LastThursday we welcomed Paul O'Toole for our second competition night. He described himself as one of Ken Scott's baby judges, and progressed into judging because he felt it was hard to be critical of judges if you weren't prepared to put yourself up there. I think this baby judge has grown up quite a lot, and can now at least call himself a junior judge! The evening was amusing, and gave a lot of food for thought photographically.
Starting with the prints this time, so that everyone could have a good look at them in the break, we had six images held and vying for top honours, and nine 18's, all spread over 11 different photographers.
Five of us gained one 18. First up was Jean McWhirter with 'Long Tail Meadowlark with Pupa' with the bird in question managing to eat something scaly and grim. Glenn Donnelly's 'Red Deer Rut' was a beautiful image, sharp where it needs to be sharp. 'Don't you Dare' by Derek Grieve was another nice example of bird photography, with an out-of-focus background. It was nice to see a classic still life by Martin Tomes. The window lighting of 'Medieval Pottery' showed gorgeous textures in the wood, and a lovely sheen across the pot. The last single 18 of the prints was my self-portrait 'Waiting for a Train' with the train beautifully captured coming round the bend.
Liz Barber did even better with two 18's. 'Hawxley's Haven' was a very pleasing monochrome image reminiscent of an old postcard, and 'Sweet Pea' a very pretty image, nicely handled and framed, reminding Paul of frozen flower images.
John Gauvin's 'Catch of the Day' gained a 19. Paul himself said he enjoyed bird photography, but that nowadays the bird has to be doing something. This was very much the decisive moment of a fish being caught and about to be eaten.
Having remarked earlier that it was a challenge to get deer in early light and foggy conditions, Paul was pleased to see Daisy Kane's 'Stag Silhouette' with the golden light behind the stag. This achieved her a 20 for a well composed image, and Paul said he would probably have this one on his wall, as his wife would love it!
'A Moment's Respite' scored an 18 for Jane Coward, a nicely composed portrait with the subject looking off into the distance. Even better, she gained a 20 for the striking 'Grey Heron Stalking'. With extraordinary detail that really popped, and a super sharp eye with the all important catchlight.
Di Walker's 'Scarce Swallowtail' really showed the challenge of the butterfly, with a narrow depth of field. Giving this a 19, Paul said that the side on view is the only way to achieve this, giving plenty of detail throughout. 'Strolling' was a completely different image of people walking along a beach, and earned a 20. Made soft without taking the sharpness away, the result was very effective and sympathetic to the subject. Saying that the processing had improved the image, Paul was keen to go out and try this for himself!
Our final double honours went to Anne Nagle. 'Kingfisher and Fish' was, not surprisingly, another bird eating something, and scored an 18. The best 20 of the night went to 'Peony'. A beautifully soft and pleasing image, this is the sort of thing that Paul started judging for, where someone has done something different.
Congratulation to Anne for winning the print section!
Moving on, the PI's were on the set subject of “The Ordinary made Extraordinary”. After the more serious approach with the prints, this was a far more light-hearted part of the evening. Our judge was lost for words on several occasions, and just came out with an amused “yeah...” at times, even “I've run out of things to say” at one point. Six images were held, and 12 others scored 18's, with no fewer that 13 photographers receiving an 18 or above.
I was so pleased for John Goodfellow that his 'Canadian Winter' was one of the 18's. Working entirely in camera, his maple leaf in ice was a well interpreted start to the competition. Another well done interpretation of the theme was Audrey Gray's 'Shop Window Reflections'. It is great to see Audrey up there as well! Glenn Donnelly's 'Trees at Nymans' was intriguing, and the kind of thing Paul was expecting to see. 'A Misty Morning' from Anne Nagle was a “competent non-fun one”, which was very pleasing, and one to be proud of. 'What the Elk' from David Seddon was an extraordinary animal portrait with a lot of texture and colour. I suspect he said something a bit stronger, as the elk had crept up on him in the Canadian wilderness! Daisy Kane opened her account with an 18 for 'Altered Reality', a “pleasant and bizarre Martian flower” which reminded Paul of the TV programme showing how bees see flowers. More from Daisy later!
Double 18's went to three photographers, one of these being one of our newest members. Congratulations to Sarah Beard for your first 18, and you did it twice! Starting with 'Flame Colours', another good interpretation of the theme, Sarah went on to the fascinating 'Struck the Right Balance', a burnt-out match seemingly suspended in an impossible position. John Gauvin's 'Time Machine', with a spiral clock created in an older version of Photoshop, was a reminder of the staircase at De La Warr Pavilion. He followed this up with 'Viscosity' with a lovely balance of colours and bubbles. Last of the double 18's was, I'm afraid, yours truly. Starting with the double-exposure effect 'Eagle Owl in Oak', reminding Paul of times spent running around getting texture photographs, I finished with the intriguing 'Xray Vision' which, as Paul said was also produced in Photoshop.
All of the held images went on to score 20's. 'By Candlelight' from Martin Tomes was a cleverly done still life with a twist. Chris West's 'Squashed' coke can was commended for the added little detail of including the ringpull. Norman Kirby did extremely well with two 20's for 'Fig Tree' earning the comment that it “takes a warped and bizarre individual”, and my favourite of the night, 'Pigeon', which rendered Paul speechless, so I will say it was a more impressionistic, yet literal approach to photography! Alex Swyer nearly made it to the win with 'Wish I had Finger', a fantastic image of a highland cow with a brilliant title. Top honours went to Daisy Kane (I said she'd be back) with 'Impressions of the South Bank', a graphic image causing our judge to muse whether it was still a photograph, but who cares. In deciding it was the best of the PI's, Paul said it was an absolute winner, and that he loved this kind of thing!
Well done Daisy for some great work on the set subject.