Tuesday 15th December - Christmas Fun

Well, we may not have had our usual Christmas Dinner celebrations but we still managed to celebrate 'Zoom' style.  Christmas hats, reindeer antlers, Christmas jumpers and flashing bow ties were all seen in abundance and as a special treat we had a visitation from Father Christmas!

We had a slideshow of everyones homemade Christmas cards - some photographically designed, some beautifully painted and all looking splendid.

Next came a Christmas themed quiz which worked surprisingly well. Judging from some rather 'rosy' faces plenty of alcohol and mince pies were being consumed as well!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and looking forward to a healthy New Year when we can all meet up again.

Some of our Christmas cards can be seen below:

Tuesday 8th December – The Diary of a Nature Photographer

Last week we heard from a Spaniard living in Ireland this week we have a  Dutch gentlemen living in London, Rene de Heer, to talk to us about his nature photography, mainly birds.

Rene took us on a world tour and showed us many stunning bird photographs. It was good to see some of these birds which are not the normal birds seen in the UK, including golden eagles, pigmy owls and cranes.  Rene researched and planned his trips so he knew exactly where to go to find  the species he was looking for. Although frequently frustrated by poor weather, it was evident from Rene's pictures that he was very patient spending many hours in hides, not always in the most comfortable of positions, and it was clear his perseverance paid off.

Unusually for such a talk Rene also included some images of the hides and even an occasional landscape view to show the sort of areas he visited.

An interesting evening which had a good attendance from members who were captivated by the images displayed on screen. Some of Rene's pictures can be seen on his website: http://www.naturepics.co.uk  I can imagine that there will be several members wanting to go along on one of Rene's tours to Spain when travelling restrictions are lifted!

Tuesday 1st December – "Architectural Photography – In search of the genus loci"

We were delighted to welcome Iñaki Hernández-Lasa FRPS, FIPF, AFIAP, all the way from Limerick, to our club meeting this week. When you think of architectural images you tend to think of photos of a building, often in its entirety and in its environment. 

Iñaki shared with us his vision for architectural images which was very different and he tried to capture the spirit of the place by showing abstract or minimalist images. His talk was centred around his two panels, one from the Guggenheim in Bilbao for his FRPS and one based on Valencia for his FIPF; both of which can be seen on his website, https://www.ihlphotography.com  

Iñaki emphasised the need to plan and prepare your shoots, the need to often wander around the buildings for some considerable time before even taking out the camera. He frequently arrived at the venue early before there were too many people around then having the patience to wait until the person/people were in just the right place.  The importance was the thought process behind the image and not the gear used to capture the image. 

Many members commented that they were inspired to go out and take some images of more contemporary buildings when we are able to travel around more freely.

Tuesday 24th November – "f32 and be early"

 Again we are privileged in lockdown to have speakers not usually available to us in Norfolk. This week we welcomed Stephen Lewis, ARPS, to give his presentation "f32 and be early".

f32 referred to the fact that Steve uses a large format camera for much of his work and as a landscape photographer is often up early to capture the shot. Steve's images, from many varied locations at home and abroad, were stunning. He is a stickler for details often going back to a location several times in order to capture the image he envisaged. He certainly provided inspiration and an understanding as to why he took a particular shot, giving compositional details as well as camera settings.

Thanks Steve for coming to Norfolk from near Chester. Some of Steve's images can be seen on his web site HERE.

Tuesday 17th November Competition - Open Monochrome

 Our judge for this 2nd round of our digital League Competition was David Gibbins ARPS, APAGB, EFIAP/b, BPE5* who joined us via Zoom from Nottingham.  David was in for a busy evening as he had 23 Members and 62 Members Advanced images to judge.  In his introduction David explained that he had a particular interest in Monochrome images - so no pressure!

After much deliberation and holding back of several images, David made his final selection and his top scoring images can be seen below.

Thank you David for an excellent evening.

High scoring images from the Members Class:

SANJAY by Les Thwaites 20/20

LLOYDS by Les Thwaites 19/20

DON'T MESS WITH ME by Pam Rutty 18/20

OYSTERLINGS by Maureen Campbell 18/20

  

GRANDCHILD AURORA by Vanessa Robertson 17/20

READY FOR AN EARLY START by Daphne Lingwood 17/20

THE OLD COMPOST HEAP by Pam Rutty 17/20

TRIO by Jim McConnell 17/20

High scoring images from the Members Advanced Class:

ANNA by Di Jackson 20/20

BLOWIN IN THE WIND by David Ashfield 19/20

THE RUNNER by Shirley Radden 19/20

BLACK SANDS OF STOKKSNES by Paul Radden 18/20

THE SEA POOL by David Turner 18/20

THE STARE by Robin Orrow 18/20

WAITING FOR THE TRAIN by Jan Murphy 18/20

Tuesday 3rd November – "Seeing the Light", by Guy Edwardes

We were delighted to welcome the well known and award winning photographer Guy Edwardes to WDPC tonight to give a presentation entitled "Seeing the Light". The first half was based around landscape images and the second was all about wildlife.

The quality of the actual presentation that Guy gave was second to none, giving many hints and tips as to how he captured his stunning images, with reference to Apps he used, compositional elements, lenses and settings.  Not to mention the planning that went into his photography, invariably needing early morning starts.

The presentation showed many landscape images from around the UK with lots of misty mornings, many from his home county of Dorset but also further afield including Tuscany where he leads regular workshops. Similarly with the wild life images, stunning frogs from Costa Rica and birds from Greece.

Very broad spectrum but all had one thing in common...absolutely beautiful images.

It was our biggest turn out for a Zoom meeting since we had started such meetings and it was easy to see why.  To see some of Guy's images or to find out about his workshops please see his website: https://www.guyedwardes.com

 

Tuesday 27th October – A project based Approach to Photography, a talk by David Keep, ARPS, DPAGB, FBPE, EFIAP

David had come well recommended and it was very easy to see why. His talk was riveting as he explained his approach to photography, which was basically how to make an image. The visualisation, planning, shooting and processing to end up with the desired result. Often taking weeks or even months to achieve. He showed many images in the first half and explained clearly how he tried to convey emotion and which elements of an image he wanted to use to emphasise the story he was telling.

In the second half he demonstrated how he achieved this using 3 or 4 specific examples.

His images can be seen on his website: www.davidkeepphotography.co.uk.

Tuesday 13th October – "Working with Textures"

WDPC were delighted to welcome Jane Lazenby, via Zoom, to give a talk entitled "Working with Textures". Jane came well recommended and it is easy to see why. During the first half she carefully explained What, Why and When to use a texture and gave many examples of where to find textures. In essence she said that textures were able to make things that didn't work look good. She showed very many examples to demonstrate the point. 

In the second half she clearly demonstrated how she uses textures by painting out the background and then useing a mask on a texture/s to reveal the subject. Although Jane used photoshop other programmes would be able to achieve the same effect. 

Some of her work maybe seen on her website: https://www.ejlazenbyphotography.co.uk and her YouTube channel where she shares some of her techniques: https://youtu.be/kYLYrgYKA0g

A brilliant evening and a speaker to be recommended.

Tuesday 6 October Competition - Open Colour

We welcomed Peter Wells from Wakefield to judge our first online competition via Zoom.  Peter did a grand job working his way through 79 images offering helpful comments and suggestions before scoring each one.  When judging images in our Members class, he said some were worthy of the Members Advanced class.  He had a tough job judging the Members Advanced images and held back 25 before deciding on the final scores.

Thanks to Peter for ensuring that our first online competition ran smoothly.

Here are the top scoring images.

In the Members class:

CASTING AT THE SUN by John Laing (20/20)

GOLDEN SUNRISE by Les Thwaites (20/20)

EVENING LIGHT AT KYNANCE COVE by Daphne Lingwood (19/20)

In Members Advanced:

BALLERINA RED by Liz Blake (20/20)

ANEMONE STUDY by Christine Frost (20/20)

LITTLE EGRET by Tony Smith (20/20)

CANTLEY DAWN by Roy Scrivener (20/20)

AUTUMN REFLECTIONS by Kim Scrivener (20/20)

FULL ON by Graham Frost (20/20)

KING PENGUIN COURTSHIP by Dawn Osborn (20/20)

PUFFIN RETURNING WITH SAND EELS by Di Jackson (20/20)

PREENING AVOCET by Dawn Osborn (20/20)

SLIPPERY WHEN WET by Graham Frost (20/20)

HEADING FOR THE PIER SHOW by Liz Akers (19/20)

FELIXSTOWE BY NIGHT by Tony Smith (19/20)

APPLECROSS BAY by Geoff Lingwood (19/20)

GANNET LOVE IN THE LONG GRASS by Jack Mitchell (19/20)

SCAR FACE by Donna Smith (19/20)

CHEEKY HARE by Caroline Tillett (19/20)

Tuesday 22nd September – "Odd Things" by Diana Seddon

 Zoom meetings continue in these strange times and this week Diane Seddon came along from Lincolnshire to give a presentation about "Odd Things". 

The poster says it all......

Diane certainly gave us all plenty of ideas on how we could be creative. In addition, if she needed to do something then she was persistent in finding out how it could be done in Photoshop..and with great effect. 

Many favourable comments from members and visitors alike.  So hopefully in the weeks and months to come we will see some more creative images and members thinking out of the box. Thanks Diane for a great evening.

Tuesday 8th September – Polina Plotnikova

We were delighted to welcome award winning photographer Polina Plotnikova to our Zoom meeting this evening.

Polina's presentation was in two distinct parts, the first half was all about her stunning flower photography whilst the second half focussed on her still life pictures. Most of the images were taken in Polina's home studio with minimal kit which she was only too willing to share with us. her creative flower images  were excellent and certainly provided much food for thought. 

Rather than take notes at the time Polina one some after thwarts which gave all the relevant details about the artists who had influenced her, the kit she used and her workshops.

Additionally she would be happy to return and give us a talk bout Lensbaby lenses, for which she is now an ambassador. 

Tuesday 25th August – a talk by Ross Mckelvey

One advantage of the lockdown situation is that you can have speakers from much further afield to come along and deliver a presentation via Zoom. So this week we were treated to the images of Ross Mckelvey, MPAGB, MFIAP, FIPF, EFIAP/p and FBPE, who comes from Belfast.
Although his focus is mainly on portraits Ross shared a number of images from other genres  and included in his presentation many hints on tips on a variety of photographic topics. 
In the second half Ross focussed on editing and using Photoshop and Nik, demonstrated how to process a number of the images he had previously shared. 
In addition to Ross we welcomed along Margaret Salisbury from Fotospeed who helpfully answered some questions about paper choice.
Some of Ross's images can be seen on his website: https://www.rossmckelvey.co.uk/about.html
In addition Ross has a YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPt9fm1RtwqdzvaJBrHUCwA/videos?view_as=subscriber
where there are many helpful tutorials.

Tuesday 11th August – "Tales of a Riverbank" by Jenny Hibbert, MPAGB, EFIAP/s, AWPF

One advantage of Zoom meetings is that you can invite speakers from beyond the normal travelling distance, so WDPC, based in Norfolk, were delighted to welcome Jenny Hibbert, from S Wales, to give her presentation about the riverbank.
Jenny was very enthusiastic about all the birds and mammals that could be found along the river bank  family close to home. Dippers were a firm favourite but in the second half we were treated to some award winning images of voles and others amongst other creatures.
It was obvious that Jenny had researched her animal/bird behaviour and knew when and where she would find the images she was after, frequently getting wet and lying on muddy banks till she got the shot.
Many members were really inspired by her photography and were keen to seek out some dippers when in a suitable location!

Tuesday 28th July – Zoom presentation by Glenys Garnett

We were delighted to welcome Glenys Garnett to give a Zoom presentation this evening, entitled "Developing a Creative Approach".Glenys suggested ways of developing a creative mindset, how to overcome barriers to being creative and some ideas on using projects to develop creativity. She then showed a couple of her projects to give examples of how she has  used this approach to her own work. Virtually all of Glenys images were taken in camera, with minimal editing, and  using a variety of techniques.Still emerging slowly from lockdown many members needed some inspiration to get their cameras out and Glenys certainly provided lots of inspiration, lots of tools and many different ways to approach taking images.
To see some of Glenys images please check out her website: http://www.ggcreativeimages.co.uk

Tuesday 15th July – My Photography My Vision by Les Forrester

After a long break due to Coronavirus and lockdown we took the plunge and had a meeting via Zoom.
Les Forester had previously delivered his presentation this way so was used to not actually seeing everyone as he spoke.
Having had a dry run of zoom the day before so members were familiar with how the platform worked, we had a really good turn out.
Les not only shared his brilliant photos but also aired some very useful information as to why he took them and also gave us composition and editing suggestions. Many members later emailed to say that they had been given some ideas to go and try.
His images certainly gave a new take on some familiar places.
Thanks Les for a great and inspirational evening, I suspect the first of many zoom meetings.

June 2020 Focus On ... Food

Our latest Focus On competition was on the subject of food.  There were 32 entries and here are the top ten as scored by club members.

Thanks to those who took part and to Robin for organising.

1st OUT OF THE FRYING PAN by Stephen Gregory

2nd STRAWBERRY SPLASH by Francesca Shearcroft

3rd SMELL THE SIZZLE  by Robin Orrow

4th BERRY FLOWER by Pam Rutty

5th WORKING LUNCH by Graham Jackson

6th PEPPER FUNGI IN A BROCCOLI FOREST GLADE by Robin Orrow

7th BUILDING THE MUNCHIES PYRAMID by Roy Scrivener

8th GOOD FOR YOU by Liz Blake

9th LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE by Jan Murphy

10th FAVOURITE FRUITS by Christine Alcock

Focus On "Creative Flowers"

Thanks to our Competition Secretary, Robin, we have run another Focus on Competition whilst in these strange times of lockdown. Thanks to all club members who entered, there were a total of 41 images and potentially all members could vote as if they were the judge. 
The top 10 images are shown below.

1st To the Wind by Christine Alcock

2nd Falling by Christine Alcock

3rd  Freedom by Steve Gregory

4th Dandelion from Seed to Flower by Robin Orrow

5th It's Raining Floaties by Jan Murphy

6th World in a Flower by Francesca Shearcroft

7th Flamingo Lily by Di Jackson

8th Isolation by Francesca Shearcroft

9th Dandelion Twirl by Diana Graham

10th Garden and Sphere by Vanessa Robertson