Club Meeting, Vice Chairs Challenge 2 - Tuesday 1st February 2022.
On Tuesday 1st February Morpeth Camera Club met to hear the results of the second Vice-Chairs Challenge
entitled All Square. It is customary for the Vice Chairman to set challenges during their tenure. In the second
of his challenges Peter Downs LRPS, a photographic judge, requested that members submit up to three sets
of images, each including an original sized image, together with a square cropped version in both colour and
monochrome.
Twelve members responded to the challenge with a wide variety of subject matter;sunset through woodland,
barnacles on rocks, beached boats, Bamburgh Castle, The Alnwick Garden Christmas light trail, the Alwinton
hills, old doors, the High Level Bridge, graffiti and Cragside. Throughout the evening the authors stated their
reasons for why they chose to crop and the audience chipped in with whether they thought cropping and the
converting to monochrome had improved the image.
In discussion it was decided that when cropped, the main elements of a picture are revealed and begin to
form a relationship, the rule of thirds can be accentuated, a square format can enclose the subject without
any distractions, leads the eye straight into the scene and appears to be more dynamic. In some cases, the
use of creative cropping can transform the subject into something quite different; a surreal or abstract version.
Some images lend themselves to colour, and when converted to monochrome, the atmosphere of a colourful
scene is lost. Also one can be distracted by colour and not notice the detail in the subject. In some cases,
statuary, for instance, converting to monochrome brings out texture, contrast, tonal range, detail and shadows.
If the subject calls for it, the use of monochrome can increase the atmospheric sense of desolation, be eerie,
mystical and can emote a sense of foreboding.
It was quite telling that, to take part in this challenge, some of the participants had returned to images to
work on that had previously been rejected as not good enough. To sum up it was agreed that it pays to look
closer at an image as a whole, ask yourself how you can make the image more dynamic, are there distractions
that can be removed, and by cropping you can improve composition by the placing of the focal point. Also it is
good to experiment by being creative to get the best out of your image, and as was illustrated on the evening,
it was revealed that there can be more than one picture in an image to explore.
It was an interactive and informative evening, with good advice offered; even a quantum physics theory on
the subject. Club Co-Chair Roseanne Robinson thanked Peter for his challenge and members for their response,
after which refreshments were served.
Steph.
entitled All Square. It is customary for the Vice Chairman to set challenges during their tenure. In the second
of his challenges Peter Downs LRPS, a photographic judge, requested that members submit up to three sets
of images, each including an original sized image, together with a square cropped version in both colour and
monochrome.
Twelve members responded to the challenge with a wide variety of subject matter;sunset through woodland,
barnacles on rocks, beached boats, Bamburgh Castle, The Alnwick Garden Christmas light trail, the Alwinton
hills, old doors, the High Level Bridge, graffiti and Cragside. Throughout the evening the authors stated their
reasons for why they chose to crop and the audience chipped in with whether they thought cropping and the
converting to monochrome had improved the image.
In discussion it was decided that when cropped, the main elements of a picture are revealed and begin to
form a relationship, the rule of thirds can be accentuated, a square format can enclose the subject without
any distractions, leads the eye straight into the scene and appears to be more dynamic. In some cases, the
use of creative cropping can transform the subject into something quite different; a surreal or abstract version.
Some images lend themselves to colour, and when converted to monochrome, the atmosphere of a colourful
scene is lost. Also one can be distracted by colour and not notice the detail in the subject. In some cases,
statuary, for instance, converting to monochrome brings out texture, contrast, tonal range, detail and shadows.
If the subject calls for it, the use of monochrome can increase the atmospheric sense of desolation, be eerie,
mystical and can emote a sense of foreboding.
It was quite telling that, to take part in this challenge, some of the participants had returned to images to
work on that had previously been rejected as not good enough. To sum up it was agreed that it pays to look
closer at an image as a whole, ask yourself how you can make the image more dynamic, are there distractions
that can be removed, and by cropping you can improve composition by the placing of the focal point. Also it is
good to experiment by being creative to get the best out of your image, and as was illustrated on the evening,
it was revealed that there can be more than one picture in an image to explore.
It was an interactive and informative evening, with good advice offered; even a quantum physics theory on
the subject. Club Co-Chair Roseanne Robinson thanked Peter for his challenge and members for their response,
after which refreshments were served.
Steph.