DISCOVER

WINCHESTER DISCOVERY CENTRE

'CITY SPACE'

WINCHESTER ART CLUB

ANNUAL EXHIBITION 2012

SATURDAY 1- SUNDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER

Images taken for my blog only and will not be distributed any other way

A lovely variety of artwork covers the walls of this small exhibition and I was pleasantly surprised at the mix of skill and creativity. The show demonstrates a love for all subjects, from nature to portrait, to landscape to abstract, the work was definitely aesthetically pleasing and it would suit all ages and anyone with an eye for art.

This exhibition is a great way to promote artists in the area, school and college students and more. I specifically enjoyed the landscape, water-colour paintings, as the detail and simplicity really pleases the eye. One of the main reasons I enjoyed the work on show was because it reminded me of my own work however now I prefer to make my images by

through photography. 

INTERNATIONAL GARDEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR-

 IMAGES OF A GREEN PLANET
www.igpoty.com

The exhibition space was light and spacious and straight away I was blown away by the beautiful images in front of me. I am a huge fan of garden, flower, nature photography of any kind and I was very pleased to have found out about this exhibition as it was definitely worth seeing. It really must have been hard to decide a winner for all categories as they were all worthy winners in my eyes. The colours of the flowers filled the room and brought the white space to life particularly the strong macro shots.

The were photographs chosen by The Royal Photographic Society which must have been an honor even for second and third place. There are many photography exhibitions of contemporary and conceptual focuses and they give people a mind-boggling experience, going away thinking what was that all about? But going into this one gives you a totally different experience, and one you have to talk about, and clearly.

The first category is: 

Trees

This category focuses on the importance of trees' in our lives and their beauty.

Don Johnston, finalist

'Birch Trees and foliage in spring'

Greater Sudbury, Canada

Nikon D3, Nikkor 80-200mm, 1/80 sec, f/6.3

The white birch is a common tree in that area, the foliage is from saplings nearer the camera,  he likes to make impressionistic images of common things and he has focused on the tree trunks using a wide aperture and kept the foliage evenly distributed. 

You immediately get a burst of colour in your face and you have to look more closely to find your way through the green in the foreground. This image is interesting in terms of the abstract focus and is a different way of making something simple so much more exciting.

 Category:
Wildlife in the Garden

Kin Corning

'Robin in the Forest' (top right)

Nikon D300 200-400mm, 1.4x teleconverter

1/200 sec at f/5.6, slightly cropped

Taken from his home garden in Surrey, this image stood out most out of the four, just because of the crispness of the branches and the snow. The Robin really is the favourite of the garden and his pretty red breast stills the show here.

Category: 

Plant Portraits

Mandy Disher 1st Place

'Choca Mocha'

Canon 450D, 60mm Macro lens

1/125 secs at f/3.2

In this image the focus clearly was to accentuate the amazing rich colour of the flowers and the textured petals. This was one of my favourites because of the contrast of the foreground and background and how equally important it is to get the balance right. Mandy Disher has complimented the flowers well  and deserves the place she got.

Category:

Garden Views

Charles Needle

Morning Splendour

Georgia, USA, Callaway Gardens

Nikon F4

Situated in a 12 year old, 40 acre public garden, the beautiful pink explosion emphasizes this garden and it's flowers and the mist surrounding the area just highlights the beauty even more. Needle has made a lovely composition and was a real pleasure to look at.

Plant Portraits

John Grant, 1st Place

Fairytale and Reveries, Studio

Canon 5D Mark 11

These creative, expressionistic and abstract prints were unusual but very intricate and pretty. There were six images in total but these were my favourite and although they were taken by a top of the range digital camera they looked very traditional, like they had been taken on film. I think thats what gave these images the edge over the others in their category. A Stunning set of photographs, with subtle, de-saturated colours that catch your eye.

Same as above

Category:

People in the garden

Jason Ingram, 3rd place

The hands that pick the food that I eat, 

Bristol

The black and white photographs on their own separate wall portray a great message and  they are really expressive and detailed. The close up of the hands and the food is simple but conveys and makes the story more understandable. 

This exhibition was well worth the journey!