IPF Photographer of the Year 2017

The national finals of the IPF Photographer of the Year Competition 2016/2017 took place on Saturday February 18th 2017 at the D Hotel, Drogheda. This year the event was sponsored very generously by Bermingham Cameras who were with us for the entire weekend.

We are delighted to announce the overall winner of the 2016/2017 competition as Paul Reidy from Blarney Photography Club for his gorgeous image ‘Autumn Queen’. Many congratulations Paul!

Speaking about the event, Michael O’Sullivan FIPF FRPS, IPF President said:

“This year saw one of our most successful events ever. I was delighted to see a record attendance at the public judging, which speaks volumes about the appetite in Ireland for this type of photography. The technical skill and knowledge of subject matter apparent in the imagery on display was amazing, and the winners must be congratulated for achieving such stellar standards. The overall winning Photographer of the Year Image, “Autumn Queen”, is a fantastic example of photography, combining great technical skill, control of lighting and vision which results in giving this image impact and beauty”

Paul Reidy, our winner, tells us about his winning image and what it feels like to be the overall winner!

“The original idea was to create a Baroque style corset and headpiece for Cork based model Aleksandra Nell Radosz, but due to time constraints we decided to go with an Autumn theme. Aleksandra made the headpiece from dried leaves and the shoot was done in the grounds of Fota House and Gardens. The inspiration came from a visit to Amsterdam and seeing some of the Renaissance style paintings. I loved the colors and finish on these works of art. With the Autumn Queen series of images, I wanted the portraits to have a shallow depth of field, with the main focus on the models face. I love the way it printed, thanks to Don at Art and Frame Printers in Bishopstown in Cork. The image was printed on Permajet Fibre Gold which had a slightly warm finish which completed the image.

Its a huge honor to win the Photographer of the Year award, especially with the standard of photographers that enter the competition each year. To bring the award back to Blarney Photography Club for the first time and the SACC for the second year is something to be proud of. I was delighted to also win vouchers that were kindly sponsored by Birmingham Cameras in Dublin. Brian Whealan was a great help with his advice in choosing a lens to buy afterwards. Being a member of Blarney Photography Club we celebrated afterwards well into the early hours! What topped off the weekend was to see club members Charlie Lee, Eddie Kelly, Mark Gorman and Seamus Mulcahy take home awards making it a never forget weekend.”

As usual, it takes a massive amount of time and effort from many to make this competition what it is. Our thanks to:

The judges – Rikki O’Neill, Gwen Charnock and Phil Charnock
IPF POTY Competition Co-Ordinator Frank Condra
Ground staff – We had helpers on the day from so many clubs around the country this year and with so many we are bound to leave someone out – so instead a heartfelt thanks to all for creating a lovely atmosphere!
Technical support – Niamh Whitty/Jason Town
Staff at the D Hotel
Everyone who entered and attended

Our gratitude once again to our sponsors Bermingham Cameras who provided a significant prize fund, from regional winners all the way up to the overall prize won by Paul. Speaking about the competition, Brian Whelan from Bermingham Cameras has this to say:

“We were delighted to sponsor this year’s IPF “Photographer of the Year” competition. It is one of the biggest events in the IPF calendar and we are very proud to be the title sponsor of it. The quality of the entries this year was of the highest level and we offer our congratulations to all medal winners and especially to overall winner Paul Reidy for his fantastic image. It is a great benefit to us to be able to exhibit at the finals and we hope the attendees were happy to see us. We are eager to continue to work closely with the IPF and look forward to the support of the IPF and its members throughout the year.”

We are delighted to now share with you the winning images below and pictures from the awards ceremony.

Individual report cards will be received by each competitor. Lists of all award winners can be downloaded below.

The list of images from this competition which are credited as Irish qualifiers for those pursuing AFIAP distinctions (note, these are not Irish acceptances) are will be added to this article shortly (top 35% in each section).