The first digital competition of the club’s new season was held recently and was judged by Maureen Dennis from Braunton. Maureen has judged at our club several times and always brings with her a wealth of knowledge and helpful advice coupled with a lively sense of humour.

The first category she had to judge had Nature as its theme. Here we saw a wide range of mainly macro shots but also some landscapes, African wildlife and birds. Maureen offered a critique on each of the thirty-four entries and had a hard job separating many of the fine images on show.

The results in this section were: 1st Rachel Carter for 'Fish supper' - a great shot of a puffin with a mouthful of fish which Maureen described as 'a cracking shot'
2nd Diane Rowe for 'Poplar hawk moth caterpillar' - a macro image revealing the beauty of its camouflage 3rd Rachel Carter for 'Diving Gannet' - which was exactly that - about to spear the water!
Highly commended went to Sue Howard (2), Diane Rowe (2), Mike Bevan, Rachel Carter and Tony Drew (1 each).

The second category was ‘Open’ and attracted twenty-three entries. As expected this contained very different subject matter although as it turned out many of the images featured either sport or speed. The key to doing well in an Open competition is to take something unusual. So whilst portraits or landscapes may be excellent, the shots that catch the judge’s eye are those that are in some way extraordinary.

The results in this section were: 1st Neil Harris for 'Bad day at the office' - an extremely well caught shot of a motorcycle race crash
2nd Paul Carter for 'Catching the wave' - a surfer cresting a wave with great concentration
3rd equal Rachel Carter for 'Racing Hard' and Paul Carter for 'That's going to be out'
Highly Commended went to Paul Carter (2), Peter Elliston, Mike Bevan, Polly Knowles and Debbie Ludgate (1 each)