Gifted Knutsford photographers win top prizes in major competition

Members of Knutsford Photographic Society celebrated success in a hotly contested end of season celebration of best pictures.

More than 50 colour and monochrome images were displayed as prints or digital images.

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Competitions secretary Nigel Wells said: “The competition was very strong for the club’s premier event of the season.

Rayanne, a strong modern portrait, won first prize in the print competition (Image: John Horsley)

“Given our performance in external competitions this season, we have reached new heights and have been extremely successful against some of the best clubs in the North West.

“With several good sporting venues close by it was not a surprise to see a very strong sports entry.

This powerful sports image of a polo player and horse won first prize in the digital image competition (Image: John Cridland)

“This was closely matched by some fine landscape photography and dramatically lit portraits.

“Nature images were also well represented with both Tatton Park and Dunham Massey providing the ideal venue for capturing wildlife at its best.

Nature images included this stunning shot of a fallow deer (Image: Gordon Spruce)

“Although the majority of images were taken using traditional cameras, it was refreshing to see images taken on camera phones achieving the technical requirements of the competition.”

The Hokey Cokey, one of the award-winning digital entries (Image: Nigel Wells)

Judge Nick Hilton explained what he was looking for in an image.

He said: “My three key criteria are impact, technical quality and print quality.”

Umph! another action-packed sports image (Image: Nigel Wells)

The winning print image was Rayanne, taken by John Horsley, a strong modern portrait, with great use of the model’s hands and arms to frame the face.

The tone and lighting balance was highly praised by the judge.

Next Gate captures the intensity of a canoeist battling through rapids (Image: Janet Robinson)

Nigel Wells came second with The Hokey Cokey, Gordon Spruce was placed third for Fallow deer, Mike Lloyd came fourth for Houses in Lofoten and Nigel Wells was placed fourth with Rooster Tail.

Judging 34 high quality digital images proved quite challenging.

Rooster tail captures the gravel thrown into the air (Image: Nigel Wells)

Nigel said: “Nick’s ability to differentiate and assess impact and image quality quickly led to some strong critique.

The winning image, Missed it! was taken by John Cridland, featuring powerful sports image of a polo player and horse in a very dynamic pose.

Houses in Lofoten (Image: Mike Lloyd)

Nick selected this image because it ‘immediately tells a story and the quality is very good’.

Mike Lloyd was runner up with Fishing with cormorants, Mervyn Harrison came third with Bohemian Waxwing with berry, Janet Robinson was fourth for Next Gate and Nigel Wells was placed fifth for Umph!

Bohemian Waxwing with a berry (Image: Mervyn Harrison)

Nick was extremely impressed with the quality of all the images on display and paid tribute to the photographers who entered the competition.

Knutsford Photographic Society returns on Tuesday, September 17 at 7.55pm at Brook Street Chapel Hall, Adams Hill.

Visitors are welcome.

For further details visit knutsfordps.org.uk