What a Load of Rubbish! – Competition April 8th 2021
Thursday was a rubbish night with our Set Subject being Rubbish/Trash. Being just after Easter it was in danger of being all over very quickly with very few entries but we rallied and had just enough to make a competition. (Yes, we’ve learned a lesson – no comp just after Easter!) Few members were willing to commit to printing their Rubbish photos, with only six prints in Set Subject, while 23 were in Open.
The challenge was to “capture the subject artistically”, which proved difficult for some. The only photograph which convinced judge David Rowlands that it had done so was Jenny Pedlar’s Elsehul Wilderness.
Jenny Pedlar – Elsehul Wilderness
Some others seemed to achieve the goal to a lesser degree.
In Open subject Jenny and Mark Pedlar impressed with Sea Ice, Drive Safe and Survival! along with Vicki Kramer’s The Orphan and Helen Whitford’s MY Grevillea!
In projected images these were also of interest.
For Top Prints and Top Projected Images from this and other 2021 competitions click the links.
A Surreal Evening – Competition March 11th 2021
Our Surreal competition was a challenge to everyone – entrants, viewing members and the judge! Members came up with a wide variety of interpretations of this set subject which stretched our imagination. Here is a selection of the more creative entries.
Judge, Tim Newberry, seemed to get caught up in the “dream” part of our definition “Surreal – Seeming like a dream or Fantasy” but he appreciated the creativity in images, as long as they didn’t include a cat!
It was great to see the top scores spread around a bit, including to new members. View Top Prints and Top PDIs here.
Landscape/Seascape Competition February 11th 2021
“If at first you don’t succeed, read the instructions.”
This was a “meme” before anyone had heard of memes and I have to admit it popped into my head a number of times during preparation for this competition. I don’t usually do these write-ups from a personal perspective but I feel the need this time as so many of the members who entered had issues with their entries – “out of category”, too big, incorrect file names, titles provided not matching title on print/file, category not nominated etc., almost all of which could have been avoided by carefully reading the subject definition and the entry instructions.
At the risk of sounding like a teacher, I do ask that everyone please take care to avoid these mistakes because each one of them makes the task of putting the competition together take that bit longer. Gordon and I are very happy to manage the competitions but it is frustrating when it takes twice as long as it should. OK, whinge over. Thanks for “listening” – Helen
Now to the competition! We had a good number of entries, with 82 photographs from 14 different members, and the entries in the Set Subject of Landscape/Seascape well outnumbered the Open category.
Despite photographing a spot which is becoming an iconic location, James Allan made an impact with From the Clifftop. Jenny Pedlar’s daring Impressionist Hay Plains did impress judge Keith Seidel, who was in his element judging Landscapes, and Helen Whitford’s panoramic Parachilna also caught his eye.
(Click on any image to see it at full size.)
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- James Allan – From the Clifftop
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- Jenny Pedlar – Impressionist Hay Plains
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- Helen Whitford – Parachilna
In the Print sections, Vicki Kramer’s El Capitan’s Fluffy Hat, Mark Pedlar’s 69 Degrees South, James Allan’s Remarkable and Judy Sara’s At Horizontal Falls were the most successful entries in Set Subject. (Photos coming soon!)
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- James Allan – Remarkable
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- Judy Sara – At Horizontal Falls
In Open category Keith commended Vicki Kramer on “breaking with convention” in baby photography with Baby Liam and he admired the simplicity of Judy Sara’s The Curl.
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- Vicki Kramer – Baby Liam
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- Judy Sara – The Curl
Keith gave thoughtful, constructive comments and offered useful tips on ways to improve technical aspects of the photographs. It was a great start to our competitions for the year!
For more Top Prints come back in a few days for an update. Top Projected Images are available for viewing now.
Character Study – Competition October 22nd 2020
The Set Subject of Character Study was embraced by the 12 members who entered, with about 60% of entries in the category. The inclusion of Animals in the definition surprised judge, Geoff Smith, but he embraced the concept, appreciating that animals can indeed display character in their expressions and actions.
Geoff was impressed with Huli Wigman by Judy Sara and Helen Whitford’s Quizzical.
In Open category he liked new member Frances Allan’s In the Moment and Heather Connolly’s Painted Lady.
Rounding out the high scores were James Allan’s Climbing Boy, Duart McLean’s Linked Pair, Paul Hughes Love at First Sight and Judy Sara’s Elle.
As an Editor’s Choice I select Frances Allan’s Playing with Light, which I saw as a beautiful serene scene, although it perhaps didn’t display as well on the large screen as on a computer.
Frances Allan_Playing with Light
That’s it for regular competitions in this unusual COVID year! All that’s left is the Annual Exhibition and I would encourage EVERY MEMBER to ENTER! Even if you don’t feel “competitive” this is your opportunity to share your work and and have it seen in a public space! We anticipate showing a slideshow of images in a public display after the Annual Exhibition and Awards night and all images will be displayed on this website. Why not join in and perhaps put yourself in the running for one of the special 2020 trophies for Portrait and Nature images! Entries are due by 7pm Monday November 2nd.
Here is a slideshow of ALL of the images in this competition and you can look back over the best images throughout the year here.
Product Photography – Competition September 24th
We had fewer images than usual but a small, enthusiastic audience enjoyed those that were on show with our judge, Susie Lipert, providing thoughtful comments.
The Set Subject, Product Photography, may have been a little daunting for some members – perhaps part of the reason for the low number of entries – and in fact the most common criticism from the judge was the lack of contextual detail in the images to help “sell” the product.
The most “advert-like” images were probably Judy Sara’s Bluetooth Earphones and Helen Whitford’s DeLonghi….for Living. Meredith Retallack’s Bake your Own made quite a strong Product image though it could have benefitted from contextual elements.
Although perhaps not seen as a strong Product image Susie was intrigued and impressed by Vicki Kramer’s The Handbag – an interesting and quirky composition.
Vicki Kramer_The Handbag
The Open section entries were quite varied in subject matter but it was a couple of nature shots which most impressed Susie.
All of the images from this competition appear below and the Top Images from all of the 2020 competitions can be found here.
We have one regular competition remaining, “Character Study” October 22nd, before our Annual Exhibition competition which will be judged off-site on November 7th.
Like everything else the Annual will be different this year with a digital-only competition. Members will be able to enter up to 6 Colour images and 6 Monochrome images. Within these 12 images members can nominate any number to be in contention for the WEA Australian Landscape, Portrait or Nature trophies. Colour, Monochrome, Nature and Portrait winners will receive a one-off individual award while the WEA Australian Landscape trophy is a perpetual shield. The other perpetual competition shields will not be awarded for 2020 as those competitions were cancelled.
So start preparinging your entries and take a chance on bringing home one of these unique COVID year awards!
Details of the competition and Entry Forms will be emailed to all members soon.
Wind Powered – Competition August 13th
A competition with a difference! As our scheduled judge was reluctant to meet online we took the opportunity to try community judging on Thursday night. James and Duart found a way to make it work and although only a dozen members joined in it was an interesting and empowering exercise for all.
Entry numbers were down but interestingly monochrome images were up, particularly in the Open section. All of the entries were available for preview on our members’ Facebook forum and indeed are still available fpr view and comment.
James Allan’s Southern Cross in Action was acclaimed as the image which best captured the power of the wind with real impact and Judy Sara’s The Old and the New made the biggest impression in Monochrome Set Subject. There were quite a few windmill shots!
In Open, Helen Whitford’s Feather and David Hancock’s Happy Wash appealed to the majority of member judges.
It was an interesting experience having everyone participate in picking the best images and listening to the reasons why certain images held appeal for different people. It was generally agreed that the results were probably similar to what they would have been with a single, experienced judge.
Here are all of the images.
The Top Images can be found here and members can visit our Facebook Forum to see what others had to say and to add your own comments.
Letters and Numbers – July 16th Competition
No, not the TV Show (although I did consider taking a photo of my galah watching the show on the TV.) The Set Subject was quite well subscribed, providing more than half of the entries.
There was a variety of interpretations including a couple of obscure entries from James Allan and Helen Whitford. (When collating the images I googled Ascii 1 to check that it was what I thought it was!) Our judge, Robert Dettman, was impressed with both the creativity and technical skill in Splash of Lemon. I knew I was taking a risk with an image about numbers which actually showed no numbers!
Sheila Gatehouse impressed with Welcoming and Heart of the Festival State.
Although our numbers were down a little, both in terms of images and participants in the meeting, it was a great night. Robert gave thoughtful comments on every image and we thank him for his efforts!
Below are all of the entries and the Top images can be found here.
The Colour Black – Competition June 4th 2020
This was our second online competition, this time using Zoom which was well-accepted by all participants. Our judge, Peter Barrien from Adelaide Camera Club, was very comfortable with the format and gave serious consideration to, and thoughtful comments on, every image. There were 63 images, evenly divided between Set Subject – The Colour Black – and Open. While it was apparent that there was some variation in interpretation of the definition it was good to see the range of styles.
In Set Subject Peter was most impressed by James’ Bella and Suzie’s Reynisfjaara.
In Open the following images gained a 10. James Allan’s Sheep made a real impression on Facebook with several comments about the sheep appearing powerful or menacing – unusual attributes for sheep.
Meredith’s Drought -stricken took the judge by surprise but was very popular in post competition discussion. I’ve never seen sand look so much like trees!
Meredith Retallack-Drought Stricken
And my Editor’s Choice is this beautiful Pink Robin (who knew they existed?) by Suzie Smith. The wispy moss complements the exquisite little bird and the knotty bough balances him perfectly.
Suzie Smith_Pink Robin
Below is a gallery of all of the images entered.
All of the Top Images can be found here.
For those still sitting around with time on your hands you may be interested to view the galleries of Top Images from recent years
It was great to see a good number of members entering this month’s competition and good to know that going online has not dampened our enthusiasm! Our next competition is Letters and Numbers so it’s time to start thinking outside the box and looking at things around us in an innovative way! Keep enjoying your photography whether you’re home or starting to venture out and about!
Social Documentary Competition April 23rd 2020
Well this is our first competition amid COVID 19 restrictions but I’m pleased to say that we had around the same number of entrants as in the previous two competitions!
Our competition structure has been completely revised as we obviously cannot hold a print section. Aggregates for the normal sections have been abandoned and tonight we begin special new aggregates for 2020 only. Members can now enter three colour images and three Monochrome images, spread across Set Subject and Open in the usual way.
The Set Subject is Social Documentary, defined for this competition as “A Social Documentary Image can be described as one that captures the brutal reality of life around us. Closely aligned to Street Photography, SD is more ‘edgy’ or ‘gritty’, generally showing pathos. See how you interpret this subject.”
Below are all entries in the order of judging.
Heartfelt thanks to David CG Smith who has kindly learned new technology and got out of his comfort zone to try live judging on Facebook for us! Your efforts are really appreciated David! Unfortunately technology got the better of us and David was unable to judge live but he was able to give scores and write comments which Helen was able to read out live so we were half way there!
There was a pretty good turn out to watch the live feed. For any members who are in the Facebook forum group you can still watch the video and see and comment on all of the images. It would be good to see more comments on images, just as you might have done after a live judging in the hall!
Congratulations to everyone who entered for being part of this brave new world! Well done to those who received top scores!
All of the Top Images can be found here.
Multiple Exposure – Competition March 12th
Following our inspiring and educational workshop on Multiple Exposure (thank you James, Judy and Ray) it was great to see the number of members venturing into this creative genre and exciting to see the variety of applications and techniques employed. Although many of us had felt challenged by the idea of creating Multiple Exposure images, Set Subject entries significantly outnumbered Open category images and two thirds of entries were prints! This trend sets BPC apart from many other clubs where prints are giving way to PDI’s (Projected Digital Images).
Here are some of the different interpretations of the subject.
Our judge, Keith Seidel, shared many useful tips and suggestions, carefully explaining the reasons for the scores he gave. He appreciated storytelling, good composition and creativity when well executed. The most common flaws he noted were distracting elements such as bright patches or lines leading the eye away from the subject or out of the frame. It was encouraging to see the awards were spread among 10 of the 17 members who entered the competition.
Come back in a few days to see more of the Top Prints and you can find the Top PDI’s here.
Transport – Competition January 30th 2020
We were transported to a new era with some relatively new members flashing past the old guard in our Transport competition. With 100 entries we made a great start to the year and I’m pleased to see that we are one club in which Prints are thriving, comprising 60% of entries in this competition.
Judy Sara was not outdone, with many stunning images among the tops including Air Warfare, Turning and Duke of Edinburgh. Paul Hughes, Wayne Carruthers and Vicki Kramer also impressed with Ready to Go, Tucker’s Schooner and Vibrant Vespa.
Di Gage made a cruise liner look small in Dwarfed, James Allan captured the splendour of a day on the water with Kayak, Eric Budworth made the mundane spectacular in Any Seat and Suzie Smith captured beautiful symmetry and detail in Moskova.
Our judge, David Rowlands, gave carefully considered comments on all images, providing many hints and tips along the way. Thanks David!
Bruce Nankivell demonstrated his talent for beautiful landscapes in the Open section of PDIs with Out There and Open Spaces.
Come back in a few days for more Top Prints! And find all of the Top Projected Images here.
BPC 36th Annual Exhibition 2019 – November 21st
The BPC Annual Exhibition and awards night was opened by Hon. Sam Duluk, our local MP.
Club President Julie Goulter with Sam Duluk MP
The Annual Exhibition entries were judged by Peter Maystrenko AFIAP FAPS, Tim Newbery AFIAP AAPS Hon EFIAP Hon FAPS and Brenda Rocklyn ESFIAP.
The Bill Templer Award for service to the club was awarded to Judy Sara who has given her time as Secretary – always a demanding role – and in collating the 2020 Calendar along with Di Gage and Bruce Nankivell.
Judy Sara receives the Bill Templer service Award
Other Awards were as follows.
ANNUAL EXHIBITION
Projected Images
1st – Hutt Street Photos Award – Helen Whitford Oyster Catcher Treasure Hunt
2nd – Helen Whitford Preening Tern
3rd – James Allan Breakaways
Merits
– Kerry Malec Angle of the Sun
– Suzie Smith Insignificant
WEA Australiana Landscape Award – James Allan Breakaways
Monochrome Print Division
1st – I’ve Been Framed Award – Helen Whitford Red Throat
2nd – Helen Whitford Curious Macaque
3rd – Duart McLean Iceberg Swirls
Merits
– James Allan Redbanks
– Paul Hughes Snowstorm at Snowshill, Gloucestershire
– Judy Sara Gelada
Colour Print Division
1st – Fotoswift Award – Helen Whitford Wipe your Beak
2nd – Helen Whitford Got any more Mum?
3rd – Judy Sara Caught You!
Merits
– James Allan Reed Warbler
– Glenn Langley Scoop
– Helen Whitford Que?
Album Print Division
1st – Edge Malpas Award – Helen Whitford Greet the Morning
2nd – Di Gage Picking Flowers
3rd – Helen Whitford Hey Baby!
ANNUAL AGGREGATES
A sample of 2019 work from each place winner is shown.
Projected Images
1st – Photographic Wholesalers Award – James Allan
2nd – Judy Sara
3rd – Helen Whitford
Projected Images – Novice
1st – Glenn Langley
2nd – Trent Riddle
Monochrome Print Division
1st – Blackwood Times Award – James Allan
2nd – Mark Pedlar
3rd – Judy Sara
Colour Print Division
1st – Blackwood Photographic Club Award – Helen Whitford
2nd – James Allan
3rd – Jenny Pedlar and Judy Sara
Album Print Division
1st – JV Spick Award – James Allan
2nd – Bev Langley
3rd – Gordon Lindqvist
Thank you to all club members who entered regular competitions and the Annual Exhibition. By entering you challenge and inspire one another and everyone wins by gaining experience and insight into how others see our work. Congratulations to all award winners!
Click these links to view all Top Prints and Top Projected Digital Images from all competitions in 2019.
A video slideshow of all of the Projected Digital Image entries in the Annual Exhibition 2019 can be found here.
Making Connections – Competition October 24th 2019
Our competition on Thursday was all about Connections and the Set Subject was embraced by entrants, accounting for 60% of entries.
Several new members entered successfully with images among the top scores – well done Paul Hughes and Vicki Kramer!
Our judge, Robert Dettman, deliberated over every image, making a genuine effort to see the image from the photographer’s perspective and trying to understand the story they were attempting to convey. He seemed to like our work, leaning toward high end scores, but also carefully explaining how he felt images could be improved, particularly in technical aspects and composition.
The type of connections ranged from strong emotional images involving people and/or animals to physical/mechanical connections such as chains, links, locks, machinery and Huw Rosser’s clever image Connection, Old and New which combined the physical, invisible and metaphorical and clearly took a lot of thought to create.
In the Open category James cleaned up with a record average score of 9.58 across a full set of 12 entries! (Yes, all 10’s or 9’s!) His images demonstrate remarkable versatility and creativity.
Come back in a few days for an update on this post, with more great images and to check out all of our Top Prints and Top Projected Images.
Adding a Touch of Colour to Life! – Competition September 26th 2019
The notion of Spot Colour was embraced by members, with more than half of entries falling in this category, excluding mono of course which was excluded from the Set Subject. (That didn’t stop James from entering an all-red image and a suggestion of yellow in mono.)
There was a great variety of interpretations and applications of Spot Colour, ranging from a minor single element to quite a large amount of selected colour in some scenes. It was clear that a lot of thought went into all of the images which were selected for this subject and the results were impressive.
Meredith used architectural detail to create interest, complemented by a bright but worn-looking sign. Mark drew attention to the beautiful light falling through the window on apples with his touch of colour and Helen brought attention to a lion’s very effective grooming tool.
Suzie kept quite a bit of colour to draw attention to the river in an otherwise blue image of Paris, Di made us really look at the bumblebee and Kerry used pattern effectively to show a rainbow bow tie in a pile of CDs.
Judge, Susie Lipert, made thoughtful comments, giving time to each image, and gave lots of useful suggestions although she may be more fond of a tight crop than many of our members. Thank you Susie!
We had a very strong contingent of nature and animal images again and in the Open category it was great to see Kim Brumfield’s Luv U Mum and Gordon Lindqvist’s Open Wide and Just Resting among the top scorers.
Want more? Go to Top Prints. The Top Projected Digital Images can be found here.
Our next competition is “Connections.” Tune in again after October 24th.
Lit from Behind – Competition August 1st 2019
We had a great turnout of both members and images on Thursday for our Lit from Behind competition, with roughly equal numbers of photos in our Set Subject and Open categories. It was great to see that Prints were strong, making up over 2/3 of entries.
Relatively new entrant Suzie Smith produced a beautiful study of light through trees with Misty Sunrise in McLaren Vale. Helen Whitford confused the judge, Geoff Smith, with Stuck Down but he liked it anyway. (Yes, it is a piece of down and it’s stuck.) Meredith Retallack’s Sailor’s Delight was the best received of the sunset images with lovely golden ripples in a panoramic format.
James Allan’s Cocky Alarm was a delightful study in light and birds, Di Gage’s Italian Chapel was a beautiful composition and Suzie Smith’s Umbrellas of Carcassonne was impressive.
In the Open section Meredith Retallack’s Leave Nothing but Footprints, Judy Sara’s Echidna, Helen Whitford’s Wipe Your Beak and James Allan’s Mateship were among the top scorers.
It was great to see entries from 17 of our members in this competition, with a wide range of subject matter and styles.
For fuller coverage of the night come back in a few days to check out more of the images and visit the Top Prints and Top Projected Images pages.
Earth, Wind, Fire & Water – Competition May 9th
Well we kinda sorta had a competition! As our scheduled judge had unfortunately fallen by the wayside our Vice President, Mark Pedlar, withdrew his images and stood in to give commentary and scores but, in fairness to all, the competition was voided and will not be included in Aggregate scores.
Members again supported the set subject well, with around half of entries each in Set and Open categories.
Judy Sara captured earth and fire in her excellent composition of Mining Sulphur. Meredith Retallack captured reflections in Still Water and Bev Langley caught the fire in the sky and the rage of the water in Tempest.
Heather Connolly captured earth and water in her simplistic Receding Sea, Helen Whitford caught a watery illusion with Running Man and Bev Langley’s Sunset caught the foamy waves on the sand nicely.