28th Nov 2011 Street /Urban Competition

30/11/11

Another packed audience on competition night saw well-known judge Eddy Lane presiding over all things 'Street' and 'Urban'. This broad church had club members entering all manner of subject matter, from people to places, abstracts to architecture - all within an urban environment of course.

Perhaps the brief was too large and the entries too many, but Eddy made time for each image - picking out what delighted him for those that made the grade and giving a little gentle but constructive criticism for those that weren't placed.

No stranger to street photography himself, it was clear that the most successful images for Eddy stood out not just in terms of composition and use of light, but in the way they interacted and provoked a positive response, surely the mark of any quality picture whatever the genre.

Partly I suspect because of the sheer volume of entries, the print judging culminated with those awarded a Highly Commended or better. Although this removed an element of anticipation as to how any one print had fared, it was clear and structured - which is exactly what's needed on occasions!

The DPIs followed a more traditional route, with the winning entry chosen from what was quite a large pool of HCs, joint thirds etc. As Eddy explained, sometimes it really is that difficult to place one entry marginally above another.

Two things seem abundantly clear about our competition evenings. Firstly, they're hugely popular and it was encouraging to again see a healthy entry in the 'B' section - although I suspect some of these members are rapidly heading for 'A' status!

And secondly, they provide a wealth of topics to discuss: what was good, what wasn't, what impressed, what didn't. A good evening can be measured not only by the strength of work on show, but by the chatter in the room during the break, and tonight was no exception.

Many thanks to Eddy for his insight, encouragement and time, and indeed to all those who work tirelessly to make these evenings run smoothly.

Tony Gill