Forest of Galtres Camera Club

Monday 16th February 2015

Entries for the Basil Sheard Memorial Portrait Print, the President’s Open Print and the Towler Monochrome Print competitions were judged by Guy Davies ARPS EFIAP EPSA. Only six members provided images for these particular competitions but the standard of photography was particularly high and gave Guy much to consider. Taking one category at a time, he shared his thoughts on each image and then presented three or four that he thought were potential winners before announcing which actually, in his opinion, was the best of the best. As it happened, Guy, who did not know before hand to whom any one image belonged, selected as the outright winner of each competition, the work of Keith Schubert.

In the monochrome competition, David Warner with End of the Pier and Carol Smith with both her entries Cranes on the Water and Reflections in Nice found their work highly praised by Guy. However Dunstanburgh at Dawn was the overall winner for this section. Guy liked the use of a long shutter speed to smooth the motion of the water providing a creamy hue against which the boulders - reflecting the early morning light - stood out. The overall lighting gave just the right amount of definition to the sky and the distant castle.

For the portrait competition, Guy selected Ken Proudley’s Amy1, Lizzie Stewart’s Peaky Blinder and yes – one of Keith’s called Rug Salesman. This was a photograph of a North African gentleman. Guy liked the position of his face in the frame of the photograph. He liked the fact that the rich blue cloth he was wearing to cover his head, led the viewer into the portrait from his right hand shoulder over which it was draped. He also commented on the fact that the subject had room ‘to breathe’ because there was no tight cropping and critically, every aspect of the image was pin sharp.

Finally, came the result of the open competition. Once again, Carol Smith gave Keith a run for his money with One Bright Thistle as did David Warner with Bamburgh Dawn. This time Peter Rushton also had his photograph called A Quiet Place highly praised. But, Keith Schubert was to win this competition too. In this section, his winning shot was Iceberg Detail. This was a stunning photograph of an iceberg set forward from the background provided by a wall of blue translucent ice. Falling across both was the black volcanic ash providing such a contrast to the white and blue tones in the image. The water in the foreground provided a wonderful surface to gently hold the reflection from the scene above. Guy praised the almost impressionist quality of key elements of the photograph.

Keith may have been fortunate to visit some contrasting parts of the world and find intriguing subjects for his photography. But his skill as a photographer enabled him to capture and bring home images of outstanding quality. Also, he made the point through winning the monochrome competition too that being much closer to home can also lead to a well taken outstanding photograph. Many congratulations to Keith. And also many thanks to Guy, who was clearly surprised to find that he had chosen the work of the same photographer for each competition as the winner.

Next week, club member David Warner will present Selection Box.