Friday, November 20, 2015

Fall 2015 Inter-club Print Competition


Prints Interclub Competition 2015-16
 Interclub Print Competition Schedule
 2015-Annual-Conference-Print-Competition Report 
 2015-Annual-Conference-Print-Competition-Images (click to view the four winning images from the 2014-15 season.  These awards were given at the Conference). 

Results:
► Fall Nov 2015 (posted) NECCC_interclub-print-Image-Gallery-color-FA15
► Fall Nov 2015 (posted) NECCC_interclub-print-Image-Gallery-BW-FA15

Fall 2015 Inter-club Print Competition
Reported by Arthur S. Vaughan, MNEC
NECCC Print Chairman 

The fall 2015 inter-club print competition, hosted by the Merrimack Valley Camera Club, was held on Wednesday, October 28th, 2015 at the Trinitarian Congregational Church in North Andover, MA. The judges for this competition were: Peter Christoph, Karen Choi, and Amy Musinsky, MNEC.
Peter Christoph is a full-time wildlife photographer, author, and speaker from Lancaster MA. His bird images have been published in several magazines and have won numerous national and international awards. Karen Choi, a past member of the Merrimack Valley Camera Club, is now a member of the Greater Lynn Photographic Association, and is a strong competitor at the Masters level in their print and digital image competitions. She holds the position of Senior Vice President of Management and HR Services for the Associated Industries of Massachusetts. Amy Musinsky, MNEC, is the former editor of the award winning newsletter of the Yankee Photographic Society, “The Yankee Crier”. She’s presently the secretary of the Greater Lynn Photographic Association, and chairs their digital discussion group.

Although we were bumped out of our usual meeting place in the church auditorium, into the smaller “scout building”, the competition went off very smoothly. Despite heavy rain and wind, the event was well attended. Serving as competition “staffers” for the evening were Gerry Charest... (computer scoring), David Jones and Keri McAndrews (analog score-keepers), and John Lowe and Art Vaughan (print handlers). Many thanks go to the club members running the competition, to all the folks who ventured out into really foul weather to attend, and to all the folks who submitted prints into this first competition of the new season.

A few points are worth mentioning. Print makers submitting work into competitions should be mindful of the condition of their print mounting. One print needed “repair work” the day before the competition. It was rigged with an over-mat using tape to attach the print to the backing board. That tape failed, allowing the print to shift down on one end... behind the mat, to the point where it stuck to the strong adhesive securing the mat to the backing. Now skewed at better than 30 degrees in the mat “window”, the print was totally unfit to be judged. Roughly 20 minutes of very careful work with a hair dryer, followed by some “cleanup” with lighter fluid was required to “rescue” this print for the competition. One print was submitted on foam-core that had an unusually hard plastic coating on the back. This had chipped in one corner, producing a jagged sharp edge that would have severely damaged any print it was stacked with. One print arrived having been damaged by exposed metal rivets inside the cover of the print case. There had been no protective piece of mat board placed on top of the prints. Club reps should double check when packing prints to ensure that they stand the greatest chance of arriving in good condition, and that their mounting is robust enough to guarantee that no last minute emergency “repair work” will be required to render an entry fit for judging.

For the fall competition a total of 163 prints were submitted...  52 class “A” B&W, 26 class “B” B&W, and 85 Color. Participating were 22 clubs...  13 in class “A”, 7 in class “B”, and 22 in Color. A total of 32 prints received awards...  14 class “A”, 9 class “B” and 9 in Color. Due to the fairly narrow point spread there were multiple ties in each division resulting in no 3rd place individual awards. Clubs that submitted less than their full allotment of four color and four B&W prints, or that missed the fall competition entirely, are encouraged to submit make-up prints along with their regular submissions for the winter competition, to be hosted by the Fall River Camera Club on Wednesday, January 27, 2016.