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1. Last meeting – Print Competition No. 2 judged by Kevin Day The results of the evening were: Monochrome First place Pete Warrington Under Boscombe Pier Second place Keith Worthington After Prey Third place Pete Warrington Slurry Tank, Berkshire Downs H Commended Les Gordon The Cube, London H Commended John Boteler Winter Wonderland, Savernake Forest H Commended Dave Atkinson Black Backed Jackel Commended Dave Belcher Peaky Blinders Commended Helen Webb Black Rhino and Oxpecker Commended Helen Webb Tribal Woman Commended Dave Atkinson Vintage Owl in Motion

Last meeting – Rosebowl Competition Round 3 between Oxford, Harrow, Croxley and Wantage Oxford came first with 267 points, followed by Harrow with 258, Croxley with 256 and Wantage with 248. Congratulations to Helen Webb whose image scored 20 star and all members who took part. This score means Oxford will qualify for the final on 21 April.

Last meeting – “Street Photography My Way” with Peter Crane Peter retired in 2009 and joined a camera club. In 2010 he heard about and joined the RPS London Street Walk and later joined a similar one in Bath and became a ‘street photographer’ – photographing people on the street. He also became a camera club judge and started giving talks to camera clubs and this one was his hundredth talk. His other ‘hobby’ is angling and he likens street photography to angling: you catch a moment, which will be a chance event, you need to be alert and switched on, and you need a bit of confidence and patience.

The Oxford Photographic Society launched a new exhibition called “My Oxford” at the Westgate Library this week. The exhibition, which lasts for three weeks, shows the people, streets, meadows, buildings and bicycles of the city through the lens of the Society’s members. “We are very grateful to the library for generously giving us the space to show our members’ photographic interpretation of Oxford. We hope the people of Oxford will enjoy the photographs on show and inspire them to take photos of this city of contrasts,” said Ian Bray, Chair of the Oxford Photographic Society.

Last meeting – A passage to India and Brazil. Sandra Devaney’s visit to India and Linda Wride’s trip to Brazil   Sandra began her talk with the recollection of her first OPS competition experience back in 2018. She had recently returned from a visit to Vietnam and was keen to get feedback on her competition entries. The judge was less than enthusiastic about her images which left Sandra initially disappointed but spurred her on to do better. After visiting a Steve McCurry exhibition – he of the green-eyed Afghan girl, Sharbat Gula – Sandra knew what she wanted to do, take amazing simple portraits of people and concentrate on what she likes not what judges like. In late 2023 she booked  a trip with Charlie Waite’s Light and Land to Rajasthan in India, arriving in Delhi and then onto Udaipur, Jodhpur and Agra, and stops along the way. Delhi was in the grip of a thick smog but Sandra got some great portraits street workers, some taking a rest break, others toiling and others unselfconsciously posing for the camera. She took shots of workers carrying loads on their heads at the Old Spice Market and in Photoshop magically got rid of distracting elements by using ‘generative fill’. Charlie Waite was very helpful and very generous with his advice. One little tip, but an effective one was: if you have blue and yellow in your shots you are guaranteed that people will look at them.

Our second exhibition at the Central Library in the Westgate shopping centre will run from 19 February for three weeks. The theme is My Oxford. If you haven’t already handed in your entries please bring them, bagged to avoid scratches, to the club meetings on 13 Feb. Don’t forget to label your prints as instructed in Les’s email repeated below. Last meeting – “The Art of Paper Selection” with Colin Hurley from Permajet Colin, who works for the Imaging Warehouse, gave us some expert advice and tips on selecting the right paper for our images. He caveated this by saying there really is no ‘right’ paper, all does depend on what you are wanting to convey with your printed image, the look and the feel you want.

Our second exhibition at the Central Library in the Westgate shopping centre will run from 19 February for three weeks. The theme is My Oxford. Deadline to let Les know of your (two) entries is Tuesday 6 Feb. Bring your pictures, bagged to avoid scratches, to the club meetings on 13 Feb. Last meeting – Digital Lecture TALKING PICTURES with Chris Palmer Chris delighted us with an incredible array of superb landscape images. He describes himself more of a ‘location’ rather than a landscape photographer. He certainly is not a shoot from the hip photographer either as he explained as he went through his approach to his photographic art.

The 13 February annual panel competition will be re-scheduled to later in the season. More details later. Our second exhibition at the Central Library in the Westgate shopping centre will run from 19 February for three weeks. The theme is My Oxford. Please start selecting your prints that express your personal take on Oxford. Last meeting – Members’ images from a night walk around Oxford

Tuesday 16 Jan we will not be a Band Hall but out and about in Oxford taking photos. Meet at 7.30 at Wetherspoons Swan and Castle, Castle Street, Oxford, OX1 1AY. Weather expected to be good but cold. Bring camera and warm clothes.  Next month we have another exhibition at the Westgate Library. More details to follow soon.  Last meeting – Wildlife Photography Part 3 – My month in the Falkland Islands with Tracey Lund 

Last meeting – Helen Stewart in the Artic and France plus show and tell  The Artic – Iceland and Greenland Helen started her presentation with images of Iceland. Iceland has become a very popular destination for photographers and tourists and at times they tend to photograph the same thing. Helen likes to photograph the scene that their backs are facing. Her destination was not Iceland but Greenland and she travelled to the north of Iceland to pick up the ship – the Freya – which would take her on her expedition. This was September and the evening light Helen captured was fantastic. They sailed all night, then all day, then another night before they arrived at a village of colourful houses and, besides getting shots of the village and the area, Helen managed to also do some portraits, though the local people were somewhat reluctant subjects.