We welcomed Paddy Ruske on his first visit to our club to judge our second print competition of the season. Paddy braved storm Darragh and travelled from Lichfield to be with us, so we were grateful to see him. He’s a knowledgeable Natural History and Landscape photographer and has been Highly Commended in The British Wildlife Photographic Awards 2016. He was surprised how many good photographers we have in our club found it difficult to separate the prints.
In the Colour General section, he awarded Keith Mulliner’s long titled ‘ Will he return if I keep reading his letter’, 20 marks. Paddy told us he looks for a relaxed subjects in portraits and this one had that. He liked the pose of the professional model and the studio lighting. Kath Hill’s warm ‘Autum Glow’ came second and Paddy told us it was a beautiful picture that he could hang on his wall. The square format and limited colour pallet all added to the scene. Peter Robinson’s women’s football picture, ‘Jade on the ball’ and Wallace Baxter’s portrait ‘The smile’ both scored 18. Paddy said Wallace’s portrait was like an oil painting with good skin tones and the lady’s hood framed her face.
Peter Robinson took the first and second places in the mono section. Paddy told us it wasn’t easy to photograph singers on location with changing light and and active subject. Timing is the key. He said both prints had a good range of tones which gave them impact. Paddy added that Peter’s second placed print, ‘Biker’s 6 Wheelie’ was well panned and the background enhanced the impression of speed. Ray Hill’s landscape of ‘Ashness Bridge Watefall’ came third with 18 marks. Paddy liked the composition with the textured water leading to the bridge which framed the picture.
The nature section was highly competitive and Paddy told it it was our strongest section. He held back 8 of the 13 prints. Howver, Ray Hill’s excellent ‘Nuthatch’ was a clear winner for Paddy. It ticked all the boxes for the Natural History expert. Paddy told it it was well caught as these small birds are very agile and he liked the environment, and that it was well balanced with good detail and colour. Ray’s wife, Kath came second with a beautiful study of an ever rarer ‘Red Squirrel with Nut’. Paddy told us the low angle made the squirrel look more imposing and that it was feeding added to the well printed picture. He liked the detail and warm colours. Keith Mulliner’s ‘Kingfisher on branch’ came third with 18 marks. Paddy told us that Nikon cameras, like Keith uses, tend to enhance blues, so this helped the colours of Keith’s photograph. It was a high quality print with fine detail.
Well done to all of the winners. All of the prints that scored 18 and over can be seen above. All the results can be seen in our Results page.
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