OPEN COMPETITION 2
26th October 2026
We were pleased to welcome back Vin Scothern to judge the second of our open competitions this season. He is a well-known photographer and judge and we have enjoyed his previous visits. There were the usual three classes - for colour and mono prints and digital images.
There was a good entry in all classes and Vin started by saying there were some stunning images in the colour section based on his preview before judging started. This enabled him to mark realistically. He commented that some authors had been unfortunate to come up against such quality as on another occasion their work might have achieved a higher mark.
After a couple of years when focus was scarcely mentioned, tonight it was mentioned a lot. A small number of prints failed to achieve the required level of sharpness, but in most cases, Vin commented that the key spots were in focus and the drop off further from these points was not important. As always, he was keen that living creatures were sharp around the head and eyes.
Other aspects which merited comment were the exposure, especially where the subject had both deep shadows and pale areas or a creature with very dark colouring as well as white. Members were complimented on managing the exposure well to retain detail in all parts of the image.
Vin picked up on some of the work from less experienced members and explained how they could improve, while praising the good features of their work. There were the usual comments about bright areas which detracted from the main point of focus and a few suggestions about slight crops or changed angles to minimise distractions, but overall most entries drew praise.
At the end of judging for the colour images, Vin had held back seven for final judging and remarked that any of them might have received a 20 on another occasion. He is not known for his nature photography and seemed to surprise himself that he had four nature shots among the seven. This was compounded when they made up the final four. The eventual winner was a beautiful shot of a hoverfly feeding.
The comments on the monochrome class were broadly similar. Vin commented particularly on the overall quality of the conversions from the colour images which had rendered a good range of shades from crisp blacks through to good whites, all with detail.
In this class, six images were held back and all were different. Vin had been surprised to see mono renditions of nature subjects, but he said the quality of the work made them outstanding. He also liked some of the portraits and drew attention to the light on the hair which made it stand out from the background.
In this class the winner was a very individual shot of Orleans Cathedral with tricolours flying outside. Vin struggled to decide between this and the two second placed images, one of which the second entry by the winning author.
After refreshments came the digital class with 34 entries. The vast majority scored 16 or over, and once again Vin commented on the quality of the nature work, suggesting that a separate class for this subject could be justified.
There was a wide range of subject matter with seven entries being held back. Five of these were nature subjects and once again the winning author also scored 19 with his second entry. He could feel justifiably proud that Vin described his swallow shot as the best image of the bird he had ever seen, and he suggested it would do well in national competitions.
It was an inspiring evening and so pleasing to see all our members doing so well and being praised by a highly respected judge.
The results were:
Colour Prints
Winner: Lee Dalgleish with Marmalade on Scabious
Joint Second: Andy Stephenson with Kind of the Moss Joyce Bell with Tranquil Ullswater and Cheryl Finney with Trying to Blend in
Monochrome Prints
Winner: Lee Dalgleish with Tricolours and Towers
Joint Second: Tom Coulson with Victorian Blacksmith Lee Dalgliesh with Bristles and Bark
Digital Images
Winner: Rob Neal with Swallow Calling Out
Joint Second: Lee Dalgliesh with Red Legged Shield Bug Alan Burkwood with The Old Coal Store Thornham
Rob Neal with Brown Hare on the Run
Next week we look forward to welcoming Ray Brammall with It Must be Print.
The 2026/2027 season continues until 26th April 2027, with weekly meetings on Mondays at 7.30pm in St Joseph’s Hall, Babworth Road, Retford. Guests are welcome for £5 a night and have three no obligation visits to decide about becoming members.
Full details about the club are on our web site: http://www.retford-photographic.co.uk
There was a good entry in all classes and Vin started by saying there were some stunning images in the colour section based on his preview before judging started. This enabled him to mark realistically. He commented that some authors had been unfortunate to come up against such quality as on another occasion their work might have achieved a higher mark.
After a couple of years when focus was scarcely mentioned, tonight it was mentioned a lot. A small number of prints failed to achieve the required level of sharpness, but in most cases, Vin commented that the key spots were in focus and the drop off further from these points was not important. As always, he was keen that living creatures were sharp around the head and eyes.
Other aspects which merited comment were the exposure, especially where the subject had both deep shadows and pale areas or a creature with very dark colouring as well as white. Members were complimented on managing the exposure well to retain detail in all parts of the image.
Vin picked up on some of the work from less experienced members and explained how they could improve, while praising the good features of their work. There were the usual comments about bright areas which detracted from the main point of focus and a few suggestions about slight crops or changed angles to minimise distractions, but overall most entries drew praise.
At the end of judging for the colour images, Vin had held back seven for final judging and remarked that any of them might have received a 20 on another occasion. He is not known for his nature photography and seemed to surprise himself that he had four nature shots among the seven. This was compounded when they made up the final four. The eventual winner was a beautiful shot of a hoverfly feeding.
The comments on the monochrome class were broadly similar. Vin commented particularly on the overall quality of the conversions from the colour images which had rendered a good range of shades from crisp blacks through to good whites, all with detail.
In this class, six images were held back and all were different. Vin had been surprised to see mono renditions of nature subjects, but he said the quality of the work made them outstanding. He also liked some of the portraits and drew attention to the light on the hair which made it stand out from the background.
In this class the winner was a very individual shot of Orleans Cathedral with tricolours flying outside. Vin struggled to decide between this and the two second placed images, one of which the second entry by the winning author.
After refreshments came the digital class with 34 entries. The vast majority scored 16 or over, and once again Vin commented on the quality of the nature work, suggesting that a separate class for this subject could be justified.
There was a wide range of subject matter with seven entries being held back. Five of these were nature subjects and once again the winning author also scored 19 with his second entry. He could feel justifiably proud that Vin described his swallow shot as the best image of the bird he had ever seen, and he suggested it would do well in national competitions.
It was an inspiring evening and so pleasing to see all our members doing so well and being praised by a highly respected judge.
The results were:
Colour Prints
Winner: Lee Dalgleish with Marmalade on Scabious
Joint Second: Andy Stephenson with Kind of the Moss Joyce Bell with Tranquil Ullswater and Cheryl Finney with Trying to Blend in
Monochrome Prints
Winner: Lee Dalgleish with Tricolours and Towers
Joint Second: Tom Coulson with Victorian Blacksmith Lee Dalgliesh with Bristles and Bark
Digital Images
Winner: Rob Neal with Swallow Calling Out
Joint Second: Lee Dalgliesh with Red Legged Shield Bug Alan Burkwood with The Old Coal Store Thornham
Rob Neal with Brown Hare on the Run
Next week we look forward to welcoming Ray Brammall with It Must be Print.
The 2026/2027 season continues until 26th April 2027, with weekly meetings on Mondays at 7.30pm in St Joseph’s Hall, Babworth Road, Retford. Guests are welcome for £5 a night and have three no obligation visits to decide about becoming members.
Full details about the club are on our web site: http://www.retford-photographic.co.uk