Our competition this evening was judged by Eddie Lord, visiting us from the Crawley Downs Camera club. We had 32 images entered into this competition, all in one class.
It was clear during the evening that our judge was looking for impact from an image, and particularly focused on specific topics when viewing images in general. These included the following: –
- Good tonal range in monochrome images
- Generally sharp, especially the main subject area
- Impactful, whether visual or emotional
- Details retained in highlight areas, not blown out
- Details retained in dark areas
- Key-lines around the image, especially for dark images on a dark screen
- Recession in landscapes
- Interesting detail in the image
- Avoiding distracting bright areas at the perimeter of the frame
- Complementary colours in an image
- For images of animals, indications of behaviour improve the image [the so called three Fs ]
We had ten images held back for a second viewing . Seven of these images scored 9½ or 10 points each, and are reproduced below.
The first of these 9½ scores was ‘Sane’ by Paul S, described as an interesting example of street photography. Eddie felt that the visible bicycle frame at the lower left did distract from the image.
The second image with a 9½ score was ‘Lion Fish Challenge’ by Dave S. This image was described variously as impactful, dramatic, and as having good emotional content. The fact the image is tilted in the frame was considered effective, giving it a dynamic feel. A good quality image, considering it was probably taken through glass.
The third image scoring 9½ points on the evening was ‘Picturesque St Mary’s Island’ by Chris R. Eddie declared that the lighthouse and the cloud surrounding it were interesting, and drew the viewer into the image. He felt the causeway acted as an effective lead-in line, and that the light in the sky and reflected on the water were both a good feature. He did comment on the photographer being recorded in the foreground, which he felt worked to introduce an element of scaling, but he kept asking himself if this ‘added’ to the picture.
The next image to score 9½ points on the evening was ‘Peacock’ by Mandy B. This image was described as a good close-up portrait, with a very sharp subject. Eddie specifically commented on the colour matched keyline, the catchlight in the birds eye, and the dynamic tilt to the head, which all added to the success of the image.
The last of the images scoring 9½ points was ‘Gorner Glacier, Switzerland’ by Phillip R. Eddie described this as a good travel picture that would look striking mounted on a wall at home. He admired the recession apparent in the image, the way the detail in the picture added to the sense of scale, as well as the letterbox presentation.
The first of the images scoring 10 on the evening was ‘St Paul’s from the Southbank ‘ by Chris R. This was another monochrome image described as having a good tonal range. Whilst Eddie described this as a familiar image he did complement the interesting sky, the overall picture sharpness, and the good level of detail recorded in the image.
Our final image, and the winning score on the evening of 10+ points, was ‘Last days of summer’ also by Chris R. Eddie described this as a jolly photo, with great colour, including complementary colours across the colour wheel. He felt the dark sky worked well. The flower was sharp, with the added bonus of the insect on the flower adding a clear focal point.
So our congratulations go to Chris R, not only for taking the only two tens awarded on the evening, but also for his third image also being among those held back for the final review. All of our other ‘finalists’ are also to be congratulated for the many fine images seen on the night.
Our thanks also go to Eddie Lord for once again making the journey to our club for an evening of useful comments and critique, as well as for the scoring of our competition.
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