Club News

Members' interests and members' achievements were the theme of this meeting. Kicking off was Dean Sephton who explained his expertise in making photobooks. He could, of course, have shown us how Blurb works with Lightroom but, whilst that received a brief mention he concentrated on creating photobooks from scratch beginning with the photo album approach where images were affixed to paper and secured in a four ring binder. Concertina bindings followed and we also saw how softback booklets, hardback booklets with sewn pages were constructed.

Our 1^st competition of the 2021-22 season took place on 14 October. It was also the first competition for some period of time where members were physically present, as was the judge, Tim Clarke LRPS from Godalming Photographic Club. This was a welcome change from meeting over Zoom!  

Whilst judging, Tim gave us the benefit of his wide experience, suggesting possible improvements in composition and technique. The standard of both prints and PDIs was high; many images winning welcome compliments.

Returning to the club Rob de Ruiter ARPS gave us an insight into his interests and approach to photography over a lifetime. Fundamentally it had to be FUN! His talk contained examples of six genres:

For our second meeting of the season the Chairman of Bognor Regis Camera Club, Bill Brooks LRPS was invited to review our images, make an appraisal and give advice but not to score them as in a competition. Bill expressed himself as impressed by the range of subjects and the quality of the images in such a small club. He made a number of suggestions as to how the image might best be used in settings other than competitions.

In the first face to face meeting for many months the new season was opened in the traditional football club venue complete with hand washing, hand gel, wipes and face masks. The Chairman, Martin Tomes, facing a live audience for the first time, having been Chairman for over a year outlined the season's programme that included a couple of Zoom presentations to take advantage of distant presenters, regular photoshoots and hints and tips sessions, the latter in the new Thakeham Village Hall.

The last of our competitions of the 2020-21 season took place via Zoom on 13 May to choose the best print and best projected image (PDI) of the season. The prints and projected images were forwarded to our judge, Peter Rocchiccioli, ahead of the meeting. Peter is a very experienced judge from Chichester Camera Club. Whilst scoring the entries he gave copious suggestions for improvement.

Our 2nd and 3rd print competitions both took place on 6 May, having been delayed from earlier in the year due to covid restrictions. The prints were forwarded to our judge, Malcolm Bull, ahead of the meeting which took place via Zoom. Malcolm is well known to the club and is very experienced in a wide range of genres. He was very pleased to be judging prints which he described as a rarity this season! Whilst scoring he gave some well-considered tips for improvements.

Our 4th competition took place on 22 April and was judged by Rob White; best known for his underwater photography but with wide experience of other genres. The competition took place over zoom and included both prints, previously forwarded to Rob, and projected images (PDIs).  As well as a score, he gave well considered comments on each image, together with useful hints for improvement. Rob was impressed by the standard of photography, as shown by the high scores.

Rebecca Hitchcock DPAGB from Havant Camera Club who specialises in wildlife and landscape shared her experiences of three winter journeys, two in Iceland and one in Yellowstone National Park. The first trip involved a flight to Reykjavik, a bus journey in the rain and a damaged windscreen along the south coast of Iceland. She showed us beautiful photos of a glacier feeding large lumps of ice into a pool that eventually flowed out to sea. Where there is vegetation lupins grow extensively as an invasive species along with mosses and willow trees.

The set-subject competition was judged 16 April 2021 with members attending via Zoom. The set-subjects were ‘Narrative’ (they tell a story) for the projected images and ‘Pictorial’ (an attractive picture) for the prints. Both the PDIs and prints were made available to our judge, David Smith, before-hand. David praised the standard of the images and the quality of the prints. He was particularly pleased to be given prints to judge, as most clubs have given-up on them for the duration of the Covid pandemic.