OLD FRIEND RETURNS

OLD FRIEND RETURNS

Competition number three of the season saw the return of an old friend as the judge – Ray Bramall ARPS - a former member and regular visiting speaker. The 32 members present were treated to an evening of exciting viewing and erudite judging.

The Scunthorpe Camera Club has now adopted a 20 point scoring method for judging entries with the name of the author and the print title not appearing on the entry.

Ray had obviously spent considerable time assessing the photographs so he was able to speak about each print in some depth, giving suggestions where he thought the print could have been improved, but praising the author on features that were well executed.

The fifteen monochrome prints were judged first with a wide range of subjects, from very wintry landscapes in Austria and Germany; areas around Rannoch Moor in Scotland; Impala, Zebra and Lions in Africa; with Mosques and Statues from around the world.

Duncan Hill received twenty marks for his Brown Pelican in Flight, so was awarded first place in Monochrome Prints. He was awarded nineteen for Cone Fisherman giving him second place. Reg Henry ARPS came third with eighteen marks for his print of the Statue of Hercules and Cacus, in Florence.

As usual, the colour-print section was very well supported, No entry in this section achieved 20 marks, but Duncan received nineteen and a half marks for his Snow Leopard ; eighteen and a half marks for a charming study of Red Dzao children, entitled Left to Fend for Themselves. Duncan completed his hat-trick with Novice Monks that received nineteen marks and third place.

The colour-slides section had only twelve entries and Ray commented on the declining use of colour slides as digital photography became more popular. Ray always looks forward to “having a go” at Reg Cooke on a friendly basis, as Reg often submits entries that are ‘derived’ digital a format not popular with Ray. However he had to admit he liked The Forge Lit Wheel from Reg showing his interpretation of the red glow from the forge fire on a cart-wheel.

The portrait of Donovana as Ophelia by Ron North was one of the most charming child studies Ray said he had seen for some time with good colour and texture in the skin tones and he gave Ron sixteen and a half marks.

A Sand Sculpture in Portugal and the Head of a Bull Elephant by Janet Tierney LRPS, taken in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, were impressive as was the Larva of a Blue Mormon Butterfly by Poitr Tryuk ARPS, but it was Duncan’s Migration slide, showing the snaking trail of the large herds of Wilde Beast across the bare landscape which was awarded nineteen and a half marks with his Siberian Tiger in the Snow receiving nineteen points and second place.

President Ian thanked Ray for the time he had spent judging the prints and slides and for his constructive comments on the work submitted and looked forward to seeing Ray’s own work again at a later date.