Tag Archives: competition

04 December 2025 (Black and White Print Competition)

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Our Black and White print competition was judged on 4th December 2025 by Malcolm Lind from Blairgowrie. Malcolm, a former school teacher with an interest in photography, history and archaeology, explained that he has been taking photographs since he was 3 years old. His first photograph was of his father looming over him trying to explain how to hold the camera steady. He joined Perth Photographic Society in 1999 and spent some time as the club president. Malcolm explained that he is not going to tell us how to take photographs. Each print will be judged on how well it makes an impression and tells a story.

42 prints had been entered by 14 members. Unfortunately, a folder containing 21 of the prints had been missed, so only the first 21 prints were presented on the night. However, presenting only 21 prints allowed Malcolm to go into great detail. Malcolm felt that the title of a print was very important, as it revealed what the photographer was trying to achieve. Being a historian, Malcolm recognised some of the scenes and told the story of the subjects being photographed. For example, the cross at North Berwick is a memorial to Catherine Watson, who lost her life while rescuing children in a storm; and Durham Cathedral is placed at a strategic bend on the River Wear. John Fowler’s “Last Look” brought back memories of the demolition of Cockenzie Power Station. Malcolm enjoyed the historical photographs from Beamish Museum, as the trams and steam engines gave him a feeling of nostalgia. There were a number of costumed portraits that were judged on the consistency of their story. Mike Clark’s portrait of a soldier demonstrated the classic “1000 yard stare” of someone who was traumatised and exhausted. Some of the other portraits contained anachronisms. Why was this soldier in an 18th century costume also wearing trainers and a watch chain, for example? You could get away with these inconsistencies if the title and composition reveals that the intended effect is cosplay, steam punk, or a joke. Carol Edmond’s Beetlejuice portrait had an iWatch, but the facial expression and and pose showed that this was unabashed cosplay. Malcolm liked prints where the photographer had gone the extra mile to show something unusual, and this was reflected in the scores. A few days later, Malcolm sent us the scores for the remaining 21 images, and when the final scores were added the final result was (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (49 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
  • 4th place (50 points)
    • John Fowler
    • Derek Muller
    • Melanie Gallacher
  • 3rd place (52 points)
    • Steven Beard
  • 2nd place (53 points)
    • Mike Clark
  • 1st place (54 points)
    • George Todd

The top images were:

  • Finger Tree (Steven Beard) – 20 points
  • Breaking the Rapids (George Todd) – 19 points
  • Exmoor Pony (Mike Clark) – 19 points
  • Last Look (John Fowler) – 18 points
  • Storm Riders (George Todd) – 18 points

But that short list doesn’t reflect the overall quality of the images submitted. 11 images were good enough to score 17 points. Well done to George for winning, and to Mike and Steven for achieving 2nd and 3rd places by just 1 point behind. Thank you to Malcolm Lind for judging the competition and for entertaining us with his critique. Malcolm has sent us his critique for the 21 images that we didn’t see, which I’ll bring along this Thursday.

  • 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.

06 November 2025 (Colour Print Competition)

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This week we welcomed Dougie Allan, secretary and webmaster for Penicuik Photography Club, to judge our Colour Print competition. On his last visit Dougie had given us a talk on drone photography, and he is now experimenting with astrophotography. You can see some of Dougie’s work in his Penicuik Photography Club gallery. Fortunately, he managed to avoid the traffic jam outside Musselburgh that had held up some members.

56 prints had been entered by 19 members. Dougie said that it was tricky to judge a competition where there was one category for both beginners and advanced photographers. A few mounts had been spoiled by blobs of glue, but this didn’t affect their marks. He commented on the lighting, sharpness and composition of each print. Some lovely portrait prints were a little dark and could be improved with extra lighting, especially a light to separate the model’s dark hair from a dark background. Dougie preferred candid shots where the people shown appear to be unaware of the photographer. There were also a few wildlife shots that were a little too dark to show detail in dark areas. It isn’t possible to use a flash with these shots, but Dougie suggested a slightly longer exposure and some dodging and burning to make the final corrections. Some of the prints were a little too tight in the frame and others had areas of blank space that could have been cropped out. Dougie recommended shooting a slightly wider angle than you need, which gives you the opportunity to crop the image before printing and include enough space around the edges. Dougie liked several of the prints, but it was small differences in sharpness and depth of field that separated the top marks. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (50 points)
    • Carol Edmond.
  • 4th place (51 points)
    • Joe Fowler
    • Elaine Gilroy
  • 3rd place (52 points)
    • Mike Clark
    • Edward Robertson
    • Jennifer Davidson
    • Nicola Cawthorne
  • 2nd place (55 points)
    • Derek Muller
  • 1st place (58 points)
    • George Todd

The top images were:

  • Quad Launch (George Todd) – 20 points
  • Between the Poles (George Todd) – 20 points
  • No 1 Out the Bend  (Derek Muller) – 19 points
  • Running Against the Clock (Derek Muller) – 19 points
  • Dockland (Joe Fowler) – 18 points
  • Mountain Hare Close-Up (George Todd) – 18 points
  • Autumn at the Hermitage (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • Exotic Frog (Edward Robertson) – 18 points
  • Me and my Sax (Elaine Gilroy) – 18 points
  • Brown Hare Boxing (Jennifer Davidson) – 18 points
  • Sanderling in Flight (Jennifer Davidson) – 18 points
  • Young Sight Impaired Eagle (Nicola Cawthorne) – 18 points

Well done to George Todd, winning with 58/60, to Derek Muller for coming a close second, and to Mike, Ed, Jennifer and new member Nicola for achieving a bronze medal. Thank you also to Dougie for judging our prints.

  • Next week is the hand-in date for our Black and White Print competition. Please bring along up to 3 mounted prints and email your JPEG versions to George. Click here for a guide on how to mount your prints.
  • Next week we also have a “Live Shooting Workshop”, which will be similar to the “Creative Lighting Workshop” we had in September, except this time we will concentrate on still life and macro photography. Please bring along your camera and a flashgun (if you have one). A macro lens will help, but if you don’t have one you’ll still be able to use a standard lens. If you have any lighting equipment (torches, flash, LED lights, soft boxes, etc…) or interesting things to photograph (e.g. toys, flowers, jewellery, crockery, seashells, etc…) please bring them along as well. I look forward to a fun evening of photography.

Steven

 

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.

14 November 2024 (Colour Print Competition)

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We were delighted to welcome Colin Joyce to Musselburgh to judge our colour print competition, braving the evening rush hour traffic on the Forth Bridges to visit us from Dunfermline. Colin is both an artist and a photographer, whose work can be seen on his web site:

Portfolio

His work will also be on display during the weekend beginning 30th November at the Edinburgh Macmillan Art Show at St. John’s Church in Edinburgh. Colin said it was a privilege to have the opportunity to view other people’s work and had enjoyed the variety of ideas shown by our members. He doesn’t like the term “judging” when assessing images, as he’s simply expressing his opinion. He said all of the prints entered are worthy of display.

33 prints had been entered by 11 members. Colin really liked the strong colours and detailed textures on many of the prints. He suggested some prints with an extensive background could be improved by cropping, and some prints could be improved by toning down a distraction or adding a focal point. But he had positive things to say about all the prints and appreciated the work that had gone into creating them. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (51 points)
    • Elaine Gilroy.
  • 4th place (52 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
  • 3rd place (53 points)
    • John West
    • Derek Muller
  • 2nd place (54 points)
    • Joe Fowler
    • Mike Clark
    • Carol Edmond
  • 1st place (58 points)
    • George Todd

The top images were:

  • Courting Great Crested Grebes (George Todd) – 20 points
  • Battling the Rapids (George Todd) – 20 points
  • Where’s that Nut?  (Joe Fowler) – 19 points
  • Come Fly With Me (Mike Clark) – 19 points
  • What Was That? (Carol Edmond) – 19 points
  • Apprentice Welder (Joe Fowler) – 18 points
  • Forrest Nymph (George Todd – 18 points
  • You staring at me? (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • Anemone Triptych (Elaine Gilroy) – 18 points
  • Fake Fly (John West) – 18 points
  • Hand Made and Home Grown (John West) – 18 points
  • Rubbing hands with devilish delight (Carol Edmond) – 18 points
  • That’s My Nut (Derek Muller) – 18 points
  • Chilling After a Heavy Lunch (Derek Muller) – 18 points
  • Beautiful Young Woman (Jennifer Davidson) – 18 points

Well done to George Todd, winning with 58/60 and also creating “Courting Great Crested Grebes”, which Colin considered the best image overall. Thank you to Colin for “expressing his opinion” for us, and to everyone who entered the competition.

Next week we have two inter-club competitions in quick succession:

I look forward to seeing you again in the coming week.

 

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.

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.

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”.

24 February 2022 (3 Way Inter-Club Competition)

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The 3-way inter-club competition between Musselburgh Camera Club, Beeslack Penicuik Camera Club and Haddington Camera Club took place on Thursday, 24th February 2022. The meeting was hosted by Beeslack via Zoom, with images judged by Simon Allen from Dumfries Camera Club. Musselburgh had come 4th in the 4-way interclub competition earlier in the year, so we were eager to do better this time.

Each club has submitted 15 digital images, making a grand total of 45 images. There were landscape images, wildlife images, horticultural images and portraits ranging from characters at a battle re-enactment to a family beach holiday. The most unusual image was a stunning astrophotograph called “Cygnus Wall”, submitted by Haddington.

Simon mentioned there was a high standard of images overall. There were no bad images, and the marks represented the overall ranking of the images compared against each other. Simon commented on the composition and execution of each image. He described what he liked and didn’t like about each one. The best photographs had a clear distinction between subject and background, and images with bright distractions lost marks. But Simon pointed out that some background objects were necessary to show the whole story. For example, a portrait of a soldier would not have worked without the out of focus image of his musket. Some images had sharp edges in the background which might have been created by selections in Photoshop not being properly feathered.

Musselburgh members watched the competition either from home or from room G3 at Fisherrow. The post-competition chat had to be curtailed for those at Fisherrow because of a change to the Fisherrow opening hours (so apologies to Beeslack and Haddington that we had to leave so quickly at the end). The final scores were:

  • 1st place: Musselburgh Camera Club, 255 points.
  • 2nd place: Beeslack Penicuik Camera Club, 248 points.
  • 3rd place: Haddington Camera Club, 232 points.

So our revamped selection of images was a big success! Here are Simon’s best Musselburgh images:

  • Roe deer on guard (Jennifer Davidson) – 17 points.
  • Glenfinnan Viaduct (Steven Beard) – 17 points.
  • White Tailed Sea Eagle (Mike Clark) – 18 points.
  • Millarochy Bay Sunset (Gordon Davidson) – 18 points
  • Kalia – Green Activist (George Todd) – 19 points
  • Dreaming of days gone by (George Todd) – 19 points
  • Stylish (Carol Edmund) – 19 points
  • Mountain Gem Humming Bird (George Todd) – 20 points

Well done to Musselburgh, thank you to everyone who provided images for this competition, thank you to Simon Allen for judging it and thank you to Beeslack for hosting it.