Next meeting: Thursday 12 January 2017 (and report of the last one of 2016)

We plan to start the year with a review of our interpretations of two challenges: (1) The Colour Purple and (2) Repetition.  There will also be a preliminary discussion about the club's 2017 exhibition to include printing, mounts and selling opportunities.

Our last meeting of 2016 started with presentations from two members: Bob Bray showed an AV of Oradour-sur-Glane, the village near Limoges, France where 642 of its inhabitants were massacred by a Nazi Waffen-SS company in 1944 and which today is left in its ruinous state as a memorial to those who died.  An excellent choice of music - Pavane by Foure - helped tell the sad story.  Bob lightened the sombre mood by a fun followup - a visual story about two friends who thought they might try Canadian canoeing but had to deal with the unexpected!



The Doctor's car in Oradour-sur-Glane, as it was left in 1944
© Bob Bray 2016

David Sage showed images relating to his ongoing project about the Jurassic coast, an area that stretches from Exmouth to Purbeck, and also gave an overview of the geology behind the scenery we see today. David finished with an AV and video taken of the firework celebrations in Polperro, Cornwall, this year - a worthy way to start our Christmas social.



Polperro fireworks display
© David Sage 2016

As ever, Jean Drewett did us proud, with a splendid spread which we happily munched our way through will trying to talk photography!  

Happy Christmas to all!

Meeting: Thursday 15 December 2016

Our pre-Christmas meeting will feature member David Sage's presentation on his Jurassic Coast presentation and Bob Bray's AV on Oradour-Sur-Glane and then we will enjoy Jean's wonderful spread to help us enjoy our end-of-term social.

Our last meeting included a review of our images seeking to portray the subject 'Serenity'.  The challenge was to create an image that says 'serenity' to many viewers, rather than us recalling that we felt a sense of serenity when we took the image.  Tricky but achieved brilliantly by some!



© Phil Selby 2016

Member Paul Phelps gave a presentation on the joys of Pinhole Photography, taking us through the equipment, methods and showing some interesting photographers who use this technique. 

The evening was rounded off with a question and answer session on the use of Lightroom, chaired by Pete Shaw.

Meeting: Thursday December 1 2016

The plan is to review images for the challenge 'Serenity', tackle queries about Lightroom and enjoy member Paul Phelps talk about 'Blackpool Illuminations by day'!!

At our previous meeting we had a brilliant evening with Nige' Ollis as our speaker talking about his Street Photography.  He shared his story, his fantastic images and how he goes about both taking the images and their processing.  Check out his work on https:nigeollis.com/

A small hardy group of members went between meetings to embrace Bath at night for a photoshoot - just before the fun of Bath Market opened!  See images below (more t/f)

November shoot

5 members managed to get to Bath for an evening shoot on November 23, the night before the Bath Christmas market opened and parking became tricky!  After a number of grim November days, the weather proved amenable and all present had a go at something we need to do more of now the winter nights have drawn in - night photography!


© Stuart Barnes 2016


© David Sage 2016

© Philip Male 2016


Competition: Calne Multiclub DPI Battle - results!

A very impressive evening at Calne seeing the 90 images submitted for the Annual Multiclub DPI Battle 2016 staged by Calne Camera Club.  The judge was Matt Revell from Tyndale Photographic Club who gave a sterling performance talking about each and every image shown.  It was a good demonstration about how to give positive feedback with suggestions for improvement of an image.  Some of the images shown were stunning and, as always, there was a little surprise about the image chosen for Overall Winner  - a good reminder that judging is always subjective!

Lacock Positive came 6th out of the 10 clubs from around the area showing images.  The top three clubs were Nonpareil, Calne and Frome and the top individual prize was won by a member of Nonpareil. 

The club was represented by images from Philip Male (scores of 20, 20,19) to, David Sage (19,17,15) and Stuart Barnes (17,16,15) - well done to all of you! See images below:


St Michael's Mount © Philip Male 2016


Pewsey Sunrise © Philip Male 2016


Pitstone Delight © Philip Male 2016


Durdle Door © David Sage 2016


Tulip staircase © David Sage


To be one of three © David Sage


Prior Park © Stuart Barnes


The Men-an-Tol Stones © Stuart Barnes


Natural World Sculptures © Stuart Barnes



Members news!


Philip Male and Phil Selby have both got a number of wildlife images in the Wild Wiltshire Book about to be published by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust!

Check out -http://www.wiltshirewildlife.org/pages/shop/department/books

The book will make a great Christmas present!

Meeting: Thursday 17 November 2016

Looking forward to a presentation by Nige Ollis, photographer and writer, who will be talking about Street Photography in particular.  We welcome anyone to who has an interest in joining the club and the subject to join us.

We critiqued member's images for the subjects trains, boats & planes and industry at our last meeting. Images were taken all over the world, which at least shows we are a well-travelled lot!  Our photographic skills are varied but we continue to support all capabilities in order to learn and improve as a whole.



© Amanda Gregory 2016

Meeting: Thursday 3 November 2016

Members will be reviewing images taken for the following challenges:
(1) Trains, Boats, Planes (3 images allowed)
(2) Industry ( 2 images allowed)

Learning points and other items will be covered as time permits.

Our previous meeting featured speaker Philip Mugridge, who showed plentiful DPIs of his wildlife photography mostly taken in the Forest of Dean where he lives. He explained about his use of portable hides and pre-focusing technique, bird feeding habits, cameras and lens used and setting up props from a handy wood nearby.  His images included both common and unusual garden birds and birds of prey such as redpoll, raven, hawfinch.  Philip also showed some mammals such as deer, wild boar and water vole as well as butterflies and dragonflies.  A very entertaining evening!

Meeting: Thursday 20 October 2016

An evening with a speaker - Philip Mugridge - who specialises in wildlife photography is planned for our next meeting.  Members plus friends and family or anyone interested in wildlife &/or photography are welcome to join us for the evening for a small donation.

Our last meeting proved there is a strong interest and a lot of ability for wildlife photography as we reviewed images for the subjects Birds, Bees and Butterflies.  Birds proved the most popular category, bees second and a concern that not many butterflies had actually been seen this summer.  

Member Howard Morland showed his first AV composed of images taken in Denmark - we enjoyed the waterside scenes, the Danish palette and a reminder of sunny days!

Members' Exhibitions news

Members David Sage and Bob Bray's images of Lacock are being shown again in Chippenham, see details below:



Meeting: Thursday 6 October 2016

This meeting will include reviewing members' images of Birds, Bees and Butterflies and a slideshow on landscape by Howard Morland.

The previous meeting saw AVs or slideshows produced by the following members - Bob Bray, Pate Shaw, Philip Male, David Sage, Derek Hawkins and Sue Power - which were enjoyed by all attendees.  Each explained about their show including the process and software used.

Meeting: Thursday 22 September 2016

Our next meeting is an AV & slideshow night which may include: 
AVs by Sue Power (Copenhagen); Pete Shaw (Svalbard), Philip Male (Rich Pickings and Just for Ewe); Bob Bray (Ugly Bug Ball and Blackbird Family);  slideshow by David Sage (Chippenham)
Also, Learning Points - How to create an AV! 

Our first meeting included a review of images under the titles 'A Pair of...' and 'Movement' .  Images seen showed a healthily broad range of interpretations though we debated what might be appropriate in a Judge's view!  

We also discussed our use of Wiggio and resolved a few problems that had been arising. It was agreed that some members would have a go in the Calne Multiclub DPI battle.

A good start to the club year with plenty of contributions both visual and verbal!!

Meeting: Thursday 8 September 2016

The new season will start with:
(1) Tribattle subject: A Pair of.... (2 images max)
(2) Tribattle subject: Movement (2 images max)
(3) Learning points (a) How to use Wiggio (b) resizing images
(4) Challenge for the year: Photobook
(5) Discussion: Calne Multiclub Battle

The final summer photoshoot in August saw 7 of us meeting in Malmesbury.  We went down steps to a view point of the Abbey, then up steps to the Cloisters, then down steps to the Weir and up steps past the Abbey Gardens - at which point the light was fading fast, our legs tiring and our thirst directing us pub-wards (as usual!)



Reflecting life in Malmesbury
© Stuart Barnes 2016


Reflecting the sunset at the Abbey
© David Sage 2016


Going pink in the garden?
© Derek Hawkins 2016


Well we were getting hot after climbing all those stairs...
© Amanda Gregory 2016


At least the duck had its own way of cooling off
© Paul Housell 2016


... and the cat had its own opinion about our antics!
© Sue Power 2016


Summer special!

A winning look captured during the Honiton Show - 


Just hold still!
© Jean Drewett 2016

Summer shoot 5: Thursday August 18 2016

Our fifth and final summer photoshoot will be in Malmesbury. Meet Ruth Baldwin & Amanda Gregory at 7pm by the Market Cross.

A brilliant nine of us turned up in the Car Park next to SS Great Britain, Bristol, on our fourth outing.  Six visited the restored boat and said they climbed the rigging (hmmm) ...... while three went in search of other challenges (photographically possibly!)  There appeared to be many other photography groups around the harbour with the same idea!  



Turns out it was actually a young boy who climbed the rigging!
© Bob Bray 2016


While some mad men threw themselves off a crane...
© Sue Power 2016


And possibly found themselves not where they expected!!
© David Sage 2016



Meanwhile Amanda found Goth glamour at the water's edge
© Amanda Gregory 2016


Summer shoot 4: Sunday August 14 2016

Our 4th photoshoot will be at Bristol Docks.  Meet at 11am in the SS Great Britain Car Park in Bristol.

Our third photoshoot at Avebury went off smoothly with 7 members taking an interesting variety of images in fairly good weather.  The route taken was through the village, the churchyard, past the Manor House and then around the stones which led, inevitably, back to the Red Lion!



Avebury Manor © David Sage 2016



Scruffy! © Philip Male 2016


Tracing roots © Amanda Gregory 2016


Evening sun © Bob Bray 2016


Summer shoot 3: Thursday 4 August 2016

Our third photoshoot will be at Avebury.  Meet the contact, Philip Male, 7pm at the Red Lion, Avebury.  Please note that the National Trust Car Park is not open evenings so parking will have to be found in the village.  Please car share where possible.

As for our second photoshoot - despite a week of fine summer weather, we are getting very good at picking the only evening with challenging light, plus rain on this occasion!  Nevertheless, there were ten of us wandering through the backstreets and riverside of Chippenham, juggling weather protection for ourselves and our cameras as well as taking a shot or two.

Some found small details to concentrate on or the unusual while others experimented with capturing movement of canoeists and walkers before a thirst-quenching drink at the Angel Hotel......




A grey heron takes to the trees when it sees LP photographers coming!
© Stuart Barnes 2016


Rowers create graphic lines on the River Avon
© Sue Power 2016


Ghost boats....
© Pete Shaw 2016


Walking speed
© Philip Male 2016


Catch me while you can!
© David Sage 2016




Graffiti humour!
© Amanda Gregory 2016


And the sadder side of graffiti land....
© Paul Hounsell 2016




Summer shoot 2: Thursday 21 July 2016

Our next destination - meet David Sage at the Buttercross, Chippenham at 7pm. 

Our first summer trek was around the river and canal area at Bradford-on-Avon.  The light was disappointing with a wall-to-wall grey skies but nonetheless 5 of us had a go, seeing a kingfisher, waterrat or vole?, a few canoeists, boaters and runners en route.  The grey weather beat us in the end but a gentle stroll with a few clicks here and there was enjoyed by all.





Finding enough light on a very overcast evening!
© David Sage 2016

Summer shoot 1: Thursday 7 July 2016

Now that Summer is officially here (even if not always obvious!), we have plans to continue meeting over the next few months at various town locations for evening shoots.  The first trip will be to Bradford-on-Avon, meeting at 7pm at the Station Car Park and the contact there will be Derek Hawkins.

Our last meeting was one of several parts.  We held our AGM and the committee for 2016-17 was agreed: Chair - Derek Hawkins, Deputy Chair - t/f, Treasurer - Ruth Baldwin, Programme Lead - Sue Power.  Plus: Paul Phelps will plan the 2017 exhibition, Bob Bray will look after the photography book library and Jean Drewett will continue to be i/c refreshments and represent the club on the Village Hall Committee.  Among other items discussed: the membership and meeting fee will remain the same and reviews of the way we conduct critiques of members' images and how we pass on information from more experienced members to those with less need to be held.  Thanks were given to all contributors to the club.

Next, we enjoyed Howard Morland's presentation of the work of Thomas Heaton, a landscape photographer based in Tynemouth.  This featured both slide images and a video showing Heaton's work in Iceland and Scandinavia, and both prompted a good discussion.  

The plan had been to show members' images for the first of the Tribattle challenges but technical difficulties meant we had to postpone this until the Autumn.  So we wrapped up the evening with an 'end of year' social by enjoying Jean's overflowing table of strawberries, meringues, cream and other delectables! 

The next meeting in the Manor Room will be September 8 2016.

Meeting: Thursday 23 June 2016

At our next meeting we will be taking a first look at images for the challenge 'A Pair of...'.  Howard Morland will be talking about a photographer he admires - Thomas Heaton (www.thomasheaton.co.uk) from Tynemouth.  And to round it off we will conduct our AGM and enjoy a social drink!

It was a shame that fine weather or holidays maybe prevented more people coming to our last meeting as we had an excellent evening.  To start, members' low level images from 9 June were shown - Derek showed one with a GoPro camera half in and half out of the River Avon while Amanda stood in the river to take one of hers!   Jane looked up at birds and signs while Philip showed an AV of 'grave' images taken on a 16-35mm lens at f/2.8.

Philip Male talked on 'Wildlife and I' and took us through his photographic career from his start as a young teenager discovering that shooting wildlife with a camera is better than doing it with an air rifle.  He talked about the cameras, lens and hides he has used over time and showed excellent images of birds and animals taken in his garden, the UK and the USA.   

Bob Bray then showed results of taking motion-triggered infra-red video in his garden.  We were amazed at shots of an athletic fox and hedgehog.

Derek Hawkins shared results of some of his long-term projects.  The first was a sequence of time-lapse images from 2015 set to well-chosen music and secondly, a different look at well-known monuments and White Horses in and around Wiltshire.  Derek uses GoPro & Mobius cameras & his I-Phone to get his great output.

Meeting: Thursday 9 June 2016

As members made the most of a light, warm summer evening at our last meeting to take low-level images around Lacock, we will take the opportunity to review these before we listen to Philip Male and his 'Wildlife and I' talk and watch the timelapse prepared by Derek Hawkins.

Meeting: Thursday May 26 2016

We are going to be weather dependent for our next meeting!  If it is NOT raining, it will be a bring-your-camera evening and a shoot in Lacock.  If it IS raining, member & wildlife enthusiast Philip Male will be showing some of his many images under the title 'Wildlife & I'.

Our last meeting included Ruth Baldwin giving a presentation about Tim Flach (website: timflach.com), showing some of his animal images, in particular horses and dogs.  Members discussed his use of unusual cropping and Flach's challenging questions about how we treat animals, what animals might make of us and extreme breeding programmes.

Pete Shaw talked about flash photography, taking us through the equipment we need and giving us a basic technical understanding of such aspects as flash sync speed, TTL, master/slave setups and second curtain sync.  As very few members currently use flash, there were a lot of questions and we hope to experiment a little more in the future.

David Sage advised that members might like to enter the Visit Wiltshire competition by submitting images capturing the essence of life in Wiltshire.  Check out:
http://www.visitwiltshire.co.uk/ideas-and-inspiration/competitions

Exhibition - a great success!

Lacock was very busy over the Bank Holiday weekend and many visitors dropped into see our Annual Exhibition in the Village Hall.  Most took part in the voting for their three favourite images and there were lots of positive comments about the event!

The top ten images voted for by the public were:


1st: Autumn Gold 
© David Sage

2nd: Call of Nature 
©  Philip Male

3rd: Jump for Joy 
© Ruth Baldwin

Joint 4th: Island in the Sun
© Sue Power

Joint 4th: Mists of Time
© Phil Selby

Joint 4th: A Threat of Rain
© Sue Kneebone

7th: Morning Breath
© Phil Selby

Joint 8th: Scruffy
© Philip Male

Joint 8th: Bumbling Along 
© David Sage

10th: A New Dawn
© Ruth Baldwin