John Elvin LRPS judged the first of the annual competitions - Portfolio and Taff Landscape. For the first of these, fourteen members had entered a series of six images linked to a theme of their choice. Subjects ranged from a flying display to fungi and from street art to sunsets. Ken Proudley’s From Bud to Leaf received considerable praise: ‘a brilliant idea’, ‘effective use of macro’, ‘out of focus background’. The sequence culminated in a translucent image of the full leaf. David Warner’s Groynes was in contention for first place. Here, John liked the use of slow shutter speed and the pastel colours of the coastal scene contrasting with the graphic shapes of the groynes themselves. But it was Keith Schubert’s Crop Cycle that was announced the winner. John loved the concept, the pastel colours, the sun low in the sky and the quality of photography and composition. The vantage point of a single ash tree taken at different times of the year showed the development of the crop surrounding it from seedling to seed heads.

Twenty nine images were entered for the landscape award. From these, three photographers each had an image in contention for first place: David Warner, Jill Dobson and Pam Pope

But the winning image belonged to Pam Pope. John appreciated the quality of the photography which maintained detail within the challenging basically white landscape.

Many thanks to John for his constructive criticism. Next week, A Genre Too Far is presented by Les Forrester AFIAP ARPS BPEI.