Our final print competition was judged by Lindsey Green fromLittlehampton Camera Club. She described herself as coming to photography from an art background, and certainly enjoyed the artistic endeavours she was shown.
Starting with a 17 for Norman Kirby’s warm vibrant ‘Slow grey morning at Southsea’ then a held back image ‘Osprey – Just up’ from Derek Grieve, we might have been lulled into a false sense of security. However, her marking was from 14 to 20, with only twelve images (25%) getting 18 or more.
For someone who I understand is fairly new to judging, Lindsey did not fall into the trap of only making the standard comments about sharpness etc. Instead she responded to the images in a very natural, emotional way. Some were described as “exciting”, while others were perhaps lacking some atmosphere, but she did say that she had seen “so many lovely pictures here tonight”. I think she wondered if we had a thing about horses at Storrington, because there were no fewer than five equine images on offer. Typically, there were some lovely wildlife pictures in the mix as well.
The 18s were Derek’s ‘Chalkhill Blue Butterfly’, balanced so delicately on its stalk that it seemed to be floating, with nothing distracting behind. Jane Coward’s ‘Shoreham Footbridge’ improved considerably on the 14 it achieved at the 3rd print competition. One of several sepia toned images, Lindsey remarked that the tonal qualities really pulled you in, and that it was telling a story. ‘The Hidden Valley’ from Juliette Lester showed us somewhere different, and although Lindsey felt it worked well in BW, there might be even more drama to be had from it. Last up for the evening, Norman Kirby gained his first print 18 of the year for ‘Depressing Neglect’, an image of a building that had seen better days. It had been processed, cropped and printed in a way that really showed the textures, and was something different.
Of the three 19s, Peter Picthall’s ‘What U Lookin’ At’ caused quite a lot of amusement and comments. This portrait of what can only be described as an ugly bird was the exciting image referred to earlier. “You’ve made an ugly thing look beautiful” and “he’d be proud of what you’ve done for him” were the comments from Lindsey that I managed to jot down! Technically it was very well done, with his lovely eye dominating the image, and no distractions behind. The atmospheric ‘Out of the Mist’ from Ray Foxlee, a monochrome city scene with people and sculptures positioned in a way which gave a great weight balance. This is something Lindsey mentioned on several occasions: one of those tricky qualities of a well taken image which I aspire to achieve. Last, but not least, of the 19s was Chris West’s ‘Bugatti, Goodwood Classic’, another monochrome totally suited to the subject of a vintage car racing. The shininess of this “fantastic condition car” was lovely, and the image was beautifully sharp with the car placed absolutely perfectly in the frame.
Just five images were held back over the evening, all of which achieved a score of 20. Derek’s Osprey was superbly sharp and captured the moment perfectly (rising with a fish), indeed Lindsey said she couldn’t fault it. Peter P had another success with ‘The Stare’, a colour portrait of a craggy face, which had an intensity to the look that was well captured. Di Walker also did well in her absence with ‘The Grotto’, which I seem to remember was taken in Iceland. Lindsey remarked that it was very well taken, that she could feel the weight of the cave roof, and it made for a very good abstract even before she really knew what it was from the title. ‘The Gallery, Strawberry Hill House’ was another of Ray’s characteristic BW’s, with reflections on a highly polished floor, and a couple of figures to stop our eyes drifting all over the image. Lesley looked at her guest saying “we must put that on our list of places to visit” (it’s in Twickenham for those who want to do the same). I am embarrassed to say that the final 20 and best of the night went to my image of a unicorn in ‘The Enchanted Forest’. Lindsey said that it was refreshing, and a modern take on 15th century paintings. She even went so far as to say she was enchanted by it. All this for a composite I produced for fun one wet Sunday!
With these results, Ray confirmed his place as Photographer of the Year, an achievement to add to the LRPS he gained just a week ago. Our outgoing Chair Anne Nagle was 2nd in the overall title, with Ian McWhirter 3rd. Ian won the Print Worker of the Year with enough of a buffer over runner up Di Walker for some middle-of-the-league scores on this last competition not to matter, and Ray Foxlee climbed to 3rd from 5th. Congratulations to all!