Chris Yates has achieved the feat of winning the hotly contested Lionel Bloodworth Creative Challenge in his first season at Conwy Camera Club.
Please click any image to view full size (in a new tab). Click your back button to return to this post.
His winning image, Murmuration, polled the most votes when the annual event was held in March 2024. It beat 39 other creative images, which covered a wide range of ideas and clever use of cameras or software.
The challenge has been held every year since 2015 in memory of Lionel Bloodworth, who died prematurely in 2013. He was an enthusiast of creative photography and initiated the creative workshops, often involving table-top set-ups, which remain a popular feature of the club today.
Club members can submit up to two images each in the annual challenge. To choose this year’s winner, 42 club members each voted for their favourite three images, and Murmuration emerged as the clear winner. Chris’ other entry, ‘Fried in Wales’, was a runner-up.
Usually the challenge is won by a member who has been in the club for several years, but Chris only joined in August 2023. He had previously been a member of clubs in Kent. “Conwy has a great reputation with the variety of members who have made feel very welcome,” he says. “I’m also learning a great deal and getting some great ideas, and if you don’t try you won’t learn!”
He took his winning image at Llanfairfechan while watching birds at sunset. He panned the camera to get the desired effect of moving birds, without distracting background detail. The image from the camera only needed cropping and reduction of saturation and contrast.
