Forum - Colour challenge 02/10/24

This was a variation on the single colour challenge which we have run in the past.

Members selected or were given a colour swatch from a paint company and they were asked to go away and create a still life image using a number of objects with the range of colours in the swatch for both the background and items photographed. Members were given the freedom to choose how they created the image. On the night, members images were shown and discussed with input from each author as to what inspired them and how they created their image. There were some great images produced and it was agreed that there would be no voting; just an appreciation of members’ efforts.

Four of the resulting compositions are shown here. You can see that in three cases the swatch was included for reference.

Graham Sykes’ ingenious use of blues

Robert Waterworth’s effort at mainly grayscale tones

Trevor Morris’s still life

Mike Hey’s study in orange

Monthly Challenge 6 – Print – Industry 04/09/24

This month’s print challenge had been inspired by the choice of ‘Industry’ as a set subject in the next season of the West Yorkshire Interclub competition. In the past, visits to local mills would have resulted in many images of day to day activities in a range of industries from textiles to engineering and chemicals. Nowadays such visits are few and far between partly because the businesses don’t exist locally and partly because those that do, put up barriers to groups visiting.

It is therefore more of a challenge to members to show prints which demonstrate the meaning of ‘Industry’, particularly where activities are portrayed. Despite that, three images emerged as the highest point scorers so congratulations to Gary Fenton for his 3rd placed study of copperwork, Sheelagh Davidson for her evocative view of former carpet factory buildings now repurposed for a range of uses at Dean Clough which came 2nd, and Alan Stopher whose ‘In the workshop’ print of an operative welding emerged in first place.

Thanks go to Mark Turner and Tony Pratt who provided the critique.

One hour challenge 07/08/24

The One Hour Challenge has been a feature of our summer programme for some years. On turning up at the club room for an 8pm start we were given a subject to photograph. This year Club President chose ‘Our green and pleasant land’. As it was high summer there was plenty of greenery to choose from but it was not easy to get good captures. We had until 9pm to hand in an SD card with two JPEG images each but the evening sun did not put in an appearance and it was one of the gloomier evenings we have had for outside photography. That gave little time to do any in-camera processing so unsurprisingly attempts at capturing landscape subjects were not going to come up with Competition standard entries.

Nevertheless over 30 images were bought back and duly shown after the refreshment break. Each were shown in pairs and voted on to ‘retain’ or ‘lose’. The number were finally whittled down by shows of hands over a number of rounds until the last two images were projected. Both were taken at Castle Hill in the attempt to get nearer the sun. Congratulations to Robert Waterworth for his 1st place image and hard lines Andy Symons who just missed out.

1st place - Robert Waterworth

2nd place - Andy Symmons