More than ever entries rolled in for the challenging subject of “In the Air” and despite the rather cramped conditions in the Fellowship Room at the Forest Road Methodist Hall the evening was great fun with a large amount of friendly banter and excitement as the season comes to an end. Just like the end of a closely fought football season the results of our photographic leagues are by no means a foregone conclusion.In the large section Mags Fewkes, in her absence, won with “Up, up and Away”. This shot was an excellent example of ‘How to break the Rules and Win’. Not displaying the encouraged rule of thirds, Mags split the vertical format in half with the horizon, and then showed two (as opposed to an irregular number) magnificent hot air balloons over the dessert. The end result was extremely attractive; the early morning light giving a serene image and a great feeling of being actually present in the photograph. As ever, Mags technical presentation was faultless and this was a well deserved winner.
Yet again Jayne Priaux’s patience paid off this week with her second placed shot “Migrant Hawker”. An astonishingly sharp image of a dragonfly in flight in all it’s glorious technicolour. Those of us who have spent hours trying to capture such a shot were congratulatory…others jealous!! This was beautifully composed with the insect off centre allowing ‘space’ for the object to travel into. So often, photographers make the mistake of placing the moving object bang in the centre of the frame, whilst placing it off centre can dramatically enhance the composition.
Annie Woodington and Sarah Finch tied for third place. Sarah is a recently joined member who has produced some excellent shots since joining. Her shot of a black headed gull entitled “Beakfull”, was similarly composed like Jayne’s image, and a accurate character study of gull behaviour. The background was pleasingly out of focus allowing the gull to be sharp but there was a strong inference that the shot was taken on the beach.
Annie’s “Throwing The Light Stick” was another beach shot but taken in very difficult lighting conditions. The fire stick illuminated the juggler beautifully and the tones were echoed in the setting sun. Even without the human interest the shot was very pleasing on the eye and showed off Annie’s skills in low level light photography.
Annie is one of the leading contenders to win the league this year. So, it is no surprise that she also picked up a winner in the enprint section with “Playing Catch” This was an endearing action shot of cats at play. It gained a lot of votes and considering the non cooperation usually associated with cats, was a beautifully composed and executed image.
Rachel Lee was yet again on the score sheet with her “Flowers in the Air” shot of a fireworks display over the harbour. Again a notoriously difficult shot that needs careful preparation before shooting…no chance of “Can you do that again, I missed it!!” Not only did Rachel capture the moment when the fireworks were at their best, but she included enough detail of the harbour to give the shot a sense of location.
Finally Pete Brehaut captured an image of a gull in flight Again, like Sarah this shot captured the character of the bird, effortlessly flying in search of food. The gull is flying away from the viewer but this works well in this excellent shot as the head can be clearly seen as can the gull’s beady eye!
