Friday, 25 October 2024

Tuesday 22 October Competition Digital round 1theme: Open

On Tuesday evening we welcomed  Penny Reeves to judge the first competition of the season. Digital Round 1. Theme Open.

A look at her website shows that she covers a wide ranging genre and so is well placed to judge an open theme. She explained that her critique is a personal judgement and that members showed bravery in entering competitions and as such should be respected.

Her marking was tight but the scores given to each image matched the critique. She held back two images in the members group.

Critiquing and marking the advance group set her a real challenge. The bar was set very high. She held back twelve images. Six got the top score of twenty points and the remaining six received nineteen points.


Here are the high scoring images for the advance members

                                       ALSTROMERIAS by Carol Martin (20)

                                    BROWN HARE by Sandie Jardine (20)

                                            FOX by Sandie Jardine (20)

                                  SKIPPER by Francesca Shearcroft (20)
                             
                                    STILL LIFE by Jan Murphy (20)

                                                 TAKING SHELTER by Andrew Stringer (20)


                            EMERGING OUT OF THE DUST by Robin Orrow (19)

                                          FOCUSED by Carol Martin (19)

                               HARE PULLING FACES by Jack Mitchell (19)

                                TOO YOUNG TO FLY by Jack Mitchell (19)

                                     WHITE ON WHITE by Jan Murphy (19)


                                   GLIMPSE THROUGH A WINDOW by Andrew Stringer (19)


High scoring images for members group


                                                   HUNSTANTON SUNRISE by Sue Baldwin (20)

                      CRACK OF SPARROWS ON THE PIER by Martin Scothern (20)


Saturday, 19 October 2024

Wednseday 16 October visit to Fair Haven Woodland and Water Garden

A group of us met up at Fairhaven Woodland and Water Gardens. And what a beautiful place. We had a beautiful day photographing a range of subjects, from fungi, autumn colours, gardens etc.
The weather was very kind to us and some members enjoyed a boat trip up the River Bure and past the ruins of St Benet's Abbey





                                    BROWN TOED FOREST FLY (HOVERFLY) by Francesca Shearcroft


                                                AUTUMN LEAVES by Francesca Shearcroft

                                                 ALL THE GREENS by Daphne Lingwood

                                                               FUNGI by Geoff Lingwood

                                          DYERS MAZEGILL FUNGUS by Maureen Campbell

                                               PORCELAIN FUNGUS by Maureen Campbell

                                                             HERON by Tom Thurston

                                                        BELL CAP by Tom Thurston

                                        HARE'S FOOT INCAP MUSHROOM by Diana Graham

                                                   MOORHEN CHICK by Diana Graham

                                               PRIMULA CANDELABRA by Georgie McCall

Sunday, 13 October 2024

Tuesday 8 October Photography On The Dark Side; London Nights

On Tuesday evening we welcomed Peter Benson to our club via zoom. Peter gave a brief talk about his family's connection with photography going back to 1864. He showed a photo of his great great grandfather Willibald Zehr dated 1868. With such DNA in his genes becoming a photographer was inevitable.

Peter describes himself as a keen urban night scape photographer. He usually starts working about 8.00pm and finishes around 1.00am, depending on his clients. In some of his images Big Ben shows 4.00am.  That shows dedication.

His Kit:

Tripod, Camera, 

Lens 24 -70, 18 -55, 12 - 33mm

His images are taken with long exposure and manually bracketed and blended in photoshop. 

It was a fascinating evening from start to finish with a great variety of images from across London. With the images came the history of the places giving a real sense of time and the ever changing scenery of London.

Peter reminded us that the image we are looking for is not always in front of us, but to look back over our shoulder and to work with the weather we are presented with.

His website is really worth a visit.

Sunday, 6 October 2024

Tuesday 1 October Smoke and Mirrors

This evening's presentation was given by one of our members, Andrew Stringer. The talk was about the life of a fire fighter and photography.  He explained how he got interested in photography.  

Having attended an all boys school he was keen to learn about the opposite sex.  He managed to blag his way into doing a fashion shoot.   Without the knowledge of photography or a camera he consulted his uncle who gave him a crash course. He went out and bought himself a basic camera. He got the photos but not the girl.

He always wanted to be a fire fighter and after watching the film Towering Inferno he knew that he had to apply. But he had to wait until he was eighteen years. Still no girls but armed with his camera the first fire fighter photographer was launched.

Fire, smoke and water together helps to produce dramatic story telling images. He took his camera to every callout to capture the after effects.  Safety was always at the forefront and these images would be used in training.





WATCH IT BURN by Andrew Stringer


TIME TO REFLECT by Andrew Stringer


                                THE MIRROR EFFECT by Andrew Stringer


THE MAGNIFICENT FOUR by Andrew Stringer


Tuesday, 1 October 2024

Sunday 29 September visit to Felbrigg Hall

Ten of us went to Felbrigg Hall today. We had a lovely day on the estate, gardens and hall.  So a variety of photo opportunities presented for all. The weather held up for us, and we all enjoyed lunch together.


SPLASH OF RED byAndrew Stringer

METAL FIGURE by Andrew Stringer

SPIKES by Andrew Stringer

THROUGH THE ARCH by Andrew Stringer

HELLO YOU by Andrew Stringer

BEEFSTEAK FUNGUS by Maureen Campbell

PARASOL by Maureen Campbell

NATURES ART by Maureen Campbell

EARTHBALLS by Maureen Campbell

AGAINST THE WALL by Pat Weir

THE STABlEs by Pat Weir

SULPHUR TUFT by Sue Baldwin

TURKS TURBAN by Sue Baldwin

ON THE MOVE by Paul Hayes-Griffin

PUMPKIN PIE by Paul Hayes-Griffin

SEA BATTLE by Paul Hayes-Griffen

SPIKY by Paul Hayes-Griffin