Silhouette – Competition 9th October 2025
An image using backlighting to present the main subject as a black shape against a much brighter background.
The following are the images that achieved the highest scores in the competition and the Judge’s comments.
In the projected colour set subject the top images were from Kerry Malec and Judy Sara.
The Judge loved the simplicity of this image and pointed out that it was well composed technically, with the vertical item intersecting the foreground, the mid ground and the background, tieing the whole image together.
Judy Sara’s ‘Elephants on the Move’ is an example of a perfect silhouette with the elephant and calf in motion.
Also by Judy Sara, ‘Running Along the Beach’ has good composition with interest in the foreground, mid ground and sky.
Meredith Retallack’s ‘Sunset Dreaming’ is also a good demonstration of a silhouette of the main subject with a beautiful sky. The lighting in the foreground makes the subject pop.
‘Sunset Dreaming’ by Vicki Kramer has captured the clouds as part of the silhouette and they pop against the bright sky. Plus it is a nice beach scene.
In the Silhouette set subject mono section Meredith Retallack’s ‘Leaving the Mount on Foot’ scored well. The image is defined well, the viewer can see the sunlight shining through the tower. The image has a fantastic sky and foreground interest with the reflection on the water, sand corrugations and the person giving mid ground interest.
In the open colour section, the top scorer was Sarah Bailey with “A Stroll in the Garden’. Sarah’s image was creative, and the contrast between the colours is very good.
In the open mono section Michael Selge’s ‘Victory’ is a great concert shot, the singer has been captured in an interesting pose and the lighting has been photographed well.
In the colour prints set subject category, Duart McLean scored the highest mark with ‘Palm Morning. This is a beautiful scene, with soft colouring and good gradation in the sky.
In the mono prints set subject category the highest scorer was Judy Sara for ‘Elephant on the run’. The Judge found this to be a fantastic image, the rim lighting shows the texture on the trunk and in the corrogations. The image is dynamic with action and movement.
Following the set subject categories are the open categories. In the colour prints Duart McLean’s image impressed the judge the most with ‘River Reflections’. This is a beautiful image, the lighting shows it was taken at the right time of day, it shows the texture on the cliffs and has lovely contrasts. The lines lead the viewer into the background. The ripples add interest to the photo as does the sky.
Lastly in the mono open category Judy Sara’s ‘Trees in the Storm’ is a superb image, with an interesting foreground and wonderful trees. Nice lighting shows the curve of the branches. It has a lovely background with the diagonal lines contrasting with the vertical lines on the ground.
Water – Competition 13th February 2025
This competition requires the photographer to capture the way in which water moves and the way it interacts with light, in either a natural setting or a controlled environment.
The Judge for this competition was Peter Phillips. Peter is a member of the Edwardstown Photographic Club, and has been a judge for 20 years.
The following are the top images from the competition and the Judge’s comments.
Projected Colour Set Subject
Hazel Marshall’s image ‘Wave Meets Rocks’ used a fast shutter speed capturing the action of the wave.
‘Reflective Water’ by Michael Selge caught the sunrise. The seagull draws the viewer’s attention and the image has nice colours. Michael got low to capture this shot.
Sarah Bailey’s ‘Liquid Twilight’ was very nicely caught, with intentional camera movement giving a beautiful result.
‘Drip Drop’ also by Michael Selge was not an easy subject to capture, but was handled very well.
‘Old Port, Honfleur’ by Meredith Retallack has a nice reflection and good light, especially the light on the building. The colours pop.
‘Ripples’ was taken by Hazel Marshall. A simple composition that shows the ripples on the water well.
‘Wall of Water’ taken by Vicki Kramer has captured amazingly green water.
Sarah Bailey’s ‘Water’s Whispers’ has a beautiful soft look.
Projected Monochrome Set Subject
Judy Sara’s ‘Curves and Horizontals’ is well handled, the whites are not blown out and has good composition.
Meredith Retallack’s ‘Profusion of Pearls’ shows the light reflections very well with good composition.
The following two images were taken by Judy Sara. The first ‘Ripples in the Waves’ has nice composition. The ripples with the reflections and the pattern is what makes this photo.
The second, ‘Drinking’ shows an elephant from a different perspective.
Projected Colour Open Category
The Judge said ‘Love is in the Air’ by Sheila Gatehouse was well spotted, a quirky photo.
‘Clematis’ by Susan Bell has been nicely taken, with good depth of field, with a good out of focus background.
‘Illuminated Cactus’ by Gordon Lindquist is an interesting photo, creative and well thought through and taken.
‘Lumpy Bits’ is difficult to determine what the photo is of, but has an abstract feel, it keeps you guessing.
Projected Monochrome Open Category
‘Meredith Retallack’s ‘Arches, Toulouse’ has a good aspect to the arches with people walking through at exactly the right moment.
‘Heilung’ by Michael Selge has difficult lighting for photography, the man with his arm out and open mouth steals the show. It is a powerful shot.
Heather Connolly’s ‘Inneston Weeds’ is a very simple, with good composition and good detail. The plants stand out and are nicely isolated.
‘Hammerfall’ by Michael Selge is a good stage shot.
Rod Patterson’s ‘Mannum Falls’ is nicely exposed. Good black and white tones.
Michael Selge’s ‘Sphere’ shows a lovely piece of sculpture.
Prints Colour Set Category
‘Autumn Reflections’ by Judy Sara used gold and blue which are great complementary colours. The image has a wow factor with the reflections showing the subtle movement of water.
Also by Judy Sara ‘Bow Waves’ shows the light on the crest of the waves.
Mono Prints Set Category
‘Into the Deep’ by Vicki Kramer shows the movement of water, you can see the air bubbles. It is a creative shot.
Judy Sara’s ‘Waves and Reflections’ is a nice shot.
Colour Prints Open Category
Michael Selge’s ‘Calistemon Snack’ is beautifully sharp with great feather detail. The bottle brush is sharp and the photo is well composed.
Judy Sara’s ‘Lilac Breasted Roller with Lizard has been presented in a minimalistic manner.
Mono Prints Open Category
Judy Sara’s ‘Coming Down the Path’ is lovely and sharp, the dark background isolates the animal beautifully. Well presented.
‘Dune Rat’ by Michael Selge has been excellently handled, especially with the difficult lighting. Lovely light on the face, with his wide open eyes. The drums in the background don’t intrude.
Vicki Kramer’s Memorial Reflections’ creates impact where the photo is brightest, the ripple effect shows the reflection well.
An Unusual Experience – Competition February 29th 2024
This month’s Judge was photographer Alan Bevan. Alan is also President of his local photography club. Alan gave good advice on both the open and set subjects. When judging a photo Alan looks for impact, composition, quality and narrative. Alan particularly noted the placement of elements within the images, looking for good borders and ensuring room was left around the image elements to allow them to stand out and for the viewer to be able to sense where the movement takes place and where the subject will move to next. When judging bird photos, Alan looks for the impact and narrative of bird behaviour rather than a static bird.
The image “Today’s Weather” by David Hancock was awarded high marks by the Judge in the Colour Set Subject as he said it was well composed with nice separation between the clouds and the border, has good colours and was shot at a good time of day, giving the image impact.
In the Mono Set Subject “Leap Year” by Kerry Malec was technically well done and showed creativity.
Taking out top honours in the Colour Open section Sam Savage’s image “Breakfast at Waitpinga” has strong impact. The Judge said it was was a great capture and had excellent timing. The image is almost humorous as the young bird is leaning so far back. As the viewer, you can almost hear the noise. The background is nicely out of focus and the image has good tonal range.
The image “Success” by Heather Connelly was also deemed a very good image by the Judge, there is nice separation between the main bird subject and the birds below. Alan said it was a well composed and captured image with the other birds being slightly out of focus.
Also achieving a high score in this section was “Lotus Beauty” by Di Gage. The Judge said there was sharpness across the image with good framing and beautiful detail in the middle and the viewer could see enough of the bee. The highlights were handled well with attractive soft lighting.
“Attitude” by Michael Selge in the Mono Open Section had a strong subject, the singer’s stance was dramatic and had high impact. The explosion of light in the smoke created drama with great framing of the subject.
Taking top honours in the Mono section was “Sharing” from Sam Savage. The Judge described it as a fabulous shot, beautifully composed with high impact.
In the Print Open Colour Section Di Gage’s “A Look Inside” (Image not supplied), was captured in a pleasing way, a flower being shot from above. In the Mono Prints Open Section Michael Selge’s “Chester” was a strong image with impact, a huge amount of energy and good tonal range.
And Michael’s “Dance” also had impact on the viewer, with beautiful light and a sharp image.
Finally in the Set Subject Colour Print section Michael’s “Boom” was an interesting capture, a great image, the explosion has impact and it is an extraordinarily unusual image of the woman.
Mark Pedlar’s “Fixing Christchurch” had a lot to like, an image of a mural with a face looking alarmed appropriate for a building being demolished nearby.
Blackwood Photographic Club of South Australia Inc. 