| 'Wonderful World of Macro' | 23 October 2018 |
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Somerset based nature photographer Victoria Hillman BSc MSc has degrees in wildlife, conservation & zoology and so has a very deep knowledge and understanding of the flora and fauna depicted in her images.
 As a self-taught photographer she has developed her own unique way of portraying the natural world and continues to experiment with new ideas and techniques which combine nature and visual art. All her images are taken in the wild and she takes great care not to disturb her subjects and nothing is ever moved. With a great deal of patience Victoria can spend hours laying on the ground or inside a bush waiting for just the right lighting on her subject.  Victoria stated that to get the best results with nature photography you need to understand your subject – research the best time and location and re-visit time after time. Learn field craft skills to find the flora or fauna and know their habits. Insects are best photographed early in the morning or evening as they are still roosting and less prone to flight. Always get down level or below your subject and it is less likely to be aware of your presence.Victoria presented her close up images starting with snowdrops - one of her favourites and then progressing through the seasons to the fungi and lichens of autumn. Taken with natural light with just the occasional use of a small LED light to get light into shadows when needed. The technical details of each image were shown and Victoria explained the use of Macro lenses. Using a wide aperture of f2.8 gives a very shallow depth of field with often just a small part of the subject in sharp focus - the head of a damselfly, the eye of a frog or just a single flower.
 Experimenting with the settings until she has just the right amount of diffused detail in the background to give a suggestion of the habitat. Delightful soft and dreamy colours and shapes that complement the subject which is often set very much to the side leaving space to move into.Using the early morning mist and dew beautiful images are created with the light hitting the water droplets and giving tiny rainbows. Another technique can give a black background using the dark shadows behind the subject with just a shaft of light on the subject. She suggested trying unusual angles to bring out the character in the subject.  With a love of frogs and toads and other small creatures Victoria says look at them in a different way when you next go out photograph them! Take images that tell a story and make people think more about the diverse world we live in.Victoria prefers to spend as much time as possible outdoors taking her photographs and does very little post processing – just a little cropping and slight contrast adjustments are all that’s needed as everything is done in camera After five years of research and photography Victoria has published her first book titled ‘Forgotten Little Creatures’ with enchanting illustrations showing the range of incredible species to be found within 40 miles of her hometown of Frome. Club Chairman Steve Hardman said that he never realised that little critters had such personalities and thanked Victoria very much for her entertaining, informative and humorous presentation and for showing us her very different style of nature photography.PM Images © Victoria Hillman Top right: Winter Sunrise Snowdrops, Top left:Autumn Mushroom, Bottom right: Leaves of Fire, Bottom left: Peek a Boo: |
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| Nature Print & Projected Image Competitions | 16 October 2018 |
| The Annual Nature competitions were judged this year by Eddy Lane ARPS DPAGB EFIAP who is a past President of the WCPF and a national PAGB judge. Eddy is a very well-travelled and experienced wildlife himself so is an ideal judge to give his opinions on the club’s nature entries. He commented on our clubs ‘strict’ rules which do not allow captive animals and the image cannot have anything removed or added. Eddy said he feels there is nothing wrong with a ‘record shot’ of a ‘bird on a stick’ but nowadays rather more is expected and he prefers to see the creature in its environment and showing its natural behaviour.   Eddy made several comments about subjects appearing too tight in the frame and conversely in some instances the subject had too much unnecessary space around it. Blown out highlights on white feathers was another recurring problem with many images and Eddy suggested stopping down a few stops to avoid the problem. The limited depth of field when using macro lenses was something else to be considered. Also monochrome rarely works with nature subjects as it is their colours that make the picture – some images Eddy thought a little too saturated although this can be a matter of opinion. The projector can sometimes make images appear brighter than the photographer has seen on their own computer screen causing the image to appear too light. It was very pleasing to see so many new members entering a competition for the first time and many gaining awards. Starting with the prints Eddy remarked on the high standard and gave very helpful comments on how improvements may have helped the image. He said there were some very amazing entries making decisions on the final awards a very difficult task for him. Finally, ‘Cold Mountain Hare’ above left by Robert Harvey ARRPS EFIAP was awarded first place. Eddy remarked on he could see every hair and the snow was perfectly captured. In close second place was ‘Tree creeper’ right by Tim Tapley LRPS – a new member entering a club competition for the first time. Eddy remarked how difficult it is to photograph tree creepers as they always seem to quickly hide round the back of a tree. In third place was a striking image of a ‘Hummingbird Hawkmoth’ by Gill Cardy FRPS DPAGB EFIAP. Highly Commended awards were given to Robert, Tim, Gill and also Kyra Wilson and Richard Atkinson.  After the break Eddy gave his comments on the 59 Projected Image entries.The very striking image’ Heron feeding on the Thames’ left by Martin Stokes caught the judges eye and was awarded first place. The heron standing in the swirling water was well placed in the frame and even had a newly caught fish in its bill!  Dave Gray had an excellent evening with awards of 2nd, 3rd places and also an HC. The judge remarked on the intelligent looking face looking straight at the camera in ‘Alpha male Chimpanzee’ right which was placed second. The extraordinary behaviour shown in ‘Ants carrying Earthworm’ was something Eddy had not witnessed before and wondered how Dave had even noticed it and awarded it third place.No less than 17 Highly Commended’s were awarded - a full list is shown below. Club Chairman thanked Eddy for undertaking the difficult task of judging the fantastic Nature images. The excellent images entered by new members bodes well for the future of the club who has always been known for the very high standard of the nature images. Thanks to all those who entered the competition and made it such an interesting and inspiring evening. PM Full results Awarded images can be seen in the Gallery |
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| ‘Urban Exploration to Fine Art: a Photographic Journey’ | 9 October 2018 |
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With a very different approach to photography Viveca Koh FRPS travelled from Surrey bringing club members an excellent presentation of thought provoking images. Self-taught Viveca is an artistic and creative photographer always looking new ways to create her images without getting stagnant or complacent.  Together with a group of other photographers interested in urban exploration or UrbEx she gains access to long abandoned asylums, derelict houses and even mortuaries with all the detritus left behind over the years. Taking care not to fall through floors she investigates long dank corridors, mouldy rooms and crumbling staircases looking for interesting subjects. Deep shadows and shafts of light convey the feeling of despair that former inhabitants might have felt. Viveca concentrates on small details and the history and personal belongings left behind by former inhabitants. Often an insight into a long forgotten era with clothing and personal belongings showing a past era with a special fascination for details that give an insight into life at the time.. Often now using a smart phone to capture interesting details Viveca showed a series of monochrome square format images taken as she explored a house that been left complete with its contents after the deaths of its owners. Old abandoned industrial buildings with their insight into the work that once took place there provide a lot of inspiration. Reflections in wet floors, old documents, broken windows, dilapidated bathrooms all inspired her.  After the break Viveca showed the set of rather poignant and slightly chilling images that she submitted to the RPS on the subject ‘Birth to Death in an Asylum’ She gained her LRPS in 2010 and then looked for different ways that she could express herself and present her work. Staying with her interest in graffiti, street art and urban subjects she introduced textures such as peeling paint and rusty metal as overlays to enhance the images. Giving a painterly feel to her photographs Viveca developed various techniques to make totally unique images. Using blend modes and scanned documents as new layers the image is built up. Colours are de-saturated to give the mood, a distressed border added and other elements introduced to convey the mood of the image.
 Two or more exposures can be blended together with subtle shading added often giving completely unexpected results.Viveca displayed the 15 prints using a variety of techniques that she submitted for her ARPS and explained how members could go about gaining RPS distinctions (see RPS website for details) Developing her use of multiple layers and textures Viveca submitted 20 of her very surreal – often abstract images and was awarded the prestigious distinction of FRPS in Visual Arts in 2014 Viveca went on to show some of the 'selfies' that the UrbEx fraternity like to take showing the various buildings that they have photographed - also some cleverly put together multiple image photographs of herself and others. Chairman Steve Hardman summed up the evening with ' Wow!! ' Poignant, sometimes chilling, inspirational images which opened his eyes to a lot of things. Thanks Viveca for your very interesting and thought provoking evening enjoyed by all. PM Images © Viveca Koh FRPS Top: Escape, Centre: Lady of the Bath, Bottom: Tread Softly |
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| 'A Passion for Landscapes' | 2 October 2018 |
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On Tuesday 2nd October, we welcomed Ed Collacott back to Devizes Camera Club to hear his presentation entirled 'A Passion for Landscapes'
Ed started by explaining that he had always been fascinated with landscapes. As a young boy he enjoyed the countryside and would seek out books with landscape pictures. His favoured subjects at school were always Art and Geography. Later, as a young man he taught these subjects at a school where he was able to set up a darkroom as an adjunct to his Art curriculum.  His interest in photography developed to the point when, having left teaching to travel, he decided to try and make a living from his hobby. In his early years he travelled all over the world taking photographs, but over the last 20 or so years his images have been taken while travelling around the UK in his camper van. The first half of Ed’s presentation concentrated on trees and woodland landscapes taken in all seasons, at different times of day and in varying weather conditions. Most of his images were shown in panoramic format or in a square crop. He explained that these had been taken either with his large format panoramic camera (6x17 cms) or with his medium format camera (6x6 cms). He told us that he does not use either polarising or grad filters, preferring to wait for the right light.In his early days, he said he concentrated on black & white images and showed us a series of winter woodland images. One, called “Winter Woods”, was his most successful image, while another “Woodland in Mist” was one of his favourites. And there was a series of Winter Oaks taken in his native Suffolk.
He showed us several images of what he called the Salisbury Oak. However, having taken many images over many years from a distance, he eventually met the farmer and was able to walk across the fields to the tree to discover that it was actually a Sweet Chestnut! One of his images was a quadriptych showing the “Salisbury Oak” in each of the four seasons. Another quadriptych was of beechwoods during the four seasons.  There were several images from the New Forest, where he said he loves the variety and structural quality of the trees. There were atmospheric autumnal shots showing moody shafts of light through trees in the mist at dawn. He explained that he often has to wait patiently for the light and the composition to come together. He said the longer you stand in one place in the woods, the more you see in the scene and the more wildlife you will encounter. Ed also like to photograph autumnal landscapes in places like Ashridge Estate in Herts, Stourhead, and Exmoor. He said that good images can be taken in these places a week or two before the peak of the colours, because fewer leaves will have fallen from the trees and there will be fewer gaps in the composition. In the second half of the evening, Ed presented images of landscapes from around the UK. He started with some stunning images taken in Bath showing the Royal Crescent, the Circus and the weir at Pultney Bridge. A wonderful panoramic view of Durdle Door was followed by the cliffs at Burton Bradstock in a storm, before moving on to Rhossili Beach on the Gower, Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire and a few shots on the Brecon Beacons. Then we saw a few great images in Snowdonia and the Lake District.
 He described a day spent in heavy showers waiting for the promised sunshine before being rewarded with differential lighting and a rainbow over the Langdale Pikes. He also explained that he had avoided taking images of the over photographed Buttermere Pines until one morning he captured them disappearing into the mist, with early morning sunlight catching the mountain top, all reflected in the waters of the lake.He showed two images of blood-red dawn skies reflected in the seas off Northumberland. One showed Dunstanburgh Castle as a small silhouette on the right and the other a slightly larger silhouette of Bamburgh Castle. Both very dramatic but ultimately fairly simple compositions.
On into Scotland with images taken in Glenco and Rannoch Moor. Ed said that, when he first took photos of Buachaille about 20 years ago, very few people went there and the vegetation was more plentiful. Now, however, thousands of people want to take the photograph and the ground has been trampled and worn.
On Skye, Ed often stays at the Sligachan campsite and he showed a number of dawn and early morning images taken in the vicinity, showing the Red Cullins and Marscoe. He drives up past Ullapool, where he took an amazing shot of a sunlit snowscape while it was snowing. In Sutherland he showed us a rugged landscape, shaped by ancient glaciers with no human habitation to be seen. At Cape Wrath he hiked the five miles to the wild and remote, but beautiful, beaches and dunes of Sandwood Bay. And finally, he took us to the Outer Hebrides and to Harris in particular. Beaches to rival those in the Caribbean beautifully portrayed by Ed’s camera, a memorable image of a rainbow arch after a hailstorm and lovely sunset over North Uist rounded off a fabulous evening of wonderful landscape images. In thanking Ed for a great evening’s entertainment, Steve, our Chairman, alluding to the title of the presentation said there was little doubt that Ed certainly has a Passion for Landscapes. A sentiment clearly emphasised by a warm round of applause from the audience. DF Images © Ed Collacott Top: Magical Dawn, Right: Four Seasons, Centre: Winter Wood Bottom: Forces of Nature,Glencoe |
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| Challenge 18 - September | |
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Post your photos on our Devizes Camera Club facebook.
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The subject set for photos taken during the month of September was 
The image with the most 'likes' was an excellent image by Pauline Godwin of a great tit reflected in water | Sixty Years of Club Photography in Devizes! | |
| It was recently pointed out that the club has its 60th Anniversary on 30 September. The club was founded in 1958 and one of the founder members Richard (Dick) Larden and his wife Mary who joined soon afterwards and was Chairman for some years still regularly come to club meetings. The venue has changed several times – the last being in 2009 with a move to Devizes Sports Club because of a growing membership. Photography has changed several times during the 60 years from black & white film printed in a darkroom, through colour film and projected colour slides to the present digital age. The club continues very much to thrive with a present membership of around 60 and with a reputation for a very high standard of photography. We celebrated our 50th anniversary in style with an event in the Town Hall but 10 years on we had quite forgotten that we had been going for so long. May the club continue to thrive and welcomes anyone with an interest in photography to join. Happy Anniversary! |
| Competition 1 - Open Projected Images | 25 September 2018 |
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The first competition of the 2018-19 season was judged by Clive Greenland LRPS – a member of Corsham Photographic Society.
On his first visit to the club Clive commented that judging an Open competition is always extremely difficult as the entries consist of such a diverse range of subjects and styles. Giving his critique on each image Clive said after initially looking for correct focus, exposure and good composition - choosing the award winners finally comes down to the impact and the feeling of the image that makes it ‘extra special’.  The judge started by pointing out the best features in each image and then in some cases gave subjective criticism on how the image might have been improved. He would have liked to see a wider view in some of the landscapes and perhaps using a panoramic format would have shown more of the dramatic terrain. Members might remember a recent club presentation in which it was advised ‘always take at least 3 views of a scene’ which could then have given a choice of formats. There were many interesting images in the Beginners section with a wide range of subjects. New club members usually start in this section some being novices - but others have been taking photographs for many years but have yet to gain experience of club competitions. The judge said that when he first saw the image of an Elan Valley Dam by Craig Purvis (above) he was struck by the impact and knew it was one of best in the section. The lighting and viewpoint were excellent and he awarded it first place. Clive said it was the expressions on the faces of the four men sitting around in a south American Square that particularly appealed to him in Dan Morrell’s image ‘Laid Back’ which was placed second.  The striking landscape by Roly Barth titled ‘Majestic Patagonia’ was awarded third place with an image of a Barn owl in flight also by Roly gaining a Highly Commended. The Motocross action image ‘Fast and Furious’ by Richard Blackbourne also gained an HC.Of the many superb images in the Intermediate section the judge found the most impressive ‘Menai Suspension Bridge’ (right) by Martin Stokes. He remarked on the excellent lighting on the bridge structure and the good composition awarding it first place.
Photographing the stars as they moved in the night sky is very tricky but it was captured well in ‘North Star at Knowlton’ by Steve Hardman which was placed second. The seascape ‘Storm’ was another of Martin Stokes images that the judge picked out it came third in the section. Highly Commended’s were awarded to Steve Hardman and Andy Vick and two landscapes by Sue Wadman both gained awards.  Last but not least came the Advanced section with its diverse range of subjects – landscapes, wildlife, people, architecture and more.The very cleverly captured image ‘Space Station over Severn Bridge’ by Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP (left) was awarded first place. Second place went to Kyra Wilson LRPS with her close up image of the colourful ‘Lackey Moth Caterpillar’. Another of Robert’s images gained third place – this time a superb wildlife image ‘Great-spotted Woodpecker in the Snow’ An image of the Little Sable lighthouse in Michigan by Tim Pier and two Creative images by Pam Mullings were awarded HC’s In his summing up Clive said sorry but unfortunately according to the club rules he could not give awards to all the excellent images in the competition but for those that missed out this time he advised ‘don’t give up’ just try again another time. Craig Purvis who was standing in for the club chairman thanked Clive very much for taking time to judge the competition and giving his very helpful comments on each of the images. Congratulations to all award winners and very well done to all who entered - some for the first time, PM See the full list of awards All the award winning images can be seen in the Galleries Members can log in to see the points table |
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| ‘Essential Photoshop’ | 18 September 2018 |
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Tuesday evening saw the club welcome Allen Lloyd ARPS AWPF for a talk on image processing using Adobe’s Photoshop programme. Allen had travelled over from Caldicot in Monmouthshire, via the Severn Bridge, causing the Chairman to remark that Allen would have to pay to get home!
What Allen was able to clearly convey (no doubt a result of his teaching background) was his particular ‘workflow’ and the reasoning behind it. For example, he will always tackle ‘noise’ first as this detrimental product of shooting images, particularly at higher ISOs, increases with each step in processing, therefore it makes sense to start with the lowest noise possible. Next he demonstrated the superior flexibility and subtle control afforded by adjusting an image’s tonality range, highlights and shadows by using ‘Levels’. This method produces a much more nuanced result rather than the broad-brush approach achieved with the more basic ‘Highlights’ and ‘Shadows’ sliders.| Landscape Group Field Trip | |
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| 'Photographing Nature More Creatively’ | 11 Sepember 2018 |
 Professional Wildlife photographer David Boag made a very welcome return to the club to give his presentation on how to be more creative with photography. With his keen interest in nature David’s first foray into photography was about 40 years when he endeavoured to capture the flight of a kingfisher as it dived into a pool. At that time film cameras were unable to capture such fast speed so David pioneered the use of synchronised flashes and obtained many superb images of kingfisher behaviour. This resulted in David’s first book and since then he has published many books on a variety of subjects. David leads safaris to Africa, lectures on cruise ships, broadcasts on radio and television and travels all over the world on photographic assignments. With his enthusiastic approach David inspired members to look at images in a new way and challenge themselves to come up with new ideas.  Creativity is not about your photographic equipment but using your imagination and capturing interesting images. An image can have all the criteria such as perfect focus and exposure but can still frankly be rather boring.  By understanding the behaviour of wildlife you can get something dramatic rather than a straight dull shot. An example shown was a Kea - which can appear a rather dull looking New Zealand parrot but which when encouraged to leap showed the bright colour under its wings and makes a striking image. Be persistent and wait for just the right moment to press the shutter. This image of an Osprey was caught just as it was about to take off instead of just an image of 'a bird on a stick'!. When something interesting catches your eye then don’t just take one photo – take at least 3 using different lenses or finding different angles was David's advice. The choice of lens is vitally  important and David demonstrated the differences using a wide angle or a close up can give subjects taken from exactly the same spot. A close up can look dramatic on some occasions but including the habitat can show behaviour and give a sense of space. Look out for foreground interest to lead the eye through the image – diagonals can add drama and complimentary colours and shapes add interest. Don’t be put off by wet weather or poor light – there is always an image to be had and today’s digital technology can capture sharp images in any conditions. Image stabilisation allows a 300mm lens to be handheld and still get a sharp image. Get down low and look up as that makes the subject look more important and stand out from the background. As shown by his exuberant presentation David is an excellent tutor and has expertly made interactive tutorials which can be obtained from his website. His helpful advice on capturing interesting, creative images can be applied to any subject not just wildlife. See Natural Focus for more information. Summing up club chairman Steve Hardman said he had learned a great deal from the evening and thanked David very much for his very inspiring presentation. During the evening Steve welcomed Richard Watson LRPS who had been the clubs chairman for the previous 4 years. Richard was thanked for the contribution he had made to the club and was made a life member and also a bottle of very special whisky that reminded him of the club field trip to Skye. PM Images © David Boag
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| Entering International Salons | |
| Devizes Camera Club encourages members to enter their work in external competitions. The simplest way to do this is by entering digital projected images (DPIs) in international salons (exhibitions) recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique (FIAP). There are three English salons between now and the end of 2018 which would be particularly suitable to enter, especially for members who are new to external competitions. They are: Northern Counties International Salon DPI Classes: Open Colour, Open Monochrome, Nature Travel. Image Resolution: 1400px wide x 1050px high. Closing Date: 8 October 2018. Smethwick International Salon DPI Classes: Open Colour, Open Monochrome, Nature. Image Resolution: 1600px wide x 1400px high. Closing Date: 4 November 2018. Yorkshire International Salon DPI classes: Open, Nature, Travel. Image Resolution: 1400px wide x 1050px high. Closing Date: 3 December 2018. You can enter up to four images in each class by uploading them online. It is often easier to get images accepted in international salons than to win Devizes Camera Club competitions, so why not give it a go? You could enter images that did well in club competitions last season, or images you are thinking of entering this season. In addition to the kudos of having your entries accepted against international competition, the most successful salon entrant in each calendar year from the club will be awarded the Ryder Rathband Trophy |
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| Chairman's Evening - an introduction to the club | 4 September 2018 |
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Club Chairman Steve Hardman welcomed both returning club members and the large number of potential new members who had come along to the first meeting of the 2018-2019 season.
Steve was interested in the reasons why people became interested in photography as a hobby and suggested that to him it had meant seeing the world in a different way and noticing more details. He felt he now very much appreciated the efforts of others and strived to take up the challenge of creating better images.  Whatever the reason it should be fun and enjoyable. Devizes is one of the leading clubs in the area and is always open to new ideas and suggestions are always welcome. Steve introduced the committee members – some of which were new to their posts. Gill Cardy FRPS DPAGB EFIAP was congratulated on her images 'Japanese Crane Dance' right being selected to represent Great Britain in the FIAP International Biennial Projected Nature competition held recently in Oman.
The club has organised landscape and nature group visits to many areas around the UK over the years. Recently day visits had been organised with renowned Nature photographer Nick Upton to photograph Swifts at Lacock, Beavers at a secret location and macro images of insects at Wadswick Common and Green Lane Woods.
 Roly Barth gave a presentation about the clubs’ latest weekend visit in May to the island of Skomer off the Pembrokeshire coast. Arrangements had been made for an overnight stay on the island so as to have the island to themselves after the day visitors departed and to observe the birds and mammals after dark.  The main attraction was the huge colony of Puffins which allow photographers to get up very close to the activities around their underground nests. Images by several members were shown depicting not only puffins but a variety of other seabirds that were abundant on the cliffs. Members were lucky enough to be able to photograph Manx Shearwaters as they flew in to their nest sites complete darkness. Another highlight was to manage to photograph a short eared owl as it flew over. Above: Puffin by Richard Atkinson AFIAP & right: Skomer Sunset by Roly Barth  Club member Kyra Wilson showed 10 of her prints with which she recently gained her LRPS. Kyra explained the process that she followed and the rather daunting judging process in which some of her images were turned down for minor imperfections but which a few months later she was able to correct and on re-submission were passed by the judges. To gain an LRPS the images had to show photographic competence and show a range of subjects and techniques. The next step is an ARPS which Kyra said she might consider in the future.Left: Little Owl by Kyra Wilson LRPS Next - some of the members showed some of their images taken during the summer break. Martin Stokes said he had taken time to plan his images to get the best light with resulting in some excellent images. Sue Wadman showed some delightful landscapes and Liz Bates a variety of interesting subjects that had caught her eye. Dan Morrel had taken a 4-month tour of South America and showed just 3 of his well taken images but no doubt we will see more during the season.  After the break where everyone had a chance to chat and catch up a short sequence of images taken at Stourhead by Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP was shown to demonstrate how a selection of landscape images and some music could be put together into an Audio-Video (A-V) presentation.Later in the season there is an A-Vcompetition so members are encouraged learn the techniques and have a go and enter their A-V’s. Club Battle secretary Frank Collins recently went on a photographic tour of Bhutan and brought a small selection of his many images to show. A wide range of photographs from colourfully dressed locals to amazing temples and monasteries, dramatic landscapes and nightscapes together with many red costumed monks. Frank said that until recently there were no internet stations in Bhutan but since their introduction almost everyone including the monks had mobile phones. The terrain was difficult at times and the high altitudes made climbing and moving about rather more difficult than usual. A very rewarding country to visit and enjoy taking images of the amazing scenery. 21st Century Monk by Frank Collins right After rushing back from giving a presentation at another club - Programme Secretary Robert Harvey just had time to show what an interesting line up of speakers he had arranged for the coming season. See the Programme for full details. Steve just had time to thank everyone for their contributions for the entertaining evening. The feedback from newcomers was that they very much enjoyed the evening and were looking forward to future meetings. PM |
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| Challenge 2018 - August |
 There was a wide range of subjects entered on the subject of 'Movement' The idea was to encourage members of our facebook group to try out various ways of giving an impression of something moving that could be shown in a still photograph. Nine people had a go with subjects ranging from wind-blown barley to splashing water - birds to flags - star trails to the international space station as it moved across the sky. A lot of inspiration came from the Devizes Street festival with dancers, fireworks, street performers and the fairground being popular subjects. Techniques used included double exposure, long shutter speeds and super-imposed images all managing to show movement in one way or another. The images that got the most 'likes' was by Martin Stokes which showed cloud movement over Shearwater lake at sunset. - right Thanks to all those who had a go at portraying 'Movement' in one way or another and hopefully had some fun with different ideas. The subject chosen for the month of September is 'Reflections' Reflections in water are a popular subject but interesting images can be taken using mirrors, windows or any shiny surface. A chance to try out different ideas and perhaps come up with something a bit out of the ordinary. To take part join the DCC facebook group (join facebook if not already a member and then apply to join the DCC group) |
| Challenge 2018 - July | |
 The subject set for the July Photo Challenge was 'A Sign of the Times' With so much happening in the world and our fondness to say that it wasn't like that in our day this was an interesting - if somewhat challenging subject for the month. What do you think that will be remembered of 2018 or the decade? Members found this rather difficult to sum up in a photo. Mobile phones constantly in use, dead flowers, a sewage farm and homeless people were some of the rather depressing subjects portrayed. The heat of the summer was another topic with this rather overcooked chap photographed by Pam Mullings gaining the most 'likes'. The subject set for the month of August is 'Movement' A chance perhaps to try out different techniques to either capture moving subjects or to try ICM (intentional camera movement) We had a couple of speakers last season who showed us some of their images - or there are a lot of examples on line. To join in the Challenge go to DCC facebook. If you are not already a member then first join facebook and apply to join the DCC facebook closed group. You will also be able to see what fellow members have been up to 'photographically' during the summer break. PM |
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| Nature Group Trips to Skomer | |
This summer two trips were organised to the island of Skomer, just off the Pembrokeshire coast.   In early May a group of eight, and in late June a group of three, each spent two nights in the self-catering accommodation belonging to the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, enjoying some excellent wildlife sightings. Short eared Owls were seen hunting in the area just next to the farmhouse and Choughs on the cliffs near the Garland Stone. Skomer is famed for its colonies of Puffins, Manx Shearwaters and huge numbers of rabbits and we were not disappointed. The whole island is honeycombed with burrows and the wildlife trust do a good job in marshalling all the visitors on to paths whilst still allowing access to the birds. On the earlier visit, the Puffins were busying themselves nesting and were quite comical in their attempts to get nesting material into their burrows. By late June, in blistering hot weather, the Pufflings had hatched and the adults were busy bringing sand eels allowing the classic shots of beaks full of fish and the clash with the waiting gulls, all too ready to rob them.  At night, the Manx Shearwaters come back to their burrows on the island and it really is an amazing spectacle. Tens of thousands of birds in the pitch black all trying to find their own home – the sound really is one of nature’s wonders and one that just has to be experienced – even if does mean getting up at 3am! The cliffs are thronged with Guillemots, Razorbills, Fulmars and Kittiwakes with Choughs and various species of Gull as well. Wheatears, Pipits, Reed Buntings, Warblers, Whitethroats, Swallows, Martins and Seals etc etc. gave plenty of opportunity to practise different skills. Trying to photograph swallows flying directly towards the camera down the paths between the bracken was particularly challenging! Prior our return journey after the first trip, we had been tipped off that an extremely rare visitor to Britain, the Green Heron, had been spotted in a local MP’s garden in Narberth in Pembrokeshire, only a very brief diversion from our route. We all “twitched`’ our way to the garden to be rewarded with a grandstand view of the bird sitting on a branch over the lake. Perfect finish to a great trip. Many thanks to Robert and Kyra for organisation and to Sarah for her hard work on the catering side. It was agreed by all participants that the logistics of getting to the island were worthwhile and well worth repeating. SH Images: Top left - Puffin Nesting & Manx Shearwater top right by Steve Hardman Green Heron - Right by Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP See more images taken on Skomer |
| Nature Photography with Nick Upton | |
  Three groups of club members enjoyed interesting and unusual nature photography field trips this summer with professional wildlife film maker and photographer Nick Upton. The first, on 21 June, was to photograph swifts in flight at Lacock. The most aerial of birds, flying at up to 69 miles per hour in level flight, these are very difficult subjects. With guidance on the right settings, optimum location and plenty of practice, we were able to get a number of sharp images with the underwings illuminated by low evening sun. Swift by Robert Harvey - right On Sunday 8 July, we tried our hand at macro photography. Visits to Wadswick Common and Green Lane Wood, both in Wiltshire, produced an array of spiders, shield bugs, butterflies, moths, bush crickets and other invertebrates. Nick’s enthusiasm for these creatures was infectious. It turned out to be the hottest day of the year (so far), which slightly curtailed both invertebrate and human activity! Four-spotted Orb Web Spider on Ragwort by Steve Hardman - left  A memorable photographic highlight was our trip to photograph wild beavers at a west country location on Wednesday 11 July. After an absence of 400 years, these native mammals are now becoming re-established in our countryside.  We spent the evening watching a pair feeding in a lovely tranquil setting. Nick also showed us the impressive dams they have built. These shy animals are nature's engineers and delightful to watch.Beaver Dam - left and Beaver - right by Robert Harvey Nick was generous in sharing his knowledge of beavers, swift and invertebrates, enabling us to learn much more about their lives as well as photograph them. We are very grateful for the opportunity to benefit from his expertise.RH Images © Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP and Steve Hardman |
| Challenge 2018 - June | |
 The subject chosen by Lynda Croft for the month of June was 'Sunlight' A wide range of subjects were posted in the Album including sunlit buildings, mountains, poppy fields and flowers. Also sunlight through a window, sunlight on a starlings feathers and sunlight on the paper doves in Salisbury Cathedral. The favourite image was the delightful photograph by Roly Barth of sunlit poppies. Roly has chosen the subject for the month of July which is 'A Sign of the Times' Roly says that he feels that with so much happening in the world and our fondness to say that 'it wasn't like that in our day!' it makes an interesting topic. The subject can be interpreted in any way so it will be interesting to see what ideas members come up with. Give it some thought and when you are out and about - take some interesting photos and post them in the Album on DCC facebook. To join in just request membership (you will need to be a member of facebook first) |
| Social Event 2018 |
  For a number of years the club has arranged a get together of members and partners which gives a chance to meet up and chat during the summer break. This year a BBQ was arranged for Sunday 17 June to be held by kind invitation of Robert and Sarah Harvey in their large interesting garden with its ponds, croquet lawn and beautiful borders. Hoping for a warm sunny mid summer afternoon we were rather dissappointed when it was rather chilly with a grey overcast sky but non the less we still very much enjoyed looking around the very large garden. There was an array of wild flowers to admire with a few insects flying around the pond area and we could also take a look at Robert's hide and reflective pool set up where he can take photos of the visiting garden birds. Soon the delicious smell of meat cooking wafted around with Frank Collins ably assisted by Club  Chairman Steve Hardman in charge of the barbeque. Despite the chill members were able to sit outside and very much enjoy the excellent spread of food provided. Eventually everyone drifted into the warmth of the large conservatory and enjoyed the pavlova and other tempting sweets brought in by members. Sarah and Robert were thanked for providing such a delightful venue and being such excellent hosts by Steve. Some of the men were still playing a competitive game of croquet as the drizzle set in but all agreed it had been very enjoyable event. Present and new members can look forward to Tuesday 4 September which is the start of the DCC 2018-2019 season. There will be a range of interesting speakers on a range of topics as well as practical evenings and competitions. Don't forget you can keep in touch with others through the DCC facebook page. In the meantime enjoy your travels and have fun taking taking lots of photographs. See you all in September. PM |
| Challenge 2018 - May | |
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The subject set by Heather for the month of May was 'Leading Lines. 
| Annual General Meeting and Presentation of Awards | 15 May 2018 |
| Club Chairman Richard Watson LRPS gave a warm welcome to about 26 members and guests to the AGM and Secretary Dave Gray read the list of apologies Members were asked to approve the 2017 AGM minutes which had been circulated to members beforehand and there were no matters arrising. Chairman's report Richard began with a huge thank you to the committee for their hard work over the year. "We would not have a club without their dedication and enthusiasm." he said. The highlight of the year for Richard was the Charlie Waite talk. "To meet and hear from one of my photographic heroes was a real thrill." Huge thanks to Robert in particular who put so much work in to making the evening happen. Our biennial exhibition is always a great showcase for the club and this season was no exception. Richard said he felt that the programme has been stronger than ever this year, with a range of interesting speakers to cater for all tastes. The year on year increase in the speaker budget pays dividends and helps attract outside visitors to the higher profile evenings. Thanks to Robert for his unstinting efforts in pulling the programme together. I would like to thank Pam for continuing to act as Webmaster and for the website which is an important shop window for the club and it reflects very well on us. Thanks also to Jean for providing the tea and biscuits all season. As she comes to the end of her term as Competition Secretary, Richard wanted to pay particular thanks to Caroline for the huge amount of work she has done on our behalf in the last four years and we are looking to replace her with three people! It is great to see the high standards being set by the Beginners — we will all need to be on our toes next season. Thanks are due to the other committee members. Craig has done a great job as Publicity Secretary and our profile on social media has never been higher. Lynda has been a very accurate and conscientious Treasurer - special mention to Peter Tasker who has stepped in to collect the money on the door in the last few weeks. Frank continues to steer our competitions with other clubs through his role as Battle Secretary, with much success again this season. Steve has been a supportive Vice-Chair this season, chairing meetings when asked and offering some good challenge as a new committee member. Lastly to two of the less visible roles. Dave is a great Secretary, sending out regular emails to members and making sense of our committee meetings through his accurate minute taking. He and Robert do a brilliant job of running the Landscape Group, that adds so much to club life. Mike Saunders has worked hard for the club in a variety of ways from setting up the room, to making the tea and building a new storage cupboard to keep our equipment secure — thank you Mike. Richard said he hoped he was leaving the club in a good place with a healthy bank balance, a strong membership base, a friendly atmosphere and a high standard of photography. He would like to see the Nature Group re-started, more local trips to encourage everyone out with their camera and perhaps Club Instagram page next year. He wished Steve Hardman well in taking on the Chair’s role and knows that he will do a great job. read more |
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| Ladies v Gents Battle 2018 | 8 May 2018 |
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The final full Club meeting of the season was marked by the now-customary battle between the Lady members and the Gents of the Club.
The contest is intended to be fun – but inevitably brings with it some light-hearted rivalry between the two teams! Jean Ingram and Richard Atkinson acted as Captains of the respective teams.  The rules are designed to make the Battle as inclusive as possible – whilst also encouraging the teams to think a bit, and not just choose images which have been successful in the year’s competitions. So while each team had to select 30 Projected Images as its entry, the Gents were limited to a maximum of two images per photographer; the Ladies being allowed up to four per head to allow for an imbalance in the membership this year. Each team was required to include at least 10 images that had not previously been entered in Club competitions; and whilst the team Captains were otherwise free to choose entries from members in any competition Section of the Club, entries from the Beginners or Intermediates attracted 2 bonus marks. Selection therefore had to take care to meet the rules – and then tactical to try to maximise the points! The final selection say the Ladies represented by 10 different photographers, with half of their work being previously unseen, and 11 images coming from Beginners or Intermediates. The Gents utilised images from 19 members, with 10 new images and half of the selection coming from Beginners and Intermediates. That therefore gave the Gents a head-start of 8 points – however, our Judges were of course not only unaware of which image was representing each team, but also of the bonus points, so were judging every image purely on merit against all of the others. The gamble from the captains therefore was whether the judges marks, when combined with the bonus points, would give them the winning selection! As in previous years, we had two judges – one lady, one gent, this time being Sue and Richard Winkworth from Bristol, who had previously visited the Club as speakers. Richard and Sue had each scored the images independently ahead of the evening – and to add to the drama, had not conferred with one another, or revealed their scores to each other ahead of the evening. Each gave their personal thoughts about each image, and as they explained, they each tend to look at images in very different ways from one another – which was reflected in the very different marks which they each gave to some of the images. Each scored each images out of 10 – so a basic maximum of 20, with the possibility of a maximum of 22 for those eligible for bonus points Two images gained the top score from both judges - 'Otter with Crab' by David Wilkinson left and 'The Three Pug-a Leers' by Kev Ferris right, which meant that David’s image was the top scoring one of the evening since it was also eligible for bonus points. It was very much a night for the Beginners and Intermediates; with the addition of the bonus points a further five images scored 20 or more;- Cold Canal Night – Craig Purvis – 21 Common Darter – Heather Collins – 21 Morning Glory – Sue Wadman – 20 Old Man of Storr at Sunrise – Sue Wadman – 20 The Old Man in Loch Fada – Steve Hardman – 20 The contest was very tight throughout and the final scoring also split the Judges, with Richard giving victory to the Ladies, and Sue to the Gents. But when the final scores were tallied, the Gents had 487 points and Ladies were just 14 points behind with a score of 473 – resulting in the first victory for the Gents for quite a few years! Our thanks go to our Judges, Richard and Sue Winkworth, for their time, trouble and input, to the two Team Captains, Jean Ingram and Richard Atkinson, for organising the selections, but above all, to all of the Club members for supporting the event. Frank Collins – Battle Secretary |
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| Print and Projected Image of the Year competitions | 1 May 2018 |
 The final competition of the season included all the images that had gained a 1st 2nd or 3rd place in a club competition since September. The judge Ralph Snook ARPS EFIAP/b DPAGB was welcomed back to the club by Chairman Richard Watson. Ralph had the very onerous task of choosing which, in his opinion, were the best of the best! The prints and PI’s were from a diverse range of competitions – nature, landscape, creative, monochrome, portraits, open  competitions where anything goes and even images taken on a phone.Prints and PI's were divided up into sections – Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced so there were 6 trophies to be awarded to the winners of each section. Starting the evening with the Beginners Prints only 2 members entered their prints so Ralph jested that one of them was bound to be disappointed! After giving his comments on both prints Ralph gave first place to ‘Village Stream’ right by Craig Purvis remarking on the clever capture of the stream of coloured light from the traffic as it wended its way through the village at dusk. 'Boaters Market' was a canal side scene by Richard Blackbourne and was placed second. Next came the Intermediate prints with a deceptively simple image by Kyra Wilson titled ‘Feather and Grass’ left being the judges favourite. Close behind were two landscapes taken on Skye ‘Quiraing’ and ‘Sunset over Sgurr nan Gilean’ by Steve Hardman which were placed 2nd and 3rd.  There were 14 prints in the Advanced section for Ralph to ponder over with Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP gaining first and second places. ‘Kingfisher Surfacing’ right was the winner with the judge commenting on the way the bird had been perfectly photographed as it emerged from its dive with a fish in its beak surrounded by water droplets.  Robert’s stunning seascape ‘Wembury Point’ was in second place with a creative image titled ‘Cardoon Seed Heads’ by Pam Mullings in third place. After a break Ralph continued with the Beginners Projected Images – this time rather more to choose from than the prints. A monochrome portrait by Craig Purvis was in first place – titled ‘Flawless 40’s’ left Ralph commented that it perfectly captured the mood of the period. A close up study of hoar frost on a teasel by Peter Eley titled ‘Winter Thistle’ was in second place and ‘Boogie Woogie Madeleine’ a coloured portrait by Martin Stokes placed third.  In the Intermediate section another portrait caught the judges eye - 'Holly' right by Sue Wadman gained first place. Ralph commented it was good to see a pretty girl posing for her photograph with her clothes on!A nature image by David Wilkinson titled 'Stonechat with Insect' was in second place and in third place was another bird image but this time a creative image 'Pop up Little Owl by Kyra Wilson. With 23 entries in the Advanced section Ralph said it had been very difficult for him to choose his three favourites as all were of a very high standard and many of them could have been worthy winners.  Finally, it was down to the judges personal preferences and a landscape by Robert was declared the winner. ‘Buttermere at Dawn’ left was an atmospheric misty image capturing the early morning reflection in the water. Second place went to another Kingfisher image by Robert this time titled ‘Kingfisher with Catch’ Third in the Advanced section was ‘Raindrops’ a creative image by Pam Mullings. Ralph congratulated those that he awarded 1st place and presented each of the worthy winners with a trophy. Many thanks to Ralph for his helpful comments and for his careful deliberations choosing his favourites from each of the six competitons. Thanks to Caroline who as Competition Secretary has had the time consuming task of sorting all the entries for the 25 competitions held during the season. Also thanks to all the members who entered the competitions making it a very interesting and competitive year. PM Full results All of the winning images can be seen in the Galleries |
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| Challenge 2018 - May |
 The challenge set for the month of April was 'On the Wing' Members found this quite a difficult challenge but nine club members managed to take photos during the month that would fit the title. We had many flying birds, aircraft and insects as well as some rather more unexpected ideas. The image that gained the most 'likes' was by Heather Collins who very cleverly, and with a great deal of patience, managed to capture an image of a tiny hoverfly 'on the wing' (shown left) 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. See all the 'On the Wing' images in the facebook Album. The photographer whose image has the most likes chooses the next subject so Heather has chosen 'Leading Lines' as the challenge for the month of May. Judges frequently comment on 'lead- in lines' which draw the eye into the image - so go out and look for some new subjects and get some practice! 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. 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) |
| 'How to Move from Good to Great Photography' | 24 April 2018 |
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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.
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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.
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.| Our Members Present ... | 17 April 2018 |
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Members of the club were asked to give a short presentation of their work, their thoughts and the way they approach their photography.
There are many different ways that photographers prefer to work – some are very methodical and pre-plan every detail before taking a photograph while others just get inspired by something they just happen to come across.  Starting off the evening David Fraser presented a selection of his excellent photographs taken on a four-day safari to a private reserve on the edge of the Kruger National Park in South Africa. Travelling in an open topped vehicle with a driver and a tracker David and his wife were delighted to see a pride of fifteen lions on their foray into the bush.  Using a 100 – 400 mm and at times a 28 – 125 mm lens David found that the image stabilisation worked very well and gave excellent results. At times when using the larger lens elephants came so close to the vehicle that he had difficulty fitting them into the frame! Close up mother and baby elephant right.David and his wife manages to see all of the ‘big five’ during their visit including superb views of a stunning leopard left as it rested on a turmite mound. They were able to follow a pack of the elusive wild dogs as they hunted, saw spotted hyenas and their cubs and once when rushing through the bush a group of rhinos were startled and looked for a moment as if they might charge. On one of the days the guide was asked to look out for birds and David managed to photograph many of them including colourful Bee Eaters, Lilac Breasted Rollers and a Crested Barbet. On safari often you have to be prepared to take your photographs very quickly or you may miss the action. Thanks to David for giving an insight into his interesting safari and his animal encounters.  Next on a very different topic Pam Mullings spoke about her interest in photographing interesting characters that she came across in the street or at events. No image is pre – planned but taken just when the opportunity arises and someone or something interesting is seen. it is most often a ‘grab shot’ so there is usually no chance to get the subject in a better position or against an uncluttered background so images usually need quite a lot of editing to give a pleasing result. Using a bridge camera with a 25-400 zoom lens subjects are usually unaware they are being photographed and so behave naturally rather than posing for the camera.
Showing the ‘before’ and then ‘after’ images Pam showed how she removes unwanted background distractions and then using editing software manipulates the images. With an idea in mind images are altered to give the desired effect and often combined with other photographs to give a composite image. Using layers and a lot of trial and error, new techniques are always being tried out. Textures and layer blends are often used to give interesting effects. An example of an image as taken and then the final edited image is shown right. Always wanting to create something new - her finished images are usually something rather different and unique.  Club chairman Richard Watson LRPS rounded off the evening by showing images taken by photographers that inspire him.The deceptively simple flower photographs by Sue Bishop are some of Richard’s favourites, usually with a shallow depth of field, subtle combinations of colour and a delightful creative style.
The atmospheric landscapes of Mark Littlejohn use various techniques such as split toning, radial filters and gradients to enhance the mood. The results make the landscapes look almost like paintings and yet still retain all the detail of the photograph. Another landscape photographer is Finn Hopson whose images of the South Downs inspire Richard to take more photographs of the Wiltshire hills and downland with their interesting contours. The almost abstract images by Valda Bailey often use double exposures – another technique that Richard would like to explore further. See images by these photographers on their websites. Richard explained that he has not had much time for photography recently but still manages to take anything that inspires him during his working day. He then went on to show a few of his own photographs – mostly taken and edited using his phone which gives excellent results. An old overgrown farm trailer made an interesting subject and Richard said he would like to make a series of similar monochrome images in the future. Close up of a magnolia flower by Richard shown left. |
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| Innovation Projected Image Competition: Smartphone Images | 10 April 2018 |
| On her first visit to Devizes CC the judge Linda Meaton remarked that she had never judged a competition for phone images before – well we have never had one before! Linda has many years’ experience in computer aided design and visualisation and gave very good advice on how some of the entries might have been improved. Enjoying architectural and street photography herself she explained how strong leading lines help the viewer into the image. Sometimes an image would have been improved if the photograph had been taken from a slightly different angle so as to avoid background clutter or avoided cutting off elements of the image.  Members were asked to send in images taken on a smartphone on which the technology has improved immensely but there are still limitations on the settings that can be changed on a phone. Usually the ISO and F stop is set and the focus is automatic and they cannot shoot in RAW - but never the less many have built in software to crop or add contrast etc. The images for this competition could be downloaded and Photoshop used to do enhance the images.When Linda took her first look at the Beginners entries she was astonished at the high quality and said that it bodes well for the future of the club. There were some very interesting subjects in the 9 entries – street scenes, telephone boxes and a colourful sunset. Linda chose ‘Dandelion’ left by Roly Barth for first place. A very well taken and unusual close up image which showed great detail. Roly also was awarded an HC for his image ‘Poppies’  Second and Third places both went to Heather Collins – the judge commented that ‘Going Underground’ which was an image taken of an escalator showed good leading lines and ‘Cranes’ had many interesting angles and a good range of colours.In the Intermediate section David Lock was awarded both first and third places – ‘The Holte End’ right was a monochrome image of the roof of a stadium with many interesting angles and ‘Balloon Fest’ captured the colour and atmosphere of the event. In second place was Sue Wadman’s well seen close up image titled ‘Knot so Much Detail’  The Advanced section had a wide range of interesting images from beautiful highland landscapes to well caught street scenes. A monochrome by Richard Watson LRPS was placed first depicting raindrops on hosta leaves titled ‘After the Rain’ left. Linda said it was a perfect subject for monochrome and the angles of the leaves were well placed. Richard also was awarded an HC for ’Running Away’ another monochrome with a small child heading off on his own along a path.‘Light and Shade in Edmondsbury’ by Frank Collins depicted a corner of a church interior with interesting patterns of light falling on the stonework and was awarded second place. In third place was another monochrome – this time of woodland trees in snow titled ‘Mist and Snow on Roundway’ by Caroline Wright. Caroline was also awarded an HC for a colourful image of an old boat. Club chairman Richard Watson thanked the judge for coming from Portishead to judge our phone competition and giving her helpful comments on all the images. After the break some of the winning entries from the WCPF 2017 Audio – Visual competition were shown including one from club member Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP titled ‘Canyon Country’ A range of stunning landscape images taken in Arizona and Utah were accompanied by appropriate music to make an enjoyable AV. Members also very much enjoyed viewing the winning long AV titled ‘The Fallen’ with its very moving images and the short AV about a rather unusual but interesting subject - the ‘Holsworthy Livestock Market’ Congratulations to all those who gained awards, to all those who submitted their phone images and to Competition Secretary Caroline wrright for organising the competition. PM Full results All the awarded images can be seen in the Galleries |
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| 'Creating Audio-Visuals’ | 3 April 2018 |
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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. |
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| Challenge 2018 | |
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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.
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| Inter - Club Battle | |
| Tuesday 27th March saw Devizes Camera Club welcome Swindon, Stratton and Royal Wootton Bassett Camera Clubs to Devizes Sports Club to compete in a 4-way Battle. Each Club had provided 15 projected images; the subject was ‘Open’ and the only restriction on selection was that there could be no more than two images from any one photographer. Judge for the evening was Eddy Lane ARPS DPAGB EFIAP, recently promoted to the PAGB judges list, and well known to all four clubs taking part. The standard of images submitted by all four Clubs was very high; of the first 5 images shown, three scored the maximum of 20 points and the other two, 19 each, and after three rounds of images, Swindon were leading with 59 points (out of a possible 60) with Stratton just one point behind. It remained a tough and very tight context throughout; at the half time interval, Swindon and Devizes were tied for the lead with 144 points each, and were still tied with just two rounds to go. By the end, just the tiniest margin separated the top two places, and only 12 points separated the four clubs in all, the final scores being;- · Devizes – 268 · Swindon – 266 · Stratton – 258 · Royal Wootton Bassett - 256 Judge Eddy Lane gave an excellent, constructive and helpful commentary, delivered with his usual good humour, whilst highlighting areas for potential improvement in his difficult quest to distinguish the images from one another. By the close of the evening, 8 out of the 60 images had been awarded the maximum of 20 points, with at least one of those going to each Club; those images can be viewed here. Our grateful thanks go to Eddy Lane for his time and excellent judging, and to our friends at Swindon, Stratton and Royal Wootton Bassett Clubs for taking part in such a wonderful spirit and making such a great contest out of the evening. FC Devizes CC results |
| Competition 2 - Open Prints | 20 March 2018 |
 Not only was this the first visit to Devizes CC by Mike Hendon LRPS but his first time as a judge. He explained that he became a judge by accident after going on a WCPF Seminar as a competition secretary. The same seminar was for also new judges and Mike was astonished when he was congratulated for being on the list of approved judges! Anyway it was quite a gentle introduction for a judge as there were fewer than usual entries for the last open print competition of the season. Mike had looked through all the entries very carefully and gave his comments very professionally. Mike sometimes felt that some skies were over saturated for his taste and also some distracting white areas could have been toned down. Only one member of the Beginners section entered this competition so it was no surprise that Richard Blackbourne had the winning print. ‘Boater’s Market’ top left portrayed a canal side scene with people selling a variety of wares alongside their colourful barges There were a few more entries in the Intermediate section which gave Mike some deliberation as to which prints to give awards. Finally, he chose an excellent landscape by Steve Hardman for first place  with a monochrome by David Lock in second place. The subtlety coloured image taken on the Isle of Skye titled ‘Quirang’ left appealed to the judge who remarked that the winding road led the eye through the landscape to the distant misty mountains.There were seventeen entries for Mike to judge in the Advanced section and he remarked that he found it difficult to select just five images for awards as the standard was so high. He remarked that there were many wonderful landscapes entered but finally gave first place to creative image by Pam Mullings. The print titled ‘Cardoon Seed Heads’ right was an unusual composite image using several images and blend modes resulting in a harmonious coloured combination. Pam was also awarded third place with another composite image titled ‘Contemplation’ The judge thought the image was in the style of the Pre- Raphaelites and liked the way the foliage swept around the body of the model and the painterly background. A landscape by Tim Pier titled ‘Sunset at Land’s End’ was awarded third place with the judge commenting on the way the setting sun highlighted the cliffs, and the amazing colours in the sea. Another sunset image by Tim was awarded a highly commended this time featuring the Cornish coastline and Godrevy Light House. An HC was also awarded to Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP for an excellent floral image of the rare Monkey Orchid. Hopefully his visit to the club did not put Mike off judging in the future! Full results All the awarded images can be seen in the Galleries 'Water Splash Photography'  As the competition did not take up the whole evening Mike gamely agreed to put together a presentation of his own images showing his expertise in capturing splashing liquid in a variety of ways. His interest in the subject began with an image of a swimmer throwing back her wet hair with an arc of spray – this led to other creative images taken in swimming pools often with lots of spray.  His interest in the way the camera could capture amazing water splash images led to him buying the special equipment needed to control the size and speed of the drops and to trigger the flash or flashes at precisely the right time. The camera is pre-focussed on the exact spot where the liquid will fall then in complete darkness the camera is set on a very slow shutter speed giving time to start the liqid drop and for the flash or flashes to fire at extremely high speed to give a sharp image. Colours can be added to the liquid and coloured gels used to give an infinite variety of effects. It takes a lot of patience and trial and error (and sometimes mess) to get just the right amount of splash but as Mike says it puts ‘fun’ into photography so why not have some fun. No two splashes are alike so seeing just what you have captured is the interesting part. There are numerous splash images on the internet and Mike recommended those by Corrie White if members would like to try their hand at something a bit different.Many thanks to Mike for so ably judging the print completion and also for his very interesting introduction to Liquid Drop Art. PM Water splash images © Mike Hendon LRPS |
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| ‘Movement in Photography’ | 13 March 2018 |
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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!
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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.
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. 
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.| ‘Now You See It, Now You Don’t’ | 6 March 2018 |
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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.
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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!.
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. 
and exterior and Martin spoke of some of the atrocities that took place there.| Challenge 2018 |
 In case you have not looked recently at the club Facebook there is a challenge to take a photo (or several) that fit the subject set at the beginning of every month.Last month the subject was 'New Beginnings' so members posted images of newly emerging plants, a new puppy, a new morning, eggs and even a newly ploughed field! The image with the most 'likes' was Caroline Wright's image of raindrops on snowdrops showing that spring might be on the way - not that its looking like this today! A stunning close-up image taken by Caroline using her phone. Caroline is away so cannot choose the new subject so I have started the ball rolling by choosing 'THREE' as the March subject. So get going and think of anything that fits that title. That should give a wide range covering landscapes, nature, street photography, architecture etc. or perhaps get out of your comfort zone and try something really different - anything goes so maybe 3 snowmen with todays snow! No prizes or points given but a good way to share ideas and to get out and take photos of something a bit different on your camera or phone. If you have not already joined our facebook then click and apply to join. Then you to, can take up the challenge . PM |
| Competition 4 Open Projected Images | 27 February 2018 |
The evening turned out to be extremely cold and the roads icy so unfortunately fewer members than usual attended to hear Judge Sandie Cox give her comments and the results of the competition.  Sandie travelled all the way from Gloucestershire but did not encounter much snow until she neared Devizes. Sandie is well known for her stunning wildlife photography but is happy to give her opinion on any image - whatever the subject. She had looked very closely at all the entries and gave advice where needed on how some images might have been improved. Often there were dull areas which if cropped would have given more emphasis to the more interesting parts of the image In the Beginners section there were 27 entries portraying a wide variety of subjects – from motor-sports to birds and from fireworks to landscapes. Peter Eley’s ‘Eider, Slimbridge’ right was the judge’s favourite image in this section. The judge liked the way the photographer had caught the moment as the duck splashed up the water shaking its wings. In second place was ‘Adriatic at Dusk’ by Roly Barth with the judge commenting on the way the late evening light caught the edge of the jetty. Another striking image by Roly gained third place – this time of a group of Chelsea pensioners in their red coats and black tricorn hats titled ‘Farewell to Arms’. Martin Stokes was awarded two HC’s and Craig Purvis, Brian Appleby, Richard Blackbourne, Peter Eley and new member Jck Willis one HC each.There were just 18 entries in the Intermediate section with a nature image titled ‘Otter Feeding on Crab’ left by David Wilkinson gaining first place. The judge liked the way the otter was portrayed as it sat amid the waves eating its meal. David was also awarded third place for ‘Misty Morning an atmospheric image of a cow as it drank. In second place was’ Evening Light at Portland’ by Steve Burgess with the lighthouse set against a blue sky with the waves braking on the rocks below. 'Winter Walk' by Steve was a monochrome image of a local canal side pub and gained an HC. Jean Ingram was awarded HC’s for two of her images.  The Advanced section had a larger entry with 39 images for Sandie to judge. She said that she had a difficult job deciding which images gained awards and so some excellent images had to be left out.The delightful delicate colours and the pink tinged mountain tops of ‘Snow Moon, Oks Fjord’right made Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP the worthy winner of the Advanced section. Robert was also awarded an HC for his delightful floral image ‘Frosted Snakeshead Fritillary’ ‘Raindrops’ by Pam Mullings with its rain splattered roses appealed to the judge and was in second place. The stormy sky of Caroline Wright’s ‘Stormlight on Llanddwn Beach’ was remarked on by the judge and was given third place. David Fraser did well with all three of his entries gaining an HC and Frank Collins and Richard Watson LRPS were each awarded two HC’s. Images by Tim Pier and Kyra Wilson LRPS were also awarded an HC. Congratulations to all those whose images gained awards, Many thanks to Sandie for giving her helpful comments on each image and giving her judgement, also to Caroline for organising the entries, members who sent in entries and also thanks to those members who braved the bad weather. PM Full list of results All the awarded images can be seen in the Gallery Members can log in to see the points table. |
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| WCPF Digital Projected Image Competition | 18 February 2018 |
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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.
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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.| The Landscape Group Presents ... | 20 February 2018 |
Dave Gray began the evening with a look back over the last eight years of the DCC Landscape Group. It all began in 2010 when the committee decided that the club would benefit from a special interest group for members with a particular interest in landscape photography.  With his interest and knowledge, Dave was ‘volunteered’ to lead the group and eight years later he is still doing a great job organising visits to scenic places. Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP is very much involved with the group and is a tremendous asset with his great knowledge of exactly the best place and time of day to get the best light and superb sunrise and sunset views. Many local field trips have been organised and in recent years, longer, more ambitious visits further afield have been a great success. When on a trip newer members can always ask for advice from the more experienced, thus building up their own skills.The Group also have indoor meetings once a month where they can see presentations and demonstrations and also get advice on post processing. Everyone is welcome to show their latest landscape images for comment and advice from fellow members. Dave went on to show some of his photographs taken on group trips which brought back happy memories to many. As landscape photography is always weather dependant it is difficult to plan visits in advance so sometimes photographers have to make the best of what they get on the day. The day was dull and foggy on a visit to Salisbury but nevertheless Dave got an atmospheric image of Salisbury Cathedral in the mist but on other trips the light has been perfect for capturing the scene.  Early morning visits have been made to Stourhead to photograph the autumn colour and many local historic sites such as Avebury, Devil’s Den and Silbury Hill have visited at different times of the year resulting in some amazing images. Robert arranged for an after-hours visit to Stonehenge and some members tried astrophotography.Robert’s knowledge of the coastal tides has resulted in members being in the best places at the best time of day to get superb images. The Brecon Beacons area has been visited several times resulting in brilliant images of the waterfalls including one visit after heavy rainfall when the rivers turned into a torrent. Corfe Castle was another popular visit with members scrambling in darkness up the hill to capture a sunrise and a visit to Dartmoor resulted in dramatic photographs of the Tors.  The first longer stay trip was to the Gower peninsular followed by a trip to Sidmouth; both areas having very photogenic views. During a visit to Cornwall a raging storm resulted in some dramatic images of the crashing waves. The most popular Group trip was to the Lake District, attended by 29 club members and partners. That was followed in subsequent years by Dartmoor and the Peak District.Getting more adventurous a group of 10 stayed on Skye for a week, and were really lucky to have wonderful weather with clear skies. The latest trip was a few weeks ago when 19 members visited the Snowdonia area for a long weekend. After the break Steve Hardman showed some images taken on the groups visit to Skye in March 2017. Steve knows the area well and so the shared knowledge took members to many classic viewpoints around the region which is a very popular venue for photographers. Sometimes early starts and steep climbs were involved to capture some of the amazing classic views but there were also more easily accessible scenes to photograph. Robert searched for the actual rounded boulder on Elgol Beach that is featured in photographs by Joe Cornish so members could take photographs in exactly the same spot. A detailed account of the visit to Skye and many of the more recent visits can be seen on the Landscape Group website page. Thanks to Dave for his review of the many interesting Landscape Group trips and to Steve for showing some of the members’ images taken on the memorable visit to Skye. PM Images: top left - Ashness Bridge by Steve Hardman, top right- Stannage Stones by Dave Gray, bottom right - Brecon Waterfall by Sue Wadman, bottom left - Elgol Beach by Robert Harvey |
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