Still time to enter Black Isle Horticultural Society's online challenge as top category is revealed
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ORGANISERS of a quirky Black Isle competition for green-fingered garden lovers are flagging the impending deadline for entries – and have revealed the most popular category to date.
The Black Isle Horticultural Society (BIHS) is holding an online challenge which will reach its climax on the day its traditional summer show would have been held – if not for the coronavirus pandemic.
It was to have been held this Saturday, August 8 and would have come hot on the heels of other hardy annuals such as the Black Isle Show and Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival.
Determined to nurture interest and encourage everyone from budding enthusiasts to seasoned hands to enjoy some good-natured, just for fun competition, BIHS came up with the idea of going online to set seven varied challenges.
The seven challenges include making cakes, taking photos of odd-shaped vegetables, creating decorated flowerpots, and even tasks for the under-14s.
There are no entry fees or prizes, but the fun – and the glory of coming first – have been a big draw, and BIHS secretary Graham Sullivan said they had been “encouraged” by the response. The winner of one challenge will also feature in the 2021 show, and a cup will be awarded for the final challenge.
To date, the most popular category is Challenge 7, for a close-up photo of any horticultural subject. It will be judged by well-known Black Isle photographer Andrew Dowsett, who is looking forward to the task.
Commenting on this being an online competition, he said “ Although I have always had a preference to viewing and handling prints the quality of computer screens and tablets is so good that you can appreciate pictures now in such fine detail and pay attention to the strengths and weaknesses of composition and technique which will always be important for a successful photograph.”
Mr Sullivan added: "“We’ve been encouraged by the response we’ve had to these challenges already and to previous competitions we’ve been running. We hope people will have a go at some of the online challenges, and also enter some real flowers, vegetables, cakes and crafts when we again hold our summer show in the real world in August 2021!”
There’s still time to join in the challenge - entries must be in by 10am this Saturday. See http://www.spanglefish.com/blackislehorticulturalsociety/ for full details.
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