Tuesday 7th May – Practical Session

Many members had requested some hand on practical sessions so we set up two indoor table tops for macro, a  third with tethering and focus stacking and outside we did some light painting and ICM. In addition Trevor kindly set up a small work station to explain the exposure triangle.

We appreciated some help from Susan Hall for the light painting and some of the images created were good. Focus stacking worked well and after the coffee break the light painting worked really well. The general consensus was that the evening had been fun, and that members had had a chance to try things which were new to them.

Thanks to all those members who came along to support and those who helped others who were not so familiar with the various techniques.

Light-painting by Tom Thurston

Macro by Tom Thurston

Woodland at Wells Cole by Francesca Shearcroft

Cannot tell the time by Graham Jackson

Tuesday 23rd April – Competition : Theme – Movement

We welcomed Andy Swain to be our judge for the last digital competition of our year. The theme was Movement.  A wide variety of images were entered from all three classes and we appreciated Andy's tips along with his comments about the various images.

The highest scoring images are shown below:

Taking of into the Mist by Sandie Jardine 20

Water Splash by Jan Murphy 20

Doing Wheelie on the Southbank by Jan Murphy 20

Kicking up the Dirt by Carol Martin 20

Fast Moving Zebra by Dawn Osborn 20

Painting with Light by Liz Blake 19

Dreamy Aspens by Dawn Osborne 19

No 527 by Carol Martin 19

The Way of Water by Roy Scrivener 18

Grass Track by Andrew Stringer 20

Carousel Ride by Emma Moore 19

Last Furlong by Andrew Stringer 19

The Acrobat by Sue Baldwin 19

Cormorant Taking Off by Geoff Lingwood

On the Track by Tom Thurston 18

Holding On by Ann Barber 17

A visit to WWT site at Welney

 Twelve us met at Welney WWT site to explore the birdlife. However despite the glorious sunny day the birds were somewhat sparse and considerably too far away to get many decent shots. May be they were put off by the wind.

None the less some members managed a few bird images whilst others were more focussed on the smaller wildlife creatures to be seen, mainly amongst the stinging nettles.

A few images are shown below.

Pied Wagtail by Rachael Trivett

Mute swan by Jan Murphy

Red Shank by Mary Laing

Tree Sparrows by Maureen Cambell

Mute vs Whooper by Jack Mitchell

Kestrel by Robin Orrow

Whooper Swan by Rachael Trivett

Tree Sparrow by Rachael Trivett

Shoveller by Robin Orrow

Tree Sparrow by Maureen Cambell

Grey Herron by Mary Laing

Warbler by Jack Mitchell

                                                 

Whooper Swan by John Laing

Bug by Lyn Ibbitson-Elks

Hoverfly by Francesca Shearcroft

Spider by Lyn Ibbitson-Elks

Spider by Lyn Ibbitson-Elks

Bibio Marci Fly by Jan Murphy

Hover fly by Jan Murphy

Snail by Pam Rutty

Spider by Francesca Shearcroft

Tuesday 9th April – "Omdenken", a talk by Ady Kerry

We were unsure what sort of evening we were in for but we all very much enjoyed Ady Kerry's presentation, Omdenken. Ady used a wide variety of images to make us think about why we took an image and what it actually said. The talk was very interactive and members really enjoyed  the opportunity to  share their opinions.

Ady, a former RAF photographer, showed images from his past experience on why and how they were set up and all the thought processes that had gone into making them, emphasising that the photographer had to bear in mind the wishes of the client even if this meant staging an image that perhaps was not the ideal from a photographic viewpoint. 

To see some of Ady's images please check out his website: https://www.adykerry.com but bear in mind that this is only part of the story as you can not discuss the images in the way we were able to during his presentation.

A great evening enjoyed by all.

Tuesday 2nd April – Macro Photography: a talk by Justin Garner

A benefit of Zoom meetings is that we can access speakers from much further afield, so we were delighted to welcome Justin Garner, from Manchester, to give us an insight into how he takes macro images. The first half he shared many of his images and after the break delved into the techniques of Focus Stacking.

His presentation was most inspirational due to his passion and enthusiasm for the subject. No techno babble but techniques explained in such a way that all could understand them. I am sure many members have revived their passion for such a genre.

Tuesday 26th March – Print competition, Nature. Judge Wayne Davey

 A warm welcome was extended to Wayne Davey, BPE*5, DPAGB, AWPF, who was more than qualified to judge out Nature competition. Wayne's comments were helpful and constructive giving compositional and editing suggestions. He commented that many of the images in the Advanced group showed interactions between "creatures" which made them much more interesting.

He admitted he found it difficult to score many of them, however, the top scoring images are shown below.

Icelandic Fox in the dawn glow by Robin Orrow 20

Pelican dispute by Carol Martin 20

Black Winged Stilt by Pam Rutty 20

Mandarin Duck by Ann Barber 20

Alpha Dominance by Robin Orrow 19

Female Wheatear standing still by Jack Mitchell 19

Tuesday 5th March 2024 – Presentation by Richard O'Brien, titled "Architecture – Exposure to Edit"

On Tuesday 5th March we were teated to a very comprehensive Zoom presentation by Richard O'Brien, entitled, Architecture - Exposure to Edit.

In the first half, Richard showed us the surprisingly small amount of kit he uses for his work. He explained the great ingenuity and tricks he employs in order to get his shots of these amazing public buildings, devoid of any people. He concentrates on getting that unusual and somewhat unexpected angle, rather than the usual one that everyone else will use.

In the second half Richard demonstrated his editing process using Lightroom and occasionally Photoshop, with some nifty shortcuts and unique methods thrown in.

All in all a very interesting, intuitive and refreshingly different evening.