Competition betweenMACC and Bangor CC

November 2010

A is for ….

• I just love how the rules of thirds have been used and the depth of the image with the buildings in the background and also the clarity of this image is just superb.My only criticism is the over exposed shirt at the neck area which is very eye catching and should be darkened down

• SCORE 14/20 A1

Beautiful colourful tones in this image and the pattern is lovely but for me the dominant bark of the tree just takes my eye away from the main subject but overall a very pleasing image to look at and admire SCORE 14/20

Again beautiful colours and textures, but my eye keeps on going to the patch of blue in the top right corner which I would crop out,so maybe a closer crop would eliminate this and make a more powerful picture. SCORE 14/20

FANTASTIC and I love the colours and the treatment of the final image which looks like infrared has been used on the final image,if I could suggest that the writing on the windscreen be taken away as I find it very distracting, but overall a stunning image. SCORE 18/20

Amazing building with the image taken in the right type of light which brings out the curves of the building, and also the colour tones very easy on the eye.SCORE 16/20

A well observed image and the reflections are great, my one criticism would be to maybe darken down the top part of the image to make it the same blue tone as the bottom tone.SCORE 15/20

Beach

Love the different colour tones and the angle the image was taken at with the diagonal lines but for me the human interest just does not work and are just a distraction to what is a beautiful image. SCORE 15/20

Great composition, and the lead in of the water is first class with the rock placed in the thirds to give the image balance, well done. SCORE 17/20

The sky in this image is great and again the sand bank add to the image to lead your eye into the picture, I would maybe just darken down the sky slightly but apart form that a lovely image. SCORE 16/20

Not to keen on the colour/black and white within the same image but the composition is great, just take the white line away as it is so distracting,but overall a nice image.SCORE 14/20

Very graphic looking image with the colour tone that compliments the image which is great ,I just think it needs a little more contrast added to the final picture. SCORE 14/20

Beautiful evening light caught hitting the surf on the water and a great sky to compliment the picture ,but once again I think the sky could be toned down just to balance the pictureSCORE 14/20

Chair

Well observed image with the colour of the two small chairs complimenting the tones in the rest of the image,just think again it just needs to be darkened down to MAKE the colours more prominent in the image, but a nice image. SCORE 14/20

Good composition and once again love the muted colour pallet,if I had taken the image I might have moved the hay to cover more of the wooden board, but apart from that a good effort. SCORE 14/20

The trouble with this image is that there is too much to look at and your eye does not settle on anything, and also the black and white flooring is to stark against the muted colours of the furniture.SCORE 12/20

LOVE IT, LOVE IT and the colours are great and compliment each other so well, but most of all the contemporary look of the image is what I find makes this a great image. SCORE 18/20

Again a simple composition that works and the contemporary look of this image is what people are now putting in their house as wall art, the one thing I would maybe take out of the image would be the ceiling with the lights and crop the image to the top of the wall.SCORE 16/20

Good foreground interest and love the treatment to the image with making it black and white which I thinks suits the composition, would just like to see a little more detail in the shadow area behind the seat.SCORE 13/20

Costume

Very confusing patterns, and there is nothing that really catches my eye to settle on but a well observed imageSCORE 11/20

Good grab shot but for me there is nothing of real interest in this image even though the detail on the outfit is pleasingSCORE 11/20

I would loved to have seen more of his costume, as the landscape format in which the image has been presented, but the detail in the image is great but as I said I would really like to see all of his outfit. SCORE 11/20

Lovely detail in this shot but once again I would have loved to have seen just a little bit more of the costume. SCORE 11/20

Well seen graphic shot and the colours and patterns are great. SCORE 16/20

Love the outfit but for me the image and lighting are very flat which does not bring out the great colours and pattern of the outfit, just try a little bit of contrast or curves on the image to make it pop.SCORE 14/20

Glass

Love the lighting on the glass but for me the background is light and would preferred it slightly darker to bring out the glass more, but like the composition. SCORE 13/20

Very confusing composition and the Gap at the front is a little bit annoying but good exposure on a difficult subject. SCORE 11/20

Wonderful composition and beautiful lighting and exposurejust stunning work on what is a difficult subject. SCORE 18/20

Great reflections on a glass building are always touch and go depending on the light and I think the photographer has done a great job on this capture. SCORE 15/20

Nice simple composition with good lighting to bring out the brand name well done. SCORE 14/20

STUNNING IMAGE and the detail in this image is AMAZING. The background shadows really do compliment the main subject of the image and don’t distract in anyway ,so well done to this photographer for such a great image. SCORE 19/20

Hands

Simple composition, well handled and the colours all compliment each other. SCORE 15/20

FANTASTIC image once again and the detail in this picture is stunning and I cant fault it apart from I would like to see a little bit more detail in the bottom right corner of the image. SCORE 19/20

Good capture of a lovely animal but to be honest the image is not sharp around the eyes and nose. SCORE 9/20

Not to keen on this very untidy composition and the lightingSCORE 8/20

This image is not sharp which is a shame as I like the compositionSCORE 8/20

Beautiful peaceful shot with lovely sepia tone which compliments the subject matter. SCORE 15/20

Lonely

Love the placement of the human interest in this image, but for me the image was captured at the wrong time of the day, if it was taken later the low light would have brought out the textures of the grasses and the pathway, and I am sure this would have made this a winner for me SCORE 14/20

Well observed image and love the peaceful calmness which this picture radiates, and the composition with the man placed in the thirds has to be commended, but if it was my image I would certainly take away the white bucket as it is so distracting and captures your eye as it is so central in the picture. SCORE 16/20

The black and white treatment to this image is fantastic, and also the reflections on the ground make this image stand out with the human interest captured at the right moment, but I really do think that the images on the left side of the image should be cropped out or darkened in some way so as not to take your eye away from the main subject matter of the picture, but a really lovely image SCORE 18/20

Nice side lighting and exposure has been handled really well in difficult lighting conditions on this image and the expression on the woman is great. I also love the lines leading to the lady which draws your eyes to her sitting there. SCORE 16/20

Again like the placement of the little boy but I think the sunny highlight at bottom right is very distracting to my eye, and also the base of the lamp post should really be cropped out or taken away but a nicely caught shot. SCORE 14/20

What an amazing image of a subject mater that has been done thousands of times but what makes this my favourite image is the lighting on the swan which has a very ethereal look to it, and the sky has no burnt out highlights to take your attention away from the foreground interest, and I must say that I would put this image up on my wall at home . STUNNING IMAGE SCORE 20/20

Night

Great strong composition and exposure of the most amazing buildings which I take is in Valencia. SCORE 19/20

Very nice tones in the sky which really are complimenting the colours in the building and what can I say about the exposure apart from brilliant. SCORE 19/20

Love the reflections and colours, my main complaint is that the horizon has been placed too central within the image and would have liked to have seen maybe more water or sky in the final image. SCORE 16/20

Great exposure and well seen image and the graphic shape is complimented with the cold blue tone of the backgroundSCORE 18/20

Fantastic exposure of tricky lighting conditions with and one point to bring up is that I would take away the light at the bottom left as it is very distracting. SCORE 18/20

Lovely shot of Prague (I hope I have the right location) at that time of year when it is at its best for photographygood composition and exposure. SCORE 17/20

Red

Must admit not to keen on the spot colour as I don’t think you needed to do that as it is a strong composition without it. SCORE 15/20

Good grab shot and exposure but just don’t think the composition is that great, maybe if you had worked with your posing skills you could have asked her to sit in a better position.SCORE 12/20

Well observed shot and exposure to ensure that you got some movement in the hand. Maybe it would have benefited from just not going in so close so you could see more of the other drumstick but apart from that a real nice image. SCORE 15/20

Great image this with just the slight desaturation of colour, and keeping the dress in full colour, and to be honest I just love the composition which is very arty looking and the type of thing you see a lot of nowadays in fashion magazines. SCORE 18/20

Beautiful sharp image with a lovely uncluttered crisp composition and also the colours are great so well done to the photographer. SCORE 16/20

Not the sharpest image but a lovely uncluttered composition that would look great on a wall as it would be such a dominant colour to catch your eye. Great image. SCORE 19/20

Judges overall comment

Can I say thanks to you for giving me the opportunity to look at the work of the two clubs and I hope I can be of some help to you in further judging through 2011.

GORDON McGOWAN PHOTOGRAPHY01389 75077307977444331WEBSITEwww.gordonmcgowan.co.uk

Results

• Congratulations to Bangor and North Down Camera Club as winners of this second competition between the two clubs. The results were (if my maths are correct):-

• Bangor 426 points 2009 score: 465 points• MACC 378 points 2009 score: 399 points• Of the individual 9 themes 8 were won by Bangor 1 by

MACC.• MACC got closer this year hopefully next year!!!!• The judges comments are his personal assessment of

each of the photographs and he hopes that they are all taken as constructive criticism and will help us all to improve as photographers.

• Get out and take loads more photos so that the respective clubs have plenty to choose from for next years competition.