Successful Journey to Hell & Back for my A Distinction

September 23, 2017 • 3 Comments

Since 2014 I’ve been shooting thousands of images at the Hell and Back endurance events at the Killruddery Estate in Co. Wicklow. Today I submitted 15 of the best for my Associateship or “A” Distinction from the Irish Photographic Federation (IPF). I’d previously failed with a different panel so it was a nerve racking morning as several panels before me were judged. Happily, mine got through and I’m thrilled to achieve my A - the second highest distinction of the IPF. It made all the work worthwhile to hear the the judges say they loved the facial expressions in the shots and to hear my panel statement described as “superb”!

It was also great to see all the other panels, especially the successful Fellowship panels from Catherine & Scott MacBride - clearly the best photographic couple in Ireland! Sadly, two other panels from my club, Offshoot, did not make it through today but they were close enough that I’m sure they will do so next time.

I’d like to thank the following for help with my panel :-

My family for giving me time, space and encouragement for photography.
Steve Crozier of 360DPI and Offshoot for loads of advice and for mounting the prints to his ever-high standard.
Sheldon Fine Art Papers from whom I bought my Epson R3000 printer, printer ink and Canson paper. I used Canson Photosatin for my test prints and Canson Baryta for the panel prints
Fellow Offshoot members Matt O’Brien and Olive Gaughan for reviewing drafts of the panel as well as all the Offshooters for their encouragement over the last six or seven years.

I’d also like to thank all the IPF for running the distinctions process and Carlow Photographic Society for hosting today’s session

OK – enough of the tearful speeches! Here’s the statement and the panel shots.

Hell-and-Back-statement-final