Club Meeting, 2nd Open Pdi Competition - Tuesday 6th February 2024.

    
          1st. Canary Wharf Atrium.                     2nd. Triptych Twister.                      3rd. Black Capped Tanaga.

On Tuesday 2nd February 2023, Morpeth Camera Club met to hear the results of the 2nd Open Pdi Competition
(Projected Digital Image). The guest judge was Peter Walton ABIPP AMPA Dip. PP who is a member of Durham
Photographic Society and has had a career as a professional photographer. Peter opened the evening by saying
that the quality and standard of the entries were outstanding and he had enjoyed going through the fifty seven
images.

Among the images entered were colourful graffiti, pergola patterns taken from below, old garages in winter, a
powerful and intriguing police patrol boat on the river, an artistic version of Battleship Wharf, an autumnal view
captured by a drone, an intentional camera movement image of a wind farm, and canoeists on a calm sea off
North Berwick. Also entered were trees in evening light, water droplets on lotus pads, an atmospheric church
ruin, street life, peeling paint, St Giles’ Cathedral interior, a fiery autumn landscape and a painterly effect of
flowers. As he went through the entries, Peter advised on cropping out distractions and dealing with burnt-out
areas. Sea birds in flight, a rustic house for sale, dynamic fairground attractions, Newcastle riverside by night,
still life, local scenes and dramatic sunsets made for a very eclectic mix of subjects.

In many cases the judge admired the treatment of light, detail where required and good use of depth of field
after which he announced his Four Highly Commended awards; Blue Tit Excavating a Nest Hole by Graham Sorrie
where the judge commended the author for using the right settings to capture the bird. Gwen by Glyn Trueman,
an image of a lovely dog in the motions of running about the beach, which the judge admired for its sharpness,
Dunstanburgh Castle at Sunset by Pat Wood, for its powerful silhouette and layers of sand patterns and Evening
Light over a Calm Sea by Davy Bolam, for its light, colour and soothing quality.

The judge followed on with his five top images. In Fifth place was Roseanne Robinson with Peak District, which
was rich in detail, good lead-in lines and had the mark of a good landscape photographer. Fourth place went to
Brian Morris with The Haunting; a monochrome image which had subtle detail, shadows, highlights and depicted
a sense of gloominess. Third place was given to Graham Sorrie with Black Capped Tanaga which had quality of
expression and feather detail. In second place was Davy Bolam with Triptych Twister, three images of vibrantly
coloured patterns which the judge considered to be creative, had style, was artistic and colourful, together with
its spot-on presentation. The judge then went on to announce the winner of the 2nd Open Pdi Competition to be
Mark Harrison with Canary Wharf Atrium which he said was a good monochrome, had sharp patterns and good
light, which had been expertly controlled.

Chairman Peter Downs thanked the judge for his considered comments and advice, after which coffee was served.

Steph.