General Tips

  • All photographs must be securely mounted on A4 size board (210mm x 297mm).
  • You can either spray mount your photograph directly onto the mount board or buy pre-cut mounts with or without windows, from ‘The Cabin’ shop in The Trinity WR1 2PN Worcester City Centre or Midland Fine Arts near Kidderminster DY11 7RA.Alternatively you can buy mounting board from various art shops and cut your own to size.
  • To print your photographs there are many online companies such as http://www.photobox.co.uk/.Alternatively London Camera Exchange 8 Pump St WR1 2QT and most Boots outlets can print your photographs.

Class 902 – An action shot

  • Could be a static subject with a moving background e.g. a man standing next to a moving train.
  • Pan shot could be used, make sure the camera is set to a relevant shutter speed whilst the photographer is tracking the movement of the subject, creating a sharp subject on a blurred background.

Class 903 – Macro

  • Don’t necessarily need a macro lens, most digital cameras have a macro facility.
  • Make sure the subject is sharp throughout
  • REMEMBER LIGHTING Lighting is important in all genres of photography!

Class 904 – A black and white photograph

  • This is a black and white only category, no sepia or ‘colour popping’ images will be accepted.
  • Consider the use of different tones of black and white. A good range of midtones will make a good photograph.

Class 905 – An amusing photograph with a Caption

  • You can put your own caption within the photo or put a label on it.

Class 906 – ‘Wildlife’: A photograph of flora or fauna in the natural environment

  • Particular care needs to be paid to the accuracy of the reproduction of the colours of the subject matter in your print.  Demonstrating your grasp of ‘depth of field’ to emphasise important elements of your picture should greatly enhance it.

Class 911 – A photograph using differential focus

  • Differential focus (also known as selective focus) is where the photographer deliberate chooses which area of an image will be sharp and which area will be soft and out of focus. This directs a viewer’s eyes to the area the photographer wants to emphasise.
  • Differential focus is achieved by careful selection of the focus point and by using a large aperture. The longer the lens and the wider the aperture, the greater the effect. Wide angle lenses are not suited to this.
  • The out of focus areas should not be too out of focus as these areas must still contribute to the viewer’s understanding of an image. Thus don’t blur the background too much.

Class 912 – A digitally manipulated photograph

  • Manipulation of an image uses any of the editing software now available. Lightroom, Photoshop, Affinity are a few examples.
  • Photo editing enhances the information already present in the image; from adjusting the exposure and tone to resizing and cropping.
  • Photo manipulation involves changing what’s in the image – adding or subtracting elements, substantially changing colour or tone, airbrushing, double exposure, etc etc.

Class 913 – Under 18s only – My Best Shot

  • The choice of subject is yours and can include any of the above.