CLUB NEWS

'Chairman's Evening - a warm welcome to existing and new members

5 Sept 2017

Club Chairman Richard Watson LRPS welcomed members back after the summer break. This was the first meeting of the 2017-2018 season so there was a great deal of chatter about trips to exiting places and photographic experiences.
Members of the committee introduced themselves and explained to visitors their roles in the club and also something about their photography.
Dave Gray continues as Secretary and also runs the very successful Landscape Group together with Programme Secretary Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP.
Lynda Croft has taken over as Treasurer and Caroline Wright continues as Competition Secretary. Battle Secretary Frank Collins who has been a member for about 34 years organises our competitions with other clubs.
Relative newcomers to the club found themselves elected to the committee in May - Steve Hardman has taken on the role of Vice Chairman and Craig Purvis has found himself in charge of Publicity. What could the club do without Michael Saunders who sets out the room ready for the meeting.
A full list of those that do the hard work running the club can be found on the ‘About Us’ page.

Robert then showed us the very interesting line up of top speakers we can look forward to during the season.
Presenting a wide range of subjects so there should be something to please everyone – including landscape, wildlife, creative, portraits and much, much more.
Robert gave a taster of each of the speakers and the subjects they are presenting.

Members had been asked to send in a few of their photos taken during the summer so it was interesting to see the exotic and not so exotic places that have inspired them.
From the committee members - Frank showed images taken in Bucharest and one of Dave's Bali images caused a laugh with its odd English translation and another was of a picturesque Hindu temple. Robert travelled to the states and showed some stunning images of the total eclipse. Craig had some colourful images of Bruges and Ghent and Richard showed images taken closer to home of British butterflies.
RW phone Others who sent in images were Robin Taylor who was inspired by a steam train and Corfe Castle, Janet Rutter showed some monochrome images of machinery, Pam Mullings some character portraits and Peter Tasker images of Gill Cardy and her vintage Austin 7 taken at the club social event.
During the break members could catch up with each other and make the visitors welcome.

Following the old adage ‘What is the best camera? answer – the one you have with you’ Richard gave a presentation of his images taken on his phone.
RW2 phone As he explained – the quality of phone images is very good nowadays so it is very handy to use the phone to take images that inspire you.
Anytime, anywhere you will probably have your phone with you so you don't miss the chance of capturing an interesting image.
Richard has been experimenting with the apps that let you do interesting things to the images actually on the phone so no need to transfer to a computer. Two, three or more images can be overlaid and blended with a wide variety of effects. Some work well others not so but now and then a stunning image emerges right.
Richard is trying to capture the effect of wind blowing grasses and an image of orchids combined with an image of grasses gave an interesting, painterly and impressionistic effect. left

Preparations are being finalised for the Biennial Print Exhibition which opens in the Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes at 2pm on Sunday 10 September so the club hopes you can all attend and bring along anyone else interested in in joining to see a wide range of members framed prints.

See the Programme for all the interesting speakers and just a reminder that next Tuesday is the sending in day for the first competition of the season.
Please see the Competitions page as there are a few changes to the procedure.

Looks like everyone is as enthusiastic as ever about their photography and very much looking forward to the coming season. PM

The competition results and points tables will be shown in the members section during the season. If you have lost your password please contact me.
Also any members wishing to add to the Members Albums - please let me know. Pam Mullings - Website Support

Latest Salon Acceptances

Congratulations to Robert Harvey for being awarded a PSA Gold (Best in Category) for his image
'King Penguin Chick' (right) at the Port Talbot International Salon .
Robert also passed another personal landmark when his total number of different images accepted in international/FIAP salons exceeded 200.
He has added many new images to the total in the last five international salon.
These impressive results put Robert in the lead for the Ryder Rathband Trophy with 56 points.

Richard Atkinson has added a few acceptances to his total to gain a total of 27 points but there have been no new entries from other members.

Entering Salons gives members a chance to let a wider audience see their images and gives a comparison with not only other photographers in this country but those from across the world. Entering and seeing the work of other photographers will broaden your horizon and give you stimulating ideas of how to progress your photography.
If images are accepted in FIAP supported Salons then a photographer can gain an internationally recognised accreditation.
The first level of accreditation AFIAP is within the reach of many of our members and recognises you as a competent photographer.
More information regarding Salons can be found on our website and a good read is 'A Beginners Guide to Photography Salons'.

If members are interested in showing their images to a wider audience then please get in touch with Richard for advice and support.

See PDF for latest DCC Salon results. See Salons for information about entering Salon

Social Event 2017

15 July 2017

Club members and guests met in the large secluded garden of Gill and Ian Cardy.

The weather was kinder this year as there was only some light rain late in the afternoon and not the deluge we had last year!

A very enjoyable buffet was organised by Gill and the club committee. Frank Collins provided and cooked the excellent barbeque with meat obtained from a farm butchery.

Everyone enjoyed an excellent meal in the delightful surroundings and it was a great occasion for members to meet up during the summer break and chat about their photography and holidays as they enjoyed the food and drink.

There was a chance to look around the large interesting garden and towards the end of the evening Gill brought out her immaculate 1925 Austin 7 which was greatly admired by all.

There was a lot of peering under the bonnet and discussion about the technicalities of such a vintage car. The car is Gill's pride and joy so she was only too pleased to take some members out for a spin!

Many thanks to Gill and Ian and their family for ther kind hospitality and to those who made it such an enjoyable afternoon,

The 2017 -2 018 season starts on 5 September with a wide range of interesting speakers to enjoy - competitions to enter and photographic topics to discuss.

The many interesting presentations include Portraits, Movement, Altered Reality, Bugs, America and Fine Art.
See the Programme for details.

Club Members Successes

GC Owl Many congratulations to two of our club members on their recent successes.

Gill Cardy FRPS AFIAP DPAGB has recently been awarded the distinction of EFIAP (Excellence in the Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique)
To gain the award Gill needed to have a minimum of 250 acceptances from at least 30 International Salons using at least 50 different images. Twelve of the images had to have acceptaces in the Print Category and at least 5 inages must have gained 3 acceptances and of those 2 had gained awards from 2 different countries. Gill found that the rules kept changing so quite a challenge to work out what was required!

Very well done Gill for persevering through all the rule changes and gaining the award.
One of Gill's accepted images 'Great Grey Owl sitting in Snow' right

Many congratulations also to Joan Ryder Rathband FRPS FPSSA AFIAP DPAGB who had one of her images selected by the PAGB to represent England in the PDI Biennial Competition
JRR rose

The competition was organised by FIAP with 20 countries taking part.

Twenty images were selected for the theme 'Females in Imagined Places' Joan's selected image was titled 'The Single Red Rose' (left) and was awarded 10 points.
All of the images which gained over 7 points will be on display in Norway.

The results have been recently announced and England were delighted to be placed second and awarded a Gold Medal.
(Russia came first and were awarded the 'World Cup')

Very well done to Joan and also to England as the standard of photography was very high from all the countries that entered.

AGM and Presentation of Awards		16 May 2017
The Club Chairman Richard Watson LRPS welcomed members to the AGM which was the last meeting of the 2016 - 2017 season. About 30 members attended and the evening began with some apologies followed by the approval of the 2016 minutes. Reports from officers of the Committee had previously been circulated to members but Richard asked if a brief resume could be given to the members present. Richard said he had been very encouraged by the enthusiasm members have shown for club life and the high standard of photography, which has led to some keen competition in the Beginners and Intermediates. Richard thanked all those who had worked so hard in their various roles. Committee members spoke briefly about the events and activities that had taken place during the season. There was a resolution proposed for a number of minor changes and clarifications to the present competitions rules. There was some debate on some of the changes but finally they were all voted in on a show of hands. In future more information will be required when sending in competition entries so members must follow the instructions very carefully. The new rules will be published on the website when the final wording is agreed. The committee was elected with Richard Watson continuing as Chairman and Dave Gray as Secretary. Mike Valentine takes over as Treasurer from Richard Atkinson as each post has to be changed after 4 years. Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP continues as Programme Secretary. Caroline Wright is in her 4th Year as Competition secretary and Hilary Eagles has volunteered to shadow her with a view to taking over the role in 2018-2019. Frank Collins continues as Battle Secretary. Three new committee members were welcomed - Lynda Croft, Steve Hardman & Craig Purvis and last but not least as the club could not do without Mike Saunders the 'chairman' who always puts himself out to arrive early and set out the hall! As this club year draws to a close, we can already look forward to two major events next year. In September, we will hold our Biennial Exhibition at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Long Street, with the opening ceremony and judging being held on the afternoon of Sunday 10th September. This will be closely followed by a resumption of our high profile speaker evening, which we hope will be supported by photographers from across the Western region as well as from the general public. On Saturday, 11th November, we look forward to an ‘Evening with Charlie Waite’ at the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford on Avon. Charlie is a world renowned Landscape Photographer and founder of the Light and Land photographic group, and by reputation an excellent communicator, so I am sure we are in for a great evening. The evening concluded with the presentation of the 20 Annual Competition Trophies by Richard Watson. The awards were not spread out very far amongst the members as there were only 7 recipients. Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP had the lions share with 7 of them, Pam Mullings 4, Caroline Wright 3, Kyra Wilson 3 (1 tied) Tim Pier 2, David Wilkinson 1 and Steve Hardman 1 tied with Kyra. The full list of Awards can be seen in Club Awards. Make a note that the theme for a competition next season is 'Portraits' and there is also a competition for images taken on a phone - further details will be sent out to members. Keep in mind that images will be needed for Landscape, Nature and Monochrome competitions and why not get inspiration for some Creative images either in camera or by manipulation! Finally have a great summer, take lots of photos and come back ready for a new season which starts on 5th September.
Thanks to Tim Pier and Derek Mason for the photographs. Top left: Robert Harvey, above right: Pam Mullings and above left: Caroline Wright Below: Kyra Wilson, Tim Pier and David Wilkinson. Many Congratulations to all

Ladies v Gents Battle 2017 - a win for the Ladies!

9 May 2017

Adrian Herring ARPS DPAGB and Vanessa Herring LRPS are both very experienced judges and did an excellent job of jointly judging what Adrian described as 'a fantastic set of images - especially the wildlife'. This 'friendly' battle between the sexes of the club is always closely fought and both sides do all they can to win!
Having a husband and wife to judge jointly avoided any feeling there might have been of bias even though they were only given the titles of the images with no photographer's names shown. The judges had viewed the images separately and had not revealed their scores to each other in advance but in most cases found that they agreed with each other giving similar comments on each image and very nearly always the same points. Each judge scored out of 10 giving the total points out of 20. The rules stated no more than 3 images from any one entrant and a minimum of 6 images from each section (Beginners, Intermediate & Advanced) GC Osprey

Out of the 60 images projected 5 scored the maximum 20 points with Gill Cardy FRPS AFIAP DPAGB bumping up the Ladies total considerably with perfect scores on all 3 of her images. Both judges were in agreement and each gave top marks to the 3 stunning wildlife images 'Black Grouse at Lek', Great Grey Owl sitting in Snow' and 'Osprey Bringing Nesting Material' (right)
Pam Mullings also scored a 20 for the Ladies with a group of fleeing impalas titled 'On the Run'
Close behind was Caroline Wright who only lost 1 point with 19 for her 'First Lock of the Flight' and 'Little Owl Hopping' by Kyra Wilson scored well with 18 points.

RG Twilight For the Gents - Ray Grace ARPS DPAGB scored the only 20 with his simple monochrome image titled 'Twilight' (left) and Ray also scored 18 for a Lake District landscape titled 'Derwent Isle'
There were 4 other images that scored 18 points for the Gents -
'Desert Eagle Owl' by Mike Valentine, 'Albatross Courtship' by Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP, 'Elephant Mock Charge' by Clive Rathband FRPS FPSSA EFIAP DPAGB and last but by no means least 'Puffin' by Steve Hardman.

The total scores for the rest of the entries went from 12 to up to 17 points but members should not feel disappointed if they did not get top marks because, as Adrian said, the judges had to be 'picky' with such a high standard of entries so even any very minor flaws lost a point or two.

Many congratulations to all the Ladies who have only about half the number of 'photographically active' members but still managed to score 480 points against the Gents 465. Last year the Gents did manage to win but overall the Ladies have won most of the 'Battles of the Sexes'!
Thanks to the team captains who were both fairly new members and who came forward to organise the entries - Craig Purvis captained for the men and Lynda Croft for the ladies.
Thanks to Battle Secretary Frank Collins who set out the rules, organised the competition and saw fair play.
Thanks to all the members who sent in images for the selection - sorry not all could be used but the rules had to followed.

Very special thanks to the two judges for taking the time and trouble to look so carefully at all the entries and give such helpful comments when it was felt the image could have been improved. PM

Landscape Group visit to South Devon	Sunday 23 April
A small group led by Robert Harvey visited several locations on the South Devon coast. Our first stop was at Ringmore where we walked for a mile or so past Anstey Cove to Westcombe Beach just west of Bigbury on Sea. As is often the case with coastal paths it was quite a steep and undulating path, but fortunately dry. Described by Adam Burton as having “all the ingredients necessary for atmospheric and dramatic seascapes”, after our visit we felt that Westcombe would be better photographed at low tide in the winter with a little more cloud and atmosphere! Our next stop was a brief viewing of the sea tractor which carries visitors to and from Burgh Island and its exclusive hotel before our supper in Challaborough (not in the exclusive Burgh Island Hotel!). From here we drove round the very narrow country lanes to Bantham Beach – for reference note that the main gate to the car park is locked at 8pm, something to be considered for summer sunset shots. Here time was spent exploring the location which has many rock “spines” leading seawards and different coloured boulders of various sizes. We stayed for the sunset – amazingly the disc of the sun set exactly over the cupola of the Hotel, probably on only this day of the summer. Care must be taken at this location as it is possible to be cut off by the high tide, but at neap tides high water access should be OK. A long journey home, many thanks to Ray for driving and to Robert for organising. SH
Images: Top - Burgh Island Sunset by Steve Hardman Above left - Bantham Beach and right - Westconbe Bay - both by Ray Grace ARPS DPAGB Below: Bantham Beach, Sea Tractor and Westcombe Beach - all by Robert Harvey ARPS EFIAP

See Club News articles from 2014 to July 2017
2016-2017 Club News PDF
2015-2016 Club News PDF
September 2014 - May 2015 pdf.
You can look back on club news & events from previous years.