On Wednesday, 20th November 2024, MCC members fought their way through the delays on the Edinburgh city bypass to join Stirling, Edinburgh & Kirkcaldy at the Birds and Bees restaurant in Stirling for the annual 4-way interclub competition. The competition was hosted by Stirling & District Camera Club and judged by Eddie Telford of Milngavie and Bearsden Camera Club.

Each club had submitted 15 digital images, making a grand total of 60 images. The competition began with Edinburgh’s image of a firefighter tackling a forest fire, which achieved 19 points; then Stirling’s image of an American wren caught in mid flight approaching its nest hole, which scored the first 20 points of the night. Next up was Musselburgh’s still image of a nuthatch on a tree, which couldn’t compete with the dynamism of the wren and received just 16 points. This was followed by Kirkcaldy’s beautiful landscape image of a lone tree against a mountain background, which got 18 points. This first round summed up what was in store for the rest of the evening. We had some good images, but the other clubs’ images had something more. For example, George Todd’s portrait of the boxer “Kalon” was beaten Kirkcaldy’s image “On Target” of two boxers caught in mid fight. In the second half, you could hear the disappointment from Musselburgh members when Carol Edmond’s portrait “Hi There” received a very positive description but was awarded a disappointing 17 points. By contrast, Stirling surged ahead with four of their 15 images receiving 20 points and another 19 points. Edinburgh managed a 20 and a 19 and Kirkcaldy a 19. It just wasn’t Musselburgh’s night. 😦 The final scores were:

• 1st place: Stirling and District Camera Club, 267 points.
• 2nd place: Kirkcaldy Photographic Society, 258 points.
• 3rd place: Edinburgh Photographic Society, 253 points.
• 4th place: Musselburgh Camera Club, 248 points.

None of our images achieved the top spot this year, but one came close:

• Harvest Queen (George Todd) – 18 points.

Although we were unhappy, Stirling cheered us up by offering a lovely selection of drinks, sandwiches and cakes. We were up against some very strong competition this year, especially from Stirling who had a cracking selection. Strong competition lowers the scores, so well done to George, Joe, Derek, Mike and Carol for scoring 17+ points against such odds. We’ll be back next year and ready for a much better result.