images from each photographer. We have considerably reduced the amount of competitions in the club since last year. We have concentrated on helping and mentoring each other rather than competing against each other. The change has proved to be a wonderful success as could be witnessed on the night with members helping each other and giving advice on the presentation of the panels.

12 members participated and we extend hearty congratulations to each and every one. It was amazing to see all the fantastic photos displaying the various photography skills of our members. We are very grateful to Mr. Noel Buckley of South Kildare Camera Club who judged the event. Noel said he was very impressed with the very standard of photography and he found it very difficult to arrive at a final result. The members are very much appreciative of the time and effort Noel invested in the night and found his in depth and knowledgeable analysis to be very helpful.

The night ended with Paddy Joe being declared the winner and Chris Bradshaw in his first year as a member and the first occasion displaying images was awarded the Intermediate title.

Midland Photography Group Competition

Sunday November 11th marked the fourth edition of the Midland Photography Group Competition. The venue as in previous years was the Tullamore Court Hotel. Athy Photographic Society has a great record in this event, winning the first two editions in 2015 and 2016. In 2017 we finished down the field but this year we bounced right back. We finished in second place only narrowly beaten by Carlow Camera Club. Members were delighted with the performance which is a great reward the work and effort put in over the last year.

The competition consisted of 7 clubs from Carlow, Kildare, Laois and Offaly. Each club must submit 2 printed panels ; 8 Black and White images and 8 Colour images. Any one individual can only supply a maximum of two images. Each image is judged in terms of technical excellence, composition and visual impact. This year’s judges were Bill Power and John Finn, both international accredited judges from Cork. They invested a huge amount of time in effort in analysing the images and then providing very insightful comments to the large attendance.

Prizes are awarded to the best overall club, best overall image and also to the best black and white image and the best colour image from each panel. The prizes in Athy went to James Mahon in Black and White and Con Doyle in Colour.

Chairman Peadar Doogue receives award on behalf of the Club for second place.

Con Doyle, Best Colour Image in the Athy Panel

James Mahon, Best Black and White Image in the Athy Panel

2019 Calendar

We launched our 2019 Calendar on the opening night of our annual exhibition. As in previous years we have selected images from the local Athy area. We are delighted that this year’s edition features the work of thirteen of our members. Calendars are priced at €5 each and available from local shops or from club members. We are hugely indebted to our sponsors who make the production of this calendar possible. This year’s sponsors are

Shaws Department Store

Francis B, Taaffe & Co Solicitors

Liffey Mills

O’Brien’s Bar & Grocery

Moore’s Life Pharmacy

Clancy’s

Connaughton Auctioneers

JM Computer Services

Quinn’s Tyre Service and Animal Feed

People First Credit Union

Paddy Dunne’s Bar, Lounge and Off Licence

Pascal Greaney Butchers

January, Aisling Hyland – Walking in Snow

July, Willie Quinlan – Remembering Frank

September, Frank Fanning – Bales at Sunset

October, Tara Pedreschi – Mullaghcreelan Wood

November, Naoise Kelly – The Barge at Ardreigh

December, Martin Germaine – White’s Castle and Crom a Boo Bridge

Another successful Annual Exhibition

Athy Photographic Society held the opening night of their annual Exhibition on Friday October 19^th. 2018. The venue was the Athy Community College. The night was well attended and it proved to be a very enjoyable event. We were delighted to welcome members from other nearby Camera Clubs. The event was officially opened by Ms Lucina Russell, Arts Officer with Kildare County Council. We were also honoured to have the IPF President Mr. Domnic Reddin in attendance.

Sixteen members exhibited approximately 120 images which were very well received by those in attendance. We were delighted to have six members exhibiting for the first time. We have been very lucky in recruiting new members in the last year which has brought fresh dynamism and enthusiasm to the club. The exhibition continued until Sunday October 21^st. The following is a list of participating photographers;

Larry Connell, Peadar Doogue, Con Doyle, Cynthia English, Frank Fanning, Pat Fleming, Brian Flynn, Martin Germaine, Aisling Hyland, Jimmy McCarthy, James Mahon, Eamon Murphy, Tara Pedreschi, Paddy Joe Ryan, Willie Quinlan and Nicholas Walsh

Here are just a sample of the photos that were on display

Frank leads the way in Durrow

The members of Athy Photographic Society wish to congratulate Frank Fanning on winning the Durrow Scarecrow Senior Photography Competition 2018. This annual photography competition is a popular event in the festival. It attracts entries from throughout the country and is of a very high standard. It involves competitors submitting a maximum of 3 printed photos. This is Franks second year for entering the competition, he came second last year.

Frank’s entry consisted of a stunning still life, a beautiful sunset at Kilberry bog and a moody shot of the Rock of Dunamase.

Field Trip to Castledermot and Ducketts Grove

On Wednesday 20th June eight members of participated in a field trip to two different locations in Kildare and Carlow. The first stop was Castledermot Abbey where the magnificent arches and walls of the ruins presented some great photo opportunities . The nearby graveyard and Round Tower were also explored. Our member Willie Quinlan imparted his impressive knowledge of the area, specifically the High Crosses and various archaeological points of interest.

The next location was Duckett’s Grove in Co. Carlow. Members were rewarded with a beautiful Sunset, where the clouds in the sky became illuminated in a variety of colours, which made for great photographs with the impressive Gothic mansion making for a great foreground subject.

All in all it was a great evening with lots of excuses to utilise our camera equipment, learn from each other whilst also enjoying ourselves and the wonderful conditions at the same time.

Thanks to Naoise Kelly for the report and Paddy Joe Ryan for the photos

]

Field Trip to Kilberry Bog

For the summer months rather than holding indoor meetings the Club organises field trips. Making the most of the good weather Club members went to Kilberry Bog on June 6th. The bog is located just off the Athy to Monasterevan Road.

On the night eleven members attended and were delighted to get up close with the magnificent and beautiful Bog Cotton. An added bonus was the amazing and spectacular sunset. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the trip and looks forward to the next one. What better way to learn, than to listen and learn from each other, team bonding at its best at Athy Photographic Society

Thanks to Tara Pedreschi for filing the report and also for sharing some of her images from the night.

Distinctions Update

Delighted to report that two Club members recently received Photography Distinction Awards. First up was Naoise Kelly. Naoise has been awarded a Licentiate distinction granted by the Societies of International Nature & Wildlife Photographers (SINWP)

Naoise has only been a member of the SINWP since April 2018. He was required to submit 20 images which were scrutinised by four assessors. The images were deemed to be of the required quality. Commenting on his future plans he says he “hope to apply for a Licentiateship with the Irish Photographic Federation, either this year, or by May 2019 and also an Associateship in time with the SINWP.” Naoise also paid tribute to fellow club members and especially James Mahon and Peadar Doogue for the help and support I’ve received in gaining the award.

James Mahon has been awarded an AFIAP distinction. Earlier this month, at an event in Dublin organised by the Irish Photographic Federation, he was presented with an AFIAP Certificate, Pin and FIAP Card by Domnic Reddin (National President President of the IPF) and Paul Stanley (IPF FIAP Liaison Officer).

FIAP (Federation Internationale de L’ Art Photographique) is one of the two major governing bodies of world photography, the other being the PSA (Photographic Society of America. The distinction “Artist FIAP” (AFIAP) is the first artistic distinction that can be obtained. It is awarded to photographic artists whose artistic qualities, technique and production of work have been acknowledged through the participation in international salons under FIAP Patronage.

The candidate for this distinction must:

Have taken part with success in international salons under FIAP Patronage for at least 1 year.
Have taken part with success in at least 15 international salons under FIAP Patronage in at least 8 different countries
Have obtained at least 40 acceptances with at least 15 different works in international salons under FIAP Patronage.
10% of the required acceptances in salons under FIAP Patronage have to be gained in “Print” salons,

Speaking after the event James said “It was a great day and I was delighted to have one of my images chosen to be exhibited. My sincere thanks to all who have helped me achieve this milestone, most especially my family and fellow members in the Athy Photographic Society. It is now upwards and onwards to achieve the next distinction level of EFIAP which hopefully should be next June”

We wish both Naoise and James continued success in their photographic endeavours.

Naoise’s Image featured in The Times

Great to see that Naoise Kelly’s image of Doo Lough Valley was published in the Irish edition of the Times on April 27th. It is a great achievement for Naoise to receive national recognition for his wonderful landscape work. Fellow members in the club are very proud and extend their congratulations.

Go Naoise Go

Our member Naoise Kelly has been honoured by Harvey Norman for his sensational landscape images. On Wednesday evening May 24^th one of Naoise’s photos was on display at the Harvey Norman store in Naas. The event which hosted by Canon Ireland featured professional photographer and Canon specialist David Newton. David gave a presentation on his amazing photography work and passing on lots of helpful advice and tips. It proved to be an incredibly informative and inspiring evening. A number of other photographers also had their work on display and it was wonderful achievement by Naoise to have his work chosen. We wish him continued success. Here is Naoise’s outstanding image.