Round four of NDPS club’s POTY (Photographer of the Year) competition took place in late March 2023.
As usual, members were asked to submit two images; one in the themed round and one free choice image.
This was a print round so needed a bit more work to not only edit and print the image, but to cut and affix a mount too.
Themed Round (Fill the Frame): Cleared for Take Off
For the themed round, I chose this picture of a swan flapping across the water to take off, which I captured last year on a club wildlife meet up at Hickling Nature Reserve (blog post here).
I thought this shot met the brief and am proud to have captured it. As I often do, I re-edited this shot and tried to emphasise the detail in the feathers.
I had one concern, which was the top part of the swan’s left wing (or right as you look at it) just above the neck. It can appear that this part of the swan has blown highlights, but according to Adobe Lightroom, nothing of the sort.
I found I couldn’t change it without the top of the wing looking too dark or washed out. After a very late doubt of whether or not I should change my image choice, I decided to stick with it.
After I finished editing, I printed the image on my usual Fotospeed NST paper, then worked out the measurements for cutting a mount.
I then cut a mount with a smaller more bespoke aperture with an almost letterbox perspective to emphasise filling the frame (see below):
Judge’s Verdict
The judge said that the title works for this image, and reminded everyone that titles are important for an image.
Focus and timing was appreciated in order to get this shot and they liked the colours which were good with the green offsetting orange.
They said the green foliage was a little strong in colour and wondered if that could’ve be toned down a little.
The judge wondered if the image could’ve been cropped more at the top, maybe even square.
The image was awarded a 9/10.
I was very pleased with the score – a fellow member commented to me that he couldn’t see how a square crop would work given the long side of the image and I agreed.
Free Choice: Bonnie Boat
For my free choice, I looked back at my favourite images and put this scene in from the Isle of Skye (blog post here).
I like this shot as it was a fond memory of driving back from a visit to Elgol as we left the Isle of Skye, and consolation for the misty rain and cloudy conditions that had prevented getting any shots at Elgol.
I seriously considered this for the ‘Abandoned’ theme in the previous round but the House in the Hebrides shot just got it.
Judge’s Verdict
The judge commented on the title saying he assumed it was Scotland. That was obviously my intention. Perhaps not the best title, but it accurately described the image.
They said that odd numbers in an image works, a single boat, the three mountains.
The judge said the image could’ve been improved by better light which would’ve given the image a bit more impact.
The judge felt that the image would’ve benefitted from some improvement in contrast and some post production to emphasise certain areas, and the opposite for others, which would make it a better scene.
The image was awarded a 8/10.
I was pleased with the score but I guess it was a somewhat underwhelming image. I had applied lots of masks to the image to try and make it pop, plus I had removed some distractions.
I had not wanted to overcook the image, but perhaps I could’ve pushed it further. It probably wasn’t going to be a 10/10 image.
The printing may have contributed too as I printed on a Baryta paper to bring out the contrast more but I think it made the overall image darker and a little flat.
Family members had expressed doubts about this image but I did my usual and ignored them by putting this image into the competition. I had better images was the feedback, and it appears they might’ve been right.
Bonnie Boat – Revisited
I’ve subsequently gone back and had another look at this image.
I couldn’t do too much with the individual masking tweaks so I ran it through the Nik Collection Colour Efex Pro and tried applying some enhancement filters and picked one which made the image ‘pop’ more.
The image does indeed look a lot more appealing so I have to agree with the judge.
Here is a comparison of the original iPad edit and the revisited image.
Reflections
Total round four score of 17/20 or 85% isn’t too shabby is it?
Overall, my scores tally up to 64/80 or 80%.
When compared to last season after round four where I had accumulated a score of 64.5/80 or 81%.
While I am out of contention for the finals of the competition from the scores in the earlier rounds in particular, to beat my own previous season score, I need a combined score of 16/20 in the final round to move 0.5 point ahead of last seasons cumulative score.
It would also be great to score a 9.5 or 10 for one of these two final images because then I get an image automatically put through for Image of the Year competition.
Onwards and upwards…