OPS Weekly Newsletter 19 October 2025
- Congratulations to John Boteler who was featured in Amateur Photographer with his image Lady in Red: “An excellent candid shot which has a powerful human touch as well as boldly contrasting colours. Tells a great story.” https://amateurphotographer.com/latest/photo-news/taste-the-rainbow-these-images-celebrate-the-best-of-colour-in-photography/
- Don’t forget to visit our exhibition in the Westgate Library. Simon has pulled together a slide show on some of the images which is on the website. If you haven’t sent Simon your digital version of your entries please do.
- Do you like taking intimate landscape photos? If so, this might be for you.
Adrian, who has been our intimate landscape tsar over the last few seasons, giving presentations and organising our entries into the annual intimate landscape competition, has stepped down, and if we wish as a club to continue participating in this annual competition, we will need someone to take over Adrian’s role. If you are up for this please let me know as soon as possible
- 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.
Amongst the subjects were; Lloyds Building, the Barbican, Leadenhall Market, Hays Galleria, City Hall, Millennium Bridge, Tate Modern and The Scoop (though more an amphitheatre than a building).
His next set of images were of flowers, taken mainly during Covid. Tim had bought a lightbox and experimented with flower photography, putting the lightbox on the floor, adding the flowers, standing over the scene with a handheld camera – no tripod – and taking some shots. He foind that overexposing by two to three stops. He would then make a composite of three to four images and add a texture for the background and experiment in Photoshop with various blend modes. He called this ‘playing around in Photoshop’ but there was a great deal of thought and purpose in his method.
Tim said that the best way to get hold of reasonably price texture is on Etsy.
Next up was in camera multiple images. Time showed some great shots of trees at Batsford Arboretum using a technique championed by Pep Ventosa ‘a Catalan artist who creates incredible images that explore the boundaries of photography. Made from multiple layers of similar photographs, they create an abstract and often surreal effect with a painterly feel.’ Basically it is taking multiple shots from different, but not all that different, angles and blending them in camera. The result are ‘impressionistic’ on many occasions.
From flowers we went on to landscapes – beach shots of Lewis and Harris, very beautiful and calming. Then onto the magnificent Mangersta Sea Stacks and at the other extreme pf the country Cornish standing stones, before moving on to the Fenton islanded in Norway during winter. Tim highly recommends visiting in winter.
Finally, Tim showed us what is now his favourite photography – intentional camera movement (ICM), which he excels at. There was an array of stunning images and one in particular, a photo of a stone bridge, looked as though it had been painted by an impressionist artist. Tim also had another ICM stunner of the sprinklers at Somerset House in London.
In the second half we had seven members doing a “Show and Tell”:
John B showed images from a recent trip to Worthing
Pete W went all Elvis-tastic with shots of Portcawl
Simon B had a series of objects bought from charity shops and photographed in different and amusing locations
Kevin B showed ‘apocalyptic’ shots of urban scenes with no people to be seen
Sandra D showed images of people in Gloucester Green market in both colour and black and white
Sheila F also showed image from Gloucester Green market with the theme of bicycles
Dave B then showed his images of much faster bikes, motorcycles whizzing by at Thruxton.
An excellent evening of truly excellent images. Many thanks to all members who took part.
- Next meeting 19.30, Tues 19 October: Print Competition no. 1 judged by Kevin Day
Kevin is a professional photographer with extensive experience in portrait and event photography and a respected judge on the UK camera club circuit. Known for his thoughtful, constructive feedback and engaging judging style, Kevin brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to every session.
- Upcoming meetings/events in October and November
- 28 Oct: On These Magic Shores, Tamsyn Warde https://oxfordphotosociety.co.uk/opsevent/on-these-magic-shores/
- 4 Nov: WORKSHOP – Painting with Light with Kieran Hunt https://oxfordphotosociety.co.uk/opsevent/workshop-painting-with-light/
- 6 Nov at 17.00: Shuttles, Steam and Soot – Daniel Meadows at the Westgate Library. £5.00 https://oxfordphotosociety.co.uk/opsevent/special-shuttles-steam-and-soot-at-oxford-library-2/
- 9 Nov: MEET UP – Remembrance Day in Oxford
- 11 Nov: After MAX: The Hidden Gems in Adobe’s Latest Release with Glyn Dewis
https://oxfordphotosociety.co.uk/opsevent/after-max-the-hidden-gems-in-adobes-latest-release/
- 18 Nov: Wildlife from -15°C to +40°C + SHOW & TELL Painting with Light with Dave McKay https://oxfordphotosociety.co.uk/opsevent/wildlife-from-15c-to-40c/
- 25 Nov: Canon Partner Event + Take a Moment with Eddie Keogh https://oxfordphotosociety.co.uk/opsevent/canon-partner-event/
You can see the programme up to the end of the year here and download it: https://oxfordphotosociety.co.uk/programme-download/
- Photographic events in and around Oxford
Bikes, Boats and Bridges; photographs by Wendy Stone at the Paper Boat Café
This series of darkroom photographs was created for the Paper Boat Café, on Folly Bridge in Oxford. The images celebrate nearby places as well as other boats, bridges and crossings that carry us over and along the River Thames.
The Thames is as important to Oxford as the iconic stone facades, walls and arches that attract visitors. The river predates our many generations of history. It shapes the city and, despite our best efforts, occasionally reasserts its ancient course.
The Paper Boat Café is located at a key point in the city’s history. It was the toll-house when Folly Bridge was built, replacing the wide shallow fording point and wooden bridges that carried people, goods and animals across the Thames until 1827.
The photographs will be on display until 11 November.
https://stoneandco.bigcartel.com/
Photo Oxford
Photo Oxford opens in a month’s time and we are delighted to announce the full programme for the Opening Day, 25 October.
See details below:
https://mailchi.mp/photooxford/zsu8u7h122-12867158?e=591e9fec01
A Photographic Life ‘Live’ 2025!
Oxford Brookes University
Sunday 26th October
A new episode of the A Photographic Life podcast has been posted every Wednesday by Grant Scott without fail since 13th June 2018 and now we would like to invite all of our listeners and readers to a special day of all new photography related conversation, discussion and chat! We hope it will be an opportunity to meet fellow photographic travellers, share opinions, ideas and make new friends. All the conversations will be recorded so if you are unable to attend no problem, you will be able to catch up on these at a later date wherever you get your podcasts.
The event will take place at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford on Sunday 26th October 2025 in the NHBB Building on the Headington Campus. Admission is free but registration is required https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-photographic-live-live-2025-tickets-1693780716719?aff=oddtdtcreator
Artist Aliki Braine In Conversation – a Photo Oxford event
Explore Dutch and Flemish still-life painting through dialogue with contemporary photography.
Ashmolean Museum
Sat 25th October 2-3pm £20
https://www.ashmolean.org/event/artist-aliki-braine-in-conversation
Camera and Photography family drop in History of Science Museum
Discover the history of photography in this drop-in family event at the History of Science Museum.
1-3pm/Free/Wed 29th Oct
History of Science Museum
Old Ashmolean Building
Broad Street Oxford
- General photographic interest
The amazing world of fungi – in pictures
Dr Tom May, a mycologist at the Royal Botanic Gardens and an expert witness at the Erin Patterson trial, has collaborated with renowned fungi photographer Stephen Axford for Planet Fungi, a new book from CSIRO Publishing full of incredible macro-photography
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2025/oct/19/amazing-world-fungi-tom-may-pictures
World’s landscapes may soon be ‘devoid of wild animals’, says nature photographer
Margot Raggett, whose latest compilation shows animals scrubbed from natural habitats, calls for rethink on UK accelerated housebuilding
Photographer Graciela Iturbide: ‘Working with my heart is the only rule – nothing else’
The revered 83-year-old Mexican photographer talks about her groundbreaking career as she celebrates her first ever retrospective in New York
Incredible praying mantis image – and a shot taken in a pub – triumph in CEWE awards
Europe’s biggest photo-printing company, CEWE, recently announced the winners of this year’s CEWE Photo Award, also hosting an event at the prestigious Photographers Gallery in Central London.
A bird, an eclipse and four seconds of perfection — the photo everyone’s talking about
Canadian photographer Liron Gertsman spent 18 months planning a shot that lasted less than five seconds, a Magnificent Frigatebird silhouetted against a total solar eclipse. The image won him Bird Photographer of the Year and redefined what’s possible when patience meets precision.
https://amateurphotographer.com/latest/photo-news/bird-photographer-of-the-year-2025/
