Club Meeting, Browell Trophy Competition - Tuesday 14th December 2021.

    
           1st. Cormorant Profile.                                2nd. Robin.                           3rd. The Death Suit.

On Tuesday 14th December 2021, Morpeth Camera Club held their Natural History Pdi Competition and
welcomed Patrick Sheard, a member of Wooler and District Camera Club to preside over events. As a
recognised NCPF judge, he had been invited to comment on all images and announce his award winners.
This is an annual competition where club members compete for The Browell Trophy, a silver Salva that
is awarded to the author of the winning image.

Patrick opened the evening by explaining what he was looking for when judging an image and outlined the
factors that he took into consideration. These included conformity to the subject of Natural History, the use
of an appropriate title and good composition. He expected an image to be technically well controlled, and the
subject to be in its natural habitat with no distractions. Finally he was looking for a 'wow' factor, something
that made an image 'stand out' or told a story.

Herons, Roe deer, garden birds, various types of fungi, wildflowers, swans, sea birds, small mammals, kelp,
insects, moths and game birds were amongst the entries and the judge commented on the variety of subject
matter and the high standard of work submitted.

During the evening the judge offered advice on the angle of view when taking an image, to look up and down
and when to move closer and when to step back. Sharpness and depth of field should be carefully considered
and he emphasized that before taking an image, the photographer should look out for extraneous objects and
remove unwanted items which could detract from the subject.

After commenting on all entries, Patrick announced that he had 'Highly Commended' four images, 'Pair of
Redshank' by Paul Appleby, 'Craneflies, Yes please'(Snowbuntings) by Greame Sorrie, 'Curlew with Eel' by
Paul Appleby and 'Common Blue Damselfly' by Glyn Trueman.

Moving on to his top five award winners, in fifth place was 'Soft Shield Fern' by John Barnes, an image that
had pattern, detail, and symmetry. In fourth place was 'Dunlin on Shoreline' by Davy Bolam, which illustrated
good composition by including the bird's shadow and reflection. Third place went to 'The Death Suit' by Carl
Harper, a Water Nymph on Reeds, described as a very different image that aroused one's curiosity. In second
place was 'Robin' By Brian Morris, a close-up of our favourite garden bird that told a story and showed character.
The judge then announced the winner of this year's Browell Trophy for the best Natural History image to be
'Cormorant Profile' by Davy Bolam. A technically strong image that was well framed with no distractions, it was
perfectly exposed with great detail, an image that had attracted his attention from the start.

Club joint-chair Sue Dawson thanked Patrick for his constructive comments and good advice that had made it
an informative and entertaining evening.