Great result for NDPS in the EAF Print Championships
Sunday 12th March saw three members make the trek down to Fulbourn, just outside Cambridge to deliver our entries in the EAF Print Championships 2023 and watch the judging. This year there were only 18 clubs competing, whether this was still due to the after effects of covid lockdowns or photographers just cutting back on printing we don’t know but in the past there have been over 30 clubs entered out of 106 in the EAF. However, all but one or two of the clubs who normally finish in the top 15 were present so we suspected before the judging commenced that we were in for a tough time...!
This season all clubs entered 15 prints, to be marked by 3 judges who could each award a score up to 5 per images. The maximum aggregate score for any club being 225. The Judges were Dave Tucker DPAGB EFIAP/g BPE3*, Adrian Lines ARPS MPAGB AFIAP and Jane Lines LRPS MPAGB BPE5*.
After the formalities the judges got down to business and it quickly became obvious from the first round that it wasn’t going to be a high scoring competition with most prints scoring 11 or below and some mutterings from the Beyond members at the back of the hall after they received only 9 for their first print. As the rounds continued it also became clear that the judges didn’t favour any particular genre but were giving a fair spread of marks across all subjects but print quality was clearly important.
The judges were sitting in front of the display stand and often asked for a closer look at the print. Only 3 prints scored 15 but all scoring 13 and above were held back including one of ours, Concrete Curves by Dave Balcombe that scored 14.
One of the highest scoring prints was very minimalist with an empty chair in a white room and the title Missed Appointment another minimalist shot that scored 11 was a foggy rugby pitch where it was just possible to make out the goalposts, let’s just say the photographer didn’t use much ink to print it..!.
As the rounds progressed we were holding our own but not one of the top few clubs. After the final round we added up scores and we had come equal 7th on 168 points which is our best position for many years and
The top clubs were first PICO 184, second Colchester 183, third Beyond Group 181 and Melbourn who pipped Cambridge for 4th place on count-back. Those 4 clubs will now go forward to represent the EAF in the PAGB national competitions at Blackburn in September.
After the Club results were announced the awards were handed out starting with the Selectors Awards and one of these was given to Dave Balcombe for Concrete Curves, with the judge Dave Tucker saying he liked the story of the guy going up the stairs and the tones and quality of the print, so overall a good result for NDPS.
Dave Balcombe receiving his award from Dave Tucker (left)
Members who had prints selected to represent the club were Dave Balcombe, Alan Dixon, David Jordan, Joan Jordan, Des King, David Turner, Maurice Young.