5th. Colour Images & Results

Name: Talk by Andy Sands at Hyde Road, Caddington
Start: 2022-07-19T19:30:00+01:00
End: 2022-07-19T21:30:00+01:00

01-A-COLD-OCTOBER-MORNING-by-Sue-Case-C-2019

Image 1 of 32

A gentle yet moody picture that takes full advantage of the reflection of the mast. The mist provides a graduated recession into the distance and simplifies the picture.

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Listed Below the Scores, together with our judges comments


5th Colour Print Competition		Name	Group	Score
19	Blue and white	Vicky Sinclair	A	20	It’s hard to sometimes to quantify the appeal a picture has for me. Graphic simplicity perhaps? A sketch like effect? An enigmatic quality? Certainly the balanced composition conveys a sense of equilibrium. All I know is I love it!
6	Gentle start to the day	Rob Harley	A	19	Amazing how obscuring 80% of the content can give a picture extra appeal. The dusting of birds across the picture, unobscured as they are by the mist, are all the subject matter we need.
28	Rust Patterns	John Humphrey	A	19	This is a delightful fantasy, a work of the imagination. And we are invited to enter this fantasy world. The title may say rust patterns but I sure each of us will see what our own imagination conjures up.
13	Pears under gauze	John Humphrey	A	18	I like the effect created by the gauze, it’s fine creative thinking. It is a step back from reality and towards abstraction. I think perhaps, the pears should be separated somewhat from the folds that surround them so as to increase that sense of abstraction. A good picture but still a work in progress perhaps.
16	Tangled	John Marshall	A	18	This is a very good figure study showing considerable studio skills in the lighting. The rope is a cunning compositional ploy that suggests a line of eye travel other than the rather lovely model.
11	Matching	Vicky Sinclair	A	17	Once again the photographers eye spots something that adds to and balances the composition. Ones eye has to adjust to the out of focus background although if hadn’t have been so I would probably said soften it.
27	Roseanne	Rob Harley	A	17	More fine studio work with expert lighting. Just look at the beautiful detail in her hair. Less attractive is the garment she has chosen to wear off shoulder. I think the picture works better as just head and shoulders with the lower third of the picture cropped off.
32	Chive flower	John Marshall	A	17	Stark against the black background the bloom is presented as a botanical specimen.
20	Does a quick snack count	Graham Ford	B	20	Apart from the lack of a species name for natural history purposes, I can only say “Perfick innit?”
4	Dinner for two	Graham Ford	B	18	This is a very good natural history shot, although it would need the Latin name to qualify as such. However it is strongly pictorial and an appealing image nonetheless. (When I saw the title my first thought was “Spike Jones – Cocktails for Two” By a weird coincidence the next day someone I know posted a link to that Spike Jones record on Facebook.)
12	Norwegian scene	Richard Anthony	B	18	At first site I thought the greenery at the bottom was a distraction but it does in fact invigorate the scene which has rather a low light level. It allows us enjoy that moody sky and the reflections in the lake with our eye firmly locked in by that greenery.
21	Helibore after the shower	Richard Anthony	B	17	A lovely sparkle is added to this close-up by the raindrops. A minor quibble I know but my eye is drawn through that gap on the right. It needs darkening down bit.
23	Lookout	G Hutchinson	B	17	Thanks to an advertising campaign meercats are now much loved by us all. You can make up your own voiceover to this with I suspect, a Russian accent.
5	Evening Cruise through Maidenhead	Philip Byford	B	16	Good composition aided by sensible cropping although is not quite enough to make this picture competitive in this competition. Gentle and relaxed though it is it needs a little more vitality and sparkle.
24	Marlow church between the trees	Philip Byford	B	16	A very straight forward church picture but it does have lots of lovely detai that is clearly delineated.
7	Giraffe	G Hutchinson	B	15	Such sad eyes in this giraffe portrait. Photographically there are one or two problems; the burnt out highlights on the head need dealing with, the face needs lightening somewhat and the background darkening a little more.
2	Held together with string	Linda van Geene	C	20	A wonderful exploration of textures and dereliction. I did wonder if the clouds were a distraction but then thought they do make it look as if the tank is boiling over!
9	Happy thoughts	Brian Howard	C	20	Such an excellently rendered portrait can only delight. The quality of the shadowless lighting and the close crop convey a beguiling intimacy.
31	Slipper orchid	Ian Shaw	C	19	There is something very sci-fi about this flower. It is saying “Take me to your leader.” But a gentle luminosity imbues the picture and reassures us.
1	A cold October morning	Sue Case	C	19	A gentle yet moody picture that takes full advantage of the reflection of the mast. The mist provides a graduated recession into the distance and simplifies the picture.
15	Waiting for the call	Linda van Geene	C	19	Glowing resplendently in spite of it’s well weathered condition, it is fine example of why such vehicles should not always be restored to sparkling newness but retain their working character.
22	Jewish memorial and railway jetty Almeria	Emyr Williams	C	18	This is a bit of a tease because the Jewish memorial is reduced to a line of posts when it is a forest of 142 such posts but the shadows convey its message. Still, I would love to have seen more of it. The jetty however is resplendent against the vivid blue sky.
25	Orange Tip	Peter Cotton	C	18	Inherently pictorial, butterflies are nature’s art palette. This has lots of lovely detail on the wings. There is just a slight softening of focus on the antennae but the pictorial appeal is uncompromised.
26	Ralphie	Sue Case	C	18	Very high on the “aah” factor this one. Certainly a lovely baby and very well photographed too.
14	Three cows	Ian Shaw	C	17	Well choreographed and the slight blur on the nose of the middle cow lends a sense of movement and immediacy.
8	Golden autumn	Mike Mitchell	C	17	This is a pleasingly rustic scene that is embellished by the cascade of russet and gold that the tree is shedding.
10	I’ve just seen a face	Peter Cotton	C	17	Ah yes, the photographers eye allert to the possibilities. A very different face to the previous picture, in fact the worse case of acne I I’ve seen in a long time. Well spotted (no pun intended) and well recorded.
17	A study in spices	Emyr Williams	C	17	Mondrian in the kitchen perhaps? Could be simplified by taking off the left hand edge perhaps but good creative thinking none the less.
29	Selfie	Paul Winslow	C	17	I certainly like the idea although I wish the left hand edge of the globe were in shot and if possible the photographer could eliminate them self from the reflection.
30	Side view of a large ball dahlia	Brian Howard	C	17	A simple and straightforward picture of a lovely flower.
18	Autumn puddle	Mike Mitchell	C	16	just for a moment I thought we were still in the kitchen! But no, someone has spotted the potential of leaves in a puddle. The reflection on the water does reduce the effect somewhat as it confuses the eye. Although the right half of the image could stand on its own.
3	A wet day in Gwent	Paul Winslow	C	15	Nothing like a drop of rain to help a townscape along although it is a rather messy image that does need some squaring up. The tramlines piqued my interest though.