SACC Creative Photography Competition 2016 – Report

October 31, 2016 by Eamon Wall

The SACC Creative Photography Competition 2016 was held in the Park Hotel, Dungarvan, on Sunday October 23rd and was hosted by Dungarvan Camera Club. The overall entry was up by 10% on last year continuing the upward trend in submission numbers. The print entry numbers was slightly down, but this was offset by the increase in the PDI (Projected) image entries. This increase is indicative of the continuing growth in interest in this photography genre. The open interpretation of creative photography amongst members resulted in wide variety of images in terms of subject, levels of post processing and artistic creativity.

creative-winner-2016

We were delighted to see photographers from all around the country taking part as this event is a national competition and is open to members from all IPF affiliated clubs. Additionally the top scoring 35% count as Irish qualifiers for those going for AFIAP distinctions.

Our thanks to all involved in making this competition a success:

Our judges, Martin Spackman ARPS and Paul Reidy LIPF, AFIAP who provided excellent commentary & feedback throughout the judging.
The SACC Committee.
Dungarvan Camera Club committee and members.
All who entered images and those who attended.

In addition to the excellent feedback from the judges throughout the judging, Martin Spackman spoke at length about a number of aspects of the creative image process, including the importance of photographic prints as a media choice. He said that some images by virtue of their subject and treatment lend themselves to print rather than PDI, and vise versa, it is therefore important for entrants to evaluate their submissions on that basis, He also said that creativity can be as much about in camera techniques as post processing of images.

He emphasised that in judging the entries, the judges took into account the degree of compliance with the definition of creativity published for the competition as well as overall image composition and quality. He said that some images worked better where a simplicity of subject and creative approach was used and that post processing wasn’t the only creative avenue available. In relation to the fact that large text featured in two of the winning images (the Mickey Mouse name in “Anna” by Iga Sasiela, and the name on the boat in Ron Bending’s “Moored at Morston”), Martin said that he did not see this feature as a negative in creative images, as some judges did, and felt that in some case it even complimented the image.

In relation to the choice the overall winner he said that the judges had a difficult decision as the winning images in both the Print and Projected were of such a high standard. The final selection of “Anna” by Iga Sasiela (featured below) was the result of much deliberation and was influenced by the freshness, simplicity of subject matter, newness of overall treatment and the use of vibrant colour to emphasise the subject.

Martin expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to judge the competitions and said that the overall standard was high. He also said that he and his wife had thoroughly enjoyed his visit to Dungarvan and the South East and thanked the Dungarvan club members for their warm welcome and hospitality throughout.

Congratulation to all those who won awards and our thanks to our judges (Martin Spackman and Paul Reidy), the committee and members of Dungarvan Camera Club, the SACC Committee and to all entrants in the competition, whose combined effort and contributions resulted in another very successful and interesting national competition.

View the Gallery of Winning Images and photos of the Prize presentations here: SACC Creative Competition Gallery

SACC Creative Photography Competition – Event Schedule

October 18, 2016 by Eamon Wall

Creative Photography Competition – Event Schedule

This is a quick reminder that the SACC Creative Photographic Competition, which is being hosted by Dungarvan Camera Club, takes place in the Park Hotel, Dungarvan on Sunday 23rd Oct. The proposed event time table is given below. As you’d expect, the results and awards may be earlier or later than the scheduled time, depending on the number of entries.

Our thanks to all those who have already entered, we appreciate your support. For those still intending to enter, please note that the closing date and time is midnight on Friday next (Oct 21st).

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SACC Creative Photography Competition 2016 – NOW OPEN

October 9, 2016 by Eamon Wall

The SACC Committee is delighted to announce that the 2016 SACC Creative Photography Competition will be held on Sunday, October 23rd at the Park Hotel, Dungarvan, Co Waterford.

The competition is open to members of all IPF affiliated clubs.

For those collecting Irish qualifiers for AFIAP applications, the top 35% of images in this competition qualify for AFIAP.

The Rules of the competition, which was formerly known as the SACC Creative Digital Competition, have been updated for 2016 (please read carefully). The competition will open for online entries in mid-October and the competition will be judged by Martin Spackman ARPS and Paul Reidy LIPF, AFIAP.

There are two sections: prints and projected images, each catering for intermediate and advanced photographers. To decide which category you qualify for (Intermediate or Advanced), please refer to the competition rules. You may enter four images in each section.

Entry fee is €8 for one section and €12 for two. The entry fee must be paid via the online registration system.

The definition to work to is:

“Creative Photography means different things to different people. To some, it means manipulation of images using image editing software and to others, it means breaking the rules/conventions using creative techniques in-camera such as slow shutter speeds, panning, creative compositions etc. Photographic content should predominate. For the purposes of this competition, anything goes”.

The inclusion of stock images/clip art is not permitted. For example, if you wish to add a sunflower to your image, then you need to photograph a sunflower!”

To Enter 2016 Competition: Click Here

System requirements are listed here.

When the competition entry link is published, if you experience any issues, please don’t hesitate to contact us via our ‘contact page‘.

Closing Date: Midnight, October 21st 2016.

To whet your creativity, why not check out last year’s gallery of winning images.

SACC Next Season Event Schedule

September 3, 2016 by Eamon Wall

SACC Update – Event Schedule 2016 / 2017

With the new photographic season about to get under way the upcoming SACC events are as follows:

The SACC Creative Photography competition will be held on Sunday, October 23rd hosted by Dungarvan Camera Club in The Park Hotel, Dungarvan. This competition is open to members of both SACC and IPF affiliated clubs. We are honoured to have Martin Spackman ARPS of NIPA judging this competition for us.

Sunday, November 20th sees the SACC Photographer of the Year competition and the venue for this contest as in previous years is the Horse and Jockey Hotel, Co Tipperary.

In January we have the Nature Photographer of the Year which will be hosted by Thurles Camera Club at a venue to be decided. We very much appreciate Dungarvan and Thurles hosting these competitions for us.

March will see the SACC Inter Club competition also at a venue to be decided.

The rules for each of our competitions are on our website SACC.ie

Last season we were delighted to have two outstanding photographers speak at a number of member clubs and we hope to arrange some visits to clubs this coming season.

Further updates will be published on our website and in the IPF newsletter.

SACC Interclub Competition 2016 – Report

March 15, 2016 by Eamon Wall

The SACC Interclubs Competition, which was held last weekend, was another very successful event for the organisation. It was held in the Lifetime Labs complex in Cork and had 13 clubs taking part and a record number of attendees for the judges’ comments in the afternoon which resulted in standing room only for a few of the attendees! Thanks to our judges for the day, Helen Hanafin, AIPF, EFIAP, Paul Stanley FIAP EFIAP EsFIAP, and Bob Morrison FIPF ARPS. They did an excellent job and their insightful comments on the various panels were very well received. Many SACC members attending were busy taking notes or making videos with their phones while the judges were commenting on their club’s panels.

Thanks to Cork Camera Group for hosting the event and the many club members who helped make the day run so smoothly. An unforeseen logistical hitch on the day meant that the panel boards and stands had to be carried about 100 meters into, and from, the event hall, so special thanks to all those who put in the effort to do that. Additionally a big thank you is also due to Niamh Whitty and Jason Town from Cork Camera Group for their expert assistance on the day. Thanks also to the excellent service staff at Lifetime Labs for their contribution during the day.

A couple of additional notable events were also held during the day, namely, a presentation by Charlie Lee of his nature photography and the SACC AGM. Charlie’s presentation was very well attended and his slideshow, prints and instructional commentary were thoroughly enjoyed by all. There was also a larger than usual attendance at the AGM and the plans for the coming year were discussed. There was also an interesting discussion on of some suggested changes pertaining to the SACC competition events with excellent audience participation. Discussion documents relating to these will be circulated by the committee to member clubs during the coming months and feedback and additional suggestion from the clubs are encouraged.

Congratulations go to Cork Camera Group who were the overall club winners, successfully chalking up four in a row. Blarney Photography Club took second place overall and Wexford Camera Club won third place. The winning positions in the inter-club events are as follows:

Interclub Event – Overall Winners

1st Place: Cork Camera Group
2nd Place: Blarney Photography Club
3rd Place: Wexford Camera Club

Interclub Event – Colour Panel

1st Place: Cork Camera Group
2nd Place: Wexford Camera Club
3rd Place: Blarney Photography Club

Interclub Event – Monochrome Panel

1st Place: Blarney Photography Club
2nd Place: Kilkenny Photographic Society
3rd Place: Cork Camera group

Interclub Event – Projected Panel

1st Place: Blarney Photography Club
2nd Place: Cork camera Group
3rd Place: Kilkenny Photographic Society

Congratulations to all clubs and a special thanks to the club selection teams involved; they contribute hugely to making this such a great competition.

The individual award winners are as follows – and again, our congratulations!

Winning individual colour print: Bill Power, Cork Camera Group for his image “L’esprit du Fauconnier”
Winning individual monochrome print: Paul Reidy, Blarney Photography Club for his image “Pushing Time”
Winning individual projected image: Bill Power, Cork Camera Group for his image “A Secret Place”
Overall individual winner: Bill Power, Cork Camera Group for his image “A Secret Place”

All winning panels & images are shown below – click to enlarge. These, along with presentation images from the day are now available over in SACC Interclub 2016 Gallery here on our website. For even more images from the day, take a look at some of the preparations over on our Facebook page (and be sure to ‘like’ the page while you are there!).

For full results, please go to our Results Page.

Thanks again for your participation and we look forward to an even bigger event next year!

SACC Interclub 2016 – Schedule

March 7, 2016 by Eamon Wall

We’re looking forward to yet another exciting competition this coming Sunday (March 13th) as we wait to see the panels competing for the title of SACC Interclub Champions 2016. The competition will be held at Lifetime Lab, Lee Road, Cork City.

The overall winning club trophy (pictured on the right) was donated by Enniscorthy Camera Club and we eagerly wait to see which club takes the overall honours. There are also trophies and certificates on offer at club level for each section and also gold medals for best image in each section individually!

Please note that the Annual General Meeting of the SACC is scheduled for 12.00. Representatives from all SACC clubs are encouraged to attend as plans for the coming year will be outlined and all are encouraged to give feedback and to get involved with your suggestions.

For some helpful advise on preparing panels, please read this article!

We extend our thanks to the members of Cork Camera Group who are helping to host the event.

The judges are listed below. Please note that no competing club or member is permitted to approach any judge with regard to any scores or decisions in relation to the competition.

Helen Hanafin, AIPF, EFIAP
Paul Stanley FIPF EFIAP EsFIAP
Bob Morrison FIPF ARPS

Finally, we’d like to take this opportunity to extend our thanks to all competing clubs and to wish them the very best of luck.

The schedule for the day is outlined below and while we will do our best to ensure we follow it as closely as possible, please bear in mind that some parts of the day are always unscripted! Please note that prints may not be removed from panel boards until the conclusion of the competition. Each club will receive a printed copy of its scores at the end of competition – please be sure to pick up the copy for your club.

Edit
Time	Event
10:00 – 11.00am	Hanging of Panels
11.00am-1.00pm	Judging (Private)
11:00 – 12:00pm	Presentation on Nature Photography by Charlie Lee
12:00 – 12:45pm	SACC Annual General Meeting
1:00 – 2:00pm	Lunch / Hall open for public viewing
3:00 – 4:00pm	Judges reviews and comments
4:00	Awards Ceremony

SACC Interclub 2016 – Now Open for Entries!

February 14, 2016 by Niamh

The SACC Interclub Comeptition 2016 will be held on Sunday March 13th at Lifetime Lab, Lee Road, Cork City.

Rules are unchanged since last year and may be viewed on this link. In summary, panels are presented as colour print, monochrome print and projected image. A club may enter one, two or all three panels with ten images per panel. No photographer may be represented more then twice on any given panel. Prints MUST fit on the panel boards.

We would love to see ALL clubs in the region take this chance to compete! Don’t forget that a major part of this event is the exhibition after judging is concluded and representing your club on a panel is a very proud moment for every photographer.

The entry fee to this competition has increased by €10 across the three options. Unfortunately, this is now necessary due to both rising costs and the evolution of the competition into the great event it now is which requires bigger venues to accommodate ever growing crowds.

Fees for the 2016 competition are:

€30 for one panel
€40 for two panels
€50 for all three panels

What does my club need to do to enter?

Step 1 – Register & Pay by March 1st

Due to the logistics involved in arranging access to and transporting the panel boards, we need all participating clubs to complete registration below by Tuesday March 1st. So the first thing you need to do it to tell us you are entering (and which sections you are entering) and pay the entry fee either via Paypal or by sending a cheque to our treasurer Liam at his address below. PayPal is our preferred method of receiving payment. We are now closed for entries!

Payment can also be made by cheque to Liam Cahill, SACC Treasurer at the address below. Please include club name, club website, contact name, contact number and contact email address with all correspondence.

Liam Cahill,
SACC Treasurer,
1 The Meadows,
Callan,
Co. Kilkenny

Step 2 – Email completed entry form by March 11th

Entry forms (the details of the images being submitted – titles and authors) need to be with us by Friday March 11th. The entry form for 2016 can be downloaded via this link. Please complete, save and mail a copy to interclub@sacc.ie by Friday March 11th 2016. Please study the rules before submitting!

Step 3 – Prepare

• Pack double-sided sticky velcro

Lots of it! You’ll need double-sided sticky velcro to attach your prints to the panel boards.

• Watch out for mount size

Maximum mount size is 20 x 16 inches. The dimensions of the panel boards are 8 x 4 feet (96 x 48 inches). Please note that if you are using the maximum size mount, and all mounts on any row are landscape oriented, they are not going to fit on the panel boards. You need to either adjust the layout of your panel, or use slightly smaller mounts.

• Hang panels

We’ll be announcing schedule for the day shortly.

• What to bring on competition day?

• For Print Panels:

• Prints & velcro. Measuring tapes, levels, laser pointers etc optional!
• Printed thumbnail view of each overall print panel layout – A4 print ideal on any kind of paper
• Jpg of thumbnail view of each overall panel layout on disc or memory stick
• Jpegs of each image on each print panel (sized to 1024 pixels on longest edge) on disc or memory stick

• For Projected Panels:

• Jpg of thumbnail view of projected panel layout (x2, one with name of club included, the other without) on disc or memory stick
• Digital jpgs of each image on projected panel (sized to 2400 pixels on longest edge) on disc or memory stick, numbered 1-10

For any issues or queries, please use the contact form on our website and a member of the committee will be in touch.

Please note that only members of paid up clubs will have access to SACC competitions and only paid up clubs will be eligible to enter SACC Interclub Competition. Please refer to fees page to pay your 2016 club fees and provide contact details for your club.

Great lecture series from Robert Thompson!

January 31, 2016 by Niamh

Robert Thompson visits SACC Camera Clubs – Jan 2016

Cork Camera Group Chairman Noel O’Connell pictured with Robert Thompson

The January calendar highlight for three SACC clubs had to be the visit and presentation by internationally renowned nature photographer Robert Thompson FRPS, FIPF. The SACC, on behalf of Cork Camera Group, Shannon Camera Club and Kilkenny Photographic Society invited Robert to make a series of presentations to the three clubs on Jan 19th, 20th, and 21st respectively.

From member feedback and social media posts the three presentations were a resounding success with individual members commenting that Robert’s presentations were among the best they had attended.

Robert’s knowledge, professionalism, and attention to details were a revelation. He generously shared his knowledge and experience of nature photography and left members with much to think about and to practice in their photography.

Among the many points made by Robert during his presentations were:

Know your camera equipment and be instinctive about the menu system so that you can quickly access and set the camera settings required for a given situation.
Plan your photo shoots and pre-visualise the image(s) you wish to capture. This not only helps with a positive outcome but also assists in developing your creativity.
As much as is possible, pre-select the camera settings required for the shoot. In some cases frequently used settings can be pre-programmed into “memory” buttons on your camera – learn how to do this and set them up.
Research and study your subjects and their environment before heading out into the field. When in the field also take the time to study the environment before taking images and think about different angles and an uncluttered background.
Avoid being a seasonal photographer and if your particular genre of photography is seasonal, then practice an alternative, but possibly related, genre in the off season to keep your camera and creative skills honed.

Kilkenny Photographic Society Chairman Eugene Canning pictured with Robert and SACC Chairman Richard Dwyer

The SACC Committee and the three camera clubs would like to extend their warm thanks to Robert for his excellent presentations. At the end of each presentation Robert generously raffled a number of his highly successful books.

Our sincere thanks to Robert for this series of fantastic presentations.

Thanks must also be extended to the SACC committee and the representatives from the three clubs for their coordination and organisation of the three extremely successful events.

For more background on Robert Thompson and to see his exemplary work check out the following links:

(SACC Post) https://sacc.ie/robert-thompson-lecture-tour-jan-19th-to-21st-2015
(Robert Thompson’s website) http://www.robertthompsonphotography.com

SACC Qualifying Round of IPF Nature Photographer of the Year 2015/2016 – Results

January 28, 2016 by Niamh

for web npoty

The SACC regional qualifying round of IPF Nature Photographer of the Year 2015/2016 in association with Mahers Photographic took place last Sunday (January 24th 2016) at the Celtic Ross Hotel, Rosscarbery, Co.Cork.

The event was extremely well attended again this year with photographers travelling the length and breath of the region to attend. We were delighted to welcome Michael & Richie from competition sponsors Maher’s Photographic who were a very welcome addition to the event and with a massive variety of photography equipment available to play with on the day, there was many a photographer gone home wishing for that winning lotto ticket before the national finals in a few weeks!

Congratulations to all award winners, especially Charlie Lee from Clonakilty Camera Club who was crowned regional winner with his beautiful image ‘Golden Plover’. We’d love to show you his image, plus all other awards, but as the judging of the finals hasn’t taken place yet, we have to refrain ourselves!

Thank you to our judge Gerry Kerr for his expert skills. Gerry had the unenviable task of judging solo due to illness of our second judge on the day. Thanks also to Clonakilty Camera Club for their amazing hospitality, to the Celtic Ross Hotel who looked after us all so well at a great venue and to the SACC Committee all their work relating to this event.

We’d also like to say a big thank you to Jim McSweeney for his beautiful calligraphy skills on certificates yesterday!

Report cards will be sent out shortly. Images were marked out of a maximum score of 9 points. The qualifying mark for all sections was 7 points and above, with the exception of the Projected Open section where the qualifying mark was 6 points.

We hope to see you all travel again to Kilkenny in a few weeks for the finals and with a bit of luck, maybe it’ll be an SACC photographer taking home the silverware this year!!

Click here for list of award winners

Presentation and some other photos from the day are shown below. Click to enlarge.

Robert Thompson Lecture Tour – Jan 19th to 21st 2016

January 12, 2016 by Eamon Wall

Robert Thompson Lecture Tour

We are delighted to announce that Robert Thompson FRPS will be conducting a lecture tour in the SACC region this January. There will be a €5 cover charge for each talk.

Robert will be speaking across a range of photography topics including nature, landscape and macro, and discussing his approach to these genre. We are very excited to have a photographer of Robert’s reputation visiting us and we encourage SACC members to attend one of the talks.

The talks will take place at the dates and venue below – see posters at the end of article for full details:

Tuesday, January 19th at 7:30 pm in 36 St Patrick’s Quay, Cork.
Wednesday, January 20th at 7:30 pm in Oakwood Arms Hotel, Shannon.
Thursday, January 21st at 7:30 pm in The Pembroke Hotel, Kilkenny.

Robert is a nature photographer, author and educator.
He is the author of a number of books on photographic technique and it is hoped to have some of his books available to raffle at each of the above venues.

Robert’s interest in natural history began during his childhood explorations of a large parkland estate where he grew up. He is a highly accomplished freelance natural history photographer and multi-author with a number of well-known publications to his credit on natural history and nature photography. He has also been a major contributor to many other natural history publications in Britain and Europe. He is widely acknowledged in the UK as a specialist in close-up and macro photography and is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and the Irish Photographic Federation.

As an active conservationist, he has worked on several high-profile natural history recording projects in Ireland for the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, National Parks and Wildlife Service in the Republic of Ireland and television. He has a particular interest in dragonflies,
butterflies and moths for which he has specialist knowledge.

His work is widely published in the UK, Ireland and internationally, with numerous photographic credits in a wide variety of books, magazines, calendars and various other media sources through his library and agencies.

He is frequent writer and contributor to the photographic press and other natural history media. He has had several solo exhibitions of his work including the aerial landscape collection from the highly acclaimed ‘NATIONAL HISTORY OF ULSTER’ publication. His work has also been featured
in Nikon Pro magazine and Nikon UK.

He runs workshops in the UK and abroad and has traveled widely in Europe, photographing its flora and fauna with particular attention to its declining wild orchid populations.

Robert Thompson Photography