Tuesday 27th February - Digital Competition Round 2, 'Landscapes'

This year we decided to issue new guidelines to tighten up what a Landscape should be which included saying that they should be of our outside physical environment. We had a total of 56 digital images for our judge Nick Akers to look at. Nick is well known and respected at our club and did not disappoint giving well thought out critique for each image for the authors to consider. Nick held back a number of images in each class before awarding his scores out of 20.

Those scoring 18, 19 or 20 can be seen below.

In Members Class:

A WINTER SCENE by Ann Barber - 20

SNETTISHAM BEACH by Georgie McCall -19

THE MOUNTAINS ARE CALLING by John Laing -18

In Intermediate Class:

FOSSILISED TREES by Andrew Stringer -20

LITTLE OUSE by Andrew Stringer -20

TREE AT BINTREE WATERMILL BY Vanessa Robertson -19

BINTREE WATER MILL BY Vanessa Robertson -19

WAST WATER by Geoff Lingwood - 19

DYRHAM ESTATE GARDENS by Emma Moore - 18

WINTER SUNSHINE AT HUNSTANTON by Sue Baldwin - 18.

MISTY MORNING IN CROMER by Pam Rutty - 18

RING OF STONES by Geoff Lingwood - 18

KARESUANDO by Sue Baldwin - 18

In Advanced Class:

THE COLOURS OF THE WASH by Graham Frost - 20

THE STRID, WHARFEDALE by Graham Frost -20

ST AGNES BAY, CORNWALL by Roy Scrivener - 19

ROCKY MOUNTAIN MORNING by Dawn Osborn - 19

GROYNES by Sandie Jardine - 18

TRANQUILITY ON LAKE KERKINI by Carol Martin - 18

ALPINE GLACIER by Roy Scrivener - 18

STANDING PROUD by Carol Martin - 18

Tuesday 13th February - Members' critique evening

The main aim of this evening's meeting was to improve our own critiquing skills and look for the strengths and weaknesses when viewing our own images.  After a quick refresher from a recent presentation it was time to put into practice the tips that we had learned.  We split into small groups, who constructively looked for factors such as impact, atmosphere, composition, technique and presentation whilst keeping the feedback constructive and positive when looking at a variety of members’ images.  The session was both useful and enjoyable.  Thank you to all the members who submitted images for close scrutiny by their fellow club members.

SCENIC

BUG

MASTERCHEF

DUCK POND

Tuesday 6th February - Chris Shepherd 'Composition and Catastrophe'

This was definitely an evening of two halves, two very different halves.  Chris's talk in the first half was a succinct reminder of the do's and don'ts of composition.  He introduced his composition 'toolkit' with examples to illustrate the strengths of each tool or rule.  Put simply, Chris reminded us to be clear what our subject is, exclude any distractions and compose to make the subject more interesting.  Sounds simple when you say it quickly but so easy to get it wrong!

There was a distinct gear change for part two.  After scaring us with stories about lost information and its value when computers fail or viruses take hold, Chris summarised his recommended 3:2:1 back-up plan to minimise the catastrophic effects of losing data including our thousands of photographs stored digitally.  3 copies of everything, stored in 2 locations with 1 copy instantly available.  Sometimes we need to be scared into action and this talk might have done the trick.