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.