The feature of the image had to be doors and windows. Straightforward or imaginative creation of something out of the ordinary.

The Judge for this competition was Annette Hollitt. Annette is a member of Edwardstown Photographic Club and has been judging for over a year. She enjoys seeing other people’s photos when she is judging as it inspires her. Annette likes photographing landscapes, nature and macro photography.

In the projected colour set category the two images with the highest score was Di Gage’s “Windows within a window and Paul Hughes “Egyptian Village”.

Annette said while this image is a strong architectural photo, the windows are the more dominant feature, a well handled composition. She suggested it might work well in mono.

The Judge said Paul’s photo told a great story. The door is the dominant feature and it was nice to have the child there, in their own environment.

In the Mono Set Subject category Kerry Malec’s “Arched or Rectangled” scored highly. Annette liked the repetitive windows on each side with the door in the centre and the symmetry of the three windows on each side.

Helen Whitford’s “Panoramic Aurora” scored the highest in the Projected Colour Open Category.

The Judge said Helen had been clever with producing the panorama of the aurora. It suits the cloud formation and aurora shape well.

‘Tippety Tap’ by Michael Selge scored well in the Mono Open Category. Annette said it had a story telling and power characteristic due to the motion of the musician. It was nice that the drumsticks were in motion. The misty mood of the stage was fantastic.

In the Prints Set subject category, Judy Sara’s ‘Orange Shutters’ scored well. The Judge found it appealing and liked the presentation, the square format and the symmetrical structure.

Sheila Gatehouse’s ‘Curvy’ was a strong architectural photo but the windows were dominant and strong. The image was well captured with the long shadows giving a triangular shape with shading underneath looking like a wave. The detail is strong and with a good tonal range, important in a monochrome image.

In the Prints Open categories, Michael Selge’s Octagon scored highly.

Annette thought this image told a good story, the viewer gets the concept of size as the people give the size compared to the structure.

Helen Whitford’s ‘Aurora Reflection’ also scored highly.

The Judge said Helen had found a good position and location to photograph the aurora, may be she was standing in the water. Annette liked the effect with the stars in the sky and the coloured reflection of the aurora in the water.

‘Shredding’ by Michael Selge scored top marks in the monochrome section.

Annette loved this photo. She said the timing was perfect and the monochrome effect was well handled. The lighting was handled brilliantly and the timing caught the performer’s emotion.

Also by Michael, ‘Hanging Angel’ scored highly. It was well done, again capturing the motion of the performer with the black background and the person being mainly white made it stand out.

‘Fly with Prey’ by Judy Sara scored well. You can see strong hairs on the fly, it tells a good story. The positioning is good with good depth of field.

01 August COMPETITION: ‘Guilty Pleasures’

An image depicting pure indulgence.

The Judge for ‘Guilty Secrets competition was Chris Carter. Chris has been a photographer for over 3 decades and is a keen traveller and 4 wheel driver.

Overall Chris stressed that if there is a lot of white in the background or a completely white background, the photographer could consider darkening the corner slightly to concentrate the eye more on the subject.

In the Projected Colour Set subject the following images all scored the same points.

Hot Chocolate, Tart and Poetry’ was nicely set up

The Judge said ‘Rosey L’Orange’ was well taken.

‘Fireside Stout’ was a cosy image.

‘I’m having all of it’ was well captured with nice colour.

Of Jenny Pedlar’s ‘Incognito’ the Judge said he would have liked to see the child’s eyes but really liked the blue on her tongue.

In the Set Subject Mono category ‘Doing it Tough’ by David Hancock scored the highest mark. The Judge said it portrayed pure indulgence.

In the Projected Colour Open section of the competition Gail Iskov’s ‘Red Hill Hotel’ and Michael Selge’s ‘Foot Food’ both scored well.

Of ‘Red Hill Hotel’ Chris said it had nice lighting in the sky and he liked the horizon through the centre of the image, the red clay in the front and the subtle colours.

Of ‘Foot Food’ Chris said it was nicely cropped with beautiful colours and it is good that the bird is engaged in an activity.

Closely following the above two images were Gordon Lindqvist’s ‘Do you like my teeth? and his ‘Cobbald Gorge’ and Meredith Retallack’s ‘Penneshaw Vista’.

Chris said Gordon’s ”Do you Like my Teeth?’ was well posed and nice and sharp and Meredith’s had good lighting with nice shades of green and brown and the sky has been cropped down well. Gordon’s Cobbald Gorge shows a beautiful area, with lovely reflected light on the cliff.

The next category shown was the Projected Mono Open Category. Three images scored well in this category. First was Michael Selge’s ‘In the Light’. The Judge liked the viewpoint and the lights at the back with the musician showing on the left and the microphone coming in from the right balancing the image well.

Second was Judy Sara’s ‘Brown Falcon’, of which Judge Chris said the bird was nicely lit and stands out well from the background.

Third ‘Stink Bug’ by Judy Sara was a sharp image.

There were three images with high scores in the Colour Prints Open category.

One was Michael Selge’s ‘Emerging Sunflower’. Chris said it worked well with the third flower helping the composition. He also said it was well lit.

Judy Sara’s ‘Dusky Robin Eating’ scored highly. The Judge said the image was nicely caught with a beautiful background. He said the mossy pole suits the image and it is nicely composed.

Also by Judy Sara, ‘Bush Turkey’ was well lit, the rim light highlighting the fine feathers in the neck and head and the image had good colour.

Four images scored well in the Mono Prints Open category. Judy Sara scored the highest marks in this category. Her ‘Cloaca Machine’ worked very well, the scientist is well lit and with good composition. It works well with the black background as it makes the scientist jump out and the equipment is also well lit.

‘Tex’ by Michael Selge scored well in this category. The Judge said it was well caught, full of energy and concentration. The lighting which was difficult, was well done.

Judge Chris said Paul Hughes ‘Closed’ worked well with plenty of detail. He said the lit wire stretching to the house really helps the composition.

Judy Sara’s ‘White Morph’ has a nice setting and is nicely lit.

The Judge for this competition was Peter Phillips. The aim of this competition was for the photographer to capture the subject in an appetising way.

Taking top marks in the Mono Print Food category was Mark Pedlar with ‘Smoko’. The Judge praised the photo and made the suggestion that a crop to highlight the coffee would give the photo more impact.

In the Projected Colour Food Category two images scored top marks, ‘Colourful Tomatoes’ by  Kerry Malec and ‘Tasty Platter’ from Gordon Lindqvist. Peter said of Kerry’s image that it looked very appetising with good gloss on the fruit and he said the Tasty Platter was nicely done, with a lovely old wooden bench which was a good base and a lovely selection of food.

‘Help yourself to a slice’ by Meredith Retallack scored top marks in the Projected Mono Food Category. The judge said it was very nicely done.

In the Open Category the highest scorer in the Mono Print Open category was Judy Sara with ‘Brothers’. The Judge said it was a good shot and the background tells the viewer about the environment so should not be cropped. It is nicely composed with the two lions being in step and has good lighting.

Also by Judy Sara, ‘Ostrich in the Morning Light’ took top honours in the Colour Prints Open Category. The background tells us about the environment once again, it doesn’t detract from but rather enhances the image.

Top marks in the Projected Mono Open Category was taken by both Amanda Goulter and Michael Selge. Amanda’s ‘My Little Companion’ has a creative feel to it said the Judge. The modern shoes don’t distract and there is a lovely catchlight in the dog’s eye. It has a good split background.

Two of Michael Selge’s images were liked by the Judge. His ‘Glide’ had good focus and was overall a good shot.

As well, Michael’s ‘JP Shillo’ had good lighting. The Judge stressed how difficult the lighting can be in these situations. The light gave backlight to the hair and the subject has really strong features. The musician in the background did not distract the viewer as he is intent on his music.

‘African Jacama’ took top marks for Judy Sara in the Projected Open Colour Category. The Judge said it was a nice picture with the bird standing on a leaf going in to grab something in its beak, so the bird is doing something. The photo has lovely colour. The only suggestion the Judge offered was to crop the top a little.

‘Dust Storm’ by Penny Williams scored top marks as well. The Judge said it was all about the light, the good light on the tree and stubble with an interesting sky behind it.

The judge for this month’s competition was Paul Pegler, an experienced photographer with decades of experience. Paul made a number of useful general comments that all photographers could put into practise to improve their photography. Paul suggested photographers use a tripod and practise to get the sharpest photo they can and then they will know the standard to which they should aspire for all photographs. Another tip is to learn to look through the image you are taking to the background so you can see if there will be any distractions behind the subject(s) that will draw the viewer’s attention away, if so, consider moving to a different position. Where there are a number of potential stories in a composition consider selecting one story to tell if the image will be too busy. When composing a photo concentrate on where your eyes go as that will be where the viewer’s eyes will go too. Paul also advised when submitting a photo in digital format consider the border, if the background is dark a thin light border will help identify the edges of the image, but a thicker border tends to shut out the viewer.

In the projected images – colour set subject , scoring top points was Michael Selge’s “Amy”. The Judge said it told a good story, with good separation from the background. The viewer can see the type of music the singer performs.

Gordon Lindqvist’s “James” also scored very well. We get the story of James and his trumpet and his understanding of music. The viewer can almost hear him.

Of “Down the Lens” by Michael Selge the Judge said that the subject is looking straight at us, giving a strong and personal story. You felt the subject could see us.

In the projected monochrome set subject Michael Selge also scored well with “Attitude”. The subject definitely has attitude as the name suggests. With the smoke machine we get story and detail, we want to know more about him.

“Concert Performer” shot by Penny Williams told the story. Even though we can’t see the fingers of the flautist, her face shows us the story.

Michael Selge’s “Kimbra” projects to us, the detail is in the face.

In the open category for colour projected images, Judy Sara’s “Tossing the Bud” caught the moment well, with nice detail in the surroundings, there is nothing in the water that drags our eye away, The image gives us the time and place.

Amanda Goulter’s “Marsupial Mice” has nice detail said the Judge. The viewer can see the the detail from the eyes, the fur and to the whiskers. The story is of the mice, going back and looking for more food, they are on the road.

“The Pinnacles” by Steve Wallace has a strong background, it shows dark clouds with a possibly recent storm but with the sun shining straight on the pinnacles telling a clear story.

The top scorer in the projected digital images monochrome in the open section was Gail Iskov with “Coorong”. Paul said the image takes a good lead from the first pole right through to the horizon. He said the image hasn’t lost detail in the foreground or the background and keeps the viewers attention on the detail.

Also scoring well was Judy Sara’s “Trunk Splash” with the judge noting that the photographer had chosen to just include the trunk and legs and picked a special moment in time. The image has detail throughout and the background does not drag our attention away from the subject.

Moving to the Print section, in the colour set subject categotry, “Noiseworks” by Michael Selge scored top marks. The judge said that everything is beautifully sharp. The view can imagine they are hearing the song. There is good detail throughout and there is good separation of the background.

Also by Michael Selge, “Dubstep NZ” gained top marks. The judge said the subject was sharp and you could see the tattoos. The background’s nicely out of focus and the viewer gets the place and the story which is nicely told.

Mark Pedlar’s “Byron Bay Blues” told a good story, it has good background which contributes to the story giving us time and place, the performer is playing his guitar, he is laid back and casual.

“Courtney in the Moment” by Sheila Gatehouse had a very sharp image, we can see the drummer and the guitarist, we get place and good detail.

Also by Sheila Gatehouse, “Are you in my Tribe” scored well. Paul said you could see the personality of the performer.

Following the colour prints the monochrome prints were judged. Michael Selge’s “Chester” impressed the judge who said you got a sense of a raspy voice. The singer is certainly yelling into the microphone. A little detail may have been lost the overall moment was well captured.

“Concentration” by Paul Hughes told a good story. Between looking down, using a pick the musician is working hard to get the music across. Good storyline with reasonable detail throughout.

In the open category, monochrome prints, Judy Sara’s “Dust Bath” scored well. The image gave us the captured moment. He said Judy did exceptionally well to capture the moment and there was no lost detail.

The judge also liked Judy’s “Buffalo and Egret”. He said the interesting part of the photo was the fly buzzing around the head of the buffalo and the egret picking at bugs.

In the print open monochrome section there were a number of high scoring photos. Mark Pedlar’s “Dunedin Station scored well. (Image not supplied)

The “Cazneaux Tree” by Heather Connelly got top marks. The judge said it had wonderful detail on the tree, with good separation from the background.

The judge liked Judy Sara’s “Darter on Stump” . He said with the glaringly white background the attention is kept on the bird, it is almost high key and the contrast is done well.

Also by Judy Sara, “Watch Out” had great detail throughout and is lovely and sharp.