Third Assessment of the Year

Viewfinders of Romsey Camera Club warmly welcomed Alan Cooke from Beaulieu Camera Group to judge members’ prints and digital images for their third assessment. These are always the most popular club evenings, and with the recent influx of new members, the Jubilee Hall was just about full to capacity.  It is also very encouraging to see so many new members entering their work for assessment.

Alan prefaced his remarks by saying that he always enjoyed coming to Viewfinders, although he could not forget the time he came a few years ago when there was a power cut in Timsbury and the evening had to be cancelled.  Fortunately there was no such problem on this occasion!

In the primary section of the prints, he awarded his first perfect 10 to Phillip Gooding for “Lifeboats at Svalbard”, with Alan admiring the composition and the impact of the red, white and blue colours.  In the advanced section, four prints received maximum marks.  Alan liked the reflections and the inclusion of the aircraft trail in Terry Jamieson’s “Misty Morn at Backley Plain”, the simplicity of Betty Rackham’s plant close-up “Gloriosa Lutea”, and the good feeling of movement in Lorraine Slater’s “Swan Lake Movement”.  However, he described new member George Atkins “Busselton Sunset” as a ‘classy piece of work’, with its slightly milky effect over the sea and the lovely detail in the sky.   

In the large primary class of the digital image section, five more maximum marks were awarded.  George Marsh received 10 for his high class butterfly image “Marbled White” and Alan described Richard Marriott’s “Hyena Kill” as a cracking shot, with the composition of the animal group telling a vivid but cruel story.  He considered Betty Rackham’s “The Skater”, was effective for its great sense of movement and Gerald Ponting was congratulated for producing a creative seasonal print in “Happy Christmas All”.    

In the advanced digital images, two more 10s were awarded.  Alan admired the careful attention to framing given to Sheila Read’s high quality image “Dahlia Centre”, and he also liked Stan Stubbs' “Stony Path” which he considered was very effective in monochrome.

In thanking Alan for judging, Chairman Jack Whitemore described it as a terrific evening.  Beaulieu Camera Group has an excellent pedigree for producing quality work and Alan’s a commentary on how he felt about each piece of work would have given everyone something to think about!  Alan said he had awarded a high number of 10s because there had been a wide variety of image types and each one represented high quality work in that field.

Image:

“Busselton Sunset” by George Atkins, who scored 10 in the Advanced Print section

Sheila Read’s high quality image “Dahlia Centre” in the advanced digital images

This page last updated, December 17, 2008.