We were very pleased to welcome Tony Oliver, ARPS CPAGB from Salisbury Photography Club to judge our second PDI competition. He has been a member of the club since 2004, and has been judging competitions since 2011. Tony’s photographic skills began with steam railways, but although he has a preference for landscape and travel photography he find interest in all genres and subjects. He finds pleasure in the imaginative ways that fellow photographers and club members use to see picture possibilities, leading to the creation of images from our natural world. Tony feels composition is paramount, but using light is equally important. He is always looking for new inspiring subjects to photograph.
We had 19 members attending our zoom session and a lovely collection of images were displayed for Tony’s critique and comments. There were 14 images from the beginner group, 18 images from the intermediate group, and 15 images from the advanced group. We commenced the evening with images from the beginner group, followed by the intermediate and advanced groups. Tony commented on composition, lighting, capturing strong detail, symmetry of shapes and lines and the use of sharpness -v- soft focus. He also suggested being mindful of the subject location in the image to achieve a stronger impact, and suggested cropping where possible. Tony also mentioned the use of autofocus, especially in landscapes, where sometimes the camera can focus on the wrong subject. He gave tips on macro photography and keeping the objects in focus, with a good depth of field. The comments and critique given by Tony were very well received by all members, which will be used to enhance our photography skills.
Following the judging, Tony commented on some fine images and selected his favourite from each group, which are listed below. His ‘Best in Competition’ went to Mirza Khurrum Baig with ‘Eclipse’. The three successful members then answered questions, and gave an overview of how they had achieved the finished image. Having said farewell to the judge, members stayed behind to continue their discussions on other images in the competition and gained an insight into the techniques used, which rounded off a very successful evening.
The winners from each group category are as follows:
Beginner: Grant Lawrence – ‘Wet and Windy Fireworks’
Intermediate: John Nalaskowski – ‘Crab spider, the camouflage and bush specialist’
Advanced: Mirza Khurrum Baig – ‘Eclipse’ – Best in Competition
We would like to thank Tony for a very interesting and informative judging session. Grateful thanks also go to Mike, Rob, Kathy, and Liz for hosting, introducing, presenting, and keeping scores on the night. We would also like to send our special thanks to those members who provided us with some beautiful images, and to all our members for continuing to support our lovely club.
The Committee