JULY 2008 - MID SUMMERS MADNESS

PHOTO COMPETITION LAST MONTH ENTRIES

Photo A Photo B

IMPORTANT :- When entering your vote, it is really important to look at ALL aspects of the Photo including photo quality, composition and subject matter criteria. We really appreciate your votes. Thank you for your vote.

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JUNE 2008 - A MAN'S BEST FRIEND

__________A - Ian______________B - Nigel (Winner)

_____C - Tony___________D - James

JUNE WINNER -NIGEL

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Public Vote Result:-

IAN 32% - JAMES 32% - NIGEL 21% - TONY 15%

(Total Votes 32 )

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Independent Judge's Comments

" I liked

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MAY 2008 - MOVING BODIES

___________A - Mike______________B - Nigel (Winner)

________________________C - James
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MAY WINNER -NIGEL

Public Vote Result:-
MIKE 35% - NIGEL 35% - JAMES 30%
(Total Votes 42 )

Independent Judge's Comments
" I liked the cyclists, the photo was in focus but the bathing huts rather stole the scene. If the photo had been cropped it would have been much better although the huts were great. The cyclists were a little static andrather lost in the photo. I know they were moving but there was no feeling of movement. The horse race showed lots of movement, good. However, the photo was way out of focus, difficult in the circumstances, I know. The winner was definately the solo horseback rider, a good action photo, well composed and in focus. I felt that this photo was a really clear winner, no problems for me this month !" said Ruth

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APRIL 2008 - TECHNOLOGY

___A - Mike (Winner)______________B - Tony

_________C - Ian___________________D - James
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_________E - Nigel___________________F - Alan


APRIL WINNER -MIKE

Public Vote Result:-
TONY 37% - IAN 20% - MIKE 20% - JAMES 7% - ALAN 6% - NIGEL 5%
(Total Votes 75 )

(photo "F" was received late and therefore was not seen by the Independent Judge)

Independent Judge's Comments
"Another really intersting group of photos."

In the order of E to A, just to be different:

E: I liked the photo but it should have been cropped in my opnion to remove the edge yellow sticker. The central one acts as a good focal point but the repetition at the side distracts the eye.

D:The fish and mobile phone a clever idea and expresses the brief perfectly. However, the colour of the hand was sufficiently "off" for me to be distracted by it when the focal point should have been the phone.

C: I found this very difficult to interpret as I didn't recognise what it was and the very dark colouring made detail difficult.

B: Although this was a good photo it didn't completely fulfil the brief for me. It is obviously technological in derivation but I spent too much time asking "what is it?", a good second but not the winner.

A: The winner! Good sharp focus, fulfils the brief and I am sure the manufacturer would be pleased to use it in their brochure. As you can see I liked it!

As always these are my choices and I am trying this month to explain what I feel when I see them, someone else would have different ideas I expect.

Thank you for letting me share them again, I always look forward to them coming!

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MARCH 2008 - BLACK & WHITE

_________A - James____________________B - Ian

__C - Tony__________D - Nigel___________E- Alan

____F - Mike (Winner)


MARCH WINNER -MIKE

Public Vote Result:-
TONY 38% - MIKE 18% - JAMES 17% - IAN 17% - NIGEL 8% - ALAN 2%
(Total Votes 140 )

Independent Judge's Comments
"Another very interesting set of photos which I did enjoy looking at. as usual quite a difficult job but, I have found you a winner.
Several of the photos interpreted "Black and White" as a black and white photo (as in my youth, a very long time ago!) but the results were nowhere near as good as the photos taken of black and white subjects. The black and white photos lacked crispness and the focus was not as good. Of the remaining two photos, both of which were really good, one was pushed out of contention as a winner because the glass of black coffee had coloured froth on top, what a pity it wasn't white! From this you can realise the winner is the Dominoes - (Mike). Well done that man!
I understand that next month is Technology, I am really looking forward to seeing those !
Thank you for letting me judge, a great honour, hope I don't ruffle too many feathers !" Regards, Ruth

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FEBRUARY 2008 - FOOD

__________A - Nigel________________B - Mike (Winner)

__________C - Ian_____________________D - Tony

_________________________E - James
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FEBRUARY WINNER -MIKE

Public Vote Result:-
TONY 56% - MIKE 18% - JAMES 13% - IAN 8% - NIGEL 5%
(Total Votes 152 )

Independent Judge's Comments
"The result this month (after as always much deliberation and sleeping on it overnight) is that photo B - MIKE is the winner with photo D - Tony a very close second. Not sure I would have these photos on my wall, but eat them...well that is another story!"

"Regards and keep those cameras to hand" said Ruth

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JANUARY 2008 - SPORT

__________A - Ian___________B - Tony (Winner)
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__________C - Mike_____________D - Nigel

__________________________E - Alan
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JANUARY WINNER -TONY

Public Vote Result:-
TONY 43% - MIKE 35% - IAN 14% - NIGEL 7% - ALAN 1%
(Total Votes 122 )

Independent Judge's Comments
"As usual, each one is good which makes my job harder and harder! Having spent time looking at each of them I came out with two semi-finalists: Photos A - (Ian) and B - (Tony). It took a little while to decide which of theses would be the "winner" and in the end I went for B - (TONY), they were both great photos but this one had great movement, a good focal point and of all the photos, this is the one I want hanging on my wall !"

"Sorry to disappoint the other 4 but I guess I have pleased one of you ! Looking forward to February" Said Ruth.

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January Video

DECEMBER 2007 - CHRISTMAS

___________A - Ian_____________________B - Tony
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__________C - Mike_______________D - NIGEL (Winner)

DECEMBER WINNER - NIGEL

Public Vote Result:-
MIKE 39% - NIGEL 34% - TONY 17% - IAN 10 %
(Total Votes 221 )

Independent Judge's Comments
"First of all I hope you all had a Happy Christmas and that you all have a productive (photographically!) New Year."

"As usual a difficult job, this almost goes without saying. My winner this month is D-(Nigel). I loved the light refractions on the baubles and nobody could avoid guessing the title of this photograph. I liked Photo A-(Ian) but it didn't say "CHRISTMAS". It was a lovely winter shot and typical of some countries at Christmas time, but as I said not Christmas. Both B-(Mike) and C-(Tony) did fulfil the brief, but neither had the atmosphere or were as good a photograph as D-(Nigel)" said Ruth.

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NOVEMBER 2007 - REFLECTIONS

___________A - Nigel__________________B - Ian
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_____C - TONY (Winner)_____________D - Mike

NOVEMBER WINNER - TONY

Public Vote Result:-
TONY 35% - NIGEL 29% - IAN 26% - MIKE 10%
(Total Votes 251)

Independent Judge's Comments
"As usual all the entrants produced excellent photos and were a pleasure to judge. After much deliberation I have decided that my winner this month is Photo C, City Reflections. It fulfilled the brief and in an innovative way. Well done Entrant "C" but congratulations to you all" said Ruth .

Photo A - (Nigel) This photograph was taken on a very sunny day at 4pm, the sun was quite low and just behind my right shoulder. These conditions allowed me to make the most of the natural Autumn colours, especially the cascade of colour from the Weeping Willow, complemented perfectly with the darker colours in the woods and near the lake side. The deep blue of the water in the foreground is as a result the conditions, I had to revisit this site over a period of several hours to capture the intense contrast of colour and shades, particularly evident in the reflections.
Photo B - (Ian) I was walking past this magnificent building, when I looked up and noticed the incredible reflection on the corner of this building giving the amazing effect off another building within a building, just by the total Reflections.
Photo C - (Tony) The name of the photo is "City Reflections". It was taken on the 11th November just after the Remembrance Day at the Park Memorial.
Photo D - (Mike) After a the hustle and bustle of a shopping trip to Shopping Centre for Christmas presents, I sat down by the lake and reflected on how much I had spent, while watching the wild life floating by.

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OCTOBER 2007 - AUTOMOBILE

___________Nigel__________________Ian - Winning Photo

OCTOBER WINNER - IAN

Public Vote Result:- NIGEL 38% - IAN 62%
(Total Votes 250)

Independent Judge's Comments
"This gets harder by the minute"
"I am going to make the winner Photograph "B". Photograph "A" must have taken a great deal of time and thought to produce and is a very clever shot. However, it is a study that focuses on the number plate to the almost total exclusion of all other aspects of a car as defined in your definition. Of the two photos I know which one would hang on my wall and that is Photo "B"...what a wonderful machine. A blow up of the bottom LH corner of just the reflections of other cars is wonderful....I would hang that up anytime" said Ruth. ___________________________________________

October Video

SEPTEMBER 2007 - FLOWERS

Nigel - Winning Photo _____________________ Ian

SEPTEMBER WINNER - NIGEL

Public Vote Result:- NIGEL 58% - IAN 42%
(Total Votes 97)

Independent Judge's Comments
"They are both stunning. I have chosen the single flowerered Cosmos as the Bourganvillia is in a bit of a grey area reagards fulfilling the brief. As I am sure you are aware the coloured "bits" that look like the petals are bracts and the flower is the little insignificant white petals and at this magnification they hardly show up. In addition of course you can't really call it a flower as there are so many of them. If you are taking a picture of "a flower" it does mean singular so the choice of subject was poor...the photography was great, what astounding colour!" said Ruth. ______________________________________

AUGUST 2007 - TREE or TREES

Ian - Winning Photo ____________________ _Nigel

AUGUST WINNER - IAN

Public Vote Result:- IAN 52% - NIGEL 48%

(Total Votes 82)

Independent Judge's Comments

"Both are very good photos and hard to find a winner, but taking into account the brief, I have awarded the "prize" to the one taken in daylight as it really does fulfill the criteria. It is a very unusual angle but the photograph takes the viewer into the tree and really does get the feeling of a living organism." said Ruth. ______________________________________

WINNING MONTHLY PHOTOS

June 2008 - Nigel

May 2008 - Nigel

April 2008 - Mike

March 2008 - Mike

February 2008 - Mike