Compromise can be difficult.

Tomorrow there's a photographic exhibition & competition in Somerton village hall. Funding has been made available for images to decorate the village hall, and being democratic - sort of - it was decided to let those who use the hall chose the images, hence the competition.

Excellent idea.

Now, here's the tricky bit: images must be no more than A4 size (I've printed 12X8 on the basis that it's a smaller surface area than an A4 sheet - a little longer and narrower) with a limit of 5 images per person, and this last makes it REALLY hard. In addition, because of the nature of the subject - views of Somerton - the need to reflect the sensibilities of the village is frustrating my desire to use the best images I have in order to avoid repetition of a subject.

To explain a little more, the most striking feature of the village is it's church, and given decent light and a helping of photoshop it can look really picturesque. I managed what I consider a really good image with some early morning light, and all would be well & good if I'd not gone back a few days later when the valley was full of mist for a second go. On arriving at the gates to the churchyard I was greeted by a bunch of chickens wandering back down the path, just as if they'd been to church. Chickens have been a bit of a 'thing' here, and so it's a great image that reflects some aspects of the village really well, and the church looks 'interesting' in the mist.

But it's not my *best* shot.

I'm probably going to have to leave out a second favourite too: that waterfall shot processed up as black & white and split-toned blue/brown highlights & shadows looks fantastic, but I doubt any who don't live at this end of the place will recognise it because it's tucked away behind trees and a fence, despite being within 5 yards of the main road. We'll see, because I've done some layouts, and it's important to get them to work as a group as well as individual images.

And all this is making me realise that I REALLY need to build an online gallery. It would be good to be able to sell more prints, maybe even develop it as a business for when the lab side is slack, and I'm sure there are plenty of local people who would like some of these pictures for their homes.

*edit*
Gave in and used the better shot of the church, but did leave out the shot of the waterfall and the one of the chickens walking down the path.

Hobbycrafts sell a heavy 2.5mm thick card in 32" X 22" (there I go, mangling measurement units!) for about £2.75 a sheet, so bought a couple of those to mount the images on. I ended up spending yesterday evening sizing, cutting & mounting - I'd completely forgotten how much effort was involved if all you have is a knife & a ruler! The 4 colour images all went on a single sheet with a white border around them, while the arch went on a single piece alone with a dark red border.

Did a quick comparison between the printed images and my home screen as well - I REALLY need to calibrate this monitor if I'm going to use it for image processing! I wonder if these will look dark on your screen?

*2nd edit*
Well, I came second for the first picture below showing Somerton from North Aston Lodge. The winning image was a very 'classic' sunset over the flood water we've had recently, nice & timeless. Third place was taken with a view over the canal below the village, and was very nicely composed in blues and greens. A few images were also commended including the dovecote image below.

The images: