Our Black and White print competition took place on 7th December 2023, judged by Fiona Brims, who travelled to us from Central Scotland. Fiona’s work can be found on her web site, where her work on creative portraiture stands out in particular.

https://www.fionabrimsphotography.co.uk/

28 prints had been entered by 10 members, which was fewer than usual, so Fiona had time to comment on each print in detail. She gave some useful, amusing and considered feedback explaining how each of the prints could be improved. Fiona introduced us to three tongue-in-cheek terms. Oomph! A print needs to have an impact. Increasing the contrast and making sure the background gets darker towards the edge all help to keep the eye on the subject. Smidgeon. Lightening some of the shadows by just a smidgeon could help improve the visual impact. Meh! Some of the blank skies, areas of empty grass or open water made boring areas in between areas of interest. Try to minimise the boring areas by changing your viewpoint to reduce their size or by boosting their contrast. Fiona found there was something to like in each of the prints. There were some nice compositions with a good tonal range, some striking and atmospheric landscapes and some studies with an emotional impact. There were some prints which gave a fantastic first impression but Fiona was disappointed to find were not sharp when viewed closely, or they had smudges or cloning faults in the background. Fiona recommended that when photographing an object it is important to have an anchor point to put that object in context. So, for example, a photograph of a typewriter could be improved by showing some of the desk it is sitting on, or a photograph of lights dangling from a tree needs to show where the lights are attached. There were also a few black and white portraits. Fiona explained that she liked to see a catchlight in the eyes, which improves the empathy with the viewer. At the end we had plenty of time to chat and review the prints over tea and sandwiches. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

• 4th place (46 points)
  • Jim Innes
• 3rd place (48 points)
  • Jennifer Davidson
  • Mike Clark
  • Carol Edmund
• 2nd place (50 points)
  • Derek Muller
• 1st place (55 points)
  • George Todd

The top images were:

• Man on a Tram (George Todd) – 20 points
• Suffering for your art (Derek Muller) – 19 points
• Patiently waiting for prayer to finish (George Todd) – 18 points
• Exhausted (Carol Edmund) – 18 points

Well done to George Todd, who wins the competition, and to Derek, Jennifer, Mike and Carol, who came close.  Fiona will return next year to give us a talk.

There is now only one meeting left at Fisherrow before Christmas. Come along next Thursday (14th December) at 7pm for our annual quiz night.