Hi Folks,
Last night was the fourth round of the club’s league challenge cup. The theme set was something you’re afraid of and the Judge was Cathal Gantly from Buckingham CC.
The evening started with an initial run of the themed images for Cathal to have a quick look through.
Which turned out not have have a spider in sight lol
but I was never confident in entering mine
The first image to be held back was titled,
‘ The Great British Menu’
Cathal said, clowns can be scary to a lot of people and the photographer has added a moon for another element of fear.
The next image to be held back was titled,
‘Growing old’
An interesting one with a connection to old age. The person is not scary, nor is the room but perhaps this person is scared of losing their independence.
Monochrome works well and exposure is good balancing the window light at the back.
Further in the competition another image titled,
‘Buried alive’ was held back
Cathal gave a story of people having this fear in the 1800’s and the rich then had tombs made for themselves and the bodies were given a bell to ring if they woke up.
People were placed around the cemetery to listen out for a bell and the known saying of ‘dead ringer’ came about. Not sure if this system worked well in a cremetorium, said Cathal
and he said, I don’t think the photographer jumped in to take this picture
The next image to be held back was titled,
‘Old and alone’
Similar theme to the one earlier on getting old said Cathal, we can’t tell but the guy does not look happy but not for us to know. A nice shot in monochrome.
The last to be held back was titled
‘A fearsome goshawk’
Are there people that fear birds of prey? asked Cathal I personally quite like them but I guess if one was in the desert a vulture would seem quite fearful.
Cathal was fascinated by the good picture of the hawk but not sure he could buy into the fear element.
So of the five held back the result was thus
1st Buried live by Alan Taberer, 20 points (Judges favourite)
2nd The Great British Menu by Mike Ashcroft. 20 points
Jt 3rd Old and Alone by Chenxi Ni, 19 points
Jt 3rd Goshawk by Nick Razey, 19 points
Jt 3rd Growing Old by Kathy Chantler, 19 points
Coffee time
Then it was the open round with a quick run through of the images. Marking in the last round had been fairly tight and this round was no exception with nobody getting less than 16
The first to be held back was titled,
‘Dusk on Tring reservoir’
A nicely cropped version which works well with the reeds and liked the colour on the water said Cathal
The next to get held back was titled,
‘Wavy Building’
A fascinating building and Cathal liked it greatly, ideal in monochrome which works well
The next to be held back was titled,
‘Ghostly Cyclists’
Night photograph done with a long exposure. He would expect it to have a lot of colours to control and would have been a tempting shot in colour.
However, works well in monochrome and liked the star bursts and the ghostly cycle images but not sure he liked the angle of the shot.
Next image to be held back was titled,
‘The Swan and reeds’
A near perfect classic piece of landscape.
Cathal standing a long way off had to check for the swan
The next to be held back was titled
‘Flamingos’
Cathal like the interaction of the birds against the dark background
The next image held back was titled,
‘Back in time’
Quainton do photography lighting evenings which is a great idea. Normally Cathal said he does not like square images but this one works well for him.
Cathal loved the back lighting and the steam.
The next to be held back was titled,
‘Quarrel’
Nice piece of Natural history there with two puffins arguing
The last to be held back was titled,
‘Swan Dance’
An intriguing picture this processed to be creative making something good out of it. Nice swirly back ground
So with eight held back the result was thus’
1st Swan and reeds by Peter Carter, 20 points (Judge’s favourite)
Jt 2nd Flamingos by Chenx Ni, 20 points
Jt 2nd Dusk on Tring Reservoir by Mike Ashcroft, 20 points
Jt 4th Quarrel by Chenxi Ni, 19 points
Jt 4th Swan Dance by Kathy Chantler, 19 points
Jt 4th Back in Time by Chris Andrews, 19 points
Ghostly Cyclist by Kathy Chantler, 18 points
Wavy Building by John Timbrell, 18 points
NEXT WEEK
A change in the programme
Things people always take out with them on a trip