Waikato v Shaftesbury International, 2014
It’s always good to try something new so this year for the first time, Bill had sought out a camera club on the other side of the world for an international friendly match, Waikato Photographic Society which is located in Hamilton, North Island, New Zealand.
The concept is simple: both clubs would appoint an independent local judge to score and comment on twenty PDIs from each club. Scoring would be out of 10, so when both judges scores are combined, the maximum would be 20. Scoring out of 10 with no half marks was a little unusual as the traditional (at least in the UK) 6½ to 10 range would need to be a little wider: in the event both judges acting totally independently awarded marks between 4 and 10.
Shaftesbury’s round was held on Thursday 27th March with Rob Barron as our judge: Babs kept track of his comments which are summarised below. Because of the distances in NZ, Waikato sent all 40 PDIs to their judge, Roger Bownsey Hon PSNZ FPSNZ for marking and comments. Once all scoring was completed, the teams exchanged scores and identified a clear win for Shaftesbury. It was interesting to note that there was good agreement between the two judges both in comments and scores for many images.
| UK Judge: | NZ Judge: | |||
| Rob Barron | Roger Brownsey | TOTAL | ||
| Shaftesbury | 163 | 156 | 319 | |
| Waikato | 143 | 137 | 280 |
Both teams scored one twenty each but it was in the 18 and 19 region where Shaftesbury drew a clear lead ahead of their rivals. It is important not to try to draw too much from the scores as the scoring range is quite different to our normal inter-club single judge competitions.
Special congratulations go to both entrants images who scored 20 – it’s never easy to satisfy two judges! We are very grateful to Val F at WPS for helping to make this venture a success, and many thanks to both judges for working so hard to help with our first international friendly. We hope to repeat this event in future years and that it will become a regular feature in our programme, and we would be very pleased to welcome anyone from Waikato PS if they find themselves in our corner of North Dorset.
Chris W
| English Judge: | New Zealand Judge: | |||||
| Shaftesbury | ||||||
| Kite Flight | Cracking detail, spectacular, majestic bird. Well placed, been held away from foliage by keeping it on the blue sky. | 10 | Magnificent portrayal | 10 | 20 | Val Saxby |
| Wasp | Fantastic detail. Exceptional control. | 10 | Fantastic detail & colour of wasp | 9 | 19 | David Townley |
| Above the Arctic Circle at Midnight | Natural divisions with different coloured lighting, so much happening in image. Lovely detail. | 8 | Brooding yet wonderful sense of calm | 10 | 18 | Adrian White |
| La jardin Majorelle | Likes the play with lines and the combination of blue & yellow, excellent contrast. | 9 | Rich Royal colours & patterns | 9 | 18 | Karen Green |
| Amazon Milk Frog | Lovely charming character. Good detail, clear and sharp eyes. | 9 | Excellent Natural History | 9 | 18 | Val Saxby |
| Barn and Rape Field | Lovely expansive yellow lines. Pleasant and competent.. | 7 | My sort of Landscape | 10 | 17 | |
| Not Abbey Road | Image is so much more than 3 people crossing. Lovely feel and idea – good picture. | 9 | A bold atmospheric presentation | 8 | 17 | |
| Protection Squad | Lots of detail, has an edginess and controlled very well. | 8 | Wasp story well told | 9 | 17 | |
| St Pauls | Good presentation of a well known landmark. Interesting idea. | 9 | Has the lovely soft colours of a rainy day | 8 | 17 | |
| Acer | Wonderful colouration and angle of leaf effect. Contour of light coming through the leaves making it rich in colour. | 8 | Fabulous colour & patterns | 8 | 16 | |
| Bottoms Up, Heads Down | Nice old stone wall & doors which look rural. Fun picture designed to make one smile. | 8 | Well done, interesting setting | 8 | 16 | |
| Albania from Lake Ohrid Macedonia | Loves the 3 natural layers. Peaceful, tranquil image, has no focal point. Is it strong enough to hold ones attention? | 6 | Wonderful recessions, good mood created | 9 | 15 | |
| Cat-nap | Loved the cat character and the man with no face just the hat. No interaction, but they are still partners. Fun image. | 9 | Interesting textures, amusing story | 6 | 15 | |
| Sand Trees | Simple idea. Not enough contrast –make it really strong like a jungle. Fun idea though. | 6 | Lovely shapes & patterns | 9 | 15 | |
| Autumn Ripple | Good sense of autumnal colour. Like the ripples of the tree –nice texture. | 8 | Like the treatment | 7 | 15 | |
| Glass Hopper | Looks large & scary – lots of detail with good control. | 8 | Interesting treatment , Grass Hopper sharp as | 6 | 14 | |
| Boat on Chesil Beach | Rich colour in boat and on beach. Good composition and controlled light. | 9 | Successfully illustrates the Beach | 5 | 14 | |
| Tiger | Lovely, reminder of bygone days. Presented well, but might be better as a print. Very good image and well composed. | 8 | The treatment gives a great mood | 6 | 14 | |
| Under Win Green and Ferme Hollow, Wiltshire | Well seen and composed sunset. Warm glow, trees sitting out of the mist. Lots of layers. | 9 | Well caught mood | 4 | 13 | |
| Bible Study | Light not only from candle, so does not tie up as a still life composition. | 5 | Classic still life | 6 | 11 | |
| Total Shaftesbury | 163 | 156 | 319 | |||
| Waikato | ||||||
| Fencing | Mono has been well controlled, strong shadows. Superb from front to back. | 10 | Immediate impact shape & counter shape | 10 | 20 | |
| Muriwai | Lovely sunset, good milky water – all in thirds. Compositionally fine. | 7 | Water movement combined with lovely sky | 10 | 17 | |
| Paige | Lovely child portrait. Eyes being the focal point, clear and well detailed. She captures your attention, good skin tone. | 9 | Wistful sensitive portrait | 8 | 17 | |
| Royal Spoonbill | Lovely lines and detail of the Spoonbill. | 9 | Good portrayal & detail | 8 | 17 | |
| Geological layering | Well controlled lighting isolating an exact area – spot on. Well seen and composed. | 9 | Strong lead through, textures, shapes and colour | 8 | 17 | |
| Honey bee on Blue Borage | Wonderful detail on insect and flowers – capturing an insect is not easy to get sharp. Excellently controlled and presented. | 10 | Great detail & focus on the Bee | 6 | 16 | |
| Norwegian Sea Eagle Flying free | Bird has lots of detail. Lighting does not seem quite natural. | 6 | Compelling study | 10 | 16 | |
| Nikau and pearls | Natural versus pearls. Very white background, artificial image – comparing natural with unnatural. | 6 | Very imaginative study, LOVE it | 10 | 16 | |
| The look | Fun image and angle of buggy well taken. | 9 | A well caught moment | 6 | 15 | |
| Gilded rose | A mono Rose gilded with yellow paint punctuating the rose. An interesting idea. | 8 | Interesting treatment | 6 | 14 | |
| Dance of the Pixels | Lovely, sharp and well layered and nice idea using 3 main colours. See something different every time you look at it. | 5 | An intriguing study strong colours | 8 | 13 | |
| Amaryllis Belladonna | Strong image – a little dark. Black background makes the flowers look as though they are floating. | 6 | Strong colour very busy | 7 | 13 | |
| Front Light | Mono print needs light to pick out the face from a busy back drop. Subject looks slightly tense. | 6 | Tells the Story | 6 | 12 | |
| Leeuwin | Water outlet to sea giving a diagonal line – good detail, not a colourful image. | 7 | Good lead through | 5 | 12 | |
| Memories of Yesterday | Looks like a sculpture. Good detail and texture. Simple image to take but still needs control. | 7 | Simple & stark | 5 | 12 | |
| Photo Training | Detail is great – semi-abstract design. Interesting for engineers & train enthusiasts. | 7 | Sharp and Clean | 5 | 12 | |
| Energy | Lightening streak – better on an angle. Lighting is in control, feeling of power, but feels lifeless. Competent. | 6 | Well exposed, but static | 5 | 11 | |
| Opening to Spring | Flower presented in monochrome, Could have had a lovely green stalk? | 5 | Textures very well done | 6 | 11 | |
| Dreams | Dreams, lovely softness; a little blurring. A bit of white catching the eye. | 6 | Soft smooth colour | 4 | 10 | |
| Millenium statue | Was it created specially? Strong vignette. Very dark compositionally. | 5 | The orb grabs attention | 4 | 9 | |
| Total Waikato | 143 | 137 | 280 |