2011 SALON TRAIL

In the Welsh International Projected Image Salon I received six acceptances and was awarded a certificate - Commended. From an entry in excess of 15,500 images it's not bad !


At Home with Che.


We really "tripped" across this picture. During a trip to Cuba we strolled down the streets of Havana "hunting" for pictures. I noticed a chicken hanging from a balcony above and decided to find out who owned the chicken. During the trip I was pretty successful in getting different subjects to pose with their prized chicken - much to the annoyance of the other club members ! Anyway, after entering the "cassa particular" we managed to eventually locate the owner of the chicken. The pose was as the owner wanted to display his prized chicken (with a little encouragement ! ) - a unique image ! If you visit the image under the Gallery / Cuba section of this website you will notice the owner grasping the convertible note I payed him as a fee - I think it's good to part with something in return for that level of co-operation. We did manage to talk to and photograph everyone in this house - all unique and well worth the visit. We emerged feeling elated because I realized the significance of what I had captured...

Now someone else has too !

It will be a long time before I will forget that visit to Cuba - a very proud people - some day I will return...


1. The year has kicked off with my first registered success.
In the Welsh International Projected Image Salon I received 6 acceptances and
was awarded a certificate - Commended for "At Home With Che".
Image: http://brianhopper.photium.com/photo7924994.html
Results: http://www.thewpf.co.uk/

2. Another 5 acceptances and my first medal awarded in 2011 - in 24eme Salon Photo de Riedisheim in France.
I was awarded a PSA Gold Medal for "Dunluce Castle".
Image :http://brianhopper.photium.com/photo7919332.html
Results: http://www.jpvweb.com/spr2011/resultats/web/palmares_3sections_web.html
Catalogue: http://www.spr-photo.com/

3. Another 10 acceptances in Serbia (that's 10 accepted from 12 entered & 3 images were new ) This time it's "PORTRAIT 2011" run by Photoclub 202.
Results:http://www.photoclub202.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=203%3Aportrait-2011-&catid=26%3Arezultati-2011〈=english

4. A whopping 51 acceptances with three awards in The Great British Small Print Circuit 2011.
Awards: FIAP Ribbon & an Honourable Mention.
Results: http://www.westcumbriaphotogroup.co.uk/results2011/ardcolawd.pdf
Award: Honourable Mention.
Results: http://www.westcumbriaphotogroup.co.uk/results2011/ardtraawd.pdf
Results & Awarded Images :http://www.westcumbriaphotogroup.co.uk/gbspc2011/results2011.php
Winners Gallery: http://www.westcumbriaphotogroup.co.uk/gbspc2011/gallery2011.php

5. Another 12 acceptances with 5 awards in the 98th Southampton International Exhibition of Photography. The award of 2 FIAP Gold, 1 salon medal and 2 H.C's is the highest achievement by an Irish photographer in any International Salon to date.
Results: http://brianhopper.photium.com/news36680.html

6. 8 acceptances with 2 Highly Commended at home in the IPF 2011 National Print & Projected Images competition in Athlone.

7. This time just 3 acceptances in the Gran Tour delle Colline 2011 in Italy. Somehow only the free section uploaded. This salon was very poorly organized this year - in a small country like Ireland I know of three entrants who had difficulty with their entries - one managed to get a refund because none of his images were registered ! Very poor value / service for the €45 entry fee. When I contacted the salon chairman, Silvano Monchi, I was told no other author had any difficulty. Clearly a large number of authors were affected and will probably have difficulty registering acceptances with FIAP and PSA - one to avoid !

8. In the Bristol Salon of Photography 2011 I had 6 acceptances. Just taking a quick look at the statistics: 1743 entrants from 62 countries with a total of 13,687 images entered. This is one of the biggest salons in the UK - to have images accepted here is an achievement in itself!

9. In The London Salon of Photography I was awarded a salon medal. Normally around two hundred images are accepted in this annual salon / exhibition. The maximum anyone can achieve is two acceptances - members of the London Salon are permitted to have two images each exhibited so the remainder are hotly contested. To be awarded a medal is something special. To have two club members awarded a medal each is very, very special - in this the centenary year. A big congratulations to Michelle McNally who was awarded a medal with her image "Little Ballerina".

10. In this year's 20th Trierenberg Super Circuit 2011 I entered four monochrome and four colour prints. I received my first ever 100% acceptance success - 32 acceptances in the four salons! Chris's usual hand-written note : "Excellent Brian - What Else ? Best Regards"

11. In The Great British Small Print Circuit 2011 I was awarded a FIAP Blue Badge for Best Photographer in Arddangosfa / Exhibition of Photography.

12. In the 149th Edinburgh Photographic Society International Exhibition 2011 I was awarded a FIAP Ribbon and a Highly Commended - 5 out of 8 entries were accepted in the salon.

13. In ROCK 2011 in Serbia I had 9 images accepted.

14. In Fotoforum Ruzomberok 2011 in Slovakia I achieved five acceptances with a FIAP Gold Medal and a FIAP Ribbon awarded. Top monochrome image in an International Salon - brilliant !

15. In the 2nd Spanish Andorran International Digital Circuit 2011 I achieved 15 acceptances. It's interesting to compare the scores across the three circuits involved - it varied but then so do different judges ...

16. In The 52nd Chinese Photographic Association International Salon of Pictorial Photography 2011 in Hong Kong I achieved four acceptances - two each in colour print and projected images.

17. In The 1st Taichung International Exhibition of Photography 2011 in Taiwan I received three acceptances.

18. In the 32nd Northern Counties International Salon of Photography I was awarded an NCPF Ribbon and also gained five acceptances. It is indeed rewarding to "blood" a new image and to receive an award first time out.

19. In the Tallaght 21st International Salon of Photographic Art I was awarded a FIAP Gold Medal, three ribbons and collected nine acceptances en route. My FIAP Gold medal brings my tally to five - a new image this time (first time out) "Fisherman at Lough Acurry"

20. In the 7eme Salon Mondial Photographique De Limours 2011 in France I was awarded an RPS Medal for third place in the monochrome section and a PSA HM (ribbon) in the colour section. In this salon I had seven out of my eight images accepted.

21. In the Swansea International Salon 2011 I was awarded a Judge's Certificate and five acceptances.

22. In Real Sociedad Fotografica de Zaragoza in Spain I was awarded a FIAP Silver and a FIAP Ribbon. I also achieved 5 acceptances.

23. In The International Sillian Organisation - ISO2011- I was awarded a FIAP ribbon with another 6 acceptances.

24. In the 8th AC-FOTO German Mega Circuit 2011 I was awarded 3 Hm's with a whopping 44 acceptances.

25. In Photolovers Circuit in India I accumulated 6 acceptances although the "results" are not yet finalised. This is unusual for a salon - obviously something went wrong and it seems it will take some time to sort matters out.

26. In Foto Club Novi Sad in Serbia ("Animals 2012") I had 8 acceptances with two new images "blooded"

27. In 1st Wideangle Salon in India I achieved 6 acceptances with aanother new image accepted.

28. In FIAP's 6th World Cup for Clubs I achieved 4 acceptances and was also awarded a FIAP Bronze Medal. I was personally delighted with this result - our club, Dundalk Photographic Society, was placed as runners-up (we won it last year) and I was awarded the only FIAP medal I hadn't managed to collect - a bronze !