14th February: People Photography by Judy Buckley-Sharp LRPS(Hon) CPAGB APAGB and Alan Colegrave ARPS BPE1*

Many thanks to Judy and Alan for giving up their Valentine’s night to ‘talk people’ to us this evening.

Judy’s presentation included glimpses of  London life  –  Covent Garden, Notting Hill Carnival, Leicester Square live statues before  taking us to Turkey, carpet weavers, street sellers in colourful garb, market traders, artisan bakers, butchers…..(no candlestick makers!) coffee sellers and ‘Lokum’ makers (real Turkish Delight).   A really colourful rich feel of  Turkey so poignant now in the light of the recent earthquakes.

Alan’s print presentation was almost a world tour!  His portfolio included portraits of models in studio and en plein air printed in monochrome, colour and very high key to demonstrate the effect each treatment has on the subject.  Alan’s travels has taken him to amazing places and his portraits of street children and the elderly in Guatemala, Uzbekistan, Ladakh to name just a few,  gave a feel for the life and hardship in these places. Alan also included portraits of people pushing themselves to the limit in for example the ‘tough guy race’  to Zombies in the annual parade through London!

Judy and Alan thanks again for putting together such an interesting, informative and enjoyable evening.  An ‘extravaganza’ of sight and imagined sounds.  We appreciate the time and effort taken and the foregoing of Valentine!

Next week we are back on Zoom for a talk:  Japanese Winter Wonderland  by Robert Snary.

7th February: Projected Montage and Open Competitions, judged by Diane Seddon ARPS AFIAP CPAGB BPE3

Last night we had the pleasure of welcoming Diane Seddon from Lincolnshire to judge our two projected competitions.   Many thanks Diane for your erudite and helpful judging.

In the Montage competition,  congratulations to Sanjay Mistry who was awarded first place for  ‘The Chase’  – a creative idea and an excellent monochrome conversion;  Avril Candler’s ‘Smoke Signals’ was second and Dave Martin’s ‘Vortex 2’ third.  Highly commended were Avril’s ‘Tree Feller’, Dave’s ‘Splash’ , Judy Buckley-Sharp’s ‘At the Window’, YC Wei’s ‘Graffiti’ and Peter Polkinghorne’s ‘People Moving’.  Commended were Judith Gimber’s Junior Watchman’, Alan Colegrave’s ‘Hannah Times Three’ and his ‘Taking a Dip’.

Montage Winner The Chase by Sanjay Mistry

The Open competition congratulations go to Dave Martin for his winning image ‘Spring Blossom Ikebana’ – a beautiful image perfectly captured;  ‘Chinese Lanterns’ by John Draper was second and ‘Love is in the Air’ by Judith Gimber, third.  Five images were highly commended: Avril’s ‘Angry Hummingbird’, Sanjay’s ‘ Making the Cut SQ’, John’s ‘Poppies’, Peter Keeble’s ‘Reflections of Vermeer’ and ‘Trees of Frost’ by Peter Polkinghorne. Commended were John’s ‘French Mastiff’, Judith’s ‘Hole in One’ and Trevor Alexander’s ‘Riverside Cottage’.

Open Winner Spring Blossom Ikebana by Dave Martin

Many thanks again to Diane for her excellent judging –  good points and suggested improvements delivered in a helpful and gentle way!  Thanks to everyone who entered and who supported the evening.  All the images will be on view on Facebook.

Next week we return to Hatch End for a Members’ Evening:  People pictures with Judy Buckley-Sharp and Alan Colegrave.  We look forward to seeing you there.

In the meantime have a good week.

29th January: Meet-up at The English Civil War Society re-enactment of Charles I Beheading

An intrepid foursome braved the freezing cold Sunday week ago to take a few photos at this annual spectacle.   The ECWS gather in Green Park to prepare for the parade which goes down The Mall and into Horse Guards Parade Ground for the ceremonial ‘beheading’.  Colourful costumes and willing subjects made braving the cold weather worthwhile.  Here are just a few of the images the fab four took.

 

 

Many thanks to Judith Gimber for spurring us into action!  Hopefully the next meet-up will be in more clement weather………..