Our 2nd competition of the 2021-22 season took place on 9 December. Like the first meeting it was a physical meeting with additional Covid precautions, instead of being a virtual meeting on Zoom. The judge, Paul O’Toole from Worthing Camera Club, is well known to Storrington club members. His good-humoured commentary, anecdotes and helpful hints were enjoyed by all!
As usual the standard of both prints and PDIs was high; most images winning welcome compliments.
The judge’s favourite print of the evening was “Hoverfly on Weigia” by John Gauvin, a very skilfully taken macro shot of a Hoverfly, which was sharp throughout. Afterwards the judge was keen to learn what lens and techniques had been used.
The judge’s favourite PDI of the evening was “Parting Company” by Chris West. Taken in Cuba, this intriguing image showed a man walking away from a very interesting car. The judge praised the composition and its 1970s feel.
Being the judge’s favourites, these were each given a bonus point and were therefore awarded 21 points.
Printed Images
In total there were 16 prints. Of these, three received the full 20 points, one received 19 points and three scored 18 points.
Those scoring the full 20 points were:
- “Hoverfly on Weigia” by John Gauvin and already described – a lovely image of a Hoverfly and judged best printed image of the evening.
- “One Cool Dude” by Chris West. A B&W image taken in Cuba and, showing an incredibly “Cool Dude” selling images painted onto bottles, with a young lady watching in the background.
- “Nisabost” by Martin Tomes, showing a lovely coastal scene, which the judge described as appearing luminescent, with the white waves joining the foreground to the sky.
The print scoring 19 marks was “Autumn Wind Passing Through” by Liz Barber, which the judge described as very skilfully and creatively depicting the motion of vegetation in the wind.
The three images scoring 18 points were:
- “A mother’s love” by John Gauvin, depicting a mother giraffe lovingly interacting with her baby.
- “Loch Phlocrapoil” by Martin Tomes; showing a tranquil landscape in Scotland.
- And “Reminiscing Autumn Foliage” by Liz Barber, another very creative image using deliberate camera movement.
The remaining images are too numerous to mention individually but also won praise from the judge.
Projected Images (PDIs)
In total there were 28 projected images, of which two scored the full 20 points, one scored 19 points and 5 scored 18 points, again illustrating the high standard.
The two images scoring 20 were:
- “Parting Company” by Chris West, an intriguing image of a man walking away from a car, which has already been described.
- And “Lighthouse at Dusk” by David Seddon; a beautiful, high contrast, B&W image of a lighthouse taken as daylight is fading.
The image scoring 19 points was “Cinnamon-chested bee-eater closing in” by John Gauvin. Another very skilful image, capturing the moment before a bee-eater reaches its prey, both captured in sharp focus.
The five images scoring 18 points were:
- “Room with a view” by Nigel Cherry; showing a young lady looking through a window towards St Paul’s Cathedral – which the judge described as a nice approach.
- “Autumn Tunnel” by Daisy Cane; showing a car approaching down a leafy lane being highlighted by the sun – a lovely composition.
- “Grazing at sunset with Tara Barzei, Romania” by Ruth Rusby; a very pretty image of a horse grazing against a lovely landscape, with its tail flicking in the wind.
- “Balconies” by Dean Sefton; a lovely flowing image of a high-rise building set against the sky, very well composed.
- “Cheetah in the Masai Mara” by John Gauvin; a stunning image of a cheetah walking towards the camara.
The remaining images are too numerous to describe individually but also won plaudits from the judge.
The judge’s comments on all images, both prints and PDIs, may be viewed in the attached files and the images themselves may be viewed by following the links at the head of this report!
Following a very enjoyable evening, Martin Tomes brought the event to a conclusion with a vote of thanks to Paul, who had entertained all present, as well as provided scores and suggestions!