Sandhills Photography Club

Our “Open” competition was held on the regular meeting night, February 13. We had 60 entries from which our judge Brian Fullington chose the winners. We received many compliments on the judging done by Brian. One member commented that he was the best judge he’d seen in 23 years of membership. Brian’s comments were exceptionally educational and helpful, with many solid suggestions for improving the shots. His comments have been emailed to all members and we hope you’ll take some time to read and digest his critiques. Congratulations to the winners in each tier!

Shari Dutton won third place for Tier 2 in the “Open” competition and these winning points moved her up to Tier 3. Congratulations, Shari! Great job!

Our next competition topic will be “Solitude” and the competition will be held on April 10. The galleries for this competition will open for entries on March 11 and will close on March 18. Here is the complete definition for the “Solitude” topic:

Solitude is defined as the state of being alone or remote from others; the state of being secluded or uninhabited; the state of being lonely or loneliness.

Let your image reflect one of the three states of solitude. (3-year time limit)

Our judge will be David Morring, a professional photographer who also writes and shares photos on his Tales from the Tripod blog. David travels extensively and his beautiful photos and interesting stories shared on his blog reflect his wanderings. His website is www.tripodcollections.com.

During our last competition, we had several entries that did not have the photographer’s name and title in the filename. Without this information, it is almost impossible to figure out who entered the image. We try to figure it out, but sometimes we can’t and we have to reject the image. For the next competition, we will be trying a new way of entering. You will get a link that will take you to a web page where you will enter your name and the title of your image and you will choose your image to upload. Then, just click the “Submit” button and you’re done! The galleries email will be sent on Wednesday March 8 and will contain the simpler directions for entering. We still need your metadata AND, if you are sending cell phone images, we will need to contact you to get your metadata from your phone. Cell phone metadata does not travel and we have tried experiments to capture the cell phone data, but it doesn’t come through.

We think you’ll like the new, easier way to enter the competitions! If you would like to see how this works, click the link below and you can upload a test photo now. You can do a practice run before the next galleries open. Here is the link:

https://airtable.com/shrshEJtZQVsNbrWS

In the very near future, it will be time to vote for the 2025 topics and we are asking for suggestions now. We will prepare a list of the top 30 or 40 topics and ask you to choose your favorites. If you have ideas for topics, send them to us at the email at the top of this page.

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Don’t forget about joining the Competitions Committee. We would like to have an opportunity to work with the new committee before next year. If you’ll work with us for several competitions now, you can avoid the state of panic in February 2024. Spring is coming so we’re looking forward to warmer shooting!

Bonny & Jerry

Sandhills Photography Club

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POINTS GUIDELINE IMPACT: 1 to 4 points Does the image illicit a strong emotional response as a first impression with a feeling of mood and does it hold your eye and interest? Does the title add to the image?

COMPOSITION: 1 to 3 points Is there design and balance in the image, bringing all of the visual elements together? Does it draw the viewer to look where the creator intended? Is the subject emphasized by the placement, contrast and framing with no distracting elements? Does the image have a strong point of interest?

TECHNICAL: 1 to 3 points Proper exposure, color balance, image focus, and good tonality should exist in the image as appropriate to the subject.

Keep this in mind when thinking about a title for your images. There are some who argue that a good or clever title should not be necessary, that the image should stand on its own and not necessarily need a title to “explain” the story or the picture. We, as the Competition Committee, feel that a title is important and can add to the overall impact of the photo. Any short title will work, but a creative, humorous, or inspired title is an addition to the photo. If the title is used to explain the image, we feel the judge will recognize that and perhaps lower the impact score realizing the image alone doesn’t tell the complete story. Some judges place importance on titles, others do not.

There is a discrepancy between the judging guidelines and the Competition Manual (which does not mention titles). We will update the manual, but in the meantime, we wanted you to be aware that the judge may consider your title as part of the judging.

Also, if you have not paid your 2023 dues, you will not be allowed to participate in the February competition. The galleries will open on January 14, so make sure your dues are paid before that date

As always, if you have questions or any difficulties entering, feel free to contact us at: competitions@sandhillsphotoclub.org.

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Happy shooting!
Bonny & Jerry