The last round of the club championships

Hi Folks,

The last round of the club championships

Well last night was to be a cliff hanger for some, with several people in with a chance of winning the competition. The judge for the night was John Credland from Buckingham. John seemed to have a different way of judging and liked an audience participation asking the odd question about certain pictures.

After a first run through of 21 images of the Alternative Viewpoint theme he asked if we wanted a full range of the marks. I think there was a trembling of a yes coming from the floor of fear of getting low marks  lol.

Also John seemed to like looking for a story in each picture rather than giving any harsh criticism. Although a border on one of mine was too thick for his liking and another would have been better in black & white but fair criticism and taken on board.

The first image to really impress John was titled ‘Up & under’ a building structure which had a reflecting bridge across the building. John said the photographer looks to be lying on the floor on his back and then possibly waking up to take the first shot of the day. John would have preferred a more thunderous sky but it is what it is and John asked for it to be held back.

One called ‘Spring Onion’ gave John a nice story line to tell and he said this is a fair sized onion which seems to be placed on top of a car spring. He did mention another photographer that took similar pictures and describe them as ‘B…..ks photographs but I thought that really referred to mine after the marks lol. However, this one was given a 17 which was good, as the marking wasn’t too high for the evening.

The next to appeal was titled ‘Toilet Humour’ which had the audience laughing which is a good start. John after describing the man’s boots and socks was struggling  to understand why the man on the loo wasn’t wearing any trousers and the answer came back it was probably a Scotsman this immediately made the image more creditable to John. So that was held back.

John had quite a bit to say about an image titled ‘Street View’ of a lady posing on the floor, he didn’t mind the lady’s wild hair as it went with the scene. John’s eye did keep going to a M&S sign at the top right of the picture and said it would have been better cloned out but got a mark of 17.

Another good image titled ‘Checking the look’ had plenty going on in the shot for John to comment on. Even the eye liner makup was mentioned lol. The balcony at the top and the lady on the left was drawing John eye’s more than the mirror and was given a 17.

I gave John a lot to talk about with ‘Looking down to look up’ I think the flash going off at the top of the well had John intrigued and he pointed out it would have been better cloned out but then he said he would have less to talk about lol. The reason it happened was the well was dark down at the bottom end and I had to lighten it up in post process but left the flash in as my choice to draw the eye in (and of course to lose marks). it was marked a 17.

The image titled ‘Autumn Colour’ and image of a stainless steel globe was attracting John’s attention with the golden tree in as a reflection. Looking at the top of the globe it was possibly a sun dial, said John and it was held back.

‘Bullet or the ballot’ a creepy image title, said John with elections coming up. It was well put together with the ‘made up’ election paper, the gun, the bullet and a sharp HB pencil. It was asked to be held back.

Another titled ‘Alternative Viewing’ has a young footballer appearing to be coming out of an Iphone. Nicely done but just losing the shorts amongst the dark background but given 17

Now another titled ‘Under the pier’ had my biro running out and I wished for the HB pencil in the previous shot unfortunately the mark was gone before I recovered the situation.

So finally there were four held back

‘Up and under’ by Chris Andrews scored 18

‘Toilet Humour’ by Brian Worley scored 19

‘Bullet or the Ballot’ by Peter Carter score 19

‘Autumn Colours’ by Chenxi Ni scored 20 (and judge’s choice)

Coffee time

After coffee it was the open round and all still to play for and the first image on show was titled

‘Dancers’

An interesting B&W said John, on stage with dancers in black costumes, the image would have even been better perhaps with one dancer in colour and could have been achieved with multi- cameras, exposures or in Photoshop but a lovely image and John asked for it to be held back.

‘Love Dance’

looks like the cob swan at the back and the pen in front. The image was taken with a fast shutter speed needed to capture the water droplets. The cob is pure white and ready to show his majestic dance to the pen. The image was taken on a bright cloudy day with just enough light not to bleach anything out. It scored a 17

The next image called

‘Down’

Every person is going down a spiral staircase but it is really called a helix staircase. The photographer has waited for the four characters to go down in formation. The people probably have different coloured coats and bags and the photographer has made it into B&W to avoid the contrast of colour. Perhaps a bit of cloning or fading of the bottom left to reduce the distraction but was given 17

‘Cham dancers’

Stage lighting is a nightmare for photographers and two of the ladies are in pink lighting. The ladies have to almost be still to get a good picture and this may have been a dress rehearsal the lady in front has the flesh colours. It was asked to be held back

‘The Blossoms’

A wide shot from the audience and there are a number of photographers also in the audience so could be staged. The singer has a good light on the face where the drummer is as usual in the shadows. A nice dry smoky atmosphere and one lad on the left has earphones in. Another score of 17 was given.

‘Lonely the brave’

First of all John said it looked like a boxer from the 50’s having gone a round or two with Rocky Marciano (hell, I remember him lol) looks like he has been waxed down after the fight. There appears to be something weird about this look but Peter was struggling to understand the title but that didn’t stop him holding it back.

‘Clothed in winter’

A winter scene letterboxed and the black sliders turned up and given a vignette. A nice image and given 17

‘Council Building’

John noticed it on the way into Aylesbury known as ‘Pooley’s Folly’ but John didn’t seem to mind it but having been up there I disagree lol. The image has been corrected to make it straight with an isometric join, enhanced with a vignette and sun ray at the back. Perhaps the image would have looked better without the railings on the front but probably not possible. An interesting image and given a 17

‘Scary Clown’

Yes three Easter eggs on his head, gloves with fingers missing and clowns can be scary. Very interesting image and given a 17.

‘St Paul’s in the rain’

A lot going on in the top right of the image and turned into B&W with a person walking past with a red umbrella to attract the eye. This was held back

‘Sturdy and Proud’

An old fashioned oak tree with a farmhouse right in the distant just on the brow of the hill which looks so English, done in B&W and John wondered if the colour tones in the sky and field would have been better but held back.

‘Barn Owl’

A beautiful job not sure whether the image is taken in a natural environment. The feathers and beak are sharp but thought the eyes looked a bit soft. It was given a 17.

‘Quad Bike Motocross’

John assumed this to be a race but we can’t see any other competitors. The guy riding seems to be enjoying himself but there are hose pipes in the way. The bike has a race number and the bike is a good race specimen but just needs those odd bits of pipe removing at the side. It was given a 17.

‘Swan’

The swan is obviously beating his wings and not doing a crash landing. The image is produced in B&W with a perfect border. A nice expression on the swan’s face but unfortunately it looks like the nearest wing is truncated but given 17.

‘After Hours’

John could see pots, pans and paint in a sculpture room which could be in the Victoria & Albert museum. The image is toned to give an appearance of the 1920’s. It could be a record of a shot applied for something like a magazine. It was asked to be help back.

‘Tranquillity’

An image taken of a stream using a slow shutter speed. The camera would be on a tripod with the focus either on a frog or leaf on a rock. It scored a 17.

‘Spring Meadow’

Really an orchard, said John with a wonderful image of a horse which is well looked after and nicely groomed. The tree nicely wraps around and perhaps the sky is not needed and better letterboxed. A high quality image, bright sunlight and nice horse perhaps the photographer had a few nuts in their pocket to get the shot. It was held back

‘Mrs B’

Looks like a lane in Milton Keynes and Mrs B wearing a 1940’s style dress. The dress is professionally lit as more than natural light but ideal for a magazine catalogue. This was also held back.

So we have all the held backs

The result

‘Dancers’ by Kathy Chantler scored 18

‘Cham Dancers’ by Carol Haines scored 19

‘Study & Proud’ by Chris Andrews scored 19

‘Mrs B’ by Nick Bennett scored 19

‘After Hours’ by Julia Cleaver scored 19

‘St Pauls in the rain’ by Kathy Chantler scored 20

‘Spring Meadow’ by Dawn Cave scored 20

‘Lonely the brave’ by Nick Bennett scored 20 (Judge’s choice)

I have no idea who has won and could get my abacus out but will leave it to the official result as i could have got scores wrong lol

Next week is

Practical Portrait Evening