The Isle of Man Photographic Society held its third assignment competition this week, the set subject being After Dark, a theme in part inspired from an earlier presentation from the Astronomical Society where night shots of the moon, stars and the Milky Way had featured.

It was also intended to stretch the skills of our members with the need to understand the technical requirements for such a theme - of longer exposures or higher iso settings when compared with daylight work.

Our judge was Ron Strathdee, an island-based photographer with his own website digitalmanphotography.com featuring several hundred images of the island, including night-time shots - so well qualified to assess our members’ work, as indeed his well-paced commentary showed.

Claire Schreuder dominated in the intermediate print section, taking honours in the monochrome section with Sax in the City - a delightfully back-lit shot of a saxophonist against a shopping centre backdrop - and similarly in the colour section with a super night shot of Wawel Castle in Krakov. A larger entry in the Advanced class saw close competition.

In the monochrome, Sue Blythe and Jeremy Broome-Smith vied for the award, both scoring highly but Jeremy’s print of the Milky Way from Niarbyl had the edge.

In the colour section, Chris Blyth and Sue Blythe both scored maximum marks, but Sue won the judge’s eye with a beautifully back-lit image of the Fab Four taken on Liverpool waterfront, and which deservedly gained the judge’s preference as the print of the evening.

The intermediate digital entries saw Janet Henry getting the judge’s preference in both monochrome and colour sections - a lovely shot of a bench in the park lit by moonlight in the monochrome, and an atmospheric and misty shot of Stevenson’s Way in the colour.

The advanced class was again highly competitive, with Ruth Nicholls, Sue Blythe and Barry Murphy all awarded a similar score in the monochrome section, but Barry’s pub image of a pint glass of Guinness One for the Road gaining favour.

In the colour section, Ruth had two images with high scores, her shot of a shopping centre and the reflections off wet pavements and street-side cafe tables being preferred.

Janet Henry’s image Bench in the Moonlight was awarded digital image of the evening.

The society meets at the Art Society Building (Thie Ellyn) in Withington Road, Douglas, with all meetings starting at 7,30pm.

ur next meeting on Wednesday, March 20, will be a two-way digital battle with the North West Bristol Club, being judged by Steve Babb.

Meetings are open to the public with a modest entry fee for non-members, and all will be given a very warm welcome.

Full details of our programme can be found on our website at www.iomps.com.