Club Night Summary #140

Reptile Workshop Night

Once again another triumph in our return to using the community centre hall for our Thursday meetings, with a great workshop night organised by Anthony Highet. This follows the highly successful evening Ant had run with the ‘Creativity hub’ a few weeks earlier. Where our members had two models and excellent lighting supplied by Ant and the hub to photograph the themed evening. On Thursday Ant arranged two more themes to photograph in the hall. Joined by his colleague Calvin who provided live creatures such as the red eyed tree frog and many more species in a realistic setting to photograph. Once again Ant provided excellent lighting and technical support to get the best from each of the evenings themes. Also a big thank you to Calvin who controlled the creatures and shared great knowledge with the members on each species. In addition we also so had a great ‘still life’ arrangement thanks to Gordon Calder who provided spooky materials to photograph.

Although Zoom has been a saviour for meeting safety reasons , to have Interactive evenings back in the hall is a real boost to the club and hopefully a situation we can now build on to Inspire us all in our creative quest.

We now turn our attention back to the print leagues where we have two weeks of print competition. This Thursday we have a themed set subject challenge ‘ Close up’ and ‘Symmetry’. Although there is more effort in producing finished prints, there is also a satisfaction for the authors in seeing the photograph mounted and displayed in the hall and Inviting the judges critique.

As always our members tirelessly produce great creativity in their work which makes for great club evenings, which I am sure once again this week, we will not be disappointed with the entries.

See everyone on Thursday

Steve ?


Club Night Summary #139

The Art of Macro

We had a really Good presentation from Tony North on Thursday at our ‘Zoom’ meeting. The talk was entitled ‘The art of macro’ in which award winning photography Tony shared his excellent Images alongside some really Informative dialogue, covering everything from equipment to a guide on best times get out and photograph. Thursday’s talk was the last scheduled presentation for the season, made possible to Invite speakers from greater distance by using Zoom to broadcast to everyone. Thanks to Denise for her great choice of presentations and bringing such variety of subjects for our members to enjoy.

Ant was responsible for bring the ‘creativity hub’ to the club a few weeks ago where we all enjoyed a great Interactive night back in the community centre hall. This week Ant once again is running a workshop and Invites everyone to bring along their cameras and macro lenses etc for another opportunity to photograph live creatures which he and Calvin will be controlling! The workshop is entitled ‘Vertebrate’s’ and ‘Amphibians’ an evening not to be missed! It’s good to be back using our hall for meetings again, which provides a great platform for both photography Inspiration and also renews our social gatherings on a weekly basis.

Look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday.

Steve


Club Night Summary #138

Final PDI of the Season

Last week we had our latest PDI competition in the hall. It was an ‘open’ league competition and we had 40 entries. As predicted our talented members produced another fine selection of Images to challenge our visiting judge Micheal Lurie. Who had the difficult job of critique and awarding the points from the wide variety of subjects entered. The judge also commented at the end of the evening about the high standard of PDIs entered and felt all members should be commended for their work. Congratulations to the higher scoring authors and thanks to everyone who entered and to all that attended the evening, which as always was a very enjoyable event.

After a number of weeks back in the hall, this week we return to Zoom for a presentation by Tony North with his topic entitled ‘ The art of Macro’ where Tony demonstrates how to get up close! I’m sure this will be a really Inspiring and Informative evening for everyone to tune into. The macro presentation evening sets the scene nicely for the next few evenings back in the community centre hall. On the 24h March Ant and Calvin will give an Interactive presentation entitled ‘Invertebrates and Amphibians’ with live creatures to photograph. An evening not to be missed! Bring along your cameras and macro lenses. On the 31st March we have our next print competition with one of the set subjects being ‘Close Up’.

So a nice few weeks to get Inspired, get more experience about macro photography and also the potential to take a few close up contenders for the competition.

See everyone on Zoom on Thursday. Steve ?


Club Night Summary #137

Every Picture Tells a Story

Our second week back in the hall was another really enjoyable evening featuring our latest competition. This week it was an open print league competition which naturally featured a wide range of topics for the judge Michael Lurie to critique and award the points. Once again it was great to see the finished prints around the hall for the judging, giving everyone a chance to view and appreciate the work of the authors who entered the competition. We had 27 prints to enjoy and each was given the quality of time within the judging process, which also gave each author constructive feedback on their work. The judge remarked the standard of entry was very high from our talented members who often push the boundaries with their work. Thank you to everyone who attended the evening and congratulations to the higher scoring authors on the night.

This week in the hall, we have a members evening where club member Mike Brankin takes to the floor to discuss female Imagery. Mike states his presentation will look at the way women have been portrayed in art and photography through the ages and will consider the power of the visual artist to Impact on social and political change. His presentation will pose questions as to what degree of responsibility do club photographers have when contributing to this social change in their Image making.

Look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday Steve


Club Night Summary #136

Print Open

Our second week back in the hall was another really enjoyable evening featuring our latest competition. This week it was an open print league competition which naturally featured a wide range of topics for the judge Michael Lurie to critique and award the points. Once again it was great to see the finished prints around the hall for the judging, giving everyone a chance to view and appreciate the work of the authors who entered the competition. We had 27 prints to enjoy and each was given the quality of time within the judging process, which also gave each author constructive feedback on their work. The judge remarked the standard of entry was very high from our talented members who often push the boundaries with their work. Thank you to everyone who attended the evening and congratulations to the higher scoring authors on the night.

This week in the hall, we have a members evening where club member Mike Brankin takes to the floor to discuss female Imagery. Mike states his presentation will look at the way women have been portrayed in art and photography through the ages and will consider the power of the visual artist to Impact on social and political change. His presentation will pose questions as to what degree of responsibility do club photographers have when contributing to this social change in their Image making.

Look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday Steve


Club Night Summary #135

An Evening with the Creativity Hub

Our first meeting back in the Community centre hall since before Christmas was a really good night. Well attended and a great atmosphere for our workshop meeting. Thanks to Ant who arranged the session, we had ‘an evening with the Creativity hub ’ who built Inspiring photographic sets, with two excellent models dressed for the different sets and allowed our members to take pictures throughout the evening. As part of the creativity team, Ant was on hand to give support and technical help to the members where needed. Everyone came away with some excellent Images from the night. In the Creativity hub initial presentation they explained the exciting project they have launched, using amazing exclusive locations to enable photographers to photograph models in themed settings. They already have two major photography equipment suppliers sponsors. One of the sponsor’s is Rotolight, who’s equipment was used on the night to produce amazing lighting for the created sets. A really good Interactive workshop to celebrate our return to the hall.

This week we have a league print ‘open’ competition, which again being in the hall enables us to show physical Prints to a judge. As always with an open competition, expect lots of variety presented by our talented members to Impress the judge. Should be a good, inspiring and Interesting night.

Don’t forget to enter the Chilterns 100 competition. Just one PDI per author any subject. All details on photoentry under its own entry title. It would be great to have a good club representation in this external competition.

See you on Thursday Steve


Club Night Summary #134

PDI Competition

On Thursday we had another great PDI league competition judged by Lloyd Moore. With 45 Images entered into the set subject competitions. The themes were ‘High or low key’ and Square format Album cover’ as the titles suggested we had a lot of variation in the entries with some really Imaginative ideas. Once again demonstrating how our talented members relish a challenge. Congratulations to the high scorers on the night and thank you to everyone that entered to make such an enjoyable evening of creativity. Thanks to Rod for hosting the night, Cat for projecting the Images and of course Vanessa for putting the competition together.

Next week we return to the community centre hall after a number of weeks on Zoom for a really exciting evening with the creativity hub. An evening arranged by Ant where the hub team will show us how to build Inspiring photographic sets live in the hall. It’s an interactive evening so please bring along your cameras for lots of photography opportunities. In returning to the community centre we will still be mindful of Covid and ensure good ventilation is in the hall. As previously demonstrated in the hall meetings, where all members have shown respect for each other’s safety, we will continue to encourage safe meeting practice.

We hope everyone can come along and enjoy a great evening together.

See you on Thursday Steve


Club Night Summary #133

Rosebowl Third Round

Last Thursday we hosted the 3rd round of the prestigious Rosebowl competition on Zoom. A well attended evening of over 30 People tuned in to enjoy some amazing Images from the clubs in this round. We were pitted against Harrow and Imagez. We had won our first round and came a close second in the second round. The competition was judged by Kevin Day who gave great commentary and critique on each Image. He Informed everyone that it was going to be a very difficult task to separate the Images with such a high standard from all three clubs. Unfortunately we didn’t quite get enough points and finished 3rd on the night with only one less point than second placed Imagez

  • Harrow 283 points
  • Imagez 276 points
  • Croxley 275 points

We were the first competition in the 3rd round and now have to wait until the other 3rd ties take place to see if we can progress into the finals with the points we have accrued. We had some great Images in the competition.

The higher scoring Images were from;

  • Amanda Culley 20points ‘Tree lined path’
  • Cat Humphries 20 points ‘ Relic of the Industrial age’
  • Anthony Highet 20 points ‘Intense’
  • Alan Rhodes. 19 points ‘Coiled’
  • Gordon Calder. 19 points ‘Approaching Glen Coe’
  • Gordon Calder. 19 points ‘Sunrise at the Kelpies’
  • Steve Bailey. 19 points ‘Black and White’
  • Alan Rhodes. 19 points ‘The Daydreamer’

Congratulations to those authors and to all the team who represented our club so well with such amazing Images they have produced.

This week on Zoom we have our next league set subject PDI competition which I’m sure there will be some very Imaginative Interpretations of the topic. The following week 17th February we will be back in the hall for a really exciting night with an evening with the creativity hub. We have a presentation on how to build Inspiring photographic sets. There will be lots of opportunities to photograph so bring along your cameras.

See you on Thursday Steve


Club Night Summary #132

PDI Open

On Thursday we held an ‘open’ PDI league competition on Zoom. The judge was Paul Burwood who gave good commentary on each Image while carrying out his critique and awarding the points.

Once again the members produced an outstanding array of Images covering many genres of subject. We had 39 Images to enjoy over the evening with a number of Images held back by the judge for final selection scoring. Thank you to everyone that entered and congratulations to the authors of the higher Scoring Images on the night. These Images, as always, are featured in the gallery section of our excellent website, along with the current league positions. Thanks to everyone who joined us on Zoom, we really appreciate your presence and support.

This week on Zoom we host the 3rd round of the prestigious Rosebowl External competition, where we have been drawn against Harrow and Imagez. Having won our first round and placed second in the second round we know It will be a tough contest against these two clubs. We have a lot of photographic talent in our club and hope the selected Images will earn us the points. It will be great to have a lot of members online this Thursday, to support our quest!

See you soon Steve


Club Night Summary #131

Paintbrush to Pixels

One of the good things about meeting on Zoom is the opportunity to find speakers from out of the local area. Once again this advantage was evident on Thursday when we had the excellent EJ Lazenby join us for the evening.

The talk entitled ‘from paintbrush to pixels’ was a really well crafted presentation giving us a great story of an accomplished painter embrace photography, while still keeping her love of horses as her main subject. Both her painting and photography were stunning shown during her presentation, evident in her photography distinction achievements along the way. Another really Inspiring talk which gave us a very insightful story of her journey.

Over the next two weeks we turn our attention to competitions. First a PDI league ‘open’ Competition this Thursday on Zoom, followed by our external challenge in the next round of the prestigious Rosebowl competition on the 3rd February. We will be hosting this event also on Zoom, where we hope to continue our strong presence in the competition (we won the first round and 2nd in the second round).

It really is great to celebrate the talent we have in our club, both seeing new work from our photographers in our leagues and also comparing our standard against other clubs in external competitions.

See everyone on Thursday Steve