Second & Third Print Competitions of 2020-21

Lily by Liz Barber LRPS

Our 2nd and 3rd print competitions both took place on 6 May, having been delayed from earlier in the year due to covid restrictions. The prints were forwarded to our judge, Malcolm Bull, ahead of the meeting which took place via Zoom. Malcolm is well known to the club and is very experienced in a wide range of genres. He was very pleased to be judging prints which he described as a rarity this season! Whilst scoring he gave some well-considered tips for improvements.

Best images of the evening

The best print in the 2nd competition was “Autumn Reds” by Martin Tomes; a wonderful woodland scene at High Beeches, with vibrant colours, and which the judge described as a fantastic photo; the photographer having thought deeply about the composition.

The best print of the 3rd competition was “Lily” by Liz Baber; a delightful and very attractive study of a lily, showing a great deal of skill, the centre of the flower being very sharp and the rest nicely soft and blending into the background.

Worthy winners indeed!

As always, the standard of all images was high with much to commend them. The results are given in more detail below.

2nd Print Competition

In total there were 22 prints, of which 2 scored the full 20 points, 3 scored 19 points and 4 scored 18 points.

Autumn Reds by Martin Tomes
Autumn Reds by Martin Tomes

The two images scoring 20 were:

  • “Autumn Reds” by Martin Tomes already described as the best print in this competition and showing a lovely woodland scene.
  • “Triptych in One” by Chris West; a fascinating street scene in Cuba with interest throughout the scene and which the judge described as well spotted, well composed, and appropriately titled! 

The three images scoring 19 were: “Iris” by Liz Barber; another very creative study of a flower, again executed and processed with great skill - the flowers appearing out of a misty, carefully blended background, “Hinderton Hall” by Martin Tomes; a very attractive B&W image of a steam railway scene, with plenty of steam, mood and character and “Reflection in the Buffet Car – Bluebell Railway”; showing distorted reflections of bystanders on the station platform and challenging the viewer to find the photographer!

The four images scoring 18 were: “1920’s Movie Still” by Janet Brown; a really nice B&W photo of two characters on a movie set, “The Kingfisher” by Anne Nagle; a charming portrait of a Kingfisher displaying all of its fine colours, “Aldwick Dawn” by Dean Sephton; a stunning beach scene with lovely reflections and “Scrub Hare” by Anne Nagle; a close-up portrait of a hare, showing wonderful detail – leaving the viewer wondering how she got so close?

The remaining projected images were also complimented but are too numerous to mention individually.

3rd Print Competition

In total there were 22 prints, of which 2 scored the full 20 points, 3 scored 19 points and 4 scored 18 points.

The two images scoring 20 were:

  • “Lily” by Liz Barber, already described as the best image in the competition and showing a beautiful presentation of a Lily.
  • “You scratch my back…” by Janet Brown; showing two grey ponies reaching to groom each other. With a strong ‘aaahh factor’ and co-ordinated colours the image worked very well.

The 3 prints scoring 19 marks were: “Hoopoo” by Anne Nagle; showing the punk rocker of the bird world – a lovely composition of an interesting bird, “Stay right where you are!” by Nigel Cherry; showing large stag with beautiful colouring, popping out of the page but uncomfortably close and “Wings” by Martin Tomes; a gorgeous study of a swan swimming on a local pond and nicely framed by reeds.

The 4 images scoring 18 marks were: “The Mulberry Beetle (Cyanotype)” by Dean Sephton; a well presented and very artistic photograph of the decaying Mulberry Harbour, “A Wintry Journey Home” by Liz Barber; a very atmospheric, artistic and very original photograph which broke all the rules, “Gulls in the mist” by Daisy Kane; a captivating wildlife scene showing a large flock of gulls flying out of the mist towards the viewer and “After a stormy landing!”; a portrait of a military pilot stepping out of his aircraft after a difficult landing.

The other prints were also complimented but are too numerous to describe individually.

The judge’s comments on all images may be viewed in the attached files and the images themselves may be viewed by following the links at the bottom of this report!

Following a very enjoyable evening, Martin Tomes brought the event to a conclusion with a vote of thanks to Malcolm.

Submitted by Nigel Cherry on