I enjoyed presenting a live demo during our Zoom meeting on January 18th. I was able to set up my iPad camera so the members could see me standing next to a still-life setup on my table. I described why and how to put the elements together, and showed some photos that I’d taken earlier, with tips as to what to play with and what issues to look out for. I wanted to have a change from speakers talking about a series of photos, although we’ve done well with those evenings too, with speakers from across the country, since we’re virtual and with guests from far and wide!
On January 25th, member Geoff Ayres also varied the presentation style, by editing photos live, using the program “Affinity”, this is a good low-cost program. We saw some results of members’ shooting and editing in February, with our competition on ’Open’ and ‘Street’ themes, these were won by John Hutchison and Ric Gillams respectively. After that, local photographer Stuart Bebb presented superb-quality images of ‘Oxford Lockdown’. You can buy his book from: www.oxfordcamera.co.uk/products/b-w-photographic-art-book-of-oxford.
On February 15th, we held our “8×10” evening, a play on the traditional print size, theoretically 8 members talking for 10 minutes, but usually about 4 members talking for about 20 minutes each. This time, Julie Noble shared ‘Memories & Snowflakes’ – including cool close-ups of classic snowflake shapes; Mike Conley explained how he achieved his LRPS distinction with his panel of photos (Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society); and I presented highlights from a Naturetrek Day Trip last October in Bradgate Par, Leicester, photographing red and fallow deer. It’s easy to get to from here, and the deer are very accessible. February concluded with guest speaker Chris Upton from Nottinghamshire. The topic was ‘Thoresby: The End of the Mine’, documenting the closure of a coal mine. He published these images in a book too – but it’s sold out!
March began with our last themed competition of the season: ‘Winter’ and ‘Differential Focus’ won by Linda Webb and Lesley Adams respectively.
“Cottages” by Linda Webb
“Musical Spoons” by Lesley Adams
This was followed by two guest speakers: ‘Wildlife and Nature Photography’ with Tesni Ward; and ‘My Journey into Theatre’ with Catherine Humphries. Tesni showed wonderful images from the Peak District, and Cat explained how she got drawn into theatre photography in the Rickmansworth area, with more good photos. We’ve enjoyed seeing speakers and their work from afar while we Zoom.
Upcoming Meetings:
March
22nd Inter Club Battle with Witney Photo Group
29th Monochrome PDI of the Year Competition
April
12th Colour PDI of the Year Competition
19th ‘Northumbria’ with member Terry Pollard
26th AGM and Trophy presentations
Kim Benson, March 2021