A red squirrel by the water's edge, looking to jump in. Image (c) Jean PriceOne of the advantages of using Zoom for our monthly competitions is that we can invite people from outside our region to come and judge.  This time Geoff Reader from Stoke on Trent joined our event, and we had a superb collection of images for Geoff to assess from across the club's membership.

Geoff's critique was very enlightening, and he shared his seven maxims for a quality image which all on the call felt were useful principals to keep in mind when taking an image: subject sharpness, correctly exposed, strong subject, good foreground, a focal point ,a natural feel and emotional attachment.

Based on these themes, Geoff's final selection was:

  1. Red Squirrel about to Jump - Jean Price
  2. Fox from the Undergrowth - Iain Houghton
  3. Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) - Iain Houghton

There were a further 9 images held over out of 46 in the competition.