Below are the results from the postal compertition we had with Prince George Photographic Society, Canada

Andrew Parson ARPS club member receving is Bronze Medal at RPS Nature Group

Exhibition 2008 in the Digital Section for Grasshopper on Bracken below and also at

The  NEMPF  Exhitibition Highly Commended with  One More Bid  Black & White prints Certificate of Merit with Brimestone Larva Digital Projection

CLUB NEWS FROM THE RETFORD TIMES

The Son of Grandma’s Picture Show

This was the title of the show presented to Retford & District Photographic Society members by Brian Davis, using his Magic Lantern. The Lantern itself was a very large and ornate wood and brass device which was made in the 1890s and was originally powered by a combination of Oxygen and Hydrogen gases, burning onto a block of Limestone which then fluoresced . This was the same method used for stage lighting in the 1800s and is the origin of the phrase being ‘in the limelight’. Brian’s Magic Lantern is now powered by an electric light, but still gives a very good show in expert hands. Brian showed us animated slides with hand drawn images from the 1800s on subjects such as Jack & Jill, village life, London scenes, Bulls chasing villagers and children skipping. He then went on to project photographic and lithographic images of schools and Societies, family life, Whitby from the time of Frank Meadows Sutcliffe, Matlock bridge, Ashford in the water, Hathersage and many other Derbyshire scenes from the early part of the last century. In the second half there were scenes of Scotland including Edinburgh, Glasgow, the Forth Bridge, Iona, Ben Nevis and Loch Lomand. Many of these slides were hand tinted in many colours and were still in good condition after more than 100 years – proving to be longer lasting than the photographic media of today!

Last Monday night, members heard photographic judge Ralph Bennet ARPS, comment on their entries to the Portfolio Competition. This is a competition where the photographers provide 5 images in monotone print, colour print or slide format, which range across a number of disciplines of photography, in order to impress the judge with their versatility. Ralph started off the evening by showing us 5 of his excellent colour prints to show us that he could do it as well as judge it! With an audience of over 30 members and an entry of 110 images, Ralph had to work hard for his cup of tea at half time. Entries ranged from landscapes to flowers and from portraits to sport action shots. Trains, boats and buildings appeared regularly and wildlife of all kinds as well. The results of the competition were as follows:-

Monochrome Prints:- Winner Alan Townsend, Second Pat Oaks, Third Albert Phillipson

Colour Prints:-          Winner Andrew Paul, Second Albert Phillipson, Third Barry King

Slide Portfolio:-          Winner Eric Wright, Second Brian Shawcross, Third Ken Poole

Vice President of the Society, Andrew Paul, thanked Ralph for his very helpful comments on members photographs and for his expert judging. He reminded members that next week’s meeting, on Monday night at 7.30pm in Ordsall Church hall, was to be a teach-in on the digital photo software Photoshop.

                With a little help from my friends!

This was the title of the photographic presentation given to Society members Monday night two weeks ago by Ray Brammall. Through his wonderful and evocative photographs Ray charted his journey from an experienced photographer producing Black and White pictures developed in the darkroom, using all sorts of specialised techniques, to a colour photographer using a Digital camera and digital printing with the aid of Photoshop software. For his earlier work, Ray used a Canon T90 film camera and produced work across a whole range of subjects, including landscapes and portraits. He showed us examples of beautiful interpretations, quirky, innovative and sometimes downright silly images using a range of techniques which included Infra Red and Monochrome Tints. Throughout his presentation Rays amusing stories and excellent mimicry of all sorts of accents kept us spellbound. In the second half Ray showed us his Digital work, using a Canon 20D camera and described how he gained experience, with lots of practice, so that he could produce equivalent work to his film photographs in both colour and Black & White. His pictures of Ireland (Guinness and stories of getting lost and getting navigation advice from the locals),Spain, Brittany, Scotland (Falkirk wheel & Glen Coe landscapes), The Outer Hebrides (beautiful beaches and sand patterns on Harris) showed us how he had mastered the use of the digital camera. Rays advice, however, was to get the picture right in the camera and use less Photoshop!  

I’m Standing Still

At last weeks meeting we were treated to a range of dark room developed analogue Black & White prints from Rob Palmer ARPS. Rob has an eye for the both the unusual and the mundane, but can make both look dramatic and interesting! His first pictures were from Venice. In addition to the usual Gondoliers he had photographed the people of Venice doing the things that they normally do – but his use of contrast and light and shade patterns made the pictures into something special. Pictures of Sardinia followed, showing old buildings, waterway and seascapes with wonderfully dramatic skies. Trees in silhouette, shadows of trees and examples of how to change the resulting picture by using different paper and printing techniques demonstrated his versatility. A series of photographs of Flamenco Dancers, showing their flowing skirts in motion showed how he experimented with new ideas. He then showed a whole series of very good landscapes which it was hard to believe had been taken on a pinhole camera with exposures as long as 10 minutes! Some of these had an ethereal quality with great contrasts, tones and even wonderful skies. They included pictures of Durdle Door, Dunstanborough Castle and great waterscapes with dynamic cloudy skies.        

Rob finished with portraits of people in Cuba, and a great set of night pictures showing reflections of lamp light in water and on wet pavements in Venice (see picture above)

NB In parallel with the above session, Gordon Oaks ran a teach-in for members who wanted to practice making picture mounts. Teach-ins on a whole range of photographic subjects from how a camera works to advanced digital photography are a part of the club activities. If you are interested in coming to see what we do – we meet at Ordsall Church Hall at 7.30pm every Monday night from September to May. Simply drop in on the night, or call our secretary Gee on 01777 818792

Copyright(c) 2008 brianhillam. All rights reserved.