Bridges – Competition 8th May 2025

An image showing a structure built to span a physical obstacle such as a body of water, valley, road or railway without blocking the path underneath.

The judge for the Bridges competition was David Rowlands and the following are his comments.

The images that took out top honours in the colour print set subject were Gordon Lindqvist with ‘Pont d’Avignon’, Vicki Kramer with ‘Sydney Icon Peeking Through’ and Michael Selge ‘Over the Bridge’.

The Judge said that ‘Pont d’Avignon’ is a nice image with the bridge well positioned. The image has sharp detail and a good reflection.

Vicki Kramer’s ‘Sydney Icon Peeking Through’ showed a different view and angle of the bridge. The inclusion of the structure on the right was a nice touch and the image has good exposure and was technically well handled.

‘Over the Bridge’ by Michael Selge had good colour contrast, the people add interest and they give a feeling of movement.

In the monochrome prints section, three following three images by Mark Pedler were chosen.

‘D’Avignon’ is a lovely photo and it suits a monochrome image, it has good side lighting, showing detail in bricks and building.

‘Tooleybuc’ is framed well using the leaves. The bridge is well poistioned and has good contrast.

‘Under The’ is a lovely image, the bridge takes up the screen real estate well and is very sharp with fine detail.

In the monochrome prints open category, two images by Michael Selge took top honours.

‘Gabriela and Rodrigo’ is a well handled image in spite of the bright stage lights, the artist has good expression and it is well composed and sharp.

‘Perched’ is a well handled image, the animal has a good expression and there is enough room in the image for the animal to be looking into.

A number of images took high score in the digital colour set subject section.

‘Saltstraumen Bridge’ by Angela Cogman shows an interesting contrast in architectural styles and was shot at a good time of day.

‘The Safe Way Across’ by Meredith Retallack has a dramatic sky and has a fairy tale feel about it. It is a lovely bridge and is quite dramatic with the sky and the mountain in the background.

‘Moors Bridge’ by Di Gage has a lot to look at, you could make a book cover from it, the fence, the moss covered rocks and the dangling chain give a feeling of age to the image.

‘Under the Bridge’ by Judy Sara almost looks like an abstract image. The Judge particularly liked the reflections under the bridge and it has good zig zag patterns.

Again by Meredith Retallack, ‘Golden Glow Avignon’ is a super dramatic image, with a lovely red tinge in the sky and good exposure on the buildings.

‘Birkenhead Bridge’ by Sheila Gatehouse is a sharp image. The water is is like a mirror. The inclusion of the boat is a nice touch, the lights have been handled well.

Meredith Retallack’s ‘Sweeping Toward Mont Saint Michel’ doesn’t have any blown highlights, there are sweeping leading lines. There is nothing to distract the viewer and no cropping is needed. There is interest all the way through and it has a lovely sky.

In the projected mono set subject three images scored highly. ‘Arches, Toulouse’ by Meredith Retallack, has a grungy look on the underside of the bridge. It provides really nice framing of the second part of the bridge with the people. The entire composition and the exposure is done well and the detail is maintained throughout.

‘Anzac Bridge’ shows a nice cityscape. The exposure is perfect and it provides great framing and contrast of the darker bridge against the light cityscape.

Vicki Kramer’s ‘Anzac Bridge is a lovely shot. This image is a perfect candidate for a monochrome shot and it has fantastic tonal range.

In the projected colour open category ‘Yellowcard’ by Michael Selge has good timing. The artist in the background is fantastic and there is great expression on both their faces.

‘One Missed Out’ by Sam Savage was loved by the Judge. It is almost as if Sam had directed the birds. The photo was taken down low and at eye level with the birds. There is enough of the ocean to see it is a shore bird and there are no distractions in the sand. This image should be put in nature exhibitions.

‘Autumn Luminance’ by Sarah Bailey is a lovely shot taken from different angles and then stacked.

Lastly in the projected monochrom open category there was one high scorer. ‘Buildings’ by Judy Sara is a good architectural shot. The image presents a snippet of a larger building which makes something interesting to look at, with contrast of different directions and vertical and horizontal lines.