PHOTOGRAPHY: 13 October 2025; St Mary's Church Hall, North Shoebury.

Victory for Benfleet u3a in South Essex Photo Competition

Eight South Essex u3as combined to create a local photo competition, organised by Dave Hall of New Eastwood u3a, meeting hosted by Shoebury and Thorpe Bay u3a and photos reviewed by an independent judge, Andy Smith.  There were around 80 attendees at the event.

Each u3a provided 8 photos and these were reviewed and rated, 64 in total.  They revealed excellent quality, inventiveness and atmosphere and ranged across still life, nature, landscapes and inventive interpretations.

Judged out of 20 points for each photo, Benfleet emerged as winner with a score of 156 out of 160 with New Eastwood a very close second at 154. This success was because we had a very high and consistent standard across all of our 8 photos.

Thanks to the group members for forwarding around 20 potential entries and to Mike Murphy for making an astute selection of the final 8 entries. Also, thanks to Sue, Lee, Terry, Mavis, Ken and Mike for attending the event.

Below are our 8 final and winning entries.

This win will encourage Benfleet members to continue efforts to improve their photography skills year on year and we hope will lead to collective communication amongst these u3as to share opportunities for new locations and ways of developing skills.

Well done all, Alan