The New Year began with the judging of the Summer Outings Competition by Keith Schubert whose personal photographic skills are held in high regard by members. He began by saying that he has no formal qualifications for judging but knows what he likes. However, listening to his well-considered comments on each photograph presented, there was no doubt that he is as well placed to fulfil this role as any visiting judge might be. He hoped to be constructive as well as occasionally suggesting how an image might have been improved.

The first outing was to Rievaulx Abbey. Obviously, the ruins figured as the subject of many shots but also the horses that were found in the vicinity. Lizzie Stewart won this section with the wonderful back lit image of a grazing horse against an out of focus wooded backdrop. The light caught the rich tones of the horse’s main and flicking tale. Keith liked the diagonal composition of the animal and the slope on which it stood.

Pickering should have been the destination for the second outing but poor weather conditions brought about a change of plan. Helmsley and Hutton-le-Hole were substituted and from which any decent light disappeared ten minutes after arriving. But that ten minutes was sufficient for Lizzie Stewart to take the winning image for this section too. Three white sheep and three black - one still with a mouthful of grass that it wasn’t going to give up even when being chased by an Airedale terrier bounding after them - were running straight towards the lens of her camera. Keith liked the never-to-be-repeated moment that Lizzie had captured so well.

Harrogate had been the venue for the third outing of the summer. Keith referred to the challenge of photography in the urban environment where the photographer has to make an informed, some might say inspired judgement, on what to include and what to eliminate from the frame in order to achieve a winning image. Peter Rushton won this section with a shot that clearly considered less was the key to success. Taking just the curved black background carrying the gold letters that spelt Betty’s Café against a blue sky splashed with white produced a striking image that summed up the essence of Harrogate.

Keith then announced the overall winner of the Summer Outing Competition as Lizzie Stewart’s Dog and Sheep.

Keith had clearly spent a great deal of time considering the attributes of each photograph entered before relaying them to members last night. He studied the entries over the Christmas period but did not know to whom any one image belonged. Many thanks to Keith for such a professional job.

Next week is another Members’ Night. Images brought in by individuals will be judged this time by the members present. Images are also required, next week, for the Pat Riggs Open Digital Image competition to be judged in three weeks time.