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We had a very busy evening shooting various subjects on numerous tables and a light box set-up for photography. There was a non-paying guest which Dave S brought along called Cedric the Stick Insect (see a portrait of Cedric in a menacing mood that Dave took). There were lots of shots taken of her/him as s/he paused for the portraits.

1. Last week’s meeting Tues 1 October: Ivor’s nature and wildlife, with a twist Ivor gave a very engaging presentation his nature and wildlife photographs. The twist was that instead of having the audience sit is reverence silence Ivor got us to participate in the presentation.

Congratulations to all and many thanks to everyone who entered their images and to everyone who participated on the night. Special thanks to Jill who managed to get all the totals together on the night and pulled all the scores together.

Last week’s meeting Tues 24 September: Camera Gear with Gareth, manager of Oxford branch of the London Camera Exchange Gareth has 20 years’ experience working in the photography industry and he is extremely knowledgeable. He came with an array of cameras from a very small Sony to the latest top of the range Nikon. He talked about the latest things in the camera market and where the market may take us. First of all he entertained us with a very small drone which he turned on then told it to fly and follow him around the room – which is did and by voice command. The drone – a DJI Neo – is under 250 grams and though is does have to be registered to be flown it can be flown without the usual restrictions of heavier drones. It has a ‘phone-like’ camera lens and is a cheap entry into the world of drone photography.

Last week’s meeting Tues 17 September: Projected Digital Image Competition No. 1. The results of the competition were as follows: First: Keith Worthington, Cheetah Mum and Cubs Second:  Pete Warrington, Skegness Silhouette Third: Adrian Cubitt, Said the Spider to the Fly Highly Commended: Keith Worthington, Baboon Sentry Les Gordon, Thruxton BSB Neck and Neck Dave Belcher, Evening At The Depot Commended Sandra Devaney, Jain Ladies of Delwara Les Gordon, Cormorants in Flight Keith Worthington, Lion Hunting Pete Warrington, At the Waters Edge Congratulations to all winners.

Last week’s meeting Tues 10 September: Roger Hance FRPS – People, Portraits and Photojournalism (via Zoom) Roger showed a great array of his portraits of strangers. For many of us taking portraits of strangers can be daunting and he gave some very handy tips about how to approach it and where it is fairly easy to do it.

Last week’s meeting Tues 3 September at 19.30: Juliana Cassab Life in Brazil’s Amazon Forest. Juliana took us on a journey into the Amazon Forest, to see the beauty of this remarkable ecosystem, its people, its wildlife and its buildings. Juliana visited the area in 2005 with her husband and was very moved by the experience.

We had one of our biggest audiences of the season with 30 members attending. Many thanks to everyone who attended and took part. Minutes of the meeting will be circulated in due course. As mentioned above if you want to get involved with the activities needed to run the club then please see some job descriptions below that will give you an idea of the roles and responsibilities. The tasks are not onerous. Having more members helping lightens the load. This is especially true for the programme, so please do lend a hand. Many thanks also to all those members who delighted us with their 10 Best of the Season images. There were, I believe, 129 images, and what a cracking set of images they were. Many thanks to Adrian for putting them together with the music. It took him a whole day to get the show together thanks to Lightroom inability to play ball. A very professional piece of work and getting the tune ‘Albatross’ synced up with Ron’s images of seabirds was pure genius.

1. Last week’s meeting: Panel Competition – judged by Phil Joyce. At the start Phil explained what he is looking for in a panel – something that is greater than the sum of its parts, images that work together as a coherent whole etc. He described and commented on the panels, pointing out where they worked well and made suggestions of what to consider if the photographer wanted to edit them. With a few of the prints he suggested changes in order of the prints and showed how different a subtle change of order could work. It was good to have an evening where we could be liberated from the tyranny of the single image. The results were: DPI panel winner: Peter Warrington – The M4 Print panel winner: Peter Warrington – The Road Less Travelled Many congratulations to Pete and all those who came close to the master!