Before I left for Scotland on my North Atlantic trip I entered four prints in the annual Interstate Competition of the Australian Photographic Society.  This is where people from camera clubs all over Australia compete on a State basis and the standard is very high.

I did very well with one of the prints.

Michael Hardy at Canberra Blues Society Xmas Party, 2011

And this is the one.  Last year I had won first place for monochrome print with it in the 2012 APSCON National Competition.  In the Interstate Competition, I was awarded Herbert Medal for best monochrome print and also best overall image.  Astonishingly, this has won me a 10-day photographic trip to New York with UDesign Photo Tours.

I had visited there two years ago with my partner but that was mainly a social trip and this is a photographic tour.  It doesn’t happen until next October and I haven’t done any planning so far but I’m expecting we’ll probably also spend a week in New Orleans.