Photography News Issue 50

Photography News | Issue 50 | photographynews.co.uk

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Profile

Penny Piddock Before the judge Join us for our regular chat with a well-known photographic judge. This month, Penny Piddock tells us all about her imaging journey and what she expects to see

I have been a West County Photographic Federation (WCPF) listed judge for a number of years and will happily judge at very small clubs as well as some of the larger ones in the region for their regular competitions and inter-club battles. At Dorchester Camera Club where I am a member, I belong to various selection committees and part of a self-help distinctions group. When you are reasonably well known locally it is almost inevitable that you get asked to assess people's work and to judge photography competitions at local clubs and other organisations. I think it is important to realise that every image is important to the person who took it so I wanted to be able to do justice to all levels of competence. I attended the judging seminar, was approved and now judge on a regular basis across the WCPF and neighbouring counties. I have also judged online for more distant clubs. This is challenging and time consuming but I can appreciate the problems of paying travel expenses for judges when there are so fewwithin easy reach. Only one person thinks the judge got it right on the night but I like to think that the photographers will understand why I chose a particular image over their own masterpiece and maybe realise that a bit of attention to some of the aspects of their own pictures might just raise them up the rankings. When judging I like to have an emotional response to a picture but occasionally I do wonder why a certain picture has been entered

Biography

Howmany years in photography I've had a camera since

childhood but a serious interest in photography since joining a camera club about 30 years ago. Home club Dorchester Camera Club, current chair and programme secretary. What is your favourite camera? Currently, it is a Panasonic Lumix GX8 but only because it is lighter than my Canon EOS 6D and easier to use for low-level photography. What is your favourite lens? I don't have one special favourite but the Olympus 75-300mm has spent most of the summer attached to the GX8 except when using the Olympus 60mmmacro. What is your favourite photo accessory?

Veteran on parade “I enjoy photographing people, particularly when there is a story to be told. He was passing through the shot and in this case I was able to get an interaction between us.”

instead of scores where the same one or two club experts are always going to do well. I am often overwhelmed by the standard of pictures I see in contests which seems to be improving all the time, especially in some of the more advanced clubs. However, it is a challenge for a judge when confronted by an ordinary picture but it's important to remember how much courage it takes for some members to enter a competition. I can still remember my first competition entry and had my picture been rubbished by the judge it might have been my last. Forme, common failings are there being no particular point of interest, lack of impact with poor lens choice or depth-of-field control, and no attention given to easily remedied faults, including wonky horizons and stuff in the periphery that is not a part of the image. Composition often needs working on. Compositional rules have been used since before the days of photography and have stood the test of time and in general workwell. If a photographer has the courage to go against the compositional rules and produces a strong image with a unique individual approach I am often drawn towards it. Traditional skills are recognised while overworking and extreme post-processing are less likely to do as well now we can all access the same software. For example, composites need to be good and believable even with fantasy images and there shouldn't be light coming from umpteen different directions.

My beef is with ‘nature’ images that are anything but ‘natural’. I can appreciate the beauty of harvest mice on ears of corn or nestling in a flower and understand that to get these photographs it is necessary to have a set with lights and captured animals that will be released. But if all this is set up for you at a workshop, all acceptable in an 'open' competition can it truly be your unique image? Compare this with the picture of an owl at dusk quartering the field or the mountain hare where someone has walked for hours in the snow and waited for that perfect moment. As judges how can we possibly compare or know how the pictures were obtained? I know the PAGB, RPS and FIAP have separated nature and wildlife with definitions and don't allow certain post-processing techniques. What they haven't done is ask photographers to declare that the image is their own composition, say how the picture was taken and to confirm that no unnatural procedures were used to obtain it. Probably too much to ask but I know how I feel when up against the perfect, obvious studio set-up shot in a nature contest. My final tip is read the rules and comply with them and get other people to look at your work for an honest appraisal. As with proofreading, it is very hard to accurately check your own work for the errors that will be picked up instantly by an experienced judge.

in a competition. With this in mind, if there is time, I try to enter members into a discussion once the competition has been judged and get people talking about the whys and wherefores. Sometimes I can appreciate a picture more when the photographer has an opportunity to talk about it. It is often from these sessions when members will get back to me afterwards and say how worthwhile this has been. Sometimes I feel clubs should give up on competitions and invite judges to give informed critique

An underwater housing. Who is your favourite photographer? I enjoy the works of Steve McCurry, and was inspired by Robert Doisneau when I first started taking photography seriously. What is your own

favourite photographic subject or technique? I'm fascinated by the natural world. I also enjoy photographing people in their natural environment but I'm prepared to try most things. This has given me a better understanding when judging. An example is studio photography. Until I tried to do it myself I had no real appreciation of the intricacies of studio lighting and model direction. What awards/distinctions/ medals have youwon? I am particularly proud of my DPAGB and have an EFIAP. I am not chasing further awards but will enter salons that I know have a good reputation. Yourwebsite The camera club’s is dorchestercameraclub.co.uk Passing through “This is still one of my favourites frommy series Snorkellers' World. As an underwater photographer who isn't a diver I enjoy portraying the view that I get looking between the transition between air and water. Two photographs were blended in Photoshop showing the reality of what I see.”

dorchestercameraclub.co.uk

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