Here are the results for the club's Photo of the Month competition for July.
This month's submissions were judged by one of our past members, Tony Stevens. His comments are below each image
1st Place - "Colourful Canopy" by David Brennan
"A winner by a nose only. This is an eye catching fun photograph that invites you to view and enjoy. It is both abstract and geometrically ordered at the same time. The colours are vibrant but do not totally overwhelm the image as the subtle colours of the buildings behind are still visible and impose order and structure to the overall picture."
2nd Place - "Starwars Princess" by Derek Rootham
"This was a close call and should have been awarded first place, however I have judged this on the image I was given. This is a beautiful pin sharp portrait of a child whose expression begs the question, 'What is she looking at' My only issue with the portrait is I found the chair headrest to be very distracting especially against the background. But for a simple crop this would have been in the number one slot."
3rd Place - "Spiral to Heaven" by David Brennan
"A symmetrical and striking image. I particularly like its stark simplicity, the geometry and balance of the image and the journey it takes the viewer up and up and up to the clear blue sky."
Worthy of Mention - "Religious Serenity" by David Brennan
"I love churches and religious iconography, spending a good deal of my atheist tine in places of worship. I was impressed by this image and at the same time frustrated as I do not recognise it (Where was it taken?). I would have preferred the photographer to utilise a little crop and vignetting to distract the eye from the bright stained glass window and the tiers of candles and focus onto the central subject. That said, I'd be proud to have walked out of that building with that picture in the bag."
Worthy of Mention - "Just Watchin The Ships Go By" by Derek Rootham
"A well timed and poignant capture of the Fiddler's Green Fishermen's Memorial as the statue to honour lost fishermen watches a ship sail from the Tyne to who knows where. My only criticism it the balance of the image as to me, the dark shadows on the statue tended to pull my eyes away from the whole story so cleverly captured in the image."
Worthy of Mention - "Subway Pitch" by Danny Pescod
"A stark and raw image of a singer and his guitar taking centre stage and dominating the image. On one hand you could point out so many things wrong with the picture in the accepted norms of photography, but on the other hand, it is true and honest. I really liked it and felt for a moment that I was actually there in the audience watching."
We'd like to thank Tony for taking the time to judge this month.