This was the last of the three print competition rounds.
The theme was ‘The Local Story’ with the brief described below:
Description: Capture a visual story from Norwich or the surrounding area. A person, place, tradition, or detail that tells us something about our local identity and culture.
Judging criteria:
- Narrative strength and connection to the region
- Authenticity and originality
- Emotional resonance
- Quality of print presentation
Image 1 – A Sky Big Enough For Quiet Thoughts
I chose this image because I felt the big sky and beach scene fitted well with the Norfolk coastline.
This image went though quite a few changes from my original edit below:
I scaled up the image to make the man and the dog walker more prominent and I lightened the edit and emphasised pastel colours.
I cloned out the footprints, the group of people in the distance, and the dark parts of the dunes on the far right hand side.
I spent ages trying to pick a suitable title and far too long wondering whether or not to put Caister or Norfolk in the title.
The mounted print is below:
Self-critique (pre-judging)
I think this is the weakest of my two images, but I’m worried about it getting a mediocre score too because I think it could lose points on:
- Not being directly relatable to a local story
- Not that impactful as an image
- Something feels plain and too simplistic
- I got hammered on a Caister shot not too dissimilar to this in a previous competition
I would like to think I could get 16/20, maybe 17/20 at a push but don’t think it’ll receive any more.
We shall see…!
Judge’s verdict
The judge said they assume this is the Norfolk Coast (Yes, it is)!
They had said a few times that they were pleased to see authors use titles to give the judge a hand with the location! Oops!
The judge went on to describe the image with a post and a walker with their dog, and said judges like walkers.
They liked the big sky which they said was nice. They were unsure if the sky was like this but it was a nice colour with pastel tone and was reflected in the sea.
They liked the base of the image too.
For reasons I’m unsure about they offered up some feedback (not criticism apparently) about the mounting saying that they started out doing a mount board as a backing but recommended it’s not done.
The judge awarded a score of 17/20.
Post-judging thoughts
This score met my expectations so I hold no grievance over it.
Based on the comments, I do think the judge found this a pleasant but nothing wow image, maybe even “Judge Bait” with my pastel tones and person for scale.
One could even say it was technically good, just not that compelling. My predictions were spot on and therefore I not only “mus’n” grumble, I cannot grumble.
Why did I enter this image then? Did I struggle for this round? Was I less motivated because I knew I couldn’t win it? A little of both possibly.
Image 2 – Close To The Edge
I chose this image because I liked it from the moment I captured it, and I think it has plenty of a story to tell, mainly (hence the title) the pillbox teetering on the edge of the clifftop.
I was really pleased with the wide angle view, the sunstar, and it ticking the “something different” box, and it got some great comments when posted online.
You will see from the original edit below what’s changed.
I’ve lightened the image and made it more pleasing on the eye, removing any harsh over cooked edit feel.
Below is the mounted print:
I believe this is the strongest of my two images.
Self-critique (pre-judging)
I think the wide letterbox style composition works well, there’s a leading line of the path, the story of clifftop erosion, the famous iconic lighthouse albeit it’s recognisable but not dominant in the scene.
The sunstar is a Brucie Bonus.
I’d like to think that this could achieve a 18/20 or an outside chance of more but I may be kidding myself.
Judge’s verdict
The judge did a short speech about wishing they were at places at the right time of day.
They liked the leading line of the path, and referenced the lighthouse in the distance, and the pillbox, and the starburst.
These comments were all very non-specific, with no reference to the story I was trying to portray, so I’m interpreting this as this image just did not float their boat.
Their final comments was that the image had a pastel feel and perhaps may have benefitted from a lustre paper rather than a matte paper.
The judge awarded this image 17/20.
Post-judging thoughts
This image was well under what I had hoped for, and a fellow photographer friend was kind enough to say he felt my images were underscored.
This one certainly was and I do feel a little hard done by – it’s very likely I’ll put this image in a BPE submission and look to see if it fares better with a panel of judges.
It’s already on my living room wall, which is often what some of us do when we really like an image but it gets a not so good review from a judge. That’ll learn ‘em! They’ll be sorry… etc! 😁
Reflections
With both images scoring a 8.5/10 or combined score of 34/40 (85%), I can’t be too downhearted.
The Caister shot achieved what I thought it would, but I am disappointed with the Happisburgh shot.
One of my fellow photographers and I looked at the Caister print at tea break and couldn’t see anything wrong with the mount. 🤷♂️
Back to the Happisburgh image, the irony is that I did have a print of this image on lustre paper, and the contrast was better, but for me, it looked too flat and photo snap like, and I got drawn in by the almost watercolour look and feel of the museum heritage paper, and I don’t regret choosing that.
I knew I was out of contention in the print competition with being four points behind the leaders, and this particular round ‘The Local Story’ left me feeling that I wasn’t going to unearth anything spectacular.
I spent ages pondering a trip into Norwich, having a passing thought to photographing football fans on derby day (thought better of it), before finally thinking I’ll look for landscapes or seascapes which are obviously Norfolk.
What has been pleasing has been to see a fellow landscape photographer win the print competition which is great for our group.
It’s also pleasing because we sometimes receive criticism for allegedly not having good enough photographs, but many of us are proving to be more than good enough!
We have our annual exhibition to enjoy at the moment, followed by two more competitions.
Next up is the print panel competition followed by the finalé competition of the season, Image of the Year.
I am inclined to not enter the panel competition because I haven’t really worked on a set of images and it’s a lot of effort for little feedback.
I will take part in Image of the Year, as it’s an enjoyable night seeing members best work.
Onwards and upwards…