The 2026 competition season got off the ground with our Digital Projected Images competition. We were delighted to welcome Clive Watkins, an events and wedding photographer from Troon in Ayrshire. You can see some of Clive’s work on his website and Facebook page:
https://www.siglov.co.uk/Clive-Watkins
https://www.facebook.com/CliveWatkins.SigloV
Clive said he had decided to become an SPF judge 16 years ago after seeing some examples of bad judging. He believes that judging a photograph isn’t just about ticking boxes. The mark of a good photograph lies on the impact it has on the viewer. Photography is an artform, so there are no right or wrong ways to do it, as long as what you have done shows intent. Even “record shots” have their place in capturing how a place changes though history. There were 54 images entered by 18 members. Clive liked strong compositions where there is a focal point surrounded by a supportive background. There were some examples where the background competed with the main subject for attention, or where the main subject was too small in the frame. He suggested blurring the background and cropping more tightly would help these images. Also, make sure there are no bright distractions near the corners. In some images the background had been replaced completely. This worked for some of the portraits, where a textured background helped highlight the subject, but it made some street photos (such as telephone box covered in posters) look artificial. Clive also advised that if there’s an object in the background that needs a lot of editing to remove, you may be better off cropping it out (or removing it before taking the photo). Being a wedding photographer, he particularly enjoyed the portraits, especially the ones that expressed a genuine emotion. He recommended when photographing a scene to make the scene look believable, for example by putting food onto the plate or filling the jugs with liquid. Some of the portraits had been given a black background, which had made it difficult to see the boundary at the edge of the subject’s dark clothing. An extra rim light would have helped in those cases. The very best images were the ones where the photographer had set out to achieve something and produced an image with impact and emotion. The top scorers were (in reverse order):
- 6th place (48 points)
- Richard Krajnyir
- 5th place (49 points)
- Steven Beard
- Kevin Johnson
- 4th place (50 points)
- Christina Comunian
- 3rd place (51 points)
- Mike Clark
- Carol Edmond
- 2nd place (54 points)
- George Todd
- 1st place (55 points)
- Derek Muller
The top images were:
- The Silent Observer (George Todd) – 20 points
- Doppelganger Chance Meet (Derek Muller) – 20 points
- Snow Shower Approaching (Mike Clark) – 19 points
- An Uprising of Garys (Derek Muller) – 19 points
- King (Kevin Johnson) – 18 points
- Autumn Snack (Christina Comunian) – 18 points
Well done to Derek Muller for winning with 55/60 points, and to George for coming a close second. Congratulations also to Mike Clark and Carol Edmond for their 3rd place, and to Christina Comunian and Kevin Johnson for achieving a top image place. Thank you Clive for some very considered and thought provoking judging. We finished the evening with tea and cakes provided by Marian MacLeod and Mary Riley.
We will be reviewing this competition on 5th November. In the meantime, have a go at making some of the changes recommended by Clive or, if Clive suggested you didn’t need to edit your image, show us what the original looked like. We can chat about the results and share our own feedback.
Next week, 22nd October, we will be collecting entries for the Colour Print Competition. Please bring along your 3 mounted prints, and don’t forget to send your 3 JPEG versions to George so we can display them alongside the print on competition day.
Next week is also our special “Film Noir” portrait workshop. Bring along your camera and any 1950s props you happen to have lying around. See you there.
