Each year the Canadian Association for Photographic Art (CAPA) holds its Pacific Zone Print Challenge, open to all member photography clubs in B.C. and the Yukon. This year’s competition was held Saturday, Feb. 23 in Coquitlam where 16 photography clubs submitted photo prints across a wide range of subject material in this open-themed competition.
For the first time, the Sunshine Coast Shutterbugz Camera Club submitted four photos for judging – one each by Janet Slater, Teresa Conyers, Karen Abrahamson and president Phil Cunnington. In addition to local photography clubs across the Lower Mainland, camera clubs from Vernon, Prince George and Victoria joined the Sunshine Coast as out-of-town participants in this event.
A total of 141 photos were submitted and there was a limit of 10 photos per club.
The overall level of photographic entries was very high with judges typically reluctant to award high scores unless the photo is truly exceptional. Individual scores ranged from 20 to 26, with 30 points being the maximum. As different clubs submitted different numbers of photos, the average score per photograph for each club varied from 21.75 to 23.55 with the Sunshine Coast Shutterbugz achieving 22.13, not enough for any awards or medals but clearly of a high enough standard to be comparable with all the other clubs that were participating. It was a very pleasing result for a first-time entry into a high-level competition. The club is hoping that more of its club members will participate next year as participation continues to elevate individual personal achievements and the club as a whole.
