Open Print Competition, 28th February

Hi Folks,

Open Print Competition, 28^th February

Last night was the clubs open print competition, also on the same night was the 3^rd round of Rosebowl competition taking place at Wantage and may well have reduced the number of entries in the print competition. There were only 24 prints but the standard was very high. The Judge for the evening was Amanda Wright from Ealing CC.

Although Amanda had a previous peep at the prints there was a quick run through on the screen for her to see the order.

The first print titled ‘I may have a crush on you’ had Amanda wondering what animals were in the picture but were dog size and nose to nose. My wife after showing her thought they were wallabies. “They seem to be testing the water or checking one another out”, said Amanda. “It was a lovely image letter boxed and one can see the sharpness on the animals’ coats, with the image gradually losing the depth of field in the distance, a charming print and a good start to the evening” and was given an 18.

The next to catch the judge’s eye was of a swan titled ‘Taking off’. Amanda said, “This image is different to the average swan picture and done in monochrome to great effect. The dark water in the background perfectly sets up the water splashes. One gets the feel of the swan paddling quickly to take off and they are a heavy bird. The whites and greys in the picture are superb, a great image and the surrounding black mount was spot on”. Amanda asked for it to be held back.

My print titled ‘Bridge on a marina’ had Amanda talking of the colours, Amanda said, “The capture of the blue in the water was lovely, the bridge detail was sharp. The yachts in the distance nicely broke up the sky. It was letter boxed well and the reflections from the bridge in the water and the curving of the bridge on the left lead the eye nicely into the picture”. It was given an 18.

The story behind it was quite funny as I had gone to a printer in Parton Road Aylesbury with three images and their print machine had been set up with too much Cyan and I had to reject two of them but liked the blue Marina print. However, the image on the screen wasn’t quite so blue but I probably got a better mark thanks to the printer lol.

The next image to impress was titled ‘Thistle Thrush’ Amanda said, “It was a charming image of bird beautifully rendered, complemented by the surrounding and rocks. There was a lovely detailed piece of moss that the bird was standing on. The Thrushes feet were slightly hidden behind the moss but that couldn’t be helped. The background was nicely faded” and Amanda asked for it to be held back.

The next picture to be held back was title ‘Indroneel’  Amanda commented, “A man with a charming face and wonderful curls taken in what appears to be in an indoor studio and the wall behind may be scenery. The lighting on his face was beautifully done, the detail was sharp and there was a crispness to his beard. He is wearing a wonderful top which worked well in monochrome and the guy’s personality really makes the picture. A rather lovely tight crop”, Amanda asked for it to be held back

At this point the print titled ‘Gilda’ was shown, Amanda said, “A stunning shot of a model in Monochrome. The model was looking as if she was oblivious to the photographer, said Amanda. At the bottom of the picture there is just a suggestion of what she was wearing with a set of diamonds on a chain at the bottom left. She is wearing rollers which are sharp and every hair can be seen, she has beautiful skin tones and lovely composition”, Amanda asked for the image to be held back.

There seemed to be a number being held back and just goes to show the level of quality of the images. Another to be held back was titled ‘Guardian’, Amanda commented, “An image of a lady perhaps in India sitting in the doorway of a shop containing blue boxes and green buckets. There was a red shutter on the shop and things at the back of the shop were slightly going out of focus leaving us to start asking questions”. Amanda said, “The yellow cloth on the floor at the front should have been removed as it was a little distracting but an interesting picture”.

The fourteenth image and the last one before the break was titled ‘Street Girl’. The judge said, “A beautifully rendering of a girl standing under a bamboo structure. A piece of her hair was hidden behind the structure. However, the girl had fabric cloth draped over her shoulder in an attractive way. Pity the car in the background is quite bright but is slightly out of focus and needed to be otherwise it would be competing with the girl”. Amanda said, “She could feel the hustle, bustle and the noise in the picture”. Also a suggestion was made by Amanda that the post on the left could have been cropped and would have brought the girl further to the left of the picture.

It was coffee time

After coffee, another print to attract Amanda’s attention was titled “Emily Spinning” A view taken above of a lady spinning using a slow shutter speed. The ladies skirt was swirling out forming a wonderful pattern. Amanda asked for it to be held back

The print titled “Under the Arches” has Amanda saying, “It takes a while to get ones head around this, as the image is displaying feet upside down in a puddle reflection and the people above only half visible. It was a nice print on matt which displayed lovely rivets on the bridge above” and it was given an 18.

The last one of the evening to be held back was titled ‘Sweet Sellers’. Amanda said, “A charming travel picture and could be entered in a national competition. Everything matched the 1/3^rd rule, the down pipe in one third, the children in the middle and the dark doorway in the other third. The textures in the picture are absolutely sharp along with the clothes on the girl. They have gorgeous skin tones and happy faces”. “Just to be slightly picky”, said Amanda, “There is just a white mark at the bottom that should be cloned out but stunning picture”

So it was now down to the final choices

1^St was Gilda by Steve Beckett (Judges Choice) 20 points

2^nd was “Sweet Seller” by John Timbrell 20 points

3^rd was “Emily Spinning” by John Timbrell 20 points

The held backs were

“The Guardian” by ……   19 points

“Mistle Thrush” by Nicholas Razey 19 points

“Take off” by Chenxi  Ni 19 points

“Street Girl” by Steve Beckett 19 points

“Indroneel” by Nicholas Razey 18 points

Next week please bring 5 images on a stick if you would like some help or guidance from our club judges

Interactive and Informal Review on Members’ images