The Isle of Man Photographic Society held its annual print competition this week and was delighted to have Jeremy Malley-Smith LRPS DPAGB BPE2* to judge.

Jeremy is an accredited judge with our federation, the Lancashire and Cheshire Photographic Union, and brings particular expertise in the subjects of wildlife, macro and landscape.

He faced a major task as he was presented with more than 210 images submitted by our members, who are split into intermediate and advanced groups, with their entries judged in the five different genres of open colour, open mono, nature, creative and record.

Given the sheer size of entry, the morning session was spent selecting those images chosen as winners, to be shown during the usual evening meeting, time not permitting comment on every image.

However, eventually some 75 images were selected covering the 10 sections being judged - each section usually being awarded a first, second and third place plus commendations as necessary.

In the intermediate group, Claire Schreuder shone, winning four of the five sections - open colour with a well lit still-life image of soup ingredients being made ready for cooking, the open mono with a street musician backlit against some shops, the creative with an image of nuts and bolts seen in close-up as though a city of sky-scrapers, and the record section with a stained glass window image.

In contrast, Steve Johnstone swept the board in the nature section, taking all three winning positions, a stunning shot of a greenshank wading in shallow water and beautifully reflected in the surface earning him first place.

Geoff Atkinson, Beryl Quayle, Richard Shafto, Jonathan Carey gained commendations in various sections.

In the advanced group, honours were more evenly spread, albeit in hard fought competitions.

Jeremy Broome-Smith won the open colour section with a delightful long exposure shot of a beach scene, Ruth Nicholls the open mono with a wonderful Italian church interior, Sue Blythe taking first place in nature with a very close-up and detailed image of an approaching tiger and Ron Shimmin showing his experience and expertise winning both the record section with a shot of the altar in Westminster Cathedral and the creative with an imaginative treatment of a collection of umbrellas.

The evening finished with our judge showing a selection of his wildlife shots taken in Scotland.

These included otters, ospreys, pine marten, and eagles, all shown with helpful advice as to equipment required, the techniques and time needed to get close to the subjects and to get ’the shot’.

What was readily apparent throughout the evening was Jeremy’s enthusiasm and enjoyment of photography in all its forms - a joy shared with our audience and who appreciated the opportunity to see his work.

The society’s season of weekly meetings is rapidly coming to a close, but our members will have opportunity during the summer to practise their skills with field trips and social events - details will be found in due course on our website www.iomps.com.

Members of the public interested in attending these events should make contact via the website for further details.

The society thanks the Arts Council for their continued support.

Chris Blyth