Annual Exhibition 2024 - Coming Soon!

For the first time, our Annual Exhibition will run in parallel with the  Campkins Photography Show.  So a great opportunity of two major photography events in the same city in the same week.  We hope photographers from across the region will take full advantage of everything that is on offer.  With grateful thanks and appreciation  to our Sponsors.

In parallel with:

"In Search of ...."

Bill Ward - Actor and award-winning photorapher, comes from Newcastle and was given an Instamatic camera at the age of 7 years and loved it.  Looking back, he was clearly drawn to water as a subject, and it continues to this day.  He went into advertising for 6.5 years, but something was missing for him and he took a break, travelling, with a new Pentax and reconnected with his love for photography.  He returned and decided to retrain as a stage actor.  His profile sky-rocketed when he was cast in Coronation Street,  where 13.9million people watched his last episode.  Having become so well known and recognised,  he turned to photography, often in remote places, again, often around water to ground himself and restore some calm to his life.  His first project was 'Winter on the Coast of England'.  He says that you need to take time, to get under the skin of a place, to really see what is happening around you and it is the time he so enjoys in between his acting roles.  He now loves to use  ICM and a little infrared.  "Use your camera like a brush."  He goes out in all weather, connecting and working with what Mother Nature provides on the day.  His acting career continues successfully, alongside his award-winning photography and his galleries provide a great deal of inspiration.

Infrared Photography - Debra Bennett

Our new season was kicked off by our President with her current passion for infrared photography.  Debra has long enjoyed creative photography, often using textures in post-processing.  However, a few years ago, she decided to try infrared and purchased her first infrared camera, secondhand, and it has really fired her imagination.  "You never quite know what you're going to get, which makes it very interesting and exciting."  Having experimented with her first camera for some time, she took the decision to convert another camera to 'Full Spectrum' which gives her the most flexibility, as she can now apply filters to remove either the red, green or blue light.  Some of her beautiful images were very ethereal and 'other-worldly'; some she had converted to pure monochrome.  She took us through all the infrared options,  showing us the result of restricting the different light channels.  All in all, a very entertaining evening and at least 2 members have decided to covert their old cameras and explore the world of infrared.  

A Sample of Club Meetings from the 2023/24 Season

The articles below are brief summaries of some of the interesting talks we enjoyed last season.

Wild Islands: the nature of the Falklands - Mark Sissons

This week, we reverted to Zoom for our Club meeting and were completely captivated by Mark Sissons and his images of the wildlife in the Falkland Islands.  In Mark's words: This talk is in tandem with my latest book of the same title, produced in association with Falklands Conservation.  This wonderful archipelago has become almost a spiritual photographic home for me over the last decade that I have been photographing here and this talk looks to illustrate just why. You can expect plenty of penguins, an abundance of albatross and a diverse array of images that will illustrate the real nature of just why these islands offer so much in terms of wildlife and photography.  From our experience, Mark's description is very accurate.  Not only were his images impressive, but his knowledge of the wildlife and their behaviours was equally enthralling.  He was generous in sharing his technique and fieldcraft.  80+ members enjoyed a captivating talk.  Visit Mark Sisson Photography for great inspiration.

Street Photography: Light and Life on the Streets - Damien Demolder

A former editor of Amateur Photographer and a regular contributor to photography reviews and journals, Damien runs street photography workshops in London.  He gave a very entertaining talk on his take on street photography.  He started by explaining what his approach was when on the street - looking for that decisive moment, looking for the light, giving the sense of 'being there', capturing something 'different' - something that others will not have seen.  He demonstrated this focus with a set of sillouettes - high contrast shots with the subject sillouetted against a bright, colourful background, and not just there, but there at the moment that the subject is cleverly framed as well - the decisive moment!  Then he moved onto shadows - again, a different take on street photography, where the shadows are the subject, when the subject is not actually even in the shot.  Damien certainly got us all thinking and seeing street photography a little differently.  A very enjoyable talk.  You can see more of Damien's excellent work on his website.

A Photographic Immersion in Havana - Roy Essary MPAGB

Another busy night at the Club with the members very keen to see the architecture, faded grandeur, glorious colours and of course, those classic american cars of Havana.  Roy shared many anecdotes about the people he captured, the discussions he had and the reactions he encountered in his street photography.  Roy is a photographer who really likes people and street photography comes to him so easily and naturally.  One image sticks with my mind in particular - two men in the street, looking menacingly in Roy's direction as he took their photo.  I thought - was this where Roy did not have such a good day?  The next image gave me the answer - one man was smiling and clearly engaged in telling Roy a story.  Then the next image - the badly injured hand of the other man.  On seeing this, Roy returned to his hotel to fetch his Savlon cream, which he happily gave the man to help his hand heal.  The talk was peppered with these little cameo's and all the more interesting for that.  Roy's images were everything we could have wished for and left us feeling we had visited Havana for the evening.  See more of Roy's images here.

More of the Way I See It - Rosemary Willman HonFRPS ABPE AFIAP APAGB

When Rosemary spoke for Cambridge CC in October 2021 she was obliged to present her work via Zoom because of the Covid restrictions so, it was with great pleasure, we were able to welcome her back in person last evening to show printed images of her work.  And what a show it was!  The first half of the evening was devoted to viewing her many accomplished images, printed on a variety of papers, taken during her travels in India, Santorini, Iceland and the isles of Scotland. Rosemary has a keen eye for the unusual and we enjoyed her own interpretation of the Icelandic landscape, as well as her clever capture of light and shade in Greece.  Her images are often minimalist in style and many convey a painterly view, most of which is captured in-camera with minimal post-processing.  Rosemary’s skills in macro photography were also demonstrated by some flat-lay projects she had undertaken during lockdown.

During the second half of the evening, we enjoyed projected images taken during her recent trip to Japan.  Photographs taken both inside and out of Tokyo’s towering glass buildings captured dazzling reflections of city life, and Rosemary’s winter scenes of Hokkaido featuring trees and fields in a deep snow-covered landscape were elegant in their simplicity and style.   A visit to Rosemary's website is well worth it.

Macrophotography - Ann Miles FRPS EFIAP FBPE

70-80 members filled our hall to listen to our very own Ann Miles, one of our longest-serving members and very much an inspiration to the whole club.  She shared her considerable knowledge of equipment, settings, fieldcraft and the subjects. It was a masterclass.  Ann's website is  well worth visiting, whatever type of photographer you are.  You cannot fail to be inspired by something there.   From her profile:  I trained as a biologist and spent my working life in scientific publishing; this enabled me to keep abreast with all the changes from traditional to digital photography and printing. I have been an active photographer all my life and, for about 10 years, taught general and nature photography at university degree level. I am a Member of The London Salon which keeps me in touch with the best of pictorial photography around the world. I gained an Associateship in Nature and a Fellowship in Visual Arts and served as Deputy Chair of the Fine Arts Panel for 8 years. I now sit on the Natural History Distinction Panel. This reflects a wide spectrum of photographic interest. In my photography, I enjoy images that depict the interactions of people, architecture, nature and landscape. I have lectured all round Britain and give workshops and individual tuition.

Pax Aeterna - Clive Tanner

A packed meeting were treated to a wonderful show of exquisite prints, along with many interesting historical and architectural facts.  
Clive Tanner in his own words:   I am a photographic dabbler, moving from what was the latest to something even newer but at the same time, following my chosen photographic interests, mainly cathedral and church interior architecture. I have been fortunate to have friends/colleagues with similar interests who have guided and encouraged my picture making and help with the quest for photographic distinctions; so far these include Fellowship of Royal Photographic Society, Master Photographer of Photographic Alliance of Great Britain, Fellowship of Irish Photographic Federation and Associate of Welsh Photographic Federation, there is also Associate of Photographic Alliance of Great Britain. I am proud of these achievements and the recognition, but they do not make me a better photographer, hopefully experience, reading and talking to those who are recognised as great photographers will have positive effects.   I will show prints which were successful for the distinctions and others which have been in books of my pictures which have been produced since covid lockdown.