Wanganui Camera Club – Judge’s Comments and Results

April 27th 2016 | Judge’s: Jack Mickalski, Antonia Sims, Mark Brimblecombe

Print competition

A Grade – Set Subject – Street Photography and Photojournalism

A1 Just Another Day / Range of colours is great. The eye gives a lot of impact to the image. Interesting people with a strong background. If the girl in the foreground was further to the right it would be better balanced. Maybe a better shot at a different time. / Merit
A2 Cold Stare / Good engaging stare from the man. Good repetition with legs crossed… and contrast also with two people. Getting lower for more foreground would be better and not cut off feet. / Merit
A3 On the Right Path / Great angle and composition. A little more off the bottom so the diagonal was closer to the corner perhaps. Great colour. Nice little bit of movement in the figures. / Merit
A4 Sideways Glance / Good symmetry of people… looking inwards. Excellent colour and balance. Good contrast of modern and traditional clothing. Interesting that all people in foreground holding bags. Interesting photo with lots of levels / Highly Commended
A5 You First / Great photo charged with emotion and expectation. Beautiful perspective. Good not to see the faces and imagine the challenge. / Honours
A6 Sunset Serenity / Beautiful lighting and exposure. A great photo. This is what is happening on the beach (maybe not the street). One is tempted to focus on one of the two stories here rather than both parts of the picture. / Merit
A7 The Tumbler / Excellent perspective and action. The look on the faces of onlookers is really telling. Good movement in the tumbler. Good vignetting. / Highly Commended
A8 Mirror Wall / Very interesting and intriguing image. The reflection is wonderful. Well seen and exceptionally executed. / Honours
A9 On the Street / Superb character studies. Very strong composition. Lovely balance of skateboard and dish. Superb black and white processing. / Honours

A Grade – Open

A11 Juvenille Little Shags / Superb image. Sharp where it counts. Lovely soft background. Good composition in a square frame. / Honours
A12 The Cascades / Nice composition and good colours. Perhaps a little over processed tonally and with colour. More contrast and black for impact and to emphasis the shapes. Very nicely matted for a large print. / Highly Commended
A13 Sentinels / Overall composition and colour placement is very good. Nice wavily lines. / Merit
A14 Deserted Playground / Stunning composition. Beautiful B&W. Great to have the foggy background to make the swings pop out. The birds in the sky add balance. Nicely printed on metallic paper. An ordinary scene made exceptional. / Honours
A15 Arenome / Beautiful bokeh and softness. Lovely composition. Almost monotone. / Honours
A16 Mystical Waterfall / Great subject and nice composition. The darkness is foreboding. The small bit of sky could easily be cloned out for more impact. / Highly Commended
A17 Country Life / The artistic filter effect is very good. Composition is strong. A bit more brightness and contrastin the foreground perhaps. / Highly Commended
A18 Edge of Infinity / Superb photograph of the milky way. The shed would have been better in the photo if not so bright. Excellent exposure and processing. / Highly Commended

B Grade – Set Subject – Street Photography and Photojournalism

B19 Sidewalk Artist at Work / Excellent story in this photograph. Immediately drawn to comparing the drawing with the person subject. What is the artist actually drawing. You imagine where this drawing is going. Excellent perspective. / Honours
B20 Square Vision / Very nicely presented image. Not enough story to be a good PJ or Street Photography image. Nice lighting and exposure. / Accepted
B21 This is how… / The colour and monochrome treatment is effective but a little overpowering. Very interesting subject and well composed. The hands are expressive. Good story / Merit
B22 Crowd Pleaser / Good action shot. Maybe not the best view point… but at least safe. Be a little more risky and adventurous with the capture? / Accepted
B23 Enchanted / Lovely lighting and expression. Left face a little too dark. Good human interest photo but not too eventful or street genre. / Merit
B24 Family Day at the Triathlon / Bold colours in a difficult harsh lighting. Excellent study of different and interesting people. / Merit
B25 Lunchtime / Excellent story and well seen. The messy and disorganised composition works well. Better if make at a lower angle or to get more foreground by tilting camera downward. / Highly Commended
B26 Red Man Crossing / The two areas of red, the view point make this a strong and simple composition. / Honours
B27 Canned / Interesting colour and graffiti. Needs a little more foreground. Needs a focal point, especially some human interest as a set subject photo. / Accepted
B28 Surf Wave / Effective action shot of children enjoying the surf. A fun photo. Good expression with the hands. / Merit
B29 The Arcade / Very good exposure and colour. It’s a typical mall scene. The red woman is a focal point, but not a strong one. Good perspective. Needs a little more foreground. A slow shutter speed, even handheld would make the photo more dynamic. / Merit