Last meeting held on Tuesday 20 October: Print Competition No. 1  Our judge, Peter Cox, first of all congratulated us for bagging three trophies last year: the Chiltern Challenge Trophy, the Les Spitz Memorial Wildlife Competition and the Chiltern Association of Camera Clubs Rosebowl.  Then, for the print competition, he explained what he would basing his assessments on: Impression Composition Technical Print quality, mount, use of paper

Last meeting held Tuesday 13 October: Tequila, Mezcal & More: Stories from Mexico An evening with award-winning photojournalist and author Anna Bruce At the age of 13 Anna went on a family holiday to the Mexican city of Oxaca (pronounced wah-HAH-kah) and was captivated by the place. She has made it her home since 2013. She did a Masters in Fine Art, Sculpture and Art History at Edinburgh University and went to India as a student. She wasn’t all that captivated by photography. For Anna photography was a way of telling a story, not an art form. For her 25th birthday she got a camera and went traveling in Egypt and thoroughly enjoyed what she called ‘picture making’ – she was bitten by the bug and on the trajectory of becoming a professional photographer.

Last meeting held Tuesday 22 September: Exploring the Ethics of Photography with Mick Yates Mick started his talk with a quick resume of his varied career and his multi-national family. He has visited 78 countries, not only visited but lived in quite a few of them. He is keen to ensure the number he has visited does not overtake the number of years he’s lived on the Earth. He warned that some of the images come with a ‘content warning’ of what is about to be seen. The first image was taken by Julia Le Duc who has covered the American border crisis as a correspondent for La Jornada, one of Mexico City’s leading newspapers. Her photograph was of a Salvadoran father and his 23-month-old daughter lying face down in the water of the Rio Grande after attempting to swim over to Brownsville in the US. The photograph became world news on 24 June 2019. In response Fox News said ‘it serves them right’, or words to that effect. Mick’s point was that photographs can be interpreted in many ways and over many years.

Last meeting held Tuesday 22 September:  Finding the Frame: Developing a Photographic Style with Fliss van Steenbergen Fliss is a former member of OPS and it was a pleasure to see how her photography has developed into a very impressive style. Her move from a ‘hobbiest’ photographer to something else was sparked by getting a mirror-less camera. However it was not only technology but a lot of research and support. She puts it down to inspiring videos run by Camversation and also the support and advice from being a member of SheClicks which encourages and supports female photographers of all levels of experience, from novices using a phone to experienced pros handling top-end kit. As a teacher of visual art she has a lot of experience working with children and has set up the Oxford Family Photography shooting family portraits in black and white. However the photographic genres she has gravitated to, and excelled in, are Architecture and Street.

Last meeting held Tuesday 15 September: Digital Projected Image Competition Our judge was Mikki Aston and her choices were: First Kestrel With Mouse Les Gordon Second Dartmoor Sunset Mathew Lodge Third Hoopoe With Catch Les Gordon H. Commended The Reader Dave McKay H. Commended The Pampas and the Curious Dog Pete Warrington H. Commended Culture Clash Phil Warrington Commended Bear in Water Dave Atkinson Commended Vigilant Hare Phil Warrington Commended Pier and Starling Murmuration John Botela Commended Helenium Ian Bray Congratulations to all who took part.  You can see them all here

Last meeting held Tuesday 8 September:  Bhutan – Land of the Thunder Dragon with Dave MacKay + Show & Tell Using the internationally recognised size comparison measure of a country, Bhutan is twice the size of Wales and is home to one million people. Early inhabitants of the country believed that thunder and lighting was caused by fighting dragons, which is where the name ‘Land of the Thunder Dragon’ comes from. Dave started his visit to Bhutan in Paro which is the only international airport of the four airports in the country. From there his trip took him eastwards to the Ura valley, a high-altitude alpine valley located in the Bumthang District of central Bhutan. His first visit on the trip was a sacred Vajrayana Himalayan Buddhist site, located in the cliffside of the upper Paro valley, called the Tiger Nest monastery – a spectacular and much photographed scene. Getting there was via trekking and ‘horse taxi’, passing many prayer flags and sites of ‘offerings’ left by pilgrims. Though the monastery is a photographer’s delight it does not allow any cameras when entering.

Last meeting held Tuesday 1 September: The Art of Travel Photography with Paul Sansome We kicked off the new season with an excellent evening of photography and stories by Paul Sansome.  As a 30 year old Paul went on safari and like all safari tourists he took a camera – actually he bought one to take. So thrilled by the experience he joined a camera club and took to the art form. In 2002 he got a very generous redundancy package and decided he would become a professional photographer. He would go to events to take photos, some 20 events a year, and see if he could sell the photos he took.

Last meeting held on Tues 19 May: A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of the Other – Uwe Ackermann         Some two years ago Uwe gave a presentation on his remarkably creative ‘constructive’ images. This time he was presenting his images that were not constructed and more ‘conventional’. Water has always interested Uwe. His working life in cardiology meant he focussed on the kidney, which is all about managing water in our body. His ‘watery’ work-life balance meant that he did a lot of sailing, and this was the focus of the first part of his presentation. Being near water is a good place for contemplation and taking photographs, and Uwe showed a rich variety of aspects of the weather, fish, people who work on the water, ‘stone-skippers’, racing and more ‘pedestrian’ canoeing, play by and in the water, sailing dinghies, and the odd and the whimsical by the water.

Last meeting held on Tues 12 May: The Heart of the Photograph with David duChemin        David is a well-respected humanitarian photographer who has written several books on photography including The Heart of the Photograph which is described as “a practical and inspiring guide for photographers, this book helps you ask the right questions of your work to craft images that are intentional, expressive, and uniquely yours”

Last meeting held on Tues 5 May: Print Competition No: 3       The results were: Colour First Dave Atkinson Hungry Heron Second Jill Bain The Incoming Tide Third Keith Worthington Tumble in the Jungle H Commended Ian Bray R-G-Bargy H Commended Les Gordon Iberian Lynx with Rabbit Supper H Commended Willie Hall Neglected Spa, Romania Commended Jill Bain Water Droplet Commended John Bull Glow Commended Phil Warrington Downland Hare Commended Sandra Devaney May Day Street Moment Monochrome First Jill Bain Around the Corner Second Ian Bray Shard’s Shadow Third Sandra Devaney Where’s Wally, May Morning H Commended Ian Bray Grave Frost and Fog H Commended John Bull Each in their Niche H Commended Pete Warrington Black Light, Blackpool Commended Dave Atkinson Masai Child Commended Dave Atkinson Hidden Owl Commended John Boteler The Rat Catcher Commended Les Gordon Tower Bridge Night Contemplation Congratulations to all who took part.