In the Herald - Time to give black and white a try

This week we welcomed the president of Greenock Camera Club, Campbell Skinner, to judge our first two print competitions of the season.  Campbell has been judging at the highest level for many years so we knew we were in for a good evening.

For our prints we run two separate competitions; one for monochrome and one for colour.  In this week’s edition we are showing you some of Campbell’s favourite photographs from the monochromes, including his top selections. 

In joint 3rd place Campbell chose Alan Campbell’s intense portrait of Mark, which he praised for the fine rendering of detail and the excellent use of light.  Fiona Wallace joined Alan in joint 3rd place with her tightly cropped action shot of three huskies, “Doggone”, with Campbell commenting on the expression and sharpness in the dogs’ faces.

Michele Campbell, who was recently awarded a Selector’s Award at the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain Master of Print exhibition, had all three of her studio monochrome prints given joint 2nd place by our esteemed judge.  Campbell remarked on the quality of Michelle’s prints saying that they would do well in any external competition.  “Cotton Eye Joe” shows Mark in full hillbilly costume with all the props.  The classy “Feathers and Pearls” gives us a classy 20’s flapper which was praised for the sympathetic background, strong eye contact and use of light.  Michele picked up final 2nd place for “Little Ballerina” beautifully depicting a wee lassie tying her ballet pumps.

In first place Campbell chose my rugby action print “The Release”.  The print captures the moment just before an intent player grabs the ball just released as his teammate is being taken down in a last gasp tackle.  Although Campbell found plenty of improvements that could be made to the image, he praised it for the timing, emotion & expression as well as the isolation of the players from the background.

Campbell was very generous in his comments and marking of all of the club’s images.  As well as the very top scoring prints, we are also showing you here some of the other monochrome prints which were singled out for commendation and high commendation.

Next week we will take a look at Campbell’s choice picks of our colour photographs.  Until then, keep safe & enjoy the light!