Help I Need Your Votes (Again)

[Penfold]

Thank you all, it's through your support and help in choosing photos for entering some of the comps that made a lot of the good results come about.

I would not be surprised to know you are about to be upped into the intermediate section! Do they have a 'bloody brilliant' section?

Meer, I'm already in the Intermediate section (technically, I should have joined as a beginner but I didn't know the club rules back then). They are proposing I move up to the advanced group containing the professional photographers and members who have been taking photos for donkey's years (the 'bloody brilliant' section)- that's why my ego has been well and truly stroked!

[meerkat]

Good stuff anyway Penners! Or should I, perhaps, say Sir Penners, knighthood for services to photography?

[Dotsie]

It wouldn't let me post, gah! But I was just congratulating you anyway!

[Batty]

To say that I am feeling rather chuffed (and flattered), at the moment, would be a gross understatement.

You deserve every moment of chuffiness! (OK - I made the word up - but you still deserve it!)

If they attend classes, then most people can learn the basics of taking a photo, but it takes skill and a good eye to compose a picture, and you have that in abundance!

Just think. When you are famous and your photos sell for thousands, I can produce my tree photo that you gave to me last year!!
Well Done, Penfold!

[spideyGirl]

Wow, well done Penners!

[Bouncy Castle]

[Big Aggie]

Wonderful news penners, can't wait to see the next lot of photos as I was using my phone before, now I have a laptop I can see your photos properly. Happy snapping

[michelanCello]

Congrats, Penners!

[ShadowNinjaCat]

Congratulations!

[Kin Arad]

Well Done!!

[Jan Van Quirm]

I just lost a post too...



Well done Penners! Truly well deserved

[Del]

Thank you all for the comments, I'm still chuffed by the result even after two weeks. However, there was another merit competition tonight (the last one, this season, for merit points) which I have just got back from and I am pleased to report;

PENFOLD STRIKES AGAIN!!!!

Yep, I won best in the Intermediate Category and best overall on the night!

"Pink" scored 17/20.


"Pier at Dawn" scored 18/20.


ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I have tried to vote in your comps before but as you know I never can.... so I wasnt looking at this thread (because I cant vote).... only looked because it seemed to be getting alot of hits and I thought... oh yeah... someones gone off thread again and maybe they are talking about gorgeous naked men,... and maybe posting pics!!!

Well blow me down! WELL DONE YOU!!!!!!!

Not that I am surprised.... always knew you were a bloody amazing photographer (well we all knew).

"The Boat" scored 20/20 and was the winner.

I am still surprised at how well this has done (it was part of the panel comp) since the style is generally not liked by judges (and it's not my personal favourite out of the panel either).

I know I haven't scored consistently high enough to win the print merit competition, overall, for the season but I am definitely in contention for one of the runner-up spots. I will know more when the full scores are published but either way I don't think it too shabby for a first season.

[Who's Wee Dug]

Well done again Penners your quart pot runneth over.

[Penfold]

It's time for the new season at the camera club and it kicks of with a digitally projected image comp (photo displayed on a big screen).

These are my three choices to start the season with but I am having real trouble coming up with a title for two of them (2 & 3). If anyone can come up with a suggestion for any of them I would be very grateful.

1. Rattus Norvegicus (Brown Rat, aka Basil) on the Arun riverbank, Arundel.

I should mention that wild animals are denoted by their scientific name and where photographed to inform the judges that they were taken in the wild and are not tame 'pets'.

2. A Deceptive Perspective.

This reflection in office block windows was taken just outside London Bridge.

3. Rise to the Corridors of Power (London City Hall)

I don't even know the name of this building except that the architecture and sweep of the steps caught my eye. It also took about half an hour before I got a shot without people actually on the steps.

These entries will be going in on Tuesday for the competition next week. I don't expect to do great, however, since this is my first effort in the 'Advanced' group comprising of professionals and those who have been doing this for years. Mind you, you can never tell just what will float the judges boat.

[Tonyblack]

I have to say that I think the third picture is my favourite. The sweep and angle of the handrail drags the eye into an almost perfect replica of a curve in the building itself. And the way the light catches the handrail is really striking.

The sky has a quality that makes the building stand out - almost a buffer that send the eye back to the building.

The choice of monochrome for this shot really works and I find it difficult to imagine that you would have got such a good effect in colour.

Surprisingly (to me) I find the rat picture the least interesting of the three, and I'd normally much rather wildlife shots to cityscapes. Don't get me wrong, I think it's an excellent photo but, with this sort of shot, you are very limited to what you can do with such things as backgrounds, poses etc. I'd have liked to see either more of a background or almost none at all. More would have given the rat a sense of 'place' less would have given more focus to the rat itself.

The second picture is very interesting and well composed. The staircase takes the eye up and up and up following the windows.

But I think that second shot would have been less difficult both technically and artistically to the third one. The third one is curves and organic lines along with almost perfect lighting on that handrail. It has so much more going for it that the second one.

But that's just my opinion. I wish you all the very best as all three are cracking shots!