Our third competition of the 2023-24 season was on ‘any subject’ and took place on 25 January 2024. It was judged by Chris Dixon ARPS of Horndean Camera Club. Chris briefed us on how he proposed to judge our images; the key consideration being Expressive Quality, as advocated by Ken Scott. This was music to our ears and this, together with Chris’ sense of humour, set the scene for an enjoyable evening.
Chris chose his favourite images and then a number of Highly Commended and Commended images. He was particularly impressed by the variety and quality of the entries.
Judge’s favourite images of the evening:
The judge’s favourites were:
- Prints: “Green Iguana” by Ruth Rusby – a very well seen and well taken photograph with lovely colouring – the judge said he would have liked to have taken it himself!
- PDI: “Autumn Reds” by Daisy Kane – a multi-layer image of red autumn leaves, which the judge described as working beautifully.
A further 5 prints were Highly Commended and 3 commended and 6 PDIs were Highly Commended with 4 Commended.
Printed Images:
- Highly Commended: “Sundown over the Downs” by Liz Barber – a very tranquil image with lovely blue and yellow tone, together with reflections in a pond.
- Highly Commended: “Autumn Reflections” by Liz Barber – an enjoyable impressionistic view of trees by a lake; the eye being drawn in by the lighting.
- Highly Commended: “Walking through Autumn” by Dean Sephton – a lovely engaging view of a couple walking through a ‘tunnel’ of trees with beautiful autumn leaves.
- Highly Commended: “Le Vieux Bassin, Honfleur” by David Perks – a beautiful harbour view at sunset with lovely tones and textures.
- Highly Commended: “Follow the leader” by Daisy Kane - deer following the stag, with lovely tones and diffuse background.
- Commended: “Pitshill Mansion” by Kathy Dranse - a lovely composition, drawing the eye into the image towards the mansion.
- Commended: “Chico” by Janet Brown - a technically stunning image of a small dog running at full pelt, clearly enjoying itself.
- Commended: “Smoke signals” by Chris West - a beautifully taken image of a steam train with smoke billowing into the heavens as it approaches a signal.
In total there were 24 prints, too many to comment on all in detail but the judge was complimentary about all of them.
Projected Images (PDIs)
- Highly Commended: “I said pull a FUNNY face!” by Nigel Cherry – ‘a cracking picture’ of a boy pulling an angry face, lovely expression, beautifully lit with an interesting background.
- Highly Commended: “Contemplating” by Liz Barber – a bench looking out over a lovely landscape – no people yet the story is clear – well seen.
- Highly Commended: “Heading Down” by Janet Brown – a person in red descending a ‘swirling’ staircase reminiscent of an Escher picture; well spotted.
- Highly Commended: “Shell-shocked” by George Reekie – a gritty picture of an American soldier looking totally bewildered after a battle.
- Highly Commended: “A Cloudy Sunset” by Dean Sephton – a slightly abstract image reminiscent of the sunset in “The Fighting Temeraire” by Willaim Turner.
- Highly Commended: “Frosted Common” by Alex Swyer – heavily frosted trees on the edge of a common capturing the cold atmosphere.
- Commended: “Orangina” by Liz Barber – a lovely delicate, yet sharp, image of an orange flower with a beautiful complementary background.
- Commended: “Springer” by George Reekie – the ultimate ‘aaaarrrrhhh’ picture, with the eye being drawn to the dog as it jumps over a log.
- Commended: “ Italian chic” by Chris West – a stylish Italian town scene with perfect symmetry and a lady waiting.
- Commended: “Waiting by Alex Swyer – a very creative image looking up through a frosted glass floor, showing people waiting.
In total there were 28 projected images; too many to describe them all in detail. The judge was complimentary about all of them and mentioned the large variety of genres and styles.
With the judge’s tasks completed, Chris West gave a vote of thanks, bringing an enjoyable evening to a conclusion.