The focus was on street photography at the latest online meeting of Thurso Camera Club, with members having their competition entries judged remotely by an experienced professional.

The Covid-19 restrictions mean the club has been unable to be hold its twice-monthly get-togethers at the usual venue of the Pentland Hotel. Instead, virtual meetings have been taking place using Zoom software.

The first session in October began with a talk with images by club member Bob Murdoch about his trip to the Cape Canaveral Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. This was followed by club member Colin Campbell presenting a personal choice of his own 30 best images.

The benefits of using Zoom were very much to the fore when the second October session was presented by Stephen Cosh from his base in Ayr. Stephen’s portfolio of images and the range of services he offers as a professional photographer can be found on his website .

As a professional of many years’ experience, he was able to give an interesting and informative talk about street photography. His presentation demonstrated candid moments in time, how he created his images through planning and opportunity as well as luck, and his technique of using black-and-white film to evoke mood and interest.

He commented that a street photograph should tell its own story about the scene and the people in it, something that the observer could interpret within his or her own imagination. It should also represent a record of that moment in time.

Stephen had also agreed to be the judge for this month’s club competition, with the theme being Street Scene. This was the first time the club had had the benefit of an external judge for a monthly contest.

All club members found his comments and critique extremely helpful. His strategy and feedback for marking images included many constructive suggestions.

He also explained how the photographer could have improved an image by better planning or composition. He acknowledged the excellence of some images but explained why they were marked down if they did not fit the remit of street photography.

There were 26 images in total, each scored out of 10 by Stephen.

The winning entry was Wick Mural by James Gunn, with a score of nine. Stephen commented that the figure in red entering the composition with a dog completed the image as an impressive example of street photography – a moment worth waiting for.

In second place was The Look, with a score of eight, by Bob Murdoch. Stephen commented on how catching the girl looking back was a perfect moment in time and created an image worthy of a National Geographic publication. He would have liked to see more of the road going away into the distance.

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In joint third (7.5) were Taking a Break by Bob Murdoch, Mandraulics by Gareth Watkins and St Paul's by Colin Campbell.

The November sessions will continue to take place by Zoom and on November 2 a presentation on sports photography will be given by Domenic Aquilina, an award-winning professional photographer from Malta. He is an ambassador of UEFA and travels all around Europe taking photos of Champions League football matches, including the last dozen finals.

Chairman James Gunn knows Domenic through meeting him at various photography conventions in London, where they both gave talks on sports photography, and arranged the presentation.

On November 16 there will be a talk on portrait photography by Duncan McLachlan, a local semi-professional photographer. He will also judge the club’s November competition on the theme of Transport.

In the September sessions, members showed their images of the club’s summer project with aspects of lesser-known places of interest and heritage in Caithness .

The first of the club’s monthly competitions had the theme of Trees and Bushes. The winner was Gareth Watkins with 85 points, while second place went to Julie Catterall (82 points) and third to Jason Ridgley on 80.

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