Beyond Group Exhibition Judges Report by David Giffin MPAGB FBPE
I was delighted as a member of the Beyond Group to be asked to help judge the exhibition in 2018. Having not been in this position before and after spending many years entering BPE exhibitions and gaining my Fellowship in 2016, it was a pleasure to be on the other side and help select images.
There was a good section of traditional and creative work, which I feel was of a very high standard we have come to expect in BPE exhibitions. I feel the general standard is getting better every year we run the exhibition. This gave me and fellow judges a difficult job of selecting the award winners from so many great images. Well done to all entrants who have had work excepted and for those who have won awards. If you didn’t don’t be put off there were many superb images which didn’t make the final cut but on another day would be accepted.
Something which was very apparent while I was selecting was a large amount of images which didn’t appear sharp. There were also lots of motorbike grass track racing in the colour section. This after seeing so many started to become a bit repetitive. The Nature section also had its share of repetitive images this time from images of Chameleons which appeared to be taken in a studio type environment.
Finally I thoroughly enjoyed the company of fellow judges David and Bill who both made me feel very welcome in my selecting position.
David Giffin FBPE, MPAGB
There was a good section of traditional and creative work, which I feel was of a very high standard we have come to expect in BPE exhibitions. I feel the general standard is getting better every year we run the exhibition. This gave me and fellow judges a difficult job of selecting the award winners from so many great images. Well done to all entrants who have had work excepted and for those who have won awards. If you didn’t don’t be put off there were many superb images which didn’t make the final cut but on another day would be accepted.
Something which was very apparent while I was selecting was a large amount of images which didn’t appear sharp. There were also lots of motorbike grass track racing in the colour section. This after seeing so many started to become a bit repetitive. The Nature section also had its share of repetitive images this time from images of Chameleons which appeared to be taken in a studio type environment.
Finally I thoroughly enjoyed the company of fellow judges David and Bill who both made me feel very welcome in my selecting position.
David Giffin FBPE, MPAGB
Beyond Group Exhibition Judges Report by Bill Hall, AFIAP, DPAGB, ABPE
"It was a pleasure to judge the very well run Beyond Group projected image exhibition, sitting alongside my old friend and colleague David Gibbins, and newbie David Giffin, who both did a sterling job, even though we were faced with a mighty challenge to select the very best from what was an extremely large and top quality entry. We also had to go at a fast pace to get through them all, and maintain concentration to be fair to everyone.
I was pleased that there was a separate 'scapes class, as sometimes I don't believe this genre gets a fair crack of the whip when mixed with all the other colour and mono subjects. There were still some images in here that we felt did not fit the class, e.g. steam trains for one, people on the underground for another,and quite a few seemed over-processed, but in the end there was a super selection of all sorts of scapes.
Iceland seemed very popular, and that will no doubt be reflected in the final showing, and there were lots of streams and waterfalls maybe trying for the moving water award, but in the end that went to a stunning stormy sea picture.
The colour and mono sections seem to be dominated by sport and people, with some very good, but maybe not as much as we often see, creative stuff. Ragged Victorians were very numerous, as were many other re-enactors and timeline set-ups, and the final showing will reflect that not all of them could or should be accepted. With the limitation of how many images could be accepted against the record entry numbers, the instruction was to aim for a 12 acceptance level, which meant many many really good images will have had to be passed by. So please do not be too disappointed with a near miss, you're in good company! Those that scored lower, look at the exhibition and what was accepted, and see what you need to do, good standard images will not quite cut it, they need to be exceptional.
As usual my speciality, nature was of a very high standard, and it was the really natural images that stood out rather than those taken in controlled conditions such as with studio lighting. Quite a few of the nature pictures were just not sharp, and I would suggest to anyone trying out nature photography to try and see the image projected before submitting. Conversely some were over-sharpened, making them look quite harsh, and similarly many were too high in contrast or over-saturated. Try and make them look natural. It was difficult to choose the nature winners, although we were unanimous on the gold medal, and selector's medals were just our personal choices, but the HC's seemed to be all birds, probably reflecting that half the entry were birds, so we tried to choose some different pictures for the commendeds.
Many thanks to the whole of the Beyond Group for making it all work so well, and looking after us.
One of the nice things about these weekends is the social side as well, catching up with old friends, and making new ones which I certainly have.
I hope we have succeeded in giving you a balanced and top quality exhibition."
All the best
Bill Hall
AFIAP DPAGB ABPE
I was pleased that there was a separate 'scapes class, as sometimes I don't believe this genre gets a fair crack of the whip when mixed with all the other colour and mono subjects. There were still some images in here that we felt did not fit the class, e.g. steam trains for one, people on the underground for another,and quite a few seemed over-processed, but in the end there was a super selection of all sorts of scapes.
Iceland seemed very popular, and that will no doubt be reflected in the final showing, and there were lots of streams and waterfalls maybe trying for the moving water award, but in the end that went to a stunning stormy sea picture.
The colour and mono sections seem to be dominated by sport and people, with some very good, but maybe not as much as we often see, creative stuff. Ragged Victorians were very numerous, as were many other re-enactors and timeline set-ups, and the final showing will reflect that not all of them could or should be accepted. With the limitation of how many images could be accepted against the record entry numbers, the instruction was to aim for a 12 acceptance level, which meant many many really good images will have had to be passed by. So please do not be too disappointed with a near miss, you're in good company! Those that scored lower, look at the exhibition and what was accepted, and see what you need to do, good standard images will not quite cut it, they need to be exceptional.
As usual my speciality, nature was of a very high standard, and it was the really natural images that stood out rather than those taken in controlled conditions such as with studio lighting. Quite a few of the nature pictures were just not sharp, and I would suggest to anyone trying out nature photography to try and see the image projected before submitting. Conversely some were over-sharpened, making them look quite harsh, and similarly many were too high in contrast or over-saturated. Try and make them look natural. It was difficult to choose the nature winners, although we were unanimous on the gold medal, and selector's medals were just our personal choices, but the HC's seemed to be all birds, probably reflecting that half the entry were birds, so we tried to choose some different pictures for the commendeds.
Many thanks to the whole of the Beyond Group for making it all work so well, and looking after us.
One of the nice things about these weekends is the social side as well, catching up with old friends, and making new ones which I certainly have.
I hope we have succeeded in giving you a balanced and top quality exhibition."
All the best
Bill Hall
AFIAP DPAGB ABPE
Our Judges for the 11th Beyond Group Exhibition 2018
Bill Hall AFIAP DPAGB ABPE
|
David Giffin MPAGB FBPE
|
David Gibbins ARPS APAGB EFIAP/b BPE5*
|
Exhibition Day
The selected digital images were projected and Beyond Group members displayed some of their prints, followed by presentations to the award winning attendees.
