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Billy White's winning photo in 2015
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This year's Michael Edwards Photo Competition has just kicked off with the revelation of this year's theme: ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE.

Now this should give everyone loads of scope for exercising a bit of imagination, not to mention keeping their eyes open between now and September when entries are expected to be in.

This year's competition is not confined to camera clubs, individuals are welcome to enter.

All prints, whether from clubs or individuals, should be a minimum of 16"x12" and mounted.

I don't know who the adjudicator will be but it would be nice if whoever it is gave some idea, in advance of entries being submitted, of how they view the theme and what they will be looking for. Adjudicators always have preferences and sometimes quite firm views on what is and what is not allowable.

One adjudicator more or less ruled out any photoshopping, but we only learned this in the course of the adjucation. Another adjudicator insisted in there being a person in the photo; the theme that year was ARTISAN. Again this only came out during the adjudication.

Anyway, don't let any of this discourage you from thinking of entering. I always point to Billy White's winning photo above when I'm encouraging people to enter.

Now, Billy is a first class photographer, but that shot could have been taken with a box Brownie in the distant past. What makes it a great photo is seizing the moment. There will be only one crashing wave like this which startles the young lad and leaves the dog completely unconcerned.

You could have many moments like this between now and September. Seize them and enter the photo.

Michael Edwards Photography is in the Donaghmede Shopping Centre.

And in case you want to deepen your understanding of the theme, here it is in context.