November Competition Results – A Different Angle

Judge: Barney Douglas

WITH COMPLIMENTS

Time flies so quickly, and here we are, almost at Christmas, and once again I would like to say a big thank you for the invitation to adjudicate on this competition. There are just six entries in the Beginners section, about a dozen in Intermediate and about thirty in Advanced. A quick scan-through shows a high standard of work, including once again a few outstanding submissions.

The subject title this time is ‘A Different Angle’, and I am therefore looking for images that meet that tagline. You really do need to think outside the box with a subject like this. Most appear to have done so, one or two had me baffled on quick inspection, but all have merit in their own way.

Once again I am taking the images in order of title and I’ll then pick out my highlight image(s) from each group.

And again I am checking the White Balance setting on all images for which it was available. However, in the Beginners section, there’s only one image, (the first), with this information.

So, here we go…

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Beginners:

Look Up. Maxine Commended The tree canopy usually makes a good subject from this angle, and I so wanted this to do just that, but the light has really let you down. There again the deliberate use of the steely grey clouds above the trees has some merit. his is almost certainly a mobile phone image (JPEG) and the definition, particularly with the reduced light levels, has made the result rather bland. A shame, as I like the concept.

Mountain Dog. Maxine Commended The height of the drop to the river gives that element of peril to both photographer and four-legged friend, but sadly this image suffers from apparent camera shake. What could have been a very good image has suffered consequently.

Wing Away. Maxine Commended Great concept … very nearly right, but not quite. This has a fairly narrow aperture which has created a bit too much depth of focus and I would have liked to see the subjects … the metal dragonflies, much crisper … and with a wider aperture the building in the background would have been thrown more out of focus. As it is we have most of the image in focus except the closest dragonflies, and that means that the people in the mid ground are slightly distracting. I can see what you were trying to achieve. So, set your aperture wide, pick out one dragonfly, half press the shutter, hold it, move the camera, frame your shot and press the shutter the rest of the way.

Through The Ice. Carly Price 3rd Place Winner Seriously low-light stuff here, with the use of a narrow focus range to create bokeh by having a wide aperture on the lens. And that aperture helps with so little available light to play with. Very nice concept and well executed.

Curious Creature. Carly Price 2nd Place Winner Commended Funnily enough, one of the biggest criticisms I often hear, (and have voiced myself), is about people who stand at their full height close to a much smaller subject and shoot downwards – animals, small children and so on. But thinking of the subject of the competition this image does that, but in doing so also does exactly what was asked. The focus is on the eyes (which I mentioned in the previous competition) so well done there, and I really like this whole image. Another really good one.

A Different Angle. Carly Price 1st Place Winner Commended Well, there’s nothing like borrowing the competition title as the title for your image and this certainly justifies it. If you think about it this is a blissfully simple concept, and that in a way is what makes it a very good image indeed. The main “picture in picture” subject is spot on for focus and we have a glimpse of the original in the background. Cats often remain motionless for quite a while making them good subjects, (much more so than dogs … especially youngsters … and I should know as currently have a six month old Border Collie puppy!) Excellent start to the Beginners group. Great idea and well executed.

Intermediate:

Art Installation. Andrew Ogdon Well you certainly got the competition subject spot on. Did you consider rotating the image? I tried it, both a 90° turn, and then turning the sculpture to vertical. Here’s the result: Now it’s completely subjective as to which works best and when it comes to modern art, there is often no “right way”. So judging the image as submitted I like it, and it probably works better than turning it … but then art is in the eye of the beholder and each one of us needs to take our own viewpoint. Great result.

Bones. Darren Price I’m guessing that this is a dinosaur skeleton, and I can remember very well my first visit to the Natural History Museum as a child and seeing such a skeleton close up for the first time. Lighting is pretty well spot on and this image could only have been improved with the photographer standing just fractionally to the right to obtain symmetry. That apart, very good shot.

Looking Down. Keith Dawson Nothing really to criticise in the composition of this social gathering, and the exposure which is right on the nail. If I am going to be a little picky it’s the lack of a point of interest, but that apart, there’s nothing here to fault.

Pier Out. Fiona Pring No EXIF data here and I am guessing shot on a smartphone camera, hence a slight hint of grain especially noticeable in the droplets of sea water thrown up. Do watch your horizons and this is slightly off, but doesn’t really detract. Colours are vivid and punchy. Nice composition.

Seagull Convention. Britta Schaa Same camera as the bald eagle and I am guessing therefore probably the same photographer. The long focal length of 198mm with an aperture of f5.6 gives great bokeh mid way through the flock. Lacks sharpness a fraction when I zoom in on the eyes of the birds in the central belt but that might be caused by reduced image size. Good result overall.

SS America. Britta Schaa The focus on the plants in the foreground is very crisp, the lighting is excellent and it’s well composed although I would have levelled the horizon. Shot on an Olympus Camedia C760 which is very much nowadays seen as a budget end camera, this has worked incredibly well. Not perfect, but in the mix.

Under The Motorway Bridge. Keith Dawson The first thing you notice about this image is that every vertical is pretty well vertical apart from those at the extreme right and left … although I do wonder if there is a hint of over-correcting what I feel might have been very slight lens barrelling. However as the focal length is 55mm then that is very unlikely. It’s not an exciting subject but it is very well observed and I really like the end result. Well done.

What’s Underneath. Keith Dawson Same camera, same focal length and just a slightly longer exposure than the previous image. This for me doesn’t work quite so well but is still very well exposed. Interesting idea, just not quite there.

Art Deco. Andrew Ogdon Commended Excellent start. Focus is right on the nail, cropping is perfect. Terrific shot. Right up the mix. This is one of those, “I wish I’d taken that” images. Well done.

Bike Daze. Fiona Pring Highly Commended Lovely shot, great colour, no obvious reflection of the photographer, excellent detail. Very good!

Juvenile Bald Eagle. Britta Schaa Highly Commended This is the first image for which I have EXIF data and was shot at f5 at 1/320 second at 126mm ISO 100 on a Coolpix P1000. Difficult shot to focus at f5 due to the branches and the claws are spot on although the face has just started drifting into a hint of softness. Despite that I really like this image – very impressive.

Planes, Planes, Planes. Darren Price 3rd Place Winner This is an absolute beauty, close to faultless, and the detail often down to individual rivets makes this an excellent image despite the small sensor, wide aperture and a remarkably slow 1/25 second exposure time. Shot on a Pixel 5 smartphone this ranks with the best in the class. Very well done.

On a Downward Spiral. Andrew Ogdon 2nd Place Winner Spiral staircases are excellent for composing some very good images and this is up with the best. Because the light falls away towards the floor there is often a balancing act required to keep the exposure there within an acceptable range whilst not overexposing the better illuminated part of the image. The wide angle doesn’t bother me one little bit and this ranks in the contenders. Great shot.

Shell Light. Fiona Pring 1st Place Winner Shooting into the sun is never, ever easy, and I am extremely impressed by the accuracy of this image all round. The reflections off the sand and the shell work very well. Right up there in the leading contenders.

Commended: Art Deco

Highly commended: Biker Daze

Juvenile Bald Eagle – The slight softness in the face just denied it a place in the top.

Three Places:

1. Shell Light – This would have been Highly Commended in the Advanced group

2. On a Downward Spiral – This would have been Commended in the Advanced group

3. Planes Planes Planes – Missed the second place only because of the darker area top left

Experienced:

A Different Slant on Southend. Lee Mullins A popular subject and one I have seen many times from different angles. This works very well, exposure and focus being right on point.

Boating. John Verlander Colour and exposure again about as good as they come. Colour saturation on the boat is gorgeous. Using the foliage in the foreground has provided excellent framing.

From The Rear. Wendy Kerr Comparing this to the image Looking Down in the Intermediate section I can see what the photographer was trying to achieve, but like Looking Down this lacks a point of interest. That’s a shame because on lighting and exposure the photographer has got it right despite the heavily shaded area of the stage.

La Defense Paris. Paul Armitage Hardly anything to criticise here except (just possibly) the slight distraction of the “Cool Cool” sign bottom right. Would I have cropped it out? I tried it but it lost a little of that gold colour at the bottom. So it’s probably better left in. Overall very nice, colour intensity is pretty well perfect. I took a similar shot at the Sydney Opera House in March 1980. Well done.

Lonely Tomato. Ken Johnson Now you are trying to get me to feel sorry for a piece of fruit, aren’t you. Photographically the simplicity of the shot is very noticeable and I can see why it’s in this competition. If I can be very picky you should have found a surface without the two marks evident as they just take something away from the composition. Focus and lighting are, however, spot on and the aperture on the lens is just perfect creating the bokeh on the surface very nicely. Most will be very surprised at the mind-blowing 8000 ASA setting.

Love It Or Hate It. Ken Johnson Another simple image, totally different settings but a similar idea to our lonely tomato. On exposure, depth of focus, colour rendition and a lot more this is right on point.

Organised. Alan Sheridan Lifestyle portraiture with a difference and a very well captured image. This is an image that has very much created itself with everything in place without necessarily being “organised” by the photographer. Excellent capture. Well done.

Scooter. Alan Sheridan You have to ask the question whether this was a complex image created by the photographer or was this a fortuitous opportunity not to be missed. The positioning of the scooter is so good as to suggest the former, but I’d genuinely want to believe that this was one of those strokes of good luck of which all photographers dream.

Either way it works equally well. The subject matter with the Edvard Munch style characters in the street art watched by the girl in modern dress as a backdrop to the scooter is almost perfectly captured and would have only been improved by injecting a hint of fill-flash in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro to get a little detail in the exhaust pipe and rear wheel as in my edit:

Sweet Jars. Ken Johnson Great idea and almost there. This image begs for a little oomph, again from the post-production edit by adding more vibrant colour to the sweets.

Through a Lensball. Wendy Kerr There had to be one of these with a competition subject like this and this image makes great use of the lensball to create something somewhat different from the norm. Focus in the foreground is spot on and the whole image works very well as it stands. My only question is whether it could have been improved by not cropping in quite so tightly and seeing a hint of the blue sky that is obviously there.

Through the Window. Wendy Kerr This complex combination of the windows frames themselves and the resulting patterns they create with the sunlight has worked really well. It is an outside contender as it stands and might have been lifted by editing out the vehicles in the car park beyond.

My Edit: This is a technique I use regularly as I shoot football for the Arabic-speaking world’s biggest spot-the ball football website, my largest commercial contract, removing minute details from complex images. It takes seconds using the clone tool.

Yoga at Los Molinos. Lee Mullins One of only two images using manual white balance and this is spot on for colour for that reason. Using the waves and rocks as the framing works very well indeed. Another great image.

Aroundabout. Carol Sheridan Faultless exposure and colours, focus right on target and a very well executed mage.

Grubby Specs Commended I know the feeling. I’m forever cleaning mine. Very interesting approach to the subject matter and well shot for exposure and focus. It is also one of only two images in the entries with manually controlled white balance. Very good one indeed. . Lee Mullins.

Kite. Alan Hillman Commended Now be fair, this is not an image you could set up as you are reliant on the wind and the moment. This really works well for me with vibrant colours not the least distracted by the slight drop of light levels on the shaded side. Very nice image indeed.

Las Penitas. Duncan Gray Commended This is the one in the Penitas Ravine I believe, and you have taken an interesting subject and added an unusual slant giving something that meets the needs of the competition and creates a new angle on a well-photographed chapel. The rocks in the background add to the framing. Very good shot.

Upstairs Looking Down. Duncan Gray. Commended Another great spiral staircase image. I shot one very similar with well-known model Bexie Williams at her former home in West London about five years ago. This was a very difficult capture with the camera settings at 1/9 second, f4.5 and 6400 ASA and it is almost inevitable that the image consequently very slightly lacks absolute sharpness. Even so, still a contender. Well done!

Vertigo. Carol Sheridan Commended A very good title for a very good image, it made me wobble in my seat just looking at it. The biggest image (just) in the set, the colours are great, there’s a double point of interest in the boats and plenty to see in the periphery. Another contender … I really like this. l Sheridan.

View from Chimney Pots. Helen. Commended For me the herring gull just makes this shot and despite the f5.6 focal length the houses in the background hold enough focus to allow their colours to catch the eye without distracting from the overall image. Excellent exposure and saturation and another contender. Well done!

BBC Building. Paul Armitage. Commended Another excellent image with colours and focus on the nail. Nothing to criticise at all.

Black Tailed Godwit. Ian Gray. Highly Commended This is almost flawless. The hint of the bird’s claw just catching the calm water creates an excellent image.

Chains. Alan Sheridan Highly Commended Beautifully observed monochrome shot with flawless focus. The angle of the shot leads the eye across the metal. First class!

Juicy Fruits. Helen. Highly commended Beautifully photographed with perfect focus and great attention to detail. Excellent – another front runner.

2UP. Carol Sheridan. Highly Commended with Special Mention Excellent viewpoint, great colours, superb balance between sky and artwork, nigh on flawless.

Hibiscus in a Hole. Helen. Highly Commended with Special Mention This really catches the eye and concentrates the viewer’s mind on the flower with the foliage adding interest but taking nothing away from the main subject of the image. Framing par excellence. A front runner.

The Eye. Alan Hillman. Highly Commended with Special Mention Beautifully observed image of a sculpture that is starting to show the ravages of time … or is it? Is this what the original artist intended? Not knowing, I judge it as it stands … as a photograph of another piece of art. The shadows add to the photographic image rather than detracting and this creates an excellent finished result.

Compact. Alan Hillman. 3rd Place Winner I said at the start that I had my work cut out here and this is yet another brilliant image. The delicacy of the colour and shapes in the flower are matched by the slightly softer edges of the vegetation. Another great image.

Rock in the Stream. Duncan Gray. 2nd Place Winner I made a point of checking the exposure time and other settings on this one. It is f7.1, 1/30 second at 640 ASA. And it’s the shutter speed that is critical here giving, as it does, that hint of movement in the water hurrying around the rock whilst the bubbles created by the movement of the water and twig bring sufficient in slowing the flow to make the bubbles seem stationary. If this was shot using a tripod it was very good. Hand held it’s outstanding. I genuinely don’t know but I have my suspicions.

No.1 City Square. Paul Armitage. 1st Place Winner Absolutely brilliant monochrome rendition of the exterior of a modern building. Eye-catching perspective, spot-on exposure. Love it! Front runner!

Advanced Results:

As in previous competitions, I have judged I have brought together those under consideration for the places in the Advanced group, and here they are for this competition:

This is by far the toughest decision I have yet had to make. I thought the last competition I did gave me difficult decisions, but the standard this time is really high, and thank you all for really pushing yourselves and me. Again a different judge on a different day and any of my top images could be in contention.

Commended:

All images shown above not listed below:

Highly commended: BBC Building – Black Tailed Godwit – Chains – Juicy Fruits

Highly Commended with Special Mention

There are three images that came so close to being in the top three that I again felt it was only right that they got special recognition. They are:

2 Up. – Hibiscus In A Hole. – The Eye

Third place: Compact. – Second place: Rock in the Stream. – First place: No 1. City Square

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And finally, something I would like to add.

I am starting the move towards retirement with the closure of my studio in Worthing in December 2021.

The decision was taken just over a week ago after the landlord released me from the obligation to give three months’ notice, and the neighboring business is going to take over the unit temporarily as they need extra space in the short term. They will obviously have to move out when planned housing development starts.

Between January and March 2022, for my commercial studio requirements, (pack shots and fashion primarily), I have secured the use of another studio owned by a close friend of mine within a reasonably short traveling distance. In April 2022 I will be getting access to new facilities on a shared basis in Horsham in return for volunteering my time assisting the charity I have supported for the past two years. Arrangements for hiring out those facilities have yet to be agreed upon as it will be their premises, not mine.

Over the following few months, I will be training up and eventually handing over management of the facility to Liam Taylor who, at 18 years old, has already worked alongside me on fashion shoots and video work including a difficult Ted Talks production, and once he has taken the reins I will be moving on to pastures new.

I certainly won’t be hanging up the camera for good … far from it. I’ll still be shooting regularly for two of my biggest clients – spot-the-ball football, and travel and tourism work. In addition, I am submitting an application to become a regular photographer for Metart, one of the toughest calls in the field of fine art nude and erotic photography. I also have a little surprise up my sleeve that will, hopefully, be of very considerable interest to many of you starting in 2023 if everything stays on schedule. And that might give us the chance to meet … After all, old photographers never die … they just get their shutters jammed … and mine’s still working fine. Barney Douglas

Barney, On behalf of Fuerteventura Camera Club, I would like to wish you every success in your new adventure. I thank you for your support over the past few years in judging our competitions and giving some fantastic constructive advice, especially to our Beginners and Intermediates. We hope everything goes according to plan for you and I am pleased you will still be able to judge a couple of competitions for us next year. The very best of luck to you and your family and have a great Christmas and New Year. Gwynn Price – Competition Secretary & General Secretary.