Coast theme for Thurso Camera Club's first competition of the year
Thurso Camera Club's first competition of 2021 featured coastal scenes ranging from weather to wildlife and from surfing to sea-stacks.
Zoom allowed the club to draw upon the skills of accredited judge Steve Kirkby, an experienced photographer based in Hampshire, for its meeting on February 1.
There were 38 submissions on the theme of The Coast, and Steve gave constructive comments on each individual entry which consolidated the general advice he had given at the outset.
He suggested it is useful for competitive images to be of a consistent size, such as 1600 x 1200 pixels, to allow an “even playing field”. He talked about avoiding distracting elements by thinking about composition of the image as a whole.
Making minor adjustments of light and dark areas, or adjusting filters, particularly for black-and-white images, can improve the image as a whole, he explained. Steve also described “border control” – looking around the edge of the image for distractions and cropping as appropriate.
Marks were given out of 10 for each photo, with James Gunn and Gareth Watkins being placed joint first with 10 points.
James’s shot The Surfer was described by Steve as an excellent image depicting dramatic action. James is a semi-professional sports photographer who also recently shared some tips in the Caithness Courier on capturing surfing images.
Gareth's shot, entitled Juvenile Shags, was described by Steve as a striking image with good subtle colour.
Four images shared joint third place, all scoring 9.5 – Ruthie Nicholls with Kelp, Andrew Simpson with a long-exposure shot entitled Stacks, Stormy Sunrise, Margaret Reid with Beacon of Hope, capturing a fleeting moment of weather, and Carol Gunn with her Afternoon Stroll on the Beach.
For the first half of the meeting, club member Neil Buchan gave a presentation about Castlehill Heritage Centre – from the formation of Castletown Heritage Society in 1986 to the successful four-star visitor attraction and community resource the centre has become.
It was established its current location in 2004, these premises having formerly been farm buildings on the Castlehill Estate. Neil, who has had a major involvement since 2003 and is currently chairman of the society, described the development of the centre which is staffed entirely by volunteers.
The centre is operated on a fully sustainable basis and makes the most of renewable resources for heating, water and other amenities.
In normal times the society delivers a range of hands-on workshops, exhibitions, talks and presentations, and in August cream teas are served in the heritage garden. Archaeology projects, music and arts events and genealogical research have all been undertaken at the centre, which has received awards for tourism and community initiatives.
Last month, Thurso members were invited to join presentations from guest speakers Jane Lazenby and Joe Houghton, courtesy of Dingwall Camera Club (January 4 and 18 respectively), as well as a presentation by John MacPherson via Nairn Camera Club on January 26.
Club chairman James Gunn said: "Using Zoom has been a positive experience, giving the club access to diverse opportunities as well as drawing on the advice of external judges regardless of geographical location."
The next meeting on February 15 will offer another opportunity to join a Zoom link via Dingwall Club with a presentation by Brian Northmore from Plymouth.