We held a Smartphone image competition on the 16 November 2022, over Zoom, where submitted images could only be taken and edited on a Smartphone or tablet. This competition was inspired by the enthusiastic reception to the talk given to the club by Jeanette (Jet) Lendon on the 28 September. The blog covering that earlier evening is on this site — follow the link:-:-https://photocraftcameraclub.co.uk/making-the-most-of-smartphone-photography/
The competition attracted 60 entries. It is encouraging to see such a large ‘turnout’ for a competition, probably the result of most people feeling they have this type of camera always with them.
The images were scored online by the members ahead of the evening. Brian C was master of ceremonies for the competition and advised us that the club members’ scoring of many images was surprisingly variable and even unpredictable. Perhaps our individual reaction to visiting judges scores for our own images needs to be tamped down a notch or two, given that as a group we hold such divergent views.
Interestingly, members have put forward smartphone images into our regular competitions in the past, and these entries have done very well with the source not being generally apparent. The algorithms and AI built into modern smartphones are remarkably effective, especially when considering the results obtained for the most challenging low light conditions. This can be seen in some of the images below.
Brian gave us an initial slideshow of all of the images, and then took a random meander through various pictures to ask the photographer why they took that image, and which Smartphone and software app was used in editing. Only one member was using a tablet, and most major phone manufacturers were represented in the competition.
The evening finished with the big reveal. Brian gave us the marks awarded for the ten highest scoring pictures, five of which are shown below.
It is pleasing to see new club members Tim and Nina entering our competitions for the first time. Time had a very striking picture of the Battersea Power Station chimneys lit up in vibrant colours, and Nina had two images in the top ten, including the overall winner above. Congratulations to her. Nina was using a Pixel 6 phone.
Chris R is to be particularly congratulated, as four of his pictures were awarded top ten scores. Maybe that iPhone has something special happening in it, when in the right hands.
David P had two of his entries in the top ten, using a tablet for his images. His images were all tabletop studies as the tablet is not always in your pocket.
This is the second picture displayed here by Chris R – another occasion during the evening when he implied that he turned around on his travels, and saw the image just asking to be taken.
Philip R joined us on our Zoom meeting tonight from his new home away from our Wallington base, and was rewarded with a top ten place with the evocative image above. Philip was using a Motorola G7 Play
All of our member are to be congratulated on the wide variety of subjects, and styles of picture, entered into the competition. We saw many high impact images during the session which should inspire all of us to take out that phone more often and in more varied situations.
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