Paul O'Toole joined us on 16thOctober for our first print competition of the year. Coming from Worthing Camera Club, he described himself as one of the “baby judges” who have graduated from the Ken Scott judging academy. He asked us to expect a wider range of marks (14-20 in practice), where the message counts for 50-60%, the content 30-35% and technical aspects just 15%. When asked how important the title was, he admitted that it should be secondary to the image, but could be useful. Here are some of his comments.
Ray Foxlee managed a hat-trick of 18s over the evening. Up first was 'Amazing Space', an interior image of Lancing College Chapel. Paul commented that this type of shot is technically very difficult to do, and said this was beautifully taken (Ray tells me that a tripod is essential, must remember mine for the photoshoot in five weeks). Next came 'Fading Light', which looked like (and was) Bosham, with a nice choice of foreground and people to give scale all in a sepia monochrome. Finally Ray gave us 'Table for two', with a softness giving a sense of elegance and lovely dappled light.
Glenn Donnelly achieved a brace of 18s with 'Turbo at Sundown' which Paul liked as being something different, a graphical image of a rollercoaster against the setting sun. His final comment on this was that it was “close”. Her other winner was 'Harley-his'n'hers' a lovely detail image of helmets on handlebars that worked really well.
Anne Nagle's star of the evening was 'Aquilegia', commended by Paul for another unusual treatment showing a natural object in an entirely unnatural way. 'Burgerbukta' from Jean McWhirter was of an iceberg against an icy rock shore. Paul loved the sense of blue, chilly dramatic scenery, but felt the composition, while bold, didn't work as well as he would like. Norman Kirby's 'Firepot' dahlia was one Paul could imagine on the wall.
Three members gained an 18 and a 19. Jane Coward scored 18 for 'Sunlit stroll in their twilight', which “set a mood nicely, and was lovely, soft and pleasing”. Her 19 for 'Its yummy Mummy' was a close-up study of a dog eating from an ice-cream cone, reminding Paul of his own collie who not only steals ice-cream, but “puts himself in the conservatory” immediately afterwards without needing to be told off.
'Mallard on the move' from Daisy Kane was an 18 for a BIF image: “bird in flight”, and had succeeded with the head absolutely frozen, while the wings were blurred, again another “nearly” image. Even closer with 19 was 'London Eye', a sepia with a close foreground of people against a smaller scaled Eye. Paul really enjoyed this image of an oft-photographed structure because of the scale, and the sepia effect created a 1950's image that could never have existed.
Martin Tomes gained an 18 for the last image of the night, 'Dave Murrell', a portrait of a guitarist “capturing the moment of a musician at work”. This was “a close miss”. Getting closer earlier in the evening with 19, 'Bruges canal' was beautifully printed. It gave a real sense of going through the image, feeling very natural and very real all through.
Derek Grieve had a successful evening in his unfortunate absence, with an 18 for 'Kingfisher mating display', with a sense of natural behaviour telling a good story, but perhaps a few technical issues leaving it very close. More from Derek later...
The other 19's came from three other members. Congratulations go to Terence Bermingham for his debut in print (equalling his best score from a PI last year) with 'Bloody Good Lunch', a study of cheetahs at a kill, continuing a rather gory theme in this competition. A cracking shot, it was gruesome but natural, and Paul particularly liked the eye contact with one of the blooded cheetahs (who he nicknamed Hannibal Lecter).
Congratulations also to Robert Mitchell, who gained his highest mark since 2006-2007 (as far as I can tell) with 'The Blackberry Windmill', which was a study of Halnaker Mill from a point down the track, giving a sense of the journey up that hill, with a lovely dark cloud right behind the mill. Another image where the author had chosen to put the subject dead centre, it worked very well. Paul commended the detail all through.
The final 19 came from Di Walker, who had a storming evening in her absence. Her evening started with the first held-back image, 'Squirrel', a close-up study of a grey squirrel in an interesting sepia finish. Going on from this she had two more held back, both of which went on to score 20. 'Holocaust Memorial' was a dramatic image of a few people in a perfect position in this memorial. Paul commented that the photographer's choice of crop was very well done, and that the image was beautifully taken, being sharply in focus from front to back, and in keeping with the memorial. Her final image 'Swallowtail' was a lovely, pleasing natural image, with enough depth of field for the butterfly, but not the background. The crop and position worked extremely well, and Paul “liked it a lot”. Well done Di!
The only other 20 of the night was the overall winner, and came from Derek. Entitled 'A Dewy Start', it was a perfectly presented example of a dandelion clock, with droplets of dew glistening on the seed heads. “Beautifully captured... superb detail.. my favourite of the evening... this does it for me” were Paul's comments. Congratulations to Derek, I just wish you'd been there. I sincerely hope you are feeling better soon.