Our third print competition evening of the season is for the Colour Rosebowl, which allows members to enter up to three colour prints. It’s also our third evening of the season adjudicated by an SPF-accredited judge, and last night we welcomed Piers Hemy, long-time member of Cromarty Camera Club, for his first outing of judging in Perth.
Piers started the evening by sharing a few of his own images, confessing to a love of textures and patterns. He also showed a few landscapes that appeared to be treated to excessive polarisation, but which were in fact shot in infra-red, to illustrate how easy it is to jump to conclusions. However an image was made, he said, whatever challenges were overcome, the judge can only go by the result – guided by the title, and coloured by their own preferences, or prejudices. He noted that overall, the standard of entries for this competition were more uniformly high than he had seen before.
With a field of 36 prints, we were able to view all entries with commentary before the tea break. This allowed time during the break to view all the prints, on the stands around the room. What impresses in a print can vary between being viewed from the back of a lecture theatre and viewed close up.
After tea, the results, and an opportunity to discuss some of the prints further, with the author and amongst the membership. This is where we can learn more of how an image was made, and what challenges were overcome – or perhaps what ingenious techniques were employed. There’s no simple formula for success, but clearly perseverence pays. Lots of opportunities for learning.
