Category Archives: Competitions

09 October 2025 (Digital Projected Images Competition)

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We were delighted to welcome Campbell Skinner to the club to judge our Digital Projected Images competition. Campbell is president of Greenock Camera Club and is internationally recognised for his stunning sport photography. You can see some of Campbell’s work on his web site:

https://www.campbellskinnerphoto.com/

Campbell began by telling us not to give too much weight to the marks he was about to give out. Feedback is more important than marks, and understanding why your image didn’t get a higher mark will help you improve. 33 members had entered 66 images covering a wide range of subjects, including sport, wildlife, landscape, portrait and abstract art. Campbell recommended that we look carefully to make sure that the title of an image is relevant and doesn’t clash with what we are seeing. Does it matter if the train is going to Aviemore when that isn’t apparent from the picture, or if the reflection of the red door was taken at Gosford? In another example, a canoeing shot entitled “Tight Turn” didn’t show what they were turning around. Campbell recommended that when attending a sporting event (such as the Grandtully slalom) that you recky the place first. Look where the light is coming from, look where the players might get involved, decide on the best place to stand to capture those players, and check what is visible behind them in the background. If there are distractions in the background, try to remove them by moving or using a wide aperture to blur them out. He also recommended that portrait, sport and wildlife shots be taken at eye level. If the players are on the ground, get down to their level. Try to avoid portraits where the subject’s eyes are turned instead of their head. A lot of shots had been taken in dull or over-harsh lighting conditions. If the lighting is dull, Campbell recommended using the dodge and burn tools to highlight your subjects, lighten eyes, reveal details and darken the background. Wildlife shots should stand out as if you could “touch” the subject. If your shot is taken in poor lighting, you could also try again at a different time of day. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (50 points)
    • Jim Innes
  • 4th place (51 points)
    • Steven Beard
    • Mike Clark
  • 3rd place (52 points)
    • Amber Morris
  • 2nd place (56 points)
    • George Todd
  • 1st place (57 points)
    • Derek Muller

The top images were:

  • Frosted Whiskers (George Todd) – 20 points
  • Dave Going His Own Way (Derek Muller) – 20 points
  • National Museum (Steven Beard) – 19 points
  • Strength Against the Current (George Todd) – 19 points
  • She Dances With Fire (Derek Muller) – 19 points
  • Proud Woodpecker (Malcolm Roberts) – 18 points
  • Rapid Run (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • Hurricane and Spitfire (Steve Williams) – 18 points
  • Sold Out (Elaine Gilroy) – 18 points
  • Going for a Win (Jim Innes) – 18 points
  • Barn Own (Derek Muller) – 18 points
  • Beach Day (Amber Morris) – 18 points

Well done to Derek Muller for winning with 57/60 points, to George for coming a very close second and to Amber for achieving her first medal. Thank you Campbell for judging our competition and giving us a lot to think about.

We will be reviewing this competition on 23th October. In the meantime, have a go at making some of the changes recommended by Campbell. We can also use that evening to give our own feedback. Which were your favourite images?

Next week, 16th October, Derek will be collecting entries for the Colour Print Competition. We will be having a club night based on a technique, rule of composition or theme; so please bring in an image (or a small collection of images) on a technique, rule or theme that interests you. Here are some examples to help you find inspiration:

  • Telling a story about a subject in 6 images (as suggested by Charles Everitt).
  • Making a triptych out of 3 related images.
  • Still life photography (with or without John West’s paperclip figures).
  • ICM photography.
  • Time lapse photography.
  • Street Photography (as inspired by Graeme Barclay).
  • Combining images to make a composite.
  • Using depth of field creatively.
  • Using art tools to improve photographs.
  • Etc…

I look forward to seeing what you bring along. I’ll be showing you some of my attempts at 3-D photography.

 

Welcome to the 2025-2026 season of Musselburgh Camera Club

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I would like to welcome everyone who came to our opening night on 4th September 2025, especially the new members. If you entered your email address on the club home page you should receive these blog entries that describe our meetings. You can also follow group activities by joining our member-only Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/25703565185901411. Ask our web master, Elaine Gilroy, for an invitation.

You will find our 2025-2026 programme on the club website: https://musselburghcameraclub.org.uk/programme-2025-2026/. There are also monthly outings and photoshoots which are listed on our activities page: https://musselburghcameraclub.org.uk/club-activities-2025-2026/, but you’ll find the most up to date information and chat about each activity on our Facebook pages.

The club web site contains a collection of tutorials on photography that our chair has added over the years:
https://musselburghcameraclub.org.uk/introduction-to-photography-presentations/

A list of the events coming up in the next few weeks has already been posted. Click this link to read that post: https://musselburghcameraclub.org.uk/2025/08/26/events-coming-up-in-the-next-few-weeks/

This coming Thursday, 11th September, we have our Creative Lighting Workshop. Please bring your camera and (if you have one) a flashgun. We’ll start the evening by showing a selection of different lighting equipment. If you have anything unusual you would like to show, please bring it with you. We will have 3 different portrait lighting setups that you can try for yourself. On this occasion we’ll be concentrating on taking portraits, so please bring along any costumes and props you think would look good.

Information on how to enter the club competitions can be found here (or you can just ask George Todd, our competition secretary). Competition images are normally emailed to George at georgetodd1957@me.com:

Competition Information
An introduction to the club competitions

Welcome again to the club. A year of exciting photographic activities lies ahead of us.

24 April 2025 (AGM and Presentation of Trophies)

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The 2024/25 Musselburgh Camera Club season ended on 24th April 2025 with the AGM and the presentation of trophies. Although the AGM is our last meeting at the Fisherrow centre this season, we are planning a series of activities through the year, so watch out for notifications or check our latest activities page. The club has a private Facebook page which members can join to be notified about events and to chat during the summer. Click the link below to chat or request to join (you’ll need a Facebook account):

https://m.facebook.com/groups/25703565185901411

Members had an opportunity during the evening to suggest and vote for the topics for next year’s set subject competitions. The top results were:

  1. Weather
  2. Emotion
  3. Comedy

which become the themes for set subjects 1, 2 and 3.

The AGM finished with a presentation of trophies and medals and with a selection of snacks and refreshments provided by Jennifer Davidson and Liz Sowler, who once again received the club’s “Golden Teapot” award. The full list of trophy and medal winners can be found on the following page. Well done to all of this year’s winners.

Trophy Winners – 2024/2025

Although the 2024/25 season has come to an end, the club’s exhibition will be touring local libraries during the summer. Here is the current timetable and list of volunteers. Further exhibitions may be added between 5th July and 2nd August.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered. Our first meeting of the 2024/25 season will be on Thursday, 4th September 2025. But in the meantime, I look forward to seeing you at our summer photoshoots.

17 April 2025 (Best Image on the Night)

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Our last regular meeting of the season was our annual knockout, where members bring along a selection of their images and we all vote to choose our favourites. This year members could bring along digital images or prints, and 17 prints and 32 images were submitted.

We began with the prints. There was a varied selection, both mounted and unmounted. There was a beautiful print of a hare, some landscape images, a car, a black and white garden sculpture, some cute pictures of a dog, a rabbit and a little boy, some unusual shots of buildings and reflections, plus a lot of innovative abstract prints, such as a print of some smarties distorted by water droplets, or a print of the shadow pattern cast by a curtain. The images were voted off in a series of head-to-head rounds until only two remained. The final round was a face-off between George’s print of a pony with a comb-over hair style and Hovo’s lovely print of yachts in the harbour at night. In the end, George’s pony image won the most votes.

We moved on to the digital images. There were some great wildlife images, several cityscapes, some golfing images, landscapes, seascapes, portraits, and more cute animal pictures. Having 32 images made the head-to-head rounds easier. Images were voted off until only 4 remained. Members then voted for their favourite to determine the final placings, and the result was:

  • 4th place
    • A seascape of waves breaking around groyne number 5 (Mike Clark)
  • 3rd place
    • A siskin resting on a branch (Jennifer Davidson)
  • 2nd place
    • A colourful frog (Derek Muller)
  • 1st Place
    • A cute owl looking out from a mossy resting place (Jennifer Davidson)

We done to George and Jennifer, who both won a pack of mini Easter eggs!

  • Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help move our summer library exhibition. We need one more volunteer to fill the 17th May slot (setting up the exhibition at Gullane). If you are able to help that day please email Ed or Steven.
  • Next Thursday (24th April) we have our club AGM and prize-giving. We will be meeting in room G3 at 7pm and will move next door into G2 for refreshments after the meeting. Please bring along your ideas for next year’s set subject themes. More information will be mailed out soon.

27 March 2025 (Set Subject Round 3 – Cycling)

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Our 2024-25 set subject tournament concluded this week with round 3 on the theme of “cycling”. The competition was judged by Jennifer Davidson, who won last year’s competition. 13 members entered 36 images altogether. Although “cycling” is quite a narrow subject, members had interpreted the subject in creative ways. There were images of racing cyclists, commuting cyclists and delivery cyclists carrying various loads. George Todd, in particular, had captured a cyclist moving what looked like a haystack! Carol Edmond had a well-timed shot of a jumping BMX cyclist. There were also images of parked bicycles placed against a background, and some creative abstracts made from close-ups of bicycle parts, such as Jim Innes’ image of a spinning bicycle wheel. Steven Beard took the “cycling” theme to the extreme with an image of the inside of a washing machine! Jennifer gave a detailed critique of each image. Cycling was the main theme, so the cyclist or the bicycle needed to be the dominant subject in the frame. She liked to see shots which showed detail on the cyclist but also gave a good sense of movement. Panning with a slightly longer exposure time helps to blur the background and blur the wheels, but you need to follow the cyclist accurately to keep them sharp. She also considered the eye contact and facial expression of the cyclists. Jennifer noticed a few artefacts on the images that might have been added by Photoshop and a few bright or coloured distractions near the edge that could be cropped out. Some of the close-up shots were spoiled by distractions in the background, and Jennifer suggested a change in viewing position or depth of field might have helped. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (49 points)
    • Mike Clark
    • John West
  • 4th place (50 points)
    • Steven Beard
    • Elaine Gilroy
    • Derek Muller
  • 3rd place (53 points)
    • Joe Fowler
  • 2nd place (54 points)
    • Jim Innes
  • 1st place (56 points)
    • George Todd

The top images were:

  • Moving a Heavy Load (George Todd) – 20 points
  • Out on His Own (George Todd) – 20 points
  • Flat Out (Joe Fowler) – 19 points
  • Vietnamese Cyclist (Malcolm Roberts) – 19 points
  • The School Run (Jim Innes) – 19 points
  • Team Time Trial (Joe Fowler) – 18 points
  • Neil The Cyclist (Steven Beard) – 18 points
  • Over The Bridge (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • Spinning Slow (Jim Innes) – 18 points
  • Just Eat (Derek Muller) – 18 points

Well done to George Todd, who won this round with both of the 20 point images. George would normally win the right to judge next year’s competition, except he already won the first round and will be judging that one next year. George nominated Jim Innes, who came second. After consulting the final spreadsheet I can reveal that the final result from all three competitions is:

  • 1st place
    • George Todd (57 + 56 = 113)
  • 2nd place
    • Malcolm Roberts (53 + 53 = 106)
  • 3rd place
    • Derek Muller (55 + 50 = 105)
    • John West (51 + 54= 105)
    • Jennifer Davidson (53 + 52 = 105)
    • Joe Fowler (52 + 53 = 105)
  • 4th place
    • Jim Innes (50 + 54 = 104)
  • 5th place
    • Steven Beard (51 + 50 = 101)
  • 6th place
    • Melanie Gallacher (51 + 49 = 100)
    • Karen Woodcock (51 + 49 = 100)

Congratulations to George for winning the set subject trophy with a massive 113 points, and commiserations to Malcolm for being pipped at the post.

  • 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.
  • Don’t forget to send your dancer images to Derek, and let him know if you would like to take part in the “Acting Out” opportunity on 15-16th May.
  • Also, don’t forget to register and let Ed and Stephen know if you would like to go with other MCC members to the Hopetoun Horse Trials on 24th May.
  • Next week we have our last Members Evening of the season. The main theme this time will be “editing”. If you have improved some of your shots with editing techniques, please bring along some “before” and “after” images and tell us how you did it. But as it’s the last Members Evening of the season, it’s also an opportunity to bring along anything else you would like to show members. See you there.

27 February 2025 (Set Subject Round 2 – Distorted)

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Part two of our three-part set subject competition took place this week. Members were challenged to find some memorable images on the theme of “Distortion”. The competition was judged by Elaine Gilroy, the winner of last year’s competition. Elaine began by saying how she had enjoyed seeing all the different interpretations of this year’s theme, but had thought it a very difficult subject to judge, given that distorted images lend themselves to odd focus points and exposures, and that distortion means quite different things to different people. Elaine did, however, enjoy trying to work out how participants had achieved their results, was it done in-camera or was it photoshopped? 15 members had entered 45 images, covering a huge range of subjects. Some images showed distorted reality, often with the use of glass or semi-transparent liquids. Other images provided fine examples of using photoshop techniques to emphasise certain features in the images along with a wide-angle lens or two. John West’s triptych “RGB” was a striking, largely, monochrome image with the just a pop of red, green and blue to provide the evening’s only 20 point image. His Bristo Square “mini planet” image was also striking and scored 18. Malcolm Roberts’ distorted golf swing images backed up “Reflections” to take second place. One of our newer members, Jadeee Dalrymple submitted “Distorted Touch” scoring 19 and gaining a joint 4th place on the evening. It is great to see younger and newer club members producing such striking images. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (50 points)
    • Derek Muller
    • Steven Beard
  • 4th place (51 points)
    • Jaydee Dalrymple
  • 3rd place (52 points)
    • Joe Fowler
    • Jennifer Davidson
  • 2nd place (53 points)
    • Malcolm Roberts
  • 1st place (54 points)
    • John West

The top images were:

  • RGB (John West) – 20 points
  • Reflections (Malcolm Roberts) – 19 points
  • Distorted Touch (Jaydee Dalrymple) – 19 points
  • Bristo Square (John West) – 18 points
  • Veins (Melanie Gallacher) – 18 points
  • Made in Scotland (Joe Fowler) – 18 points
  • The Joker (Carol Edmond) – 18 points
  • Glass Distortion (Jennifer Davidson) – 18 points
  • Harbour Flags (Jennifer Davidson) – 18 points
  • Prestonpans Promenade (Steven Beard) – 18 points
  • Truth Distorted (Jim Innes) – 18 points

As John West scored highest this evening, it would normally be his choice to judge the equivalent heat of next year’s challenge. As John’s plans involve moving South, the choice will pass on to Malcolm Roberts. After two competitions, the “league table” now looks like this:

Malcolm Roberts (53 + 53 = 106)
George Todd (57 + 48) = 105
Derek Muller (55 + 50 = 105)
John West (51 + 54= 105)
Jennifer Davidson (53 + 52 = 105)
Steven Beard (51 + 50 = 101)
Melanie Gallacher (51 + 49 = 100)
Karen Woodcock (51 + 49 = 100)
Carol Edmond (50 + 49 = 99)
Jim Innes (50 + 49 = 99)
Joe Fowler (— + 52 = ??)
Jaydee Dalrymple (— + 51 = ??)
Mike Clark (— + 49 = ??)

Malcolm Roberts is just at the top of the table with 106 points, but there are 4 challengers with 105. Don’t forget to send your 3 JPEG entries for the final part of this competition (on the theme of ”Cyclists”) to Derek Muller to collate. It looks like round 3 will an exciting decider.

This Thursday we will be hosting Mölnlycke Fotoclubb, who will be joining us from Gothenburg, Sweden for our annual interclub meeting, where we will view their images on the theme of “Time” and present a selection of MCC images. Perhaps next year we might agree on the theme and see what different interpretations arise? A Zoom link will be circulated soon.

30 January 2025 (Set Subject Round 1 – Buildings)

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Our last meeting in January was the first round of our 3-part set subject competition, on the theme of “Buildings”. Mike Clark had kindly volunteered to judge this competition. 

There were 42 entries from 14 members.  Mike described what he liked about each image and also gave some suggestions for improvement. He particularly liked images where the photographer had thought outside the box to post something unusual, such as Karen Woodcock’s unusual view of a building that made it look like a face looking down or Gavin Marshall’s “Witches Cottage” decorated for Halloween. Mike commented on the composition of each image. There were some compositions where there was a path that was cut off at the edge of the frame and it would have been be nice to have see more of that path. He also pointed out some distracting objects that were cut in half at the edge.  Mike recommended that we try to compose an image so there is a separation between the components. Could a different viewpoint have separated those overlapping chimneys or towers, for example? He also commented on some converging verticals and recommended that long buildings that dominate the horizon be photographed straight on, so they will look more natural on a straight horizon.  Overall, members had submitted some good quality and innovate images, and there were a lot of high marks. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (50 points)
    • Carol Edmond
    • Jim Innes
  • 4th place (51 points)
    • Steven Beard
    • Gavin Marshall
    • John West
    • Karen Woodcock
    • Melanie Gallacher
  • 3rd place (53 points)
    • Malcolm Roberts
    • Jennifer Davidson
  • 2nd place (55 points)
    • Derek Muller
  • 1st place (57 points)
    • George Todd

The top images were:

  • Corbiere Lighthouse (George Todd) – 20 points
  • Dawn (Jennifer Davidson) – 20 points
  • V and A Dundee (Melanie Gallacher) – 20 points
  • Toronto (George Todd) – 19 points
  • Old to New, Boston (Derek Muller) – 19 points
  • Are you looking down on me? (Karen Woodcock) – 19 points
  • Natural History Museum 1 (Malcolm Roberts) – 18 points
  • Himeji Castle Member (Malcolm Roberts) – 18 points
  • Botanical Gardens (Steven Beard) – 18 points
  • Baltimore Lighthouse (Steven Beard) – 18 points
  • KotelInicheskaya (George Todd) – 18 points
  • Reflective Towers (John West) – 18 points
  • Hospice of Soutra (Carol Edmond) – 18 points
  • Jedburgh Abbey Sunny Day (Jim Innes) – 18 points
  • Small Buildings (Derek Muller) – 18 points
  • Taj Mahal Sunrise (Derek Muller) – 18 points
  • Clifftop Buildings (Jennifer Davidson) – 18 points

Well done to George Todd, who wins the right to judge next year’s competition. And well done to everyone who entered. This is just the first round out of 3, and the overall winner is the one who has the highest marks from their best two rounds. So the competition is still open, and there are a lot of members following closely behind the leading pack.

09 January 2025 (Human Portrait Print Competition)

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In a last minute change, David Ferguson, president of Falkirk Camera Club, visited us for a second time this year to judge our Human Portrait Print competition. David had previously judged our Digital Projected Images competition. David is an expert on portrait photography and well qualified to judge this competition, but he pointed out that any marks given are just his opinion. He has himself had the same print given a widely different mark on different occasions. David mentioned that portrait photography is often described as “capturing the personality of a person or group of people using lighting, a background and props”, but portrait photography can be much more than that. It can cover any situation where people are the main subject. The eyes are the most important part of any portrait, and the general rule is that the eyes must be sharp, and at least the eye closest to the camera must be sharp. David explained how lighting can affect the mood of a portrait. Many of the portraits entered had been made under soft, balanced lighting, which works well for female subjects, but male subjects often look better when lit more strongly from one side to enhance the contours of the face. He also suggested some of the male portraits would also have looked better in black and white. He also warned that lighting a face from below eye level can be unflattering and should be avoided, unless it is done for special effect (as in some horror movies). He suggested experimenting with the lighting when taking a portrait and try several variations until you find one that works. David also commented on the pose of some of the entries. Arms can be difficult to pose naturally, and he recommended avoiding poses where arms or elbows point towards the camera, as they can look distorted and distracting.

39 prints had been entered by 13 members. Some of the portraits were of other club members, taken during last year’s studio night, and we were amused to see the same hat coming up again and again. David judged each image on its lighting, pose and sharpness, and whether the composition told a story. Although it is good to crop out distractions in the background, David felt that some images had been cropped a little too tightly to tell the full story. Sometimes it’s good to see the whole outfit. Some portraits were a little different. Charlie Baird’s portrait of a woman “Looking out to sea” broke the rules by not showing the eyes, but it still worked because of the strong narrative. John West’s double self-portrait “Is COVID behind us” also had a strong narrative. Hovhannes had blurred the boundary between art and photography by entering a series of innovative prints which combined photographs with ink drawings on plastic. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (49 points)
    • Joe Fowler
    • Charlie Baird
  • 4th place (50 points)
    • John West
  • 3rd place (51 points)
    • Carol Edmond
  • 2nd place (53 points)
    • Hovhannes Hovhannisyan
  • 1st place (55 points)
    • George Todd
    • Melanie Gallacher

The top images were:

  • Siddharta Guardian of the Hoogly Imambara Temple (George Todd) – 20 points
  • A Quiet Moment (Melanie Gallacher) – 19 points
  • The Pessimist (Hovhannes Hovhannisyan) – 19 points
  • Anastasia (George Todd) – 18 points
  • Breakfast Time (Carol Edmond) – 18 points
  • Ayla (Melanie Gallacher) – 18 points
  • Little Man (Melanie Gallacher) – 18 points

Well done to George and Melanie who share the trophy, and well done also to new member Hovhannes on a well-deserved second place, and to Carol for achieving her usual high standard. Thank you to everyone who entered and thank you to David Ferguson for judging the competition for us at short notice.

  • Don’t forget to send your 3 JPEG images on “Buildings” to George Todd before the end of the weekend.
  • Next week we have a talk from wildlife photographer Gordon Rae, who judged last year’s portrait competition. Although we can’t get a reply from Gordon, we are in his talk schedule:

    https://www.gordonraephotography.co.uk/section807167.html

    Gordon describes his talk “Wild at Heart – A Photographers Journey”, as “A far from boring presentation that takes you on what can only be described as a wonderful wildlife journey“. Fingers crossed that it goes ahead as planned. I’m looking forward to it.

05 December 2024 (Black and White Print Competition)

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This week we had the pleasure of welcoming Gordon Scott of Mid Calder Camera Club to judge our Black and White print competition. Gordon told us his liking for black and white photography goes back to the days when black and white film was easy to develop. The medium lets you concentrate on the form and texture of a subject independently of its colour. Some of Gordon’s work can be found in his Mid Calder gallery:

https://www.midcaldercameraclub.org.uk/gallery-gordonscott

47 prints had been entered by 16 members. There were some landscape images, black and white portraits, photographs of buildings and monuments, clever still life creations, and even a black and white wildlife shot. Gordon liked the composition of most of the prints, although he felt some could be cropped or could do with more space. He felt some shots that were almost but not quite symmetrical would have a bigger impact if made symmetrical. A few of the shots could be improved with a little more contrast. Gordon preferred portraits where you could see a connection between the subjects, or a connection between the subject and the photographer. There was plenty of time at the end to discuss the prints over tea and sandwiches, provided by Jennifer Davidson and Carol Edmond. Mike Clark’s “Another Great Dive” was admired as a unique portrait of a diver, showing the diver’s face through his helmet. There was also a discussion about the composition of Liz Sowler’s print “Security Alert at the Sculpture Gallery”, which stood out with its contrasting areas of white and black. John West’s striking, back-lit image of a dandelion in a glass also had a lot of impact. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (49 points)
    • John West
    • Jim Innes
    • Jennifer Davidson
  • 4th place (50 points)
    • Steven Beard
    • Kevin Johnson
  • 3rd place (51 points)
    • Carol Edmond
  • 2nd place (54 points)
    • Joe Fowler
  • 1st place (56 points)
    • George Todd

The top images were:

  • The Farrier (Joe Fowler) – 20 points
  • June (Kevin Johnson) – 20 points
  • 10th Lanarkshire Rifles AKA “The Glasgow Highlanders” (George Todd) – 19 points
  • Leo (George Todd) – 19 points
  • Clansman (George Todd) – 18 points
  • Just Dandy (John West) – 18 points
  • Rasta Biker (Carol Edmund) – 18 points

Well done to George Todd for winning, to Joe Fowler for a close second, and to Carol Edmond, who’s great portrait “Rasta Biker” secured her third place. Well done also to Kevin Johnson for earning 20 points with his lovely relaxed “June” portrait, and to John West, whose “Just Dandy” ranked amongst the best images. Thank you to Gordon Scott for judging the competition.

  • Next week come along to the Fisherrow Centre at 7pm on Thursday, 12th December for our annual quiz night, presented by Gavin Marshall.
  • If you have 3 mounted prints to enter for our Human Portrait Print competition, please bring them along on Thursday and give them to George Todd. Please also email a JPEG version of your 3 images to georgetodd1957@me.com.

21 November 2024 (Match An Image Competition)

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This week we were delighted to invite North Berwick Photographic Society to Fisherrow for the “Match an Image” competition. The competition was judged by Simon Wootton of Midlothian Camera Club. Images were displayed in pairs, and Simon’s task was to judge whether the second image shown matched the first, and in the case of a match to judge which was the better of the two images.

North Berwick started the competition with a strange, distorted shape which turned out to be the reflected image of the bow of a ship. Musselburgh responded with an image of a laughing duck which, astonishingly, was declared a match because the duck’s beak and tongue had a similar shape! Musselburgh responded with the first of a series of John West paperclip creations: a grid of paperclips. North Berwick replied with their image of an array of prayer wheels, which contained the same number of rows and columns. Another match! The evening continued with North Berwick challenging us to match their variety of telephone images and Musselburgh challenging them to match our selection of indoor abstracts. We got lucky when North Berwick shows us a picture of the glowing balls at Newhailes House & Gardens which we matched with a picture of some light bulbs. North Berwick flummoxed us with their arctic scenes, as we had no snow scenes in our collection. The best we could do was try to match their polar bear with an otter (another animal on water, although not necessarily frozen). At the tea break North Berwick were just ahead by 16 points to 15.

In the second half we hit them with a series of flower pictures which gained us a few match points and bonus points. But they replied with a series of animal images that became harder to match as we ran out of examples. Then we exchanged some portraits. Carol Edmond’s portrait “Hi There” was matched but declared the best image. It became harder to match images in the second half, but Simon also wanted to reward the high quality images that were coming up, so the matches became more tenuous. Yes, we matched their silhouette of a soldier holding up a gun with two hands with our image of a kayaker battling the rapids and holding a paddle. But they matched our image of a man on a tricycle in an alley with a street image because the diagonals were the same. By the end Musselburgh clinched the competition by 33 points to North Berwick’s 29 points.

Thank you Simon for some entertaining judging. It was great fun. Thank you to everyone who submitted their images for this competition. You helped us win it! Next year we’ll be travelling back to North Berwick.

  • Unfortunately, the speaker we had booked for Thursday, 28th November can’t make it. So next week we’ll either have a Members Evening or something Derek can put together at the last minute.
  • Derek is arranging a photoshoot at the National Museum of Scotland this Saturday morning, 23th November, at 10:30am. If you’d like to come, please meet Derek in the foyer some time between 10am and 10:30am. Let’s hope the snow holds off.