The first open prints competition (where the photographer is free to choose the subject matter) provided the entertainment for this week’s meeting of the Isle of Man Photographic Society - with Dennis Wood from the Western Society proving to be a very discerning and knowledgeable judge, forthright in his commentary on the near 50 images presented in competition.

ennis has been a regular judge for our society, respected because of his expertise both behind the camera and in his understanding of ’post-production’ digital processes such as photoshop, and the manipulations they make possible on a computer.

Members will have learnt much from the very detailed, almost forensic analysis of each image, and particularly the need to check each entry to ensure the judge has little to critique and much to admire.

Four sections were judged - the two member groups (intermediate and advanced) both required to enter monochrome and colour sections.

With a scoring system based on a maximum of 20, and with the judge able to award this score to multiple images, we no longer refer to ’winners’ but to the ’judge’s selection’ or ’preference’ in each section.

A strong entry in the advanced colour section saw Jeremy Broome-Smith’s image of a peregrine carrying its prey in its talons favoured , with a deserved maximum score - the bird flying straight towards the camera and the image pin sharp.

There was an equally strong entry in the advanced monochrome section with our judge selecting Annette Slater’s image ’Best Viewed From Above’ as his preference - a very detailed, pin-sharp landscape of a valley, the mist and low clouds on the hills in the background, and a dog highlighted on a crag in the foreground making a bold impact on the image.

The intermediate colour selection saw the judge prefer new member Claire Scheuder’s still life of fruit and vegetables Casserole Tonight - a well-organised and beautifully-lit shot including garlic, onions and grapes on a black background.

The evening finished with the intermediate monochrome and Richard Shafto’s almost (but not quite) silhouetted image of a line of cormorants sitting on posts near shore getting his approval.

The society meets at the Art Society Building (Thie Ellyn) in Withington Road, Douglas, with all meetings starting at 7.30pm.

Our next meeting on Wednesday, November 21, will be the judging of our first assignment competition - ’Scapes (meaning landscapes,, seascapes, townscapes etc).

Meetings are open to the public, and all will be given a very warm welcome.

Full details of our programme can be found on our website at www.iomps.com.

Chris Blyth