Winner on the night Open Print competition, Tuesday 17th January

Hi Folks,

Winner on the night ‘open print’ competition, Tuesday 17^th January.

Last night was the winner on the night competition and there were well over 30 or more entries. The Judge for the night was Martin Patten from Watford CC.

I had a Google this week and found Martin has a website and looking through a number of his pictures he seems to like nature as a subject. So my thoughts were that perhaps photographs of Stags or Deer may come to the forefront lol. He also talks of six points he uses when judging,

which are:

Initial impact
Artistic merit
Lasting appeal
Emotional impact
Story telling
Technical quality

So I had done my homework but still struggling to find a suitable animal picture to replace one of my three that I had already picked, I found a photograph of a kitten but to me the eyes were just not sharp enough. However, from my three I wasn’t expecting too much and had written down my own comments beforehand as to what the judge might say about them.  I had managed to get it mostly right from what the judge actually said about all three, so learning fast here.

All the prints avalable on the evening were also shown on the screen as images. The first print was a sunset scene of pebbles on a beach and the sun was shining between a pile of stones. The judge said it was a nice picture and the photographer had positioned himself well to capture the sun at a good angle but for him lacked drama

but the photographer had managed to get the pebbles fairly sharp which is difficult to do, said Martin, as they normally have a soft look to them. The photograph was asked to be held back

My ‘Mr Sandman’ didn’t have the blurred background that the judge required and got a 16.  however, I knew that but my camera cannot get the narrow depth of field unless taken flowers on a macro setting.

The next was a picture of a stag in the fog, is the fog real, the judge asks himself? A very good arty interpretation and one can see the eye of the stag which adds interest. The photographer had given a nice space in the photograph to look into and Martin asked for it to be held back.

A few prints on and Martin was shown a picture of a Peregrine Falcon, a good picture of a bird in flight which is super sharp but Martin felt it need a bit of movement in the wings which to him looked a bit static. The print was beautifully done with the falcon having sharp eyes, captured in good light and just a hint of cloud in a blue sky. Martin asked for it to be held back.

The next to be held back was a picture called ‘Bleak Reservoir’ Martin said, this print just does what it says on the tin but wasn’t sure whether the sepia colour works best and perhaps monochrome would have been better. The picture feels as if it is bleak and taken with a fast shutter speed. A slight cropping on the left may have help but still pleased the judge.

The next print was called ‘Classic Style’ of a lady looking like Greta Garbo from the 30’s in monochrome. Martin said, you can imagine a hat on a slant over the model’s face. The trees at the back were slightly messy but not too bad and the atmosphere created was good with the model having a relaxing pose. The shadow on the right side of the face was just right. Martin asked for it to be held back.

The next print was also held back called ‘My New Trousers’. Perhaps taken in Cuba but not Aylesbury, said Martin. The person is holding a pair of trouser in front of a green door and there were various different colours leading the eye around the picture. Martin wondered if a monochrome would have work better. The shoes in the foreground perhaps should have been cloned but didn’t matter and wanted it held back

At the halfway point it was time for a cup of coffee and a chance to see some of the prints.

After coffee it was the second half.

It wasn’t long before a print called ‘Big Issue Man’ had Martin talking, the print was in monochrome of a guy selling the Big Issue and was playing up the part to the photographer but Martin said, he would have preferred a more natural look from the guy rather than the thumbs up he was giving in the shot. The photographer had got the lens spot on but suggested a small crop of the print to help. The print was held back

It seems as if Martin had held back more than Simon Cowell last 50 in the Ex Factor lol but this didn’t stop with a print titled ‘Window Shadow’ which had the sunlight shining through a barred window forming a shadow on the wall at a nice angle. There was a small red fire extinguisher in the corner that Martin would have preferred to have been cloned out but still pleased Martin who asked for it to be held back

So those that were held back were reviewed again and Martin gave a score of 18 to both the sunset and the Peregrine Falcon

and a 19 for the Bleak Reservoir, the Big Issue Man and the Deer in Fog

Which left three

and the ‘Window Shadow’ by John Timbrell was given third place and 20 points

Then Martin said he would have liked to have awarded both of these first place, after which it was pointed out to Martin they were both by the same photographer lol.

And Martin’s verdict was for the lady in black the ‘Classic Style’ by Steve Beckett and award the winner and 20 points

2nd place was ‘New Trousers’ by Steve Beckett also awarded 20 points

Next week on the

ImageZ Camera Club Program