Club News

Tenby Camera Club held it’s second competition of the season on the 26th October. The topic was Landscape which attracted a good number of entries and a great audience considering the appalling weather .
The judge for the evening was Les Loosemore, ARPS, AWPF, DPAGB, from Bridgend. Les assessed the images with care and thoughtfulness. He scrutinised the entries in fine detail , expressing how an image may be improved with small adjustments . He praised the standard of entries and their presentation.
The first section was for the Prints of which there were 18 from 9 photographers . Sunrises and sunsets , moody skies, mountains and mist all featured .
The Gold medal was won by Gary Mayhew with “Glowing Glacier”
The Silver medal was awarded to John Whitehurst with “Stackpole Head” The Bronze medal went to Dave Bolton with “Carew’s Setting Sun”
There were 3 highly commended images from Charlie Kidd, Neil Thomas and John Whitehurst. Four commended images were by Cheryl Hewitt, Rob Cox, Mick Halligan and Gary Mayhew.
After a break , 24 digital images were judged, again with a lovely variety of stunning landscape vistas.
The Gold medal was won by Gary Mayhew for “Green Bridge Storm Light”.
The Silver medal was given to Charlie Kidd for “Storm Dudley hits Newhaven Lighthouse”
The Bronze medal went to Dave Bolton for “Southside Sunrise”.
Highly Commended images were from Gary Mayhew, John Whitehurst and Jan Sullivan. Commended images were from Cheryl Hewitt, Francis White , Jayne Crocker and Dave Lewis .

Tenby held it’s first competition of the season, the 1st Open, and what a standard! There were 19 prints and 32 digital entries from 16 photographers. Mike Clatworthy from Swansea, was the judge for the evening . Mike was very impressed and complimented the club on the high standard of work entered. A super range of genres and styles with wildlife , portraits , street , travel, mono and sport were viewed and critiqued .

The Print Gold award was won by Dave Bolton with “Wild Adder” , Silver went to Jan Sullivan for ”Heading for Shelter” and Bronze to Neil Thomas with “Osprey”. Images by Neil Thomas “Hoopoe Courtship” and Charlie Kidd “Fishing” were both Highly Commended.

The Digital Gold award went to Gill Mackay with “At the Barbican”, Silver went to Alan Brown for “Christine” and Bronze to Neil Thomas with “Puffin with nesting Material” . Rob Cox was given a Highly Commended for “Canary Shouldered Thorn Moth” .



The Winning entries chosen by judge Mike Clatworthy
Gill Mackay winner of the Digital 1st Open with Judge Mike Clatworthy .

14th to 28th September
Please click on link below to see the news of a Presentation by Allen Lloyd,Tenby Battle 2023 and a presentation from Ian Ledger
Tcc News Sept2023

After enjoying a summer break from formal club activities, we are preparing for the start of a new season .

Throughout the next few months, all types and genres of photography will be explored. Portraits, mono , wildlife and macro work are just a few topics in the mix. A great range of talks, demonstrations, competitions and battles with other clubs. Fancy cameras not necessary !

The first meeting will be on the 7th September at St. Florence Community Centre, starting at 7.30.

It will be an open night, so an ideal time to check us out, with a cuppa and biscuit thrown in , everyone welcome. Membership details can be found here on the website, you can join at anytime .

Through the summer, members have met up with their cameras and mobiles in a variety of local locations . Starting with Picton Castle Gardens in July and Upton Castle Gardens in August, coffee & cake was enjoyed with chat and of course, some photography ! A social meet up in a member’s garden was arranged and was blessed with good weather . Flower and Insect photography was the order of the day. Fun online competitions were held too, through a closed
facebook page just for members with topics “Just up the Street” , “Seabirds” and “Macro”.

As you can probably see from our events we are a friendly and sociable club sharing a passion for photography . Take that step to join us !

Tenby Camera Club held it’s Awards and Social Evening on Thursday 22nd June. It was a well attended and pleasant evening with much laughter & convivial conversation.

Chairman Dave Lewis led the awards section, aided and abetted by Cheryl Hewitt and John Whitehurst. It was inspiring to see all the images again which were of a superb standard..

Many Thanks to Paul Richards for taking the photos enclosed .

Thanks go to Francis White (Internal Competition Secretary) who controlled all the internal competitions throughout the season .

After the awards we had an enormous buffet provided by all the attendees, served with tea and coffee, thank you Jo Wakeman and Mel Felton .

To relax afterwards, an excellent quiz was arranged to tax the brain cells. Many thanks to Neil Thomas for presenting & compiling the questions on Pembrokeshire, Photography and General Knowledge . It was fun.

Here is a summary of the main awards …..Congratulations to all the winners .

Photographer of the Year 2023 Dave Bolton

Digital Photograph of the Year 2023 Liz Wallis with Mountain Hare

Print Photograph of the Year 2023 Gary Mayhew Storm Brewing

Ray Hine Memorial 2023 (most points in all the Open Competitions ) Dave Bolton

Gold Medals were given to

Liz Wallis 1
Gill Mackay 1
Dave Bolton 6
Jan Sullivan 2
Gary Mayhew 1
Rob Cox 1
Cheryl Hewitt 2
Charlie Kidd 2
John Whitehurst 1
Neil Thomas 1
Francis White 1
Dave Lewis 1

The Mono competition was held on the 9th March, which was judged by Peter Young . Unfortunately due to a heating issue at the hall and adverse weather conditions for the judge to travel through, the competition was held on Zoom

There were 16 print entries which covered a lovely range of topics, from boats to landscapes to street scenes.

Carefully critiquing each image, the results were as follows….

Gold Award for “Tenby Lifeboat House at Dawn” by Dave Bolton.
Silver Award for “Into the Light” by Cheryl Hewitt.
Bronze Award for “Still waters” by Jan Sullivan.










There were 2 Highly Commended awards for Gill Mackay with “ The Underpass” and Rob Cox for “Pendine Racers”.
Two Commended Awards were both given to Gary Mayhew for “Snowdon Horseshoe” and “Tangled”


There were 24 Digital entries to be judged again with a wide range of genres featured including portraits and animals .

The results were ….
Gold Award to Dave Bolton and “Tobacco Break” .
Silver Award to Liz Wallis and”Mountain Hare”
Bronze Award to Alistair Mackay and “Kite Surfer”

There were 2 Highly Commended Awards for Francesca Todaro with Black & White Murex” and Jan Sullivan with “Light in the Forest” .

Two Commended awards went to Jan Sullivan with “Dear Cassie” and Charlie Kidd and “ Ballerina in Mono” .

The current rules for poty stat that.

The club member with the highest total accumulated score from all competitions and is judged by an external judge throughout the season and after the four lowest scores are discarded shall be the photographer of the year. A tie will be broken by the member gaining the highest No of 20s then 19s and so on until the tie is broken.

Proposal.
It is proposed that the requirement for the four lowest scores be discarded and removed from the rules of Photographer of the Year.

Proposed by R. Lineker. Seconded by C. Kidd.

The Mono competition was held on the 9th March, which was judged by Peter Young . Unfortunately due to a heating issue at the hall and adverse weather conditions for the judge to travel through, the competition was held on Zoom

There were 16 print entries which covered a lovely range of topics, from boats to landscapes to street scenes.

Carefully critiquing each image, the results were as follows….

Gold Award for “Tenby Lifeboat House at Dawn” by Dave Bolton.
Silver Award for “Into the Light” by Cheryl Hewitt.
Bronze Award for “Still waters” by Jan Sullivan.

There were 2 Highly Commended awards for Gill Mackay with “ The Underpass” and Rob Cox for “Pendine Racers”.
Two Commended Awards were both given to Gary Mayhew for “Snowdon Horseshoe” and “Tangled”


There were 24 Digital entries to be judged again with a wide range of genres featured including portraits and animals .

The results were ….
Gold Award to Dave Bolton and “Tobacco Break” .
Silver Award to Liz Wallis and”Mountain Hare”
Bronze Award to Alistair Mackay and “Kite Surfer”

There were 2 Highly Commended Awards for Francesca Todaro with Black & White Murex” and Jan Sullivan with “Light in the Forest” .

Two Commended awards went to Jan Sullivan with “Dear Cassie” and Charlie Kidd and “ Ballerina in Mono” .

Tenby Camera Club’s first competition of 2023 was the 2nd Open Competition, held on the 12th January. Paul Branchflower from the Mumbles was welcomed to judge the 16 prints and 24 digital entries . He had the task of scrutinising a wide selection of material from Bee eaters, Ballerinas to Bluebottles. Paul took great care in his critique maintaining a positive and encouraging style throughout. He was generous with his hints and tips on possible improvements to an image. There were several new members who entered for the first time with promising results.

In the Prints, Cheryl Hewitt was given the Gold Award for Her “Razorbills Sharing” image. The Silver was awarded to Jan Sullivan with “Watching and Waiting” . The Bronze award was won by Dave Bolton with “Tenby Lifeboat Mayday Call”
Jan Sullivan's "Bee Eater with Bug" was Highly Commended. There were 3 images commended and they were, Fran Todaro "Ripples in the Sand" , Mick Halligan" Beauty is Power, A Smile is it's Sword" and Cheryl Hewitt "Painted Lady"



In the Digitals, The Gold Award was won by Charlie Kidd with “The Ballerina in Blue”. Charlie also won the Silver with “Two Jays Sharing” . The Bronze was awarded to Rob Cox and “Puffin in the Daisies” . Liz Wallis had her "Bearded Reedling with Food" image Highly Commended. One commended was given, for "Wasp" by Alan Brown.



Next week,19th January, we have Member Alun Richardson returning with a talk “My journey to better photographs from the Himalayas to the Pandemic” . Alun’s photography never fails to excite with Exceptional and stunning images . Non members welcome, pay £4 at the door.

Judging Nature

24th November 2022 Nature Competition

With an intrepid audience who battled to St Florence through gales, floods and storms , Jenny Hibbert, MPAGB, EFIAP/g ,AWPF, was tasked with judging 10 prints and 18 digital entries . A lovely range of nature subjects from fungi to birds to insects, which was enjoyed by members.

In the Print Section John Whitehurst won the Gold Award with “ Snakeskin Grisette” . Silver was taken by Jan Sullivan with “The Fly By” and Bronze went to Cheryl Hewitt and “Leaf Cutting Bee & Redtailed Bee” .





In the Digital Section, Gold was taken by Charlie Kidd with “Pine Martin with rat” and he also gained the Silver Award with “Woodpeckers Battle” . The Bronze Award was given to Liz Wallis with “ Gullemots” . There were 4 Highly Commended images by Dave Bolton, Liz Wallis, Cheryl Hewitt and Andy Watkin . Three commended images were given to John Whitehurst, Jan Sullivan and Cheryl Hewitt .







Thanks was given to Jenny for sharing her thoughts and critique and for also enduring an unpleasant journey to get to us .

On the 17th November Tenby Camera Club welcomed Roy Thomas to judge the Panels Competition. There was a varied range of subject matter captured, with 5 images on a linked theme, with a similar tone and with a story.

The print competition Gold was won by Cheryl Hewitt with an “Agapanthus” panel , from bud to full bloom. Silver was won by Dave Bolton with “SOS” , a story of the Tenby Lifeboat and crew.
Bronze was won by John Whitehurst and “Five Faces of Freddie”, a panel of a child’s expressions.

The digital section Gold was won by new member Rob Cox with “London at night”. A clever selection of light trails and night colours in London. Silver was won by Dave Bolton and “Red Kite Display”, an in flight collection of this stunning bird of prey. The Bronze award was given to Cheryl Hewitt with the “Insects of Colour” panel . Insects of all types with interesting colours .
Gary Mayhew was Highly Commended for his “ Pembrey Motorsport” panel and Francis White was commended for his “Pembrokeshire Flowers” panel.




An international external competition was held on the 19th November by Cwm Rhondda Camera Club. Clubs from the USA, Canada, S. Africa, Malta, Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales competed with 4 digital images each. The event was broadcast on You Tube . The judge was Libby Smith who carefully critiqued her way through 100 images . The winner was Catchlight from Belfast with 78 points from a maximum of 80. Tenby was tenth with 68 points.

The second competition of the season was held on the 27th October . The theme was Landscapes, judged by Dennis Russ LRPS, AFIAP, AWPF, CPAGB, BPE1. There were 27 digital entries and 20 prints. A lovely range of images from home & abroad in all weathers,

In the Print competition Gary Mayhew won both the Gold & Silver awards with “Mountain Dawn” Gold and “Storm Brewing” Silver . The Bronze was won with “Cenarth Mill” by Jason Laugharne.
Two Highly Commended images were by Jan Sullivan and Dave Bolton . Two Commended prints were by Dave Bolton and Dylan Harries.


The Digital competition Gold was won by Jan Sullivan with “Autumn Colours”, Silver and Bronze was given to Liz Wallis with “At the edge of the Barents” Silver and “Scarista,Harris” Bronze.
One image was Highly Commended by Charlie Kidd. Six images were Commended, work by Gary Mayhew, Dave Bolton, Charlie Kidd, Cheryl Hewitt, Rob Cox and John Whitehurst.

The Swansea Camera Club Challenge Competition was held on the 24th October. This was a new concept of competition, 11 Welsh clubs competing for individual genre awards as well as overall winners. The judge was Leigh Woolford FWPF, DPAGB, AWPF, BPE4, and it was held via Zoom . Each club entered 4 digital photographs. The competition was won by Bridgend Camera Club , closely followed by Tenby Camera Club. Two Tenby Club members were given individual awards , Charlie Kidd , Best overall image with “Artistic Movement” and Ali Rees ,Best Action/Sports image with “Champion Surfer”.

The 22nd October was one of the most important dates in the Tenby Camera Club diary. Earlier in the summer Tenby qualified to represent Wales & the WPF in the PAGB Ace of Prints competition with Monmouth who came second in the qualifying. The Ace of Prints was held in Blackburn and members Charlie Kidd and Dave Lewis attended to represent the club . There were 3 judges who can score up to 5 points to an image. They were Gwen Charnock, Des Clinton and Richard Spiers who have superb experience and qualifications. The first round of 12 prints was chosen in advance. Tenby didn’t advance to the second round with only the top 9 clubs going through. Scoring 137/180 Tenby was in the top section with a respectable score. and then did go through to the Plate competition, competing against the other remaining clubs. From the Bank of prints taken, Charlie & Dave had to chose 8 images to enter with only 4 from the previous round being eligible. These images were then scored and Tenby came a very close second in the Plate with 99/ 120. The print Morning Paddle by Tenby’s Cheryl Hewitt scored the maximum mark of 15.

The winning Plate club was Chapter Six with 100/120 , only 1 point in it ! This meant in the overall competition Tenby came 11th. This is a great achievement for a small club (but with a big heart) competing against the best & biggest clubs in the UK. The overall club winner was Catchlight Camera Club from Belfast.

The 13th October saw the club back in St Florence Hall to welcome a husband & wife team from North Wales, Rob & Sharon Prenton-Jones. They are both at the top of their game in creative composites and they spent several hours sharing their knowledge and expertise in that field. They both hold photographic qualifications to a high standard so the audience were enthralled with the talk .
They captivated and charmed with their relaxed manner but still imparted an abundant amount of facts, tips and guidance to start composite photography. There were plenty of useful demonstrations and help on where to get ideas, computer processing, photographic techniques, equipment required and possible hacks to keep the costs down.

The talk definitely inspired club members to be more creative but also to develop the portrait side of photography and the use of models and studio work .

A very genuine vote of thanks was given to Rob & Sharon for sharing their extensive knowledge so freely and for taking many questions.

This talk was followed up on Friday 14th October with an optional paid workshop with Rob & Sharon to further develop skills but in a much more practical manner . This was well attended with the morning given over to how to approach a studio / set up photo shoot with models . Advice on etiquette to the models and fellow photographers, how to acquire the desired expressions , what props are useful and how to guide the scene for what is needed . Rob & Sharon demonstrated techniques using 2 live models, John as a knight and Leah as a young lady of court .
Then it was our turn ….putting into practice what we had seen in the morning, gaining confidence and helping each other.
After lunch, Rob and Sharon then moved on to post processing techniques, showing how small adjustments put together enhance the final image amazingly . Working on one of the studio images taken that morning, they showed how to cut out the subject and incorporate it into new surroundings . In the example, the knight was placed into a misty woodland scene but he looked false until many small adjustments in Photoshop blended him into the setting as if that was how it was taken originally.
A super workshop with 2 excellent presenters who worked with patience and care . Many thanks to Rob & Sharon Prenton -Jones .

The 6th October was the date of judging of the 1st Open Competition. Our judge, Ed Cloutman, unfortunately couldn’t attend in person so back to Zoom we went . There were prints and digital sections for the first time since early 2020.

The print competition had 15 entries with street, landscapes, sport and wildlife genres. There were 10 prints held back. Two were commended images by Andy Watkin and Cheryl Hewitt, and 4 were highly commended by Dave Bolton , Ali Rees and 2 by Jan Sullivan.

The bronze award was given to 2 prints, “Chasing the light” by Gary Mayhew and “Sacred” by Gill Mackay.
The Silver position was taken by Dave Bolton with a firework shot “The Statue of Liberty” .
The Gold Award was given to Gill Mackay whose clever street photograph “Pigeon Post” captured a unique moment in time.



There were more digital entries, 21 in fact. Carefully checked over by Ed , who held back 10 entries , the zoom audience once again enjoyed a wide range of interesting material .

Three images were commended, work by Cheryl Hewitt, Jan Sullivan and Gary Mayhew.. Four images were highly commended , two each entered by Dave Bolton and John Whitehurst.

The Bronze was won by Jim Stobbart with an adder portrait “Predator shedding Skin” and he also took the Silver with a mouse photo “ Only room for two” .

The Gold was given to Liz Wallis for her action dog capture “Jump”




Well done to everyone who took the time to enter .

A close fought 8 Way Battle was held on the 22nd September, making a very entertaining experience for members and supporters from the competing clubs. Each club entered 10 digital images which were carefully critiqued by judge Rob Mitchell . The subjects ranged from wildlife to creative with many unusual images all of a high standard . Rob gave only two images the maximum mark of 20. Tenby’s John Whitehurst was one with his “Starling Flight” and Kidwelly’s Yvonne Pugh with “Dinner Time” was the other. Yvonne’s image was given the accolade of Best Image of the Competition.

All through the judging clubs were neck & neck but Tenby finally managed to get one point ahead at the final post. With Tenby in first place, Afan Nedd took second place and Kidwelly third.
Thanks were given to all the clubs for entering and attending and to Rob Mitchell for his humorous style of judging . Everyone was treated to a lovely buffet provided by Tenby Camera Club members.



A new workshop concept is being tried out this season. Tenby’s new programme secretary Dave Bolton has set up several workshops throughout the year to learn & improve studio and portrait work . The first of these workshops was held on the 29th September. Aided by equipment donated by members Ray Hornett and Kitty Brittain, three work stations were set up with lights and backdrops. Members volunteered to be models, while help and advice was given by several members with experience in this field. As well as Dave Bolton, Dave Lewis, Adrian Lowe-Wheeler , Mark Saunders and Ray Hornett helped set up and controlled the action ! It was an excellent interactive evening with members sharing hints & tips with laughter and encouragement .There were some excellent images posted to members on the club’s facebook page. The next session will be on the 10th November.

Tenby & District Camera Club launched it’s new face to face programme on the 1st September with an introduction to the future details of speakers, competitions and workshops. It was pleasing to the club to welcome several new members.

The first talk of the season was on the 8th September, when Allen Lloyd presented “Galaxies and Nebulae from my back garden” . Astro Photography is a very specialised subject and Allen tackled this field of photography with enthusiasm during the Covid Lockdowns and has been hooked ever since .

With his careful style of pitching the technical information at the right level, the audience was treated to a stunning array of photos showing colourful nebulae, galaxies and star trails He talked about and demonstrated the equipment required, using modern technology to control the exposures . Facts and figures about deep space fascinated , and gave many quite profound thoughts of our existence within the night skies. An excellent presenter .

On the 15th September Tenby Camera Club welcomed Nick Jenkins, ARPS, AWPF, for an evening of super landscape work . A Pembrokeshire born photographer but now based in South Wales, Nick is a member of Gwynfa Camera Club . He is an experienced speaker and judge on the Welsh circuit. He runs his business “Freespirit Images” specialising in Landscapes. With this accomplished sound base Nick began his “What’s it all about? “ talk .

Showing over 100 images taken in the UK , Nick illustrated the importance of considering composition, light, weather conditions, showing patience to clinch that view for posterity . He did this with a tour around our stunning country featuring Scottish lochs and mountains, Welsh rivers and reservoirs , English dales and lakes. Something for everyone !

Next week there is our annual Battle with 8 Welsh clubs competing for that top spot. An evening of excellent photography and a buffet too .

The final club competition of the year was held via zoom on the 5th May . This was the Digital image of the Year , and what a stunning set of images were presented to judge Leigh Woolford. Leigh is one of the most experienced judges on the Welsh circuit.

The competition comprises all the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards from all the externally judged competitions. Six photographers were represented with 24 images, from landscapes, mono , creative, nature and macro genres . All the images were of a high standard so this meant Leigh had to be very picky to try to separate the top images .

However there had to be a winner and that accolade was given to Dave Bolton with a meaningful capture “The Honey Bee flies home” . Second place was awarded to Charlie Kidd with his creative work “Birds of a Feather” . Third place was “Dunlin Reflections” by Liz Wallis, a gentle nature shot .

The Photographer of the Year was also announced, given to the club member who gained the most points throughout the seasons competitions. It was no surprise that Liz Wallis was the worthy winner , having produced an exceptional range of images through the year.
In second place was Cheryl Hewitt and in third Paul Richards .

The Ray Hine Memorial Trophy, kindly donated by Mike Cullis, in special memory of the late Ray Hine was also awarded. This is given to the member who has gained the most points from the Three Open competitions. This year it was Cheryl Hewitt who had the pleasure of receiving this special trophy.

The evening was rounded off with many thanks to all the committee members who give their time to provide a smooth running of the club . This has been classed a great success even though we couldn’t meet face to face . All being well, Tenby Camera Club will begin the next Season starting in September , at St.Florence Village Hall . Details of the new programme and membership details will be released in the summer .