This is a VERY long post (apologies) but please get your favourite beverage and read to the end.

LETS START WITH THE THANKS 

Firstly, I would like to thank all of the people who entered the Charity Print Competition in support of St. Rocco’s Hospice. The kindness of those who sent in an entry or donation was very heartwarming especially when I had no idea who some of those people were – didn’t even recognise the name. In some ways you already know the people who will support you and they come through for you every time and those people will always have my heartfelt thanks.  The major surprise, as I say, were the people who I don’t know and who took the time, trouble and expense to enter – thank you so much.

AN UNSELFISH GESTURE

This wasn’t a competition where you gained personal points or even an opportunity to see your picture hanging in a prestigious gallery…… it was an opportunity to give something selflessly of yourself. This print competition was in support of  people who are in great need of care and comfort in life limiting circumstances and the generosity of those that entered made a difference. If you are one of the people who entered the competition and  I have described above, please give yourself a pat on the back for being so kind.

Some people sent a donation of £10 but only entered one picture, most people entered 4 prints and a few very kind people “just” sent a donation (they apologised for not being able to send prints).   All donations and prints were obviously very welcome.

GOOD AND NOT SO GOOD

It was interesting to hear (on the grapevine) that the charity print competition was somewhat  “sneered “ at with the hope that it wouldn’t be too successful. Apparently the question was also raised as to “why is she doing it?” and “what is she going to personally get out of it?”. But fortunately not everyone thought along those lines and due to people’s generosity it was a success and raised just over £700. ALL of the money raised went to the hospice. I did not take a penny from the competition and I was supported by friends and family (who do not want to be mentioned here ) who personally bought  the medals, mounts etc. At this point I would also like to thank Mr. Chris Roberts and Paper Spectrum for their generosity too.

WHY PRINTS?

I could have organised a digital comp but thought that a print comp would encourage the ever plummeting numbers of people who enter prints in the various salons/exhibitions. This subject is regularly brought up on Facebook etc with a number of people continually appealing for us to “keep prints alive”.  Unfortunately, only one person who regularly beats the drum for keeping prints alive was kind enough to enter – you know who you are and thank you.

THANKS TO THE JUDGES

Thank you to the judges who gave up their time and without wanting or expecting a fee/travelling expenses. They therefore  gave freely of their time and expertise and took the task given to them very seriously – but also with good humour, we really did have a fab time. Therefore, it was a very pleasant experience and I can confirm that each picture was given plenty of time to be assessed for its merits…. not the usual 3/5 seconds given to them  in most competitions. 

The images were varied in genre  – as you would expect from an open theme and it seems that people entered more A4 prints than A3 prints with square prints being very popular.

The judges looked initially at all off the prints and then whittled the numbers down and made their final cut from those. There was a unanimous decision for the overall winner and then a  each of the judges chose  a picture that appealed to them personally . I had no say in any of this – I just made them drinks and fed them copious amounts of  biscuits to keep them going . I was glad I wasn’t judging and it was interesting to see how a none photographic judge (a conventional painter and lecturer) assessed the pictures. I would advise other salons to think along those lines too.

The final selection came out at 20 images  (approx 10% of the total submission) from which the overall winner and 3 judges selections were chosen. There will be 2 more medals awarded St. Rocco’a Admin’s choice and the people’s choice (voted for on the day of the fair) and those people will be notified after the spring fair on May 11th at St. Rocco’s Hospice. 

….. And so to the results, I bet you scrolled down to this bit straight away !

MEDAL WINNERS 

OVERALL WINNER

DID YOU SAY TREAT – ROSS MCKELVEY

CHRISTINE JOHNSON JUDGES AWARD

COURAGE – LYNNE MORRIS 

ROBERT MILLIN JUDGES AWARD

JUST THE TWO OF US  – JIM HILL

MARC TURNER JUDGES AWARD

RELEASE – PENNY PIDDOCK

THE WINNERS OF THE ST. ROCCO’S HOSPICE AWARD AND THE PEOPLE CHOICE AWARD WILL BE ANNOUNCED AFTER THE 11TH MAY 2019

SELECTED IMAGES (ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

PHIL BARKER – TIME FOR A CUDDLE

PAUL BULLOCK – LAUGHING DUCK

ELIZABETH BROWN – SCABIOUS

LAURIE CAMPBELL – FLY HIGH

GAILLE GRAY – RESPLENDENT IN RED

GAILLE GRAY – LIGHT AS A FEATHER

GIALLE GRAY -PINK COLUMBINE

LYNDA HANEY – PONY IN SNOW

LYNDA HANEY – DROPPING IN

EILEEN JONES – FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

ROSS MCKELVEY – REACH FOR THE SKY

ROSS MCKELVEY – CIRCULAR BALLET

MALGORZATA KRASNIEWSKA – MOTHER TO BE

LYNNE MORRIS – BETTER TOGETHER

WHO IS THE VISITOR WITH THE CAMERA – PENNY PIDDOCK

DANCE LIFT – BILL PRESTON

If your name doesn’t appear above then I am sorry to say your print wasn’t selected but you have my personal vote of gratitude for entering the competition. 

I have been asked would I do it agaIn and the answer is, I don’t know …… watch this space.  

Thank you to everyone who supported this wonderful cause – you may have had a friend or loved one in a hospice and know how much good work these places do, that’s why I chose this cause.

It WAS a different print competition and YOU did make a difference x

Only 17 days to the closing date of the CHARITY PRINT COMPETITION

ALL proceeds will go to the charity

People have asked me what my expectations are for this charity print competition…….. I have to say that I don’t think its going to break any records LOL.

If 50 people enter then it will raise £500 for the charity – which runs, in the main, on donations given by extremely kind and caring people and I am sure that any amount of money will be gratefully received.

Hello

I am organising a charity print competition with a difference

I started my blog recounting the tale of my first teetering steps into the fabulous world of photographic competitions (see Notes From the Disillusioned).

I had begun to learn more about my camera by trial and error. After taking the picture I would look at the results but not have a clue as to what I had done wrong, so it was a huge learning curve working out how to rectify my mistakes. Even today, 10 years on, I still make those mistakes but I immediately know what I did wrong and can sort the error out more quickly.

Having bought a digital camera in 2007 I joined a local photographic society and quickly became aware that there was a monthly competition for the members. Woo Hoo!!

After watching for a few months what happened during the judging process  I decided, towards the end of the season, to dip my toe in the water and enter the comp.  So I carefully selected 3 pictures which I submitted into the digital section with high hopes of success. 

I have always been arty (although I have not had any formal art school training) so I thought that my pictures would blow the judges mind and he would shower my images with praise.

You know this is going to end badly don’t you?

To say that the judged savaged my pictures is an understatement. He wrongly guessed what the subject matter of my first picture actually was. It was in fact columns reflected in the water at the Albert Dock, Liverpool but he thought it was a picture of cricket stumps reflected in a puddle. He suggested that it would have scored more points if he could have seen the bales or the bottom of the cricket bat in the puddle !!!   I sat in stunned silence wondering whether if it would be the wrong thing to do to stand up and say what it actually was….. I decided not to say anything.

The second picture depicted two gentleman deep in conversation on a beach with a  little dog who, as far as I was concerned, was the focal point of the picture. The judge said that he liked the interaction of the two men but thought it would be better without the dog………. The dog WAS the whole point of the picture – why couldn’t he see that??  I shook my head in disbelief but knew my final picture was probably my best shot at getting a higher score.

The last picture, which was a line of row boats on a dock, elicited the following comment from the judge, and I quote.. “ why the photographer took their camera out on this occasion is beyond me. It is probably the worst picture I have had the misfortune to judge”.

I was crest fallen. My hopes for a set of high scores was shot down in flames BUT I have to say that I needed to be brought down to earth- I needed that brutal but honest set of scathing remarks, they made me more determined to get better. Had I received a good set of marks and nice comments I would have sat back and not tried to improve.

The judges comments made me realised that if I wanted to do well in competitions I would have to learn more about photographic techniques and about what judges look for when they were scoring the various pictures.

So that was my baptism of fire and I had taken my first steps in the wonderful and somewhat exasperating world of competitive photography.

I was yet to discover Photoshop…. that pleasure came much later and is another story.