Best of the Best 2026
(also called Picture of the Year 2026)
Tuesday 5 May, 2026. 7:30pm in The Tower
This end-of-season special event takes the top two images from each of the five rounds in the Print and PDI Leagues, making 40 prints and 40 PDIs.
Entries from all four classes (Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced and Gold) compete against each other to decide the season’s “Picture of the Year” (one Print and one PDI).
Important: If your print came 1st or 2nd in any round of the print league and you want it to have a chance of winning Print of the Year you must bring it (or ask a friend to bring it) along on Tuesday 5 May.
Selected from the first and second images in each round of the PDI and Print leagues.
Winners
Winner of St. Catherine’s Cup for Print of the Year is John Tierney for Mind the Step
Winner of St. Giles’ Cup for PDI of the year is Richard Murphy for Out on the Streets
Print of the Year 2024
| Position | League round and position | Author | Image title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2025-26_PRN_R3_A_1st | John Tierney | Mind The Step |
| 2nd | 2025-26_PRN_R4_B_1st | David Howe | Seal pup asleep |
| 3rd | 2025-26_PRN_R2_G_1st | Eric Blake | Ballintoy at Dawn |
PDI of the Year 2024
| Position | League round and position | Author | Image title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2025-26_PDI_R2_B_2nd | Richard Murphy | Out on the streets |
| 2nd | 2025-26_PDI_R2_A_2nd | Jo Grimes | The Majestic Fjord |
| 3rd | 2025-26_PDI_R1_A_1st | James West | Arctic Tern chicks demanding food |
All images eligible for the 2026 Picture of the Year/Best of the Best competition
File name prefixes (where present) refer to the results on the night:
HB – Held Back
N – Not held back
O – omitted and not judged because
- the print was not available on the night
You can see the placed, commended and held back images from each round in the Internal Competition Archive
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Judge: Maria Leekblade LRPS AFIAP DPAGB
About Maria
Maria Leekblade is a Level 3 SCPF judge.
She developed her photography skills as an adult learner at Brockenhurst College and by being an active member of Lymington and Southampton Camera Clubs. She also found time to be an active member of Winchester Photographic Society for several years.
In 202-21 we welcomed Maria as our judge for PDI Round 1. She returned in 2021-22 as judge for PDI Round 2 and in 2023 she judged PDI Round 4. She was one of the judges for our 2024 Annual Exhibition.
She was on the committee of Southampton International Exhibition for 8 years.
According to her profile on eventbrite,
Maria has lived in the New Forest for nearly 20 years and her love of photography started with her animals.
However, Maria’s heart lies at home – her animals are always a firm favourite and the local landscape, people, flora & fauna that share our stunning Forest will always be her first love, and being able to capture them remains the motivation and pleasure for picking up the camera.
image ©Lymington Camera Club
Last updated 2026-02-19