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This year's Fordingbridge Challenge took place on 30th April at The Avonway, Fordingbridge. Eight clubs took part in this annual event each with with an entry of eight PDIs. These images must not have been used before in external competitions and be produced by eight different authors.
The eight clubs were: Beaulieu Camera Group, BH PC, Blandford Forum CC, Fordingbridge CC, H & I PC, Ringwood CC, Salisbury PC and Wimborne CC. As always, there was a very good turnout from members of the clubs and Fordingbridge CC supplied us with delicious home made cakes at the interval.
The judge for the evening was Maria Leekblade AFIAP, DPAGB, who had the unenviable task of scoring what was a superb set of images. She certainly rose to the challenge with enthusiasm and a great knowledge of the genres and techniques on show.
The final totals were quite close, showing the high quality of all the entries. The winner of the Challenge Trophy was Highcliffe and Infinity PC with a total of 74.5, with Ringwood CC runners-up with 70.5. BCG finished in 4th place with 69, which, considering the size of our Group, is a tremendous result.
Two of our images scored the maximum of 10 "Follow the Light" by Tony Darnell and "Herring Gull Dispute" and two scored 9 "A Passing Glance" by Bob Abbott and "Sunflower Droplets" by Sue Dunham.
Maria chose her top three images whose authors were each awarded a bottle of wine. In 3rd place was "Autumn Mist" by Roger Stone of Highcliffe and Infinity PC, in 2nd place was "Sweet Pea" by Pat Catley of Blandford CC and in 1st place was "The Lady in the Window" by Colin Ridley of BH PC.
To see the Gallery of BCG's entry please click on this link: Gallery
The scoresheet with all the marks can be viewed using this link: 
Fordingbridge Challenge 2025 Score Sheet
Sue Dunham Chairman
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Beaulieu Camera Group's annual Knock-Out competition for PDIs took place on 19th March.
The competition started with a total of 128 images which had been entered into the past year's PDI competitions by our members. These were displayed on the screen in pairs. In the 1st round, the members voted for the image which they wished to go through to the next round, leaving 64 images to take part in the next round. This process continued until just two images were left at the end of the 6th round.
It was an excellent evening with the choice of which image to select getting harder each time, as previous images came up against each other.
At the end of the competition the final two images left were:
The Winner: Bob Abbott with "Bickering Weaver Birds, Females"
Runner Up: Ian Bateson with "Misty Morning in the Forest"
Many thanks to our Digital Secretary Ian Hutchinson, who collated the images and ran the competition.
Sue Dunham Chairman
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Beaulieu Camera Group competed in Division 4 of the SCPF PDI League in the 2024/5 season, after gaining promotion from D5 the previous season.
Many congratulations to Sue Dunham whose image "Three's a Crowd" achieved the highest number of marks for BCG over the eight rounds and will represent BCG at Final Day on 11th May at Littleton Memorial Hall.
Finally, thank you to the members whose images gained us promotion to D3 and also everyone who supported BCG along the way.
Sue Dunham Chairman
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Beaulieu Camera Group's PDI of the Year competition took place on 4th December. All the images which had received a Seal of Merit at the five PDI competitions during the year were eligible to take part.
Our judge for the event was Roger Creber ARPS EFIAP DPAGB from Southampton Camera Club. Roger has judged for us in the past via Zoom so it was good to welcome him in person to Beaulieu.
Roger had the unenviable task of assessing the fifty eight images and selecting a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place image and some Highly Commended ones. The images were not scored but given a critique by Roger, which he gave with an unbiased consideration of all the genres and styles. Understandably, there were many images "held back" by Roger for him to compare them and make his final choices.
The winner of the trophy was Barry Armstrong for "Eggcepsional".
In 2nd Place was "Juvenile Reed Warblers" by Ian Hutchinson.
3rd Place was awarded to "Electricity" by Linda Dunham.
Roger awarded Highly Commended Certificates to the following:
Ian Bateson "Buttermere", "Druid's Light" and "It's a Mystery" by Linda Dunham, "Stairway to the Crypt" and "Three's a Crowd" by Sue Dunham CPAGB, "Red Arrows, Bournemouth" by Neil Hardy and "When Worlds Collide" by Rob Snellgrove LRPS.
Congratulations to all the award winners and to all those members whose images were awarded Seals of Merit during the year. They certainly made it a wonderful evening of a great showcase of members' work.
To view all the award winning images, please cick on this link: Gallery
Sue Dunham, Chairman BCG
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Print Results: 1st Place Chichester CC: 2nd Winchester PS: 3rd Place Horndean CC.
Highly Commended Panels: Fordingbridge CC: Havant CC.
PDI Resuts: 1st Place Chichester CC: 2nd Place Yateley CC: 3rd Place Winchester PS
Highly Commended Panels: Havant CC: Horndean CC:
One of our panel of prints "Double Take at Covent Garden" by Tony Darnell was awarded a score of 9.5 and a Highly Commended Certificate by Peter. Congratulations to Tony and also to Alan Price whose print "From the Other Side" was given a score of 9.
This is a wonderful achievement for BCG who are one of the smaller clubs in the Federation. BCG has an ethos of inclusivity and images are selected from the whole membership to represent the Group in external competitions. Congratulations to all our members whose work was used for the SCPF Exhibition.
Here is our print panel: "Franz Kafka Rotating Head" Vanessa Bateson, "Fruit Bowl" Rob Snellgrove LRPS, "Double Take at Covent Garden" Tony Darnell, "From the Other Side" Alan Price ARPS, "Ducks Folly" Maggie White CPAGB, "Reflections in the Museum of Liverpool" Sue Dunham CPAGB
To see the images entered by BCG into the PDI section of the Exhibition, please click on this link: Gallery
Further details about the SCPF Championship results including the winning panels can be seen by clicking on this link: https://southerncountiespf.org.uk/2024/11/november-exhibition-special-newsletter/