This was the third round of the Print Trophy Competition at Farnborough Camera Club in the 2023-2024 season on the 1st February 2024. There were no restrictions on the genre to be submitted.
Diving for fish
Before our visit to Bass Rock we were in North Berwick on a small boat just off the rock. The captain had boxes of fish and we had a ringside view as hundreds of gannets descended on the waters around the boat diving for the fish.
Summary of judge’s comments
… were the fish thrown in? Or, where wa the author?
… Isee the splashes, I assume it it is where the [gulls] have dived in and come out, there are just droplets around there
… tremendous timing to have got it, to have got the beak just inches off the surface, because these things come in a fair old lick
… the lighting was probably on your side , comes over to me as overcast dullish sort of day , there are no real highlights
… it would be interesting to know which shutter speed you were using
… there is still a feel of movement in the feathers, I don’t like to see them looking almost like a cardboard cutout
… that looks good and your timing is perfect
… can you hold that one back please
Balance on the stalk
After exploring Holy Island we moved to the dunes to explore the grasses there. I laid on the ground to watch these moths and experimented with my exposure as they settled.
I deliberately chose a title to indicate that I thought would indicate a balance of the moths and of the two heads of the plants…
Summary of judge’s comments
…printed on a matte or pearl paper
… I think this is a more simple medium, paper to print on, a suitable medium for this subject as the moths are quite soft and have a funny texture on the wings, and you have captured that very well
… there are no real highlights , perhaps a little bit there, but nothing breaks the feel of calm and ease
… I just wonder why that moth has only got one antennae and and this one has two, perhaps it lost it?
… if there is any criticism I find that dark area just a little distracting , could you have just [] into the rest of the background , the farther you come away the more my eye goes to that than it does to the two subjects
The scores
There were 24 images in this round in the Advanced Division. “Diving for fish” scored 9 and “Balance on the stalk” scored 8.5.
The original images
Diving for fish
North Berwick
Balance on the stalk
Holy Island