Fraserburgh Photographic Society v Ellon Photographic Group 28th March 2019
This friendly competition was held on 28th March at Fraserburgh. Both clubs put 25 images into the competition which were marked out of 20. The club with the highest aggregate score was declared the winner. The judge was Ian McCurrach from Aberdeen. Ian started by saying that there is no such thing as a friendly competition he realised that it was a battle to be won or lost. He had three things to say about his approach to allocating marks. First was that photographic technique was important, then he looked at how an images was dealt with in post processing and lastly but most important was that the image 'had to work' the composition and content had to be right.
Two images received top marks. One from each club.
Two images received top marks. One from each club.
Four images got 19 out of 20
And the final score. Ellon won the battle with 406 points to Fraseburgh's 387
7th March 2019 Themed Competition 'Black and White'
Four photos tied for third place
Fraserburgh Photographic Society v Deveron Camers Club 26th Feb 2019
Deveron Camera Club hosted this friendly inter club competition. The judge for this competition was John MacGregor a member of Forres Camera Club and Chairman of Moray Camera Club. Twenty images fro m each club were entered.
Fraserburgh won with 318 points Deveron scored 309.
Fraserburgh won with 318 points Deveron scored 309.
Friendly Competition Fraserburgh Photographic Society and Craigewan Photographic Group
On 22nd March Fraserburgh played host to Craigewan in a friendly competition in which both clubs submitted 25 images. The judge was Lenny Smith FSWPP, LMPA, LBIPP. Lenny is one of Scotland's leading wedding photographers and one of only a handful in the UK to hold a Fellowship qualification in wedding photography with the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers. Lenny is also a national and international judge in the photographic industry and lectures in photography at the Highlands and Islands University Moray College. Here is a link to his web site where you can find out more about him and see some of his images. http://www.studio8photography.org.uk/ Lenny also judged the three way competition on 22nd November so scroll down and get an idea of what Lenny is looking for in a photo. But here are a few more to think about.
1) Take the big picture and crop rather than get too close 'in camera' that gives more flexibility to get the composition right.
2) Remember that the bigger the crop the softer the image
3) Lenny likes a letterbox crop and is a technique he uses to get the horizon on the top or bottom third.
4) Try to get wildlife head on and doing something - My shot of a Snipe standing on one leg didn't go down as 'doing something'!
5) Plan your shot
Craigewan came out on top scoring 393 to Fraserburgh's 384.
Here are the top images of the competition.
1) Take the big picture and crop rather than get too close 'in camera' that gives more flexibility to get the composition right.
2) Remember that the bigger the crop the softer the image
3) Lenny likes a letterbox crop and is a technique he uses to get the horizon on the top or bottom third.
4) Try to get wildlife head on and doing something - My shot of a Snipe standing on one leg didn't go down as 'doing something'!
5) Plan your shot
Craigewan came out on top scoring 393 to Fraserburgh's 384.
Here are the top images of the competition.
Taking on board Lenny's comments I have looked at the photos that I had in the competition and made some changes.
First is the 'one legged' Snipe. Two other criticisms of it were that it was not sharp and that there was too much of the post it was standing on. As luck would have it I do have another image of the same bird. Here they both are. The one on the left is the one from the competition the one on the right the second shot. Still would not have got top marks but it is better.
First is the 'one legged' Snipe. Two other criticisms of it were that it was not sharp and that there was too much of the post it was standing on. As luck would have it I do have another image of the same bird. Here they both are. The one on the left is the one from the competition the one on the right the second shot. Still would not have got top marks but it is better.
The next image is 'A Bird in the Hand'. Lenny said that there was too much hand and that the main subject, the Coal Tit, should be much more to the fore. Cropping, Lenny said would do the trick. So here are the two images. On the left as entered on the right cropped.
The one positive thing Lenny said about both the Snipe and the Coal Tit was the the background was good.
It all goes to show that for all the whatever people say about the judges in photo competitions they do get it right a lot of the time. Well done and thanks Lenny
After all the judging was over and the scores added up Lenny talked a bit about himself and the work he did to develop young photography talent through his work as a lecturer in photography at the Highlands and Islands University Moray College and as a tutor/lecturer at photographic clubs. He emphasised the role the these clubs have in bringing on the young photographers of today and passing on the knowledge and experience of the older members to beginners.
It all goes to show that for all the whatever people say about the judges in photo competitions they do get it right a lot of the time. Well done and thanks Lenny
After all the judging was over and the scores added up Lenny talked a bit about himself and the work he did to develop young photography talent through his work as a lecturer in photography at the Highlands and Islands University Moray College and as a tutor/lecturer at photographic clubs. He emphasised the role the these clubs have in bringing on the young photographers of today and passing on the knowledge and experience of the older members to beginners.
Friendly Competition Deveron Camera Club and Fraserburgh Photographic Society
On Tuesday 20th March 2018 Deveron Camera Club hosted a competition with Fraserburgh Photographic Society. Both clubs submitted 25 images into the competition which were judged by Ewan Thomson. Ewan is a graduate of Photography and Electronic Media BA (Hons) from Robert Gordon University: Gray's School of Art (2008). Currently located in Aberdeen, but originally from the small fishing village of Macduff. Much of his work is done in NE Scotland. In his comments he said that he liked rust and you will see a gallery on his web site called 'Rust'. He also said that he liked monkeys and he gave the one image of a monkey in the competition and extra point (so he said). However I have not been able to find a monkey photo on his web site.
One point to pick up from his comments on individual entries is that he is keen on 'sharpness' giving praise for the really sharp images and being hard in the marks he gave to ones that were soft. It was also interesting to note that he picked out the tiniest detail in some of the images for praise.
The competition result was
Deveron Camera Club 311
Fraserburgh Photographic Society 289
One image 'Super Squirrel' by Kate Friday of Deveron received 20 out of 20. Two images were given 19 marks. 'Crovie by Night' by Alistair Paterson from the Deveron club and 'Storm Waves' by Billy Watson from the Fraserburgh club. These three images are shown below
One point to pick up from his comments on individual entries is that he is keen on 'sharpness' giving praise for the really sharp images and being hard in the marks he gave to ones that were soft. It was also interesting to note that he picked out the tiniest detail in some of the images for praise.
The competition result was
Deveron Camera Club 311
Fraserburgh Photographic Society 289
One image 'Super Squirrel' by Kate Friday of Deveron received 20 out of 20. Two images were given 19 marks. 'Crovie by Night' by Alistair Paterson from the Deveron club and 'Storm Waves' by Billy Watson from the Fraserburgh club. These three images are shown below
1st Themed Competition Motion and Movement 2017/18
2nd Print Competition 2017/18
Three Way Friendly
Ellon Fraserburgh Peterhead
The competition was hosted by Ellon Photographic Group and the venue they chose for the event could not have been better, the new Ellon Academy and Community Centre. Each of the clubs submitted twenty images and they were marked out of twenty by Lenny Smith FSWPP, LMPA, LBIPP. Lenny is one of Scotland's leading wedding photographers and one of only a handful in the UK to hold a Fellowship qualification in wedding photography with the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers. Lenny is also a national and international judge in the photographic industry and lectures in photography at the Highlands and Islands University Moray College. Without further ado here are the two images that Lenny awarded 20 points
Lenny chose 'Lovers Gift' as the competition winner.
In giving comments on all the entries Lenny gave some useful advice that fell into three catagories:-
Taking the Photograph
- With wildlife he generally wanted to see the whole of the amimal. So move around or wait to make sure that the subject was not obscured.
- With birds he wanted to see some action. So in flight shots or ones showing behaviour ware preferable to a bird perched on a twig.
- Lenny admitted he was old fashioned enough to still beleive that the 'Rule of Thirds'. should guide composition. So the horizon should be in the upper or lower third of the image.
- There has to be something in the image to hold the viewers attention. So place a pet, a person, an object within the landscape
- Be different. So take the shot from a different angle, get down and take the shot looking up at the subjuct or go high to look down on the subject.
- Don't over expose the highlights. So get the brightest part of the scene well exposed. If the reat is too dark that can be sorted in post processing.
Post Processing
- When converting to black and white don't use the software presets. Use the Red Green and Blue colours to give more control
- Dodge and Burn skies to make them moody
- Crop to get the 'Rule of Thirds to apply to the image
- Lift a flat image with a bit of saturation
- Clone out distractions
Presentation
- Add a border and/or add a key line to present the photograph.
But perhaps the best piece of advice that covers all the above and more, was to remember that the photograph is for a competition so it has to stand out from all the other entries. That makes it different from a photograph that is going onto Facebook or into a blog. You have to look at the photograph and think how can I improve this to get more points, is there anything about this photograph that will lose points?
Two image were given a score of nineteen points
The final scores were Ellon in first place with a total of 321 for thier 20 images, Fraserburgh second with 302 points and Peterhead third with 284 points
To find out more about Lenny Smith go to his web site http://www.studio8photography.org.uk
Five images scored eighteen points
To find out more about Lenny Smith go to his web site http://www.studio8photography.org.uk
Five images scored eighteen points
1st Themed Competition 'People at Work'
Four images tied for third place
Four images tied for third place
1st Print Competition 2017/18
Fraserburgh v Deveron
Fraserburgh Photographic Society played host to Deveron Camera club in a friendly competition on 23rd March. The competition was judged (he said assessed) by Charles Summers.
The image with highest marks was 'Great Surf' with 20/20 by Billy Watson from Fraserburgh PS. Next with 19/20 was 'Daisy Daisy' by Mark Grant of Fraserburgh and third highest with 18/20 was 'Christie With Candles' by a photographer from Deveron Camera Club.
The overall score was Fraserburgh 328, Deveron 366.
The image with highest marks was 'Great Surf' with 20/20 by Billy Watson from Fraserburgh PS. Next with 19/20 was 'Daisy Daisy' by Mark Grant of Fraserburgh and third highest with 18/20 was 'Christie With Candles' by a photographer from Deveron Camera Club.
The overall score was Fraserburgh 328, Deveron 366.
Craigewan v Fraserburgh
On Tuesday 21st March Craigewan Camera Group hosted a friendly competition with Fraserburgh Photographic Society at the Peterhead Leisure Centre. Each club submitted 25 images to the judge Brian Battensby who marked them out of 20. The club with the highest total score was declared the 'winner'.
Craigewan scored 390 and Fraserburgh scored 373.
Brian Battersby is a member of Granite City Group in Aberdeen. Brian said that he had been taking photographs since he was 12 and that he had taken photographs of just about everything. For the last few years however he has been taking sport and action shots. His work has been published in newspapers and magazines and he does work for various sports organisations throughout Scotland. Here is a link to his web site
Brian gave one image 'Disintegration' by Charlie Bruce of the Craigewen club full marks 20/20.
Craigewan scored 390 and Fraserburgh scored 373.
Brian Battersby is a member of Granite City Group in Aberdeen. Brian said that he had been taking photographs since he was 12 and that he had taken photographs of just about everything. For the last few years however he has been taking sport and action shots. His work has been published in newspapers and magazines and he does work for various sports organisations throughout Scotland. Here is a link to his web site
Brian gave one image 'Disintegration' by Charlie Bruce of the Craigewen club full marks 20/20.
Brian said:-
'Ok, as you all now know that I'm a sports photographer, what can I say about this one. Outstanding! Love it! Ignoring the "disintegration" effect at the moment, focus spot on, crop spot on, crop angle spot on, blur spot on and the 'disintegration ' just adds to the drama of the image. Great image, can not fault it and I have tried!
Two images scored 19/20
'Determination comes in Waves' by Billy Watson from Fraserburgh and 'Lost Creel' by James Ritchie also from Fraserburgh
'Ok, as you all now know that I'm a sports photographer, what can I say about this one. Outstanding! Love it! Ignoring the "disintegration" effect at the moment, focus spot on, crop spot on, crop angle spot on, blur spot on and the 'disintegration ' just adds to the drama of the image. Great image, can not fault it and I have tried!
Two images scored 19/20
'Determination comes in Waves' by Billy Watson from Fraserburgh and 'Lost Creel' by James Ritchie also from Fraserburgh
Brian's comments on 'Determination comes in Waves' were:-
'Now, we are talking! Sports is my thing. Great action shot. In focus throughout the image. I can't really fault it. If the photographer wants my opinion with my sports photographer hat on, I wouldn't have cropped the image so tight at the bottom. I would have cropped the image so the surfer was dropping in from the upper right corner into empty space at the lower left corner.'
And on 'Lost Creel were:-
'Excellent shot, really like this one. Love the colours, love the smoky water. I get a real sense of remoteness but not too remote.'
'Now, we are talking! Sports is my thing. Great action shot. In focus throughout the image. I can't really fault it. If the photographer wants my opinion with my sports photographer hat on, I wouldn't have cropped the image so tight at the bottom. I would have cropped the image so the surfer was dropping in from the upper right corner into empty space at the lower left corner.'
And on 'Lost Creel were:-
'Excellent shot, really like this one. Love the colours, love the smoky water. I get a real sense of remoteness but not too remote.'
2017 Themed Competition 'Close Up'
2017 Print Competition No 2
Three Way Friendly Fraserburgh, Peterhead and Ellon
On 25th November Peterhead Camera Club hosted a three way friendly competition between Fraserburgh Photographic Society, Peterhead Camera Club and Ellon Photographic Group. Each club submitted twenty images which were judged, and marked out of 20 by Bob Humphries of Donside Camera Club.
Bob is an SPF judge and enjoys wildlife photography which he has been mastering for about 20 years. His approach to judging competition images is to first quickly go through the photos looking for the ones with impact. He then does a more detailed examination looking at the technical aspect of the photos, exposure, sharpness and so on. He will then go throught the images several more times before making final decisions. Bob said that there was, in this competition a good selection of images.
One image scored full marks. 'Italian Chapel, Orkney' by Bob Grant Beer from the Ellon club. Another of Ellon's entries. 'Feeding Frenzy' by Peter Thomson scored 19 and was in second place.
Bob is an SPF judge and enjoys wildlife photography which he has been mastering for about 20 years. His approach to judging competition images is to first quickly go through the photos looking for the ones with impact. He then does a more detailed examination looking at the technical aspect of the photos, exposure, sharpness and so on. He will then go throught the images several more times before making final decisions. Bob said that there was, in this competition a good selection of images.
One image scored full marks. 'Italian Chapel, Orkney' by Bob Grant Beer from the Ellon club. Another of Ellon's entries. 'Feeding Frenzy' by Peter Thomson scored 19 and was in second place.
The overall score at the end of the evening was-:
Ellon Photographic Group 306
Peterhead Camera Club 303
Fraserburgh Photographic Society 301
The Fraserburgh images were selected from across the membership and are shown below.
Ellon Photographic Group 306
Peterhead Camera Club 303
Fraserburgh Photographic Society 301
The Fraserburgh images were selected from across the membership and are shown below.
Themed Competition 'Peace and Tranquillity' 3rd November 2016
Print Competition 20th October 2016
Joint winners
Fraserburgh Photogaphic Society v Craigewen Camera Group
At the meeting of Fraserburgh Photographic Society held on 24th March the club hosted Craigewen Camera Group from Peterhead in a friendly competition. Each club entered 25 images which were marked out of 20 by the guest judge, Stuart Johnstone.
Stuart is a professional photographer and a former lecture in photography at Robert Gordon University. He has regularly exhibited since the 1980's and has an extensive list of national and international clients.
The result of the competition was a dead heat with both clubs receiving a total of 342 points for all their images.
The top image of the event scoring 20 was from the Craigewen Camera Group 'Blue Hour at the Cauldron' by Charlie Davidson. Stuart said this was '..a strong monochromatic winter landscape with good depth and composition, the slow shutter speed gives the water and clouds softness in an otherwise harsh environment.'
Two images scored 19 pints. 'Hanging Out' by Billy McNeil from Craigewen, Stuart said this was a brilliant shot and he liked the fact that the green bird is sitting on a green deckled background.
And 'Surfer' by Billy Watson from Fraserburgh. 'Drama and anticipation of what may happen next' is how Stuart describe his feelings about this image. Two images also shared the third place with 18 points.
'Lest we Forget' by Mike Chandler form the Fraserburgh Society and 'As Crovie Sleeps' by Michele Emsley from the Craigewen Group
Stuart is a professional photographer and a former lecture in photography at Robert Gordon University. He has regularly exhibited since the 1980's and has an extensive list of national and international clients.
The result of the competition was a dead heat with both clubs receiving a total of 342 points for all their images.
The top image of the event scoring 20 was from the Craigewen Camera Group 'Blue Hour at the Cauldron' by Charlie Davidson. Stuart said this was '..a strong monochromatic winter landscape with good depth and composition, the slow shutter speed gives the water and clouds softness in an otherwise harsh environment.'
Two images scored 19 pints. 'Hanging Out' by Billy McNeil from Craigewen, Stuart said this was a brilliant shot and he liked the fact that the green bird is sitting on a green deckled background.
And 'Surfer' by Billy Watson from Fraserburgh. 'Drama and anticipation of what may happen next' is how Stuart describe his feelings about this image. Two images also shared the third place with 18 points.
'Lest we Forget' by Mike Chandler form the Fraserburgh Society and 'As Crovie Sleeps' by Michele Emsley from the Craigewen Group
Three other Fraserburgh images made it into the top places:-
'Heron Leaving the Reeds' by Mike Chandler
'Mekon' by Scott Fraser and
'Heavy Seas' by Billy Watson
'Heron Leaving the Reeds' by Mike Chandler
'Mekon' by Scott Fraser and
'Heavy Seas' by Billy Watson
'Transport' themed Competition 17th March 2016
2nd Print Competition 18th February 2016
Deveron Camers Club v Fraserburgh Photographic Society
Deveron Camera Club are the winners
A competition between Fraserburgh Photographic Society and Deveron Camera Club took place on Tuesday 9th March. The competition Judge was Neil Blair of Aberdeen Camera Club. As a diver he specialises in underwater photography and has recently done a lot of work with infrared photography, but will take photographs wherever he is.
Each club submitted 25 images into the competition and each image was marked out of 20. In a close result Deveron were the winners with 405. Fraserburgh scored 397.
The top scoring photograph of the competition with 20 was 'Mekon' by Scott Fraser from the Fraserburgh Photographic Society.
A competition between Fraserburgh Photographic Society and Deveron Camera Club took place on Tuesday 9th March. The competition Judge was Neil Blair of Aberdeen Camera Club. As a diver he specialises in underwater photography and has recently done a lot of work with infrared photography, but will take photographs wherever he is.
Each club submitted 25 images into the competition and each image was marked out of 20. In a close result Deveron were the winners with 405. Fraserburgh scored 397.
The top scoring photograph of the competition with 20 was 'Mekon' by Scott Fraser from the Fraserburgh Photographic Society.
Peterhead Camera Club v Fraserburgh Photographic Society
On 19th February Peterhead Camera Club hosted a competition with Fraserburgh Photographic Society. Each club submitted 25 photos to be judged independently and scored out of 20. The club with the highest total points score out of a possible 550 is declared the winner.
The judge for the evening was Allan Adams of Elgin. Her didn't just give each photo a mark but provided useful comments and advice on each one. Each judge approached their task differently and Allan was ken to point out that the comments and scores were his personal opinion and another judge could easily have a different view.
He said that he was well known for giving low scores but that he was disappointed with the photos in this competition as they were all of a very high standard and he could not give them low marks
Allan had no qualms about advising the photographers to use image enhancement to improve their shot. On several occasions he suggested 'photoshopping' in a point of interest or taking out a distracting element of the image.
Fraserburgh scored 418 and were just beaten by Peterhead with a score of 423.
The top image of the evening was 'The Wheel at Night' by Malcolm Smith of Peterhead Camera club.
The judge for the evening was Allan Adams of Elgin. Her didn't just give each photo a mark but provided useful comments and advice on each one. Each judge approached their task differently and Allan was ken to point out that the comments and scores were his personal opinion and another judge could easily have a different view.
He said that he was well known for giving low scores but that he was disappointed with the photos in this competition as they were all of a very high standard and he could not give them low marks
Allan had no qualms about advising the photographers to use image enhancement to improve their shot. On several occasions he suggested 'photoshopping' in a point of interest or taking out a distracting element of the image.
Fraserburgh scored 418 and were just beaten by Peterhead with a score of 423.
The top image of the evening was 'The Wheel at Night' by Malcolm Smith of Peterhead Camera club.
19th November 2015 Themed Competition 'Portraits'
22nd October 2015 Print Competition
19th March Themed Competition 'Natural Patterns'
17th march 2015 competition with craigewen photographic group
A friendly photographic competition between Fraserburgh and Craigewen was held on 17th March. Craigewen Photographic Group is a new club barely one year old formed as a breakaway from Peterhead Camera Club and based in the Buchanhaven Community Centre, Peterhead where the competition took place. It was good to learn that they already had over 40 members and that there was a good mix of men and women, young and old, beginners and the more experienced. Maybe Fraserburgh Photographic Society with only 17 members has something to learn about bringing in new members?
Each club submitted 25 images into the competition with no individual member having more than three images submitted. Each image was marked out of 20 and the total for each club decided the winner.
The judge was Dave Watson of Bon-Accord Camera Club in Aberdeen. He not only looked at the images but also at the data showing all the camera setting that had been used. Dave said that a good image was all about detail, detail in camera settings, detail in composition and detail in post processing.
Four images scored top marks of 20:-
'Fire and Ice' by Charlie Davidson of Craigewen,, the judge liked the colours of this image.
'Starling' by Ian Mitchell of Craigewen, Dave liked the pin sharp focus of this image giving lots of detail on the bird and the perch.
'A Great Catch' by Mike Chandler of Fraserburgh. and
'Star Gazing' by Neil Gow of Craigewen
In general Dave thought that a lot more could be made of many of the images by sensitive post processing on the computer. He thought that increasing the exposure and carefully adjusting shadows, highlights and contrast so as to keep the image looking natural would bring out out much more detail and give an image much more impact.
Bon-Accord Camera Club are hosting the '92nd Scottish International Salon of Photography' from 23rd to 29th May 2015.at their premises in Spring Garden, Aberdeen. This prestigious competition receives entries from around the world and only 25% of the very best are selected for the exhibition.
The final scores for the competition were:-
Fraserburgh Photographic Society – 394 Craigewen Photographic Group - 422
Each club submitted 25 images into the competition with no individual member having more than three images submitted. Each image was marked out of 20 and the total for each club decided the winner.
The judge was Dave Watson of Bon-Accord Camera Club in Aberdeen. He not only looked at the images but also at the data showing all the camera setting that had been used. Dave said that a good image was all about detail, detail in camera settings, detail in composition and detail in post processing.
Four images scored top marks of 20:-
'Fire and Ice' by Charlie Davidson of Craigewen,, the judge liked the colours of this image.
'Starling' by Ian Mitchell of Craigewen, Dave liked the pin sharp focus of this image giving lots of detail on the bird and the perch.
'A Great Catch' by Mike Chandler of Fraserburgh. and
'Star Gazing' by Neil Gow of Craigewen
In general Dave thought that a lot more could be made of many of the images by sensitive post processing on the computer. He thought that increasing the exposure and carefully adjusting shadows, highlights and contrast so as to keep the image looking natural would bring out out much more detail and give an image much more impact.
Bon-Accord Camera Club are hosting the '92nd Scottish International Salon of Photography' from 23rd to 29th May 2015.at their premises in Spring Garden, Aberdeen. This prestigious competition receives entries from around the world and only 25% of the very best are selected for the exhibition.
The final scores for the competition were:-
Fraserburgh Photographic Society – 394 Craigewen Photographic Group - 422
Second Print competition 2014/15
4th december Competition with Peterhead Camera club
These images got top marks of 20 out of 20 in the competition
These images scored 19 out of 20
'People' Themed Competition 20th november 2014
First print competition 2014/15
8th April
Competition with Deveron Camera Club
Fraserburgh Photographic Society winners again
On Tuesday 8th April Fraserburgh Photographic Society came out winner in a head to head competition with Deveron Camera Club.
The competition was judged by Margaret Elliot of Dumfries Camera Club one of the most successful amateur photographic clubs in Scotland and consistently in the top 5 in the UK. Margaret holds the Distinction with the Photographic Alliance of great Britain (DPAGB) and the Excellence award with the Federation Internationale de l’Art Photographic (EFIAP) which she achieved last year. You can find some of her images on her web site www.altimages.co.uk
As with all judges in photographic competitions she looks at the technical merit of the images but ultimately the process is a subjective one and no two judges will agree on everything.
Each club submitted 25 images into the competition with no more than three from any member. This ensures that the entry represents a good cross section of the whole membership. Each image is marked out of 20 and the total marks for each club determines the winner of the competition. Fraserburgh Photographic Society cored 395; Deveron Camera Club scored 383.
Four images were in the top three places for the night
‘Bow Fiddle Rock’ by Mike Chandler (Fraserburgh) scored 20 points. Margret Elliot said, ‘I have seen a few images of Bow Fiddle rock but I don’t think I have seen one with these wonderful colours. The composition the lead in with the rocks to the left being held in by the rocks on the right. Nit picking a little more contrast and maybe a tad more sharpening would improve an already excellent image
‘Rattray Head Lighthouse’ by Alister Henderson (Fraserburgh) scored 19 points. ‘I like this image very much, the sky, the movement in the water and the colours. The lighthouse on the third with the reflection in the water also the fore ground leading into the picture’, said the judge.
Two images scored 18 points. ‘Sunlight Teazels’ by David Clark (Deveron); Margaret said, ‘An excellent Image of these teasels and the cobwebs on them, the sun coming from behind coming through the leaves. Also the background is well out of focus. Just one leaf is burnt out to the left of the picture’; and ‘Calando’ by Alister Henderson which the judge described as ‘A very Moody image, foreground rocks to lead into the dramatic sky lovely colours reflecting onto the water. Just a pity that there is something under the water at the right bottom corner, once the eye sees it, it is distracting, slight ghost behind the rocks from sharpening.’
Fraserburgh Photographic Society’s talents will be put to the test on 26th April when they compete in the ‘Grampian Eye’ in Aberdeen. Fourteen of the camera clubs in the region will be competing for this prestigious trophy. Each club will submit 15 images to be judged by renowned Scottish landscape photographer Duncan McEwan.
On Tuesday 8th April Fraserburgh Photographic Society came out winner in a head to head competition with Deveron Camera Club.
The competition was judged by Margaret Elliot of Dumfries Camera Club one of the most successful amateur photographic clubs in Scotland and consistently in the top 5 in the UK. Margaret holds the Distinction with the Photographic Alliance of great Britain (DPAGB) and the Excellence award with the Federation Internationale de l’Art Photographic (EFIAP) which she achieved last year. You can find some of her images on her web site www.altimages.co.uk
As with all judges in photographic competitions she looks at the technical merit of the images but ultimately the process is a subjective one and no two judges will agree on everything.
Each club submitted 25 images into the competition with no more than three from any member. This ensures that the entry represents a good cross section of the whole membership. Each image is marked out of 20 and the total marks for each club determines the winner of the competition. Fraserburgh Photographic Society cored 395; Deveron Camera Club scored 383.
Four images were in the top three places for the night
‘Bow Fiddle Rock’ by Mike Chandler (Fraserburgh) scored 20 points. Margret Elliot said, ‘I have seen a few images of Bow Fiddle rock but I don’t think I have seen one with these wonderful colours. The composition the lead in with the rocks to the left being held in by the rocks on the right. Nit picking a little more contrast and maybe a tad more sharpening would improve an already excellent image
‘Rattray Head Lighthouse’ by Alister Henderson (Fraserburgh) scored 19 points. ‘I like this image very much, the sky, the movement in the water and the colours. The lighthouse on the third with the reflection in the water also the fore ground leading into the picture’, said the judge.
Two images scored 18 points. ‘Sunlight Teazels’ by David Clark (Deveron); Margaret said, ‘An excellent Image of these teasels and the cobwebs on them, the sun coming from behind coming through the leaves. Also the background is well out of focus. Just one leaf is burnt out to the left of the picture’; and ‘Calando’ by Alister Henderson which the judge described as ‘A very Moody image, foreground rocks to lead into the dramatic sky lovely colours reflecting onto the water. Just a pity that there is something under the water at the right bottom corner, once the eye sees it, it is distracting, slight ghost behind the rocks from sharpening.’
Fraserburgh Photographic Society’s talents will be put to the test on 26th April when they compete in the ‘Grampian Eye’ in Aberdeen. Fourteen of the camera clubs in the region will be competing for this prestigious trophy. Each club will submit 15 images to be judged by renowned Scottish landscape photographer Duncan McEwan.
20th March
Themed Competition 'Decay and Dereliction judged by Graeme Buchan
18th March
Competition with Peterhead Camera Club
On 18th March Peterhead Camera Club hosted a head to head competition with Fraserburgh Photographic Society. Each club submitted 25 images with no member submitting more than three images. The photographs were then marked out of 20 by an external judge. The club with the highest overall total was declared the winner.
The judge for the evening was Bob Humphreys, Chairman of Donside Camera Club. Bob has had an interest in photography for over 50 years and wildlife photography for the last 20 years. He had particular success in the international nature photography competition organised by the Seabird Centre in North Berwick being runner up in the Scottish Wildlife category with his image ‘Red Deer, Aberdeenshire’.
Bob said that his approach to the task of judging photographs was done in three stages. First he looked at the immediate impact of the image, then he would examine the technical aspects, sharpness, exposure etc, finally he would look at how much an image still exited him after examining it for some time.
The final score in the competition was Peterhead 376 point , Fraserburgh 394 points.
The first four highest scoring images were all from Fraserburgh photographers.
Top with 20 points was Billy Watsons ‘Young Turk’. Bob said that although portraits were not his favourite genre this image had immediate impact and technically was excellent. The more he looked at the picture the more he got drawn into the subject. He likened the eyes of the young Turk to those of Mona Lisa: there was a twinkle that said this person is up o something. Bob said that he enjoyed making up the story that lay behind those eyes.
The second highest mark of 19, was given to Stuart Fenty's ‘All Aboard’. Two images ‘Piercing’ by Alister Henderson and ‘Pennan Sunset’ by Billy Watson both scored 18 points.
A similar ‘head to head’ competition with the Deveron Camera Club and Fraserburgh Photographic Society will take place in Banff on 8th April.
The judge for the evening was Bob Humphreys, Chairman of Donside Camera Club. Bob has had an interest in photography for over 50 years and wildlife photography for the last 20 years. He had particular success in the international nature photography competition organised by the Seabird Centre in North Berwick being runner up in the Scottish Wildlife category with his image ‘Red Deer, Aberdeenshire’.
Bob said that his approach to the task of judging photographs was done in three stages. First he looked at the immediate impact of the image, then he would examine the technical aspects, sharpness, exposure etc, finally he would look at how much an image still exited him after examining it for some time.
The final score in the competition was Peterhead 376 point , Fraserburgh 394 points.
The first four highest scoring images were all from Fraserburgh photographers.
Top with 20 points was Billy Watsons ‘Young Turk’. Bob said that although portraits were not his favourite genre this image had immediate impact and technically was excellent. The more he looked at the picture the more he got drawn into the subject. He likened the eyes of the young Turk to those of Mona Lisa: there was a twinkle that said this person is up o something. Bob said that he enjoyed making up the story that lay behind those eyes.
The second highest mark of 19, was given to Stuart Fenty's ‘All Aboard’. Two images ‘Piercing’ by Alister Henderson and ‘Pennan Sunset’ by Billy Watson both scored 18 points.
A similar ‘head to head’ competition with the Deveron Camera Club and Fraserburgh Photographic Society will take place in Banff on 8th April.
27th February
Print Competition Judged by Bill Buchan
12th December
Themed Competition 'Night Time' Judged by Graeme Buchan
17th October 2013
Print Competition judged by Bill Buchan
21st March 2013
Themed Competition 'Weather' judged by Bill Buchan
21st February 2013
Second Open Print Competition judged by Graeme Buchan
13th December 2012
Themed Competition 'Natural History' judged by Graeme Buchan
15th November 2012
Open Print Competition judged by James Smith.
March 2012 Themed Competition 'Movement' judged by the members
28th February 2012
Competition with Deveron Camera Club
On 14th February 6 club members visited Deveron Camera Club in Banff on the occasion of a friendly competition between the two clubs. The judge was Allan Gawthorpe, past president of the Scottish Photographic Federation and a member of both the Mearns and Bon Accord Camera Clubs. Although Fraserburgh Photographic Society achieved two images with a top mark of 20 compared with Dererons' one top mark Deveron came out winners 391 to 388. Here are the top mark images.
The images submitted covered a wide range of photographic styles form traditional landscapes and portraits to abstract images taken from nature and computer generated images.
The images submitted covered a wide range of photographic styles form traditional landscapes and portraits to abstract images taken from nature and computer generated images.