The subject set by Heather for the month of May was 'Leading Lines.
Leading Lines or Lead In Lines are used to lead the viewers eye from the edge of an image towards the main subject. 
Judges often remark when the line of a path, riverbank or other 'line' leads into the image.
Members found many ways to interpret this in the monthly challenge and 10 members entered 28 images - we had railway lines, pylons, tractor tram lines and many other ideas.
The most 'likes' was tied amongst 3 images - a diagonal stem leading to a 4 spot chaser by Pam Mullings left, field lines leading to a tree by Caroline Wright below and the view along a hotel corridor by Lynda Croft right

The June 2018 Photo Challenge is 'Sunlight'.
Lynda chose the subject in a spirit of hope and optimism, that we will see some sunlight during the month with the longest hours of daylight in the year!

Please have a look at our DCC facebook and get your camera out and have a go.
Sunlight can be interpreted in any way you like - the more unusual the better.
Sunlight through trees, sunlight on water and of course the popular time for photographers at sunrise and sunset.
No points or prizes but just something that might inspire members to get out their cameras and look out for something a bit different to photograph. Have fun trying something that perhaps you have not tried before.        
You can enter the challenge but much more than that you will be able to see the photos that are posted. ask questions, share information and keep in touch with fellow members during the summer break.

Club members can take part in the Challenge by going to Devizes Camera Club facebook  (not a member?  then first join Facebook and then apply to join)

There was a very good turnout at Devizes Camera Club to welcome back Andy Beel and to hear his latest presentation. Andy brought several boxes of, predominantly, monochrome prints and announced that we should not expect a smoothly scripted talk as he had no fixed plan for his presentation. However he said he would include prints made from slides that he took in the 1980’s when he started his photographic journey, and come up to date with some of his latest work using a range of digital cameras.
His first print, taken in 1985, showed a street of wet cobbles taken on a 400 ASA (ISO) film which provided a pleasing level of grain. He said, that he is still having difficulty getting the same level of graininess from digital images. Along with this image came his first tip for moving to great photography - recognise and develop a personal style.
He said that his own style tended to be dark and moody monochrome photography. He demonstrated this with many images during the evening, including one of Stonehenge with a stormy evening sky to which he had added contrast, clarity and curves in post-processing.
Improving one’s photography is a series of stages, Andy suggested. Firstly you need to learn how the camera works and what different settings can achieve. He said it is worth practicing a range of different individual skills, such as focusing; exposure; depth of field; and so on, so that setting the camera for a shot becomes second nature and can be done quickly. Then, he said, it is worth trying different effects, such as including movement in a shot or even intentionally having everything out-of-focus.
Andy also showed how post-processing can greatly enhance the impact and atmosphere of an image. He recommended starting with global adjustment to effect the overall exposure and contrast, followed by local adjustments to bring out specific details. He suggested lightening what you want people to look at and darkening the rest. And he showed how a sense of depth can be enhanced by increasing the clarity and contrast of the foreground and decreasing it in the background.
Another way to develop your photography, Andy pointed out, is to think about taking sets of photos and developing panels that tell a story. To illustrate this, Andy showed us several sets of images that he had created.
Of particular note were a series of images taken from the auditorium at the Ballet. These demonstrated how movement in images can be effective as they were taken hand-held at 1/20th second, so the dancers were blurs of movement. A split-tone effect in post-processing enhanced the whole effect.
He also showed us several sets of images taken in Ethiopia. There was a set on Worship showing the movement of women clapping, taken in dull lighting, hand-held at 1/20th with a f1.4 lens to create depth of field. There were two sets on Work in Ethiopia. The first showed images of artisans in a print shop, a barbers booth at the market and a sickle maker engulfed in steam and smoke. The other set captured the dusty atmosphere at a stone crushing plant in the Symian mountains.

In conclusion, Andy pointed out that the journey from good to great photography will not be a straight line. As one tries different techniques and effects, some things will work and others won’t, but they will all add to your experience.
Andy pointed out that camera clubs tend to encourage people to take images that will do well in competitions. But he said that you should try to move beyond a purely competition style and start to develop your own. Look at other photographers’ work, accept influences from them and work out how to develop them in your own images. Have confidence in your own vision, but accept advice and criticism from others. Above all, keep taking photographs, even when you think you are in a rut and don’t feel much inspiration.

Our Chairman thanked Andy for sharing some inspirational images and for giving us all some very useful insights into developing our photography. DF
Images © Andy Beel FRPS

Tony Byram EFIAP ARPS AWPF DPAGB and his wife Jenny EFIAP/b DPAGB BPE1 made a welcome return visit to demonstrate how to make audio-visual sequences using Pictures to exe software.
Audio – Visuals or A-V’s combine still photographs and audio to create interesting sequences that can be viewed on a computer, TV or website.
Pictures to Exe is an easy to use but comprehensive software that combines still images, music, sound effects or voice overs and can add a variety effects and text. Most things are self-explanatory but there is a very good user guide.
Tony demonstrated by showing how easy it is to start a new project and add selected images. He advised starting a new folder for each project on your PC to keep all the picture and audio files together in one place and also remember to ‘Save’ frequently.By selecting ‘project options’ you can select the aspect ratio, how you want to control your AV and what transitions you would like to use. Each timing on each slide can be set together with a range of other options.
The finished A-V should ‘tell a story’ with a beginning and end, the images should be all the same aspect and flow well from one scene to the other. If you need to change from ‘landscape’ to ‘portrait’ shape, then there are ways to overlay and not jump from one aspect to the other.
Pictures to Exe has a number of transitions to choose from but beware of getting carried away and using too many, keep to simple fades with just an occasional change for effect.
The choice of music is very important as it needs to reflect the mood of the images. A licence is needed to use copyright music but there are royalty free music websites. The latest versions of the software allow you to set the length, timing and fades on the audio track. Also more audio tracks can be added for sound effects and voice overs when required.
Tony demonstrated the whole process using images he had taken of windmills, adding suitable music and previewing the sequence. Many hours can be spent perfecting a sequence but when you are satisfied that everything is how you wish it to be then you can ‘Publish’ your AV. You have many choices – publish as a file for PC or Mac, as an HD video, a DVD disc or for a website such as You Tube or Facebook.
Tony and Jenny rounded up the evening by showing two of their completed sequences – both using images taken at the Venice Festival. Members enjoyed seeing the colourful costumes and characters set against backgrounds of stunning Venetian architecture and set to suitable Italian music.
If you want to find out more about making AV’s then Waves is a local group meeting in Trowbridge where you can show your sequences, get advice and meet up with fellow AV enthusiasts.
Some sequences made by members can be viewed on their website.
Pictures to Exe software is an interesting way to create and show your images and can be downloaded from their website. A trial version is available.
Many thanks to Tony and Jenny for passing on their A-V knowledge and enthusiasm to club members. PM

The Challenge is for members to take photographs that fit the chosen subject each month and add them to the Album on Devizes Camera Club Facebook.
No points or prizes but just something that might inspire members to get out their cameras and look out for something a bit different to photograph.
The subject for March was 'Three' so it was just a case of photographing three of anything. We had photos of boats, birds, dogs, deer, flowers and even iguanas! 
The images that got the most 'likes' were 3 apples and 3 number 3's by Pam Mullings and 3 canal boats in the snow by Sue Wadman.

The subject chosen by Caroline for April is 'On the Wing' which you can interpret in any way you like. 
Try you hand at capturing images of birds in flight or anything else with wings and have fun trying something you have not tried before,
Club members can take part in the Challenge by going to Devizes Camera Club Facebook   (not a member? then first join Facebook and then apply to join)

Derek Gale was welcomed back to Devizes Camera Club to deliver his presentation entitled Movement in Photography. He jokingly hoped his comments as a judge last season had been forgiven and forgotten!
Derek introduced himself as a professional photographer and trainer based in a remote village in Oxfordshire that Shrivenham is near! He explained that this presentation started out as a 20 minute talk to his local camera club which has since developed into a workshop that he presents to RPS (he also presents Introduction to the Creative Eye). And it has now become the basis for a 4-day photography holiday with HF Holidays, for whom he has become a photography leader.
Firstly, Derek stated that there are 2 types of movement - Camera movement and Subject movement - and sometimes you can do both together.
Starting with Camera movement, Derek explained that you can either deliberately use camera shake creatively, or you can use long exposures and move the camera during the exposure. Either way, the effect is to make the image more abstract as is the case when taking an image of woodland and panning vertically. He showed how the details in the opposite plain (i.e. horizontal) became blurred. Contrast will also be lost and may need to be tweaked in post-processing.
He also showed examples of long exposure images in which he had “clicked, held, then moved” to provide an area in the image that was in focus, as with the OXO Tower apparently moving across the night sky. There was an image of a decorated Christmas tree for which he had opened the shutter and walked towards the tree, creating wobbly light trails.
Derek also talked about Rolling Shutter Effect which can happen with cameras that have a relatively slow sensor reading time. The result will show bent lines in reasonable focus instead of being blurred. An image of a brick wall demonstrated this effect.
Further images showed the use of other techniques, including combining flash with a long exposure to provide some sharpness amongst the blur. This technique can also be used to provide a sense of movement, as in an image of the statue of Cabot in Bristol which looked as though Cabot was walking through a storm on the dockside.
Derek then moved on to talk about Subject movement and spent some time considering how to freeze this movement with short shutter speeds. But what constitutes a short shutter speed? He demonstrated that 1/2000th of a second was not enough to prevent blur of the primary feathers of a pigeon as it took off, but 1/640th was plenty to freeze waves crashing on rocks in Hermanus, South Africa. As he said, it depends on the distance to the subject, the speed the subject is moving - and the “photographic intent”.
Flash can also be used to freeze movement. Turning the power down to 1/128th on a Speedlight will provide a flash duration of just 1/41600th - but not much light. With the right setup and supplementary lights, this can be used to freeze water droplets. Derek also showed us a number of images of a white glove which he dropped towards a white table top.
After the interval, Derek talked about showing the movement in subjects. Generally, a longer shutter speed is needed for this, but, again, the duration depends on distance, speed of movement and photographic intent. To illustrate this he showed comparative images of the same waterfall taken at 1/6th and 3.2 seconds. The longer the exposure, the more blurry the water appears, giving an impression of movement. The photographer needs to decide how much blur best reflects the feel of the image.
In sunshine, filters will be needed to slow the shutter speed. Derek had a fascinating image of sparky light trails which had been taken of a small area of moving water with a polarising filter and several ND filters which slowed the shutter speed to 1/10th at f32. He had also had some fun spinning a blue mixing bowl on a kitchen surface taking an image at 1sec. And he demonstrated how people can disappear in long exposures at tourism attractions.
Derek uses Olympus Micro 4/3 cameras which have a feature called Live Composite. This enables the photographer to build up and image over time in live mode. He showed how he had used this feature to build interesting images using Pixel Sticks and Light Blades to light-paint shapes over some of his garden furniture. He also talked about Harris Shutter which uses different colour filters to record movement in different colours. Multiple exposures using different colours superimposed on each other provides a surreal effect.
He also showed how camera movement and subject movement can be used together to provide more excitement. Panning at a different speed to the subject provides blur to both the subject and the background, as in his exciting shot of a racing car.
Derek brought his talk to a conclusion by saying that “Movement brings fun to your photography”. You can present images with a fun content and have enormous fun trying different approaches. In thanking Derek for a fascinating presentation, our Chairman endorsed this view, suggesting that many of us will have been inspired to try something different in our photography. DF                            Images © Derek Gale - Top: Reeds, right: Wrapping Paper, bottom: Crown of Water

Martin Cooper LRPS was welcomed on his first visit to the club by club chairman Richard Watson LRPS. Martin explained the intriguing title of his presentation – in the first half the images shown will be more traditional and in the second half rather more experimental – that is images that have been altered in the camera using a variety of techniques.
A range of subjects’ interest Martin including modern cityscapes and we were shown unusual views of such iconic buildings as the Gherkin and its surrounding glass sided skyscrapers. Some monochrome images taken in derelict buildings including the now closed Gloucester Prison and even an image taken in a run down toilet which had gained many Salon acceptances!.
Trees and woodlands are subjects often photographed and Martin explained that he tries when possible to take his photographs when it is misty as it gives a nice soft background such as 'Breaking Through the Mist' left.
Several colour images were shown together with a monochrome version and members were asked their opinion.  The colour versions were very pleasing but in the mono versions the textures and shapes were greatly enhanced but it is a matter of opinion which is the better image. Martin uses curves and other techniques on his images to increase the contrast which brings out the texture and adds drama to stormy skies.
Members were shown some interesting land and seascapes, often with stunning lighting and cloud formations. There were several stunning scenes of snowy Scottish mountains.
Martin has given some imaginative titles to his images such as the beach scene aptly named  ‘Molten Lead' right
A visit to Auschwitz produced some very moving monochrome images of both the interior and exterior and Martin spoke of some of the atrocities that took place there.
Martin had on display a selection of his excellent prints including those from his LRPS panel and remarked that ‘he feels that images need to be printed in order to complete the process’.
Many of Martin’s images have gained acceptances and medals in International Salons and also awards had been gained in National Landscape competitions

For the second part of his presentation Martin showed how he uses his camera as a tool and projected a selection of his images taken using ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) which often produces very impressionistic results. The camera is moved horizontally, vertically or even shaken during a 1 or 2 second exposure. Another method often used is taking multiple layers of varying opacity in camera of a variety of subjects giving almost abstract results such as that seen in Martin's image ‘Second Severn Crossing’ left
The results of images produced using these various techniques in camera cannot be predicted and no two images are ever the same so it is always interesting to experiment and see the results.

An interesting evening, which members greatly enjoyed so thanks Martin for travelling from Gloucester to show your fine selection of digital images and prints. PM

5 members from Devizes Camera Club attended what, as always, was an intense if very enjoyable day at the Corn Exchange, Exeter. 57 Clubs from the Western Counties took part this year include 5 who had not entered previously, so in total we saw 1026 images.
The event uses Salon style judging, with three visiting judges each scoring each image between 2 and 5 points which are then aggregated to give the image its final score out of 15. The entire judging process took just about 3 hours – which means that from the image appearing on screen, title being read, judges scoring, score being called and the next image appearing, averaged just over 10 seconds per image. Impact therefore is vital.
 
As always, this is a highly competitive event, and the standard was particularly good this year. Congratulations go to Hilary Eagles with her sublime ‘Curlew Sandpiper’ (left) which with 13 points top scored for the Club. However, this proved to be a day when a number of our other images which have done well elsewhere did not impress the judges to the extent we had hoped.
While our final score of 195 points was 4 points higher than last years, our finishing position of 18th equal was slightly down on last year, and we were 6 points short of the top -10 finish we had hoped for.
Deserved winners were Bristol, with Dorchester an excellent second, with 223 and 219 points respectively, well clear of the rest of the field, and it is these two Clubs who will go forward to represent the WCPF at the National competition in Warwick in July.FC
Full results

Warminster Camera Club invited 5 clubs to join them in the Annual Print Battle held on the afternoon of Saturday 10 February.
The Judge for the competition was Malcolm McNaughton who is a member of Dorchester CC who started off the afternoon by showing the audience a range of his excellent monochrome prints. Malcolm explained that he prefers to produce all his images using a large format camera and unusually for 2018 he uses film and develops and prints his photographs in his own darkroom.
Malcolm said that, rather than saying he ‘shoots, captures or takes’ images he prefers to say that he ‘makes photographs’ taking time to very carefully compose the image before exposing the film. He says - enjoy your hobby and make prints for yourself – prints will probably endure for centuries whereas changes in technology might mean that digital images become obsolete in time.
However when it was time to judge the competition, he went on to say that he has no problem at all judging a competition where all of the images had been taken digitally.  Digital cameras now made it possible for anyone to take photographs and enjoy photography.

Malcolm gave very helpful comments on each of the 60 prints – pointing out where a crop might have improved the image or any distractions removed. He said he had spent a lot of time looking closely at all the entries from the six clubs and that he had changed his mind several times over the winning prints.
Two prints from the Devizes entry were awarded the maximum 20 points ‘Kingfisher Surfacing’ by Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP and ‘Golden Eagle in Winter’ by Gill Cardy FRPS EFIAP DPAGB - many congratulations to both.
Caddisfly by Peter Ely did well gaining 19 points and ‘Randolf’ by Pam Mullings was awarded 18 points - see the full Devizes CC results below.
Malcolm awarded 20 points to 9 of the prints entered in the competition and then finally chose his favourite which was a print from the Frome Wessex CC entry.
After winning the Trophy four times over the last five years, this year we had to settle for 4th place
Salisbury CC won the Battle this year with Frome Wessex CC second and Calne CC third.

Many thanks to Warminster CC for organising the battle and for their hospitality – not forgetting the large spread of excellent food laid out for the visitors to enjoy. Thanks to Battle Secretary Frank Collins and those who selected our entry and also those members who travelled to Warminster to support the club. PM
Full results

Club Chairman Richard Watson welcomed Beryl Heaton ARPS EFIAP CPAGB who judged the competition and was visiting Devizes CC for the first time. This was the first time the club had a competition for portraits for many years so it was interesting to see what images members would enter.  Although not a huge number of members entered - each competition section managed to have some excellent images.

Starting with the Beginners section Martin Stokes captured an image of an attractive singer dressed in 40’s style titled ‘Boogie Woogie Madeline’(left). The judge said that the photographer caught the moment well with an uncluttered background. Another 40’s style image by Martin of a singer in a trilby hat was awarded an HC with the judge commenting on the sepia toning and the good presentation.
A rather glum looking model inspired the amusing title ‘Did you eat my last Rolo?’ by David Eagle and it was placed second in the section.
The judge liked the pose and the lighting.
Another retro image – this time a monochrome of a pretty young lady titled ‘Flawless 40’s’ gained Craig Purvis third place.

Moving on to the Intermediate section, an image of a beautiful young model by Sue Wadman was awarded first place.
Titled ‘Holly’ (right) the judge liked the relaxed pose and the studio lighting.
A photograph of ‘Charlotte’ - another interesting young lady by Sue was awarded third place.
The characters found in the Caribbean inspired the portrait titled ‘A Lifetime in Cuba’ by Stephen Burgess – the judge remarked that the subtle colours of the background and the man’s clothing complimented each other and awarded the image second place. An HC went to ‘A Twenty will do Nicely’ - another Cuban image by Stephen depicting a typical cigar smoking character from the region.
Very different was Andy Vick’s ‘Lords Trip’ with the profile of a young lad enjoying a cricket match which also was awarded an HC.

A monochrome image ‘Man in a Fur Hat’ (left) by Pam Mullings was placed first in the Advanced section with the judge remarking on the detail shown in the fur and the uncluttered background.
In second place was another characterful portrait ‘Turkistan Gentleman’ by Pam – this time a coloured image with the judge liking the complimentary colours of the background and the man’s clothing.
Another portrait by Pam – this time of ‘Esme’ - an attractive young lady was awarded an HC.
The colourful costume and the character shown in the face gained ‘The Story teller’ by Richard Atkinson AFIAP third place. Four more images in the Advanced section were awarded HC's - see the full list below.

Congratulations to all the award winner and thanks to all who entered
There were some very interesting images entered in all of the sections but in many cases the judge felt that some would have been better cropped tighter as the emphasis should be on the face in a portrait competition. The lesson to be learned when taking portraits is to try to avoid distracting backgrounds by perhaps moving to a better position or removing them in post editing.
Also check that the colours of the background and clothing all compliment each other to give a harmonious overall effect.

Thanks to Beryl for giving such positive and helpful feedback on all the entries and for travelling from Bristol on such a cold and snowy evening. PM

                                                       Full results                                             All the awarded images can be seen in the Galleries

The subject set for January was 'Detail' and many club members posted their images on Devizes CC facebook.
The 'Challenge' is for members pick up their cameras or phones and take a photo during the month that fits the chosen subject.
It's always surprising what members come up with - this month we had a wide range from boiling mud to sweet wrappers, a blue car door handle to a dozing duck and a computer hard drive to teasels.
Members sometimes find that they need a bit of inspiration especially during the winter months so having a 'Challenge' often results in some interesting images.
The favourite January image was Caroline's raindrops on a feather shown left which was taken with a phone. An excellent image which probably would not have been taken if Caroline hadn't been looking around for something to fit the subject 'Detail'

The subject chosen by Caroline for the month of February is 'New Beginnings' so members - please get thinking and post your photos in the facebook Album.

If you are not yet a member then apply to join Devizes CC facebook as it is a good way for members to share photos and communicate with each other on photographic topics. PM

 Devizes CC entered the 2018 GB Cup Open and Nature Projected Image competitions. These competitions are held annually by the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain who organise photographic events for photographic Clubs in England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland.

The competition is judged during January by 3 judges who can each award up to 5 points for each image.
In the Open competition we scored a total of 154 points for our 15 images and finished 50th out of the 75 clubs who entered which was slightly higher than last year. Our top placed image was ‘Fairy Glen’ (left) by Richard Watson LRPS with a score of 13.
Sue Wadman and Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP both did well with scores of 12.

In the Nature competition we entered 19 images and were placed 35th out of the 88 clubs who entered.
Highest scoring image was ‘Kingfisher with Catch’(right) by Robert Harvey with Dave Gray, Gill Cardy, Richard Atkinson all having images scoring 12 points.
The club scored a total of 116 points from the top 10 images which counted towards the result which was higher than the 109 scored last year.

Thanks to Battle Secretary Frank Collins for organising the club's entry and for to those members who chose the images to be entered.

See the results

The judge for the 2018 Annual Landscape Competitions was John Tilsley ARPS DPAGB APAGB who travelled from Dorchester. John is a very experienced judge and is himself a very competent landscape photographer and when he saw the glorious sunrises and sunsets depicted in many of the entries he quipped that it usually rains whenever he goes to photograph landscapes! 
It was no surprise that many entries showed classic scenes taken in the Isle of Skye as the club had a group visit to the area last year and were lucky to experience wonderful weather. John knew first hand many of the locations so knew how difficult it can be to wait to get the best light to show the landscape at its best. John remarked on the magnificent skies members had managed to portray in many of the images.
There were seventeen print entries and John remarked on the high standard. Most of the images depicted the glorious scenery found in Scotland but there were a few from other parts of the world as well. It is always difficult for a judge to choose the final winners and John joked that he would only delight those entrants whose images were awarded first place!  John had looked through the entries in great detail and gave very helpful comments on each image but he preferred to wait until he saw the prints under the print stand lights to decide on his order of awards.
Finally, a dramatic Devon seascape titled ‘Wembury Point’ (right) by Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP was chosen as the judge’s favourite print. John commented on the dynamism shown in the image and the way the light enhanced the dramatic foreground rocks and the slow shutter speed used to give a sense of drama to the waves.
In second place was ‘Sunset over Sgurr Nan Gillean’ (left) by Steve Hardman with the judge stating that the glorious colours in the sky gave a remarkable effect. Third was another Skye image – this time ‘Early Light, Old man of Storr’ by Dave Gray. Two prints by Robert was also awarded Highly Commended and Gill Ford Pier the third HC.
There was a good entry for the Landscape Projected Image Competition in which images had to be taken in the British Isles. Again many of the 35 images entered were from the group visit to Skye
with some of the images taken from very similar viewpoints so John waited to see how the images appeared when projected to make his final judgement.
Again Robert gained first place with ‘Buttermere at Dawn’ (right)  – this time a tranquil scene taken in the Lake District which the judge described as having a beautiful subdued lighting.
Second place went to ‘Passing Clouds at the Quirang’ (left) by Tim Pier with the judge remarking on the superb lighting on the interesting rock strata.
Third place went to Robert with ‘Durdle Door at Sunset’ which perfectly captured the setting sun through the rock arch with the whole shoreline of Swyre Head.
Nine images were Highly Commended with one each going to Robert and Tim, two going to Dave Gray, two to Sue Wadman and one to Caroline Wright.
Special mention goes to Roly Barth for his HC for a delightful local scene of winter trees. Roly is in the Beginners section having only fairly recently joined the club. Very well done to all.

Robert was presented with both the Silver Birches Print Trophy and the Derrick Turner Memorial Trophy for Projected Images by John Tilsley. Many congratulations to Robert who retained both of the landscape trophies he was awarded in 2017.
Thanks to John for taking such time and trouble looking through all the landscape entries and giving his comments and judgement.
Thanks to Caroline for sorting the entries and running the competition and also thanks to all the entrants who showed us such a range of stunning landscapes. PM

   Full results                                                     All the awarded Landscape images can be seen in the Galleries