Interclub Results
Geelong vs ECC - Interclub -- 28 Oct 2024 | |||||||
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No. | Image Title | Member's Name | Club | Type | Score ECC | Score SSPS | Award |
1 | A view to Bonnard | Carmen Caruna | ECC | DPI | 11 | ||
2 | A Wee White Cottage in the Scottish Highlands | Heather Prince | Geelong | DPI | 11 | ||
3 | An amazing tennis player | Frank Kennedy | Geelong | DPI | 11 | ||
4 | Barren_Prairie | Paul Franks | Geelong | DPI | 11 | ||
5 | Blushing Beauties | Heather Prince | Geelong | DPI | 15 | ||
6 | Boat Builders Yard | Roberet Schirato | ECC | DPI | 14 | ||
7 | Caught in the act | Jennifer Swanton | ECC | DPI | 12 | ||
8 | Chairing the Shadows | Leo Tancredi | Geelong | DPI | 13 | ||
9 | Chardonnay | Paul Farey | Geelong | DPI | 12 | ||
10 | City Cyclist | Monica Bonnici | ECC | DPI | 11 | ||
11 | Coming Home | Ketut Suwitra | Geelong | DPI | 11 | ||
12 | Dynamic Duo | Shelley McKiernan | Geelong | DPI | 12 | ||
13 | Eagle in the Snow | Phillipa Alexander | Geelong | DPI | 13 | ||
14 | Singapore Cityscape | Carmen Caruna | ECC | DPI | 12 | ||
15 | Gazenia | Clem de Silva | ECC | DPI | 13 | ||
16 | Hunting | Hans Kawitzki | Geelong | DPI | 12 | ||
17 | Jagged Peak | Brien Cohn | Geelong | DPI | 11 | ||
18 | Lake Como | Allan Hine | ECC | DPI | 11 | ||
19 | Mirror Image | Noel Ritchie | Geelong | DPI | 13 | ||
20 | On Time | Levin Barrett | ECC | DPI | 11 | ||
21 | Patterns and Pylons | Levin Barrett | ECC | DPI | 10 | ||
22 | Puna Flamingo | Phillipa Alexander | Geelong | DPI | 12 | ||
23 | Rainbow Mountains - Peru | Martin Vargas | ECC | DPI | 10 | ||
24 | Reflections of a Portrait | Mick Kupresanin | Geelong | DPI | 14 | ||
25 | Snakey swirl | Jennifer Swanton | ECC | DPI | 14 | ||
26 | Sunset reflections | Toni Mason | ECC | DPI | 10 | ||
27 | Thats My Ball | Steven Malia | ECC | DPI | 11 | ||
28 | The Atacama | Toni Mason | ECC | DPI | 10 | ||
29 | The Kickflip! | Judith Wood | Geelong | DPI | 12 | ||
30 | Torquay Groynes at Sunrise | Roberet Schirato | ECC | DPI | 15 | ||
ECC | GEELONG | ||||||
Overall DPI Score | 175 | 183 | |||||
Winner | |||||||
No. | Image Title | Member's Name | Club | Type | Score ECC | Score SSPS | Award |
1 | The Isle Of Skye | Heather Prince | Geelong | 11 | |||
2 | Cross Over | Paul Scicluna | ECC | 12 | |||
3 | The Orange Ball | Dee Kelly | Geelong | 12 | |||
4 | Done Working | Clem De Silva | ECC | 10 | |||
5 | Dream State | Heather Prince | Geelong | 15 | |||
6 | Pink Cockatoo | Neil Anderton | ECC | 12 | |||
7 | Tess No 1 | Peter Roupas | Geelong | 15 | |||
8 | I've got my eyes on you | Clem De Silva | ECC | 12 | |||
9 | A Moment of Reflection | Shelley Mckiernan | Geelong | 11 | |||
10 | Inside the Perricotta Shed | Kevin Phelan | ECC | 12 | |||
11 | Caught Among the Lotus | Sue Wilson | Geelong | 13 | |||
12 | On the Road to Milford Sound | Robert Schirato | ECC | 10 | |||
13 | The Quiraing | Chris Reichl | Geelong | 14 | |||
14 | End of a day | Carmen Caruana | ECC | 14 | |||
15 | Caught on the Hop | Sue Wilson | Geelong | 14 | |||
16 | Misplaced | Carmen Caruana | ECC | 13 | |||
17 | Gannet Couple Embrace | Shelley McKiernan | Geelong | 13 | |||
18 | Flame Robin Male | Neil Anderton | ECC | 15 | |||
19 | Lake Corangamite From Above | Judy Medwell | Geelong | 12 | |||
20 | One Tree | Kevin Phelan | ECC | 12 | |||
ECC | GEELONG | ||||||
Overall PRINT Score | 122 | 130 | |||||
Winner | |||||||
ECC | GEELONG | ||||||
Total Score | 297 | 313 | |||||
Winner | |||||||
DPIs | |||||||
Blushing Beauties | Heather Prince | Geelong | 15 | ||||
Torquay Groynes at Sunrise | Roberet Schirato | ECC | 15 | ||||
DPI - Best Image Overall | |||||||
Torquay Groynes at Sunrise | Roberet Schirato | ECC | |||||
Prints | |||||||
Dream State | Heather Prince | Geelong | 15 | ||||
Tess Portrait 1 | Peter Roupas | Geelong | 15 | ||||
Flame Robin Male | Neil Anderton | ECC | 15 | ||||
PRINT - Best Image Overall | |||||||
Flame Robin Male | Neil Anderton | ECC |
DIGITALS | |||
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No | Title | Score | Comments |
1 | A view to Bonnard | 11 | Is the painting the dominant subject? If so, this might require copyright permission but here I don’t think it is the dominant subject. I think it is the woman sitting and looking at it. She stands out as the darkest part in a very bright image and so she dominates through contrast of colour. The colours and light are vivid, conveying an upbeat, pleasurable setting and experience which fits in with Bonnard’s work which was known to be very romantic. I like the way you have put this in portrait mode, and placed her centrally. An issue to ponder is should you have shown her with her back to the viewer? That way we cannot see her feelings and responses to the painting. Doing side on faces is the common method of presenting people but here her seated position indicates an interaction with the painting that is not just a casual glance. I think though, that the image does not linger in my mind, being the viewer, because we only see her back. So it is a quandary. Do what everybody else does and show her side on, and create a cliched image or show her back but her back is not that interesting. I don’t have an answer to that. I would probably take the carpet circles out bottom right too. Just a bit of housekeeping as you don’t really need to do so. |
2 | A Wee White Cottage in the Scottish Highland | 11 | The Scottish Highlands are stunning, as you have shown so well here. And what a view the cottagers get from their windows! An atmospheric sky, and it think the image is well composed with the forked, tree lined streams, running at a diagonal down through the valley. The lines of the hills with their rocky outcrops form interest in the foreground. I wonder, though, if the cottage is just too tiny in the scene. Cropping some of the sides down would make it a little bigger in the frame. |
3 | An amazing tennis player | 11 | He certainly is. This is a stunning action shot, stunning not only because of his outreached arm in the vicinity of the ball, and the concentration on his face, but also because of his paraplegia. So stunning for both reasons. I like the consistent tones throughout, and the way the ball, racket and outstretched arm are well lit. However, I would also have thrown a bit more light onto his face in post processing, as his expression is the go to part of the shot. |
4 | Barren Prairie | 11 | I love the light on the wispy grass in the foreground, and the way the colour of the grass is repeated in the bottom tones of the mountain slopes. Those repeated elements tie the image together. The visual interest is in the background with those wonderful shapes in the mountains and the dark looming feeling to the sky, and the foreground with that lit grass. The middle ground is relatively empty, visually, but that is the title of the image, so forms the message. This empty middle ground tends to make this into two subjects, the mountains and the grasses in the foreground. I think this image would be presented at its best if it had a frame around it to tie it together as a unified whole statement. Experiment with some border strokes and see if you agree. |
5 | Blushing Beauties | 15 2nd | This reminds me of my grandmother’s house. It is pretty and romantic and has an ‘old world’ sense to it with that dark textured background. I think all the elements have been placed with intelligence to make this a really beautiful image. The open large Bible (I am guessing it is a Bible) is placed square on to the viewer, so its pages form horizontal, thick lines and a solid block or shape across the image. In contrast, off to the side is the curved, sharply outlined, traditionally shaped pewter jug. The two manmade objects forms an L shape in the image. On the right, the natural beauty of the blooms flow gently down, shedding their petals to soften the whole. The light, too, is really beautiful. |
6 | Boat Builders Yard | 14 4th | The placements of the elements here is also well framed with the cylinders reaching up vertically, in contrast to the oblong shape of the pier and the square of the building above it on the right. It is sharp, well lit, with the reflections slightly darker than the sky, which makes them easier to separate in the viewer’s mind. I would like to say that this is a strange, artificially coloured image but perhaps that is the colour of sunset, nowadays in our polluted atmosphere. No matter if it is natural, or done in post processing, the colour tones throughout are elegant, complimentary and give a sense of calm stillness. I like those colours as it makes for a unique sunset seascape. |
7 | Caught in the act | 12 | Animals are guaranteed to tug at the heart strings of viewers and then to catch one with such a gorgeous surprised expression on its face makes for a wonderful image. You have placed its eyes on the upper third and centred the animal, which is good for one subject, and surrounded it with soft green shrubbery. All good. I dropped the highlights a bit so that the greenery was not light, and therefore a distraction. A wonderful expression. |
8 | Chairing the Shadows | 13 HC | There are two ways of viewing this image. Its geometric forms and shapes which organise the space makes it like a type of abstract art. Being in black and white, and being so intelligently placed in the frame gives it a strong impact. The chair is crooked, forming vertical angles, while its shadows drop away diagonally down through the image. It is beautifully lit. So this way of looking at it is the sheer impact of repeated shapes and lines. They are stark and dramatic and uncluttered. The other way of looking at the image is revealed in the title. This Chair is chairing the space as if in a committee meeting of shadows! So it is a pun on the word chair. It creates the shadows so the chair becomes the controller in an imaginary collection of shadows. I like the idea as it is whimsical, subtle and amusing. It is surrealist humour, wordplay wit or absurdist humour which defies conventional logic |
9 | Chardonnay | 12 | This is a starkly simple image of a couple of curved lines and a couple of colours. The missing edges are imagined by the viewer’s mind, to complete the objects, the remaining parts of each not being shown. I.e. the bottle and the glass stem. Looking at it, I feel the black background on the right is a problem area. In that area I have a sense of something missing, or the image being out of balance. It feels empty. So I cropped it off so see if that worked better for me and I think it did. My rule for negative space is that if it adds to the subject, helps tell the story, is necessary for impact or to create the feeling, then leave it in. If it cuts down the impact of the image, is draining energy or attention away from the subject, or is a distraction, then cut it out. I feel it cut down the impact of the glass and bottle here. What do you think? |
10 | City Cyclist | 11 | A good choice of blacks and whites here because I think in colour it would be too busy. As it is, it is busy around the arch where the cyclist is. The thick set piers with their thinner arches above them, form interest in the background and the reflections add the essential dark to a black and white image. Monochrome images must have a good range of lights through to darks. However, overall, I think this image is too busy so I cropped it off to just below the piers, leaving only a bit of the reflected water. That made the cyclist larger in the frame. I also dropped the exposure by nearly a stop because I had cropped out the bulk of the darks in the image. Try it and see what you think. |
11 | coming home | 11 | The swirls give a sense of movement and energy. The colours themselves and the pastel, muted tones are really attractive. The boat is not too small, but not too large in the frame and its reflections work well. The bird mid top right adds a counter point to the boat, following the rules of ‘big/little’ so is something recognisable for your eye to rest on as an alternative. I always commend photographers to be creative, because photography is moving more and more towards photographic art, or made images, rather than recording what is ‘out there’. Creative work requires skill, an artistic eye and is usually very impactful. Here the boundary between the blurring of the background and the boat is noticeable with the boat being in an unblurred rectangle. I.e.. Your process is showing and needs to be unnoticeable. Congratulations for producing this delicate, romantic image. I have not given it an award because it is, in this collection, up against some more challenging images. |
12 | Dynamic Duo | 12 | The two heads of this duo fungi are absolutely beautifully captured. They are pin sharp and beautifully lit. The moss and leaf above are also sharp and give a setting to these beauties. I feel, though, that the bottom left corner of the image is too dark. My first impulse was to drag the shadow slider up to show more detail in that area, but that didn’t work so the other suggestion would be to use a white reflector to throw light onto that part of the subject. |
13 | Eagle in the Snow | 13 HC | A fantastic capture of the eagle taking off, but as the whole image is covered in snow, I am assuming it was shot through glass. But maybe not. Perhaps a texture you have placed over the whole image. It gives a softening effect, so I would have given the eagle itself some ‘oomph’ or crunch by using mid tone contrast, or clarity in Lightroom. That would crunch the background too, but you could apply it to the eagle on its own by using a radial filter. |
14 | End of a day | N/A | |
15 | Gazenia | 13 HC | So unusual to have these very pretty flowers placed on what looks like plastic tiles. The tops of the tiles, being light, lessens the impact of the green background and I darkened the image there. That was a personal preference so try it yourself and see if you agree. The issue with pink flowers (and other colours too actually) is that they seldom appear sharp even when they are. I increased the vibrance and clarity to make the reds more defined and dropped the highlights to make the lighter edges dark. As I say, try it and see if you like that better. |
16 | Hunting | 12 | Spectacular feathers. Are they being blown by the wind or are they normally so chaotic? A white subject against such a dark background works well. Good placement and a great arch of the bird’s neck and beak. If this were mine, I would have dropped the highlights so as to allow a bit more detail in the white of its feathers. |
17 | Jagged Peak | 11 | A wonderful brooding sky, wonderful jagged shapes in the mountains, with variation in the foreground to add interest. You don’t need such a high speed for a stationary subject. Perhaps there was a lot of light reflecting off the snow but I would have shot it at f 8 or f11 but it doesn’t impact the shot particularly. It is just surprising that you have used these settings. An emotionally uplifting, powerful peak. |
18 | Lake Como | 11 | This famous lakes is pretty in early evening light and therefore the light is very attractive. It is a pretty image but lacks a particular wow factor. I recommend you to watch Shirley Steel’s talk on the APJA website where she talks about made and found shots. Your next stage on the photographic journey, if you choose to take it, is to produce made shots. These shots bring back memories and are attractive, but don’t linger in the viewer’s mind. |
19 | Mirror Image | 13 HC | This is a beautiful shot. The bird is beautifully set off against its background and its S curve of the neck, beak and body is very appealing. Normally judges advise to darken reflections so that the viewer’s brain can distinguish clearly what is water and what reality. You have done that here. If it were mine, I would have made the darkening a little bit stronger, just a bit. |
20 | On Time | 11 | You have lit the arches of this railway viaduct with soft yellow light, perhaps from the headlights of your car or perhaps from some piece of lighting equipment. The train tears through the image as a streak of light, cutting the image diagonally with a strong line. The upright arches give a sense of solidity, including from the width of their piers. They are symmetrical and very much man-made structure. On top of all this is the milky way. Contrasts can work brilliantly in images, i.e. man-made versus nature, but here I don’t think it works. To my eye, there are two different subjects. The beautiful sky rivals the bridge. Both are worth looking at, but here they seem, to me, to clash. I put the image in black and white and darkened it considerably and I thought it worked that way. Try it and see what you think. |
21 | Patterns and Pylons | 10 | Another one with two subjects. The patterns in the rocks are richly coloured and with interesting shapes and could make an abstract image, on their own. The pier is rightly taken on an angle, so forms a leading line in from the right, and the sky is interesting but I feel this image is dominated by the rocks. They are over half of the image. Crop most of the rocks out and use them as a second image. The resulting pier with a few rocks in the foreground, would make a more balanced shot. The rocks on their own would make a great abstract shot. |
22 | Puna Flamingo | 12 | Flipped images where the two halves are an exact repeat of themselves can make for an intriguing image to imply the bottom one is a reflection. Perhaps I am wrong and it is indeed a reflection. No matter which is correct, with reflections it is confusing to the viewer’s brain unless it is clear which is reflection and which the real thing. So always change the so-called reflection to make it a bit different. If it is too perfect it looks wrong! Maybe here it was your intention to confuse the viewer in this way? I am not so sure it works though. |
23 | Rainbow Mountains - Peru | 10 | The colours of these mountain slopes are really unusual, very pretty, and make for a soft, gentle, romantic landscape. There is an air of serenity here. I always add ‘condiments’ from lightroom to my images, to give them a little extra boost. Here I would have added a tiny bit more saturation, not too much as it would then look artificial. And I would have added vibrance and increased the contrast. But that is what I would have done and you may well prefer it just as it is. |
24 | Reflections of a Portrait | 14 3rd | This is unique with the face and its counter image appearing out of a vortex of dark swirling hair. The faint writing on the background creates a subtle texture, and the addition of swirls of wispy black lines link the background to the central subject area. Like with the flamingos this is the same face flipped and tucked in behind the other one and I think it works really well. Two sets of eyes peering at the viewer makes for an unusual portrait, a little bit haunting. It is a personal taste of mine but I think the front face is a little bit bright. I darkened it by dropping the exposure by a whole stop. It is lovely as it is, but I thought it even more impactful darker. Try it and see if you like it more if it is dark, or prefer it as it is. |
25 | Snakey swirl | 14 HC | This is an image of startling colours and curves. On a background guaranteed to set it off well, it is beautifully lit and overall, a stunning image. |
26 | Sunset reflections | 10 | All the parts of this image are visually informative. As you know, an landscape/seascape must have three parts, a foreground, middle ground and a background. The sky is wonderful because there are dark clouds in front of the white and blue sky, giving it a 3 D appearance. The rich yellows and gold of the sunset dominate the middle ground, and that wonderful sky is reflected in the water, but their outlines are more blurred and melded together which is good. The blue goes well with the colours in the sunset. However, I think this image would be improved if some of the top and some of the bottom were cropped off to make it a panorama. Both those areas are what I call ‘negative space’ and the image loses its impact because there is too much of a good thing in both areas. |
27 | Thats My Ball | 11 | A great action shot where the leaping player’s face is the ‘go to’ part of the image. Such determination! You have rightly blurred and darkened the background (including that white shirt which has been toned down). There is energy and movement in this image. I didn’t give it an award because, by bad luck, there is a confusion of hands round the area of the ball. |
28 | The Atacama | 10 | A really stunning area of the world. I have been there and taken shots like this. This one is well exposed, the light is clean and bright, the colours rich. The bottom right segment is a big empty compared to the rest of the image so if this were mine, I would have moved my position to change the angle from which I shot. |
29 | The Kickflip! | 12 | It astounds me how these young people risk their limbs to do these dangerous activities but it sure must be a huge adrenalin thrill. I think you have captured him well, from the underneath like this. You have shown his face, which is full of concentration. He is really well placed in the frame, with his arms flung out and his legs bent in such an active position. A housekeeping point – remove the tree bottom right. |
30 | Torquay Groynes at Sunrise | 15 1st | A beautiful seascape. The groynes take the viewer out as a leading line, into the image where its colour links up with the rich colour of the sky mid-top left. The white foam is well placed in the middle of the frame. The lighting throughout is just lovely, particularly on the bottom of the rocks right, but all through the image. |
PRINTS | |||
No | Title | Score | Comments |
1 | The Isle Of Skye | 11 | Beautiful in all seasons and all lights, here you have captured a brooding incoming storm which darkens the dramatic mountain shapes. The light patches on the green meadows works well too, the whole making for a dramatic image. I personally would have removed the two cows bottom right although I can’t make up my mind if they are a distraction or not. If leaving them in, they would be better bigger in the frame. It is a big, bold and striking image. |
2 | Cross Over | 12 | When I first saw this I was very confused as to what exactly I was looking at, but on realising I was looking up at the underneath side of the cross over, I could then admire the amazing number of oblong shapes, triangles, and vertical lines. It is like an abstract image, in a way. There are sufficient blacks through to whites here to give depth. A complex image which could be busy but it isn’t because of the order and symmetry of all those vertical lines. |
3 | The Orange Ball | 12 | A danger alert here. In our dog club we are not allowed to give this sized dog this size balls to chase because if they swallow them, it is an expensive vet’s bill to retrieve the ball to save the dog’s life. Just letting you know. There is also an ad on TV at the moment pointing this out. So obviously some judges give pet care as well as photographic advice or perhaps I have just offended this photographer by mentioning it. To get back to the image. It is a fantastic action shot. There is so much energy and excitement here with the dog’s limbs stretched and the sand flying up. The dog’s face is so full of concentration. Its head is dark but it is correctly exposed because you can see the detail in his fur and there are catchlights in his eyes. I think the soft pale pastel blue of the water and pale creamy brown of the sand form an excellent contrast in the background. A sense of fast, furious action here. Well done. |
4 | Done Working | 10 | An apt title. Its rich tones are what is so striking about it and by printing it in such dark browns, you have emphasised the title. Those tones imply age and deterioration, in a way. The shapes and textures are interesting and varied. I have two comments to make about this image. It needs some more light tones to give it more depth and the anvil on the right is not captured in its correct perspective (you would need to take it from a low angle to correct that). The circles themselves are always a subliminally powerful shape and you have quite a few of theme here. A shot that brings back appreciation of our rural past. |
5 | Dream State | 15 3rd | The bed, the door, the window frame, are all floating in space. The stars add to the message that this is night time. I am not sure why the birds are there. There is a blur of light coming from the underside of her body, in line with the swirling soft lines that waft through the space. To my mind, this is outstanding skill used to produce them because they are done so softly, but accurately. I love to see creative work and do it myself, but here I feel the story is incomplete. That is my own reaction and may not be what others feel but what is she dreaming about, why show her levitating from her bed? What is the message? If it is saying dreaming takes you out of your bed and off into another place, then this image leaves me with questions. What is she dreaming about? Where has she gone? Perhaps that is its intention. So this is a beautifully executed image which leaves me with the question what is it saying? |
6 | Pink Cockatoo | 12 | What a pleasure it is to see this bird up so close. The colours of its feathers are wonderful, and varied, with details to explore throughout its whole body. The tree trunk too, is pin sharp and beautifully lit. The paper you have chosen gives the whole a rich feel. The issue I have with this image is that the upper left corner, being such a lovely blue, pulls your eye to that corner. It is a distraction and needs to be darkened, along with the clouds which merge in with the Cockatoo’s white feathers. A impactful bird shot. |
7 | Tess No 1 | 15 2nd | An impactful portrait. It is quite dramatic in its darks and lights, and the hair is stunning. The lighting illuminates her face also catches some of the curls of that amazing hair. It is front lighting and might be, given the square shape of the catchlights, from a flash which can be particularly harsh. Here the lighting gives a dramatic feel to the image. She is wearing black which merges into the background but I wonder why you have left more space on the left. I don’t think it necessary; she could well be centred. If leaving space round a head it is normal to leave it in front of her rather than behind. That is not a hard and fast rule, I am just pointing out some ‘display’ considerations for the audience. Her face is slightly soft, particularly her eyes which is the ‘go to’ part of a portrait. I love her direct, challenging stare at the viewer. |
8 | I've got my eyes on you | 12 | Sharp, wonderful capture of the tiger looking front on, but it has got its eyes on somebody standing nearby, not the photographer. I think it is too big in the frame. To my eye, this image would work better if there was a little more background surrounding this magnificent animal. The right corner of the image is a little distracting, so close to the tiger’s eye. Darken it off there. |
9 | A Moment of Reflection | 11 | This is a face showing reflection but as a viewer I ponder the symbolic meaning of her face paint. Not knowing that means, for me, it distracts from her facial expression. However there is an air of stillness, calmness and quiet in the image. I think the photographer has smoothed out the skin of her neck and shoulder while leaving the texture in the face and that makes for a jarring note. Why so smooth in the bottom section? It gives an unreal impression. With skin smoothing, how far is too far? What is believable? What is perfecting and what is fake. Here the bottom section looks unbelievable. There are a number of ways in photoshop to treat skin and I use a method called ‘frequency separation; where I take the skin detail off on a layer, scrub the blemishes underneath, then place the skin pores and tiny hairs back on top afterwards. That leaves the face more realistic, but blemish free. So a mixed image here, both appealing in her emotional state and off-putting, in the bottom section. |
10 | Inside the Perricotta Shed | 12 | This works really well without colour but it does have a bluey tinge to it, which gives it a cool feeling. Very sharp, well lit, well framed, I would suggest the middle floor area is a bit visually blank. You could ‘paint with light’ there, i.e. dodging and burning or add in a person or a dog or something from another image! Also experiment with split toning – just a suggestion. Crop out the bottom dark ‘oil’ spill as it is too noticeable. |
11 | Caught Among the Lotus | 13 | For those of you who have not seen this actual image, have a look afterwards because it is quite unusual. There has been an application of a style tool used here and I don’t know what to call it, but it has rendered the outlines of all the elements into a slight posterization look. It is a bit like a water colour then printed on soft, rich metallic toned paper. It is very unusual. The colours of the bird are great and they tone in with the seed pods. The bird and the seedpods are not sharp but that is the effect of the treatment and it gives an impressionist feel to the image. The blur of the background is a bit too strong for my taste. As strong as that, it becomes a bit intrusive. In terms of the crop, I want to explain for the audience, the difference between cropping this image down quite severely so that the bird becomes central in the image, and using this crop as it is. If cropped to just the bird and a seed pod or two the image would be one of the bird. That would be the subject. As it is here, the subject is this bush setting with a bird in it. The crop changes the subject. I have never seen an image like this one and I always commend photographers for being experimental, non cliched. Well done. |
12 | On the Road to Milford Sound | 10 | That dark blue low-lying bank of cloud, mirrored in the fjord, creates a shape like an arrow, slicing through the image, to me anyway. A very powerful shape, implying movement and direction. A suggestion would be to crisp up the mountains with mid tone contrast (the clarity slider in LR). Rich strong blues. You certainly have an eye for what makes a beautiful image. |
13 | The Quiraing | 14 4th | You have rightly chosen to make this into a panorama. And the matte paper displays this beautiful scene well. The colours are rich, the shapes of the mountains varied and attractive and the light picks up various slopes to give a warm atmosphere and draw the viewer’s eye to those parts of the photo. Shadows give depth. In fact the viewer can wander round all the various parts of this image. Perhaps a touch underexposed? It is presumably an evening shot but the dark exposure makes it brooding. There are beautiful details throughout. |
14 | End of a day | 14 HC | I think this is very well done as a monotone but perhaps doing it as a split tone would work brilliantly too. The details of the buildings, being dark, direct the attention onto the lonely figure walking down the middle of the lane. He is beautifully lit. He is leaning forward, shoulders slightly hunched and this conveys to me a sense that he is tired at the end of a working day where his work has presumably been manual labour. He walks toward a dark interior ahead of him which seems sad to me. Perhaps this is a little too contrasty. Experiment with reducing contrast and see if you like that better. It may take the sense of gloominess away though. It is a sad image. |
15 | Caught on the Hop | 14 HC | This image is sharp, magnified and ultra realistic. Nicely framed in the image, you have caught it lit from the viewer’s left and thus that part of the web is lit but the outer edges of the web are blurred so that is nicely done. I would present it, though, turned on the horizontal. To me, that makes a key difference to its impact. In the West, we prefer to read from left to right and not from bottom to top. It is an excellent capture of this spider as it sets about devouring its captured prey. |
16 | Misplaced | 13 | The vertical lines converging into the centre are full of power to me, conveying a sense of the massive strength of a man-made structure. Their symmetry gives a sense of order and control. The central fissure running up to the top of the image is a contrast, with its horizonal, shorter blocks of lines, increasing in length like stairs leading to the tree which by every stretch of the imagination should not be there. I found it interesting and powerful. The vertical lines dominate in an extraordinary way. |
17 | Gannet Couple Embrace | 13 | The way their bodies are posed in this mating dance is intriguing to me. Their heads are beautifully sharp with beaks crossed like crossed swords. What stands out is the line their necks, heads and beaks form, not soft and romantic, because of those crossed beaks, but you have captured their connectivity in a way that to me, is fascinating. I wonder if this image would be better presented in a dark matte board? Just a thought. All the white on white is subtle but perhaps it could make a stronger impact with a dark border. |
18 | Flame Robin Male | 15 1st | I love the way this bird is warily looking towards the photographer. How good is that, to get a bird in the wild looking towards the camera! Beautiful colours, catchlight in its eye, sharp, blurred background and a great lump of rock to stand on. The matte paper works well too. A classic, beautiful bird shot. |
19 | Lake Corangamite From Above | 12 | These arial shots make wonderful abstracts. The lines here are all long with curved soft edges. They sweep the viewer’s eye through and into the image, nearly all leading towards the top middle area of land where the colour changes. The bottom white water with its swirls, along with the pale blue shapes, are like an oil painting. The greens, yellows and browns of what I assume is the land are at the top of the image but I think they work better at the bottom, so I looked at it upside down. That meant the image was anchored because the heavier colours were at the bottom. With the white at the bottom, the image felt a little top heavy. The textures of the land mass differ from the texture of the white and blue water, but that adds greatly to its interest. |
20 | One Tree | 12 | Compositionally you have done everything right here. This magnificent tree is on a third line, the lighting on the foreground with its tufts of reeds, lead up towards the tree and the sky is magnificent. Well exposed, sharp, it conveys the beauty of the Australian bush. I would like to suggest that this photographer, who has obviously mastered his/her camera skills and composition skills, move to the next step of making photos, rather than finding them. It is a big stretch out of your comfort zone, possibly, but may bring you much delight. Quoting from Guy Tal, a found image is an Illustration that says, ‘Here’s what you would have seen had you been there with me. A made images is: Here’s what you would not have seen had I not shown it to you, even if you were standing next to me.’ I issue the challenge to you and others in both clubs to now make images! |
SSPS vs ECC - Interclub -- 01 Oct 2024 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Image Title | Member's Name | Club | Type | Score ECC | Score SSPS | Award |
1 | 79 Squadron over Terowrie | James Ide | SSPS | DPI | 13 | ||
2 | A Short Fragile Beautiful Life | Lyn Darton | SSPS | DPI | 12 | ||
3 | Australian Hobby Take Off | Margaret Edwards | SSPS | DPI | 13 | ||
4 | Blue & Gold | Carmen Caruana | ECC | DPI | 12 | ||
5 | Butterfly Effect | Carmen Caruana | ECC | DPI | 12 | ||
6 | Cadillac Cove At Bore Beach | Robert Schirato | ECC | DPI | 13 | ||
7 | Camel Rock | Malcolm Gamble | SSPS | DPI | 14 | 2 | |
8 | Chilly Start | Alan Stevens | SSPS | DPI | 12 | ||
9 | Dive | Philip Maxwell | SSPS | DPI | 13 | HC | |
10 | Early preening | Bruce McPhail | SSPS | DPI | 13 | ||
11 | Faces of the Good Shepherd | Levin Barrett | ECC | DPI | 13 | ||
12 | Gate Way To Time | Toni Mason | ECC | DPI | 12 | ||
13 | KC33 | Kevin Phelan | ECC | DPI | 11 | ||
14 | Lake Mulwala | Monica Bonici | ECC | DPI | 12 | ||
15 | Lennox | John Sparrey | ECC | DPI | 12 | ||
16 | Long Jump Leap | Margaret Edwards | SSPS | DPI | 12 | ||
17 | Loving Snow | Peter Hammer | SSPS | DPI | 12 | ||
18 | Lunch for one | John Chapman | SSPS | DPI | 12 | ||
19 | On the peak | Gil Urquhart | SSPS | DPI | 12 | ||
20 | Peaceful | Kevin Phelan | ECC | DPI | 12 | ||
21 | Rainbow Bee-eater About To Land at Hollow | Neil Anderton | ECC | DPI | 12 | ||
22 | Rock Trails | Levin Barrett | ECC | DPI | 12 | ||
23 | Sacred Kingfisher With Skink | Neil Anderton | ECC | DPI | 12 | ||
24 | Skys The Limit | Scott Emanuelsson | ECC | DPI | 11 | ||
25 | St Kilda Light | Penny Chadwick | SSPS | DPI | 14 | 3 | |
26 | Starfish Girl | Malcolm Gamble | SSPS | DPI | 13 | HC | |
27 | The Beach Boys | Suzanne Calder | SSPS | DPI | 12 | ||
28 | The Calling | Jose Gomez | SSPS | DPI | 12 | ||
29 | The Lion Of Singapore | Anis Chemali | ECC | DPI | 13 | ||
30 | Torquay Groynes | Robert Schirato | ECC | DPI | 14 | 1 | |
ECC | SSPS | ||||||
Overall DPI Score | 183 | 189 | |||||
Winner | |||||||
No. | Image Title | Member's Name | Club | Type | Score ECC | Score SSPS | Award |
1 | Camel Girl | Margaret Edwards | SSPS | 11 | |||
2 | Cross Over | Paul Scicluna | ECC | 11 | |||
3 | Done Working | Clem de Silva | ECC | 13 | HC | ||
4 | Embracing Hardship | Melissa Hansen | SSPS | 12 | |||
5 | End Of A Day | Carmen Caruana | ECC | 12 | |||
6 | Flame Robin Male | Neil Anderton | ECC | 14 | 1 | ||
7 | Icy Lake Near Mt Cook | James Ide | SSPS | 13 | 2 | ||
8 | Inside the Perricota Shed | Kevin Phelan | ECC | 11 | |||
9 | Ive Got My Eyes On You | Clem de Silva | ECC | 11 | |||
10 | Misplaced | Carmen Caruana | ECC | 13 | |||
11 | On The Road To Milford Sound | Robert Schirato | ECC | 12 | |||
12 | One Tree | Kevin Phelan | ECC | 13 | |||
13 | Pink Cockatoo | Neil Anderton | ECC | 12 | |||
14 | Sarah On A Stool | Malcolm Gamble | SSPS | 12 | |||
15 | Seven climbers | Glenda Urquhart | SSPS | 13 | |||
16 | Ski tricks | David Reinhard | SSPS | 13 | HC | ||
17 | Sunrise Tin City | Malcolm Gamble | SSPS | 12 | |||
18 | Swing Patrol white night | John Chapman | SSPS | 11 | |||
19 | The Ambiguity of Time | Peter Hammer | SSPS | 12 | |||
20 | The boxer is ready | Jose Gomez | SSPS | 13 | 3 | ||
ECC | SSPS | ||||||
Overall PRINT Score | 122 | 122 | |||||
Draw | Draw | ||||||
ECC | SSPS | ||||||
Total Score | 305 | 311 | |||||
Winner | |||||||
DPIs | |||||||
Dive | Philip Maxwell | SSPS | HC | ||||
Starfish Girl | Malcolm Gamble | SSPS | HC | ||||
St Kilda Light | Penny Chadwick | SSPS | 3 | ||||
Camel Rock | Malcolm Gamble | SSPS | 2 | ||||
Torquay Groynes | Robert Schirato | ECC | 1 | ||||
Prints | |||||||
Done Working | Clem de Silva | ECC | HC | ||||
Ski tricks | David Reinhard | SSPS | HC | ||||
The boxer is ready | Jose Gomez | SSPS | 3 | ||||
Icy Lake Near Mt Cook | James Ide | SSPS | 2 | ||||
Flame Robin Male | Neil Anderton | ECC | 1 |
Rosanna (RPC) vs Essendon (ECC) - Interclub -- 18 July 2024 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Image Title | Member's Name | Club | Type | ECC | RPC | Award |
1 | Alpine Glow | Jane Barnes | Rosanna | DPI | 12 | ||
2 | Amongst the Trees | Ray Bradford | Rosanna | DPI | 12 | ||
3 | Behind the Times | Jennifer Swanton | Essendon | DPI | 12 | ||
4 | Blue and Gold | Carmen Caruana | Essendon | DPI | 15 | ||
5 | Boy on the Beach | Sue Newton | Essendon | DPI | 10 | ||
6 | Butterfly Effect | Carmen Caruana | Essendon | DPI | 15 | ||
7 | Cadillac Cove at Bore Beach | Robert Schirato | Essendon | DPI | 13 | ||
8 | Cool Ray Bans | Glen Hand | Rosanna | DPI | 12 | ||
9 | Dazzling Dahlia | Jennifer Swanton | Essendon | DPI | 12 | ||
10 | Faces of the Good Shepherd | Levin Barrett | Essendon | DPI | 12 | ||
11 | Flamenco | Frank Ma | Rosanna | DPI | 10 | ||
12 | Gate Way to Time | Toni Mason | Essendon | DPI | 12 | ||
13 | Heron | Jenny Kaiser | Rosanna | DPI | 12 | ||
14 | High Tide | Malcolm Vickers | Rosanna | DPI | 9 | ||
15 | Hopetoun Falls | Robert Page | Rosanna | DPI | 11 | ||
16 | KC33 | Kevin Phelan | Essendon | DPI | 11 | ||
17 | Kimberley Dust | Jenny Kaiser | Rosanna | DPI | 11 | ||
18 | Lake Mulwala | Monica Bonici | Essendon | DPI | 12 | ||
19 | Lennox | John Sparrey | Essendon | DPI | 15 | ||
20 | Lost in Thought | Frank Ma | Rosanna | DPI | 15 | ||
21 | Lotus After the Rain | Gerry Gore | Rosanna | DPI | 12 | ||
22 | Morocco High Atlas | Cheryl Davis | Rosanna | DPI | 10 | ||
23 | Orange and Blue | Clive Watt | Rosanna | DPI | 15 | ||
24 | Peaceful | Kevin Phelan | Essendon | DPI | 13 | ||
25 | Pink Beauty | Sue Thompson | Rosanna | DPI | 14 | ||
26 | Rainbow Bee-eater About to Land | Neil Anderton | Essendon | DPI | 13 | ||
27 | Reflection Hour | Rainer Reinbold | Rosanna | DPI | 13 | ||
28 | Rock Trails | Levin Barrett | Essendon | DPI | 11 | ||
29 | Sacred Kingfisher with Skink | Neil Anderton | Essendon | DPI | 15 | ||
30 | Sky's the Limit | Scott Emanuelsson | Essendon | DPI | 11 | ||
31 | STOP! | Jan Burt | Rosanna | DPI | 13 | ||
32 | The Lion of Singapore | Anis Chemali | Essendon | DPI | 10 | ||
33 | Times Square New York | Liz Watt | Rosanna | DPI | 13 | ||
34 | Torquay Groynes at Sunrise | Robert Schirato | Essendon | DPI | 15 | ||
35 | Undulations | Jane Barnes | Rosanna | DPI | 11 | ||
36 | What Big Eyes You Have | Geoff Kaiser | Rosanna | DPI | 15 | ||
37 | Where Are You Mum? | Sue Thompson | Rosanna | DPI | 12 | ||
38 | Whistling Kite Fishing | Julie Marshall | Rosanna | DPI | 14 | ||
39 | Whiteout at the Beach | Sue Newton | Essendon | DPI | 9 | ||
40 | Woman in White | Monica Bonici | Essendon | DPI | 12 | ||
ECC | RPC | ||||||
Overall DPI Score | 246 | 248 | |||||
Winner | |||||||
No. | Image Title | Member's Name | Club | Type | ECC | RPC | Award |
1 | Coffee Anyone? | Sue Newton | Essendon | 13 | |||
2 | Cross Over | Paul Scicluna | Essendon | 12 | |||
3 | Dawn Mist | Jan Burt | Rosanna | 14 | |||
4 | Day's End, Lake Eppalock | Rosemary Oldis | Rosanna | 12 | |||
5 | Done Working | Clem de Silva | Essendon | 10 | |||
6 | End of a Day | Carmen Caruana | Essendon | 14 | |||
7 | Inside the Perricotta Shed | Kevin Phelan | Essendon | 13 | |||
8 | I've Got My Eyes on You | Clem de Silva | Essendon | 11 | |||
9 | Kingly Style | Frank Ma | Rosanna | 15 | |||
10 | Miniature Coloured Carla | Samad Mahkri | Rosanna | 15 | |||
11 | Misplaced | Carmen Caruana | Essendon | 15 | |||
12 | On the Lookout | Sue Thompson | Rosanna | 12 | |||
13 | On the Road to Milford Sound | Robert Schirato | Essendon | 11 | |||
14 | Pink Cockatoo | Neil Anderton | Essendon | 13 | |||
15 | Ray Ban in Blue | Cheryl Davis | Rosanna | 11 | |||
16 | Rock Wallaby Arkaroola | Joan Muller | Rosanna | 15 | |||
17 | Snowgum | John Hardiman | Rosanna | 14 | |||
18 | The Green Room | Rainer Reinbold | Rosanna | 11 | |||
19 | To the Valley Below | Kevin Phelan | Essendon | 10 | |||
20 | Venice Dawn | Jenny Kaiser | Rosanna | 11 | |||
ECC | RPC | ||||||
Overall PRINT Score | 122 | 130 | |||||
Winner | |||||||
ECC | RPC | ||||||
Total Score | 368 | 378 | |||||
Winner | |||||||
DIGITALS | |||
No. | Title | Score | Comments |
1 | Alpine Glow | 12 | This is so pretty. It has a gentle, peaceful atmosphere which comes from the pastel colours in the sky. The muted colours in those banks of clouds are quite romantic, in their way. This sky is contrasted with the rugged, jagged cliff face which has striking shapes. The few trees on the sky line give softness to those cliffs. This is a lovely image but I would have added some mid-tone contrast to those hills (clarity in Lightroom.) to crisp it up a bit but that may reduce the feel of softness of this image. |
2 | Amongst the Trees | 12 | This is a really beautiful tree and everything you have included in the background is just right, supportive of the scene without intruding. I would have added a slight vignette so that there was no light to draw your eye such as the top left corner. It is a tiny bit soft. |
3 | Behind the Times | 12 | How did you get this shot? A quick eye that noticed the man up there or was it staged? It doesn’t matter either way as it is a unique, alternate depiction of that saying ‘Behind the times’. The stroke around the border gives it a polished look and I think choosing the pale, dusty yellow adds something special. If it were in black and white it would lose its warmth. I think the warmth of the colouring is a good foil for the severity of the silhouette. I am surprised that the two hands on the clock face are not sharp while everything else is. I don’t know why. |
4 | Blue and Gold | 15 | This is a stunning architectural shot with its complex lines and shapes. When you look into it in detail there are so many geometrical shapes in those vertical lines, all different sizes. The vibrant colour and light are essential to the image’s impact. The next comment is not a criticism but is a rule for you to be aware of in future. When taking any shot that has a horizon line (here the stepped rich mustard horizontal band that crosses the image) subliminally the viewer likes to see that one third up from the bottom. Rules can be broken but that is what humans subconsciously prefer as the normal placement. Here you could have added a bit more of the building on the bottom but as I said, that is the normal rule and all rules can be effectively broken. |
5 | Boy on the Beach | 10 | That thick dark hair falling over the boy’s face gives an air of intrigue. What is he feeling? The body stance looks a little dejected, as if he is no longer having fun, but who knows? He draws the eye with his colourful clothes and bucket, in contrast to the expanse of grey of the sea and sky. His knee and leg are not crisp which is a shame. |
6 | Butterfly Effect | 15 | Shapes, lines, dramatic contrast, geometric patterns, excellent precision of placement of all the elements. Well done. I am not sure why you gave it that name? Nor am I sure how you got that oval above the spoons. Was it a mirror above? |
7 | Cadillac Cove at Bore Beach | 13 | You have certainly captured the swirling energy of the water as it boils between these rocks. The sky has detail in it and excellent light and shade to depict the outlines of the rocks. A nitpicking comment is that the rock self on the bottom right is a bit large in the frame. I dodged and burned it to add interest there. |
8 | Cool Ray Bans | 12 | They do look like ray bans too. It is sharp, well placed on a diagonal and the green of its body is eye catching. I would have darkened the top boards so as to show off the wings and to make it fit with the dark of the bottom boards. Do this with a graduated filter. |
9 | Dazzling Dahlia | 12 | The blurred background still allows the green of its setting to be discerned and I love the way you have made the little bud on the side stand out, captured by light. I dropped the highlights down just a bit to stop the top petals of the dahlia being a bit washed out. |
10 | Faces of the Good Shepherd | 12 | That sky is amazing, the way all the clouds swoop in towards the church, drawing the eye to the lovely stone building. You are quite right to show two sides of a building, as it is a more dynamic presentation. Here the soft grasses lead in from left and right. Lovely light too. If this were my image, I would have taken it from further back, allowing more of the surrounding environment to show, as the church itself, to my eye, is too large in the frame. Try leaving more in the sides and foreground so that the church is smaller and see what you think. You can only do this if there was more space in the surrounds in the original, which you have cut down. |
11 | Flamenco | 10 | The red works so well against the black background and the upflung arms and kicked out feet capture the sense of movement and energy. The lighting on their faces is excellent. The skill here in showing their skirts, feet and arms in motion while their faces are sharp is excellent. While I appreciate the twirling skirts I find the hands are a bit too blurred to look natural. Blur is a great friend of the photo artist but can be bad if it is too strong. You have to get just the right amount to be believable. |
12 | Gate Way to Time | 12 | A romantic, picture postcard type of shot. The arch frames the shot and the building which the eye is drawn to along that cobble stone path is a strong vertical. The stepped fence works well, and the stormy clouds are beautiful. There is a hint of haloing round the edge of the trees, the arch and the tower so watch out for that. It is usually caused by over sharpening. It is hardly noticeable but it is there. In a club competition I would ignore that but you are competing with the best of the best here so everything is considered. |
13 | Heron | 12 | That wing spread is stunning, with the spear shaped beak and neck implying a powerful descent, and those little claw feet are a great element. You have captured a sense of speed and power here. |
14 | High Tide | 9 | I found this image fascinating. Those of you who are concrete or literal thinkers will assume the story is that the chair was left there by its owner who forgot that the tide would come in and surround it with water. But if you are a person who thinks more weirdly, with say, a more Monty Python style of fantasy, even surrealism, you could imagine the chair is watching the boat in the distance. Is the chair cross that it cannot see the boat clearly? Would the image work better if a person was sitting on the chair? No, the chair itself is looking at the vast nearly empty, calm sea. The sky and the patch of light on the water are lovely. The use of negative space is done well here as it conveys the sense of stillness. However, I would have really liked to see the boat more clearly. |
15 | Hopetoun Falls | 11 | This shot of the milked water is beautifully framed with the green ferns on the right and multiple shaped rocks in the foreground. However, to my eye, this attractive scene would have been better shot from further away as the fall of water is too dominant in the frame and it is not particularly visually interesting. Standing further back would put more of the environment into the image and decrease the fall’s dominance. Another comment to make about milking water is that it works when the water is slow moving or still but water that is falling, or rushing rapidly looks psychologically wrong if it is milky. Just to let you know this may be an impact on the viewer. |
16 | KC33 | 11 | As a black and white shot, you have some lovely rich darks through to eye catching light tones, contrast being so essential in a monotone image. The reflections in the water add interest, as do the ripples in gradations of grey. I took a tiny bit of the glare off the side of the boat as it was nearly blown out and to my eye, was a bit too eye catching. I did it by reducing the white point, just a bit. It is good that the boat is on a slight diagonal. |
17 | Kimberley Dust | 11 | The folds of the hills weaving one behind the other are attractive here, with the front hill being a leading line from high on the right down through the image to the left. The dust softens the whole but I tried using a bit of mid tone contrast (or the clarity slider) to crisp up the image while still implying the dust was enveloping all the shapes. Try it and see if you like it too. The dull cloudless sky is a sky that no photographer wants, so you have rightly kept it to a minimum. But being light, it has a tendency to take the viewer’s eye up there and then out of the frame. Try a graduated filter to darken it just a little. |
18 | Lake Mulwala | 12 | You are right to make this into a panorama. The sky is gorgeous, the reflections of the sky and dead trees form an interesting middle ground, and there is a gentle curve in the foreground with the beautifully lit logs to form interest there. It is a personal reaction to this image, on my part, but I feel it is a little oversaturated. I dropped the vibrance down which made it subtler, but very, very beautiful. Try it and see what you think. You may well prefer rich colours but I feel they are a bit unbelievable. |
19 | Lennox | 15 | Outstanding eye contact with the camera here. The colours are all muted, which suits this blond headed little boy. The huge eyes and the questioning, open eyed wonder of his expression is great. Beautifully lit. A nit-picking point. Those huge blue eyes don’t suit the pale green of the rest of the image. I added a tint of magenta, just a bit, to create a harmony of colour throughout. |
20 | Lost in Thought | 15 | This is beautifully shot, beautifully lit. He is looking towards the photographer but past him/her which is in keeping with the title. The moulding on his skin is beautifully done and the whole image is pin sharp. The next point is not a criticism but advice for future shots. The eyes are better placed on the top third line as this is subliminally where the viewer expects to see them. This image could be cropped to achieve that, but it really is not necessary here. Just be aware that that is the preferred placement for viewers. Another suggestion, not a criticism, is experiment with split toning in work that would otherwise be a monotone. If you do the shadows and the highlights in different tiny, tiny amounts of colour it adds an elegance which is hard to spot except for the person who knows about split toning. |
21 | Lotus After the Rain | 12 | Beautiful placement, background excellent, and the rain drops are a magic touch. Overall, I think it a little dull so I gave it a boost by increasing the white point and the whole image popped. You don’t have to place the stem at the bottom left but that is the usual position as here in the West, we read an image from the left to the right and from bottom to top. It is usually a more dynamic position for the stem and flower head. |
22 | Morocco High Atlas | 10 | This is almost like a dot-point painting. The blue snaking line across the foreground compliments the yellows and browns. The balloon is a wonderful, symmetrical shape in contrast to the scattered bushes. I would have liked to see the balloon more off to the right, rather than nearly centred and it could be sharper. |
23 | Orange and Blue | 15 | There has been a lot of thought gone into making the colours juxtapose one with the other. The richness and vibrancy of the colour make it work so well. Being about inanimate objects, its impact comes from the simple stark shapes, symmetrical colours, sense of balance and beautiful lighting. I am curious about the wiggle in the line from top to middle in the central glass which is not in the bowl of the glass below but is in the stem. Presumably it is refraction. |
24 | Peaceful | 13 | Well named as this is such a peaceful shot, which is usually the feeling that you get with mist. The reflections in the yellow muddy pool of water are lovely and go well with green grass of the foreground. The viewer’s eye can wend up through the trees in a very pleasant way. A nit-picking point: I unlocked the shadows just a bit to show a little more detail on the trunks on the right. Sharp, well exposed. |
25 | Pink Beauty | 14 | Indeed it IS a pink beauty and centrally placed in nearly a square format, with a non-intrusive background. The centre of the flower is sharp and all the colours are rich and complimentary. I did a little tweaking to this one. I bumped up the white point which showed a little detail in the white parts of the petals and it also gave the whole image a boost of light. |
26 | Rainbow Bee-eater About to Land | 13 | Aren’t the colours on this bird pretty? They are rich and vibrant. The spread of wings like a bow shape are also wonderful. I dropped the highlight slider down a little and decreased the white point to ‘sharpen’ the feathers in the bird’s body. Try cropping it to a square and see if you like that more? |
27 | Reflection Hour | 13 | I did my usual fiddle with all the settings to see if I could make some useful suggestions but came up with nothing. Everything is exactly as it should be for this calm, peaceful, warm shot. The exposure is just right, not too dark and not too light, the spit of land on the left has a gentle, but strong C curve and gradations in its tones. This C curve is repeated behind that first one. The striped orange lines in the water add interest there. The figure is well placed on a third line. Well done. It has excellent contrasts throughout. |
28 | Rock Trails | 11 | A clever name and I really like the light thrown onto the rocks from the right. The rocks have pleasing differences in size and shapes, the small tumble of stones at their base forming a contrast. The light trails are stunning in their multiple swirls all collapsing in to a dark centre, and they are very bright and colourful. However, in my opinion you have two subjects here, rather than the rocks forming the setting. They both demand the viewer’s attention. I feel one should be made secondary to the other and this is usually done via light or even blurring but the latter wouldn’t work here. You would have to make one duller than the other. |
29 | Sacred Kingfisher with Skink | 15 | What a delight to get this shot with the skink in the Kingfisher’s mouth. The branch for it to stand on sweeps up from bottom right up and through the foreground to the left and there is a well blurred background. Most of all the light on its head, beak, eye and top of the branch bring this image to life. I like the stripe around the frame. A beautiful shot. |
30 | Sky's the Limit | 11 | This landscape reveals the huge open spaces of the country and the figure looking out at it tells the story of the image. The rock in the middle distance is an interesting shape and there is just enough cloud to stop the sky from being boring and flat. The bottom third of the image is the same as the middle distance so if you ask yourself, is that negative space adding to the story or an eye sore? I think it adds to the story of this land being huge and empty and it could be lonely too. There is lovely light on these rocks. |
31 | STOP! | 13 | The scooter has indeed stopped so it is a visual joke. A lovely, elegant streetscape. The red of the bike links with the red stop sign, and the background is interesting but not intrusive. And the lines of the buildings are straight too. This is an example of the rule of big/little. An attractive capture. |
32 | The Lion of Singapore | 10 | This iconic lion is dramatically captured as it shoots out its strong spout of water, beautifully lit, sharp and well placed to catch the viewer’s eye. While the shapes of the buildings give context, the bridge and all the well-lit elements in the lower middle ground are, to my eye, distracting because they are ‘busy.’ I wonder if you had shot this magnificent fountain from another angle, would you have been able to simplify some of the background? To minimise the fact that the background rivals the lion, here in this shot, reduce the mid-tone-contrast as that has a blurring effect. That keeps the lion the dominant subject. |
33 | Times Square New York | 13 | Body advertising in keeping with the story line of the TV show – amazing! It makes for an interesting shot. A very apt choice to do it in black and white as there is sufficient whites and blacks to stop it being flat. The strong vignette at the edges, with the spotlight effect on these women is in keeping with their dramatic appearance. A terrific shot and it works so much more dramatically to have that background, rather than a plain one. |
34 | Torquay Groynes at Sunrise | 15 | This is a classic seascape with the pier on a diagonal leading in from the right. The clouds are fantastic and there is such energy and a sense of movement in the water surging up onto the rocks in the foreground. The light is wonderful. Great shot. |
35 | Undulations | 11 | This is a very unusual image because it is about the soft light falling on the folds of hills, as the title says. The house on the top of the hill is more an added contrasting element. The image is not about that house. This style of house is a photographers’ iconic shot in Tuscany and there must be many thousands of shots of it, or similar, but it takes a different eye to see that there is an image in the light falling on those hills. So it is an image of big/little, of complex short sharp lines and shapes versus soft, large flowing lines. You have placed the house well, on a third line, and done well to minimize what could be a boring sky. Half the image is negative space and negative space can be used to convey the idea of the image or negative space is a mistake. Here it conveys space and solitude, quietness and peace. Speaking personally, I would crop a lot of that bottom half off and you would still get the effect but that is a personal preference. |
36 | What Big Eyes You Have | 15 | Indeed, they are huge. It is sharp where it needs to be sharp, namely its face and front legs, and there is excellent detail here. You have rightly blurred the background. I would, if this were mine, have cropped some of the top off, which would make this insect more ‘in your face’. You have put it in a square frame which is right but could chop the top down and still keep the square. |
37 | Where Are You Mum? | 12 | All small creatures tug at the heart strings of humans and you have certainly achieved that here. The background tones in well and is not distracting. I like the way the lighter column in the background frames the bird’s darker head as that shows it off better. The wings are fluttering but the head, beak and breast show the tiny bird’s details. Catchlight in the eye too. Personally, I would have cropped some of the post off to make the bird larger in the frame and therefore more dominant in its background but that is a personal choice. |
38 | Whistling Kite Fishing | 14 | These birds are powerful indeed when you see their strong wings outspread, beak and claws ready to pounce on prey. A great placement of it in the frame and the reflection works well too. |
39 | Whiteout at the Beach | 9 | The viewer can feel the chill in the air. The figure of the girl leads up into the image and her board draws the eye down to the foreground. An alternate presentation of this photo would be to crop a big chunk of the top off, and turn it into a panorama. To my eye, it would still convey the same feeling, but perhaps cropping all that expanse of white out might reduce the impact of the whiteout. Try it and see what you think. I tried reducing the highlights to see if that brought more detail into the middle ground and the sky but the image pixilated so I am wondering if you have cropped it down a lot. |
40 | Woman in White | 12 | There is a lot to look at here but it is not busy, I think because of the very strong structure of the building, both the wide lines and the dark surrounds. It forms a relief for the eye from seeing the reflections in the glass. What good fortune to see the woman in what is a universal pose these days, ear pressed to her mobile phone. |
PRINTS | |||
No. | Title | Score | Comments |
1 | Coffee Anyone? | 13 | This is intriguing. How did you get that coffee pot to be suspended mid-air? I can’t see where you attached it to a line and if you did not, how did you get it to pour if you shot it straight on. None of which matters as it creates an interesting puzzle. The coffee in the glass and the beans are beautifully lit. I think the silver is not really sharp which is a pity. But an impactful shot, nevertheless. |
2 | Cross Over | 12 | This is an image of geometric shapes in architecture and is impactful because of the number of repeated shapes throughout. The crossover is placed well so that the buildings frame it. It is stark and impactful. Sky tended to confuse me as to how come it is at the bottom too, until I realised you were standing under the cross over and shooting up. I would experiment too, with a graduated filter to darken the lighter part of the building as its tone merges a bit in with the sky. |
3 | Dawn Mist | 14 | This is a soft, romantic, peaceful image in muted colours and paper chosen to enhance that feeling. The sky is lovely. The curve of the hill arches up and through the image, the square of the building softened by the trees. Mist always has, to my eye, a gentle, calming impact but I think here, there is a little too much mist which strips out the detail. The light is just right. |
4 | Day's End, Lake Eppalock | 12 | The sky reflecting a warm wash of colour, reflected in the water, gives a warm, rich feel to this scene. The dead trees, although in twos, really form three sets and their reflections in the ripples works well. A dark image but evocative of the darkness that is to come. I don’t think it is necessary to offset these trees. You could, if you want to, remove some of the space on the right so the trees are more centred. |
5 | Done Working | 10 | Seeing these old pieces of equipment from bygone days is a great subject for photography. You have the circle as a repeat motif, with the metal hoops against the tree trunk, the marvellous wheel itself with its axel contrasted with the oblong block of wood and the anvil shape. The colour is rich and vibrant. To my eye, the tone of this image is too rich, but that is a personal reaction. Tone refers to the lightness or darkness of colours used, which can help to create a sense of depth or distance but here I think it conveys a mood or an emotion of harmony, of pleasure. The light throws the attention onto the centre of the image where the wheel is. The problem I have here though is that the anvil is not captured at the right perspective. It is angled up in the air rather than being on a flat plain. I guess this is due to your wide angled lens. It is nice to see these old implements. |
6 | End of a Day | 14 | There are three rules broken here. To increase dynamism, it is usually advisable to take a road, path, laneway, from one side or the other, and the other rule is to put the subject off to one side, usually on a third line and preferably having the figure coming towards the viewer. This image goes to prove that rules are guides only and can be broken. I think the central focus works here because the building forms a frame and is more or less symmetrical. So the tired workman should walk straight up the middle because of the symmetrical framing. He is beautifully lit, there is detail in the shadows. In fact there is detail everywhere you look, which allows the viewer to explore the whole image. But most of all, it conveys the tiredness of this man at the end of his working day. It is quite empathic, with his stooped gait. It is quite contrasty but that adds a sense of drama to the shot. Too some, it might be a touch too contrasty. |
7 | Inside the Perricotta Shed | 13 | Symmetrically presented to lead the eye through the image to the gates and light at the end. There is a good range of darks through to lights here and every part of the image has detail to explore. The fact that there is nothing in that wide floor space gives an air of emptiness, and now the enormous work in this shed yearly has long gone. A small detail. Lighten the dark patch mid-bottom towards the right. |
8 | I've Got My Eyes on You | 11 | What a penetrating stare although he is not looking at the photographer but at someone out of the frame. This animal is beautifully placed in the image, with its curved body being a leading line. Its head is off to the side. The only suggestion I would make is the green leaves right corner could be taken out as it is a minor distraction right at the point where the viewer is looking at the animal’s eyes. Beautifully sharp. |
9 | Kingly Style | 15 | He is looking over to the right, into the distance, lost in thought. The light on his face and head is great. I think he looks serious, slightly displeased – it is a wonderful expression you have caught here. |
10 | Miniature Coloured Carla | 15 | Exquisite detail in this flower. The dew drops and frost on the inner petal, the veins so well lit, all stand out starkly against the black background. There are C curves and S curves repeated throughout. A stunning image. |
11 | Misplaced | 15 | What an eye to see that tree as making a statement in a high, dominant architectural structure. Vertical lines imply power and this image oozes power. The way the well-lit lines radiate outward, makes the sense of power almost overwhelming. And atop, is a dead tree or perhaps a tree waiting for spring to come. It is such a contrast in many ways. One natural, one man made, one small, one huge, one insignificant in this environment, misplaced as the title says, the other signifying man’s skill with construction. I wondered whether it might work better by cropping some of the bottom off, to see if it had the same impact. It didn’t. That is the test of negative space. Does negative space help tell the story or is it a distraction? |
12 | On the Lookout | 12 | This bird, unlike the cockatoo, looks more annoyed at being photographed than startled. It has a catchlight in its eye and lighting on its head, beak and chest. I think the richness of the flowers are not a distraction because the bird is so dark in contrast, but the fact that some are blurred while others nearby are sharper is distracting. I would crop a bit off the top of the image. |
13 | On the Road to Milford Sound | 11 | The light on the snow depicts all its many shapes and there are wisps of clouds to make the sky interesting. The snow is blown out and not as sharp as it could be which is a shame. The usual advice judges give for images where reflections are a main feature is to darken the reflections and blur them just a little, to distinguish the real from the reflection. I would have darkened the reflected mountains with a graduated filter from the bottom. There is a very powerful curved shape going right across the image from left to right which is like an arrow head and that is quite impactful. |
14 | Pink Cockatoo | 13 | The colours and detail in this bird’s feathers, that magnificent comb with its beautiful fan shape, the catch light in its eye, are all marvellous. You have not blurred the leaves in the background but they form a contrast to the cockatoo, being quite different in colour. Usually, speckled light popping through the gaps in the leaves is a distraction but here they are not because they are mainly down in the bottom corner where they don’t intrude. I love the bird’s expression. It looks surprised at having its photo taken, and a bit wary. “What are you doing? What are you up to?” The cockatoo’s eye and beak are not as sharp as other parts of the image so there is a depth of field issue here. Otherwise a lovely image. |
15 | Ray Ban in Blue | 11 | Is that the Holi festival in India? I have a picture of me like that. It is a wonder he can see anything. He is obviously having a lot of fun. Interestingly you have shot up at him, which makes him more dominant than the photographer, gives him status or power in the portrait. You have rightly blurred out the woman on the left and the rest of the background but darken her too. It would be good to learn how to remove her altogether. |
16 | Rock Wallaby Arkaroola | 15 | A lovely presentation with matte paper. The animal is really cute, and sharp and is turned towards the photographer. It is on a beautifully curved log, colour co-ordinated with its background and the log. The gentle C curve of its body and the curve of the log, is a repeat motif. Nicely lit. Beautifully cropped. |
17 | Snowgum | 14 | It is nice to see textured, matte paper which adds to a soft, dreamy feel to the sky. The sky has so much detail in it, it is really pretty, in contrast to the dark foreground, so you have an effect of light and dark here. The twisted trunks of the snow gums are visually impactful. I experimented with lightening the foreground but that changed the entire mood of the image. Dark as it is, it has a foreboding, sadder feel to it which I like more than the foreground being lighter. Lighter, it is less impactful because more ‘typical’ of a landscape image. |
18 | The Green Room | 11 | A very odd name for this magnificent tumble of green and gold water. I find this image does not tell its story clearly as the water just stops in the bottom right corner in a way that doesn’t make sense to my eye. The little bit of shoreline gives an environment or an explanation as to what we are seeing but I would leave that out, crop the image just to the wave itself. That turns it into a stunning abstract. Here you have tried to give it a setting but you don’t need to. That little bit on the bottom right is a distraction from the magnificent shapes, colours and textures of that wave. |
19 | To the Valley Below | 10 | I can see why you wanted to photograph this lush valley backed by blue hills. The road snaking through it in jig jags gives the eye somewhere to focus. However, I think the foreground is not doing the rest of the image justice. The normal advice with a road is to stand on one side or the other so that it is a more dynamic shape but here the road curves to the right so perhaps it might have been better to shoot from in front of the road. As it is, that wide patch of dirt, though a contrast to the green of the fields, is too light and therefore an eye magnet. Try darkening it with a graduated filter. |
20 | Venice Dawn | 11 | you have chosen the time of dawn which is still quite dark, the equivalent of the blue hour at night, I suppose. The building shapes are pin sharp against the sky, the whole image is sharp in fact, and the water has that unexpected V shape in it caused by the wake of the motorboat. To my eye, I would have increased the exposure (or used the shadow slider) just a bit so that we could see more clearly the details in the facades of these famous buildings. That would change its atmosphere so you might prefer it exactly as it is. The other suggestion I have to make is to take the vibrancy out of the lights on the right. They are a bit of an eye magnet. I did it with a radial filter around them. |