There was illuminating news in recent times for Athlone Photography Club with the progressive group awarded the ‘most improved’ accolade at the Irish Photography Federation National Shield Photography competition, the results for which were announced in Kilkenny on Sunday.
The competition, which is mainly open to beginner and intermediate photographers, saw 29 clubs from all over Ireland compete for the various awards with the accolades adjudicated upon by three international judges from Australia, Indonesia and the UK.
What was particularly evident and acknowledged by all the judges was the very high standard of the photography on display. Large numbers of the photographs were deemed strong enough to compete and win at international advanced photography salons.
This year’s competition, which is normally a print event, was organised on a digital platform because of the Covid 19-pandemic with close to 300 people virtually attending the occasion via Zoom on Sunday, November 22.
Two panels of eight photographs, one in colour and one in mono were independently judged and scored.
Athlone Photography Club, previous winners of the event in 2014, were acknowledged as the most improved club over the past year and finished in fourth place overall.
The club finished sixth in each colour and mono section and this is an outstanding result considering the limited number of photographers eligible to enter the competition.
