The annual Ted Colman Trophy is a fairly unique competition featuring a number of 'rounds' then a single image 'final. David Gibbins ARPS APAGB EFIAP/b BPE5* from Nottingham in the NEMPF was the judge on the night. The competition featured work from the following clubs... From the Yorkshire Photographic Union Huddersfield PS, Halifax PS, Hebden Bridge CC.
From the North Wales Photographic Association Mold CC, Rhyl PS
From the Lancashire & Cheshire Photographic Union
Chorley PS (last year's winners), North Cheshire PS, Oldham PS, Ashton CC,
Rochdale & District CC, Rochdale PS, Atherton & District APS, Accrington CC,
Oldham CC, Preston PS, Blackburn & District CC, Swinton & District CC, Evolve.
Round one consisted of four images per club which were critiqued and scored, the bottom clubs were eliminated at this stage. The images below were our first round entry and they saw us comfortable through to the next round.
Round two required another four images and we selected these to again carry us through to the third round where nine clubs were represented. When selecting images for competitions with rounds we need to assess how certain images are scoring then choose appropriately whilst also ensuring that we don't use too many high scoring images too early.
Round three is the challenging one as only the top two clubs go into the final (plus any tied clubs), there were only five images left to choose from and the dilemma was which one to leave for the final, assuming we get there, and which ones might get us to the final. This was a difficult choice but we made a decision which proved to be a good one as we were placed equal second in this decisive round. This was our highest scoring round of the three.
The final. We were left with just the one image and were up against some stiff opposition from the three other clubs who made it this far. The judge dismissed two of the four images reasonably quickly leaving ourselves and Oldham PS as the final two clubs vying for the title. He deliberated for several minutes over which image to select as the winner and eventually selected the Oldham PS image as the winner leaving us in second place.
It is worth noting that we made our selection of thirteen images, each by a different photographer which makes second place a significant achievement for the club. It was fairly obvious that some clubs used images by a select few authors which will always give them an advantage - so - Very well done to all who had images selected.