Why it Won – 22nd Nov 2007

Winners of the monochrome print competitions held Wed. 22nd Nov 2007

THE WINDWILL by Ian Farrant
(Intermediate mono print)

A richly printed graphic study of a well-known local landmark. Several of the prints that Ian put into this competition had deep blacks well separated midtones and clean highlights showing that modern ink-jet printing can produce a beautiful result. Windmills can be tricky to photograph without ending up with a boring record. A low viewpoint, strong diagonals and not worrying about clipping the sails has yielded a strong and graphic composition.

STARGAZER LILY by Sarah Smith
(Advanced mono print)

A sensitive and airy rendition of a classic still life subject. A well-chosen and prepared background of silky fabric, soft lighting, careful focusing and thoughtful ‘posing’ and framing have produced a delicate yet detailed image that would be very easy to live with. It looks like care was taken during the processing to ensure a pleasing tonality with good handling of contrast.

Well done Ian and Sarah,
/Graham

Note: this post is open for comments.

Open Aggregate Monochrome Print Competition – 21.11.07

Monochrome PrintCompetition. There was a large entry on a variety of subjects.
 
The judge for the evening was John Wigmore FRPS, EFIAP, MPAGB, APAGB. and the results were as follows:-

Intermediate Photographers
20 points: Ian Farrant (First Place), and Kay Monk
19 points: Jim Whalley
18 points: Ian Farrant

The judge complimented Ian Farrant on his winning print Chillenden Mill.

Advanced Photographers
20 points: Sarah Smith (First Place) and Peter Vears (2)
19 points: Don Lester and Diana Tudor 
18 points:  June Hill, Valerie Jennings and Don Lester

Report by Marion Holness
Publicity Officer

June Hill BPE1*

As was announced a couple of weeks ago, June Hill was awarded a BPE1* for  gaining 25 exhibition acceptances.

I have added a gallery page showing some of the pictures that were accepted.

Well done again June.

/Graham

AV night – 14th Nov 2007

Unfortunately I was not able to attend this meeting so this report is second hand and a bit late being posted.

The evening was led by Dave Brown who provided the commentary.

5 digitally projected audio-visual sequences were shown.

 Many thanks to June & Tony Hill and Tony Catt for creating and sharing the sequences.

Speaking with Tony Hilll yesterday (Wed 21st), he had the following tips for people getting to grips with AV:

• Keep in mind a few themes for possible AV sequences and when out and about keep a look out for these.
• When photographing a subject  take the extra pictures that would help in an AV.
• Think about “scene setting” pictures followed by more selective “detail shots”.
• To help with editing your backing music there is a free software package called Audacity.

Meeting Report – 7th Nov. 2007

On Wednesday, 7th November 2007 Chris Shore FRPS, BFIAP, MPAGB, BPE4* visited the club and gave a lecture “Light in the Dark”.
He showed many examples of his work on a great variety of subjects giving tips and advice to members and expressed the pleasure and satisfaction he gained working in his darkroom.

June Hill and Don Lester were presented with Certificates of Merit for gaining 20 points for their entries in the recently held Ross Cup Competition. [see blog item for 4-Nov-2007]

June Hill was also congratulated on being awarded BPE1* distinction for gaining 25 acceptances in competitions recognised by British Photographic Exhibitions. [about the BPE]

By Marion Holness
Publicity Officer

Open Aggregate Colour Print Competition – 31st Oct. 2007

On Wednesday, 31st October 2007 the Club held an Open Aggregate Colour Print Competition. There was a very large entry in both sections on a variety of different subjects, The judge for the evening was Frank Page and the results were as follows:-

Intermediate Photographers

20 points: David Brown
19 points: Ian Farrant
18 points: John Harrop and John Ridout

Advanced Photographers

20 points: June Hill
19 points: Sarah Smith
18 points: Tony Friend, Don Lester and Peter Vears.

Report by Marion Holness
Publicity Officer

Ross Cup – 4th Nov. 2007

The Ross Cup was hosted at Detling and attended by a few members from Deal. We came =5th (out of 31) with Tonbridge on 136 points. AG Mono took 1st place with 141 followed closely by Ashford, Invicta and Seaford.

Individual member results were:
Don Lester LRPS: 20MC
June Hill LRPS CPAGB: 20MC, 13
Tony Hill: 16
John Maclellan: 13
Sarah Smith: 17
Graham Robinson: 18C
Diana Tudor: 19C

Well done Deal, I think that was a very good result.

/Graham

Why it Won – 31st Oct 2007

For the first of our “Why it Won” postings we have the winners of the colour print competitions held on 31st Oct 2007 which were judged by Frank Page LRPS.

CARTWHEEL START by David Brown
(Colour Print – Intermediate Section)

The photograph has a great feeling of design and captures a moment in time. The shapes are simple and very well put together. The shadow of the child falls entirely on the clean background and is cleanly seperated from, but is a perfect echo of, the child’s outline. The column at the left acts to balance the child (cover the column with your hand and then look at the balance of the picture). The deep shadow at the top also echoes the solid dark base of the picture. Capturing this precise moment has created a very neat and tidy shape that almost looks like an elegant move out of a Tai Chi kata. Quick reactions and great composition have made this picture.

JUST BUMBLING AROUND by June Hill
(Colour Print – Advanced Section)

A very sharp and well-exposed study of a bee against a beautifully soft and textured background of flower petals. The bee is well with the depth of field of the shot, shows great detail and is well positioned in the frame; almost reaching for the center of the picture. Lovely diffuse lighting has been found or created to reveal the shapes, textures, details and tones of the flower petals that are very enjoyable to look at. Technical competence and understanding of sympathetic and correct lighting have been key to the sucess of this photograph.

ANY COMMENTS?

These are my opinions. If you want to add a remark to agree, disagree or bring out a point I have missed then plese add a comment below.

Bye for Now.
/Graham Robinson

Why it Won – New Series

I thought we would try a new type of posting on the blog. What we will try to do is post the winning pictures from competition nights. I will add some thoughts as to why I think it was a winner and I’ll open the posts for comments so that you can add your ideas and reactions.

As a result of the the copying,  reduction in size, the compression and being viewed on non-calibrated monitors much of the technical quality of the image will be lost. To protect the images from commercial re-use and to save space on the blog we will only be posting the images as 400px wide. However, we hope that enough of the image is left to explain ‘why it won’.

We will put these posts in the categories “Winners” and “Discussions” so they can be found easily by clicking on the categories links.

If you have any thoughts about this you can add a comment to this posting or contact me in person at the next club night.

 /Graham Robinson
(Club Chairman)