Border Monochrome Camera Club - News - BORDER MONOCHROME CAMERA CLUB

Club News

On this page you will find news items relating to our past, current and future activities, so please check this page regularly to keep up to date.

December 2021

A busy December for the Club. Our guest judge, Sarah Runciman, judged our Christmas Competition this year and was presented with a very good set of images submitted by our members. Keith took top spot for his "El Capitan & the Yosemite Valley" photo (left). Sarah said "A photograph with impact and a great use of light. I love the composition, with the angry sky against the cliffs, stunning". For a limited period you can view all of the entries in our Gallery.

After totting up all the scores for our monthly competitions throughout the year, The Photographer of the Year Award went to Rebecca, so huge congratulations to her.

Things still look uncertain for 2022, but in October we have pencilled in our annual Print Battle with Hay Camera Club and Builth Wells Photographic Club, who are organising the event this year. Our monthly programme will be finalised soon, so please keep checking this site for details.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and all the Best for 2022.

November 2021

A great number of entries for this month's competition themed "Out of Focus" Congratulations to Martyn for his cleverly thought out image "Sharpen Up" (right). Only forced into second place by one point was Clive's Silver Print "Townscape". As always, all of the entries can be viewed in our Gallery for a limited time.

This concludes a full year of Club competitions and next month we will reveal the photographer of the year. For December we are lucky to have wildlife photographer Sarah Runciman judge our Christmas Competition and she has chosen the topic "The Beauty of Nature". So look out for some great Club images next month, bringing our 2021 activities to a delightful conclusion, despite the many challenges set by the Covid 10 pandemic.

October 2021

A slightly reduced number of entries this month for our Club "Sunday Mornings" competition, but no reduction in the quality or inventiveness of the photos. Congratulations to Antony for his "Sunday Routine" image,seen at left, depicting breakfast and a crossword. Only one point behind was Marc with his cleverly thought out "Sunday Morning Hangover" image.

As usual, for a limited period you can view all the entries in our Gallery.

Next month's competition is themed "Out of Focus" which, judging from my extensive portfolio, means a large quantiy of images to select from

September 2021 Extra

In September we held our annual "battle" with Hay Camera Club as part of the regular "Club of Clubs" contest. This year Builth Wells Photographic Club was unable to participate, so it was a head-to-head, with Hay coming out victorious. Many congratulations to them. Out of 40 images it was Mark Thomas from Hay whose "Despair" image (right) took the top spot. It was satisfying to note that it was a monochrome image!

Many thanks to former Border Monochrome member Martin Connolly for judging this year's competition and a donation has been made to a charity, according to his wishes.

Despair by Mark Thomas, Hay-on-Wye Camera Club

September 2021

There was a great number of entries for September's "Symmetry" competition. Congratulations to Nigel for his brilliantly composed "Barrel Straight" photo. There was only one point separating Rebecca's "Tiles" from Keith's "Nautilus Shell". For a limited time you can view all of the entries in the Gallery.

Twenty images from Hay Camera Club have been compiled with the same number from our club and have seen sent to a judge for his deliberations, so by next month we will see which club has won our yearly battle.

Next month's competition is called "Sunday Mornings", which should give our members an interesting challenge, producing as always some high quality entries.

August 2021

Another great selection of entries for this month's "What is It?" competition. Can you tell what each one is meant to be? For a limited period all the images will be viewable in our Gallery. Congratulations to Martyn for his excellent "To call it a torture device would be stretching it" taking the first place spot. Not far behind was Rebecca with her "What is it? It's the future" image.

Next month is a busy one for the Club. Not only do we have our own "Symmetry" competition to prepare for we also have a Battle with our neighbouring Hay Camera Club on the 17th. This is an open competition critiqued by an external judge. We need to get twenty images together so let the selection process begin!

July 2021

Another great range of entries for this month's "Shadows" competition. Taking top spot this week was Antony's "The Devil Inside" image portraying the devilish shadow of an angelic figure. In close second place was Clive's clever shadow portrait on grass, showing that silver photography can still compete with the digital world. Not far behind was Martyn's imaginative Covid-related image.

Next month's competition is titled "What is it?" The question will undoubtedly be, will we know what IT is?"

June 2021

This month's competition was on the subject of "Reflection". Our members did not disappoint with another great selection of images, interpreting the topic in their usual, inventive ways. Congratulations to Marc, for his clever use of mirrored sunglasses to take top spot with "Reflections of Home" (left) that managed to get a top score from every member of the Club, a rare achievement. There was only one point between second place and joint third so well done to Antony, Nigel and Clive for their efforts. Next month's competition is entitled "Shadows", which will no doubt not disappoint.

May 2021

This month's "A Blast from the Past" competition yet again brought a great selection of photos with some wonderful interpretations. These ranged from an amusing reference to the gun powder plot, space rockets and a classic motor bike. It was a very close competition with only two points separating the top three entries. However, it was Keith's excellent image of a Lancaster bomber that just took the top place. Marc was a worthy second with his evocative image of a steam locomotive, and Martyn's clever Guy Fawkes image came third . Next month's topic is the much more traditional "Reflection" and should produce some equally good entries.

In other news, plans are moving ahead for a new "battle for next year with Herefordshire Photographic Society, pencilled in for February. This promises to be a very exciting contest and it will always be worthwhile comparing our Club's work with that of a neighbouring group.

April 2021

A great selection of entries this month from our members, especially as the subject of "Humanity" wasn't a particularly easy one. Congratulations to Clive with his ingenious "Three Steps to Humanity" entry, a clever take on the phrase "Hear, See and Speak no Evil". Proof that the traditional film camera is still a worthy adversary in modern photography. Rebecca was only one point behind with her poignant image of the blot certain humans leave on the landscape, counterbalanced with the efforts from others to remedy this.

Next month's competition is entitled a "Blast from the Past" and with most of the country coming out of lockdown, at least it will give our members more opportunity to get out and about to find that perfect image.

March 2021

Yet another great collection of shots for this month's "Woodland" competition. It just goes to show how much beauty can be found in our surroundings even in the middle of Winter. There was an overall consensus that Nigel's excellent photo of the sun streaming through his woodland scene should take first place (see right). Following closely behind "Sunbeams" was Keith's wonderful "Woodland" shot and Rebecca's tongue-in-cheek titled photo "Call Me Eileen". Its encouraging that the Club is getting out there to capture some great images even in such strange times. Hopefully we can produce an equally interesting body of work for April's "Humanity" competition.

If you would like to know more about Club membership please contact us.

February 2021

Another great response to this month's "Abstract in the Everyday" competition. As always, there were some great interpretations of the subject. Congratulations to Rebecca on her clever take on the topic with her excellent "Tree Unzipped" image. Nigel was a close second with his high shutter speed shot of a droplet of milk.

Welcome to our newest virtual member, Anita. Hopefully we will all get a chance to meet up soon at the Burton Hotel in Kington when restrictions are eased.

Next month's competition is on the subject of "Woodland", so hopefully we will see some great winter shots entered.

Stay Safe everyone.

January 2021

Happy New Year everyone. A great start to the year, at least in terms of entries to our "The Letter H" competition. As always, our members produced a diverse selection of images. Overwhelmingly popular was Martyn's cleverly constructed "Spelling it Out" photo using a Scrabble board. Antony and Nigel came a close second with their equally inventive entries on the "H" theme.

Welcome also to our newest member Marc, who managed not to come last, which is usually the curse of someone joining the Club for the first time. Next month's topic is "Abstract in the Everyday". Lets all hope it won't be long before we can resume our face-to-face meetings at the Burton Hotel in Kington.

December 2020

A big thank you to the guest judge this year for our online Christmas Competition, former club member Martin Connolly, who chose the subject of "Light in the Darkness" as the theme. As always, our members produced a diverse range of images, submitting two each to be judged by Martin. The worthy winner of the overall best image was Martyn Lovell, with his striking shot entitled "Shining Star". Just pipping him to the post for overall winner of the competition, based on both images, was Antony Williams with his "Hope" and "Edison's Idea" photos.

Based on all our monthly competitions from January to November, we also awarded Rebecca with the coveted "Virtual" Photographer of the Year Trophy.

We have planned next year's schedule of competitions, which can be found on our Meetings page. For the time being we are continuing with our online competitions, but hopefully before the year is out we will resume our meetings at the Burton Hotel in Kington. With that in mind we are hoping to set up our Summer Exhibition at the Hotel as part of Kington Festival. The theme for 2021 will be "My Best Photos" which will hopefully create a very enjoyable exhibition for the visitors. Planning ahead we have also chosen the topic for 2022, which will be "The Four Seasons" which will give our members plenty of time to get their images planned in advance.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a much better New Year from everyone at Border Monochrome.

November 2020

We had a very good set of images for our "Environmental Portrait" competition this month. Silver photographer Clive proved that film can still achieve fantastic results with his excellent "Clocking On" image, seen at right. Rebecca's "The Bait Digger" was only one point away in second place, reversing the situation last month when Clive came second. That completes the regular competitions for the year, so next month we can announce the "Photographer of the Year" who has achieved the best results in the combined monthly competitions throughout 2020.

Normally we have a very pleasant meal out at Christmas when we draft in an outside judge, who picks a subject and we supply photos for them to critique. Obviously this year this is out of the question, but we have managed to obtain the services of a judge, in the guise of a former Border Monochrome member, Martin Connolly, who unfortunately moved away from the area some time ago. He has chosen the intriguing subject of "A Light in the Darkness" for us to get our photographic teeth into. We are hoping to produce two photos per member to give him a good body of Club work to judge us on. Stay Safe Everyone.

October 2020

The nights are drawing in and the Autumn chill is definitely in the air, but that did not deter our members from taking part in the October Competition on a theme of "Industrial Landscape". It was a very close battle for the top spot with Rebecca just taking the honours by one point with her image "Rise & Fall" (left). Hot on her heels in joint second place were Clive and Nigel with their equally excellent entries.

Next month's competition is titled "Environmental Portrait", which is defined as "An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject's usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject's life and surroundings". This could present some interesting challenges in these Covid-restricted times. Stay Safe Everyone.

September 2020

Another great set of entries for this month's Modern Architecture competition. Images ranged across the UK and the rest of the World, from Gloucester to Iceland and from Birmingham to Kuala Lumpur. The well deserved top spot went to Nigel with his fantastic shot entitled "Rioja Winery Meets Guggenheim Museum" (see right). Coming a close second was Rebecca with her "Modern Skyline" photo.

Next month's competition is on a theme of "Industrial Scapes", which hopefully will produce another diverse and imaginative set of images. Also this month we will be gathering some of the best images of the year for a virtual competition with our neighbouring camera club in Hay on Wye, who have kindly decided to organise the event.

Stay safe everyone.

August 2020

Yet another fantastic response from our members for this month's "Transport" Competition. Remarkably, each entry depicted a different form of transport, going from sedate horse power to a massive passenger plane. Unanimously, it was the excellent "Waiting for Departure" by Keith that took the top spot, perhaps a more evocative shot now considering how many planes are now grounded. (Also, all British Airways jumbo jets have now been withdrawn from service - Ed.). Coming second was Rebecca with her "Hebridean Highway" image of a more sedate cruise ship.

Next month the subject is "Modern Architecture" so no doubt our members with be seeking out local examples to get into focus.

July 2020

The country seems to be getting back to some sort of normality with pubs and restaurants allowed to open and the queues at the hairdressers and barbers, I'm sure, will eventually reduce. We continue to carry out our socially distanced online competitions and there was a great virtual turnout on the subject of "Sport" with, as always, some great interpretations on the topic. Congratulations to Clive for his silver print "Not So Easy Rider" depicting a motocross rider at full speed. Antony came second with another action shot, this time of a golf club about to hit a ball, cleverly titled "There's Something Behind You"

Next month's competition is on the theme of "Transport" and I'm sure our members will produce some equally diverse images relating to that subject.

June 2020

Despite a slight relaxation in the country's lock-down, it is still far too soon for the Club to resume its meetings at the Burton Hotel in Kington. Therefore we continued with our third electronic competition. We had a good number of entries and it allowed our members to get up close and personal with their chosen subjects, as the theme of the competition this month was "Macro/Close Up". The members' choice of best image was varied, but Antony's photo of the "Window of the Soul", shown to the left, got consistently second-placed, meaning that for this month he took first place overall.

Next month's competition is on the theme of "Sport" which will again pose a challenge for our members with the lack of sport taking place at the moment, but I'm sure, as always, they will relish the challenge.

May 2020

Due to the current lock-down, we held our second electronic competition and received another great response from our members. Even our chairman, who only works with film, is getting a neighbour to photograph his prints with a mobile phone at a socially acceptable distance so he can join in with our monthly online meetings. This month the subject was "Geriatric" and congratulations to Nigel for his excellent "Old Woman" image at right. Yet again a diverse range of entries was entered, including some very moving images.

Next month we were due to set up our annual exhibition at the Burton Hotel in Kington, where we normally hold our monthly meetings. Obviously, due to the current situation, this has had to be postponed. Instead we will be holding another online competition using the topic from that exhibition, "Close Up/Macro".

Wishing everyone out there all the best. Stay Safe.

April 2020

With the whole country in lock-down, our camera club, for the first time in its history, held its monthly competition electronically. We greatly missed our physical gathering and the banter generated by our post-marking critiques, but there was a great response from members to the "Fur, Feather & Fin" theme, although our aquatic friends were conspicuous by their absence. Congratulations to Rebecca for her wonderful action shot of "Mr Boltz", with Keith's "Angry Bald Eagle" portrait coming a close second.

Next month's competition is on the theme of "Geriatric" and may require some out-of-the-box thinking or delving into the back catalogue to achieve.

We hope all fellow photographers are staying well during these difficult times and are using their time at home to focus on indoor photography projects as well as giving their camera kit a well-deserved clean.

Stay safe everyone.

March 2020

A great turnout for the March meeting, thankfully with no floods to hinder anyone's travel plans. We saw an excellent selection of images from across the globe on the theme of "Street Photography" with everyone meeting the main criteria for this topic. Congratulations to Keith for his winning photo of "Paternoster Square" in London, with Rebecca coming a close second with "Crossing Paris" (see right). A productive discussion was held after the judging on the merits of everyone's entries, which is always very helpful.

At next months "Fur, Feather & Fin" competition we will also be bringing along a selection of other images so we can whittle them down to four entries for the Only Mono competition organised by Cymru Mono in Port Talbot in May. This is always a great competition with many clubs from across Britain taking part. More details can be found at Only Mono.

February 2020

There was a good turnout out for the Club's February competition and it was widely agreed that the subject "Crash" had been a very tricky one to do. Despite this, Antony managed 1st place with his breaking glass photo at left, with Tony's image a very close second.

A discussion was held afterwards to choose the theme for our Summer Exhibition this year and after many excellent suggestions we decided upon "Macro/Close Up". The exhibition will be set up in June at the Burton Hotel in Kington for the whole summer.

Next month's competition will be on the theme of "Street Photography", which will hopefully not be so difficult. Please see our Meetings page for details.

January 2020

Despite the excesses of the Christmas period we had a great turnout for January's "Technology" Competition with a wide range of interpretations on the subject. These included giant wind turbines, precise timepieces, cartography, aeronautics and even a graveyard. The contenders for the top places were very tightly placed with only a point between them. However our newest member Martyn excelled with a beautiful image of a Rolex watch. seen to the right. After the judging we went on to have a relaxed discussion on forthcoming club competitions as well as how expensive ink is and possible remedies to save money.

The theme of next month's competition is "Crash" and we will also be deciding the subject for our Summer Exhibition.

Wishing everyone a great New Year filled with wonderful opportunities for photography.

December 2019

The Club had its annual Christmas competition at the Boat Inn at Whitney. There was a great turnout and after some excellent food our guest judge Geoff Barham went through our "Character" entries and made the difficult decision of picking the top three. Well done to Nigel for his excellent portrait of an Essouiran Wood Turner, at left. Nigel is the newest member of the Club, so this is an excellent start to his membership. Clive's "Grandad Lock" portrait came a worthy second with Phil's "Spoons" entry taking third place. Andrew Compton attended and very kindly took photos of the evening which will be appearing in the local paper in the near future. Congratulations also to Keith for getting the award for Best Photographer of the Year, amassing the most points from our monthly competitions.

The Club would like to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for the New Year. We look forward to starting 2020 with our "Technology" Competition in the New Year. For more details of next year's programme please see the Meetings page.

Geoff Barham with Nigel Sheath

Geoff Barham with Phil Chapman

Geoff Barham with Clive Clarke

Geoff Barham with Keith Pointon

Many thanks to Andrew Compton for supplying the images of all our prizewinners above, even though they were in colour!

November 2019

It was another successful evening at the November meeting, with a great selection of photos on the subject of "Industrial". Keith yet again proved victorious with his wonderful image of a brass foundry worker in India, although the group must have been peckish as the majority thought that the man was cooking pizzas! It was also very tight for second & third places with only 0.3 points separating them.

It was great to see three new faces at the meeting, and Nigel even brought along an image to enter into the competition. Our next meeting will be at our Christmas dinner at the Boat in Whitney, where we each have to produce three images on the subject of "Character". A guest judge will critique the images on the night and trophies will be awarded, including the Photographer of the Year for the best overall performance during the year in our monthly competitions.

The Club always welcomes new members whatever your level of ability, so if you would like to come and see what we get up to please contact us. Our outline programme for 2020 has now been finalised and you will find details of this on the Meetings page.

October 2019

There was a good turnout for this month's "Picturesque" competition, with Rebecca's beautiful image of Stowe pipping Keith's photo into second place by the narrowest of margins. We also officially welcomed another new member, Tony Collier, who had exhibited in our Summer exhibition but hadn't had time to attend a meeting thus far. We did the draw earlier in the week for the winner of the exhibition competition and, amazingly, the name drawn out of the hat was Tony's son Tristan, who had chosen one of his Dad's images as his favourite. We presented Tony with his mounted photo to pass on to his boy.

On the Monday following our meeting, our Club, along with Hay and Builth Wells camera clubs, met at Llyswen Village Hall for our annual Club of Clubs Competition. Builth did an excellent job of organising the event and a great thanks to their choice of judge, Mr Peter Young, President of the Welsh Photographic Federation, who was most impressed with the combined 60 images he had to critique. Hay deservedly took the honours, with Borders second and Builth a close third. We look forward to Hay hosting an equally enjoyable event next year.

September 2019

We all gathered for our September meeting and welcomed our newest member, Carla, who even managed to bring along an entry to our "Agriculture" Competition. She will be a great asset to the Club and even might be able to persuade her two children to come along as well. Clive and Antony had arrived early to dismantle the Summer Exhibition which, from the number of entries to the Competition and notes in the Visitor's Book, was very well received. The People's Vote for the best image in the exhibition went to Keith Pointon's stunning "Camargue Horse on Coastal Dunes", followed closely by Rebecca Reynolds's equally impressive "Brent Geese - Aberlady Bay"

Keith also took top spot in the Agriculture Competition with his "Sorting the Wheat from the Chaff" image. The winner of the competition for the general public will be drawn at the next meeting.

Also on the night we selected 20 photos for our annual Club of Clubs competition between Hay Camera Club, Builth Camera Club and ourselves. All images are now winging their way to the judge, who will give his verdict when we meet at Llyswen Village Hall on Monday 7th October at 7pm

A judge has also been selected for our own Christmas Competition. The subject he has chosen is "Character" and entries will be deliberated over at our annual club dinner on the 7th December at the Boat in Whitney.

August 2019

This month's meeting was well attended considering how difficult the competition theme of "Dust" had proved to be. However the members' imagination was not stifled and a diverse set of images was on show, from high magnification shots of a stylus to a scene reminiscent of the wild west. One image even, controversially, included some colour, but a solid argument was presented for this sacrilegious diversion from the Border Monochrome Camera Club's primary principles.

It was Keith's "Dusty Road Home" that just managed to win on the night, but only by a single point.

As well as a constructive discussion of all the photos entered. we also had time to discuss possible competition topics for next year. September's "Agricultural" Competition should prove an easier test for the members considering the beautiful rural area the Club is based in.

The Club's Summer Exhibition closes on the 6th September, so take this opportunity to go and see the diverse range of our Coastal Images on display at the Burton Hotel in Kington while you still can.

May 2019

This has been a relatively busy month for Club members, who participated in their regular monthly competition on the theme of "Waterways" and also submitted entries to the annual, national "Only Mono" event organised by Cymru Monochrome in Port Talbot.

Although victory still eluded us in South Wales, it was a useful learning experience to attend this excellent competition and to meet like-minded photographers from all around the UK. The image on the left shows Clive and Rebecca inspecting entries at Port Talbot.

March 2019

Club members enjoyed another entertaining evening with some great entries for the "Talking" topic for this month's competition, despite the fact that this might not have been a very easy subject for a photography contest.

All present agreed that Keith Pointon's image entitled "But he should stand here" was, by far, the best on the night. Many congratulations to him and hopefully his winning streak will continue when the results of the Ludlow Seven Exhibition are tallied up.

February 2019

A wide variety of images on the theme of "Abstract" was evident at this month's Club meeting, but it was new member Rebecca Reynolds' beautiful image titled "Norwegian Coast Lines" (left) that took the honours. Very well done Rebecca.

January 2019

Club members could not wait for the twelfth day of Christmas and held their first meeting of the New Year on the 4th January, eager to get back into the competitive spirit. A number of interesting and varied images were submitted on the theme of "Something beginning with T", but it was Antony Williams' fine image of a tattoo that took the day. Well done Antony.

The next meeting will be on Friday 1st February, when the theme will be "Abstract". The Club always welcomes new members whatever your level of ability, so if you would like to come and see what we get up to please contact us.

December 2018

Club members held their Christmas dinner and Picture of the Year competition at the Burton Hotel on the 14th December, kindly judged by former member and professional photographer Les Jarrett. Entrants submitted three images each from their 2018 portfolios and Les took all three images into account before deciding on the overall winner, Margaret Woolley. Her winning entries "Four Faults", "Mother and Children" and "Zaans Schans" can be seen above. It was a good evening for Margaret, who also shared the Club Photographer of the Year award with member Antony Williams for taking the most highly rated images over the Club's bimonthly competitions in 2018.

November 2018

A small but hardy group of members braved the appalling weather outside and reached the warmth and safety of the Burton Hotel in Kington in order to hold their monthly contest on the subject of "Action" and to discuss Christmas and the year ahead. Member Antony Williams took the crown with his charming print "Jump" (left), that is simply bursting with life and vitality. Well done Antony.

This year's Christmas dinner and annual contest will take place at the Burton Hotel on Friday 14th December. Next year's programme is already taking shape and details will be published on this site in a week or two once they have been fully agreed. However, it is likely that there will once again be a monthly Club competition and that meetings will be held on the first Friday of each month, so please watch this space.

The Club always welcomes new members whatever your level of ability, so if you would like to come and see what we get up to please contact us.

October 2018

July 2018

Despite the various temptations offered by the continuing fine weather, Border Monochrome Camera Club members assembled at their usual haunt of the Burton Hotel in Kington this month to compare their recent efforts at close-up and macro photography. The results were very close, but the night's honours went to member Margaret Woolley for her fine image of a feather (see left).

For the next two months members will be looking in depth at the subject of landscape photography. If you would like to take part in some of our activities then please contact us or come along to our regular monthly meetings, which are usually held at the Burton Hotel on the second Friday of each month.

For the remainder of July and August the Club is also showing its summer exhibition at the Hotel. This year the subject is "The Countryside at Work", so please do drop in and take a look when you are passing through Kington.

May 2018

This month a sadly depleted Club membership gathered to compare the results of their efforts on the subject of Street Photography. All agreed that it was not an easy genre to work with and that it was necessary to conquer one's initial fears to do justice to the subject.

Very few marks separated this month's entries, but in the end it was member Dainis Ozols who just took the honours with his image "A Spot of Lunch", shot near London's Carnaby Street.

Also this month a few members travelled down to Port Talbot to attend the annual Only Monochrome competition staged by Cymru Monochrome. Some 42 clubs from across the UK had entered this year's contest and sadly we did not do as well as we had initially hoped. There is always next year though. Well done to Cymru Monochrome for their work in organising this excellent contest and also to Inn Focus for winning with some truly excellent images.

March 2018

Club members have adopted a new system of meetings for this year. In February members met to discuss the subject of Creative Photography and looked at the work of a variety of professional and other very experienced photographers. Following this learning session members have been active in working on their own creations and this month's meeting revealed what a diverse range of ideas had been put into practice. Martin Connolly was the undisputed winner of this month's competition with his very well executed composition "Mirrored House" (see left).

Next month we shall be looking at the subject of Street Photography and also related aspects of monochrome photography in general. Members will also be preparing entries for the major national Only Mono contest hosted by Cymru Monochrome in May and will contribute to an arts exhibition to be held at the Burton Hotel in Kington the same month.

New members are always welcome. Please contact us if you wish to know more.

January 2018

Club members successfully held their Annual General Meeting on the 5th January and unanimously agreed some important changes to the Club's future programme of activities. With immediate effect the number of internal monthly competitions will be halved and the members will instead spend one month learning and undertaking practical sessions around a specific theme, then submit a print to a related competition the following month. Members will then fully evaluate and discuss the competition entries and assess what they have learned. It is anticipated that the regular Club meetings at the Burton Hotel will be supplemented by a variety of external visits and field trips to assist in the learning process. Please look at the Meetings page for more detailed information.

This is an exciting change of direction for the Club and all members will contribute to this process. If you would like to take part please contact us for further information.

December 2017

Despite the threat of yet more snow, BMCC members and their guests ventured out to the ancient and comfortable rooms of the Olde Tavern in Kington to enjoy a Christmas dinner, followed by the adjudication of their annual print competition by Hereford-based photographer Gordon Taylor. The theme for this year was a triptych - three separate prints connected by a common theme. Members had chosen a wide variety of subjects for their entries, but it was Antony Williams' very well photographed and printed set of golfing images "A Good Walk Spoiled" that received Gordon's highest marks.

At the same time Margaret Woolley was also accorded the title of Club Photographer of the Year for accumulating the most points from the Club's monthly contests over the course of the year. Congratulations to both Antony and Margaret for their excellent work.

The theme of "Wheels" produced a wide variety of interesting entries for this month's Club competition. Predictably for a rural club this included a good sprinkling of cartwheels as well as other round objects. However, it was Margaret Woolley's fine image of a cartwheel in the making that earned her fellow members' universal acclaim and the top slot this month. This was Margaret's second victory this year and it will be interesting to see who eventually takes the Club Photographer of the Year trophy when members assemble for their Christmas dinner on the 13th December.

The Border Monochrome Camera Club would like to take this opportunity to wish fellow photographers elsewhere and all our readers a very peaceful and happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

November 2017

As befits this annual period of remembrance, this month's theme for the Club contest was "Not Forgotten". Despite some keen competition, the clear winner was Martin Connolly's "Faded Memories", on the right.

Club members will be busy in the lead up to Christmas preparing their entries for the next Club night on the 1st December, when the theme will be "Wheels". Also, they will be considering their entries for the annual competition, which will be appraised by an independent judge following the Christmas dinner on the 13th December. This year the subject is a triptych, which requires three separate prints with a common theme or connection.

The Club always welcomes new members whatever your level of ability, so if you would like to come and see what we get up to please contact us.

October 2017

Visitors to the Club's Summer Exhibition at the Burton Hotel in Kington this year were again invited to leave their comments and also vote for their favourite images. The visitors' names were then put into a hat and the lucky winner of the draw was presented with a copy of the image he liked the most. The picture to the left shows local man Steven Futcher with "Hare and Hound Corbel" by member Dainis Ozols.

Dainis said: "Steven clearly has a lot of taste! This charming sculpture looks like something from a Disney film, but it is actually an original 12th century corbel to be found at the beautiful Church of St. Mary and St. David in Kilpeck, Herefordshire. I really recommend a visit there."

We hope to hold a similar event next Summer and will announce the theme early next year, so please watch this space.

This month also saw a return to a slightly more traditionally themed contest, when members vied with each other to produce the best "Still Life". This time it was Richard Williams' turn to take the honours with his beautifully composed and well-toned image that you can see on the right.

There was a good attendance at last month's Club of Clubs contest with Hay Camera Club and Builth Wells Photographic Club which was hosted by Border Monochrome. Judge Hayden Pugh paid tribute to the high quality of the combined entry, but sadly it was not to be our night, as Hay rightly took the top spot this year with a very strong entry indeed.

September 2017

It is always nice to see a member win their first monthly contest and this month it was finally Margaret Woolley's turn to take the honours. As you can see, her superb image of a lily was a worthy winner of the "High Key" theme.

Club members will be busy this month preparing images for the forthcoming Club of Clubs contest. This "friendly" annual print competition between the three local clubs BMCC, Hay Camera Club and Builth Wells Photographic Club is always keenly contested and the fact that BMCC will only submit monochrome entries has certainly not handicapped our Club in the past. The contest takes place at Llyswen Village Hall from 7pm on Tuesday 3rd October.

The Club always welcomes new members. Please check our Meetings page for details about forthcoming events. If you wish to attend one of our meetings for the first time it would also be a good idea to send an enquiry via the Contact page first.

August 2017

"Death and Decay" may not be at the top of everybody's list of favourite photographic themes, but it certainly proved to be a controversial one when the Club met this month. Did it mean both dead AND decaying, or was it dead OR decaying? Can buildings be said to be dead? However, these little controversies are what bring Club meetings to life and the diversity of images presented by members displayed a great deal of imagination.

What was not in doubt was this month's clear winner, as Tony Bennett's "Lament for Larry" (please ask Tony) was almost impossible to fault.

Please don't forget that our summer exhibition on the theme of "Borders Heritage" can still be viewed at the Burton Hotel in Kington until the 1st September.

July 2017

or this month's competition Club members were asked to submit images of a "Musician with an Instrument". Once more Steve Woolley illustrated that he has a keen eye for some of our more exotic street buskers with this fine study of a musician with an... er... instrument.

For next month the subject is "Death and Decay", so if you think you can do better then please feel free to bring your images of putrefaction along to our Club meeting at the Burton Hotel in Kington at 7.30pm on Friday the 4th August. New members are always welcome.

If you wish to be inspired further then please note that July is a good time to view the work of some of the country's best photographers. For monochrome prints do please try to visit the Cotswold Salon, which is being held at Blackfriars Priory, Ladybellegate Street, Gloucester GL1 2HN between Thursday 13th July and Sunday 16th July. The Salon is open daily from 10am to 5pm. Admission is free.

June 2017

"Flowers and Plants" may seem like a slightly odd choice of theme for a monochrome photography competition, but this month Club members showed that colour is not everything and that form, texture, tone and contrast in certain subjects can produce great shots. A variety of impactful images were produced, but members agreed that Martin Connolly's superb photograph of a "Queen of the Night" tulip was the best.

Club members have also assembled a most interesting and diverse collection of their work for this year's summer exhibition on the theme of "Borders Heritage". The exhibition runs from the 2nd June until the 1st September and can be viewed at the Burton Hotel in Kington. Admission is free and we would really appreciate any comments that visitors may wish to make. We think that visitors to the area will particularly enjoy viewing the exhibition.

Tretower Court, Crickhowell

May 2017

What with the rather chilly weather at the start of this month it probably didn't seem that unusual to hold a monthly competition with the theme of "Winter Landscape". Members responded with a variety of cold, bleak scenes and it was a very close contest that was eventually won with a small margin by Dainis Ozols with his image of the winter sunshine finally appearing over the Begwns hills in Radnorshire.

If you would like to walk on these lovely hills, now in the care of the National Trust, you can find more details here.

April 2017

Members responded to this month's competition on the theme of "Reflection" with a range of excellent images, but the clear winner for the second month running was Tony Bennett, whose beautiful shot of the Humber Bridge at dusk was universally admired.

This is a very busy month for Club members, as they prepare images for a range of different external contests, including the new monochrome-only event organised by Cymru Monochrome on the 13th May and which will be contested by over 40 different clubs, the Photofolio held by the Midland Counties Photographic Federation between the 7th and 10th June and the long-standing Cotswold Salon, entries for which close on the 10th May. In June we also hold our annual, friendly "battle" with one of our neighbouring clubs, the Hay Camera Club.

March 2017

As you can see from the photo of the panel of entries, there were some quite delicious-looking samples of Fungi on offer at our monthly competition, as well as a few that you might do well to steer clear of. The top spot this month went to Tony Bennett, whose mushroom that looked a bit like an old bathtub was the runaway winner. Well done Tony, but congratulation to all who took part and came out on a rather wet and windy evening.

BMCC members will be very busy this month and into next taking images for the many internal and external contests that lie ahead. For monochrome fans in particular these will include the Cotswold Salon and also the major new competition being hosted in May by Cymru Monochrome. We also hope to be holding a few more practical sessions in between our usual monthly meetings and new members will always be made to feel welcome at any of our events.

February 2017

This month's competition with the theme of "Speed" was very well supported and contested by members. The standard of entries was very high, but this did not deter two new members from joining on the night and immediately and taking part. Well done Nick and Martin and we hope you enjoy many more years with the Club.

However, there is always a winner and this month it was the turn of Richard Williams, whose super print of a speeding locomotive earned him universal praise. I suspect there is more to this print than meets the eye, but it is clever and inventive and is typical of the original work that some of our newer members are now producing.

Picture of a speeding locomotive by Richard Williams

January 2017

BMCC members enjoyed their annual Christmas dinner at the Boat Inn at Whitney in December, when the Print of the Year award adjudicated by an external judge was also awarded to Stephen Woolley for his excellent image of a busker (left).

Stephen's winning run has continued into the New Year too, as he also took first place in our monthly competition this month on the subject of "Glass" with his fine image of Birmingham New Street Station.

BMCC members held a successful AGM this month and have decided on a number of changes to our monthly programme. Please do continue to check this site for updates. New members are always most welcome.

December 2016

To raise awareness of our summer exhibition at the Burton Hotel in Kington this year, we decided to hold a competition for visitors to the exhibition. Viewers were asked to vote for their favourite print and at the conclusion of the exhibition the name of one of those who had voted for the most popular print was drawn from a hat and the winner was presented with a copy of the same print. The image to the right shows winner Paul Woodhead holding his prize, a super night scene by member Tony Bennett. Well done Paul.

The Club will hold another summer exhibition between June and September in 2017, when the theme will be "Borders Heritage". We remain indebted to the management of the Burton Hotel for allowing us to show our work to the general public.

Congratulations to Antony Williams for winning this month's Club competition on the theme of a "Book or Film Title". Antony only joined the Club earlier this year and has obviously made the most of rubbing shoulders with some of the finest monochrome photographers in Herefordshire! We shall leave you to work out what the title of his winning image is.

Next year's Club programme has now been finalised and you will find details of our regular events and both internal and external competitions on the Meetings page.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our members, supporters and other friends in the Borders area and in the wider photographic world a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

November 2016

Most people seem to agree that this has been a terrific Autumn so far with almost unprecedented fine, dry weather in the Borders area. This may have accounted for the very strong entry in this month's competition, when the theme of "Autumn" attracted a wide variety of skilful interpretations.

Richard Williams' lovely image of autumn leaves (opposite) was rightly selected by other members as this month's winning entry and shows what can be achieved in your own back garden with just a little imagination.

As we approach the end of the year a programme for 2017 is already being finalised and full details will be published soon. An AGM will be held at our first meeting on Friday 6th January and it has already been agreed that the theme of next year's summer exhibition will be "Borders Heritage".

The Club always welcomes new members whatever your level of ability, so if you would like to come and see what we get up to please contact us.

October 2016

This month saw yet another win for member Stephen Woolley in the Club competition, which was on the subject of Long Exposure. The images chosen by other members to represent this popular subject were very varied, but there was unanimous approval for Stephen's excellent photo involving burning wire wool and string. His shot, entitled "Flying Sparks" was very well thought out and executed.

Stephen had already taken first place in September with his terrific image "Smoke" that beautifully represented the subject of Curves.

September 2016

Congratulations to veteran BMCC member Clive Clarke for submitting yet another successful entry to this year's Cotswold Salon, organised as always by Cotswold Monochrome. Clive's entry "Life in Death Valley" was Highly Commended by the Salon judges.

The Cotswold Salon was first run in 1995, and has gone from strength to strength to become a popular exhibition for monochrome photographers in the United Kingdom. It is run under the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain rules and forms part of the British Photographic Exhibitions circuit.

The Salon has changed over the years to cater for modern photographic methods and now caters for silver and digitally produced prints. Entries are normally submitted by May and the best prints are usually exhibited in Gloucester in late July.

Photo: Les Jarrett

August 2016

A total of ten Club members produced a very wide variety of images for this month's competition, which was on the theme of "Water". Members drew inspiration from a wide variety of subjects. However, by a considerable margin the winning entry was once again submitted by Richard Williams, who very skilfully took this lovely study of a water drop. Well done Richard.

You can view the three top entries from this competition in the bar of the Burton Hotel in Kington, Herefordshire. While you are there don't forget to visit our summer exhibition that will remain in situ there until the 2nd September. On that same day the Club will also hold its next monthly competition for members, which will be on the subject of "Curves". If you would like to come along and meet us please get there for about 7.30pm and just ask at Reception.

July 2016

It was a lucky deal again for member Tony Bennett when he won this month's competition on the subject of "Portrait". His image "The Card Sharp" can be seen to the left and came top in a very close contest of nine entries. Well done to all for coming out on the same evening that Wales were playing Belgium in the quarter-finals of the European Championships.

June 2016

Congratulations to Richard Williams for winning this month's competition on the subject of Churches with his excellent image of All Saints Church in Brockhampton. There were eight entries in all and we hope to reproduce some of these in our Gallery in due course. If you have never visited this particular church please do try to make the effort, as it is a wonderful example of the Arts and Crafts style and set in beautiful countryside.

Over the last few months our Club has seen a dramatic increase in its membership, especially in the form of many younger photographers wanting to learn more about monochrome photography and printing techniques. From the 4th June 2016 the Club will host its annual summer exhibition of members’ work at the Burton Hotel, Kington, Herefordshire, where visitors will be able to view a wide selection of prints. The exhibition will run until the 2nd September.

May 2016

Club member Tony Bennett and his winning image

Tony Bennett with his winning image

BMCC member Tony Bennett won this month's competition on the subject of "Landscapes" with his superb image of sand dunes at Luskentyre Beach, Isle of Harris. Twelve members entered prints for the contest, which was an excellent response. The subject for June is "Churches", so that should be a well-contested event too. New members are always welcome at our meetings.

Tony's success comes as no surprise, as he was UK Landscape Photographer of the Year in 2013. You can see more of his work on his own web site: Inspirational Images.