This was the third round of the PDI Trophy competition of the season held on February 12th 2026. This round had “Open” as one theme and the other was “Triptych”
For each image I had to choose a roughly defined “genre” with the added condition that each submitted image must have a different “genre”.
Relaxing
In August 2025 I attended a workshop organised by Jon Gray in Essex. This was held in a B&B that was part of a Morgan dealership. The shoot had two models and this is Angel Black doing a demur pose for me.
I selected “Portrait” as the genre…
Summary of judge’s comments
… [description of how photography fashion changes]
… when I look at this I feel it something like Amateur Photographer 1974, not there is anything against with that but it just sometimes with portraiture it can feel derivative and a little bit dated
… one things done well is the way that she is posed in terms of her hands, hands are a nightmare as people do weird things with them
… this feels very choreographed, I am not a fan of this and it does feel a little dated
There were 26 images in this Open round and the score was 7.5.
The dance in Paris
In January 2025 I attended Valerie Jardin’s Paris workshop. In the late morning on Sunday we were on Rue Mouffetard watching dancers. This triptych is of one of the couples enjoying an Argentinian tango.
I selected “Street” as the genre . . .
Summary of judge’s comments
… street portraiture can be a tricky one to pull off because generally the people you meet will have no fashion sense
… these two people have got not only a decent fashion sense but they “match”, they are not wearing exactly the same clothes
… OK, we have three shots that are following the film rules of a triptych, a full length shot, a medium shot and a close up shot
… and what that does is that helps you move through the photograph and becomes a bit more dynamic because of it
… you have challenges going on pink chairs, stools, etc
… I think that this a really effective one but I don’t know why you have put it in that style with two squares and portrait, I don’t think that really needed to do that
… I think that it is really effective and I love her expression on the right
There were 24 images in this Triptych themed round and the score was 10.
The original images
Relaxing
The dance in paris
