St Ives Interprint Competition 2025
Saturday, 1st March 2025
The 43 rd annual Interprint Competition was held at the beautiful Free Church in St Ives. 21 Clubs competed for the impressive trophy with each submitting 6 prints which were exhibited for public viewing during the day. Richard Burn joined me to represent A&DCC.
The judge, David Smith LRPS, CPAGB and BPE1*, is a member and former President of Woking Photographic Society and past President of the Surrey Photographic Association. His current interests range from street photography to fashion, travel and nature. David reviewed and scored the prints earlier in the day during the exhibition and was therefore able
to concentrate on his comments during the competition and, with 126 images to view, he did
well to complete this in 3.5 hours.
The judge’s comments and scores on the A&DCC prints are summarized below:
- Rice Fields by Gary Chester – Score 16 – It is unusual to see a picture of rice fields presented in monochrome as the vivid green leaves of the plant is often part of the attraction. However, being in mono the viewer can concentrate on the shapes, textures and reflections in the water. The judge was pleased that a figure had been included to provide scale and felt that this was a very different way of presenting the view.
- Girl on a Bridge by Gary Chester – Score 17 – The light on the bridge and the face of the girl draws in the viewer to see the bridge supports and reflections in the water which are the most interesting part of the image. The curve of the bridge is very nice but the judge did find this a challenging image which didn’t entirely work for him but he was still able to enjoy it.
- Jarvis by Paul Tapping – Score 15 – If you have ever tried to photograph a concert you will realise how extraordinarily difficult it is with the light and colours constantly changing. It was therefore sensible to present this image in monochrome and it does capture the power of the performer. The right hand distracts because it is light and obscures the figure’s eye but the photographer has done well to get the shot. It didn’t work for the judge but it obviously meant something to the photographer.
- Pointed Arches by Richard Burn – Score 16 – The eye is drawn to the final arch and the judge appreciated how difficult it must have been to put this image together. The judge liked the beautiful detail in the floor and graduation of tones in the arches but was slightly distracted by the dark arch on the right.
- Cupid’s Darts by Paul Tapping – Score 18 – Sometimes less is more and with the very limited colour palette and sharp focus it brings out the detail in the flowers. The black background works in this image.
- Two Chairs by Richard Burn – Score 16 – This image has the feeling of a water colour painting and the judge particularly enjoyed the chair on the right but the chair on the left didn’t work for him. The judge wasn’t sure what the photographer was trying to achieve but he appreciated the excellent post production and presentation.
After 6 rounds, A&DCC finished the evening with 98 points which is 6 more than we achieved in 2024 and, we didn’t go home empty handed, because Richard won a prize in the raffle (again!). The top 3 places were:
1st Bury St Edmunds Photographic Society 112 points
2nd Photographic Imaging Co-Operative 111 points
3rd Ely Photographic Club 109 points
Full details can be found on the St Ives Photographic Club website
https://stives-photoclub.org.uk/interprint
On Thursday 6th March we move onto our 3rd competition in 8 days when we compete in the Central Club Challenge in Milton Keynes – full details are on the A&DCC website. Unfortunately, this clashes with our members evening in Millbrook “My Favourite Lens” but I will provide feedback on the judge’s comments.