So we met again for the start of a new season, and a new format for competitions.
Paul Dunmall DPAGB joined us for the first time as our judge. Hailing from Bexhill-on-Sea, he and his wife Sonia, who came along as well, are very involved in the working of the Sussex Photographic Federation. His photographic interests include music, fast cars, glamour and sport! It was lovely to see some more new faces, and everyone seemed to enjoy a fun evening, with humour in the photography and Paul's comments. His style of judging was new to us, with a comments session, then scoring of all the images at the end of each half. At the end of the evening, he was keen to point out that he enjoys judging because he loves to see other peoples pictures, and that he also learns from the experience.
Starting with the PI's in the first half (two from each member), there were 8 images scoring well. My image 'The Bluebell Wood' scored an opening 18, commended for the crop and framing with trees.
Martin Tomes went one better with a 19 for '3850', a wide angled image of a steam train, which hadn't been ruined by having the verticals straightened, and had made the most of the effect given by the lens. Paul also pointed out that it looked completely different when viewed from the two sides of the room, something we were all able to experience at the tea break.
Ray Foxlee also gained a 19 for 'Dressing for Battle', working well in BW and a good connection between the two participants, fortunately dressed purely in period costume with no extraneous wristbands or Rolex watches.
Alex Swyer did even better with a 20 for 'Clematis', a beautiful flower close-up of a popular subject. Paul said that Alex had got the centre pin sharp, with the focus drifting to the edges.
Double honours went to David Seddon (yet again in his absence) with an 18 for 'A Jasper Lake'. We had a short interaction at this point about “the rules” which are meant to be broken. This image broke the rule of thirds very effectively, with the division between reality and reflection halfway up. Another Canadian photograph 'Banff Mountain' did even better for David, with a 19. The fleeting gap in the clouds allowing a glimpse of the mountain worked reallywell in BW, creating the right mood and atmosphere (but you might like to remove a couple of dust spots, David!).
Final double honours go to John Gauvin. Firstly “a” scored a 19, a very well caught swan's neck against a black background which suited the image. (I really need a different typeface to get the correct 'a' shape here!). John's second image 'The General' not only scored 20, it also won the best PI of the night. A really strong portrait of a period military man, this was in colour, with the skin tones spot on, good light under his hat, and a hint of his environment in the diffused background.
After the interval, the focus shifted to prints (again two from each member). Overall, the quality of our printing was of a very good standard.
Jean McWhirter gained an 18 for 'Elephant Seal Pup', even managing a “selfie” in the pup's eye! The focus was spot on, and the texture lovely.
Chris West (in his absence) did well with two 18s. He opened his innings with 'Fetch That!' a classic Chris cricketing image, taken at the right moment as a second later would have lost the dynamic. Next in to bat for Chris was 'A Quiet Brittany Dawn', with a lovely peacefulness coming out of the image and a hint of mystery. One suggestion from Paul was to try this in a smaller print, placed across a portrait-style mount.
Ray Foxlee scored a 19 for 'Battle Helmet' with a still life BW in a similar vein to his PI image, which he was “brave enough to print out”.
Norman Kirby produced two differing images. 'Lighthouse', an abstract reflection which was doing really well until Paul learnt the title and ended up with an 18. By telling him what it was, he felt that the intrigue was gone, although it was still a good image. His other image of an Agave 'Catching the Light' was a strong well presented and double mounted image, gained a 19.
John Gauvin equalled Norman's results, with an 18 for 'Whoosh!' capturing a cannon being shot. Having tried the same himself, Paul knew how difficult it was to catch this, and often then found something else wrong with his image, something John had managed to avoid. His 19 was for 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes', a portrait with absolutely fantastic detail, although Paul did mention that he would have preferred both prints on a less glossy paper.
Double 19's went to three members, firstly Jane Coward with 'Wistful at Brighton Parade', a portrait with lovely colouration and detail in the hat, showing that she knew what she was doing. 'Flamenco Girl' had a good balance of shutter speed, giving a lovely arc in the skirt. Absolutely loving the feeling of flow and movement, Paul just suggested bringing a little more light onto her face to make it really gorgeous.
Anne Nagle provided us with two bird studies for her 19s. Her 'Bee Eater' was a nicely positioned “bird on a stick” in a square frame, with fluffed up feathers, and her 'Kestrel' showed that Anne knew what she was doing, with lovely detail, a pin sharp eye and a nicely diffused background.
Martin Tomes also scored two 19s, starting with 'Pink' on matt paper, which really helped with the colours. Martin also showed he knew what he was doing with stunning detail and lovely light on the leaves. 'Window Light' probably showed how to use HDR most effectively to bring out the view through the window, while retaining detail inside in the woodwork, creating a nice little story. (Knowing Martin I suspect HDR did feature in this one).
'Lost in Thought' from Daisy Kane gained a 20, although the processing could render it a “Marmite” picture for some. Believing that the toning was a deliberate effect, not a colour cast, Paul felt that it worked, and that there was a lovely connection between mother and child.
Di Walker opened her account with an 18 for 'A Quick Snack', a dragonfly on a nice diagonal, sitting on a stick but eating something at least. Going even better, her technically very good 'Berber Sheep Market' scored a 20. Paul was quite surprised that she escaped alive, unless she had taken the photograph surreptitiously. The depth of field allowed every face to be seen clearly, and there were conversations going on everywhere, with all the buyers and sellers sitting well in the frame (not chopped off at all).
Embarrassingly, I have to report that the final 20 and best of the night went to my '', a still life I worked on for my Flickr challenges when doing some online Lightroom tutorials from Kim Klassen. Enjoying the way both stems of flowers were sharp, while the bottle was fading off, Paul also liked the light refraction coming through the bottle.
All in all, and not just because of personal successes, I felt that it was a highly encouraging start to our new format programme. Thanks to David Burton for the original programme (sadly no longer in the club), and Chris West for adapting it after the changes agreed at the AGM. Here's to three more great competition evenings, and loads of other things to interest us over the season.