Members of the Isle of Man Photographic Society this week welcomed David Wilkinson, managing director of NFU Mutual here on the island, together with two of his staff (Voirrey Horne and Natalie Mason) for a showing of more than 150 images offered by the membership as possible shots to be used in the NFU’s 2020 calendar.

The theme of the calendar was broadly the Manx countryside, and the images shown included some of the very best aspects of the island - from our beautiful landscape and seascape scenery to farm animals and our wildlife, from sunsets and star shots to images of our national glens and wild flowers.

David and his team had taken considerable time to make their selection of winning images - their selection included some obvious calendar shots straight off a Christmas card or a biscuit tin, but also some quirky shots with a definite touch of humour, perhaps not so clearly a calendar choice.

After a showing of all entries, the evening finished on a climax with the 13 images actually chosen for the calendar, one for each month plus one for the cover, coming at the end.

It was a particular pleasure to note that many members contributed images to the display, including several who do not normally participate in club competitions but who are highly regarded photographers - and so a delight that Brenda Shimmin’s image of the Calf in the snow earned a place as the image for January, while two of Sue Jones’s landscapes have also been included.

To his considerable surprise, Steve Johnstone was our star on the night, gaining three images in the calendar while other members work to be selected included Jeremy Broome-Smith, Barry Murphy, Sue Blythe, Jonathan Carey, Mike Howland and Ron Shimmin.

The cover image, revealed as the last of the evening, was of loaghtan sheep enjoying a feast of hay and entered by Beryl Quayle - a shot that gained a big round of applause from our audience.

Club president Jeremy Broome-Smith thanked NFU Mutual for entrusting the society with the calendar, Barry Murphy and Jonathan Carey for their help in gaining the assignment, as well as all the members who had contributed - truly a massive co-operative effort, but with an excellent result and a showpiece calendar for the client demonstrating the best of the island.

The society meets at the Art Society Building (Thie Ellyn) in Withington Road, Douglas, with all meetings starting at 7.30pm.

Our next meeting on Wednesday, October 16, is a practical evening with several studio lighting set-ups.

Meetings are open to the public, non-members with a modest entry fee, and all will be given a very warm welcome. Full details of our programme can be found on our website at www.iomps.com.