Thursday saw the conclusion of our 3-part set subject competition. The third part on the theme of “Flowers” was judged by Gordon Davidson, who had won last year’s competition. 11 members had entered 33 images altogether, with a wide selection of floral images ranging from wide shots of entire flower beds to portraits of a single specimen, including a Karen Woodcock’s “Happy Wee Poppy” that looked like it was smiling. Gordon commented on the detail and composition of each image. Some images had lost detail through a slightly offset focus or too little resolution. It is easy to over-exposed a flower when brightly lit, and some images had lost detail in their highlights. Gordon also pointed out some blobs and halos that he found distracting in the background. Nevertheless, Gordon liked most of the images, which meant there were a lot of high marks. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

• 5th place (50 points)
  • Joe Fowler
• 4th place (51 points)
  • Gavin Marshall
  • Jim Innes
• 3rd place (54 points)
  • Steven Beard
  • Derek Muller
• 2nd place (56 points)
  • John West
• 1st place (57 points)
  • Jennifer Davidson

The top images were:

• Red Roses (John West) – 20 points
• Let us out! (Jennifer Davidson) – 19 points
• Blue Lily Head (Jennifer Davidson) – 19 points
• Pink Daisy (Jennifer Davidson) – 19 points
• Dandelion (Steven Beard) – 19 points
• Yellow Lily (John West) – 19 points
• Pink Rose (Carol Edmond) – 19 points
• Backlit Sunflower (Derek Muller) – 19 points
• Purple Plant (Joe Fowler) – 18 points
• Frosty Rose (Joe Fowler) – 18 points
• Red Dahlia (Steven Beard) – 18 points
• Turkscap Lily (Elaine Gilroy) – 18 points
• Tulip Fields (Jim Innes) – 18 points
• Thistle From Above (Derek Muller) – 18 points

Well done to Jennifer Davidson, who wins the right to judge next year’s competition. Also well done to John West, whose image of red roses achieved the highest mark. The latest scores have evened up the league table, making the final result close, but after consulting the final spreadsheet I can reveal that the final result from all three competitions is:

• 1st place
  • Jennifer Davidson (53 + 57 = 110)
• 2nd place
  • John West (50 + 56 = 106)
• 3rd place
  • Steven Beard (51 + 54 = 105)
  • Elaine Gilroy (51 + 54 = 105)
  • Derek Muller (51 + 54 = 105)
• 4th place
  • Carol Edmond (54 + 50 = 104)
• 5th place
  • Joe Fowler (52 + 50 = 102)

Well done to Jennifer for winning the trophy, and thank you to all the members who entered some beautiful images this year.

• This is the last competition of the season, and George needs to engrave the trophies for the AGM. If you won a trophy last year please return it to George as soon as possible.
• This coming Thursday we will be hosting Musselburgh Art Club and will be meeting in the upstairs room F1 in the Fisherrow Centre.
• The season is drawing to close, and we need to decide where to go for our end of season photoshoot on 18th April 2024. Please think of ideas for where we could go and let me have your ideas. I have already had the following suggestions:
  
  • Meet in Edinburgh for sunset and street lighting pictures.
  • Meet at a local nature reserve, such as Aberlady Bay.
  • Switch the date to Saturday, 20th April 2024, so we can meet earlier when there is more daylight. That would also open up local sites which close before 7pm, such as Dalkeith Country Park and the Gosford House Estate.