Tag Archives: Photography

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.

 

02 October 2025 (Editing Challenge)

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This week members revealed what they had done with the four images that were circulated 3 weeks ago. The four images were:

  • A gyrocopter superimposed on a dark, cloudy sky with an artefact in the background.
  • A Chinese performer in a bright blue costume against a tilted background with distractions.
  • A back-lit lady standing in front of a church.
  • A man in Viking costume with a shield holding a ferret against a building with brightly coloured distractions.

15 members had accepted the challenge. The brief had been to edit any two of the four images, but some members had tried all four. All the images were too dark, so a common correction was the brighten the images and adjust the contrast. The back-lighting had lost some of the detail in the lady’s hair, which could be recovered with a highlights correction. Dodging and burning tools could be used to lighten the eyes and faces of the people or to darken bright blobs in the background.

Members revealed the different ways they had dealt with the distractions in the background. The easiest option was the crop the image to remove the distractions altogether, even if this meant losing most of the Viking man’s shield, for example. Some had used the clone and healing tools to replace distractions, and others had kept them in but made them less distracting by desaturating and darkening the background. There were mixed feelings about the hairs on the Viking man’s costume, which some members had removed as a distraction and others had emphasised as part of his character. The work on the Chinese man showed how you could spent ages removing two really obvious distractions but miss a smaller one that could be eventually pointed out by a judge. It’s worth taking a second look at your images after you have corrected them. However, the most creative way to remove distractions from a background is to replace it altogether. Kevin and Stephen had both replaced the boring grey sky behind the gyrocopter with a much more interesting sky, and Stephen and Jim had placed the Viking man in front of a much more attractive landscape.

Some members had combined the images in creative ways. Elaine combined the Chinese man and the lady into a single portrait, and Steven added the gyrocopter as a hair fascinator for the lady. Marian had converted the images into bold works of art, with a Pointillist rendering of the gyrocopter and a recreation of the Viking man in flowing brush strokes. But the comedy images were the highlight of the evening. Derek had converted the lady into a clown, Joe had given her a scary mask and Kevin had placed her inside a blossoming tree. Elaine had added the gyrocopter to the selfie taken at the Ayr air show. But the most entertaining images on the night came from Jim Innes, who not only managed to add the Viking man to some dramatic landscapes, had also shown him posing in front of an Iceland supermarket. The evening ended with Jim’s image of the gyrocopter being sprayed by fly killer! Thanks a lot to everyone who responded to the challenge.

  • Next Thursday, 9th October, we will be inviting Campbell Skinner to judge our Digital Projected Images competition.

18 September 2025 (Graeme Barclay: Street Photography)

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This week we were delighted to welcome our first speaker of the season. Graeme Barclay has a background in hydraulic engineering and started photography in 2017. He is currently a member of Midlothian Camera Club, but also has links to Falkirk Camera Club. Graeme has interests in creative street photography, astrophotography, themed portraits, sports photography and nature photography. You can follow Graeme’s work on social media:

In tonight’s talk, Graeme introduced us to his creative style of street photography. When he first started, he found street photography a challenge. You need to overcome your fear, learn to blend in and remember to press the shutter at the right moment. But once you get started you’ll find yourself a member of an awesome community and feel a special connection with people. It is legal to take photographs on public land, but you need to be careful not to include private spaces (such as the inside of a house or pub through a window). London and Edinburgh are both very good locations for street photography. Graeme finds that Princes Street is a better place for street photography than the Royal Mile because the lighting is better.

Graeme showed us some great shots where street performers had posed for him. However, he prefers candid portraiture, where you catch an expression without someone being aware of the camera. Graeme has several tricks for hiding his camera. He cut a slot in an old credit card and uses it as an adaptor which lets him take level shots while his camera is around his neck with a flip-out screen. He also sets his camera to silent mode and uses a remote shutter release from his pocket. He has mastered some misdirection techniques, such as pretending to look at his phone or picking up his keys. He showed us a series of great candid shots, mostly taken using a 135mm lens with a f/1.8 aperture. The wide aperture blurs the background and reduces distractions, although he found that the side of a passing bus can sometimes make a great background! He also explained how using a hashtag, such as #camden, is a good way of connecting on social media with the people and places you have photographed.

Graeme revealed some dramatic shots he created with an 8-15mm fish-eye lens, especially shots angled upwards from a low angle. You need to get the camera angle just right so that the lens distortion exaggerates the right part of the image, for example showing a huge foot and a leg stretching into the distance. You also need to get within a few inches of your subject to ensure they stand out from the background. Graeme uses centre-point auto-focus to capture his standard portraits, but for these special effects he uses a narrow aperture with the focus set manually to the hyperfocal distance (i.e. the one that produces the maximum depth of field). He uses the Photopills app to calculate the right focus setting for each shot:

https://www.photopills.com/

The evening finished with an audio-visual presentation that showcased Graeme’s street photography collection. We then broke for tea and biscuits. Thank you Graeme for showing us how to take some fantastic and dramatic street photography shots.

Next week we have an informal club night. Please choose 6 images that you’d like to share with other members. You can email them to George Todd or bring them along on a USB data stick. A club night is also a good opportunity to ask questions or to demonstrate something, such as a useful skill or a new gadget.

11 Sep 2025 (Creative Lighting Workshop)

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We got our 2025/2026 season well and truly started with a creative lighting workshop. Steven began the evening with a discussion of the lighting equipment available to photographers. This web site has a good introduction to creative lighting techniques: https://shotkit.com/photography-lighting/. Taking photos in low light usually requires a long exposure, which can blur your photos with camera shake. Adding extra lighting is a good way to improve portraits and still life photos taken in a dark place. This time we concentrated on portraits. We’ll spend more time on still life photography at our second workshop on 13th November 2025. There are two basic kinds of lighting available:

  1. Flash. A flash creates an intense and very rapid burst of light. The burst is so rapid that it freezes any movement or camera shake. A disadvantage of a flash is that it can cast a shadow onto the background. Also, because the flash only fires briefly, it’s hard to see in advance where those shadows will be. Some flash units have a dim “modelling light” which shows up the shadows. Firing a flash straight into someone’s face can also cause “red eye”. If your camera has a built-in flash it will probably suffer from these problems. You can get a softer lighting and eliminate the “red eye” problem by attaching a flashgun to your camera and angling the flash upwards so it bounces it off a light ceiling. You can start to emulate a studio setup by adding “slave” flash units which synchronise with your main flash. Lighting your subject from the left and right side can give a softer effect with fewer shadows.
  2. Continuous lighting. Continuous lighting allows you to see how your subject is illuminated before you take the picture. You can add as many lights as you like. However, these lights tend to be dimmer than flash, so you’ll find yourself putting up with longer exposure times. We demonstrated several different kinds of continuous lights at our workshop. There were some bright, mains-powered bulbs, a battery-powered LED panel and a battery powered torch.

Members tried out 3 main lighting setups. Ed and I had set up some of the club’s studio lighting equipment. This equipment consisted of two main-powered flash units combined with some modelling lights, a diffuser umbrella and a “beauty dish”. The equipment triggered each time it detected a flash. This combination was good at taking well-lit portraits with soft lighting. Derek had brought two contrasting setups with continuous lighting. One setup demonstrated how a single light from the side can create dramatic, high contrast portraits. The other setup had two lights with red and blue gels, which created colourful special effects. Steven showed how the battery powered lights can be deployed and removed very quickly, when the LED panel and the torch were used to photograph a rabbit who didn’t like the bright lights.

Next week (18th September) we have our first speaker of the season. Graeme Barclay of Midlothian Camera Club will talk to us about Street 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.

10 April 2025 (Stephen Ball: Scotland Behind the Lens)

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This week we were pleased to welcome Stephen Ball to Musselburgh as our last speaker of the 2024/25 season to give us one of his signature talks on landscape photography: Scotland Behind the Lens. Stephen is originally from London but moved to Scotland in the 1990s. He started his career as a theatre lighting designer and technician before moving into photography, and has recently won several landscape photography awards. You can read more on his “Scotland Captured” web site.

Stephen used to use a Nikon D7100 but has recently switched to a Nikon Z7, which gives a better image quality. His standard kit consists of a tripod, a collection of kit lenses and a set of Lee filters (neutral density, graduated and polarizer). Stephen explained that he likes to get his images right in camera. He uses Adobe Lightroom only for minor adjustments, such as cropping or adjusting the colour saturation. He will occasionally adjust the highlights when there are bright lights in the scene (such as the spotlights on the Queensferry Crossing). He likes to visit places very early in the morning or late at night when there are fewer people around. When Stephen photographs a landscape, he sets his camera on a tripod and takes the time to look at the scene and think about the composition. He avoids the temptation to take a large number of quick snaps, and the tripod helps him slow down. He adjusts the exposure manually and likes to choose a low ISO (such as 64 or 100) and small aperture (such as f/16 or f/22) to get the best image quality with the maximum depth of field. If there are many focal points in a scene, he will increase the depth of field by focus stacking. Stephen avoids using a wide angle lens to capture a panorama because it distorts the edge of the scene. Instead, he builds a panorama from several overlapping shots made in portrait orientation. He has also started experimenting with shots cropped to a square format.

Besides photographing Scottish landscapes, Stephen also likes to photograph the Edinburgh Tattoo, arranged through his membership of the Beautiful Edinburgh Facebook group. He explained how he uses different camera settings for these images. He selects a higher ISO setting for these darker scenes, and normally begins the evening with an aperture around f/11 to get a good depth of field, but when it gets darker he changes to “Auto ISO” and uses wide apertures like f/4.

Stephen took us on a tour of Scotland pictured through his lens, starting with popular locations like the Crawick Multiverse, Stobo Japanese Gardens and Leaderfoot Viaduct in southern Scotland and locations closer to home such as Dalkeith Country Park, Seacliff Beach, Preston Mill, North Berwick and Bass Rock. He also showed us iconic scenes in Edinburgh, from the picturesque Dean Village to citywide views from Calton Hill. Stephen also showed us how he obtained some unusual shots of the Forth bridges in the early morning mist, and he found the platform at Dalmeny Station gives an unusual view peering down the length of the rail bridge. He then took us further afield, showing beautiful scenes from all over Scotland, including an autumn scene at Loch Dunmore, some misty shots of Loch Ard, frosty images of Rannoch Moor and mountain scenes at Buachaille Etive Mor, Glencoe and Sligachan, Isle of Skye. Many of Stephen’s images had been taken only a week or two ago, showing us what we could expect to see if we were to travel to these places right now. Stephen finished his highland shots with a recent image he had captured after a long climb to the Old Man of Storr, where the view was so breathtaking that Stephen almost forgot to take any photographs! Thank you, Stephen, for inspiring us with so many beautiful shots of Scotland.

  • Next week we have a our “Best Image of the Night” evening. This is a fun, informal evening where we discuss and vote for our favourite images on the night. Please bring up to 3 images, either in JPEG format on a USB stick, or as prints, or a mixture of both. Prints can be any size (as long as they are large enough to see from the room) and don’t have to be mounted, although mounted prints are fine as well. I look forward to seeing what you bring.

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.

20 February 2025 (Joe Gilhooley: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It)

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The club was delighted to welcome Joe Gilhooley from Loanhead, Midlothian to talk about his work. Joe’s interest in digital photography began in 2010, when he wanted to record his daughter growing up. He purchased a Canon DSLR and took the camera on family trips. He developed a liking for landscape photography but fell into the usual trap of coming home with 400 scattergun images of the same scene. He now recommends pretending you have a roll of film and only capturing the small number of images you think are worth keeping. Joe has 3 Canon DSLR camera bodies, a Sony compact camera, and a selection of 9 lenses. He always uses a tripod for landscape photography and recommends using the camera in “mirror up” mode with a remote shutter release to prevent camera shake. Joe’s love of landscape photography won him the “Scots Magazine Photographer of the Year” award in 2017 and 2019. Joe joined the Royal Photographic Society in 2020 and achieved an LRPS qualification in 2021 and is working towards the ARPS qualification. You can see more of Joe’s work on his web site:

http://www.joegilhooley.co.uk/

Joe started by showing us the 10 images he had submitted to win his LRPS qualification, which included a night view of the Forth Bridges, a night view of Edinburgh from Calton Hill, star trails over the Belhaven Bridge and a clever still life which simulated colours being painted onto a bowl of fruit. Joe likes to take his landscape images during the blue hour: the hour just before sunrise or just after sunset when sky is still bright enough to give a blue background. Joe watches the weather forecast and will often drive to a location at short notice to arrive in time for the perfect conditions. Calm conditions at sunrise are ideal for capturing still reflections and morning mist. Joe took us on a journey across Scotland, showing us a wide variety of excellent images of castles, gardens, monuments, lochs, mountains and iconic viewpoints. His subjects included landscapes, cityscapes, wildlife, star trails and fireworks. In 2022, Joe successfully applied for a press contract to photograph the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which gave him the opportunity to capture some beautiful images of the event. Joe had also offered his services to several football clubs, and had obtained a press pass to capture images of key moments during their games. Joe finished by showing us some of his sports photography images. Joe uses two camera bodies for his sports photography. One body has a 400mm lens attached, which he uses to capture distant action. The other has a 70-200mm lens, which he uses when the action gets closer. He uses fast (f2.8) lenses and a very high ISO to achieve the fast shutter speeds required for sports photography. A monopod helps to support the weight of his heavy 400mm lens.

It was a fascinating evening where Joe gave us hints about good places and times to take photographs and encouraged us not to be afraid to contact organisations like sports clubs and local newspapers who may need a local photographer.

  • We are having our “Sense of Speed” club photoshoot this Saturday, 22nd February at 10:30am in Lewisvale Park, Musselburgh, EH21 7AR. Bring your camera to practice photographing bicycles, dogs and people moving against a background. For best results bring a lens with a large maximum aperture, such as f2.8.

06 February 2025 (Audio Visual Evening)

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This week members of Musselburgh Camera Club travelled to Beeslack Community High School to meet with members of Beeslack Penicuik Camera Club for our annual audio visual evening. Beeslack’s usual room was occupied by a Taekwondo class, so we started the evening in a small classroom.

Musselburgh started with an introduction to ICM photography in Butterdean Wood, created by Steven Beard, based on the club photoshoot from July 2024. Then, Beeslack’s presented a history of coal mining in Scotland, based on information and materials picked up from a club visit to the National Mining Museum, supplemented by club photographs and drone shots. There was a change of mood with the third presentation, when Derek Muller showed a video entitled “Birds Having Lunch” featuring some great shots of wild birds feeding. The change of mood continued when Beeslack showed another beautiful and calming creation by Brian Nicolson, featuring photographs of trees and woodland enhanced and blended with art filters from paint.NET. Musselburgh followed with a presentation compiled from photographs taken by club members on a photoshoot to the Balgone Sunflower Trail. This was followed by Beeslack’s presentation on the history of East Lothian, which used to be known as Haddingtonshire. The presentation took us on a journey through time, from the battles for dominance between the tribes of ancient Scotland and the construction of castles, to the witch trials and the impact of all this history on the modern landscape of East Lothian. Melanie Gallacher followed with a musical video in celebration of her daughter, and then Beeslack finished with an inspiring collection of long exposures of a fire dancer, set to Stravinsky’s The Firebird. And on that note we finished the evening and retired to Beeslack’s usual room for tea and biscuits. Thank you Beeslack for hosting us.

  • Next week (Thursday 13th) we have another flexible Members Evening. I propose that we have a session on camera skills. Please bring your camera (plus a macro lens and a flash if you have one). If you have any interesting small objects to photograph, bring those along as well. I’m especially interested in moving objects (such as a pendulum or a dancing robot), if you have any.
  • I am planning to demonstrate the settings on my Nikon camera. It would be good to have volunteers to cover Canon, Sony and Panasonic cameras as well.

See you next week.

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.