For the March ‘Open’ competition, our President, Tony Curtis, was the judge in what was a Covid-enforced departure from the normal practice of having an external person to judge competitions. Tony is an experienced photographer but one who has not entered the Society’s competitions for a few years He was regarded, therefore, as one who had clearly demonstrated no possible conflict of interests.
It became clear from the outset that he had adopted a meticulous approach to the task of assessing the relative merits of every entry. His comments on each one were meticulous, constructive and helpful, demonstrating a real eye for detail. He complimented the entrants on the presentation and quality of their images, in both colour and monochrome. He had enjoyed viewing all of the images but admitted having had difficulty in finding anything adverse to say, because of the generally high standard overall. He did point out that a few of the images just needed a focal point, perhaps a person to bring them to life. It was gratifying to see a couple of images from the Society’s recent practical evening which had taken the form of a night shoot on Douglas’ South Quay. The judge’s perceptive comments covered composition, sharpness, and the importance of increasing the contrast in a few of the monochrome images. There was a wide range of subject matter before him, but he had found the variety most pleasing.
In total, there had been 57 entries of prints and projected images and, after completing his critique, he announced the winner of the monochrome prints to be “Millennium Bridge”, a superbly lit night scene by Sue Blythe. This was a stunningly sharp image looking towards St Paul’s Cathedral, London. “Evie” by Chris Blyth came out on top in the Colour prints, a beautiful portrait of a lady in a green dress.
“In for a Penny” by Barry Murphy was awarded first place in the monochrome projected images, an excellent study of people running into the sea with beautifully lit modelling on their skin. In the colour section for projected images “Chicago Sky” by Martin Sanderson, a view skywards to capture the city’s skyscrapers, gained maximum points.
“Evie” was judged to be the best overall image on the night.
The Society will meet again at 7.00 pm on Wednesday 23rd March at the St John Ambulance Headquarters (off Glencrutchery Road) for a specially requested ‘Practical Evening’. The subject will be photographing water droplets, bubbles and splashes! There will be different lighting set-ups and the more experienced members will be available to offer guidance. As always, potential new members and guests (for a nominal charge) will be made most welcome.
The IOMPS gratefully acknowledges the continued support of the Arts Council.
By Antony Hamilton
