The teams met at the Natural Light Studio complex at Weedon Bec, at 08.30 where they were given a briefing on the format for the day, the do’s and don’ts, what the expectation was and the rough layout of the studio and the surrounding area.
The Eastwood team had to each complete 5 separate shoots, with each shoot being a differing theme, and using a differing Fuji camera for the shot. Each shoot lasted 1 hour, and at the end we had to submit a single image for final judging, so 5 shoots x 4 authors equals 20 images.
The shoots were as follows -
Shoot 1 – Full studio lighting, natural lighting or combination of PIP the distinguished bearded gentleman.
Shoot 2 – The Canal (abandoned canal to the front of the studio complex) - the task to take a decent shot that contained the canal. The luckiest shot of the weekend was that Colin was able to capture a grass snake stalking some frogs.
Shoot 3 – Prom Dress, full studio lighting of female model with assortment dresses / gowns.
Shoot 4 – Macro / Still Life - task to create a stunning macro or still life image from the range of subjects supplied. To many this was the hardest of the shoots due to the limited options to actually photograph.
Shoot 5 – The Depot - Free to shoot anywhere within the complex and in any of the buildings. After the 20 images per team had been submitted, there was a brief interlude before the judging commenced, the format was four judges, each scoring out of 20, and the maximum team score was 1600.
The judges were made up of; Fuji’s regional sales manager, The Natural Light studio owner and two Photography News reporters/photographers. Each shoot was judged in turn, each image projected and the judges in turn offered their feedback and score.
The editor of Photography News, Will Cheung, made the announcements of the final placings. After 5th and 4th places had been announced, he stated that there was a tie for equal second and therefore by default the winners would also be known at that point, so 1st of the joint seconds was Leicester Forest CC he then started and dwelt on the East.. East.. East-bourne, at which point Eastwood knew they had won the final!
Their final score was 1442, or 18.025 per judge per image, the second placed teams scored 1410. Eastwood had the only 20’s awarded by the judges on the day, with Colin receiving five. Eastwood were presented with the trophy (which they keep) and then congratulated by all the other teams. Their prize from Fuji is that they will sponsor 3 UK X Shooters ambassadors to come to club to give lectures in the coming year.
To visit Eastwood Photographic Society's website (click here) or to see all 20 of Eastwood's winning images please (click here) to visit their gallery.