Tuesday 14 October Gardening For Wildlife Photography

 This evening we welcomed David Chapman to give a talk on Gardening for Wildlife Photography. David is a professional photographer and author. He has written articles for several magazines and also gives talks to gardening clubs.

David's talk was very interesting and informative. He gave lots of tips on how to create a garden to encourage wildlife to visit and live in the garden. He talked about the plants that are needed for different types of insects; not just to feed on but also to lay their eggs and hibernate.

He also explained how to create homes for bees, hedgehogs and birds.  He stressed the importance of pond building, including the correct depth that is needed for for the variety of creatures that might visit and the vegetation for them to feed and rest on.

He showed a variety of images taken in his garden and also shared how he constructed the settings for his compositions.

There was something for everyone whether you are a wildlife photographer or someone who just loves to garden and encourage wildlife to visit.

Tuesday 7 October Portrait Photography

Tonight we had a practical session led by Andrew Stringer, one of the club members who loves to photograph people, and Ken Barrett, who was a wedding photographer for many years. They both provided the lighting and the backdrops.  Ken used a very famous saying that 'you need to break every bone in your model to get the right pose'.  He stressed that we should all take photos of our families as they provides us with memories of the present and past. He also gave the settings that members should try.

We had four models but one went the extra mile with his props. It was like having Mary Poppins with a magic bag with all the different outfits that he changed into. Giving members plenty of opportunity to tryout various poses.

There was a lovely atmosphere in the hall. Members busy taking photos of the models and helping each other.  Even those who rarely take photos of people participated and enjoyed the session.

Here are some of the images.

Berni by Rachael Trivett

Gordon and Georgie by Rachael Trivett

Gordon by Rachael Trivett

Paul by Rachael Trivett

Our Geoff by Jack Mitchell

Our Gordon by Jack Mitchell

Happy Trevor by Jack Mitchell

Our Geoff Looking Good by Jack Mitchell

Our Graham by Jack Mitchell

Our Paul by Jack Mitchell

Tuesday 23 September Sport Photography

 On Tuesday evening we welcomed Gavin Bickerton-Jones to give a talk about photographing sport activities. He was a junior racing driver, a freelance motor racing engineer and has also worked in international motor sport as a photographer. With such a background and as someone who has been on both sides of the fence he is highly qualify to give this talk. 

He covered a variety of sports including athletics, football, rugby, motorbike racing, swimming and Formula motorcar racing. He gave some value tips such as doing some research about the sport, finding the best place to stand and camera policy to make sure you have the correct lens.

He also talked about experimenting with the shutter speed and thinking about whether the background, foreground, reflections, signage or shadows would enhance or be a distraction to the image.  He recommended getting down low to get eye contact, depending on the sport. He stressed the importance of waiting and judging the moment to press the shutter button. He also displayed the settings he used for some of his images.

All these tips can be adapted to other types of photography. A very informative evening.

Tuesday 9 September Summer Challenge

 On Tuesday evening we welcomed back members after the summer break. We opened the season with our Summer challenge competition. The judge for the evening was Andy Swain. There was a varied variety of images ranging from wildlife, movement, and people.  Andy held back several sets of images.  The standard was very high and this presented him with the difficult task of selecting an overall winner.

Thank you to members who submitted images. Without their input the evening would not have been a success.  Thanks to Jack and Rachael for holding the fort while both the chair and vice chair were away.  

The top images can be seen below.

                                                 1st Winged Creatures by Francesca Shearcroft

2nd It's All About Symmetry by Jan Murphy

3rd Creatures by Maureen Campbell

Highly recommend images

From My Garden Seat by Jack Mitchell

Seed Heads by Liz Blake

Canna Leaves by Pam Rutty

Red Kites by Sandie Jardine

Commended Images

I remember When by Tom Thurston

Life's A Beach (Hut) by Andrew Stringer

Summer Insects by Geoff Lingwood

Sunday 13 July 2025 Summer Social

                              What a Wonderful fun Summer Social!

We had fish and chips from Deniz Plaice in Watton. the weather was perfect for sitting outside at Wells Cole Community Centre to eat and chat. After we had finished we played Molkky and a lot of people had a game. It was very popular.

At The end of the afternoon 4 ladies played a round of croquet before we went home.

Thank you everyone who came along.

Emma

Social Events Coordinator

Here are some images from the event:

Serious thinking

The croquet ladies

Smile please

The trio

All eyes to the right

Having a try at molkky

Who will be champion

Having a good laugh

Getting into the swing

Enjoying the fish and chips

The smilers

Serious eating taking place

Enjoying each others company 

Taking advantage of the sunshine 

                                                              Finishing off the last mouthful

Tuesday 8 July AGM, Presentation and Awards Ceremony

 

On Tuesday evening we held our annual AGM. All relevant documents were circulated in advance, giving members time to read and prepare questions.  The Chair asked members if they had any questions for the various committee members regarding their reports.  Members agreed that they were satisfied with the various reports. At that point the Chair, Francesca Shearcroft, resigned from her post. She had taken on the responsibility of Chair once again, at a difficult time for the club, and kept it together. A huge thank you must be said for all her hard work and dedication to the club.  Pam Rutty was elected as the new Chair and was welcomed by all.

With the official part of the meeting over it was time to present members with their Certificates and Medals. There was a slide show with all the high scoring images of the year.  Then it was time for members to enjoy tea/coffee with home made cakes and socialising.

Congratulations to all those who were awarded cups and medals. Also thank you to all those who attended the meeting and to every member for keeping the club going.

 

Tuesday 2 July 20 Nature Photography Projects Throughout The Year

 On Tuesday evening we welcomed Kevin Sawford to talk about his nature projects. His first image of the evening was a selection of various size lenses to stress that size does not alway matter, instead make the most of what you have. The most important thing is the person behind the camera.

A project can be about what is immediately available to you. Starting in the home, something as simple as a house plant - photographing the leaf and showing the finer details, trying out various F stops for different depths of field, taking the shot from different angles or even adding droplets of water.

When in the outside environment, think about what kind of background you want for your image. Try early morning or late evening for different lighting.  

He gave a few tips on creativity such as photographing your subject with the sun in front or behind. Perhaps try high key image by over exposing the subject, or slow and short shutter speeds.  He suggested making the most of the weather; for example, by photographing fury animals in the rain to get an action shot when they shake their fur.

Kevin is very passionate about nature and you could hear the emotion in his voice.  I would strongly suggest a visit to his website for more inspiration.

www.kevinsawford.com

Tuesday 24 June Competition Image of the year. Theme Open

 On Tuesday evening we had the final competition of the 24/25 season. Image of the Year, both print and digital. The scoring for the evening is from fifteen to twenty and there can only be one winner.

Nick Akers was our judge for the competition. The standard from both members and the advance group was very high, making Nick's task very difficult. He started off with the prints and immediately held the first one back. In total he held back nine print images. In the digital section he held back eleven images.

Nick took time to comment on every image, highlighting the positives and making suggestions the photographer might like to try on the image at a later date. But of course respecting that the final decision belongs to the photographer.

A big thank you to all those who participated and congratulations to the winners and runners up.

Here are the top scoring images in both print and digital.

Prints:

                                              1st Place Ghostly Gulls by Jack Mitchell

                                      2nd Place Quantock Drove Road by Graham Jackson 

                                              3rd Place Splashing Through by Carol Martin

Highly Commended Images:

                                               Fighting The Rapids by Dawn Osborn

                               Lower Manhattan InThe Blue Hour by Jan Murphy

                                                    On Aldeburgh Beach by Pam Rutty

                                                  Otter In The Rain by Diana Graham

Commended Images:

                                                      Derelict Croft by Roy Scrivener

                                                  Ancient  And Modern by Pat Weir

Top Scoring Digital Images:

                                                     1st Place Mohican Man by Jan Murphy

                                         2nd Place Banded Demoiselle by Carol Martin

                                               3rd Place Now And Then by Roy Scrivener

Highly Commended Images:

                                                                       3 In A Row by Pat Weir

                                        Juvenile Peregrine Falcon by Rachael Trivett

                                                          Tulip Stairs by Tom Thurston

                                                Stomping Little Owl by Sandie Jardine

Commended Images:

                                                             Ballerina Red by Liz Blake

                                           Canoeing On Emerald Lake by Emma Moore

                                                        Skilled Hands by Sue Baldwin

                                              Marsh Harrier Fly Past by Dawn Osborn