1st March: Print Competition #2, judged by Martin Patten DPAGB, LRPS, BPE4*, QPSA

Very many thanks to Martin for his constructive and helpful judging last night.   It was wonderful to be back meeting face to face and to see such a great display of print work.

Congratulations to Ian Roberts for his winning print ‘Hooded Crows on Carcass’, to Julia Wainwright for her second placed print ‘Starling Squabble’ and to Mark Buckley-Sharp for ‘Collusion of Blocks’ in third.  John Draper’s ‘Poppies’ also scored 20.  Martin gave three prints 19s: ‘Focused Osprey’ by Julia, ‘Thick Billed Ravens’ by Ian and ‘Old Man Kyrgyzstan’ by Alan Colegrave.  There were seven 18s:  Alan Graham’s ‘Mono Portrait’, Trevor Alexander’s ‘The Gasholders’ and Avril Candler’s ‘Waking to Sunrise’ , ‘In Safe Keeping’ and ‘Patagonian Mara and Pup’, Ian’s ‘West Pier Skeleton’ and Alan Colegrave’s ‘Annette Pop Art’.  These and all the print images may be seen on our Facebook page.

Winning Image – Hooded Crows on Carcass                               by Ian Roberts

We thank everyone who entered their prints and came along to support the evening.  Special thanks to Martin for stepping into the breach at short notice and for his excellent critiques.

Next week we meet again at the club for a practical Members’ Evening – experimenting with ‘reflections’…..in Hatch End.  We really hoping the weather will be kind!

 

22nd February: Talk – My Journey into Theatre Photography by Cat Humphries

Many thanks to Cat for taking us through her journey into theatre photography, a specific genre full of challenges and extraordinary opportunities.  A photography enthusiast from a very young age (she is still a young age!) Cat dared to follow her dream of becoming a photographer specialising in the theatre.  Taking us through a time line full of production images Cat talked about the importance of research and planning, picking the best equipment one’s budget allows and be prepared.  Taking shots during rehearsals, dress rehearsals and full productions each have their technical and physical challenges – making sure of being in the right place at the right time to capture the action/emotional moments etc. is not for the faint hearted.  And of course children are actors too – more challenge!  As if all this isn’t enough Cat also produces promotional material, posters, programmes and social media ‘soundbites’.  During her talk, there were lots of top tips for all types of photography, equipment, shooting in low light, lens consideration, batch processing with pre-sets for consistency, managing time and expectations to name a few.  Fast turnaround means pressure to which we can all relate!  Cat’s last tip is ‘always say thank you’.

Cat, we do  ‘thank you’ very much for a thoroughly enjoyable and informative evening.  Keep creating the magic!

Thanks to everyone who came along to support the evening.

Next week we are back at base in Hatch End.  We have our second print competition of the year which will be judged by Jim Nemer .

 

15th February: Projected Image Competition judged by Adrian Lines MPAGB FBPE EFIAP ARPS.

Last night we enjoyed a bumper competition judged expertly by Adrian Lines whose emphasis on strong narrative and emotional connections before technical perfection was refreshing.

In our Beginners’ section Mark Ormstein’s ‘Sunset on the Nile’ scored 20 plus the extra point;  he scored 18 for ‘Light and Shadow’ and 19 for ‘Looking Up’.  Congratulations Mark.

The Open (Promoted) competition was won by Ian Roberts for ‘Thick Billed Ravens’ and he scored 19 for ‘West Pier Skeleton’;  Sue Wright who has recently joined us scored 19 for ‘Flying Horses’,  Julia Wainwright also scored 19s for ‘Guardian of the Mountains’ and ‘Wet Foxes Fighting’;  Adrian awarded nine images 18 points (three of which were by Sue Wright) and these and all our entries may be seen on our Facebook page.  Many congratulations to Mark Ormstein and Ian Roberts for their winning images and special congratulations to Sue Wright on her first competition at Harrow.

Grateful thanks to Adrian for his informative and helpful commentaries and to everyone who entered and came along (over Zoom!) to support the evening.

Next week we look forward to a talk (on Zoom) by Cat Humphries – ‘My Journey into Theatre Photography.