Tenby Camera Club held the inaugural Mike Rowe Memorial Competition last Thursday. Mike Rowe was a longstanding member of the club, a committee member and pess officer. He died last year and it was decided to have a competition in commemoration.

The competition was open to any member who had not been placed in the top three in any of this season’s competitions. Any subject, colour or mono, could be entered in the two categories, Prints and Digital.

We welcomed back a previous club member, WPF judge, Chris Warren. Chris is a commercial photographer based here in Pembrokeshire. His judging style was balanced, fair and educational, his comments given with humour.

There were 11 print entries, a variety of subjects including landscapes, creatives, birds and dogs. A few of the comments on improvements included watch not to over-sharpen, be careful with cropping and composition, allow room for your subject.

There were no scores given for each image, only critique. A final choice for the top three was then announced by Chris.

In first place was ‘More grub please’, sparrow with young, by Dylan Harries. In second place was ‘Preseli Hills’, a mono landscape, also by Dylan Harries, and in third was ‘Lost in the light’, a creative scene in a lightbulb by Jim Stobbart.

In the digital section, there were 20 entries, with wildlife, portraits and landscapes featuring strongly. Advice was given about watching out for distractions which draw the eye and being careful with saturation correction to avoid false colours.

In first place was ‘Gone Fishing’, a beautiful kingfisher and catch image by Rosie Dungey. In second place with ‘Going for it’, a kayak sport action shot, by Alistair MacKay and in third place ‘Evening Freight’, a sunset shot of a lorry on the Cleddau Bridge, by Andrew Weaver.

Tenby Camera Club members were thrilled that Carol Rowe, widow of Mike Rowe, could be present for this special evening.

Carol still takes an interest in the club’s progress and so it was quite fitting that she awarded the trophies for this memorial competition.