March 2020 – Festivals

Judge: Barney Douglas

First of all, a very big thank you for the invitation to adjudicate on this competition and may I start by saying that there is a pretty high standard of work here, with a few excellent submissions. I have little doubt that you have had plenty of judges over the years mentioning phrases like “rule of thirds”, “point of interest”, “having the subject looking into the image” and, of course, focus, depth of field and much more. I’m a photographer who likes to see images where the subject thinks outside the box… and sometimes thinks well inside the box. You’ll see what I mean as I comment on each and every image.

Beginners

With all three groups, I am taking the images in order of title and I’ll then pick out my highlight image(s) from each group. I checked the White Balance setting on all images for which it was available, and everyone in this group had it set on Auto. Appreciating that quite a few of these images were shot on mobile phone cameras that are a bit more difficult to control, but it’s worth checking out the variations you have available. Some photos could have been improved a bit by playing with the various settings available and it’s worth getting to know the device you are using.

Intermediate

Here I’m looking for a higher standard than beginners, so I think I can justify being a little more critical where necessary.

Two photographers, one using a Nikon D3200 and one using a Canon EOS 600D, ISO from 100 to 3200, aperture from f4 to f11, and all images again on auto white balance. I won’t let on which manufacturer I use.

Advanced

At this level, I should see at least a third of photos worthy of a Licentiate-ship panel at the RPS, not all, but at least some.

Overall Winners