Competition Updates - Mini Panel details

As the season ahead begins to take shape, we find ourselves at the start of the competition programme, with guest judge Stewart Dodd LRPS from Dundee joining us via Zoom on Tuesday night to deliver his verdict on our first round of the Annual Image Competition. A link to the zoom meeting has been emailed to all members already.

I am delighted to report that we received 69 images for the competition, from 35 members, so the level of participation remains extremely high despite the limitations we have been dealing with!

ANNUAL IMAGE COMPETITION ROUND 2

In just over a weeks' time, on the 13th October, the deadline for the second round is upon us. The rules are the same - up to two images on a subject of your choice, to be submitted as PDIs to the usual address, bpscomps@gmail.com. The judge will be David Hay HonSPF from Pitlochry.

MINI PANEL

One week later, on the 20th October, we invite entries for the Mini Panel competition. This year, to mix things up a bit, the Mini Panel competition will be a triptych - three images on any subject, arranged in any way you like. I would urge you to do some googling about triptychs, there is a wealth of information and tips out there. The whole point is to create a final image that is more than the sum of it's three parts.

Rather than a standard template like previous mini panels, the layout is up to you. If you are confident in using editing software to make your own panel, feel free to do so. If you are not sure how to do this, feel free to just submit the three images with instructions as to how you'd like them laid out, and I will prepare the panel for you. Ideally, please send a sketch (and number your images accordingly!).

Please submit your three images (resized as PDIs) and your triptych (or instructions). I will send the judge the individual images and the triptych for him to look at.

The possibilities are endless, please let your imagination and creativity loose! I have quickly put together some examples below as an example of how it might work.

Turnstones - this was a sequence of images shot on a high speed burst of a turnstone dodging an incoming wave.

Damselflies 1 - laid out as three horizontal images

Damselflies 2 - the same idea but done with three vertical images - a totally different result

Small Pearl Bordered-Fritillaries - three different views of the same butterfly laid out very simply into a panel - but you can do something creative with the design by not using straight edges. You could even make the images completely irregular shapes if you wished!

The Borrowfield Nine - this mallard successfully raised nine chicks and we followed them from hatching to adulthood - the triptych is a good way to tell a story like this.

The judge for the competition will be David Watson DPAGB from Aberdeen. The images will not be scored, but rather David will give his expert feedback and pick his top three panels, the winner receiving the trophy.

I look forward to seeing all your entries!