Category Archives: Competitions

29 February 2024 (Set Subject Competition B – Contrasting Textures)

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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 “Contrasting Textures”. The competition was judged by Malcolm Roberts, the winner of last year’s competition. Malcolm began by saying how he had enjoyed seeing all the different interpretations of this year’s theme. He had looked at the impact, lighting, sharpness and depth of field of each image and rewarded images that had an emotional impact or showed some thinking outside the box. Malcolm commented that some images were a little soft, and he recommended sharpening them to show off the texture. He didn’t mind images that contained both sharp and soft parts when that highlighted the difference between the textures.

15 members had entered 45 images, covering a huge range of subjects. Some images showed contrasts within natural subjects, such as between the parts of a flower, between sand and grass, fungi and log or duck and water. There were man-made contrasts involving stone, rust, whitewash, rope, wood and metal. John West’s entry called “Two plumbing systems” combined both natural and man-made and showed a tree mirroring the bends and twists of a downpipe. Some members had responded to the “contrasting textures” challenge with some truly innovative or humorous entries. Carol Edmond’s “War Time Textures” showed a collection of wartime memorabilia and Jim Innes’ “Chalk and Cheese in Blue” showed some blue snooker chalk next to some cheese. Derek Muller had cleverly combined “JUST Cotton, Stone and Paper” to make a convincing artificial landscape with fluffy cotton-wool clouds, and Liz Sowler had crafted some humorous still life images out of household objects.
The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (49 points)
    • Derek Muller
    • Ed Robertson
  • 4th place (50 points)
    • Jim Innes
  • 3rd place (51 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
    • Steven Beard
    • George Todd
  • 2nd place (52 points)
    • Joe Fowler
    • Liz Sowler
  • 1st place (54 points)
    • Elaine Gilroy
    • Carol Edmond

The top images were:

  • Poppy (Elaine Gilroy) – 20 points
  • Autumn Textures (Carol Edmond) – 19 points
  • Mandarin Duck (Joe Fowler) – 18 points
  • Bud and Petals (Steven Beard) – 18 points
  • Ice & Black Sand (George Todd) – 18 points
  • Anemone (Elaine Gilroy) – 18 points
  • War Time Textures (Carol Edmond) – 18 points
  • Housework (Liz Sowler) – 18 points
  • Fruit and Veg (Liz Sowler) – 18 points

We done to Elaine and Carol who both earn the right to judge next year’s competition. And thank you to everyone for your creative and entertaining entries. After two competitions, the “league table” now looks like this:

Elaine Gilroy (51 + 54 = 105)
Jennifer Davidson (53 + 51= 104)
Malcolm Roberts (52 + — = ??)
Carol Edmond (49 + 64 = 103)
Joe Fowler (50 + 52 = 102)
George Todd (— + 51 = ??)
Gordon Davidson (54 + 47 = 101)
Steven Beard (49 + 51 = 100)
Jim Innes (50 + 50 = 100)
Derek Muller (51 + 49 = 100)
John West (50 + 48 = 98)

Elaine’s win has taken her to the top of the table, but with only 4 points separating the top half of this table there is still everything to play for. Don’t forget to send your 3 JPEG entries for the final part of this competition (“Flowers”) to George Todd.

This Thursday we will be hosting Mölnlycke Fotoclubb, who will be joining us from Gothenburg, Sweden for our annual interclub meeting.

08 February 2024 (Human Portrait Print Competition)

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Gordon Rae kindly agreed to judge our human portrait print competition at short notice and had travelled to Musselburgh from South West Scotland. Gordon is an award-winning wildlife photographer whose work can seen on his web site:

https://www.gordonraephotography.co.uk

Gordon said he was impressed with the quality of the entries and had judged and scored them to a high standard, so he hoped nobody (especially beginners) would be disappointed with their score. Gordon had identified one winning portrait, plus some second and third placed runners up.

23 prints had been entered by 9 members. The subjects included sports competitors, street artists, musicians, wise men, soldiers, and pictures of other club members. John West had entered a unique, double-exposed, self-portrait called “Doppelganger” which was popular during the tea break. Gordon commented on the composition of the portraits and suggested some crops that would tighten up the subject in the frame. He explained that the “rule of thirds” guideline that is useful for landscape photography is not so important for portraits. Male subjects can be shown looking straight into the camera but female subjects often look better with their head turned at an angle. In some of the portraits there were dark shadows on the face that could have been prevented by using softer lighting (or by balancing the light with a reflector). He also warned photographers to watch out for colour casts in their prints and make sure that the skin colour looks natural. Watch out also for places where the subject could merge with the background (for example a dark coat shown against a dark background of a similar colour) and make sure there is a distinct boundary. The highest scores went to the prints that Gordon judged had captured a moment, showed a great expression, had a good balance of tones and had good backgrounds. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 4th place (46 points)
    • John West
  • 3rd place (51 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
    • Joe Fowler
    • Carol Edmond
  • 2nd place (53 points)
    • Derek Muller
  • 1st place (54 points)
    • George Todd

The top images were:

  • Kalon (George Todd) – 20 points (and the overall winning print)
  • 96 Years Young (Carol Edmond) – 19 points (and overall 2nd equal print)
  • Beguiling (Derek Muller) – 19 points (and overall 2nd equal print)
  • Katrine (John West) – 18 points (and overall 3rd equal print)
  • He Gets The Joke (Derek Muller) – 18 points  (and overall 3rd equal print)
  • I Love my Purple hat  (Jennifer Davidson) – 18 points
  • Downhill Racer (Joe Fowler) – 18 points

Well done to George for winning the competition and achieving best print with a fabulous portrait of a tattooed boxer, and well done also to Derek, Jennifer, Joe and Carol. Thank you to everyone who entered and thank you to Gordon Rae for judging the competition for us at short notice.

We had some spare time after the competition, so Gordon gave us a short presentation entitled “Birds of Iceland”, which showed the wildlife photographs he had collected on a tour of Iceland (see Gordon’s Iceland gallery for a couple of examples). Gordon explained that he most often used a Nikon 200-400mm lens with a 1.4X teleconverter. Most of his photos are taken at f/5.6, but at low angles he finds f/10 a better choice because the water appears more out of focus at those angles. We enjoyed the talk so much we booked Gordon to give us a full-length talk next year. Watch out for next year’s programme.

  • On Thursday, 15th February we will be joined by Beeslack Penicuik Camera Club for our annual audio visual night. We will be meeting in the larger room in the far corner, G6, not our usual room, G3.
  • If you would like to enter the “contrasting textures” set subject competition, please send your three JPEG files to George Todd this weekend.

See you this Thursday for some AV entertainment.

01 February 2024 (Digital Knockout Competition)

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Our first club meeting of February 2024 was our annual digital knockout competition, where members bring in digital images on a chosen theme and vote to choose their favourites. This year’s theme was “water”, chosen at last year’s AGM.

8 members entered a total of 23 digital images with some creative interpretations of the “water” theme. There were a lot of photographs of rivers, waterfalls and beaches, some lakes with reflections, some underwater scenes and some snow scenes. There were also some impressive abstract images created from droplets and waves at the water surface. One particularly inventive image was “Water Music”, showing a water splash superimposed on some sheet music. Another simple but effective image showed the rain on the window of an Edinburgh bus at night. The images were voted off in a series of head-to-head rounds until only 3 images remained. Members then voted for their favourite to determine the final placings, and the result was:

  • 3rd place
    • An image of a splashing wave in front of Arthur’s Seat (Steven Beard)
  • 2nd place
    • An image of a Tough Mudder contestant emerging from water (Jennifer Davidson)
  • 1st Place
    • Waves crashing over rocks at North Berwick (Joe Fowler)

Well done to Joe Fowler, who won a packet of water biscuits! Well done also to Jennifer and Steven, who’s images survived the head-to-head rounds despite some very close counts.

  • Next Thursday Colin Joyce will be judging our human portrait print competition. George Todd will also be collecting entries for our second set subject competition. Please send your 3 JPEGs on the subject of “contrasting textures” to George.

See you on Thursday,

Steven

11 January 2024 (Set Subject Competition A – Macro)

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Happy New Year to Musselburgh Camera Club members! Our first meeting after the Christmas Break was the first of our 3 set subject competitions, on the theme of “Macro”. Unfortunately, I was at home with Covid and missed the competition, but I look forward to the top images appearing on our Facebook page. Thank you to Ed for taking the following notes:

There were 42 entries from 14 members for this competition. Most of the subject matter included flora and fauna, but there were a couple of unusual items from imaginative photographers. George started out by talking about the various definitions for Macro
Photography, but settled on the subject being photographed at Life size
or greater magnification. While George was going through the images he pointed out a couple of recurring issues. The first was that removing distractions should absolutely be done, but that it should be done carefully. There were a couple of instances of less than perfect cloning that spoiled otherwise strong images. Distractions around the edges should also be taken removed. The other recurring comment was about cropping choices, where
the photographer had cropped ends of insect legs off, or otherwise chopped bits of the subject and that can look awkward. On the other extreme, there were a few images that had a subject that was quite a small part of the whole image and these could perhaps have been cropped harder. Artificial light sources are often used for Macro shots to provide enough light, but that can give rise to other issues on wet or very reflective surfaces – consider diffusing the light source or, perhaps use a polarizing filter. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (50 points)
    • Joe Fowler
    • John West
    • Jim Innes
  • 4th place (51 points)
    • Mike Clark
    • Elaine Gilroy
    • Derek Muller
  • 3rd place (52 points)
    • Malcolm Roberts
  • 2nd place (53 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
  • 1st place (54 points)
    • Gordon Davidson

The top images were:

  • Fly on a leaf (Palpada) Hover Fly (Gordon Davidson) – 20 points
  • Shield Beetle Laying Her Eggs (Jennifer Davidson) – 19 points
  • Jumping Spider (Malcolm Roberts) – 19 points
  • Nigella Seed Head (Elaine Gilroy) – 19 points
  • Busy Bee Collecting pollen (Gordon Davidson) – 18 points
  • X-rated (common red soldier beetles) (John West) – 18 points
  • Fly (Common Green Bottle Fly) (Jim Innes) – 18 points
  • Honey Bee Side On (Derek Muller) – 18 points

Well done to Gordon Davidson, who wins the right to judge another competition next year. This is the first of a 3-part competition, with the final result depending on the total score from the best 2 competitions. With only 4 points separating the first 5 places, anything could happen. Part B of the competition takes place on 29th February 2024.

  • George Todd is still collecting prints for the “Human Portrait” competition. If you can produce 3 mounted prints please let George know and bring them along next Thursday.
  • Next week we will be discussing mobile phone photography.

07 December 2023 (Black and White Print Competition)

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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.

 

16 November 2023 (Match An Image Competition)

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This week club members visited North Berwick Photographic Society for the “Match an Image” competition. The competition took place at the St. Andrew Blackadder Church in North Berwick, where we were treated to tea and cakes.

The competition was judged by Gordon Rae. North Berwick began the competition with an image of a tap, and Musselburgh replied with Jim Innes’ image of a kite surfer. We were astonished that Gordon declared our image a match. This first round set the scene for the competition, where every single pair of images in the first half was declared a match! John West’s domed bowl of pears and light bulbs successfully matched North Berwick’s photo of the inside of a domed cathedral roof. We played John West’s image of a feeding hoverfly to discover that North Berwick had an image of a feeding giraffe weevil, which was declared the better image as it was a harder subject photographed in Madagascar. We tried to exhaust their images of insects by following up with Malcolm Robert’s beautiful blue dragonfly, only to find they matched it with a photograph of a crocodile with butterflies on its head, also photographed in Madagascar. At the tea break North Berwick were leading 20 points to Musselburgh’s 18 points.

In the second half it became harder to match the images; but we successfully matched their image of baobab trees in Madagascar with Steven Beard’s image of Butterdean Wood. Then they matched Jennifer Davidson’s Woodland Nymph portrait with a very different lady whose tattoos matched the nymph’s dress. The matches became more tenuous as the evening wore on. Karen Woodcock’s Winter Sky image and Joe Fowler’s Old Mill image both successfully matched North Berwick’s pictures from Arizona because all the images contained rocks and stones. But the matches became harder and harder, and Steve William’s interior of the Sagrada Familia couldn’t quite match their abstract image. Then we pulled off a lucky match late in the competition when North Berwick presented us with an image of an upturned boat on the beach at sunset and we replied with Mike Clark’s image of the X Craft submarine. The competition finished as a well-deserved draw, with Musselburgh and North Berwick both achieving a total of 36 points.

Thank you to everyone who travelled to North Berwick to support the club, and to everyone who submitted images. And thank you to Gordon Rae for judging the competition and putting up with the heckling. Next year the competition returns to Musselburgh.

Next week we are hosting the 4-way interclub competition at Musselburgh. Come and support your club as we host Stirling and District Camera Club, Edinburgh Photographic Society and Kirkcaldy Photographic Society. We will be meeting at Fisherrow in the larger room G6 (not our usual room) at 7pm on Thursday, 23rd November.

09 November 2023 (Colour Print Competition)

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This week the club welcomed Kenneth Goodfellow CPAGB LRPS, of Dunfermline Photographic Association, to judge our colour print competition. Ken described how he had transitioned from film photography to digital photography back in 1999, when he bought his first digital camera and started using an early version of Photoshop. You can see a gallery of Ken’s images in Dunfermline’s members gallery:

https://www.dunfermlinephoto.org/members

32 prints had been entered by 11 members. Ken showed that several of the prints had issues with their mounting. There were some ragged edges that could have been trimmed, some mounts were still tacky with glue, and some prints had glue stains on the front. Ken recommended that members check their mounts for excess glue before submitting them. Some prints had air bubbles or ripples, and Ken recommended covering prints with tissue paper and pressing them from the middle outwards to expel air bubbles. He also warned us of “A3 syndrome”: If you have a nice A3 printer and are feeding it with expensive A3 paper there’s a temptation to make sure none of the paper is wasted, so all your prints end up A3-sized. Ken felt that some of the prints would have looked better cropped to a different aspect ratio. Also be careful how you label the mount, as it determines which way up an image will be judged. One of the images was judged upside down as a result of its label. “Why is this image labelled St .Peter’s Square and it shows a lamp, and is Shankar heading to the brickworks or from the brickworks?” Ken also gave us the usual advice about cutting out distractions, watching for lost detail in the highlights and shadows, and making sure the subject of each print is sharp. Despite all the criticism about mounting, many of the prints were of a high quality and achieved high marks. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (52 points)
    • Joe Fowler
    • Gordon Davidson
  • 4th place (53 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
    • Carol Edmond
  • 3rd place (54 points)
    • George Todd
  • 2nd place (55 points)
    • Derek Muller
  • 1st place (59 points)
    • John West

The top images were:

  • Pear Shaped (John West) – 20 points
  • Melon-Cauli (John West) – 20 points
  • Knee to the Ground (Jennifer Davidson) – 19 points
  • Shankar Heading to the Brickworks (George Todd) – 19 points
  • Dutch Style Still Life (John West) – 19 points
  • Formidable (Carol Edmond) – 19 points
  • Helenium (Elaine Gilroy) – 18 points
  • Monkey Sanctuary Success Story (Derek Muller) – 19 points
  • Eyes Wide Open (Joe Fowler) – 18 points
  • Three Sisters (George Todd) – 18 points
  • Pettico Wick Jetty Surf (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • Vulnerable (Carol Edmond) – 18 points
  • Lady of Venice (Jim Innes) – 18 points
  • Eyes on Lunch (Derek Muller) – 18 points
  • Coming in to Land (Derek Muller) – 18 points

John West blew away the competition and earned a fantastic 59/60 points for his expertly-created set of still life prints! Well done also to Derek Muller’s and George Todd.

Our next meeting will be taking place at North Berwick, where we are joining them for our annual “Match an Image” competition. North Berwick Photographic Society will be hosting us at 7:30pm on Thursday, 16th November in the St Andrew Blackadder Church Chapel, St Andrew Street, North Berwick.

12 October 2023 (Digital Projected Images Competition)

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Our Digital Projected Images competition took place on 12th October 2023. Eddie Telford had travelled over from Ayr to judge the competition for us. Eddie began by telling us that he evaluates three Cs when judging the quality of photographic images: Colour, Context and Composition. Some of Eddie’s work can be seen on his Flikr page:

https://www.flickr.com/people/buddy2010/

There were 66 images altogether, entered by 22 members, and Eddie managed to get through them all exactly on time, giving us plenty of time to discuss the results over tea. Landscape, wildlife and macro shots were popular this year, including many sunsets. There were many high quality images submitted this year, resulting in a lot of high marks. Eddie commented on the composition of each image, pointing out how leading lines and shapes create pleasing triangles. The best landscape images were the ones which included a focal point to draw your eye into the scene. The best wildlife shots were the ones that captured their subject in the act: such as hunting prey or feeding.

The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (52 points)
    • Steve Williams
  • 4th place (53 points)
    • Jim Innes
  • 3rd place (54 points)
    • Malcolm Roberts
    • George Todd
    • Mike Clark
  • 2nd place (55 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
    • Derek Muller
  • 1st place (58 points)
    • Joe Fowler

There were many top images:

  • Hunting Sparrowhark (Jennifer Davidson) – 20 points
  • Woodpecker Feeding (Joe Fowler) – 20 points
  • Going to School (Joe Fowler) – 19 points
  • Forrest Princess (Joe Fowler) – 19 points
  • Hummingbird (Malcolm Roberts) – 19 points
  • Brahmana Priest (George Todd) – 19 points
  • Happiness looks like THIS (David Muller) – 19 points
  • Woodland Nymph Queen (Jennifer Davidson) – 18 points
  • Blue Dragonfly (Malcom Roberts) – 18 points
  • Fighting for the Lead (George Todd) – 18 points
  • European Brown Bear Shaking It (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • X Craft Submarine Last Light (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • White Mountain Hare in the Heather (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • Interior – Sagrada Familia (Steve Williams) – 18 points
  • Dawn on the Tron (Jim Innes) – 18 points
  • Kite Surfer (Jim Innes) – 18 points
  • When Colour Doesn’t Matter (Derek Muller) – 18 points
  • Ready to Take On Fuel (Derek Muller) – 18 points

Well done to Joe Fowler for winning with only 2 points short of maximum points. Thank you to Eddie for judging for us. Eddie will be returning to Musselburgh Camera Club on 22nd February 2024 to tell us about “Remember Photography is Fun” and “Around the World in 80 Images“.

On 19th October (this evening!) we have our “Introduction to Photography” session. Don’t forget to bring your 3 mounted prints for the Colour Print Competition.

Digital Images Competition and Aurora

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A reminder that this coming Thursday is the deadline for entering the Digital Projected Images competition. This is an open competition where you can enter colour images of any subject. To enter the competition please email your 3 JPEG images to our competition secretary, George Todd (georgetodd1957@me.com). If you can’t email your images you can give them to George this Thursday.

Images need to be sized to fit into a 1600×1200 pixel rectangle, as shown below. A 4:3 landscape image can be resized to 1600×1200, but a 4:3 portrait image needs to be resized to 900 x 1200.

If you are a beginner and don’t know how to resize your images, send them anyway. George is always happy to help beginners to resize their images. Best of luck. The competition will be judged by Eddie Telford on 12th October 2023.

And now the second part of the news. I am getting a red alert for an aurora this evening, and the sky is clear! If you have the time, and are able to find a place with a good view of the northern sky, you could get some great shots this evening.

https://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/

See you this Thursday, when Neil Scott will give us his talk on “Minimalism My Way”.

27 April 2023 (AGM and Presentation of Trophies)

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The 2022/23 Musselburgh Camera Club season ended on 27th April 2023 with the AGM and the presentation of trophies. The AGM was organised as a hybrid meeting, with most members attending at Fisherrow but a small number joining by Zoom. Next year we plan to go back to face to face meetings as the norm and restore our regular tea and coffee breaks, but we’ll use Zoom as an occasional tool for reaching out to more distant speakers and clubs.

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. Macro
  2. Contrasting Textures
  3. Flowers
  4. Water

The first 3 topics become set subjects A, B and C and the last topic will become the subject of our digital knockout competition. For beginners who may be reading, “Macro” is a close-up photograph of something small, as defined in this article: Macro photography definition. It’s an opportunity to look at the small things around you. You can use any of the special equipment described in the article (macro lens, reversed lens, extension tubes, close-up lens) to take macro photographs, but here are a few tricks you can try if you don’t have such equipment:

  • Use a telephoto lens at its minimum focus distance. Some lenses can take surprising good macro photographs even when they are not labelled as “macro”. You can use a larger subject to disguise the fact that you are not that close.
  • Take a photograph through a magnifying glass. A close-up lens is merely a magnifying glass that clips onto the front of you camera.
  • Use your mobile phone. Mobile phones can take close up photos because their cameras are small.

The AGM finished with a presentation of trophies and medals and with a delicious selection of snacks and refreshments provided by Jennifer Davidson, Liz Sowler and George Smith, who also received the club’s “Golden Teapot” award. The full list of trophy and medal winners can be found on the following page:

Trophy Winners – 2022/2023

Although the AGM brings the formal 2022/23 season to an end, there will be informal meetings by Zoom every Thursday evening throughout the summer. We also have an exhibition in The Wee Hub at Ocean Terminal and at various libraries. The timetable can be found at the following page:

2023 Library Exhibitions

Our first meeting of the 2023/24 season will be on Thursday, 7th September 2023. We have another programme packed with speakers, competitions and special events to look forward to. In the meantime, best of luck and I hope you have a summer packed with fun photography.

See you in September if not before. All the best,

Steven Beard