Crow

After a very yellow start (Saharan sand in the air) it rained all day. Despite the high ISO this was the best shot I got.

I find it interesting that Saudi oil is seen as morally acceptable but Russian oil isn’t… at present. There again the Saudis do buy an awful lot of arms from the UK!

Somewhat more on topic for Blip, I have been looking through the entries to a yearly competition between several SE Essex camera clubs and am incredibly impressed by the technical skill on display. However (you knew that was coming!) the vast majority of the photos are almost exactly the same (subjects, processing, look and feel) as the ones entered into the same competition 2 years ago, which was the last time it was run. We have the obligatory grass track racing, child dressed in “olden days” clothes, b&w low key man’s upper body, eagle, deer etc. etc. Embarrassingly there are even two photos, each taken by different people from different clubs at different times, of exactly the same subject taken in exactly the same style (long exposure)… some beach huts near Maldon that are so over-photo’d in this manner that this was bound to happen at some stage. My point here is this: despite the prestigious talent on show it does seem that to be successful at club photography it often pays to be devoid of imagination and creativity with people churning out the same thing year after year, which is a great shame really.