RPS Travel Group - Monthly Competition October 2022

Judge's Comments & Results

There were eighteen images entered this month, significantly up from September.  Overall, quality was as high as ever which made selecting the Highly Commended images particularly challenging.  The entries comprised a good selection that covered a wide range of travel locations and topics within those locations.  As ever, sense of place was a key parameter in assessing the images

Winning Image

Sweet Seller, Jma El Fna, Marrakech - Tony Beane

The sweet seller and his wares are nicely and evocatively lit by the bare light bulbs across his stall, and the lit area is framed by the silhouetted Moorish arch above the colourfully textured abundance of sweets below.  It helps that he is going about his work clad in a white coat in a central position, oblivious of the camera.  Altogether an attractive and well executed mage.

Highly Commended Images

Separating the Rice - North Vietnam - Jane Tearle

This image exudes sense of place as the bare-footed worker goes about her task using just a hand-held sieve against the backdrop of a simple farm building.  The atmosphere is strengthened by the rustic air to the scene, with the logs and other wood leaning against the walls of the building and the smoke idly rising from a fire behind her.  Her costume emphasises the overall situation, as does the studied concentration on her face.

Bearland visit, Alaska - Bob Chiu

This is an unusual blend of nature and technology.  The bear apparently is nonplussed by the float plane as it walks away from it.  The sense of place provided by those distinctive subjects is emphasised by the waterside forest location.  The image does however leave an unanswered question – what did the bear do awhile investigating the plane?  A nicely balanced and framed composition.

SP 138 approaching Nao Abad, Pakistan - Ian Silvester

A glimpse of Pakistan as it was.  The steam train has entered the frame and demonstrates its antiquity from atop the embankment, billowing black smoke as it goes.  In contrast, the rural scene of the youngsters and their goats is timeless.  The blue clad youngster is well placed to add foreground interest and balance.

Haymaking in the Apuseni Mountains - Judy Ford

Another image with a sense of doing things the traditional way, this time in the mountains of Rumania.  Not a mechanical aid in sight as the two workers go about their task with hand tools.  Their position at the front of the image contributes to a good sense of depth through the farm building in mid-distance, to the forested hills beyond.  A bucolic scene well captured.

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