COMPETITION TIME
27th October 2025
Our competitions are always very popular and attract a good attendance as well as a good number of entries. This time we welcomed judge Stefan Nicholson from Newark to cast his eye over the total of 69 submissions. We have two classes for printed images – colour and monochrome - but so impressed was Stefan with the standard of some of the work that he suggested we should have a separate class for nature.
As always, the colour images came first. It usually doesn’t take long to work out which things any given judge will home in on, but Stefan added to this, saying that “judges don’t normally gravitate to landscapes”. The second image was a very attractive view of a rocky shore and Stefan described his impression of how the wonderful colours had been created. His suggestions for improvements followed this deduction and during the social time it seemed the view was that it had been undermarked.
After the first viewing of the colour images, we were aware that Stefan looked for good technical skills, mastering the exposure to perfection and keeping detail in both blacks and whites. He shared the common view that bright areas were distracting and should be removed. He also suggested that bright colours in the background should be toned down. He often took issue with the choice of crop as well, but despite this he managed to hold back 7 of the images for a further view prior to awarding the top marks.
Our large print stand could hold them all and Stefan was quickly able to award 17s and 18s, although he slowed down somewhat before awarding 19 points to both Simon Carr for his wonderfully sharp shot of a bird on a teasel and another in flight above it and to Lee Dalgliesh for a fantastic shot of a bird of prey locked on to its target. Lee’s other submission in this category, a close up shot of a resting migrant hawker dragonfly, came out the winner. This was notable for its pin sharp capture and wonderful colours as well as being an unusual ‘head and shoulders’ shot.
We moved swiftly on to the monochrome class, where an aversion to low contrast, ‘muddy’ shots was added to the list of things Stefan marked down. On the plus side, he declared that the monochrome work was ‘amazing’. He also commented on the need to ensure mount cutter blades are sharp and that printing monochrome on certain papers can be challenging, giving members yet more to think about.
In this class, the first pass did not eliminate may from the review. Of the 13 entries, 9 were presented together for scoring. Four of these scored 17, a further 2 scored 18, 2 more 19 and the winner received the coveted 20. The joint second places went to Joyce Bell with a raven with great detail in its dark plumage set against a castle and Lee Dalgleish with an amazingly detailed shot of a silky ant. This was remarkable for its sharpness, given the tiny size of the original subject. The winner was Alan Burkwood with something different altogether. He had taken a shot of a blacksmith at work in his workshop and managed to retain detail in the many tools around as well as not drastically over exposing the flame from the furnace. Stefan remarked that the only way this could have been improved was if the blacksmith was beating the hot metal, creating showers of sparks.
After a break, Stefan embarked on the 40-entry digitally projected class. This is always the highest entry as it avoids the effort and cost of printing. He narrowed the field to 11 for a second view, staying true to the principles he had used in the other classes. This time four members, Kerry Muscott, David Hauton, Lee Dalgliesh and Mike Vickers all scored 19 points, with Mike also scoring 20 with is shot of sea bird taking off which Stefan also awarded his supreme accolade of ‘stunning’.
It was encouraging to note that two of this season’s new members and one from last season were high scoring in this competition and all were congratulated. The scores for all competitors appear on the Competition section of the web site.
You can find us in St Joseph’s Hall, Babworth Road, Retford at 7.30pm On Monday nights until 8th December 2025 when we break for Christmas. Our web site: www.retford-photographic.co.uk is the place to look for more information about the club. Feel free to drop us a line if you would like us to look out for you when you arrive.
As always, the colour images came first. It usually doesn’t take long to work out which things any given judge will home in on, but Stefan added to this, saying that “judges don’t normally gravitate to landscapes”. The second image was a very attractive view of a rocky shore and Stefan described his impression of how the wonderful colours had been created. His suggestions for improvements followed this deduction and during the social time it seemed the view was that it had been undermarked.
After the first viewing of the colour images, we were aware that Stefan looked for good technical skills, mastering the exposure to perfection and keeping detail in both blacks and whites. He shared the common view that bright areas were distracting and should be removed. He also suggested that bright colours in the background should be toned down. He often took issue with the choice of crop as well, but despite this he managed to hold back 7 of the images for a further view prior to awarding the top marks.
Our large print stand could hold them all and Stefan was quickly able to award 17s and 18s, although he slowed down somewhat before awarding 19 points to both Simon Carr for his wonderfully sharp shot of a bird on a teasel and another in flight above it and to Lee Dalgliesh for a fantastic shot of a bird of prey locked on to its target. Lee’s other submission in this category, a close up shot of a resting migrant hawker dragonfly, came out the winner. This was notable for its pin sharp capture and wonderful colours as well as being an unusual ‘head and shoulders’ shot.
We moved swiftly on to the monochrome class, where an aversion to low contrast, ‘muddy’ shots was added to the list of things Stefan marked down. On the plus side, he declared that the monochrome work was ‘amazing’. He also commented on the need to ensure mount cutter blades are sharp and that printing monochrome on certain papers can be challenging, giving members yet more to think about.
In this class, the first pass did not eliminate may from the review. Of the 13 entries, 9 were presented together for scoring. Four of these scored 17, a further 2 scored 18, 2 more 19 and the winner received the coveted 20. The joint second places went to Joyce Bell with a raven with great detail in its dark plumage set against a castle and Lee Dalgleish with an amazingly detailed shot of a silky ant. This was remarkable for its sharpness, given the tiny size of the original subject. The winner was Alan Burkwood with something different altogether. He had taken a shot of a blacksmith at work in his workshop and managed to retain detail in the many tools around as well as not drastically over exposing the flame from the furnace. Stefan remarked that the only way this could have been improved was if the blacksmith was beating the hot metal, creating showers of sparks.
After a break, Stefan embarked on the 40-entry digitally projected class. This is always the highest entry as it avoids the effort and cost of printing. He narrowed the field to 11 for a second view, staying true to the principles he had used in the other classes. This time four members, Kerry Muscott, David Hauton, Lee Dalgliesh and Mike Vickers all scored 19 points, with Mike also scoring 20 with is shot of sea bird taking off which Stefan also awarded his supreme accolade of ‘stunning’.
It was encouraging to note that two of this season’s new members and one from last season were high scoring in this competition and all were congratulated. The scores for all competitors appear on the Competition section of the web site.
You can find us in St Joseph’s Hall, Babworth Road, Retford at 7.30pm On Monday nights until 8th December 2025 when we break for Christmas. Our web site: www.retford-photographic.co.uk is the place to look for more information about the club. Feel free to drop us a line if you would like us to look out for you when you arrive.