This week was our final Open PDI competition of the club year, which was judged for us by David Smith. We had 6 entries in Standard Class, and 28 entries in the Advanced Class.
In Standard Class our judge commented about the quality of the light captured in a number of images, or the difficulty presented by adverse lighting conditions in other cases. He also stressed the impact of colours on the success of the shot, in particular those displaying either complementary colours or those displaying analogous colours.
Our Standard Class runner up image on the evening was Little Blue Boats by Kevin B. The judge commented on the scene bringing the viewers eye through the image into the vista, as well as the balance between the blue of the boats and other colours visible on the jetty. The image scored 9½ points.
Our Standard Class winner on the evening was Lattice Leaves, by Barbara A. The judge commented on the very low colour content, but explained that he liked this leaf structure visible in the image. He comments were that the tight crop worked well, and that the capture was well seen.
In Advanced Class our judge commented particularly about the range of images submitted, from a fully pixelated bird to the heavily manipulated light painting, and from a table top food study to various nature shots. He also commented on the shutter speed variations chosen for different shots recording water in motion. In general, he believed members had made the right shutter choices for each of these images. We had a couple of building interior shots submitted on the evening, and David Smith commented on how difficult and challenging this type of photography can be. He recommended that we look at the work of Clive Tanner from the Maidstone area – described as a master of this genre.
Additionally, and as we have heard during previous competitions, many comments were made about the sharpness of the image (especially the eyes), and the crop around the main subject. Some tonight were judged too tight and some too generous. Even the presence of ‘something red’ was noted, and perhaps scored, on a few images.
Our Advanced Class runner up on the evening was ‘Juvenile Robin flexing its wings’ by Mandy B. Our judge particularly liked the sharp eye in the image, the motion blur in the wings, and the quality of the out-of-focus background.
Our winner on the evening was an example of street photography titled ‘Just Walk on By’ by Martin F, described as a great capture, both interesting and indeed fascinating .
Congratulations to all our successful entries on the evening. These results will be added to the running score totals to establish the overall winner of the Open PDI completion for the club year. These final results for both classes are available elsewhere on the website.