Club Meeting, A4 Print Knockout - Tuesday 17th December 2024.

                         
                            1st. A Little Night Life.                                   2nd. Morpeth View.                

On Tuesday 17th December 2024, Morpeth Camera Club held its annual Knock-Out Competition at the final
meeting before the Christmas break. This fun event involves no formal judging and provides an opportunity
for members to showcase their images and gauge reactions to their work. A total of sixty-eight prints were
entered and displayed on the club lightbox two at a time, with the audience voting for their favourite, which
then progressed to the next round with the loser being eliminated.

As is typical in this type of contest, the subjects varied widely across different genres that included animals
birds, landscapes and seascapes, abstracts, wildflowers and garden flowers. Many local scenes also featured,
the Tyne Bridges, the Millenium Bridge, the Glasshouse and the quayside, all taken from different viewpoints
competing against still life, industrial and impressionist-style prints. In the initial rounds, voting was primarily
based on personal taste and preferences; however, as the rounds progressed, members needed to consider
the composition, viewpoint and expertise involved in capturing the subject.

In previous years, this contest utilized projected digital images (Pdi's) and special software programmed to
shuffle the images and eliminate those that were voted out. This year's format was more hands-on, with the
prints mixed up manually after each round. As the rounds continued, the number of prints was reduced by
half, resulting in varied reactions from members during each viewing. When more popular prints competed
against each other, it became increasingly difficult to decide which one to vote for, often resulting in only a
single vote separating those that were eliminated from those that advanced.

Eventually, the competition narrowed down to the final two prints: an infrared landscape photograph looking
west along the River Wansbeck from Telford Bridge in Morpeth, and a colour street scene captured at night in
Bologna. In a very close final vote, the audience declared the street scene the winner. John Thompson and
Susan Dawson identified themselves as the photographers and provided a brief overview of their prints. The
evening of friendly competition and humour concluded with the club's traditional Christmas buffet supper.

Club meetings will resume on Tuesday 7th January 2025, when we can look forward to an exciting programme
featuring guest speakers, members' evenings, and additional competitions. Potential new members would be
most welcome to join us.

Davy.