Competition: Ladies and Gentlemans Trophies – 2017 – Judge: Stephane Rocher
Wednesday 27/09/2017
“Urban Creek” by Michel Facer
“Pebbles in a Rising Tide” by PJ
The Ladies and Gentlemen’s Trophy Competition is traditionally our first competition of the season. This is a non-league competition which means that the scoring here does not count towards member’s league aggregate scores. It also gives our newer members a chance to see what happens during a competition which will prepare them for later in the season.
The members are split by gender and not by the normal “Club” and “Advanced” categories. This means everyone is in together which can lead to some interesting results Last night 65 images were submitted, 31 in the Ladies Class, and 34 in the Gentleman’s Class. The Judge was Stephane Rocher from Petersfield.
Stephane’s method of judging differs in many respects from many other judges insomuch as he is no lover of what he calls the “club crop”. A lot of judges insist on cropping close around the subject of the photograph. “This can lead to a claustrophobic image”, he says. “Pictures are about atmosphere, and colour. They need room to breathe”, he added.
Michel Facer and Judge, Stephane Rocher
The first part of the evening was the Ladies section. Many fine images were up for judging. The results were:
1st – “Urban Creek” by Michel Facer
2nd – “Staithes” by Val Carver
3rd – “Early Morning on Winsford Hill” by Sue Bird
PJ and Judge, Stephane Rocher
The Gentlemens’s section which came after a short break brought the following results:
1st – “Pebbles in a Rising Tide” by PJ
2nd – “Ceibwr Bay” by Richard Corkrey
3rd – “On the Turn” by Clive Bennett
In the judges opinion the standard of the Ladies images was a lot higher than those offered by the Gentleman. “I want to push people and bring out their creativity”. said Stephane. His parting advice: “Get rid of the labels! Photography is about mood, atmosphere, and movement. It is also about shape, light, and form”.
Last but by no means least we offer our congratulations to our very own Membership Secretary, Shirley Blott, who was presented with an award for “Image of The Year”. The image being “The Great British Summer” which can be viewed on an earlier blog.
Shirley Blott (right) receiving her award from President, Hilly Hoar (left)
Article and Photographs by Richard Corkrey – 28/09/2017