Birds and animals will be the main feature for this competition. This subject is not reliant on the ‘Nature’ definition, so ‘the hand of man’ can be present.
The following are the comments from Judge Geraldine Hough.
In the Print Colour section Judy Sara’s ‘What did I Tell You?’ tells a lovely story, the left hand animal has his eyes closed and is not listening to the other. Geraldine said it is a beautiful image, well taken with good catchlights in the eyes.
Judy Sara – What Did I Tell You!
In the Print Colour Open section, two images scored equally.
Michael Selge’s ‘Bruges” is a lovely photo showing very distinctive architect. Michael has captured beautiful reflections.
Michael Selge – Bruges
‘Wentworth Punt’ from Duart McLean has demonstrated a particular effect, almost like a water colour. It was well seen, with soft colours.
Duart McLean – Wentworth Punt
In the Print Monochrome Set category, ‘Just Fledged’ by Helen Whitford is a stunning image. The detail is in the mouth. The image is sharp from front to back, with beautifully clear wing feathers. The photo was taken from a great angle.
Helen Whitford – Just Fledged
Also from Helen, ‘Where’s Mum’ is a lovely shot. It is clear that the bird is upset and is waiting for food. There is nice clear detail in both face and open mouth, you can even see inside his mouth. There is good detail in the eye with good catchlights.
Helen Whitford – Where’s Mum
The next category, Print Monochrome Open, had one top scorer. Michael Selge submitted ‘Columns and Lights’. The Judge could not see anything that could improve this image.
Michael Selge – Columns and Lights
There were five top scorers in the Projected Colour Set category.
‘Hands off my Dinner’ by Susan Bell is a beautifully taken photo, with a lovely head and eye detail. The inclusion of the fish is nice.
Susan Bell – Hands Off My Dinner
‘I Remember’ by Michael Selge has captured a lovely expression in the Orangutan’s eyes. The detail aroud all the edges of the fur is very clear in spite of the blurred background. The animal has a half smile. It is a really nice portrait shot.
Michael Selge – I Remember
Paul Rix captured ‘Four Tawnies’. It is a very nicely taken shot. The angles of all the heads is very good with the closest bird looking up and each bird then having a slightly different angled head and all the tails in a row adds great interest to the photo.
Paul Rix – Four Tawnies
‘Searching’ captured by Michael Selge is a lovely minimalist photo. The detail under the bird is very clear as well as the eye. It is a difficult shot.
Michael Selge – Searching
Kerry Malec has presented ‘Pied Butcherbird’ as a triptych. It has a nice aspect with the birds all looking different ways.
Kerry Malec – Pied Butcherbird
Moving on to Projected Colour Open section, ‘Remarkable Rocks’ by Susan Bell was the only top scorer. Geraldine said that the light did Susan a great favour, giving dramatic shadows. The sky is also pretty and adds to the photo.
Susan Bell – Remarkable Rocks
‘Sylvaine’ and ‘Grace’ were both the top scorers in the Projected Monochrome Open section, both by Michael Selge. Of Sylvaine, Geraldine said it was a well taken concert shot. The light on the face is beautiful as well as the detail on the guitar area. The face and expression is lovely. The Mic is needed in the shot as it is part of the story.
Michael Selge – Sylvaine
Grace has a nice expression. The Great detail in the clothes is interesting. The eyes are soulful and the photo has more impact in monochrome than it would have had in colour.
Michael Selge – Grace
The final category, Projected Monochrome Set Subject had two good scorers.
Judy Sara – Leopard
‘Leopard’ by Judy Sara is a lovely shot, and so lucky for Judy to see it in it’s own environment. The leopard has lovely eyes and detail on the body.
Kerry Malec – Tasmanian Devil
This is a nice little Devil. Tasmanian Devils don’t have a very interesting colour, so it works well in monochrome. Background is a bit bright, but as the Devil is black he still has good definition. The Devil has beautiful expression on it’s face and good catchlights in the eyes.
We had 130+ entries – including one from new member Alex Zapcev, and a number from those attending the photographic course being run by Ray Goulter & James Allan. Well done folks – and welcome to the club! We also had a few extra attendees to see how it all worked- some signing up on the night.
The images ranged from simple observation to social commentary and everything in between.
A sad story - Theo Prucha
Helter skelter passed luxury - Chris Schultz
Full credit must go to our judge – Don Brooks from Eastern Suburbs Camera Club who worked hard through many images to tell us what was good and what was not quite there. Don told a few of us afterwards that the set section colour prints were all of a very high standard, and it was difficult to pick the best. Many thanks for your constructive words.
The colour prints resulted in three 10s (James Allen, Eric Budworth and myself), and John Vidgeon again produced a stunner in the open colour with his image of a boat travelling across the water.
The mono prints had some interesting shots, with a 10 from Gary Secombe of a tree against the sky in the open section.
Slides are not dead – they live on tenaciously as Arthur Farmer and Ursula provided us with some more brilliant images – including some great portraits in the open section. As one of the few clubs left in the state with a film slide section, we’ll need to see if we can scan them in and show them to the rest of the world at some stage…… 💡
The digital section produced some more suberb images, with Ursula Prucha’s Sharing and Eric Budworth’s The Waiting Game each scoring a 10 in the Set subject. Eric also scored a 10 with Christies Creek at Dawn along with Matt Carr’s Crab spider and meal. Matt uses image stacking to produce stunning depth of field (have a read of this Wikipedia article – it has links to some free software). Matt is becoming a master of this – and hopefully he’ll run a workshop on it – or write a piece here 8) . And our newest member Alex Zapcev put in an entry in the set subject and scored 7 – well done!
Gary Secombe - Hanging Around
So another night over. Check out the gallery of digital 10’s and give us your thoughts.
By the way – we have added some extra images in there – call it Editors Choice – the ones that the web masters think deserved a mention (perk of the job :lol:).
Finally – please visit the Mitcham Council Chambers foyer to view our exhibition if you get a chance – it runs until 29-Nov-2010 on weekdays from 9am to 5pm.
See you all at the Annual Exhibition Judging on 4-Nov-2010
Blackwood Photographic Club of South Australia Inc. 
Birds and Animals – Competition 9th April 2026
Birds and animals will be the main feature for this competition. This subject is not reliant on the ‘Nature’ definition, so ‘the hand of man’ can be present.
The following are the comments from Judge Geraldine Hough.
In the Print Colour section Judy Sara’s ‘What did I Tell You?’ tells a lovely story, the left hand animal has his eyes closed and is not listening to the other. Geraldine said it is a beautiful image, well taken with good catchlights in the eyes.
In the Print Colour Open section, two images scored equally.
Michael Selge’s ‘Bruges” is a lovely photo showing very distinctive architect. Michael has captured beautiful reflections.
‘Wentworth Punt’ from Duart McLean has demonstrated a particular effect, almost like a water colour. It was well seen, with soft colours.
In the Print Monochrome Set category, ‘Just Fledged’ by Helen Whitford is a stunning image. The detail is in the mouth. The image is sharp from front to back, with beautifully clear wing feathers. The photo was taken from a great angle.
Also from Helen, ‘Where’s Mum’ is a lovely shot. It is clear that the bird is upset and is waiting for food. There is nice clear detail in both face and open mouth, you can even see inside his mouth. There is good detail in the eye with good catchlights.
The next category, Print Monochrome Open, had one top scorer. Michael Selge submitted ‘Columns and Lights’. The Judge could not see anything that could improve this image.
There were five top scorers in the Projected Colour Set category.
‘Hands off my Dinner’ by Susan Bell is a beautifully taken photo, with a lovely head and eye detail. The inclusion of the fish is nice.
‘I Remember’ by Michael Selge has captured a lovely expression in the Orangutan’s eyes. The detail aroud all the edges of the fur is very clear in spite of the blurred background. The animal has a half smile. It is a really nice portrait shot.
Paul Rix captured ‘Four Tawnies’. It is a very nicely taken shot. The angles of all the heads is very good with the closest bird looking up and each bird then having a slightly different angled head and all the tails in a row adds great interest to the photo.
‘Searching’ captured by Michael Selge is a lovely minimalist photo. The detail under the bird is very clear as well as the eye. It is a difficult shot.
Kerry Malec has presented ‘Pied Butcherbird’ as a triptych. It has a nice aspect with the birds all looking different ways.
Moving on to Projected Colour Open section, ‘Remarkable Rocks’ by Susan Bell was the only top scorer. Geraldine said that the light did Susan a great favour, giving dramatic shadows. The sky is also pretty and adds to the photo.
‘Sylvaine’ and ‘Grace’ were both the top scorers in the Projected Monochrome Open section, both by Michael Selge. Of Sylvaine, Geraldine said it was a well taken concert shot. The light on the face is beautiful as well as the detail on the guitar area. The face and expression is lovely. The Mic is needed in the shot as it is part of the story.
Grace has a nice expression. The Great detail in the clothes is interesting. The eyes are soulful and the photo has more impact in monochrome than it would have had in colour.
The final category, Projected Monochrome Set Subject had two good scorers.
‘Leopard’ by Judy Sara is a lovely shot, and so lucky for Judy to see it in it’s own environment. The leopard has lovely eyes and detail on the body.
This is a nice little Devil. Tasmanian Devils don’t have a very interesting colour, so it works well in monochrome. Background is a bit bright, but as the Devil is black he still has good definition. The Devil has beautiful expression on it’s face and good catchlights in the eyes.
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13/04/2026 | Categories: Blackwood Photography Club News | Tags: Competition comments, nature, Photography, Photography Clubs | Leave a comment