So it was a great pleasure to attend the Astronomy Photographer of the Year at Greenwich, London this year after being shortlisted for the category of the Moon.
My good friend and member Bob Trevan accompanied me as I had submitted half a dozen images taken throughout 2017. The event was held at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich which aided a larger venue for this years global competition. With submissions from around the globe in the region of 4,000 images were judged. On arrival complimentary champagne and wine was given whilst we mingled with winners, runners up and shortlisted photographers. The award ceremony lasted about an hour, it was a real shame many of the winners were unable to attend including the renowned Damian Peach, apparently it was his 40th birthday so we may let him off.
Afterwards we got to walk around the new display that opened to the public the following morning.
All the images were excellent and many were targets we would go after during the following season. What was slightly disappointing was that many people won 2 or event 3 prizes even in the same category, given the amount of submissions it is hard to understand why there judges did not use their discretion to choose other people. Out of all my images, whilst I did not win or even get a runners up prize I did get shortlisted for my photo of the Moon through a 20″ telescope on the top of Tenerife, surprisingly with an iPhone. This image and details therein were published in the 7th edition of the competitions official book which I am very proud of.
At the end of the evening we retired to a hotel in London and then the following morning, Bob and I travelled back to Greenwich to have another look (with less alcohol in our systems, to review the images and to collect a complimentary copy of the book.
Overall it was a great evening and morning and a great event.
Clear Skies
Dave Shave-Wall