Rob de Ruiter ARPS and his guest, Carolyn joined us for Best of Year.
Currently the President of Bognor Regis Camera Club, Rob brought along his successful ARPS panel, as I had suggested we see this after an evening at Bognor when these images absolutely captivated me. He described the process he had taken to achieve this distinction, and told a couple of stories around the 'photography'. If you missed it, or would like to see it again, the panel is available here.
On to our prints, and I was nervous to see one of mine come up first, as I was worried it might not stand up after Rob's panel. I needn't have worried, as it was held...
Six 18s
The very next print, Jane Coward's 'A Brief Respite' started the ball rolling, with an unusual way of shooting a world war re-enactment portrait. This, coupled with a sepia tint and faded edges really gave this one the feel of an old photograph.
Jane's other entry 'Flamenco Girl' also did well, with a tremendous sense of action and movement in the flying skirts created by the “spot-on” shutter speed.
Anne Nagle's 'Peony', a very nice high key flower, with sharp centre, and burnt out edges to the petals, just giving enough to suggest what it is.
'Battle Helmet' for Ray Foxlee, working well in mono. Rob particularly liked the detail and differences in textures, with layers of corrosion and dents.
A really nice cameo shot 'Hawxley's Haven' from Liz Barber. This was a scene from yesteryear with lovely foreground interest, reinforced by the faded edges and sepia treatment.
Finally my 'Vanitas', an interesting (if spooky) still life, where Rob liked the contrast of the peeled lemon, and smoking candle.
Four 19s
Di Walker's 'Berber Sheep Market' was “one of those images I look at, and can look through”, with lots of characters and stories going on. One of its successes was that Di had managed not to cut anyone in half, so all the stories were intact.
'Kingfisher preparing for lunch' from Derek Grieve, an image that is scarily difficult to take, with the shutter speed giving the streaks of water going everywhere and movement in the kingfisher's head as it shook its fish.
Daisy Kane for 'Lost in Thought', one that Rob was in two minds about with the split tones when he first saw it, but felt it worked under the proper lighting. This nice study had a little story going on, and an old fashioned feel to it.
Jean McWhirter's 'Elephant Seal Pup' also showed the photographer in the pup's eye, it was so sharp. Working well in mono, the close-up detail was lovely, as well as the textures of the sand and seal's bristles.
Four 20s
Jean with 'Burgerbukta Spitsbergen', a great shot with the mountain centrally in the frame, tremendous foreground interest, and a fortunate sky adding to the atmosphere. The composition worked really well.
And then there were three...
All very good with a lot of merit, and all three very different.
My held image from the beginning, 'Agapanthus in Blue Bottle' was 3rd print of the night. A not-uncommon subject taken from an unusual angle and shown in a square format, Rob particularly liked the bottle and it's blue shadow-light, completing the composition.
And then we were left with two...
2nd was 'Window Light' from Martin Tomes, a good bit of seeing with lots to like about it. Rob particularly liked the step-effect the shadows gave, and the fact that not much is vertical. He loved the quality of the light, and recognised that this was a difficult shot with a range of exposures, but that everything had been held in.
The winner, and Best Print for 2015-16 was Daisy's very successful 'Cambodian Monks'. Rob loved the contrasting colours in their robes, the dark vignette focussing attention on the centre, the monks faces with their expressions, and their brollies working well in the image.
Having finished the print judging after the break, we moved on swiftly to the PIs.
Four 18s
First up was John Goodfellow with his second 18 of the season for 'Oldlands Mill', concentrating on the central part of the mill sails. A pattern picture, with different elements, Rob commented that he very much liked the patterns.
'Snowdrop Lantern' for Sarah Beard worked really well, and Rob particularly liked the way she had caught this.
'Xray Vision' from yours truly was an unusual treatment of three of a kind, which was quite interesting with an inverted feel.
Ray Foxlee's 'Des Res' worked really well in monochrome, with dilapidation giving a clear sense of age, and different elements to enjoy going round.
Four 19s
Daisy Kane with 'Impressions of the South Bank', a Marmite image, but liked by Rob for being very clever with a different way of seeing, and an out of the ordinary effect on the architecture.
'Edgy Light' from Norman Kirby, getting in close on leaves with nicely defined edges before going soft. Rob loved the shades of green, and composition, and suggested this could be part of an interesting panel.
Alex Swyer with 'Clematis', going in tight to the flower, with great detail, and a suggestion of the petals. Rob really enjoyed the shape and feel to it.
Ray with 'Dressing for Battle', an interesting shot which was well caught, giving Rob a sense that it was Mum putting the final touches to the combatant!
Five 20s
Liz Barber with another Marmite image 'Fire Daisy', a very dramatic, out-there, surreal image where the border adds to the composition, Rob liked the treatment, and particularly the colours around the centre.
'Blackcap bathing' from Derek Grieve, an extremely well caught shot with spot-on shutter speed, Rob loved the reflection and water droplets.
3rd PI of the night was 'Stag and Hind at Dawn' from Jane Coward, who got extra points for getting up for the dawn! With lots of atmosphere, Rob particularly loved the colours, composition, not-quite silhouetted deer, and colours in the sky.
Jane also got 2nd with 'Wet Feet in the Frame', her very simple, very clever image with a sense of movement and drama. Rob commented that he enjoyed reflections in water, especially wet streets, and especially at night, so Jane ticked all the boxes!
The winner and Best PI for 2015-16 was 'I eat Bees' by Derek Grieve. A beautiful bird shot, complete with the bee, he had done extremely well to capture this super shot.
I hope Rob enjoyed being with us for our Best of Year, he did comment that we are a well travelled club. I suspect is was difficult for Rob to separate the images, I noticed a lot of indrawn breaths before he came up with scores, and we certainly had a range of scores in this competition. I know from experience how hard it can be to have had a favourite image do well in one of the domestic competitions, to only get a 14 at Best of Year, so please don't get disheartened. From this evening, I would say the take home messages are: go in close, and/or try something different, you never know, it might work!
Congratulations to Daisy and Derek for their winning images, and to all who made this a tough competition, as it should be!