NCPS

Took place at Padiham on Saturday 10th March 2007. The 3 competitions were: the PAGB Inter-Club Print Selection; the PAGB Inter-Club Slide Selection; and the Digital Projected Image Competition. The first and second of these were to determine who would represent L&CPU in the PAGB inter-Federation (inter-club) competitions later this year. The third of these was a competition for individual photographers, although still with club recognition.

Tony and Dorothy Redford, Gordon and Joyce Robson, Bill Chadband and I (Barry Pearson) attended for the first competition in the morning. I stayed for the rest of the day, because I had entered some digital images into the third competition, which was held in the evening.

The PAGB Inter-Club Print Selection

NCPS entered the PAGB Inter-Club Print Selection, as we did last year. Last year we came second in that competition, and became one of the two clubs selected to represent L&CPU in the PAGB inter-Federation final later in the year. (We didn’t win the final!) So we decided to see if we could once again be one of the clubs to represent L&CPU.

The competition, held in the morning, has two rounds. The first round uses 12 prints, with complicated rules about how many must be monochromes, and maximum numbers per person, etc. These are judged, for the sole purpose of enabling clubs to decide which prints to use for the second round! Then the clubs choose 15 prints for the second round, with similarly complicated rules, and they too are judged. This time, the scores are used to select the two top clubs. (If this sounds confusing, I have probably explained it well. It is confusing!).

The judges were Peter Gennard, David Gibbons, and Don Byatt, from other federations. They used normal PAGB scoring, each pressing a button for 2, 3, 4, or 5, with the total (from 6 to 15) being used for each print. (They were also the judges for all other competitions and activities during the day).

After the first round, NCPS were second (out of eight) to Wigan 10. We ruthlessly discarded any print scoring 10 or less, (4 prints), and selected another 7 from the large set we had taken along. We tried to get inside the minds of the judges – “they don’t appear to like portraits or landscapes” – and chose accordingly. We raised our average a little, but not enough. We came third in the second round, beaten by just 3 points. The details are provided at the end of this article.

The PAGB Inter-Club Slide Selection

NCPS didn’t enter this competition, (held in the afternoon), which had even more complicated rules than the print competition. I remained, because I wanted to attend the evening’s competition.

At the risk of antagonising dedicated slide workers, the flaws in slide projection were obvious during this competition, and became even more obvious during the evening when digital projection eliminated those flaws. The minor problems were spots on slides, and the noise of the projector. The major problem was difficulty getting the focus right for each slide. The judges waited until each slide was properly focused before scoring, so this didn’t affect the scores. But it made the presentation less satisfactory for the audience.

With a large proportion of slides being digitally mastered, there was a feeling of “how long will slides continue – and why bother?” A competition devoted to slides-from-the-camera makes sense, because of the skills required when there is little opportunity for manipulation later. But digitally mastered slides have little or no advantage over projected digital images, and significant disadvantages. They are really an opportunist way for digital workers to exploit existing slide events, rather than a satisfactory target medium.

The Digital Projected Image Competition

There were 400+ images from 100+ photographers. (A maximum of 4 per person). Unlike the competitions earlier in the day, this was photographer competing against photographer, rather than club against club. Alan Saunders and I had each entered 4 images, posted on CDs to L&CPU.

Like the earlier slide competition, the screen was very large, rather like the NCPS Exhibition screen, with the difference being that the room was smaller than we use for our Exhibition. The silent transitions of spot-free, properly-focused, images were almost a shock after the slides earlier. The projection was of a high quality, and if it didn’t match the quality of slides-from-the-camera, any difference was subtle.

Projection of this quality at this size was revealing, and it was unforgiving of technical flaws such as lack of sharpness or over-sharpening. So were the judges, and several images got 6, the minimum. But good material was opened up on a screen this size, where it may have been cluttered or confused in a print viewed from a number of feet away.

I was pleased with my score (12, 12, 11, 10), while Alan Saunders was awarded a Certificate of Merit for “Wild Red Kite – in for the kill”. (An indication of the significance of this Certificate is that there were only 17 in all, from 400+ images, and 12 of those were awarded to members of Wigan 10!)

Pre-PAGB assessments

Interspersed among the competitions were informal assessments for people considering trying to obtain a CPAGB or DPAGB, (prints or slides). The judges adjusted their scores to match the criteria for the award being considered. Both Gordon Robson and I had some prints assessed – and our scores will not be published here!

Organisation and accommodation

The event was hosted by Padiham & District PS at the Nazareth Unitarian Chapel, Padiham. The accommodation was good for the purpose, with friendly catering staff who laid on satisfactory food (including super cakes) at better than satisfactory prices.

The event itself went pretty well as planned, but suffered a bit from the format. By having a number of rounds with re-selection in between, those not involved, (such as me during the afternoon), didn’t get a continuous photographic experience. It was not ideal as an audience event – but it wasn’t intended to be. It achieved its purposes, certificates were printed and handed out on the spot, and next day the results were available on the L&CPU web site, including PDFs for download.

NCPS will receive a CD containing the 100 best digital images from the evening’s competition, as will all other clubs in L&CPU. Alan’s Certificate of Merit image will obviously be on it, and I hope my best images will be too.

Results from the PAGB Inter-Club Print Selection

Rules

At least 5 monochrome; at least 5 colour; not more than 3 Natural History; not more than 4 per author; at least 5 authors. (Try keeping those in mind while trying to select prints from the available pool!)

First Round (12 prints)

Christmas Mannequin, Barry Pearson - 10

Passed By, Tony Redford - 12

Let’s Party, Dorothy Redford - 12

Lower Brockhampton House, Jon Allanson - 9

Lord of The Isles Glennfinnan, Colin Pickles - 9

Wild Red Kite, Alan Saunders - 12

The Staircase, Geoff Robinson - 12

Glacier Challenge, Tony Redford - 12

Modern Arrangement, Dorothy Redford - 12

Connections, Geoff Robinson - 11

Music to the Ears, Tony Redford - 10

Early Morning Mist, Geoff Robinson – 13

Total – 134

Second Round (15 prints)

Passed By, Tony Redford - 12

Let’s Party, Dorothy Redford - 12

Wild Red Kite, Alan Saunders - 12

The Staircase, Geoff Robinson - 12

Glacier Challenge, Tony Redford - 12

Modern Arrangement, Dorothy Redford - 12

Connections, Geoff Robinson - 11

Early Morning Mist, Geoff Robinson - 13

Spiral Stairs, Dorothy Redford - 10

Magpie Mine, Gordon Robson - 10

Sacre Coeur, Colin Pickles - 10

Corrider of Light, Tony Redford - 11

Looking Out, Barry Pearson - 11

Bristley Ridge, Gordon Robson - 11

Hard Rock, Tony Redford – 12

Total – 171


	The L&CPU 3 Competitions Day
		Took place at Padiham on Saturday 10th March 2007. The 3 competitions were: the PAGB Inter-Club Print Selection; the PAGB Inter-Club Slide Selection; and the Digital Projected Image Competition. The first and second of these were to determine who would represent L&CPU in the PAGB inter-Federation (inter-club) competitions later this year. The third of these was a competition for individual photographers, although still with club recognition. Tony and Dorothy Redford, Gordon and Joyce Robson, Bill Chadband and I (Barry Pearson) attended for the first competition in the morning. I stayed for the rest of the day, because I had entered some digital images into the third competition, which was held in the evening. The PAGB Inter-Club Print Selection NCPS entered the PAGB Inter-Club Print Selection, as we did last year. Last year we came second in that competition, and became one of the two clubs selected to represent L&CPU in the PAGB inter-Federation final later in the year. (We didn’t win the final!) So we decided to see if we could once again be one of the clubs to represent L&CPU. The competition, held in the morning, has two rounds. The first round uses 12 prints, with complicated rules about how many must be monochromes, and maximum numbers per person, etc. These are judged, for the sole purpose of enabling clubs to decide which prints to use for the second round! Then the clubs choose 15 prints for the second round, with similarly complicated rules, and they too are judged. This time, the scores are used to select the two top clubs. (If this sounds confusing, I have probably explained it well. It is confusing!). The judges were Peter Gennard, David Gibbons, and Don Byatt, from other federations. They used normal PAGB scoring, each pressing a button for 2, 3, 4, or 5, with the total (from 6 to 15) being used for each print. (They were also the judges for all other competitions and activities during the day). After the first round, NCPS were second (out of eight) to Wigan 10. We ruthlessly discarded any print scoring 10 or less, (4 prints), and selected another 7 from the large set we had taken along. We tried to get inside the minds of the judges – “they don’t appear to like portraits or landscapes” – and chose accordingly. We raised our average a little, but not enough. We came third in the second round, beaten by just 3 points. The details are provided at the end of this article. The PAGB Inter-Club Slide Selection NCPS didn’t enter this competition, (held in the afternoon), which had even more complicated rules than the print competition. I remained, because I wanted to attend the evening’s competition. At the risk of antagonising dedicated slide workers, the flaws in slide projection were obvious during this competition, and became even more obvious during the evening when digital projection eliminated those flaws. The minor problems were spots on slides, and the noise of the projector. The major problem was difficulty getting the focus right for each slide. The judges waited until each slide was properly focused before scoring, so this didn’t affect the scores. But it made the presentation less satisfactory for the audience. With a large proportion of slides being digitally mastered, there was a feeling of “how long will slides continue – and why bother?” A competition devoted to slides-from-the-camera makes sense, because of the skills required when there is little opportunity for manipulation later. But digitally mastered slides have little or no advantage over projected digital images, and significant disadvantages. They are really an opportunist way for digital workers to exploit existing slide events, rather than a satisfactory target medium. The Digital Projected Image Competition There were 400+ images from 100+ photographers. (A maximum of 4 per person). Unlike the competitions earlier in the day, this was photographer competing against photographer, rather than club against club. Alan Saunders and I had each entered 4 images, posted on CDs to L&CPU. Like the earlier slide competition, the screen was very large, rather like the NCPS Exhibition screen, with the difference being that the room was smaller than we use for our Exhibition. The silent transitions of spot-free, properly-focused, images were almost a shock after the slides earlier. The projection was of a high quality, and if it didn’t match the quality of slides-from-the-camera, any difference was subtle. Projection of this quality at this size was revealing, and it was unforgiving of technical flaws such as lack of sharpness or over-sharpening. So were the judges, and several images got 6, the minimum. But good material was opened up on a screen this size, where it may have been cluttered or confused in a print viewed from a number of feet away. I was pleased with my score (12, 12, 11, 10), while Alan Saunders was awarded a Certificate of Merit for “Wild Red Kite – in for the kill”. (An indication of the significance of this Certificate is that there were only 17 in all, from 400+ images, and 12 of those were awarded to members of Wigan 10!) Pre-PAGB assessments Interspersed among the competitions were informal assessments for people considering trying to obtain a CPAGB or DPAGB, (prints or slides). The judges adjusted their scores to match the criteria for the award being considered. Both Gordon Robson and I had some prints assessed – and our scores will not be published here! Organisation and accommodation The event was hosted by Padiham & District PS at the Nazareth Unitarian Chapel, Padiham. The accommodation was good for the purpose, with friendly catering staff who laid on satisfactory food (including super cakes) at better than satisfactory prices. The event itself went pretty well as planned, but suffered a bit from the format. By having a number of rounds with re-selection in between, those not involved, (such as me during the afternoon), didn’t get a continuous photographic experience. It was not ideal as an audience event – but it wasn’t intended to be. It achieved its purposes, certificates were printed and handed out on the spot, and next day the results were available on the L&CPU web site, including PDFs for download. NCPS will receive a CD containing the 100 best digital images from the evening’s competition, as will all other clubs in L&CPU. Alan’s Certificate of Merit image will obviously be on it, and I hope my best images will be too. Results from the PAGB Inter-Club Print Selection Rules At least 5 monochrome; at least 5 colour; not more than 3 Natural History; not more than 4 per author; at least 5 authors. (Try keeping those in mind while trying to select prints from the available pool!) First Round (12 prints) Christmas Mannequin, Barry Pearson - 10 Passed By, Tony Redford - 12 Let’s Party, Dorothy Redford - 12 Lower Brockhampton House, Jon Allanson - 9 Lord of The Isles Glennfinnan, Colin Pickles - 9 Wild Red Kite, Alan Saunders - 12 The Staircase, Geoff Robinson - 12 Glacier Challenge, Tony Redford - 12 Modern Arrangement, Dorothy Redford - 12 Connections, Geoff Robinson - 11 Music to the Ears, Tony Redford - 10 Early Morning Mist, Geoff Robinson – 13 Total – 134 Second Round (15 prints) Passed By, Tony Redford - 12 Let’s Party, Dorothy Redford - 12 Wild Red Kite, Alan Saunders - 12 The Staircase, Geoff Robinson - 12 Glacier Challenge, Tony Redford - 12 Modern Arrangement, Dorothy Redford - 12 Connections, Geoff Robinson - 11 Early Morning Mist, Geoff Robinson - 13 Spiral Stairs, Dorothy Redford - 10 Magpie Mine, Gordon Robson - 10 Sacre Coeur, Colin Pickles - 10 Corrider of Light, Tony Redford - 11 Looking Out, Barry Pearson - 11 Bristley Ridge, Gordon Robson - 11 Hard Rock, Tony Redford – 12 Total – 171 Barry Pearson, 11 March 2007
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