This week, professional photographer Andrew Ansell visited the club to judge our Colour Print competition. Andrew began in photography at school when his higher art class had access to a darkroom. He went on to study photography at Stevenson College and the Glasgow School of Art. He has been a freelance photographer for 25 years, working for Edinburgh World Heritage, Edinburgh City Museums and Galleries and the Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network. Andrew tends to go out with one lens, because he finds that limiting yourself can force you to be more creative. You can find out more about his photography on his web site:

https://www.andrew-ansell.com

36 prints had been entered by 12 members. Andrew said he had judged each print on the basis of two criteria, which meant the highest quality images will not necessarily achieve the highest marks:

• Does the photograph achieve its intended purpose? You might ask, “Why did you take this photograph?” and “What is the message, story or feeling it is attempting to convey?”.
• How well does each print meet the “colour print” brief? The use of colour and quality of the printing are important to this.

Andrew had only written down the marks for 7 of the 36 prints, so the remainder needed to be marked quickly on the spot. Prints were displayed on the print stand and simultaneously projected onto the wall. Andrew remarked that most of the images looked much better when projected. Some of the prints had purple or yellow colour casts, and some of the printed colours were too muted or too vivid. Andrew also felt that some prints had been made on the wrong kind of paper. For the images themselves, Andrew suggested cropping more tightly to focus on the action and remove distractions at the edge. Good images needed a focal point to draw your eye. Some images could be improved by brightening the shadows to reveal more detail. Although not in the list of top images, Andrew particularly liked Nicola’s “Gannet Street Preacher” because of its catchy title. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

• 5th place (49 points)
  • Nicola Cawthorne.
• 4th place (50 points)
  • Mike Clark
  • Mary Riley
• 3rd place (51 points)
  • Ed Robertson
• 2nd place (53 points)
  • George Todd
• 1st place (54 points)
  • Derek Muller

The top images were:

• Beauty of a Life Well Lived (George Todd) – 20 points
• Bathing in Light  (Ed Robertson) – 19 points
• Forest Sentinel (George Todd) – 18 points
• White Horse in the Woods (Mike Clark) – 18 points
• Concentrating Cross Country Driver (Derek Muller) – 18 points
• Enjoying a Moment (Derek Muller) – 18 points
• Powering to the Finish (Derek Muller) – 18 points
• Wild Pony (Nicola Cawthorne) – 18 points

Well done to Derek, George and Ed, and thank you Andrew for judging our prints.

• Next week we have our “High Key” shooting workshop. Please bring your camera. Derek is also looking for some white translucent material, such as white gauze or net curtains.
• The club has entered the 2026 SPF Digital Championship, which takes place at 10am on Sunday 22nd Nov 2026 at Victoria Hall in Dunblane. All members are welcome to go along and follow the action. Click here for more information.
• The “Match an Image” competition takes place on 10th December 2026. If you have any weird or unusual images that could be difficult to match, please email them to George Todd.

Steven