Congratulations to our winners in the first competition of the year!

last name             first name     title                                                                           points    award
B&W Salon Prints                                                                                                    
Borkowski           Jacek            Horse & Duomo                                                      25          1st
Janke                   Mark             Back Streets--Bayeux                                            24          2nd
Janke                   Mark             Mirror, Mirror on the Wall                                      23          3rd
                                                                                                                               
Color Salon Prints                                                                                                    
Janke                   Mark             Mated Pair of Diademed Sifakas                         27          1st
Broderick             Deanna       Macias Seal Island Puffin                                     27          1st
Flick                     Maryann      Ste. Chapelle Interior                                             25          2nd
Janke                   Mark             Morning Snack-Parson's Chameleon                25           2nd
Borkowski           Jacek            On the Roof                                                             25          2nd
Flick                     Maryann      Meadow Poppies                                                    24          3rd
Janke                   Mark             Sub-Desert Mesite                                                 24          3rd
Flick                     Maryann      Clinton Harbor                                                         24          3rd
                                                                                                                               
Creative Projected                                                                                                  
Anderson            Pat                Phoenix Rising                                                      24          1st
Maltese               Allison          Dance of the Fifes                                                 24          1st
Roberts                Dianne        Flowering Waterdrop                                           24          1st
Roberts                Dianne        Floating Flower                                                     23          2nd
Frechette             Mike             Hiding from the world                                          22          3rd
Anderson            Pat                Rock Pool with Clouds                                        22          3rd
                                                                                                                               
Black&White Projected                                                                                          
Roberts                Dianne         The Point                                                               28          1st
Roberts                Dianne         Gerbera                                                                 25          2nd
Secki                    Lou                Formation                                                             25          2nd
Roberts                Dianne         Deer                                                                      25          2nd
Anderson            Pat                 December Coastal Afternoon                           23          3rd
Flick                     Maryann       Painted Skimmer                                                 23          3rd
Gauggel               Robert          Chatfield Boardwalk                                          23          3rd
Maltese               Allison           The Lake Pavilion                                               23          3rd
Flick                     Maryann       Easy Rider                                                            23          3rd
                                                                                                                               
Open Projected                                                                                                       
Borkowski           Jacek            Ancient World                                                     26          1st
Rathbun              Dave             Eastern Bluebird                                                26          1st
Secki                    Lou               Heritage Flight                                                    26          1st
Broderick             Deanna       Beautiful Sky                                                       25          2nd
Roberts                Dianne         Peruvian Woman                                               25          2nd
Hearn                   Kathy            Morning Kayak in Kenai Peninsula, AK        25          2nd
Secki                    Lou               Dominic                                                               24          3rd
Maltese               Allison          Boothbay Harbor                                               24          3rd
Anderson            Pat                August Sunflowers                                            24          3rd
Broderick             Deanna       Snail on Mushroom                                          24          3rd
Broderick             Deanna       Green                                                                  24          3rd

If you are not on the winners' list and would like your results, contact me. If you are interested in how the final score was broken down by judge, I have the separate scores as well. 
Winners are invited to send files of their winning images for a web gallery. Please send to Rob.
Our next competition is joint with SECCC! 
Maryann

This Wednesday will be our first of two competitions for the year. Over the years I’ve been in the club, I’ve made my peace with the process. I used to get rather anxious about choosing images to submit and then waiting to hear the esteemed judges pronounce a score. The low numbers really stung. But I persisted in hopes not so much of doing better than my colleagues but simply of upping my scores; more like competing with myself. Little by little my scores got better. But then I had to ask myself, was my photography getting better or was I just learning what judges like? I don’t know. What I know now is that it doesn’t matter. I like my work enough to enter it. What the judges think is just AN OPINION. Presumably an educated opinion but still it’s simply a subjective pronouncement. We don’t have to agree with the judges. We do have to be happy with our own work. So why bother with competitions? Curiosity. I want to know what others think of my work. Have I communicated the emotion I feel when I look at my image? Have I made a technical error that weakens the image?  Low scores make me reassess images; I may like it but what could I have done to make others see what I saw and liked when I made the image? Sometimes there is no answer. Sometimes it is just a difference of opinion. Love your work, be proud to show it off, be open to other opinions.
See you at competition night.
Maryann