What a competition! Our club season has come to a close for the summer, and we certainly finished in style.
Congratulations to everyone who took part in last night’s Blackwater Photographic Society Photographer of the Year competition.

Advanced

A nail-biting finish! Kieran O’Mahony and Paul Madigan tied on 140 in the open tjop 5, with Kieran taking the title on the 7th-image tie-break, 25 vs 24. John Flynn finished close behind on 136 — just four points separated the top three!

Kieran O’Mahony — 140
Paul Madigan — 140
John Flynn — 136

Intermediate

Jim Heffernan — 117
Brian Power — 106
Geraldine Dennehy — 96

Non-Advanced

Sheila Horgan — 116
Brendan McPhillips — 114
John Ward — 109

2026 Photographer of the year: Kieran O Mahony

Best Overall Image: Kieran O Mahony

Best Monochrome: Kieran O Mahony

A huge thank you to everyone who entered, and to our judging panel: Vivian Buckley, Seamus Mulcahy, and Breda Kiely Morgan. We truly appreciate the time, effort, and expertise you gave to the evening. A massive Thank you to John Brennan our Competition Sec who had everything in order and everyone in check for the night to run as smoothly as it did.

Well done to all! 

Please see below for a taste of what was on show last night.
Have a great summer — we’ll be back in action again this September!

We are very pleased to announce that we have received a grant of €900 through the 2026 Small capital investment grant from Cork County Council. This has enabled us to purchase a new backdrop and stand as well as new studio lightning equipment for club use.
This will be of great benifit to our club.
We are very greatful to the Cork county council for their support.

Blackwater Photographic Society was delighted to welcome guest speaker John Tait from East Cork Camera Group to our club meeting last Monday night.

John treated us to a wonderful presentation covering a wide range of photography, including wildlife, landscape, and sports photography. He shared some truly stunning wildlife images from the beautiful East Cork coastline, featuring short-eared owls, yellowhammers, snow buntings, and much more.

During the second half of the evening, John took us through highlights from his most recent trip to Sweden, where he showcased incredible prints of golden eagles, black woodpeckers, and other remarkable wildlife.

He also spoke about the importance of printing photographs so they can be properly appreciated and enjoyed for years to come.
We would like to sincerely thank John for making the journey and for delivering such a fantastic night.

His presentation was both inspiring and engaging, and he held the attention of our members throughout the evening.

Some more great news today for Blackwater Photographic Society on the Competition front! Our own Paul Madigan has been awarded a FIAP Gold Medal for his stunning image ” *Cattle Egret* ” at the *FIAP Nature Biennial 2026* .

Ireland took 1st place in the Print Section, winning the prestigious FIAP World Cup. Both Paul’s image and Kieran O Mahonys print images were a key part of that winning panel. This is a great achievement at a global level.

We are delighted to also share that Paul Madigan, Kieran O Mahony and John Flynn BPS were also part of Ireland’s digital panel. And all three of our members — Kieran, John, and Paul — each had 2 images accepted in the Digital Section (6 out of 20 iages in total digital images from Blackwater).

For the full announcement and details of all the Irish award winners, check out the Irish Photographic Federation’s post on Facebook.

We are delighted to share some incredible news from this weekend’s Irish Photographic Federation National Shield which was held at the Barbican Centre in Drogheda on Saturday, November 15th.

The National Shield is a major national photography competition designed to showcase the best emerging photographic talent across Ireland.

This year our club achieved its strongest-ever result in this competition:

✨ Monochrome Panel – 1st Place
✨ Colour Panel– 2nd Place

 Overall National Shield Champions 2025

Across both panels, our photographers scored *230 out of a possible 240 points*, placing Blackwater Photographic Society at the very top of the national rankings. The quality and consistency across the both panels was exceptional and we’re thrilled to see the hard work of our members recognised by the judges.

A special congratulations goes to John Ward, whose image in the Colour Section received an Honourable Mention in the individual awards, a fantastic achievement on a national stage.

We would also like to extend a sincere thank you to Niamh Barrett from Mallow Camera Club, who kindly transported our prints to Drogheda on the day. Your help is very much appreciated.

Finally, a huge thank you to all our members who submitted images, supported the panel selection process and helped prepare the prints. And many thanks to the IPF, the judges, and Drogheda Photographic Club for hosting such a great event. A huge well done to our friends at Solas Club on their achievements and Mallow, Blarney both scoring strong results on the day.

We’re incredibly proud of this result and proud to share our Colour and Mono panels with you below.

Feature Photographer of the Week – Geraldine Dennehy

This week we’re delighted to feature Geraldine Dennehy, a wonderfully diverse photographer whose work spans sports, portraits, families, and children.

Geraldine is an active member of our BPS Committee, where she plays a key role in organising many of our model shoots. If she had to pick a favourite subject, it would no doubt be horses — a passion clearly reflected in her stunning equestrian images.

Known throughout the show jumping community, Geraldine isn’t afraid to brave any weather to capture the perfect shot.

Below is a selection of her beautiful work over the years

Blackwater Photographic Society Exhibition – Now on Display!

We’re delighted to announce that our Arts Festival Exhibition is now open for viewing at Herlihy’s Centra, Main Street, Mallow.

The display offers a wonderful insight into the diverse styles and subjects captured by some of our talented club members. If you’re interested in purchasing any of the prints, contact details are available on the window display.

A huge thank you to all members who contributed images and to those who gave their time to help hang the exhibition. Special thanks to Tom and the team at Herlihy’s for generously providing the space to showcase our work.

Be sure to drop by and have a look!

Interested in photography?

Our club will be back meeting in September at the Mallow Day Care Centre (beside the swimming pool). Keep an eye on our socials for exact dates and times – coming soon!

On Monday May 25th we held the final of our Blackwater Photographic Society Photographer of the Year competition, with 218 images submitted by 17 members across three categories – Advanced, Intermediate and Non-Advanced.

A huge thank you to everyone who entered, supported, or helped organise this fantastic event, and to John Brennan and Kieran O’ Mahony for their work in organising this year’s competition.

We were privileged to welcome three exceptional judges:

• Michael Strapec AIPF, EFIAP – of Blarney Photography Club, fresh from earning his Associateship last week.
• Suzanne Beehan FIPF – ARPS – IPF Secretary and passionate wildlife photographer.
• Jennifer Willis FRPS, FIPF, MPAGB, BPE4, EFIAP* – Chair of Catchlight Camera Club and award winning photographer.

Their expert commentary and thoughtful scoring from our judges were greatly appreciated.

Category Winners:
Advanced
🥇 Paul Madigan – 1st Place
🥈 Kieran O’Mahony – 2nd
🥉 John Flynn – 3rd

Intermediate
🥇 Wendy White – 1st Place
🥈 Jim Heffernan – 2nd
🥉 Brian Power – 3rd

Non-Advanced
🥇 Katie Angland – 1st Place
🥈 John Ward – 2nd
🥉 Donna Owens – 3rd

A special mention to Julie O’Donnell, John Flynn and Kieran O’ Mahony whose images were highlighted by the judges as among their favourites of the night – a wonderful achievement!

Well done to everyone who took part. The standard of work was incredibly high, and we’re already looking forward to next year’s competition!

We were honoured to welcome Gerard O Meara , a distinguished photographer from Mallow, Co. Cork, as our guest speaker last Monday night.

 A Lifetime Through the Lens
Gerard has spent decades capturing the essence of local life, architecture, and nature in and around Mallow. His extraordinary body of work not only showcases his artistic vision, but also serves as a priceless historical archive of the town’s people streetscapes, and landmarks dating back to the 1960s.

One of his most impactful contributions has been the donation of over 42,000 film negatives to the county library—an incredible gift that ensures Mallow’s visual story lives on for generations.

A huge thank you from Blackwater.