OPS Weekly Newsletter 16 November 2025
- Bring your images for the show and tell, especially images from the ‘painting with light’ evening
- We will be showing members responses to our ‘motion’ photo challenge on 2 December so please start shooting and choosing your favourite ones
- 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.
The first half was dedicated to landscapes. There were lots of excellent coastal shots taken from Thursday trips to Weston Super Mare, Boscom, Birling Gap, Woolecombe beach, Hemsley Head, Eastbourne, Southend and its pier, plus Barton on Sea where he has his family holiday. John also had excellent shots of getting there, taken on his phone. Fortunately, he wasn’t driving at the time.
Having visited these places many times means that he is usually trying to get a different angle, a different approach. Sometimes it will be using a neutral density filter to allow a slow shutter speed, not only to get a milky effect on the moving waves, such as his shot of Margate’s tidal pool, but also to enable some creative in camera movement. Birling Gap is a honey pot of images when the light is right and a popular venue for John.
Inland John had great autumn colour shots from Savernake Forest in Wiltshire. Close to home he had early morning misty shots of a row of pollarded willows next to a stream. John thinks that straight trees can be boring so he will look out for ‘wiggly’ shaped ones. He also likes to have people in his landscape shots when it is needed. This is frowned upon by many landscape photographers.
He had a shot of snow and tree near where he lives which looked like something Michael Kenna would have taken in Hokkaido, Japan.
In the second half John showed his images of people, starting of course with a photo of his granddaughter, then one of himself and his wife.
When taking photos of a stranger he will go up his subject and ask: ‘can I take your photo?’, they usually agree. But he has a prior back up plan, which is to take a candid shot with a 300mm lens before asking.
There was a set of portraits of people he sees regularly on the streets in Oxford, a close up of a ‘punk’ with various pieces of metal adorning his face and all manner of people who can be seen at the Stowe gypsy fair.
John doesn’t really want the ‘smile for the camera’ approach but will take a few and wait for the person to be ‘off guard’ and capture a more natural pose.
John then went on to show his prints, which were on display. One set of prints were what he called his ‘joiners’. These were images inspired by reading David Hockney’s collages – see here.
John uses a half frame film camera which means he can shoot 72 images on a single roll of film. He shoots a scene and methodically changes the angle of the shot to cover the whole scene. He gets the film developed and printed and then pastes the shots together. These are very effective montages.
A wonderful evening listening to his tales and seeing his excellent images. Many thanks to John for stepping in at the last minute.
- Next meeting 19.30, Tues 18 November: Wildlife from -15°C to +40°C with Dave McKay plus Show and Tell
WILDLIFE FROM -15°C to +40°C – Dave McKay 18 Nov
Tonight we are pleased to welcome our own Dave McKay. Dave has been passionate about photography since his teens and has earned distinctions including ARPS and DPAGB. A long-standing member of Oxford Photographic Society, he will be sharing a variety of wildlife images from different parts of the world.
SHOW & TELL – Following Dave’s Talk members will have the opportunity to share images from the recent Painting with Light Practical Evening – bring your pictures on a memory stick.
- Upcoming meetings/events in November
- 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
Photo Oxford at the Window Galleries
This two-part exhibition curated by Photo Oxford celebrates photography’s power to reveal, question, and connect.
One set of windows showcases the Overall Winner and Finalists of the 2025 Open Call Competition, which invited photographers from around the world to submit projects exploring the theme ‘Revealing Truth.’
The Window Galleries
Opposite Turtle Bay in Friars Entry
Oxford
OX1 2BZ
11-30 November 2025
- General photographic interest
Royal Photographic Society: Short Courses for 2026
Thinking of trying something new in 2026, we have a number of short courses for you to try in the new year.
Check out the top 10 night and low light photographs
The results of the fourth round of our prestigious International Amateur Photographer of the Year 2025 competition are in! Eric Browett wins the top place in the Night & Low Light category with the photograph ‘Death from above’, of an owl overhead at night. Meanwhile, Hamish Herridge came first place in the Young APOY competition. Here are the top 10 images uploaded to Photocrowd from Round Six, Night & Low Light, with comments by the AP team and our guest judge…
https://amateurphotographer.com/latest/photo-news/check-out-the-top-night-and-low-light-photographs/
The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait prize – tenderness, traditions and a table of hair
The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait prize showcases the work of young photographers, amateurs and established professionals in the very best of contemporary photography. From almost 6,000 submissions, four images were shortlisted, with Martina Holmberg’s Mel the winner of this year’s prize
The exhibition is at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from 13 November to 8 February 2026
Community Everywhere: Portrait of Britain Vol. 8
Portrait of Britain returns with a shortlist of 200 photographs reflecting a nation caught between change and continuity.
https://www.1854.photography/2025/11/community-everywhere-portrait-of-britain-vol-8/
How to photograph the northern lights
After publishing my recent 2017 Gear of the Year article, in which I highlighted a lens I used for shooting the aurora borealis, numerous people reached out to ask if I would write a follow-up article on how to photograph auroras. So, I decided to team up with DPReview contributor, astrophotographer, and aurora tour guide, José Francisco Salgado, to share some insight into capturing this amazing natural phenomena.
https://www.dpreview.com/articles/9262664983/how-to-photograph-the-northern-lights