INVITING Claire Carter (Carter Art) back as a speaker this April was a wise move. She was an inspiration, and we are happy to recommend her.

“Patagonia in Winter” was a destination familiar to only one of our members, and whilst her images were mostly taken in 2013 and 2018, they still reflect the style of the landscape and wildlife of this remote area, and certainly were characteristic of Claire’s style, colours and compositions, that are frankly stunning.

Claire took us on a fascinating journey through the smoking mountains and arid steppes of the vast geographical area that is situated within Argentina and Chile in the lee of the iconic Fitz Roy Mountain range in the Andes.

Windy, chilly and barren, the landscapes lend themselves to Claire’s photography, especially the panoramic techniques that she employs and generously shared with us.

Her amazing landscapes typically featured well researched foreground interest that is her trademark, and included a wealth of native wildlife captured opportunistically on her journeys.

Not known for her bird photography, Claire never misses an opportunity to catch them on the wing and armed with a ready primed second camera she ably captured Caracas, Siskins, Wild Geese and Steamer Ducks alongside the Flamingos that appeared.

Claire willingly shared her knowledge and expertise and engaged with members’ questions before being warmly thanked and reassured of future inclusion in our club programme.

In May’s meeting Keith Spicer returned to NRPS as a judge after quite some time and delivered his awards having scrutinised our April 2026 entries for the DPI colour and mono awards.

Keith’s commentary on the selection we supplied was, as always, both appreciative and helpful in terms of the consistency of standards and the technical aspects of the art. He was concise and focused, and his choices ranged across the genres presented, and included a range of colourful shapes and abstracts.

No one overly dominated the field except perhaps Tony Nineham, but some other familiar names returned to the frame in both mono and colour sections.

Winner of the colour section was Bill Collett with “Train” whilst Tony Nineham’s colourful “Busy Bee” was a close second, and David Bathard took third place with “Osprey with Catch”.

Christine Cillia-la-Corte was highly commended as was Diana Walker, and Tony.

There were six commended. Lou Bailey made the most of a recent trip to photograph pelicans in Greece, whilst Pamela Bruce Lockhart revelled in “Birmingham Reflected “, Suzanne Ladd lazed on a beach with “Enjoy the Moment”, and Jenny Short captured the action at Paulton Rovers with “Shadowing”.

Jenny Short won the mono section with a portrait from the Midsomer Norton Wassail entitled “Melody in Monochrome”.

Tony Nineham again featured, this time in second place with “Dockside Crane”, and Bill Collett’s “Stonehenge” was third. A Lou Bailey pelican “Preening” was HC together with Jenny Short’s “Helical Harmony”, a study in light and shadow. There were three commended pieces: Graham Nicholls with “Seed Heads”, Pamela Bruce-Lockhart’s “Curious” and Tony Nineham’s “Please Close the Gate”.