It turns out the reason I couldn't remember what my third entry was in the colour section, was that I hadn't entered three pics. Hmm. Rather foolish. In the past I have had some success with a last minute "filler".
Just before I tell you the scores, what you need to know is that the score is relative, i.e within the range of images submitted in last nights comp. So 14 could be pretty good, if all the ones that scored higher were works of genius. 14 isn't an indication of anything other than it's ranking within the overall entry.
Anyway, as I expected in the colour, I crashed and burned, with the TUC March picture getting 14 and the Manhattan picture 15. I had the same feedback from two judges now about the latter of these and I can see they're right. It needs the irrelevant and distracting elements cropping out from the left of the image. What I saw in it when I took it (trying to jam my camera out of the window on our hotel room) was light that reminded me of the work of Edward Hopper. Hopper's work cleverly uses light and figures to give a lonely, sad feeling. What I needed was a figure or two to make the offices less "empty". To give it a focus.
The way judges work is that they will see the images on the screen, give comments and feedback and scores for all but a select few which they "hold back" for further review. It doesn't always mean a "held back" will attract a higher score, she/he just wants a bit of a further look having been initially attracted to the image.
Typically the 1st, 2nd and 3rd will score 20, 19, and, 18 points and all the other "held backs" get 17. Not always, but mostly.
The Ennerdale Water one he liked but not enough to hold back, it lacked a little spark for him and scored (I think) 15. Billy Bragg and The Art Critics, very excitingly, were both held back. After some consideration he gave Billy 17 and awarded 2nd place to the Art Critics and a score of 19.
So a pleasing first comp of the year for me. What was also pleasing was that my mate Chris (and our current chairman) scooped first place in the colour section with, ironically, another art gallery based image. What was pleasing was that it is a nice image, but also that Chris had taken on board feedback from a previous judge about the best way to improve it. And it worked.
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In the wake of Tuesday's brutal ride, I was hoping things might have eased a bit for today, and indeed that's how it turned out. Not easy, but a lot better than two days ago. The weather was clear, and for a couple of hundred yards I was stalked by a kestrel. Not sure if he was sussing out if I was potential lunch, or it was just coincidental.
The weather is still pretty decent, but I'm sure you've all noticed that it's become cooler. One of things I now know, that I didn't when I started out biking for exercise, is how important it is to me to keep my extremities dry and warm. I do remember a couple of winters ago having to abandon a Sunday morning ride having lost the feeling in my hands.
Now the temperature has become more appropriate for the time of year, I have started using my Dr Zoidberg gloves. If you're not familiar with the good Dr, he is a character from the cartoon series Futurama. According to wikipedia he is "Decapodian, a lobster-esque alien who works as the staff doctor for Planet Express".
Here's a picture of him, and another one of me with my "lobster" cycling gloves. Can you tell which is which?
Uncanny, eh?
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