Success for Jeremy in Morpeth Camera Club Pdi Knockout Competition

Members had been invited in advance to submit up to four images on any subject, in either colour or monochrome.

This fun competition with no marking involved gives members the opportunity to display their work and to gauge reaction from the group.

Sixty-four images were entered into the competition by 16 members. These were displayed two at a time and those in the audience were asked to choose the one they preferred – which then went into the next round, with the other image being eliminated from the contest.

The process was then repeated and the previously chosen images were shuffled by the software programme and presented again until the final image was declared the winner.

As usual in a knockout, the first round produced images that seemed easy to compare and decide upon and based solely on one’s taste, but as the rounds progressed, more thought had to be given to the content and composition. The final images in the round should really be gauged by the expertise that had been used when taking the picture.

In the first round, an Alstroemeria flower still life found itself vying with a Goth girl, bracket fungi against a close-up image of a giraffe, a seascape against old Beamish trams and a church altar vied with lug wormers at work on the shore.

A landscape was randomly placed next to another, a stylised lighthouse placed next to a wading flamingo, a rustic Italian house front against looped ropes and groynes vied with a cute dormouse.

Tuts and groans from the audience could be heard during the next round when two of their preferred images were placed side by side. This was the time when subjective views had to be put to one side to concentrate on how much work had been put into creating both images.

In the final round, those in attendance were left with a low-key atmospheric image of wooden staithes, an almost abstract view of Morpeth rooftops in the snow and a lakeland scene.

Finally, the image chosen to be the winner of this year’s Pdi Knockout Competition was View from Friars Crag by Jeremy Cooper; a sweeping view over Derwentwater taken from Friars Crag towards Cat Bells, which was beautifully framed by foliage.

An excellent pooled supper followed, which marked the last meeting until 2024. Thanks to everyone who supported the competition and provided food.

For more information regarding the club, please visit www.morpethcameraclub.co.uk or its dedicated Facebook page.