Judge Graham Currey began the evening by asking us what we thought of judges. He said he asked us that because judging is subjective, especially when you’re judging many different subjects in an open competition. Graham was judging our first print competition of the season and there was a high quality entry of 45 prints.
The highly competitive Colour General section was judged first and Wallace Baxter’s well time action photo of a batsman being clean bowled won. Graham enjoyed everything about it. It had a diffused background, was pin sharp and perfectly timed. Keith Mulliner’ panned photo ‘Aaron Silvester on bike 34’ and Peter Robinson’s ‘Flying Border Collie’ both scored 19 marks. (I know it’s actually a springer spaniel!) Graham thought that Keith’s photo was well panned and made good use of negative space, while in Peter’s photo Graham liked the low angle used, and the dog being caught in mid-air. Peter also scored 18 for his pretty mudder photo of a lady about to fall into a pool of mud. Graham liked the lady’s expression, diagonal composition and the moment the action had been caught. New member, Sam Holden, scored 18 marks for his detailed study of ‘Your Minister ceiling decoration’. Graham liked that it was completely symmetrical and showed some fine detail.
In the Mono section, Sam took top marks with his atmospheric print of ‘Whitby Abbey’. Graham appreciated the low angle that gave a good foreground and made the abbey more imposing. He liked the lighting which revealed the texture and the excellent black and white conversion. Peter Robinson’s environmental portrait, ‘Steam Engineer’ and Wallace Baxter’s rugby photo ‘Line Out’ both score 19 marks. In Peter’s photo, Graham liked the movement of the steam engine, which told a story of the engineer’s role. Graham thought Wallace’s print of a rugby player catching the ball was well caught and well exposed, especially as it was taken against the light. Ray Hill’s excellent study of ‘Grebe and chick looking for food’ scored 18. Graham liked sharpness and contrast in the print, and thought the ripples of the water helped to frame the bird. Graham thought Keith Mulliner’s study of a nude lady reminder him of a landscape. He added that the side lighting brought out the texture and form of the model. He awarded it 18 marks.
The Nature section saw Ray Hill’s fine detailed print of the head of an ‘American Bald Eagle Grooming’ take the 20 marks. Graham loved the sharp detail in this print and also like the composition. He added that the small feather in the beak finished it off. The competition had 3 fine red squirrel prints entered. Wallace Baxter’s ‘Squirrel Eating Nut’ scored 19 marks. Wallace had perfectly diffused the background by using a wide aperture, which isolated the squirrel. Graham also liked the contrasting colours of the red squirrel and the green environment. Kath Hill’s ‘Red Squirrel on Tree Stump’ scored 18 marks. Graham thought this was very sharp with plenty of fine detail. Wallace also scored 18 for his ‘Scolding Siscan’. This also had Wallace’s trademark diffused background, which lifts the print’s status. Graham thought this image has everything that a good nature image should have. He liked the action, composition and detail. It was marked down because the beak was slightly out of focus, and we restrict our top marks.
See all the images that scored 18 and over above and the results are on our Results page here.