Sileby Photographic Society’s
THE annual Digital Image Knockout competition between members took place at
meeting held on Monday, February 7, when it was the turn of visiting judge, Steve Myall, to deliberate and cogitate over the entries placed before him.
Prior to the competition, each entrant had been given an identifying number, which would determine the order of play, and Steve dutifully withdrew names ‘from the hat’ to reveal against whom they would compete in the ensuing rounds.
With the criteria enabling subjects of the author’s choice to be submitted, in either monochrome or colour, Steve had to remain focused when awarding his marks to a maximum of 20 points, with each entrant offering three images per round. SPS is well known for having a strong representation of natural history and wildlife photographers within its group, but the sea and landscape images, together with portraits, transport and architecture, gave them a run for their money.
In the first round, Malcolm Coulton achieved total marks of 47 but Gianpiero Ferrari’s total of 54, meant that he progressed to round two. Patrick Crowhurst scored a total of 38 but Bob Andrews pipped him to the post with 45 points, ensuring that he progressed.
Colin Machin’s overall score of 46 was overtaken by Alun Williams’ score of 50, but a closer contest between Mike Belson and Pete Smith who scored 52 and 53 points respectively, ensured that Pete went through..
A similar format applied to round two. Gianpiero’s entries had the edge over Pete’s, scoring 59 and 53 respectively, with Alun’s entries achieving marks of 49 against Bob’s of 43.
Each saving their best images to contest the final round, Alun produced three stunning images in his quest to knock Gianpiero off his perch. He was awarded a creditable score of 52, but it was Gianpiero’s remarkable natural history and wildlife images which caught the judge’s eye, awarding him winning marks of 58, and thus the overall winner of the competition.
With a few minutes to spare, the opportunity was taken to present certificates to the winners of competitions which had been held during 2020. This had been delayed due to the absence of physical meetings because of Covid-19.
John Hoogerwerf thanked Steve for his excellent judging, and also thanked those who had taken part in the competition which had resulted in a very enjoyable evening.
The next meeting will be held on Monday, February 21 at St. Mary’s Church Centre when visiting lecturers, Peter and Eileen Crichton, will present digital images under the title ‘ Travels in the Andes’.
Anyone wishing to become a member of Sileby Photographic Society should visit the contact page of the SPS website when further details will be issued.
The programme for the current year is also available to view.