Ashford Photographic Society News

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5th PDI

Report by Marjorie Burge

On March 1st, June Sharp ARPS of Deal Camera Club, very kindly came to judge our 5th PDI competition when Kirsty Ralphs ARPS was unable to attend due to ill health. June is an eloquent speaker and kept us entertained and informed, her imagination always looking for stories behind the images, her vast store of information providing ways to improve. Few images escaped - June likes eye contact i.e. no profiles, looks for diagonals, triangles, stories, potential and drama – wanted me down on my stomach to take my photo – you go first, June. Each image was thoroughly examined and discussed, but with so many quality images to cover and the clock ticking, time was limited. With only one more competition before the end of the season, our photographers are still finding some amazing images and making life difficult for judges. Interesting results, with each division having two images from the same photographer, but quite accidental. A good evening at APS, as always.

D…

Rural landscape competition

Report by Marjorie Burge.

On February 15th Carol White-Griffiths LRPS, of Dartford & District Photographic Society, judged the John Wigmore Rural Landscape Trophy Competition. This is a popular competition, accessible to all – landscapes are all around us whether we holiday abroad or stay at home – and we had 84 entries overall, 45 PDIs and 39 prints. Our photographers had captured some beautiful scenes, rising early for the morning light and staying late even though storms threatened, or perhaps because storms threatened, as moody cloud formations dominated many of the images. There was a mixture of traditional landscapes, skyscapes and seascapes, colour and mono, sunrise and sunset, and misty valleys and hills. An impressive collection, as always by APS photographers, and Carol had a difficult time choosing her winners. Many exciting and dramatic images had to be passed over to leave just three in each division, and then that difficult choice between the winning PDI and the win…

Diamond Jubilee Trophy results

The KCPA Jubilee Trophy for projected images was held at Ditton Community Centre on Saturday 23rd February, judged by Ken Scott ARPS.

Having won this competition the last three years and confident with our image selection, we were disappointed to have been placed joint 5th, behind the Maidstone Camera Club.

Our individual scores were:

Alien Landscape by Sue Chapman - 15
Cranes and Trains by Anthony Baines - 20 and Merit Award
Half Measures by Di Long - 15
Haystacks and Mist by George Pearson - 17
Inseparable by Zuzanna Valla - 17
Oxpecker About To Land by Bob Devine - 17
Pelican by Stephen Cheek - 18
The Tate Modern? by Anthony Baines - 15

Thank you to everyone that submitted images for selection and congratulation to Anthony for his Merit Award.

Talk by Anthony Baines

Report by Marjorie Burge Fascinating evening at APS on February 8th when Anthony Baines ARPS CPAGB, an APS member, gave his talk on People Places and Planes. Anthony’s ‘inspiration’ comes from the early masters of black and white photography, and everything he does has grown out of studying their techniques and following in their footsteps. While Anthony takes his photography seriously, his approach is definitely one of enjoyment and among his tips on street photography was ‘find a frame and lurk’ and ‘look for visual echoes’ - successful for him, as we saw from his street photography taken while out and about on the London streets with Phil, Martin and Dave Mason, all looking for that special accidental unposed moment.

Then there were Anthony’s planes, ‘a few aircraft’ as he modestly called them - beautiful images, and all explained in detail.

He makes it all look so easy but his background knowledge plays a big part in his success. Tim Piles’ workshop was on fine art nudes, wit…

3rd Print

Report by Marjorie Burge.

On Friday 1st February we were delighted to welcome Clive Tanner FRPS DPAGB of Maidstone Camera Club, a KCPA premier Judge, Chairman of the KCPA Judges Panel, an ex-President of the KCPA and ex-council member of the RPS, making him excellently qualified to judge our 3rd Print Competition. Clive is a good friend of APS and was well prepared for the 77 quality prints laid out for his inspection. Clive is very honest in his criticism, viewing the image as a whole before commenting, and even with images not to his liking, finding something to praise. Not a lot to be altered, but, as always, darkening down those bright spots, and very hot on halos and careless framing. He was often looking for some extra input from the photographer to bring an image alive – would like to see more mermaids - and was quick to praise original ideas. He held back a quantity of images before choosing his winners, giving hope, encouragement and suspense to his audience. We thanked our j…

4th PDI

Report by Marjorie Burge.

Friday 18th January was our 4th PDI, with Tony Bentley ARPS CPAGB of Invicta Camera Club, judging the 68 entries in the competition. Tony has judged for us before, covering the PDI Theme last year. He has his own judging style, very confident, plain speaking, straight in. Each image was carefully examined for sharpness and composition, and any overly bright patches quickly spotted - post processing was a must, and corners were a worry, Tony liked them shaded. There were some amazing images in all divisions and I felt sometimes the overall image was lost in the discussion of detail but with the high quality of APS photography we make life difficult for the judges. Choosing the winning images was not easy and Tony held back eight in Division 1 before making his final choice. A good evening at APS, Tony’s judging is definitely not boring, he kept us entertained throughout.

Title of the Week - ‘Oh Look – A Daisy’.

Division 1:
1st Chris Rogers with Early Morn…