It was pleasing to see John Royle win the General Section of our third print competition with his considered study of ‘Guardian of the Bluebells’. Judge, Roger Evans MPAGB, EFIAP, FBPE, told us how much he enjoyed the relaxing scene. Roger told how difficult it can be to photograph in a woodland with branches and trees pointing all over the place. However, John had managed to compose his image so that all the branched led to the central tree trunk. He also liked the muted colour pallet and the complementary bluebells. Keith Mulliner’s portrait ‘The lady of the Castle’ and Paul Hill’s ‘Rydal Mere Boathouse’ both scored 19. Roger thought Keith’s photograph was like a classical renaissance painting in a beautiful setting. In Paul’s photograph, Roger liked the way in which the light toned boathouse stood out against the warm coloured background. The clever composition also strengthened its importance in the image. Three images scored 18. They were Paul Hill’s ‘Ashness Bridge in Autumn’, John Royle’s ‘Tatton Topiary’ and Keith Mulliner’s portrait of ‘Chloe with Roses’.
Paul Hill also did very well in the mono section. He took the first two places with his ‘Wintery Scene’ and ‘The Shard and Plane’. Roger told us he liked minimalistic photographs and these fitted the bill aptly. In ‘Winter Scene’, Roger thought Paul had made good compositional use of the fence, which many wouldn’t have done. It leads in to the lone tree which stands out against the clear sky. In ‘The Shard and plane’ Roger liked the juxtaposition of the two objects against a cloudy sky. The plane is so small, but so important to the success of the image. Peter Robinson’s photograph of two re-enactors, ‘Secret Message’ also scored 19. Roger liked the narrative, but thought it was a bit unbalanced tonally, Wallace Baxter grabbed a brace of 18s with his ‘Who is there?’ and ‘Canoeist 11’. ‘Who is there?’ is a fine portrait of our friend, Graham Currey dressed as a wizard. Roger liked the triangular composition and fine detail of Wallace’s action photo, ‘Canoeist11’
In the Nature section Keith Mulliner scored 20 for his ‘It’s a family affair’. It shows three engrossed penguins forming a triangle composition. Although it was taken at Chester Zoo, Roger thought it looked perfectly natural. Wallace Baxter’s fine study of a ‘Common Sandpiper’ scored 19. Roger liked that it was doing something. Roger appreciated the detail in the coat of Peter Robinson’s ‘Black Jaguar on stepping stones’ and awarded it 18. Paul Hill’s beautiful ‘Common Kestrel’ also scored 18. Roger liked the fine detail and none distracting background.
Well done to all of the winners. See all the images that scored 18 and over above. All the results can be seen in our results page.