It was a great pleasure as always to invite Rosemary Wilman HonFRPS ABPE AFIAP APAGB to judge our final competition to select the best of the best images entered this season. As there were fewer prints entered into our regular competitions this year, it was decided to allow members to select three of their own images instead of two for both the Print and PDI Of The Year competitions.

In all there were 21 prints and 28 PDIs entered. Some cracking images so well done to everyone who entered.

Rosemary said that it’s a pity there were not so many prints as they are the ultimate way of appreciating an image. I think so too, but do appreciate that considerably more work, skill and expense is required to produce them even if they are printed commercially. A print provides much more resolution of detail and more accurate colours than a projector or screen limited by their pixel depth and to the sRGB colour space. Being able to handle and look at a print has an intimacy that cannot be felt with a screen image.

Rosemary judged the prints first, holding back 8 of them before narrowing down to her first, second and third choices. She announced them in reverse order.

Third was Boscome Pier by Alfred. She said the pier was very symmetrical as piers often are. It had a lovely, slightly unnatural feel about it. The minimal use of colour worked really well.

Second was Present and Past by Brian. She said the main flower was rich in colour and texture and the ‘Past’ element depicted with just the right amount of emphasis. An interesting interpretation of the theme.

Our Winner was Alfred again with Sundown low tide, so congratulations to him for this and for getting two of his images in the top three. She praised the strong lighting in the scene handled well. A busy top half of the picture but it blended well with the overall composition. The two cyclists in the foreground were in just the right place and a necessary part of the image.

Rosemary held back 11 of the PDIs saying she liked to do this to give us punters a bit of anticipation and excitement. Some really stunning photos amongst all the entries so I didn’t envy her task of making the final selection.

In third place she chose Harbour lights by Dave S. She thought this an interesting composition with three light sources illuminating different parts of the night-time seascape. The patch of light striking the bars was in just the right place to lead the eye to the lighthouse on the horizon.

In second position was Starburst Dahlia by Kevin. A monochrome flower, slightly out of symmetrical with nice texture throughout. It just worked for her.

And our PDI Winner was Fox’s night time encounter by Mandy. Rosemary thought this dramatic shot of two foxes engaged in a face-off in the dark an amazing image beautifully captured.

Mandy and I haven’t been able to come to the club for several months and it was good that one of us at least was able to go away this evening with an award. I must apologise for not being able to offer the print mounting service during that time or write blogs or the Newsletter and I would like to thank Brian and David M in particular for filling in some of the gaps for me.

But it was good to be back, and for such an entertaining evening. Our special thanks go to Rosemary for her insightful and constructive commentary and her able judging of our work.