Last night was the January competition and our first competition in our new venue, themed 'Circles and squares etc' and the usual open. Both sections saw a wide range of images, the judge Simon Caplan commented on the high quality of the images that he had to judge. The numbers of entries were down on previous competitions, which is a shame but it did mean that Simon was able to spend longer on each image. He offered some great critiques and was an able and fluent judge. He stressed that photography is an art and a thing to be enjoyed by the photographer and that the results were his opinion!

The themed section saw some very varied images and interpretations. Who'd have thought that a studio portrait shot would be a 'square' but it was, and it was a beautiful shot of 'David' by Peter Elliston that won the event. The subjects as wide ranged as any open competition but all on the them of circles and squares. Interesting (or not) to note that a portrait won both sections!

Congratulations to the winners and everyone who took part!! Also to Peter Elliston who received top 10 placings for all 4 of his images.

Special thanks to Paul who ran the evening (almost) seamlessly, once the 'first night' hitches were ironed out!! Also for putting the results on Facebook so promptly (before I left the Rugby Club!!)

Themed Results
1st 'David' by Peter Elliston
2nd 'Segmented' by Deborah Hammond
3rd 'Eyespy' by Wendy Hopper
HC 'Black Eagles in Square' by Martin Cumper
HC 'Circle of Fire' by Huw Thomas
HC 'On Camera' by Peter Elliston
TT 'Clementines in a Round Bowl' by Polly Knowles
TT 'Fishface' by Peter Elliston
TT 'Metal Flower' by Wendy Hopper
TT 'Shard in Squares' by Nick Farnham

In the Open, there were a wide range of great images and Simon commented on some great portraits (and portraits took the top 3 of 4 places).

Open Results
1st 'A Dark Moment' by Diane Rowe
2nd 'Frosty Flowers (Gaillardia Arizona Apricot)' by Huw Thomas
3rd 'Oliver' by Nick Farnham
HC 'Lauren' by Peter Elliston
HC 'Life Stages of an Ink Cap' by Deborah Hammond
TT 'Contemplating Defeat' by Martin Cumper
TT 'On Rannoch Moor' by Keith Jennings
TT 'Oystercatcher' by Martin Cumper
TT 'Reading in the Temple' by Polly Knowles
TT 'Three of a Kind' by Nick Farnham

The committee has been looking at ways that we can help members who do not feel confident in printing and mounting images. It is an important part of photography and one that the author has ultimate control over what the viewer sees. To that end, we are planning to run a workshop outside the normal club night, perhaps a weekend day event. Please email me to let me know that you'd be interested in attending such an event and what subjects you'd like covered.

We have changed the February competition to a PDI (Projected Digital Images) to give members a chance to hone their printing and image mounting skills, as a result of attending the workshop!! We would love to have the same number of images in a print competition as a projected one. It was interesting to hear from the judge that the declining numbers in print comps is not confined to our Club. The February competition theme is People at Work or Play - full description on the website.

Next week is a Zoom meeting with guest speaker Stan Farrow on 'Creative' - a treat for those who enjoy making pictures magic.