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.

Last meeting held on Tues 28 April: Long Lens Landscapes with Murray Livingston      Murray began his presentation talking about the why, the what and the how of his long lens landscape photography. He showed a quote from the British photographer Michael Kenna which summarise Murray’s approach: “Craft is important, but cameras for their own sake are not. A sense of aesthetics, a connection with the subject matter, an enquiring and an inquisitive mind, these factors outweigh whatever equipment we use.” In terms of the ‘why’: for Murray this was about the interaction between the subject, the idea, the camera and the print, and he showed a graph which had on the vertical ‘y’ axis Grand Visa at the bottom and Small Scale at the top. On the horizontal ‘x’ axis was Literal on the left-hand side and Abstract on the right-hand side.

Last meeting held on Tues 21 April: Print Critique with Chris Palmer FRPS     Chris has been judging photographic competitions for some 40 years and has a deep love for photography. He was up front about what he says on the evening will be his own personal view and that the most important judge of your photographs is you – the photographer. He described the printed images that were displayed very well, informed by his years of experience and his enjoyment of the medium. He had well-reasoned suggestions of how an image could be improved with a minor adjustment, a bit of a crop, or maybe turning into black and white etc etc. He greatly admired the intent and creativity of the prints, and even though a photograph may not be great in the conventional sense it doesn’t follow that the image does not have meaning.

Last meeting held on Tues 7 April: Imagine with Rob Farrands    Imagination in Photographic Practice. According to Riob photo practice has two fundamental aspects: (1) rational realistic part that involves interpreting data, reviewing possibilities deciding what to include, applying technical processes etc. (2) an imaginative part based on inspirational feelings that exist dreamlike, unconstrained by reality.

Last meeting held on Tues 31 March: The Cameraman’s Cut with Colin Clarke ARPS Colin has spent decades working in the documentary ‘moving image’ industry and has worked on approximately 180 documentaries during his career. His book came about during Covid when he was doing a zoom presentation to a RPs event. He was asked if he would ever be writing a book about his experience, his immediate and emphatic answer was NO! He ended up writing his work story in The Cameraman’s Cut. It all started in 1966 when he was 17 years old and he got a job at a ‘go-for’ working in London’s West End studios. He had an eye for photography and showed a stunning photo he took of his friend playing guitar next to a mirror. It was shot in black and white on Kodak Tri-X.

Last meeting held on Tues 24 March: Phil Joyce: Themes and Projects, Dave MacKay Three Weeks in Vietnam and a members’ show and tell     Phil started his talk with his entertaining and poignant images of Elvis who has found a new place to dwell, and it is in Porthcawl. Tens of thousands go to the Elvis festival to dress up as the king of rock and roll and generally have a good time. Phil showed great photos and peppered them with very humorous commentary fitting to the nature and enthusiasm of the event. It was one big soundtrack of Elvis clothes, regalia, look-a-likes and look-nothing-likes and a guy in the Fish Shop who swears his Elvis. Wonderfully eclectic and thoroughly British.