Thursday 26th May - Stody Lodge Gardens

What an amazing property tucked away in the Norfolk countryside - the sight and smell of so many rhododendrons and azaleas was almost overwhelming.  It’s easy to see why the gardens are advertised as East Anglia’s most dramatic.

Conditions were almost perfect for photography and, even though there were several coach loads of visitors, the gardens were big enough to find a quiet spot to compose your images.

The homemade teas were excellent and some members found it necessary to make several visits!

Some of our images can be seen below:

by Sarah Pymer

by Tim Leonard

by Di Jackson

by Jim McConnell

by Caroline Tillett

by Liz Blake

by Heather Ryder

by Francesca Shearcroft

by Jan Murphy

by Heather Ryder

by Di Jackson

by Jim McConnell

by Liz Blake

by Sarah Pymer

by Caroline Tillett

by Francesca Shearcroft

by Jan Murphy

by Tim Leonard

Tuesday 24th May - Printing with Confidence - PermaJet

Colin Hulley from PermaJet demonstrated the importance of calibrating our monitors, selecting appropriate paper and using the right print settings, especially ICC profiles.  Colin managed to strike a good balance between general information and very specific advice and members found the talk and demonstration most interesting and helpful.

Quite a few people took the opportunity to purchase PermaJet Paper, and I expect the Club's calibration equipment will be in demand as we follow Colin's advice.  We hope the end result will be club members 'printing with confidence'.

Tuesday 10th May - Focus On ... Street Photography

It was not an easy task to pick our favourite street photography images from the 42 entries.  To make it a bit easier we were picking a top five (rather than a top three as in previous Focus On sessions).  Everyone at the meeting identified their favourite five, the weighted scores were computed and Keith Mountford's 'Quick While No-one's Looking' scooped the top prize.

Well done everyone who entered.  Here are the images which finished in the top 10.  

1st  QUICK WHILE NO-ONE'S LOOKING by Keith Mountford

2nd  ON THE BUS by Jack Mitchell

Joint 3rd  DANCING IN THE STREET by Di Jackson

Joint 3rd  GRAFFITI BINS by Jan Murphy

Joint 5th  SHOPPING by Andy Lowe

Joint 5th  MEETING POINT by Tim Leonard

7th  THE WINDOW DRESSER by Caroline Tillett

8th  STREET PERFORMER by Jim McConnell

9th  OBLIVIOUS by Caroline Tillett

Joint 10th  TOUGH TIMES by Sarah Pymer

Joint 10th  THE BOY UPSTAIRS by Di Jackson

Tuesday 3rd May - Jayne Odell 'The Monochrome Effect'

We were expecting seascapes and landscapes from Jayne Odell and we got that and more.  Jayne's photographs showed a different approach to some traditional shots and her energy and enthusiasm were inspiring - it was exhausting just sitting there listening!  Many of her images were taken on an iPhone and processed with various apps but as Jayne said, such images are unlikely to be appreciated by most club competition judges!  Nonetheless, I know many club members will be having a go after being inspired by Jayne's talk. 

If you'd like to see Jayne's photographs again, here's a link to her website http://jayneodellphotography.co.uk/.

Thursday 28th April - Pensthorpe Wildlife & Gardens

17 of us made it to Pensthorpe on a beautiful Spring morning.  We split up with some starting out at the wader scrape and hides whilst others started in the wader aviary or the conservation area with the Cranes, Flamingos, Ibis and Red Squirrels.  After lunch in the cafe most of us ventured to the areas we hadn't visited in the morning.

Pensthorpe provides an excellent venue for practising your photographic techniques whether you're a novice or more experienced nature photographer - the Bearded Tits proved almost as difficult to photograph in the aviary as they do in the wild!

Some of our images can be seen below:

Bearded Tit by Jack Mitchell

Devoted Dad by Sue Baldwin

Smew by Graham Jackson

Mallard Drake by Caroline Tillett

Greylag Gosling Foraging by Tom Thurston

Jackdaw by Tim Leonard

Red Squirrel by Di Jackson

Crane by Francesca Shearcroft

Moorhen with Chick by Caroline Tillett

Face On by Jack Mitchell

Taking a Break by Tom Thurston

Avocets by Tim Leonard

Long-tailed Tit by Di Jackson

Feeding Time by Francesca Shearcroft

Ruff Displaying by Di Jackson

Skunk Cabbage by Francesca Shearcroft

Coot Chick by Graham Jackson

Egyptian Goslings by Tom Thurston

Mandarin Duck by Tim Leonard

Tough Love by Graham Jackson

Turning the Eggs by Sue Baldwin

Little Egret by Jack Mitchell