Hi Folks,
Final Competition night with an Open Category for Prints Tuesday 10th May
Well last night was the ‘winner on the night’ prints competition and there was a good attendance dispelling the rumours that my blogs were saving people from turning up lol.
From a personal point of view, I had spent the last two weeks taking over two hundred pictures of ‘forget me not’s’ trying to perfect the effects of a blurred background and after selecting one, the lady in the print shop said it had a good chance (now if we need a spare judge on the night I have her number). However, the more experienced guy in the shop where I had the print mounted was more conservative with the comment ‘you never know’.
Aussie Allen started the evening by reconfirming that entries used previously in outside competitions were allowed in the internal competition. It did turned out to be a good decision as at the time of his reply on email there were only 21 entries and that had now swelled to 39 prints to make a more enjoyable evening.
All the prints were laid out in order on long benches to the side.
Allan introduced the evening’s judge as Terry Coffee and had previously judged one of our club’s competitions in the past.
Terry opened the evening by saying it’s not the mark awarded to a print that is important but what is more beneficial to a member is what the judge actually says about the photograph.
Terry decided he would view each picture in turn giving his opinions and advice and it was decided they wouldn’t be scored.
This makes it harder for me as the blogger as I now have to remember what he has said for all 39 prints just in case any of them win lol. As the evening went on Terry was quite positive about many photographs and I hadn’t a clue what was in the Judge’s mind. I did pick up the vibes that he likes nature, so I was well in with flowers lol
Having entered my three in the competition early, they were all in the first half and thoughts of the Eurovision Song Contest format came to mind. Would that be a disadvantage ‘singing’ early and would the judge actually remember them at the end lol.
On viewing one small print the judge was complaining that the prints should be raised higher as he was suffering from backache. However, my prints were mounted taller. Could that be an advantage?
After about twenty of the prints had been shown we had a coffee break and we all had a chance to see the entries at close quarter
The second half began much the same as the first, with the quality of prints so good that the Judge was having difficulty even nit picking some of the entries and as the last one had been talked about it was time for Terry to pick his final five from the entries.
Terry said that another judge would probably pick five different ones and these were just his preference from a really good selection.
The table of entries stretched right down the hall and mine were at the far end. Would Terry’s back hold out getting all the way down to them and would he remember the good comments he made about my Forget me not’s…………, Oh he did forget lol.
So now we had the final selected five
which were
Attracting by Chenxi Ni
A photograph of two seals facing one another, Terry said they looked to be sussing one another out but we don’t know. The light was coming from above and the texture of the skin and sharpness and clarity of the picture was superb but because of the sun’s position, the eyes didn’t quite show their full potential the sun needed to be from a slightly different angle but a great photograph none the less
Nobody walking the Dog by Stan McCartin
The photograph was a monochrome study of a line of beach huts with a small dog outside waiting for its owner to take it for a walk. Terry said the photographer had really made this picture by crouching down and given this picture a real lift. He did say it was a pity the dog was facing away from the photographer as it would have been even better had the dog been looking at him
Snout by Bev Wareing
Snout – Bev Wareing
A picture of a pig’s face with its snout sticking out of a hole in a sty had Terry talking and aesthetically this was a powerful picture which speaks for itself
Silverback with cigar by Aussie Allen
This is a picture of a gorilla which has a bright orange carrot in its mouth and the carrot did livens up a really good portrait said Terry
First light by Aussie Allen (sorry my flash didnt help)
A photograph of a stag unusually lit, may be at dawn or dusk said Terry and the light is shining on the antlers, the eyes and mouth of the stag. What is also unusual is although the deer’s head is up the photographer has manage to capture the stag with it eyes looking down, as if to say get nearer to me at your peril
The judge then made his final three with a result of
1St Place Snout by Bev Wareing
2nd Place First light by Aussie Allen
3rd Place Silverback with cigar by Aussie Allen
So ends a great year of internal competitions, I’m sure we have all learnt a lot from them, I know I have.
Next week is the AGM.
The following week is the club’s dinner and you can’t start it until I have a photograph of each plate of food lol