Month: August 2026

Solas National Club Championship Achievements May 2026

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Solas Photography Club competition committee selected 2 panel of images, one in Colour and one in Monochrome, and entered the Irish Photographic Federation National Club Championship which was held in the Atrium, County Buildings, Mullingar on Saturday and Sunday the 23rd and 24th May. The event was represented by Club Chair, Enda O’Loughlin, and Club Treasurer, Joe Silke. Saturday 23rd was the Monochrome printed panels and Sunday the 24th was the Colour printed panels. In total 25 IPF affiliated clubs had submitted panels to the competition. Both panels are shown below.

Solas Photography Club’s Colour Panel finished joint 2nd place along side Drogheda Photography Club. Our Monochrome panel finished 16th place, and Solas Photography Club finished 9th overall in the competition, which was a super achievement as this was the Club’s first time entering the National Club Championship.

The Club was hugely honoured to pick up a trophy for finishing joint second in the Colour panel and for picking up a Judges Favourite award for Club member Cathal Bowe for his Monochrome image “Daddy’s Girl”.

Special thanks to the Competition Committee, Anton Makarenko, Catherine O’Dowd, Joe Silke and Enda O’Loughlin, and in addition special thanks to Andreas Riemenschneider for the printed images and to Joe Silke for coordinating the printing and mounting of the images.

Stick Man — Coastal Landscape Category Winner, Clean Coasts Love Your Coast 2026

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“Stick Man” by Adrian Nolan

Some photographs are carefully planned. Others come down to being in the right place when nature decides to put on a show.

I captured “Stick Man” on Salthill Promenade during a late-summer thunderstorm—a shot I had been hoping to make for several years. As lightning flashed over Galway Bay, the coastline and Salthill’s lights came together in a scene that lasted only seconds. A long exposure allowed me to capture that fleeting moment.

The 30-second exposure smoothed the water around the rocks, while the lightning froze the spray directly beneath the strike. The result was an almost surreal contrast: a calm, silky sea set against the raw energy of the storm.

 

When I first showed the image to friends, someone noticed that the main lightning bolt looked remarkably like a stick man walking across Galway and out into Galway Bay. The name stuck.

Winning the Coastal Landscape category in the Clean Coasts Love Your Coast 2026 competition was wonderful recognition for a photograph that began with a simple plan: wait for the storm and hope lightning struck in exactly the right place.

 

Adrian Nolan – Solas Photography Club Member

May 2026 Highlights at Solas Photography Club – A Month of Inspiration, Education and Artistic Excellence

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The final month for Solas Club Year started with the result of Round 3 POTY “Open Colour” and “Narrative Portraiture”. 06-May-2026

Jennifer Willis, Chair of the Catchlight Camera Club, was our judge for the final rounds of the POTY for the advance and non- advance internal competitions, The themes for the month were “Open Colour” and “Narrative Portraiture”. Jennifer provided feedback and scores on over 80 images submitted for round 3. Jennifer put a huge amount of work into judging both themes and she particularly gave us some very interesting feedback on the images. Congratulations to all who entered and to our members who were successfully placed.

Non-Advanced – “Open Colour”

Advanced – “Open Colour”

Non-Advanced – “Narrative Portraiture”

Advanced – “Narrative Portraiture”

Long Weekend Trip to Inishmore, Aran Islands – 14th to 17th May 2026

A very special thank you to Solas Photography Club Treasurer Joe Silke for Organising the long weekend trip to Inishmore, Aran Islands. Joe planned a very detailed schedule for the weekend along with block booking accommodation for the Solas Photography Club members.

The weather was fantastic for the weekend, and the activities covered over the weekend included ferries to and from the islands, via the Cliffs of Moher on the way back offering a unique seal-level photography opportunity, photography opportunities all around the island including Kilronan Harbour, Dún Aonghasa, Poll na bPéist (Worm Hole), Kilmurvey Beach, Na Seach dTeampaill (Seven Churches), Dún Dú Chathair (Black Fort), as well as a number of evening coastal shoots, sunset on a cliff-top and Teampall Bheaná, and a bit of astro photography thrown in to top it off.

AGM and Awards Evening with SOLAS Committee – 20th May 2026

One of the most anticipated evenings of the club calendar, the Solas Photography Club AGM and the Awards Evening.

Enda O’Loughlin the Club Chair presented a summary of the year gone by for the club, reminding the members of the many activities, workshops, field trips, internal competitions such as the Wild Atlantic Way (WAW) and the Photography of the Year (POTY) for both the non-advanced and the advanced members. Enda also reminded the club of the massive success the club had in the National Shield back in October. Joe Silke provided an update on the finances of the clun after the year and where we are heading into the new season. At the AGM a motion was passed to purchase a Sound System to help support speakers and audience members heading into the new season. We also elected our committee for the 2026/2027 season, with new and returning members excited to get organising for the year ahead!

We’re delighted to share the results of all our internal competitions: 


  • Annual Wild Atlantic Way (WAW) print competition 2026 (Non-Advanced & Advanced),

  • POTY Digital Competition over 6 themes of 3 rounds.

We were delighted and honoured to have four renowned photographers and judges who have extensive photography experience which provided great feedback throughout the year, in total over 340 PDI and 30 printed images where submitted by members.


  • Seamus Costelloe (FIPF) of Kilkenny Photographic Society – KPS who judged our Wild Atlantic Way (WAW) print competition
  • Martin Kalvaster who judged  Round 1 “Open Mono” & “Game of Sport” themes
  • Suzanne Behan (FIPF, ARPS and Secretary of the Irish Photographic Federation) who judged Round 2 “Minimalism” & “Wildlife/Biodiversity”
  • Jennifer Willis (FIPF) from Catchlight Camera Club who judged Round 3 “Open Colour” & “Narrative Portraiture”.

We are extremely grateful to the judges for their time, dedication and feedback throughout the year. We also offer special thanks to our competition secretaries Catherine O’Dowd and Anton Makarenko for co-ordinating the above competitions. Congratulations to all our members for entering and to all who received awards. Thank you to all our members who participated in all of our activities, workshops, photoshoots, social events, IPF Competitions and all our Solas Club Competitions.

Wild Atlantic Way

WAW – Non Advanced

1st – Marco de Clemente
2nd – Filipe Lopes
3rd – Sandra Buck

WAW – Advanced

1st – Des Glynn
2nd – Sigita Playdon
3rd – Owen Nally

POTY Individual Themed Awards

Non Advanced
Best Open Mono Photo:
 Almila Tarakali
Best Game / Sports Photo:
Clár Ní Néill
Best Minimalism Photo:
 Filipe Lopes
Best Wildlife / Biodiversity Photo: Glenn Nolan
Best Open Colour Photo:
Ger Considine
Best Narrative Portraiture Photo:
 Michael Cullina

Advanced
Best Open Mono Photo:
 Anton Makarenko
Best Game / Sports Photo:
Owen Nally
Best Minimalism Photo:
Catherin O’Dowd
Best Wildlife / Biodiversity Photo: Des Glynn
Best Open Colour Photo:
Sigita Playdon
Best Narrative Portraiture Photo:
 Dermot Morris

Photographer of the Year

Non Advanced
1st –  Filipe Lopes
2nd – Ger Considine
3rd – Clár Ní Néill
4th – Grainne Kelly
5th – Almila Tarakali

Advanced
1st –  Sigita Playdon
2nd – Des Glynn
3rd – Owen Nally
4th – Anton Makarenko
5th – Enda O’Loughlin

April 2026 at Solas Photography Club

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Fine Art Printing with Andreas Reimenschneider 

Our April meeting welcomed back former Solas Photography Club member and good friend Andreas Reimenschneider for an inspiring and highly practical evening on photography and fine art printing.

Andreas, who runs Doorus Photography, is a well-known local professional photographer specialising in weddings, events and portraiture. Alongside his photographic work, he has developed an outstanding reputation for artwork reproduction and museum-quality fine art printing, making him the ideal person to guide members through the often-overlooked final stage of the photographic process.

During his presentation, Andreas showcased a carefully curated selection of his beautiful images, explaining the creative and technical decisions behind each one. He also brought an impressive range of fine art prints produced on different premium paper stocks, allowing members to compare textures, finishes and tonal reproduction firsthand. Seeing the same image printed on matte, lustre and fine art cotton papers demonstrated just how dramatically paper choice can influence the final presentation of a photograph. 

A particularly valuable part of the evening focused on colour management. Andreas clearly explained the differences between the major colour spaces sRGB, Adobe RGB and ProPhoto RGB and when each should be used for screen display, commercial printing and high-end fine art output. He demystified what can often seem a complex subject, giving members practical guidance on maintaining accurate colours throughout their editing and printing workflow.

To finish, Andreas shared a series of essential tips for preparing photographs for print, including image resolution, sharpening specifically for print, soft-proofing, monitor calibration and exporting files with the correct colour profiles. The session was packed with useful advice that members could immediately apply to improve the quality and consistency of their own printed photographs.

It was an engaging and informative evening that reminded us that a truly great photograph is not only captured and edited well it is also printed with care.

Light & Shadow Photography Workshop

April’s hands-on Light & Shadow Photography Workshop was one of our most creative evenings of the season, hosted by Joe Silke in the Blue Room.

The workshop explored how light and shadow can transform ordinary objects into striking photographic subjects. Using simple indoor lighting setups, members experimented with still life arrangements, household objects, flowers and everyday items, discovering how the direction, quality and shape of light can dramatically alter mood and composition.

A range of techniques was demonstrated, including creating dramatic high-contrast images, projecting patterned shadows, and using continuous lighting to produce bold monochrome photographs. Members were encouraged to experiment freely, resulting in an evening filled with imaginative images and plenty of shared ideas.

The session proved that compelling photography doesn’t require elaborate equipment just an understanding of light, a willingness to experiment, and a creative eye. It was an enjoyable and inspiring workshop that left everyone seeing familiar subjects in a completely new way.

Exploring the Burren

On 25 April, Solas Photography Club headed to The Burren for a full day of outdoor photography, enjoying one of Ireland’s most remarkable landscapes under favourable spring conditions.

Our itinerary took members to some of the Burren’s most iconic locations, including Poulnabrone Dolmen, the limestone pavements of Burren National Park, the dramatic Atlantic coastline at Fanore Beach, the famous Lone Tree, and the historic Kilmacduagh Round Tower. Along the way, members had opportunities to capture sweeping landscapes, delicate spring wildflowers, ancient monuments and coastal seascapes.

The trip catered for photographers of all experience levels, with plenty of opportunities to share ideas, exchange techniques and receive informal guidance throughout the day. Many members also experimented with macro photography, taking advantage of the Burren’s unique flora in peak bloom.

As always, the day was about more than photography it was a wonderful opportunity for members to enjoy the outdoors, strengthen friendships within the club, and return home with a diverse collection of images from one of Galway and Clare’s most inspiring locations.