Cambridge Inter-Club Digital Competition 2026 - The Results

On Saturday, 24 January, we hosted the annual inter-club digital competition at Whittlesford with 29 EAF clubs competing in five categories.  This year it was judged by David Lowe ARPS EFIAP DPAGB in front  of 140 spectators, including 21 CCC helpers.  The winning club was Ware & District Photographic Society coming top with 96 points from a possible maximum of 100.  David Lowe then re-assessed all 28 top scoring images and awarded the Roy Pitman Shield (named after the competition founder) for the best image in the show to Simon Jenkins, also from Ware & District PS, for his image 'On the Naughty Step' seen above.  All images and results can be viewed here .  

Photo Art - Stan Farrow FRPS EFIAP DPAGB

23/3/26.  Stan Farrow has been a keen photographer since he was 10 years old.  He now describes himself  as a creative digital photographer.  Following early retirement, he decided to return to return to university to study Art History, to follow a strong interest in Modern Art.  His images, now demonstrate the application of art, to his photographic work.  Again, creative photography has a good following and many members attended the online talk.  Stan was very inspirational, as he showed us his techiques and inspiration for his images.  Using almost anything he can find in nature, or just around the house, combined with his homemade backgrounds and overlayed with textures.  As he says, he is doing it for himself, rather than producing work for competition purposes, although often the two go hand-in hand.  "I do greatly enjoy using Photoshop creatively to make my digital art, especially still-life work with layers of texture."  His talk was saturated with tips and tricks and many simple techniques, which not only inspired our many members, but showed everyone just how easy it was to create.  Don't miss his website for more inspiration.  And he has also presented to Camversation.

Insect Flight in the Wild - Dr John Brackenbury ASIS FRPS FBIPP

16/3/26.  John is a Cambridge University lecturer with a passion for ultra high speed photography. He produces extraordinary images of the world around us, captured in the briefest moment in time.  His scientific experience was evident in his approach and the way that he had explored available technology and ultimately developed his own, to facilitate his obsession with capturing the world of insects, from their perspective.  Very much a talk of 2 halves - the first half showcased his ingenious approach to capturing the flight as an aspect of behaviour, and his attempt to portray it as it happens naturally in the wild.  He has spent many many hours perfecting, not only his techniques, but also his fieldcraft to create his remarkable images.  The second half was his most recent project, again using ultra high speed photography, but this time, creating much more abstract images, capturing various objects dropped, or placed, into various liquids, pushing the properties of surface tension, together with creative lighting and colour.  It was a great insight into his creative thinking and process.  Great Fun.  See his website here.

Portraits with Impact - Emma Finch

9/3/26. Emma Finch is an award-winning professional portrait photographer and delivered a masterclass in portrait photography, with a confident and engaging delivery.  Very detailed and informative, she walked us through every technique she uses  to get the very best from the subject and create an atmospheric portrait, and one that brings out the essence of her subject - "A portrait photograph is an image that captures the personality, mood, and expression of a person.  It aims to portray the subject's character, often using lighting, composition, and background to enhance the subject's presence."  To this end, Emma covered everything from posing, lighting, styling and editing, through to how to put people at ease and shooting more creative, conceptual work. The talk was packed with practical tips and tricks for portrait photographers, from a section on photographing children on location through to more advanced studio lighting set ups with models. The talk includes examples of her own work for both Emma Finch Photography and Belle Privé Photography.  Emma's professional website is here. 

Close-up and Macro Photography - Daniel Bridge

23/2/26.  This talk was largely based on Daniel's workshop of the same name. It had great appeal to many members and was well-attended.  Daniel presented  over 100 stunning images, with subjects ranging from insects to flowers, abstracts to animals. Covering the different types of close-up and macro shots we can take, the variety of subjects available, lighting, lenses and accessories, techniques, focus stacking, and more.  The talk had something for everyone.  From the structure of a flower, to the eye of a dragonfly, small things seen big, are astounding.  Daniel explained how best to use the camera to make fantastic pictures from the tiniest details and gave advice on how to find subjects.  A thoroughly enjoyable evening.  Daniel offers other talks and workshops.  All details are on his website.

Deception in Landscape Photography

9/2/26   Jane Goodall has been a member of the club for many years.  Her talk was delivered with great panache and enthusiasm and was extremely engaging and informative.  Described in her words: "My landscape presentation demonstrates how I work with light for maximum impact, using perspective and visual cues to create compelling images. I explore the psychology of seeing and explain why understanding how the human brain interprets a scene can make a crucial difference to the success of your photographs. I also chart my progression in landscape photography through evolving methods of presentation, moving beyond the traditional flat image to more immersive ways of showing the work.

I reveal my essential kit for landscape photography—some of which may surprise you—and demonstrate how I use the latest online tools and smartphone apps to aid image-making and optimise the choice of landscape locations."

Jane took us right through from her early images to today, where, having completed a course in printmaking, at the Curwen Institure, she now works in printmaking, book and textiles.  She was generous with her photographic knowledge and processing techniques, use so effectively to not only capture the all important light, but then work with the image to deliver the human experience of that scene.  Jane has an excellent website and has also appeared on Camversation, where her talk is still available.

Working in Panels - Chrissie Hart ARPS DPAGB

Beachcombing Treasures

02/02/26. Chrissie Hart took us right back to the beginning of her photography and her first panel, to start the evening.  From the very start, she encouraged the many members present to make it a fully interactive meeting.  She encouraged our critique of the panels she presented and we were able to try our hand at making panels from sets of her prints.  On the night, she presented panels of 3 and 6 prints, but emphasised that there is a 4th or 7th image and that is of the entire panel.  Hence, why it is so important to make the images harmonious using the subject, the colour and tones, the composition, the mount and even the size of the images.   Her subjects ranged from abstract to fine art and even sport.  The featured panel above was created with almost no equipment - just using a table by a North-facing window in her house.  So simple but very effective.  In her words:  "I love producing printed bodies of work and have produced numerous panels which have won awards at my local clubs (Colchester & Ipswich) and have also gone on to win the Chelmsford 4 C’s annual panel competition and the Great Barr Open Panel.   I have panels of 3, 4, 6.   I encourage the audience to engage with me, participate, ask questions and discuss the basics, techniques, pitfalls and sense of achievement when producing a body of work."  

15 Minutes of Fame

19/01/26.  As is our tradition, a few members have the chance to step up and deliver a presentation on their photographic journey, their inspiration or a favourite aspect of their photography.  This year we had 4 talented photographers including who presented a veritable smorgasbord of photographic genre, techniques and images.  They were:

Four Members sharing an aspect of their photography.

1. Jim Cromwell "Exposure" : 'In an attempt to present himself honestly and wholly, Jim unapologetically hurls everything at you and leaves you to make up your own mind'.

2. Stan Saunders "Speyside - Aviemore March 2013" : 'Photographing Caledonian Forest, Red Squires, Birds and Landscapes.'

3. Peter Baker "Borrowed Wisdom, Effective Practise". a) What am I trying to achieve; b) A few thanks to giants who have supported me and c)  5 lessons from photography greats that shape my photography & may benefit others
4. Gyles Glover "The Streets of Cambridge"  The Work of the Documentary Group.

Our thanks to all of them for an entertaining evening.

Shooting the Moon - Robert Harvey BA ARPS EFIAP CEnv CSci MCIWEM

5/1/26  Photographing the Moon in the landscape is harder that it looks. Robert Harvey has studied all aspects of the moon for many years and shared his extensive knowledge with our members, through this most interesting talk.  He started with the familiar features of the moon, the craters, the 'seas'; the Jura mountains etc. and the core phases of the moon, along with the best lenses to use and typical settings to correctly expose for the moon AND the foreground.  Then he drew us into the phases of the moon, the lunar cycles; the impact of the moon on the earth; 'special moons'.  Fascinating and detailed explanations and calculations to help members get the best shots.  He answered the question of why 2025 was a special year for the Moon, and what is a Major Lunar Standstill and was it significant to the builders of Neolithic monuments 5,000 years ago.  With examples from across Britain, Robert Harvey explained the planning and techniques required, together with the opportunities created by monthly, annual and longer lunar cycles.   We can highly recommend this speaker and this talk.  Robert has recently published a book 'Photographing the Heavens', which can be purchased from his website 'Natural World Photography.

Tales from the Wild - Andy Skillen

08/12/25 We had a bumper turnout for our Christmas party and exceptional speaker - wildlife photographer Andy Skillen.  It was a meeting of two halves - with a buffet meal and social to start, follwoed by an exceptional speaker.  Andy delivered a high-powered, fast-paced presentation including tips on fieldcraft, photography skills and video, both on the ground and from drone footage, along with many anecdotes and a few jokes worth of a Christmas cracker!  From the age of 7 years, he became interested in wildlife and really always dreamt of becoming a wildlife photographer.   He took us through the many ups and downs he had to endure, before he started to get recognition and be able to earn a living while following his passion.  Over the course of the evening, he drew us into the world of wildlife photography, explaining the importance of the fieldcraft which enabled him to get close up and personal with many wild animals - elephants, gorillas, wolves, hyaenas and many more.   Andy is a patron and gives his talks in the aid of the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.  His website is also well sorth visiting.

Christmas Party

The many members who attended our Christmas event enjoyed a fantastic buffet and a very special evening.