Last week’s meeting Tues 9 December: Digital Image competition No. 2. And the results were: First Place A Steely Gaze Peter Warrington Second Place Race Keith Worthington Third Place Calm on Kotor Bay William Hall H. Commended Port Meadow Froze Over Sandra Devaney H. Commended Red Kite Diving for Food Dave Belcher H. Commended Settlers Eagle Landing Dave McKay Commended Bailey on the Charge Dave Belcher Commended Heat Wave Devon Beach John Boteler Commended Under the Bridge Ian Bray Commended Black Beauty Ian Bray Congratulations to all who took part

Last week’s meeting Tues 9 November: Photographing Pilgrimage: The Maha Kumbh Mela and Varanasi + members’ showcase of the ‘movement’ theme Bharat began his talk with a brief background of the ancient city of Varanasi and the three important gods in Hinduism. It is believed that the city dates to 1800BC. It is situation on the banks of the Ganges River in northern India and has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. In Hinduism there is a holy trinity of gods, the “triple deity of supreme divinity in Hinduism, in which the cosmic functions of creation, preservation, and destruction are personified as a triad of deities. Typically, the designations are that of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer”. Bharat has visited Varanasi numerous times. The city is famous for what happens on the banks of the Ganges and in the river – it is a city of life and after-life. People are cremated on the banks of the river and pilgrims go into the river to wash off all sins and for a moment escape Shiva’s cycle of life and death.

Last week’s meeting Tues 25 November: Take a Moment with Eddie Keogh plus Canon Partner Event There was quite a good turnout for the talk and the Canon and London Camera Exchange event. Not only did it attract a lot of members but there were 18 guests as well. Eddie has worked as the official photographer for the England football team for eight years and has built a very close working relationship with all the players and the staff. He is clearly a very friendly and engaging person, as witnessed by the amount of effort he put into talking to just about everyone who came to the Band Hall. The first image he showed was of himself with his camera at Wembley Stadium, pitch-side, in the press photographers’ area at the 1982 FA Cup Final. He was a photography student and at half time he had blagged his way to the press area to take some shots. It was a nil-nil draw, and he tried a second time to blag his way pitch side for the re-play but his luck had run out. Still, it stood him in good stead for a career in press photography which he has been earning a living for more than forty years.

Last week’s meeting Tues 18 November: Wildlife from -15°C to +40°C with Dave McKay plus Show and Tell Dave started his talk at the coldest end – Alaska in winter. He had gone there with three other club members to photograph bald eagles that congregate to feed on the salmon which have spawned in the river at the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. Getting there took several days due to remoteness of the area. There are 300-400 eagles permanently there but in winter there could be up to 3,000.

Last week’s meeting Tues 11 November: Landscapes and People with John Boteler Our booked speaker had to cancel with very little notice and thankfully John stepped in to give us a great evening listening to his photographic tales and seeing his splendid images – both ‘projected’ and ‘prints’. But first we were taken down an old analogue path of the first camera – his elder brother’s in 1966 – and the subsequent upgrades. Then into the digital age, roundabout the year 2000, and the rapid journey through the never-ending churn of ‘new’ models that promise more and better – plus the need to replace ones that have fallen in the sea.

Last week’s meeting Tues 4 November: WORKSHOP – Painting with Light with Kieran Hunt Keiran started with an overview of painting with light and showed various examples. He started with light trails – streaks of light using a long exposure – and asked us whether we could work out how they were done. Besides the usual shots of vehicles lights driving through the night Keiran showed shots of lights snaking over a canal and other creative ways of using moving light. He then showed various other examples of painting with light which were astonishing.

Last week’s meeting Tues 28 October: On These Magic Shores – Tamsyn Warde Tamsyn started her talk saying that it was something of a journey, and a very personal journey. As an A-level student she visited the Haywood Gallery in London to see an exhibition which featured the work of Chris Killip’s In Flagrante. She was blown away by it and began taking black and white photos with her Olympus camera. She also used the family bathroom as a darkroom.

Last week’s meeting Tues 21 October: Print Competition no. 1 judged by Kevin Day The results were: Colour Prints First Dave Atkinson Eagle Owl in Motion Second Sandra Devaney London Underpass in Afternoon Light Third Dave Atkinson Shorty on Lookout H Commended Sandra Devaney Portrait of a Laundry Worker H Commended Alan Lewis In the Foxes Grasp H Commended Phil Warrington Sk8boarder Commended Mathew Lodge Black Church Rock Commended Willie Hall Abandoned Mausoleum Commended John Boteler Lady in Red Commended Dave Belcher 180 Mph Pan Shot Thruxton Superbikes Monochrome Prints First Alan Lewis Morning Take-Off Second Ian Bray Grave Winter Third Mathew Lodge The Chase H Commended Keith Worthington Elephant Herd H Commended Pete Warrington Pier Impression H Commended Rob Ferrands The Path Commended Dave Atkinson Flying Squirrel Commended Sandra Devaney San Pollino Hat Man Commended Ian Bray Man on Escalator Commended Sandra Devaney Just Passing Through Congratulations to all who took part

Last week’s meeting Tues 14 October: Exploring Creative Perspectives: My Photographic Journey, Tim Simmons plus show and tell Tim started his presentation with some stunning black and white of brutalist architecture in London. He shot the images in colour and processed them in Lightroom. The images were astonishingly dramatic, and the buildings were shown as brutal and overbearing, not only due to the processing but also due the point of view (looking skywards on many occasions) and using a wide angle lens.

Last week’s meeting Tues 7 October: Projects, Zines and Photobooks with Stewart Wall Before the Stewart began his talk, we welcomed seven guests: Karan, Russell, Gail, Mark, Margaret, Amna and Josephine (apologies if I got people’s name wrong). Stewart gave a short-potted history of his engagement with photography. He was a staff photographer on the Essex Chronicle from 1978 to 1986. He then moved on to the Evening Gazette for a year, then became a freelance photographer for three years working for the Daily Express, the Sun and the Sunday Times.