PAGB Great British Cup, 2010
The Great British Cup is an Inter-federation photographic competition organised by the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain. The camera club I belong to is DAPA Group, a member of the Midland Counties Photographic Federation (MCPF). The GB-Cup is an annual event; divided into two competitions, one for large clubs the other for small, both competitions take place in early January. The rules of engagement are simple; large clubs must submit 18 images, from a minimum of 7 photographers, small clubs; 12 images from at least 4 photographers.
This year four of my images were chosen as part of our entry; Days of Despair, Urban Existence, Living in the Past and We Can Make It. All of them at some point have done well at National and International level over the past year; hopefully they will prove to be an asset here too.

Days of Despair © John Powell, 2009
Each image entered is scored between 2 and 5 by three judges, which gives each image a possible score of 15 points. The points scored for each image are totalled up and the club with the most points is declared the winner. Individual awards are also given out to photographers, whose work has caught the judge’s attention. In 2010, a total of 14 medals were awarded, including Best in Show for both large and small clubs.
In 2009, at our first attempt, DAPA Group was awarded 6th place alone side Carluke Camera Club. Judging by the wealth of photographers this country produces moving up beyond 6th place looked pretty slim. Nonetheless, DAPA Group have had a very good year, beating Wigan 10 in the DSLR User Magazine – Battle of the Clubs competition and with a long list of members picking up a haul of International awards we were on a roll and raring to go.

Living in the Past © John Powell, 2009
The weather conditions in the UK throughout January were awful, arctic conditions prevailed everywhere with temperatures as low as -15 degrees in some parts of the country leaving some road impassable. Of the nine judges booked to do the job only 3 made it up to Dumfries. Even trying to enlist the help of judges from nearby Cumbria failed. Nonetheless, the competition went ahead with Libby Smith MPAGB EFIAP, Anne Greiner MPAGB and Barbie Lindsay MPAGB EFIAP judging the GB Cup for small clubs and Libby Smith MPAGB EFIAP, Anne Greiner MPAGB and Russell Lindsay MPAGB AFIAP FBPE judging the large club competition.
Because of the efficient way in which these competitions are now run the results can be sent out to club representatives in a matter of hours after the judging has taken place. The Question being, could we equal our 6th place position of last year? Well, we didn’t have long to wait, the results of the large club competition were delivered via e-mail at precisely 1.29pm on Sunday 10th January, 2010. As I cautiously opened the .pdf attachment, which contained the results, my thoughts were firmly focused on bettering our 6th place spot, had we done enough?

Urban Existence © John Powell, 2009
What happened next had to be seen to be believed, me a middle aged bloke, sent whooping and jumping around the kitchen like a cat on a hot tin roof! Which in turn, sets the dog off barking and the neighbours wondering what the hell is going on? I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! DAPA Group was in second place ahead of Smethwick Photographic Society, Arden Photo Group and not to mention Wrekin Arts, Wolverhampton and Stafford. Was I excited? Bet your bloody life I was!
Coming second to the mighty Wigan 10 is no disgrace. My congratulations go to them not only for winning this competition, but the PAGB PDI and Print Championships in 2009.

We Can Make It © John Powell, 2009
My celebrations didn’t end there; just a few days later learnt that I had been awarded, not one, but two Gold Medals Certificates for Urban Existence and We Can Make It, courtesy of Russell Lindsey AFIAP MPAGB FBPE.
What a result!