Our Annual Exhibition was held on Thursday November 17^th with a good turn-out of members to celebrate our achievements for the year.

The Best Architecture Award was won by Di Gage with Underneath the Arches. The WEA Landscape Award went to Dappled Light in Black Gap by Meredith Retallack and Frances Allan won the Best Creative Award with The Splash.

The awards were presented by Julie Goulter, the club’s president.
The full list of awards was as follows:

Projected Digital Images – Colour Division

1st Hutt St Photos Award – Michael Holmes – Portrait of Daisy

2nd – Kerry Malec – Horses Crossing Flooded River

3rd – Sam Savage – Squabbling Neighbours

Merit – Di Gage – Nest Building

Merit – Sheila Gatehouse – We’ll Park Where We Want To

Merit – Paul Hughes – Derby Jetty

Merit – Judy Sara – Fungi Garden

Annual Aggregate – Projected Digital Images – Colour

1^st Photographic Wholesalers Award – Judy Sara

2nd Heather Connolly

3rd Sheila Gatehouse

Projected Digital Images – Monochrome Division

Top Monochrome Print Trophy – Michael Seige – The Skater

2nd – Kerry Malec – River Crossing at Dusk

3rd – Heather Connolly – Geometric

Merit – Di Gage – Remarkable Rocks

Merit – Sheila Gatehouse – Cathedral of Lights

Merit – Kerry Malec – Natures Artwork

‘Merit – Meredith Retallack – Caught in the Act

Annual Aggregate – Projected Digital Images – Monochrome

1st Blackwood Times Award – Judy Sara

2nd – Sheila Gatehouse

3rd – Ray Goulter

Click HERE to see a video presentation of all the projected digital image entries.

Colour Print Division

1st – Meredith Retallack – Dappled Light in Black Gap

2nd – Di Gage – Busy Bee

3rd – Judy Sara – Brown Bear

Merit – Di Gage – Underneath the Arches

Merit – Steve Wallace – Lesser Crested Tern

Annual Aggregate – Prints – Colour

Blackwood Photographic Award – Judy Sara & Helen Whitford

3rd – Sheila Gatehouse

Monochrome Print Division

First – Judy Sara – Splash

2nd – Sheila Gatehouse – Hart’s Mill

3rd – Di Gage – Mortlock Library

Merit – Mark Pedlar – Pickin’ Em Up

Annual Aggregate – Prints – Monochrome

First – Judy Sara

2nd – Helen Whitford

3rd – Sheila Gatehouse

Despite having held our workshop on High Key Portraiture, this was our least favourite subject for the year, with only eight out of fifty-seven entries placed in the Set Subject.

In Prints we had Judy Sara’s Masquerade Elle, Helen Whitford’s Loving Couple, James Allan’s Mark and Sheila Gatehouse’s It’s all about Fashion and Strike a Pose.

In Digital Images we had just Sheila Gatehouse’s 61 Years of Love, Helen Whitford’s self portrait, Helen and Di Gage’s Mr P.

Judge, Roger Harrington, made constructive comments and suggestions but used a limited range of scores.
In Open Subject he was impressed by Judy Sara’s Yellow Fungi Garden, Inside the Old Boathouse, Jay Take Off and Yellow Gills, Di Gage’s Busy Bee and Mortlock Library 2, Stuart Mcleod’s Emu 16, Frances Allan’s Open Book, Sam Savage’s Elegant Bathers and Steve Wallace’s Brown Tree Creeper.

Click the links for all of the Top Digital Images and Top Prints for 2022.

This was our last regular competition for the year, with only the Annual Exhibition left to go!
It would be great to receive entries from everybody!

With a theme as broad as Light there was a wide range of subject matter within the set subject this month.

A few photos emerged from the Illuminate Festival which was the basis of our outing in July.
Judy Sara again did well with Lights on the Roof #1, Illuminate Burst, Festival Centre and The Washing, all taken at Illuminate.

Helen Whitford’s Beam me Up, Scotty, Sheila Gatehouse’s Lighting the Way and Steve Wallace’s Radiating Out were also taken at the event.

Beautiful sunlight peaking through clouds or backlighting the subject featured in Michael Selge’s Lit Clouds and Fading Light, Judy Sara’s Golden Light and Sunrise on the Windfarm, Ray Goulter’s Dawn – Elliston and Gordon Lindqvist’s Shearing Shed at Dawn.

The remaining top photos in the Set Subject were an eclectic mix – Ray Goulter’s Eggs, Sheila Gatehouse’s Swimming in a Sea of Blue Light and The Old Fluoro and Helen Whitford’s Across the Torrens, Mythical Moose and Northern Lights Mystique.

In Open, Jenny Pedlar’s Sundew and Fly Agaric impressed judge, Fred Bray, along with Heather Connolly’s Australia’s Favourite Tree, Gordon Lindqvist’s Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, Judy Sara’s Galahs Landing, Black Winged Stilt and Dawson Pub and Helen Whitford’s Cockling on Goolwa Beach.

Click the links for all of the Top Prints and Top Digital Images for this and previous competitions.

With over 100 entries this was by far our biggest competition so far this year, with Curves and Angles proving to be a popular Set Subject.

Judge, Robert Dettman, was impressed with James Allan’s style, with many of the top scores going his way including for Canoe Sculpture, The Savage House, Remember Dr Duncan and Curves and Lines in the Set Subject.

With many places where curves and angles can be found there were a good variety of subjects, though architecture dominated.

Judy Sara’s Unfurling showed the simplicity and beauty of a new fern frond and Different Structures showcased contrasting architectural shapes.  Ray Goulter’s Dawn – Elliston challenged the judge, Di Gage highlighted the well-known curves of the Opera House, David Hancock took the Footbridge and Sam Savage showed an iconic French landmark.

Others to do well included Sheila Gatehouse’s Blue Steel Angles, David Hancock’s Curve Net and Across the Chasm, Meredith Retallack’s Stark Contrasts and Gordon Lindqvist’s Iconic Bridge. Judy Sara was the most successful entrant in the Set Subject with Decorating the Cake, Autoclave, Palace of Charles V and Windows to the Courtyard also faring well.

In Open, Michael Holmes joined the ranks of members with top photos with Happy Honey Eater and Portrait of Daisy. 

Click the links for the other Top Prints and Top Digital Images.

This was always going to be a challenging subject as most people cannot access and photograph Dance performances so it was not surprising, but somewhat disappointing for our dance specialist judge Suzanne Opitz, that most entries were “movement” rather than “dance”.

In fact, of the “movement” photographs, most were of subjects other than people.  Still we had an interesting array of images.

Frances Allan’s The Splash and Helen Whitford’s Flight Path both impressed Suzanne with quite different captures of movement.

Other Set Subject photos to do well included Sheila Gatehouse’s 1,2,3 Up you Go, Judy Sara’s Butterflies Rising, Don’t Land Here and Aussie Rules, Meredith Retallack’s Still in Motion, Helen Whitford’s Eye on the Ball and In Tandem and Ray Goulter’s Practise 3.

Overall, Suzanne found the Open sections to be stronger with top scores for Sheila Gatehouse’s These Boots are ready for Working!, Helen Whitford’s Galah Pair, Frances Allan’s Dusky Robin and Xenica in my Garden, David Hancock’s High Tide, Judy Sara’s Emu and David Hancock’s On the Beach.

Suzanne gave a balanced assessment of each photo and, while she again suggested cropping and vignetting a number of times, also commented on other aspects and found plenty to like in many of the images.

Follow these links for all of the Top Prints and Top Digital Images.