We enjoyed several excellent speakers last season, but our final club night was a welcome opportunity for members to showcase some of their favourite work and projects.
Andrea led by showing images created for an online challenge, where a new theme was announced each week and followers created a new image to interpret the theme. The topics often inspired photographers to try new subjects and techniques, and some of Andrea’s images were subsequently used in club competitions.
Following discussion by the members, it was decided to trial a monthly themed challenge next season, just for fun and inspiration, and to share the images at a club night.
Angela followed with 12 images created for her OU and RPS course, which were required to show a narrative.
Angela’s project centred on Cregneash village and May Day, with a range of images carefully selected to show the location, the people, close-up details, and the event itself.
Jason showed a selection of photographs from his other hobby, model boating, and featured an event for vintage model yachts.
Some of the models were over 100 years old, the biggest was 8 feet tall, and in some images it was impossible to tell that the boats on the water were not full-size ones.
Jim shared a project from early April, when we were fortunate to have 12 clear nights that allowed him to capture the phases of the moon.
Ranging from 15.4% illuminated to a 100% illuminated full moon, Jim’s final image was a striking composite of the images stacked in sequence, which attracted several questions from those present.
Seamus showed us “Street Art and Graffiti”, with eye-catching images captured on the island, in Liverpool and in Greece, followed by “Stuff I Like”, which raised some laughter, and then some of his beautiful flower studies set on a black background.
Steve recently made the trip of a lifetime to New Zealand and showed images from there and the stopover in Singapore, including trees growing inside the enormous Changi airport building.
Steve and his wife spent four weeks in a motorhome traversing New Zealand and his images encompassed the scenery and some well-known locations, culminating in Hobbiton with its references to Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
Sue is known for her still-life photography and she showed how she created a beautiful Tulip image that did well in the previous competition, along with a selection of tabletop images, including a zoom-burst image from last season.
Finally, Lynn stole the show with her “Rejects and Why”, giving a well-paced and self-deprecating dash through some of her images and why they were never entered into competitions. It was an entertaining way to end the evening, and we decided that Lynn should become a judge!
Well done to everyone who contributed to a varied and enjoyable evening.
Updates about next season will follow, but please pencil in 10th September for the first evening of the new season. This will feature the Mike Goldie Trophy, for which last season’s winner James Joyce has set “Motion” as the theme.