Internal PDI competition report for June 2018

Following Thursdays DPI internal competition contributing toward the outlaw of the year trophy, club internal competition secretary John Young presents his usual report…

This months competition was held on 28 June. We were pleased to welcome Jacqui Jay Grafton as our judge for the evening and we certainly gave her a lot to think about. There were 28 entries in the open section and the theme of Light Sculpting had 18 entries. In the open section Lois Webb scored 18 for her Azure Damselfly, also John Young for La Rambla Grande, Stella Newman for Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon and Jack Worsnop for Tokyo Tower at Night. There were four scores of 19, Jack Worsnop again for Sete Citades, Malcolm Nabbarro for A Glamorous Job and Brecon Beacons and Lester Woodward for The Dancer. The winning image was a 20 for Michael Harrison with A Hard Life in the Fields.

In the themed section scores of 16 were awarded to Tabby for ‘David’ and Lois Webb for Circle of Fire. The winning image with a score of 17 was also by Lois and titled On the Rocks.

There had been much discussion amongst members before the competition about the meaning of the theme Light Sculpting and this may have been the cause of the reduced number of only 18 entries. Jacqui discussed the meaning of the theme with some committee members before the judging and as a result she decided on a firm view of what the theme title meant. She enjoyed some images for what they were but reduced their mark for not meeting the theme title. There was a positive and amenable discussion with members present after the competition and it was clearly stated that Jacqui had done a great job under very difficult circumstances that were created by the club’s own uncertainty as to what the theme title meant. Thank you Jacqui for your great efforts whilst we at the club learnt a lesson about our theme setting. We are sorry to have made your job so difficult.

It was suggested by members that in future a sentence or paragraph explaining the theme title could beissued when the theme was set and then there would be no alteration to this explanation and it would be shown to the judge. Based on this explanation members and the judge would make their own decision about how to interpret the theme. This proposal will be considered by the committee and 2019’s competitions will be amended as neces