Our set subject competition concluded on Thursday with the third and final part, on the theme of “Landscape”. George Todd had won last year’s competition and judged our entries. George mentioned that he liked landscape images to contain three balanced parts: something interesting in the foreground to lead in your eye; something in the middle distance; and something in the far distance to give depth to the image. He also mentioned that landscape images containing bodies of water work better when there is a landscape in the distance (with the water ending in a distance island or distant mountains, for example).

14 members had entered 42 images altogether. Most of the images showed scenes from Scotland, although there were a few from as far afield as England, Ireland, Iceland and Arizona. George found that some scenes were spoiled by the inclusion of people and houses in the far distance which didn’t add anything or act as focal points. George also pointed out how one image was spoiled by a large number of footprints in the foreground sand. He recommended photographing sandy scenes early in the day before other tourists have arrived to spoil the pristine surface. He also explained how landscape images could be made more punchy and colourful using a “levels” adjustment in Photoshop. Images that were a little too hazy and flat in the distance and could be improved with the Photoshop “de-haze” filter. Overall, George was impressed with the quality of the entries, especially from new members Ross Robertson, Jim Innes and Derek Muller, and there were a lot of high marks. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

• 5th place (50 points)
  • Malcolm Roberts
• 4th place (51 points)
  • Steven Beard
  • Steve Williams
  • Elaine Gilroy
  • Jim Innes
• 3rd place (52 points)
  • Mike Clark
  • Derek Muller
• 2nd place (53 points)
  • Joe Fowler
  • Ross Robertson
• 1st place (54 points)
  • Gordon Davidson

The top images were:

• Sunset in Arisaig looking towards Eigg and Rhum (Gordon Davidson) – 20 points
• Wild Ponies (Joe Fowler) – 19 points
• On the Trail (Steven Beard) – 19 points
• Glen Coe Water (Mike Clark) – 19 points
• Sky High (Ross Robertson) – 19 points
• Icy Fjord (Steve Williams) – 18 points
• Autumn Reflections (Elaine Gilroy) – 18 points
• Natural Light Show over Urquhart Castle (Derek Muller) – 18 points
• The Desert Guardians ensure the sun is extinguished after another burning day (Derek Muller) – 18 points

Well done to Gordon Davidson, who had the top image, achieved the highest mark, and has won the right to judge next year’s competition if he so wishes. Also well done to Derek Muller for submitting the most imaginative and amusing titles! The scoring was very close and, now that George has consulted his final spreadsheet, I can reveal that the final result from all three competitions is:

• 1st place
  • Joe Fowler (54 + 53 = 107)
  • Malcolm Roberts (57 + 50 = 107)
• 2nd place
  • Mike Clark (52 + 52 = 104)
• 3rd place
  • Steven Beard (52 + 51 = 103)
  • George Todd (55 + 48 = 103)
  • Derek Muller (51 + 52 = 103)
  • Gordon Davidson (49 + 54 = 103)
• 4th place
  • Steve Williams (51 + 51 = 102)
• 5th place
  • Carol Edmund (50 + 49 = 99)
• 6th place
  • John West (49 + 49= 98)

Well done to Joe and Malcolm for jointly winning the trophy! The scoring was so close this year that there are a lot of medal winners. Well done to you all.

• Since we are coming up to the last few competitions of the season, it is time to start returning your trophies from last year to George so he can engrave them ready for the AGM.
• This coming Thursday, 9th March 2023, we will be hosting our annual meeting with Mölnlycke Fotoklubb from Gothenburg. The meeting will be held by Zoom, but we will also show the meeting at Fisherrow. Come along a comment on Mölnlycke’s images and vote for your favourites.