Sam Tuck was one of the Founder members of this club, and for many years held the reins as a likeable chairman. An ex copper, a keen photographer of landscapes and architecture. Got himself a bit of a rep for photos of scaffolding. He finally succumbed to the darkroom in 2001, and, in his honour, we hold this yearly competition.
So, tonight's images were judged by Gordon Bramham, who managed to step in at the last minute after our booked judge wimped out. Cheers for that Gordon.
Seventeen of us entered images and some of the judges remarks were brutal (my lasting memories for my images were 'Great Shame...' 'Nice record shot' and 'Greens need toning down') But overall, his comments were very instructional. 'Try flipping it', 'maybe a crop off the top', 'needs something at the focal point' or just 'tone down the background so it doesn't detract from the subject' all really valid pointers in our quests for better photographs.
In all, he held back six images for ten points, with Chris picking up two and Richard getting highly commended marks. Then there was Tony's Iceberg which he rated in third place (don't forget he recommended flipping it to see if it improves the composition) Next came Helen's Lovely, lovely shot of a Gannet, which scooped second place. And the winning shot for the evening, a simply stunning image of the Aurora Borealis from Tony.
Well, the presentations were made by Sam's family, who grace us every year in his name.