Whitchurch Photographic Society: Blog https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog en-us (C) Whitchurch Photographic Society 1962 - 2024 (Whitchurch Photographic Society) Fri, 26 Apr 2024 18:03:00 GMT Fri, 26 Apr 2024 18:03:00 GMT https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/img/s/v-12/u328081875-o803550764-50.jpg Whitchurch Photographic Society: Blog https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog 120 74 ZOOM FROM 10TH NOV 21! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/11/zoom For the time being, members will be able to enjoy all internal competitions at home via Zoom in addition to in person at Pearl Yard.

External competitions where we are not the host will be subject to availability.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/11/zoom Sat, 13 Nov 2021 15:12:28 GMT
Nantwich v Whitchurch 2nd November 2021 https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/11/nantwich-v-whitchurch-2nd-november-2021 Our annual competition with Nantwich was held away this year, but because Nantwich are not yet meeting up in person, it was confined to both Colour and Mono PDI'S via Zoom which was transmitted to both homes and Pearl Yard.

Linda Bell was the judge and she awarded a total of 500 points to Nantwich and 472 to us.

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/11/nantwich-v-whitchurch-2nd-november-2021 Sat, 13 Nov 2021 15:03:36 GMT
Summer's almost gone, but we're meeting again! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/9/summers-almost-gone-but-we-re-meeting-again Well summer's almost gone now, but we have the brilliant outdoor activities to look back on.

The social in Chris and Marian's garden.

Puffing up Stiperstones!

The interesting evening walk around Shrewsbury. We won't forget Eberneezer Scrooge's grave!

The splendid visit to the Whitewater Rafting Centre in Bala.

The impromptu people watching trip to New Brighton - gosh it was hot!

Big thanks to all who participated and organised.

And now at last we can meet up againat the clubhouse, albeit with Covid high on the priority list.

It will be so good, to once again see some real photographs as they were meant to be seen and not via Zoom, although Zoom will be an option on occasion.

See you all there!

FIRST MEETING: TUESDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER 2021.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/9/summers-almost-gone-but-we-re-meeting-again Thu, 09 Sep 2021 12:10:44 GMT
Fine Art Photography - A workflow - David Garthwaite (Zoom at the club) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/7/fine-art-photography---a-workflow---david-garthwaite-zoom-at-the-club On 21st September 2021 David Garthwaite is presenting 'Fine Art Photography - A Workflow'.

(Zoom at the club)

- To see some of David's amazing 'Fine Art' images click on 'Read ther Full Post' (below) - this will activate the 'IMAGES' link: IMAGES

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/7/fine-art-photography---a-workflow---david-garthwaite-zoom-at-the-club Thu, 01 Jul 2021 13:14:29 GMT
Social at Chris & Marian's Saturday 5th June 21 https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/6/social-at-chris-marians-saturday-5th-june-21 A BIG thank you to Chris & Marian for letting us into their beautiful garden on Saturday.

We were blessed with wonderful weather and it was a very pleasant change to be able to interact in person, rather than by Zoom.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/6/social-at-chris-marians-saturday-5th-june-21 Sun, 06 Jun 2021 14:58:59 GMT
Social at Marian & Chris's House on Saturday 5th June 21 between 2.00 & 5.00 pm https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/5/social-at-marian-chriss-house-on-saturday-5th-june-21-between-2-00-5-00-pm Just to remind everybody, COVID CONSIDERATIONS.

As this is our first event since Covid restrictions were put in place back in March 2020, we want to ensure that everyone attending is safe and feels comfortable at the event. We are therefore going to ask members to follow some simple rules when attending the event. The following requirements may be over and above those required by government but I hope you agree they are sensible and worth implementing so that all members are able to enjoy our first social events in a long while. As time passes and hopefully restrictions are gradually eased I hope that we can relax some of these requirements.

  1. Members should not attend the event if they are experiencing any covid type symptoms. 
  2. You can attend anytime between 2-5pm. Don't worry if you can't make it for 2pm, having some members turn up later may be beneficial and help us to keep numbers under the current government restrictions where a maximum of 30 people are permitted to meet at an event outdoors. It will also help us with parking too.
  3. Members will need to sanitise their hands upon entering the property (we will provide sanitiser, although it would be good if you bring your own).
  4. Please wear a mask when entering the property or when socialising in the garden. Whilst there is no requirement to wear a mask outside, we suggest that when socialising or wandering around the garden you wear a mask and adhere to the 1 metre plus mask rule. If not wearing a mask, members are asked to socially distance as much as possible (2 metres). 
  5. You may remove your mask whilst seated.
  6. If you cannot wear a mask for any reason please make us aware of this upon entering the property.
  7. To reduce contact with other members we suggest that you bring your own food/drink and if possible a light weight chair. Chairs will be available at the property but it always feels a bit safer if you can use your own.
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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/5/social-at-marian-chriss-house-on-saturday-5th-june-21-between-2-00-5-00-pm Sat, 29 May 2021 12:27:47 GMT
Change of Programme - Tuesday 16th March 21! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/3/change-of-programme---tuesday-16th-march-21 Sadly due to a family bereavement, Dr. Brian Law is unable to join us tonight.

Instead, Marc has kindly stepped in to give us a talk about advanced compositional techniques.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/3/change-of-programme---tuesday-16th-march-21 Fri, 12 Mar 2021 15:43:57 GMT
Interclub Competition held on 8th February 2021 via Zoom! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/2/interclub-competition-held-on-8th-february-2021 WHITCHURCH FIRST!

We are so pleased to to have beaten the competition from Long Mynd, Newport, Shropshire, Oswestry, Bridgnorth and Ludlow in this tightly fought contest, all clubs and societies submitting some beautiful images.

Well done to all members of WPS for producing such wonderful images.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/2/interclub-competition-held-on-8th-february-2021 Sun, 14 Feb 2021 15:10:52 GMT
News - More exciting changes to our programme! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/2/news---more-exciting-changes-to-our-programme On 23 Feb 21, the Portfolio Competition has been put back to the 23 Mar 21 and been replaced with a lecture by Ian Whiston about the National Parks of East Africa.

On 23 Mar 21, the Portfolio Competion has been changed and is now 4 categories - Open, Mono, Architecture and Product photography. Judge: Rev. Dr. Richard Hainsworth

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/2/news---more-exciting-changes-to-our-programme Wed, 03 Feb 2021 15:10:05 GMT
News - Changes to the programme 2021 https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/1/news---changes-to-the-programme-2021 2 Feb, 2021 - Critique Evening (Subject: Light and Shadow) and Your questions answered - Q&A

We have a critique evening on the 2 Feb, where you can submit photographs via photoentry and get some useful feedback and help with your photography from colleagues within the club. The subject for the night is Light and Shadow so if possible submit images that illustrate this within your photograph. Don’t let that stop you submitting other photos though. It’s all about seeing your work and helping you with your photography. There will also be a Q&A session at the end so if you need any help with your photography then prepare a question or two to ask on the night.

 

9 Feb, 2021 - It’s a Knockout Competition - Colour and Mono Images

The colour and mono 'It’s a knockout' competitions have been combined and will now both take place on one night. You can submit 2 colour and 2 mono images. The subject for the competition is open and you can submit from any genre of photography that you like. This competition is member judged. Lots of fun so give it a go.

 

16 March, 2021 - New - It’s all about Seeing by Dr Brian Law.

An extra lecture this year where Brian will talk to members about composition and developing a personal style. He will also demonstrate how to look at, read and compose your photographs. Useful skills for all of us I’m sure you will agree. It should be a good talk and Brian always illustrates his talks with  lots of images which will help to explain his thoughts and ideas.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2021/1/news---changes-to-the-programme-2021 Thu, 14 Jan 2021 13:52:17 GMT
Captured in Camera 9th November 2020 https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/10/photo-entry-november-2020 Don't forget to submit your PhotoEntry for the 'Captured in Camera' competion being held on 10th November.

The closing date for entries is 9th November at 7.00 pm!

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/10/photo-entry-november-2020 Wed, 28 Oct 2020 16:54:04 GMT
Change of Programme - Tuesday 29th September 20! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/9/change-of-programme---tuesday-29th-september-20 Hi folks.

Sadly, Andy Polakowski has cancelled his talk for Tuesday 29th September 20.

But don't despair, we have an amazing selection of the Committee's favourite images that we want to share with you.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/9/change-of-programme---tuesday-29th-september-20 Fri, 25 Sep 2020 15:26:01 GMT
August Photo Challenge Results https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/9/august-photo-challenge-results The results of the August Photo Challenge are here.

The theme was 'SHOOT LIKE A PRO!', and it was good to see the members rising to the challenge with some great images, very close to the originals. 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/9/august-photo-challenge-results Sun, 06 Sep 2020 09:33:02 GMT
July Photo Challenge Results https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/8/july-photo-challenge-results The results of the July Photo Challenge are now online, and can be found here.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/8/july-photo-challenge-results Sun, 02 Aug 2020 21:41:49 GMT
August Photo Challenge https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/8/august-photo-challenge The August Challenge is SHOOT LIKE A PRO!
 
This challenge is a little different to all the others. In this challenge I want you to do a bit of research and try to replicate a photo from one of the following Masters of Photography listed below. Most professional photographers would often practice at home or in a studio by taking photographs of still life or botanical scenes. They always say practice makes perfect and by taking photographs in different lighting conditions or using different compositions these photographers were well practiced and could use the techniques leant in the studio in real life situations. So what I want you to do is choose an image taken by one of the following photographers, study it carefully and then try to copy that photograph as precisely as you can. Look at the lighting, the composition, the materials used, the camera angle, etc. It’s not as easy as you think - I promise.
 
When you upload your image on photo entry, do not rename the image, simply put the original authors name and title of the photograph (if the original has a title - not all do) in the title box.
Here are the photographers - there are 5 classic black and white photographers and 3 more modern colour photographers - You’ll find the colour photographs are a little more complicated or quirky but if you’re up for it and have the correct props, give it a go. It’s up to you which photo you try to copy (still life/botanical/compositional set up).
 
The photographers are:
Robert Mapplethorpe
Edward Weston
Andre Kertesz
Tom Baril
Joseph Sudek
Sharon Core
Irving Penn
Martin Parr
 
So to sum up:
Submit - 2 photographs via photo entry
Deadline - 25th August, 2020
Judge - Marc Brimble
Judged live on zoom - 7.30pm on 1st September, 2020
 
Let’s see lots of entries for this one.
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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/8/august-photo-challenge Sat, 01 Aug 2020 09:48:52 GMT
July Photo Challenge https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/6/july-photo-challenge July Challenge: Life in Miniature.

This month's challenge is for you to get in close and photograph the world in miniature. It doesn't have to be macro and it doesn't have to be creepy crawlies and bugs. Again, you interpret the subject how you want.

This month's judge is going to be Stuart, and it's the usual format and date for submission - 2 entries to be submitted via PhotoEntry by 21st July.

The one difference this month is that we are going to do the judging live via Zoom on 28th July (you will be sent an invite nearer the time). Bit of a trial run for the forthcoming season, if you like. 

Results will also be posted on the website as normal.

 

To sum up:

July Challenge - Life in Miniature

Number of entries - 2

Submit via PhotoEntry

Closing date for entries - 21st July

Results - 28th July - Live via Zoom (7.30pm)

Judge - Stuart Ord

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/6/july-photo-challenge Mon, 29 Jun 2020 20:53:07 GMT
June Photo Challenge Results! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/6/june-photo-challenge-results The results from the June Photo Challenge, with the theme of 'Chiaroscuro' can be found here.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/6/june-photo-challenge-results Mon, 29 Jun 2020 20:42:56 GMT
June Photo Challenge! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/5/june-photo-challenge The June Challenge is: Chiaroscuro.
 
We will be looking at embracing the dark side this month. Chiaroscuro is a term used in Art for the use of strong contrast between light and dark. Artists such as Rembrandt and Caravaggio were well known for their contrasty images, often incorporating large areas of black or dark brown which helped emphasise and draw attention to the light areas in their paintings.
 
This one will break the rules a bit but I'm sure you're up for that. Push your contrast and don't be afraid of the dark!
 
So to sum up:
 
June Challenge - Chiaroscuro
Open to - WPS Members only
Submission period - 1st June - 21st June
Results posted on website - 28th June
Judge(s) - Brian and Linda Holland
Maximum 2 entries per Author,  to be posted on PhotoEntry
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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/5/june-photo-challenge Fri, 29 May 2020 12:33:05 GMT
May Photo Challenge Results! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/5/may-photo-challenge-results The May Photo Challenge Results can be found here.

A big thank you for all that entered. Paul Hayward has left some excellent constructive criticism for the images, in a competition that looked very difficult to judge.

A big thank you to Paul, and keep checking the WPS website for information regarding the June Photo Challenge!

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/5/may-photo-challenge-results Thu, 28 May 2020 19:18:56 GMT
Photo Challenge - May https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/4/photo-challenge---may Here are the details of the May Photo Challenge:
 
The theme for May is - 'A Portrait'.
 
This can be a portrait of someone in your household, a selfie, or if you're really stuck, a pet portrait. 
Try to portray something of their character, try to capture a mood or an emotion. Give us something artistic and not just someone sitting in front of the TV fast asleep or a pet fast asleep in their bed. A person fast asleep in the pet bed - well that's a bit more like it! 
The picture can be candid or posed, and lighting and composition are important.  You can use artificial or natural light, it's up to you.
 
Ok, so that's the challenge. Don't be shy - give it a go. Have fun and try to come up with something imaginative. The more creative the better.
 
To sum up:
 
May Challenge - 'A Portrait'
Open to - WPS members only
Max number of entries - 2 per author
Submission period - 1st May - 21st May via PhotoEntry
Results posted on website - 28th May
Judge - Paul Hayward
 
If you don't have access to your PhotoEntry account, just let Stuart or Martyn know, and they will allocate a username and password and take you through the process if you require. Alternatively, just follow the guidance on the club website.
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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/4/photo-challenge---may Thu, 30 Apr 2020 08:50:53 GMT
Photo Challenge Results! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/4/photo-challenge-results The Photo Challenge results for April are available here.

Congratulations to all that entered, it was a tricky subject given the current circumstances.

Please feel free to leave any comments/feedback in the 'Comments' section below.

Details for the "May' Photo Challenge will be posted today.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/4/photo-challenge-results Thu, 30 Apr 2020 07:50:35 GMT
Photo Challenges https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/3/photo-challenges Hi everyone, 

As promised, we are going to replace the current and summer programme with some fun, informal challenges for you to do at home, in the garden or whilst taking your daily exercise outside.

Each monthly challenge will begin on the 1st of the month, and you have up until the 21st of the month to upload your best 2 images onto the club PhotoEntry site.

Each month, one person will be given the task of judging the challenge and will have a week to look at the images and pick his or her 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Highly Commended photos, and if possible, give some feedback. The images will then be uploaded onto the club website for everyone to see.

If you don't have PhotoEntry on your computer, just let Stuart or Martyn know, and they will allocate a username and password and take you through the process if you require. Alternatively, just follow the guidance on the club website.

So, as Spring has recently just sprung, I thought the first challenge for April should be "Spring", or at least your interpretation of "Spring".

Remember that this is not so much a competition as a fun challenge for to keep you entertained and ensure that you don't forget how to use your camera during the forthcoming days of self isolation and social distancing.

So to sum up:

April Challenge - "Spring"

Open to - WPS Members only

Maximum number of entries - 2 per Author

Submission period - 1st April - 21st April

Results posted on website - 28th April

Judge - Martyn Daniel

Stay safe and keep healthy,

Marc

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/3/photo-challenges Sun, 29 Mar 2020 20:47:09 GMT
Announcement https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/3/announcement In line with Government recommendations regarding 'Social Distancing' in the wake of Coronavirus (Covid-19), it has been decided to end the 2019-20 season as of the meeting on 17/03/2020. Announcements regarding the 2020-21 season will be made as and when information is known.

We understand that this is a disappointment, but we believe it is the safest thing to do in order to ensure the safety of our Members.

We are planning to devise an alternative programme that will be run online, so please check this website, the WPS Facebook page, and WPS Whatsapp group, for further information.

In the meantime, please look after yourselves, and we hope to see you all again soon.

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/3/announcement Wed, 18 Mar 2020 08:40:53 GMT
Portfolio Part 1 Results https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/2/portfolio-part-1-results The results from the Portfolio Part 1 evening can be found here.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/2/portfolio-part-1-results Sat, 29 Feb 2020 11:24:15 GMT
Inter-club competition https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/2/inter-club-competition The inter-club competition Oswestry vs Wrexham vs Whitchurch (Away at Wrexham), has been confirmed for 02/03, at 1930.

Find directions here.

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/2/inter-club-competition Thu, 13 Feb 2020 13:02:31 GMT
AV Evening https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/2/av-evening The results of the AV evening, along with the top 3 entries in the 'Pictures to Music' category can be found here.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/2/av-evening Thu, 06 Feb 2020 23:50:09 GMT
Images added https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/1/images-added Images from the last competition of 2019 (set subject - 'Movement'), have been added to the results page, which can be found here.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2020/1/images-added Sun, 19 Jan 2020 11:37:20 GMT
2019-20 Programme Updates https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/12/2019-20-programme-updates Due to availability, we've had to make a couple of changes to our Programme.

Click here to go to the updated 2019-20 Programme page, or here to open a PDF of the Programme.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/12/2019-20-programme-updates Wed, 25 Dec 2019 11:44:05 GMT
First competition of 2019-20! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/10/first-competition-of-2019-20 It's always good to get the first competition of the season out of the way, and that's what happened when the 'Open' competition took place on Tuesday, October 8th.

An opportunity to see what everyone has been pointing their lenses at since the last competition of the 2018-19 season, which seems like it was such a long time ago!

Have a look at the results and winning images here.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/10/first-competition-of-2019-20 Sun, 13 Oct 2019 10:45:35 GMT
Paper Supplies https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/9/paper-supplies PhotoPaper.co.uk supply fine art and photoquality digital inkjet papers at competitive prices, and they are offering WPS members a 5% discount, if you use the code 'WHITCHURCHPS5'.

Visit them at www.photopaper.co.uk

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/9/paper-supplies Fri, 20 Sep 2019 20:44:38 GMT
Paul Hayward Exhibition https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/9/paul-hayward-exhibition Paul Hayward is hosting an exhibition of his photographs, in Jones's, Green End, Whitchurch, this month.

The exhibition is based on portraits taken in Tuscany, and part-influenced by Italian painters, and based on the concept of 'Photographer turned Painter'.

For those interested in creating stories as well as images, there is an opportunity to write a short story based on the photographs.

Go along, support Paul and your local coffee shop!

http://www.jonescoffeehouse.com/

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/9/paul-hayward-exhibition Fri, 13 Sep 2019 21:51:58 GMT
The 2019 - 2020 season is almost here! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/9/the-2019---2020-season-is-almost-here The first meeting of the new season takes place at 1930, on Tuesday September 17th.

This meeting will include a demonstration of how to upload your images to the 'PhotoEntry' system, which we will be using for both 'print' & 'PDI' competitions.

You should all have registered with the PhotoEntry system by now, but if you haven't, please have a read of the guide, which you can find here.

We look forward to seeing you all!

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/9/the-2019---2020-season-is-almost-here Fri, 13 Sep 2019 21:41:59 GMT
Exhibition - 'Postcards from Chernobyl' https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/8/exhibition---postcards-from-chernobyl Brian Law has an exhibition of his Chernobyl photographs, taking place in Macclesfield from August 23rd through to September 14th.

You may remember Brian from judging our 'Like a Painting' competition last season, and this exhibition is well worth a visit.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/8/exhibition---postcards-from-chernobyl Wed, 07 Aug 2019 08:18:39 GMT
Paul collects gold https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/7/paul-collects-gold After his recent win at the London Salon with his image 'Nude, Chair and Bed', Paul Hayward has collected his gold medal.

Paul credits one of last year's 'set subjects', 'Like a Painting', as the inspiration for the winning image.

Congratulations, Paul!

Paul collects gold Paul collects gold

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/7/paul-collects-gold Fri, 26 Jul 2019 05:53:34 GMT
Summer Programme https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/6/summer-proogramme Don't forget that the first summer meeting is on Tuesday, June 18th, starting at 1930.

The theme is 'Preparing images for PDIs and Printing', and is hosted by Stuart and Sandy.

It promises to be an interesting evening, and it'll be great to see everyone again. The last meeting seems such a long time ago!

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/6/summer-proogramme Wed, 12 Jun 2019 21:06:18 GMT
Another win for Paul... https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/6/another-win-for-paul Our member, Paul Hayward, is having a very successful time this year with his competition entries in National and International competitions.

He has just been informed that he has won a Gold medal at the London Salon for his image “Nude, Chair and Bed”.

Many congratulations, Paul!

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/6/another-win-for-paul Tue, 04 Jun 2019 20:12:55 GMT
'Image of the Year' 2018-19 Results https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/4/image-of-the-year-2018-19-results The 2018-19 season finale was a tough competition to judge. It was a busy night, with a lot of entries to get through,  but Jon Baker gave excellent feedback and criticism on what will be his last visit to Whitchurch in a judging capacity.

Full results can be found here.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/4/image-of-the-year-2018-19-results Wed, 17 Apr 2019 22:03:57 GMT
Whitchurch v Marchwiel https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/3/whitchurch-v-marchwiel Another good battle against our neighbours, Marchwiel. 

Full results can be found here.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/3/whitchurch-v-marchwiel Sat, 30 Mar 2019 10:35:57 GMT
Portfolio Results https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/3/portfolio-results Many excellent entries this evening, for the second part of the 'Portfolio' competition, comprising of 'Street', 'Nature' and 'Open' categories.

With the scores very close after the fist round on 26/02, it was all to play for tonight, and the very deserving winner was.... Marc Brimble.

Full results can be found here.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/3/portfolio-results Tue, 26 Mar 2019 23:24:56 GMT
'It's a Knockout' PDI results https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/3/it-s-a-knockout-results Another good turnout on Tuesday for the 'It's a Knockout' PDI competition, with wildlife images taking all of the top spots.

Results can be found here.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/3/it-s-a-knockout-results Thu, 21 Mar 2019 20:10:27 GMT
3 Counties Photography Open https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/3/3-counties-photography-open Here are the details of the competition mentioned on Tuesday, 05/03.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/3/3-counties-photography-open Wed, 06 Mar 2019 08:18:28 GMT
Portfolio Competition Results https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/3/portfolio-competition-results At the halfway point of the 2018-19 Portfolio competition, the scores are very close, and there are a good number of people who could win it, depending upon how they do in the second round, which takes place on 26/03.

Results can be found here.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/3/portfolio-competition-results Fri, 01 Mar 2019 13:59:01 GMT
3 Towns Battle Results https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/2/3-towns-battle The results of the '3 Towns Battle' of Oswestry v Wrexham v Whitchurch can be found here.

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/2/3-towns-battle Mon, 25 Feb 2019 20:17:42 GMT
It was a knockout! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/2/it-was-a-knockout A great turnout and a good number of entries for the first ever print version of the 'It's a Knockout' competition held by the club.

It wasn't just quantity though, the quality of the images was impressive, making it difficult to judge. This was proven by the number of times the 3 member 'adjudication party' was called on to decide which image would go through to the next round.

It was good to see some new names at the top of the scoreboard, and unusually, no wildlife images made the top 4!

Results can be found here.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/2/it-was-a-knockout Wed, 20 Feb 2019 12:23:00 GMT
Trip to Slimbridge https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/2/trip-to-slimbridge The club is having a trip to Slimbridge Wetland Centre on Saturday and Sunday, 16th and 17th February 2019.

 

Information about the Centre can be found here - Slimbridge Wetland centre

 

For more information, please contact Marc Brimble.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/2/trip-to-slimbridge Tue, 12 Feb 2019 22:06:18 GMT
Changes to the Programme https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/1/changes-to-the-programme Just a quick note about some updates to the 2018-19 Programme:

12-Mar-19   Lecture    John Cartlidge - Ink Expressions. This event has been cancelled. In its place we are going to have a Member’s evening, "The Good, The Bad, and the 'Could be Improved'!", split into two halves:

  • In the first half, some of the committee members will bring in prints which have had faults pointed out by judges in competitions for people to try to spot.
  • In the second half we will look at prints and PDIs that members think aren’t good and would like to improve, for general feedback, so please bring in a couple of prints or PDIs that you think could be improved, but aren't sure what should be done to improve it.

20-Feb-19 Inter-Club Oswestry vs Wrexham vs Whitchurch (AWAY - Oswestry date TBC). The date has now been confirmed, and is on Wednesday, February 20th, at the Sweeney Hall Hotel, Oswestry. Start time is 19:30. We have been warned that we should arrive early as the car park is not that big and it gets VERY busy.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2019/1/changes-to-the-programme Fri, 25 Jan 2019 22:08:46 GMT
New club computer https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/12/new-club-computer I was very pleased that the Committee agreed to my proposal to replace the club computer with a new one. We now have it! Here is a bit of information about it, and about what we are doing with our old Sony computer.

Our old Sony computer has a few limitations. It's battery is weak, its screen is only 1440x900 (which doesn't work well with our Canon projector which will project our PDIs at 1400x1050), it runs Windows 7 and is rather slow. However it has plenty of memory to run any photographic software we might like to use, and works fine when on its mains charger.

Our new computer was made to my specification by PC Specialists Ltd in Wakefield. I have bought my last 3 computers from them, and have been very impressed by their service, support, prices and product quality. By specifying most components in the machine where choice is available (for example, the screen, RAM, hard drive, solid state drive, graphics card etc) you can get a PC which suits your need at an optimised price. So we now have a Cosmos laptop, with a fast 256GB solid state drive, 8GB of fast RAM, a 1TB hard drive, a 1920x1080 screen, a mid speed i5 processor and Windows 10. It made it's debut for the Set Subject competition, although the projection was a bit yellow and so I need to set it up for our projector with ColorMunki when I get the chance. It has a 4K output in its HDMI port so if we upgrade our projector in future (a much more expensive proposition) then it will work well with that.

Amongst the software we have for it is Microsoft Office 2016, so all emails to me now come directly to this computer using my favourite email program Outlook. This avoids me having to move you PDIs from one computer to another. Before the end of the season I hope that we will introduce a new system for PDI entry called PhotoEntry, but more of that later when we are ready to introduce it.

So what of our Sony computer? We have decided to make it available on loan to all club members, and so have bought some software for members to try. So you can try Adobe's Lightroom and Photoshop Elements (PSE), but these are older versions which will run on a PC rather than on the Cloud. However they can give you a good flavour of how they work, and if you don't have either of these and decide that one suits you, them you can get the latest version for your computer and will get a few newer features with it.

Many people aspire to the full version of Photoshop when their photo editing needs get beyond what Lightroom or PSE can give. It's a great program, but only available now on the Cloud and is rather expensive I think (around £140 per year). Especially when there's an equally good program available for less than either of those Adobe products. This is Serif's program Affinity Photo. There's a copy on the Sony computer now for you to try. Plus there are lots of excellent Serif online tutorials (as well as plenty of third party ones on youtube) to help you. I also have a Serif workbook (a large, hardback book) of help and tutorials using downloadable example files to get you up and running quickly.

All of the PDIs submitted to WPS competitions in the last few years are on this computer. These are there to show you how the programs work. Obviously they are still the copyright of the authors, so they are there for your inspiration and instruction only.

Lightroom and PSE have their own inbuilt catalogues for browsing the photos, but Affinity doesn't have this. So there's an alternative program which I use all the time, XnViewMP, a free program which is far better than the Adobe catalogues in my view. If you move pictures using any program other than the Serif one (eg Windows Explorer), then the Adobe catalogue "loses" the photo - you can see its thumbnail still, but you can't open the original file as the program has lost its location. I found this very frustrating when using these Adobe programs. You can do what you like with your photos using XnViewMP, it will always find them.

There are also other free programs on the Sony, for browsing, editing and resizing your photos. If there were a demand, we would consider getting others to try.

"OK, how do I borrow it?"

Easy, just ask me, and we can consult the loan diary and put you in. Presently I'm offering loans of 2 weeks at a time, but if no-one else has booked it after you, then you can hang onto it for longer if you wish.

 

Stuart Ord

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/12/new-club-computer Sun, 23 Dec 2018 21:44:46 GMT
Competition results published https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/12/competition-results-published Results of the competitions for the current season are now all on the site.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/12/competition-results-published Sun, 23 Dec 2018 20:41:12 GMT
End of 2018 https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/12/end-of-2018 As usual, our final meeting of the year was a social evening in the club room with a quiz, a couple of rounds of Irish bingo, a raffle, toss-a-pound-at-a-bottle-of-whiskey competition, and of course a splendid buffet spread.

Thanks to all who came and made it a pleasant evening.

Many thanks to Sandy for getting the food and drink.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/12/end-of-2018 Sun, 23 Dec 2018 20:39:50 GMT
New competition rules published! https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/9/new-competition-rules-published Members please note that the Competition Rules have been re-written to make them easier to read and hopefully easier to understand. They are a  bit longer than before, but I hope I've laid them out in a logical way that is easy to follow and with helpful explanations. See the "Members Area / Download comp'n rules" drop-down to download your copy.

 

There is also a summary table of competition requirements and dates for ease of reference on the page "Members Area / Competition Rules". On the same page, at the bottom, there is also a revised diagram showing the correct sizing of PDIs as the previous diagram seemed to be confusing to some people.

 

I will talk about them on 25th September and provide some handouts for those without a printer.

 

Stuart

24/9/18

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/9/new-competition-rules-published Mon, 24 Sep 2018 09:09:18 GMT
Summer programme fun https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/7/summer-programme-fun We had several indoor setups for members to try out. Dave brought some wineglasses in a lightbox and a dish of oil/water with colourful backgrounds to make nice abstract images. Stuart brought some smaller winglasses and a splash scene with members trying to catch the splashes as a strawberry hit coloured water in a wineglass. A variation of the theme will be held on 21st August featuring kitchen utensils.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/7/summer-programme-fun Thu, 26 Jul 2018 07:13:55 GMT
Final meeting of the year https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/5/final-meeting-of-the-year Our 2017-18 season closed on 1st May with the annual presentation of trophies and certificates to club members. Chris Goodie announced the winners of each competition (quite often himself!) and presented the trophies and certificates, with Marian passing the correct ones to him (proving that "behind every successful man is a successful woman"). The results are all shown on the Competition Results pages. Several of the trophies were new ones, presented to the club by Chris and Marian.

Over 30 trophies were presented.

Here are some of the presentations -

 

Dave Munn received the trophy for winning the Open print competition for his image "Harvest Mouse".

 

Josh Sedgley receives the trophy for winning the Image of the Year (PDI) competition for his image "Snowfall".

 

Marc Brimble received the trophy for the Open competition (mono print) for his image "Dog tired".

 

John Edge received the trophy for winning the "Set subject" competition with his image "Heroes are not forgotten".

 

Paul Hayward received the certificate for winning the "Image of the Year" competition (mono prints) with his image "Looking at you".

 

After the presentations, but before we were allowed to eat, we were subjected to two rounds of bingo led by John.  We were convinced there were more than 99 tiles in that bingo set....

... but eventually someone won!

 

Finally we were treated to a great finger buffet organised by Sandy.

 

 

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/5/final-meeting-of-the-year Tue, 15 May 2018 09:22:48 GMT
Library exhibition in Whitchurch https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/3/library-exhibition-in-whitchurch On Thursday and Friday this week we had over 20 of our members' images exhibited in Whitchurch Library as part of an event highlighting local groups and organisations.

The images made quite an impact and there was a lot of interest in them. The library was very busy and there was a very pleasant atmosphere. Thanks to John for organising the display and to several members for manning the display.

 


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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/3/library-exhibition-in-whitchurch Fri, 23 Mar 2018 22:51:54 GMT
Mark Wilbrey lecture https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/3/mark-wilbrey-lecture It was with considerable sadness that we welcomed Mark Wilbrey again to our club on 13th March to give his final lecture to us before leaving to live in another part of the country. We have had many enjoyable evenings with Mark, and would all like to wish him bon voyage and hope he enjoys his new home.

This week, Mark told us about the pleasure he gets in making images by an unorthodox wet process. He prints digital images onto acetate sheets, then contact prints these onto home-made emulsions. Some of the resulting images resemble sepia tones, and other are blue. We were all much impressed by the interesting artistic nature of the results.

In the second half of his talk, he discussed his interest in street photography. He is a great believer in using a small, inobtrusive rangefinder camera to take his street photographs. He showed a number of examples of his work.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2018/3/mark-wilbrey-lecture Sat, 17 Mar 2018 23:32:41 GMT
2017-18 starts at a hectic pace https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2017/10/2017-18-starts-at-a-hectic-pace WPS has a new committee member for IT and the website, the previous incumbent Chris Middleton having passed on the role to Stuart Ord at the end of last season. Stuart would like to thank Chris on behalf of the club for his great work in keeping the website in good order and keeping the IT equipment going, managing competitions held at WPS, managing WPS entries to external compeitions, and so on.

The new 2017-18 season started on 19th September with an address by our new Chairman Marc Brimble. Marc gave us an interesting presentation  on his interests in photography, and a look-forwards to the season's competitions.

The following week we welcomed Jill Bunting who gave a talk on AVs. She explained the basics of making an AV using PicturesToExe software, and then illustrated this with a number of her AVs which were widely enjoyed.

To help WPS members consolidate Jill's information, the following week we welcomed WPS member Marion Goody who gave her own presentation on making AVs. Hopefully as a result we will see more entries in our club internal "friendly" AV competition in December.

The first competition of the season was held on 10th October, with external judge and regular visitor to WPS Mark Wilbrey entertaining up with his comments and insights into the prints and PDIs which had been entered by club members. 

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2017/10/2017-18-starts-at-a-hectic-pace Tue, 17 Oct 2017 20:40:34 GMT
2016 Summer and 2016-17 Season Programme Now Published https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2016/5/2016-summer-and-2016-17-season-programme-now-published

 

Many thanks to all the attendees of the AGM who gave input to this next years programme.

 

The 3 summer sessions and next years Programme is now available to view on the WPS website under the programme link.

We have put the programme together with knowledge sharing and learning being key.  We believe there is something for everyone..!

 

Enjoy the holiday period and see you at the summer meets or the start of next Season 20th September 2016.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2016/5/2016-summer-and-2016-17-season-programme-now-published Tue, 03 May 2016 15:06:45 GMT
VIP Lecture: John Edge by Patrick Miles https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2016/5/vip-lecture-john-edge-by-patrick-miles  

John Edge in full swing Last night we were treated to a wonderful VIP lecture by our President John Edge.  He started with a presentation on the 54 years of Whitchurch Photographic Society from the early days when we met above the chemist in town (now Boots).  Other former venues were seen plus great images of members past and present including Dr Dayus, Andy and Jean Betteridge, Peter Cooke and John himself. The second half was a step back in time too with an audio-visual presentation of slides on the theme of Light. Various slide processes were illustrated with many images showing John’s creativity in tweaking the colours and effects in the images long before digital. The images and music together made for a very relaxing and enjoyable evening.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2016/5/vip-lecture-john-edge-by-patrick-miles Tue, 03 May 2016 15:02:44 GMT
Proposed Change to the Competition Rules of Whitchurch Photographic Society https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2015/12/proposed-change-to-the-competition-rules-of-whitchurch-photographic-society Background: 

 

The rules of the Society have stood for many years and have served their purpose well. Recently, however, we have experienced technical failures which, through no fault of any individual, have resulted in Projected Digital Image entries not being shown or awarded a score. This has the potential to cause problems at the end of the year when the scores contribute to the final placings and the annual awards are made; not to mention the potential for distress during the year.

 

To date members of the organising committee have managed the situation but it was felt that the time was right to put in place a process for handling such an eventuality. The committee is, therefore, proposing an addition to the competition rules. This will be Rule 12 and it is presented here for consideration by the membership of the society.

 

Proposal:

 

Rule 12. In the event that a Projected Digital Image (PDI) is not scored in a competition as the result of a technical failure the competition secretary shall in the first instance approach the judge of that competition and ask them to award a mark after the event.

 

If, for any reason, the judge feels unable to award a mark then the current selection committee will be asked to award a mark. This will be done at a regular selection committee. If no selection committee is scheduled then the selection committee will be convened by the competition secretary at the earliest opportunity and a mark shall be awarded.The author of a PDI under consideration by the selection committee shall not be party to the award of a mark.

 

In either event the mark shall stand as the official mark and will be recorded with the other marks for that competition.

 

Decision Required:

 

The membership is asked to consider the proposal for Rule 12. Any proposed amendments are to be given, in writing, to the Chair. The new rule and any amendments will be considered at an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held prior to the club night on 5th January 2016.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2015/12/proposed-change-to-the-competition-rules-of-whitchurch-photographic-society Wed, 09 Dec 2015 10:23:08 GMT
Created In Camera Club Competition https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2015/11/created-in-camera-club-competition Well what I good fun, informative night this was.  The brain child of our chairman, Paul Nash.  The intention was to attempt to do 3 things:

  • A Fun Night
  • All members involvement
  • A safe environment.

I believe all these above were met.  We certainly had a lot of members taking part and hopefully getting lots of learning.

The completion was about generating a fairly level playing field.  The entries were to be straight out the camera, i.e no Photoshop wizardry.  Each entry was spoken about by the author, why they took it and did they manage to create what they intended. It certainly helped me critique my own work and I hope others felt the same.

The pleasing thing was the number of entries which was quite high compared to normal competitions. SO I am hoping this has broken the ice for some and we will see more entries in to our club competitions.

Next one is a themed competition titled "Looking Down". The judge has been informed that either the subject is looking down or the author...!

Hand in is 10 November at the club.

Well done to all who had a go.

The image is titled "Guess What Happened Next" by Chris Goody

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2015/11/created-in-camera-club-competition Thu, 05 Nov 2015 15:47:05 GMT
15 Things You Should Know...... https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2015/11/15-things-you-should-know Hi all, a couple of weeks ago I did  presentation  called "15 Things You Need To Know About Your Camera"  There was no intention to teach grandma to suck eggs at all.  The purpose was to bring out things that you may not have been familiar with or forgotten about.  It sparked some good conversation and brought out how others do things in a slightly different way.

For me getting to know how to use exposure compensation, how to move the focal point around the view finder and perhaps the Highlight Alert would bring great gains to helping create better sharper images with all the detail that is required.

I said I would share the Bryan Peterson You Tube video Perfect Picture - you will find it here.

Also handout that pretty well covers the things i mentioned will be found here.

There is no magic to better photography but being aware how to control your camera to ensure focus and detail is captured perfectly will go a long way to ensure you capture That Perfect Picture.

Happy snapping

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2015/11/15-things-you-should-know Thu, 05 Nov 2015 15:32:33 GMT
Charlie Waite Evening 15th September 2015 - Market Drayton https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2015/9/charlie-waite-evening-15th-spetember-2015

After months of anticipation finally our ‘Evening with Charlie Waite’ at The Festival Drayton Centre had arrived. 

Charlie is one of the greatest and best-loved landscape photographers and teachers in the UK and this made the evening quite a coup for Whitchurch Photographic Society. 

In front of a large and appreciative audience Charlie, with his easy manner and gentle humour, started with a series of monochromes which were important influences in the development of his love of photography.  Henri Cartier-Bresson’s image of Flora running up the steps on the Greek island of Sifnos is one which stands out. Why does the photograph work so well? Charlie was able to point out the importance of the myriad of right angles throughout the image including Flora’s elbow.

We were then presented with Charlie’s own images taken all around the world from Uruguay to China, from Libya to Morocco and not forgetting Wiltshire. His colour image of Uffington with its beautiful sunlit valley leading to a dark horizon beyond and a wonderful sky was just one of a series of beautifully crafted images.

Charlie offered much advice throughout this wonderfully entertaining evening not least the importance of using a ladder!  Oh, if it was only that easy.

Thanks must go to the Committee for their boldness in booking Charlie Waite all those months ago. Thanks also to Keith in particular for actively pushing the ticket sales and the impressive raffle on the night. Our own images on display in the gallery all added to a very successful and enjoyable evening.​

 

Patrick Miles

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2015/9/charlie-waite-evening-15th-spetember-2015 Fri, 18 Sep 2015 14:59:30 GMT
Charlie Waite is coming to town https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2015/4/charlie-waite-is-coming-to-town To see more about charlie follow http://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/charliewaite.pdf

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2015/4/charlie-waite-is-coming-to-town Wed, 01 Apr 2015 20:00:00 GMT
Mark Wilbrey and The Photographers Diet https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2015/1/mark-wilbrey-and-the-photographers-diet Speakers at Whitchurch Photographic Society are often informative and entertaining but seldom, if ever are they subversive. Last night we were treated to subversion at its very best as Mark Wilbrey once again showed that there is more than one way to look at a photograph.

We have had speakers who made us laugh, we have had speakers who gave us toys to play with but last night we were given a group exercise to complete. There was an outcome: we described interpreted and evaluated images as they appeared across a wide range of print media. Pictures are more than just a view of composition, exposure, sharpness and presentation we need to be looking at the thing, time and the vantage point.

On this journey to subvert the conventional view of photography we looked at the work of Bresson, Ansel Adams, Bob Baker, Stieglitz and Ronald Haeberle amongst others, and what a journey. Once again Mark has proved himself an expert in his field and has demonstrated a style that informs and entertains. Last night was part one of two, I for one can’t wait until next week.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Speakers https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2015/1/mark-wilbrey-and-the-photographers-diet Wed, 28 Jan 2015 15:30:33 GMT
Images to Music and Documentary 9th December 2014 https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/12/images-to-music-and-documentary Re-arrange the following into a well known phrase or saying:

Edge A Accuracy Hind Knot Lost Town

It was, indeed, John Edge that showed how it should be done in last night’s images to music and documentary competition with his projector, memory stick and CD player.

We were treated to a wide range of offerings that provided great entertainment and they stand as a tribute to member’s skill and patience in mastering what is a new medium for most people. In the documentary section the offerings ranged from a beautifully told story of a journey to a motorcycle exhibition with music, sound effects and a clever mix of moving images and photographs to an entertaining and informative talk with slides on the Exploding Finch. However it was John Edge’s Blue Planet complete with cardboard cut out special effects that took the prize.

In the Images to Music section we had our first taste of pictures taken from a drone (I strongly suspect we will see more of that) then a more traditional selection of images from Africa with a beautiful African sound track. This was followed by Shropshire Flowers, stunning images with a rag time backing. Once again though it was John Edge telling the story of his dream of flying through a talk with slides and images that ranged from current pictures of the Red Arrows to fifty year old prints of a very young Mr Edge.

The Images to Music competition was close with only three points separating fourth and second but John took first place with a winning score of 174 as decided by the members. Informal, fun evenings like this one play their part in making the Society a friendly community of interests and they provide a break from the rigours of competition.

Our next competition will be the Panel Evening on the 13thth January: this is a new club competition and we look forward to having some interesting entries. The 13th is also the hand in date for “This Year’s Work” and open club competition which will be judged by John Swanwick on the 20th January.

Next week is the Christmas Bash! We look forward to seeing you there. The answer to the poser at the beginning? “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Competition https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/12/images-to-music-and-documentary Wed, 10 Dec 2014 09:58:56 GMT
Set Subject Competition (Movement) Tuesday 18th November 2014 https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/11/set-subject-competition-movement-tuesday-18th-november-2014 I think Paul Hayward put it very well "Never have my images been dismissed with such charm". Tremaine Cornish entertained us in his own particular style as he judged a wide range of photographic interpretations of this year's set subject. Tremaine managed to combine humour with objectivity and at the end of the evening we had strong winners from the colour and mono prints and the PDIs.

 Top scores in the colour prints were:

TITLE

AUTHOR

Score

 

 

 

Hovering Bee

Chris Middleton

20

Kingfisher Hovering

Alan Heath

20

River of Dreams

John Edge

20

 

Top scores in the mono prints were:

 

Arctic Reindeer on the Run

Geraldine Stephenson

20

The Big Shake

Chris Middleton

20

Daniel Costello (Flat Out)

John Edge

19

Windswept

Libby Middleton

19

 

Top scores in the PDIs were:

 

Take Two

Geraldine Stephenson

20

Bridgnorth Bound

Keith Roberts

19

Two Peppers

Peter Cook

18

 

Hovering Bee by Chris MiddletonHovering BeeHovering Bee by Chris Middleton

There were scoring images for the top five places and these can be seen in the Competition Results section of the website.

 

As with all competitions there was good healthy debate about the results, particularly in the PDIs: no one doubted that the winners were worthy images but there were questions about the sharpness of some of the projected images which will need some closer investigation in the near future.

 

All in all this was a good club competition which showed once again the strength of the talent within the club and the quality of the images which are being put forward by an ever increasing number of the membership.

 

Next week it's Andy Polakowski "Apology for Photographers" an illustrated journey from film to digital.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Competition https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/11/set-subject-competition-movement-tuesday-18th-november-2014 Thu, 20 Nov 2014 13:43:56 GMT
Natwitch vs Whitchurch: Judge, Tilman Kleinhans https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/11/natwitch-vs-whitchurch-judge-tilman-kleinhans There are interclub competitions and there are interclub competitions but this was a very tense one. The standard of entry in both the print and DPI sections was very high and with a full house of members from both clubs Tilman had his work cut out.

The scoring covered a wide range of marks in order that the judge could create space between the entries; a range of 15 to 20 wouldn't have separated them out sufficiently so the lowest mark awarded was 13. As the marks were awarded the tension became palpable; some were held back for further consideration and we had to wait. In the end two prints were awarded top marks, one from each club.

After a coffee break and a chance to talk to members of the visiting club and to engage new members visiting for the first time it was back for the DPIs. The quality of the images was relentless and each new photograph drew murmurs of approval. There was a wide range of marks once again and a selection of images held back: One by one they were scored; 17, 18, 19 until the final scores of 20.

A brief wait whilst the scores were totalled to ensure that they agreed with the computer and Nantwich took the night 511 points to 490 winning the PDI section by 254 to 246 and the print section 257 to 244. Top scores for Whitchurch came from Geraldine's Marmalade Fly in the PDI's and Chris Goody's Buttress, Gibbs Fjord in the print section. An excellent evening and if it's an indication of the interclub competitions to come then we have more enjoyable evenings in store. Congratulations to Nantwich and many thanks for enabling a great evening of photographic competition and thank you to Tilman Keinhans for his excellent judging of a competition of very high standards.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Competition https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/11/natwitch-vs-whitchurch-judge-tilman-kleinhans Mon, 10 Nov 2014 14:53:33 GMT
What The Judge Said https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/10/what-the-judge-said Open Competition Results 14/10/2014 Place Name Title PDIs     First Keith Roberts The Ploughing Match Second Keith Roberts Horse Power Third Paul Hardern F15 Pulls Up Out Of Low Level Equal Fifth Val Garrett Fishing Gannet   John Davies Play Time Colour Prints     First Paul Hayward Classical Pose Second Allan heath Corn Bunting Carrying Food Third Patrick Miles Stormy Skies Over The Langdales Fourth Chris Middleton Mid Air Ambush Equal Fifth Paul Hardern F15 With Flare   Val Garrett Elusive Scottish Wildcat Mono Prints     First Chris Goody Buttress - Gibbs Fjord Second Geraldine Stephenson Paw Prints In The Snow Third Paul Hardern F15 Heading For Home Fourth Chris Goody A Flight Of Brunnich's Guillemots Equal Fifth Allan Heath Running Out Of Steam   Allan Heath Jennifer Hutt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Open Competition threw up some great entries both from established society members and members who are entering prints and PDIs for the first time this year; I'm sure we gave the judge John Hoogerwerf lots to think about. The session on Tuesday 21st which looked back at the Judge's comments made for an equally interesting evening which provided much humour and food for thought. It's a measure of the shared interest and friendliness within the society that members are able to comment on the outcome of competitions.

All in all there were some useful lessons learned: the use of warm and cold colours to create tension withing a picture and the importance of not "over cooking colour". There were also interesting observations while some PDIs which were well composed didn't do as well as some which broke the rules which means it's sometimes better to go with your instincts and capture the moment.

While we might not always agree with what the judge said we value their opinion and we appreciate the time they take to come to our Tuesday night sessions and make the competitions possible.

For those members who wish to pt their skills in a competition that is a little more challenging the closing date for the Smethwick International Exhibition is the 10th November. This is a prestigious competition and will get you onto the International Circuit if you get an acceptance. The details are here:

www.spsinternationalexhibition.com

Members of the committee who have previous experience of entering at this level will be happy to offer advice and guidance.

Also the Wrekin Salon which attracts some 5000 International entries is open for submissions. Closing date is 5th November and details of entries are here:

http://www.wrekinarts.com/Salon%202014/salon.htm  

Next week it's the Interclub competition with Nantwich and Tilman Kleinhans is judging; see you there.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) 2014 Competition https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/10/what-the-judge-said Thu, 23 Oct 2014 12:59:52 GMT
October 2014 Open Club Competition https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/10/october-2014-open-club-competition The first Club Competition is now done and dusted and I think a few surprises were had..!

We had the pleasure of John Hoogerwerf judging who provided a very good humoured session.  It was nice to have banter with the audience which I feel helps make an enjoyable competition.

First up were the monochrome prints and what a selection there was.  John commented all the way through that the prints were of a very good standard and was struggling to separate them  So he decided that the ones he was not placing in the top 6 were all equal 7th..  I must admit John had received the images the week before so was well aware of what was coming and had already separated out his winners..  I was holding on hoping that my 'Cragside' image was going to make it, but sadly appeared just before he was getting to the winners.  The winner of the Monochrome section was Chris Goody with his print of the 'Buttress Gibbs Fjord' closely followed by Geraldine Stephenson with 'Paw Prints in The Snow'. For third we were impressed once agin with an image of Paul Hardern's 'F15 Heading Home'..

John quickly then followed with the Colour Print Section and I must say the quality in this section was outstanding.  John must have had a real challenge trying to pick out his winners.  But alas when Paul Haywards image 'Classical Pose' was presented it was stunning.  In 2nd Place was Allan Heath with 'Corn Bunting' with Patrick Miles pipping myself with is image of 'Stormy Skies'.

The PDI section followed after a short break and I was in panic mode as not all images had been imported to the DiCentra Software again..  But I got there and we had another selection of stunning images. John had got the "Held Back" images down to 6 and then deliberated on his placings..  It was a great result for Keith Roberts to take 1st and 2nd place with 'The Ploughing Match' and 'Horse Power' respectively.  John was very taken with the Tension in the picture.  The red tractor going away being closet to the author and the Blue one advancing being further away. Keith commented after how the comments from members the week before had enabled him to improve his Horse Power image and so getting second place.  For me that is what this great Society is about, the sharing of ideas and support..  Well done Keith.  In 3rd place was Paul Hardern with another stunning image 'F15 Pulls Up Out of Low Level'.

A great night and one of good interaction.

 

Full results can be viewed here October 2014 Results

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/10/october-2014-open-club-competition Fri, 17 Oct 2014 09:13:00 GMT
The Dr Deyus Lecture 2014 https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/10/the-dr-deys-lecture-2014 The bell rang, the room settled and John Edge, the President of the Society said “Good evening”. You just know it’s going to be a good night. People come into the room determined to make the night a success. Tuesday saw our first guest speaker for the traditional Dr Deyus Lecture and it was an evening not to be missed.

Things got off to a frantic beginning; this was the hand in deadline for this year’s first club competition for an open subject: up to two colour prints, two monochrome prints and two projected digital images. A brief glance said that there were a big number of entries and the standard was high. Next Tuesday is going to be an exciting evening – don’t miss it.

It was Carl Wright’s first experience of Whitchurch Photographic Society and so there was high expectation of something different; we were not disappointed. While the “Ten Step digital Workflow” had the potential to go awry instead it took us into areas of interesting questions, knowledgeable facts and wry humour. Be you and expert or a beginner there was something for everybody and while we considered why we took photographs in the first place Carl beguiled us with a small number of images taken with the latest Fuji X-T1. He challenged us to think about why we used a DSLR and made us think about what kind of images we wanted to take and whether we might not be better considering other tools of the trade.

Carl spent time talking about prime lenses and the creative possibilities of apertures of f2 and how effective they can be in low light environments. While this sounds obvious it challenged the received wisdom of needing to have a DSLR and a selection of lenses and brought creativity and imagination to the fore. This was a good night and one which I think members will reflect on for a while to come.

You can find out more about Carl’s work here: http://www.teach-me-photography.co.uk/

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Dr Deyus Lecture https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/10/the-dr-deys-lecture-2014 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 20:06:21 GMT
Summer Gems https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/10/summer-gems Ooohs, ahhhs and gasps with a little gentle critique and comment; that was last night’s Summer Gems evening. A good turnout of the membership and thirteen contributors made for an excellent evening. The first half began with a proxy presentation from Libby and Chris Middleton with some eye popping nature shots and dreamy landscapes; then Chris Goody took us further north with some of his signature nature shots and an impressive landscape shot of Gibbs Fjord which led to an interesting insight into the use of portrait formatting for landscapes. Geraldine followed up with an image of a Drinker Moth that just happened to drop into her house, some humour with a captive penguin and a great close up of a Walrus taken in the wild.

John Davies brought us back to England with haunting Yorkshire landscapes while John Edge took us to Wales for some early morning and late evening drama. John’s image of Porth Penrhyn Mawr taken after sunset in the afterglow reminded us all that even though the sun has tipped below the horizon there are still dramatic photographs to be had if you’re patient. The first half finished back home with Keith’s photographs taken at harvest time and some notable shots from the Cruckton ploughing match showing that you don’t always have to cross lines of latitude to get some great images.

After much discussion over coffee and custard creams during the break it fell to Lucy to get part two off to a great start. From the Giant’s Causeway to a stunning picture of the canons firing out to sea in Malta the members were treated to some visually interesting and entertaining images which have become her trade mark. Patrick’s photographs were a reflection of his usual high standard but it has to be said that we were all taken by his Per Ardua ad Astra which showed off his talent for capturing the key elements of architecture.

Paul Bolton continued the travel theme taking us first to the north and a lighthouse on the edge of a bumpy airfield and then east to Budapest and some great townscapes. When it came to the Chairman’s turn Paul showed a range of this year’s work from butterflies on buddleia to walking on water in Anglesey. Val stole the show with stunning images of sea birds skimming the waves, a compulsory picture of polar bears this time in captivity and a brilliant action shot from this year’s test match at Old Trafford which I suspect will win a competition or two this year.

It fell to Alan Heath to close the evening which he did in his usual style with three brilliant shots of Australian Native birds and then a side to Alan’s photography we don’t often see: three shots of performers from this year’s folk festival. We had a brief but interesting insight into high ISO photography in difficult conditions which I’m sure will lead to something for a member’s evening in the not too distant future.

Next week is the Dr Deyus Lecture: Carl Wright on “The 10 Stage Digital Workflow” and it’s also the hand in date for the Open Club Competition on the 14th which will be judged by John Hoogerwerf, entertaining evenings in prospect.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) 2014 Gems Summer https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/10/summer-gems Wed, 01 Oct 2014 08:30:36 GMT
Start of the 2014/15 Season - Chairman's Evening https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/9/start-of-the-2014/15-season---chairmans-evening  

The start was not auspicious – a lack of software on the society’s laptop delayed the beginning whilst a substitute was found and as Chris Goody was dispatched the retrieve the much needed equipment the members made best use of the time to admire the exhibitions: a portfolio of monochrome prints from Libby Middleton and a collection of analogue cameras from John Edge. The exhibits underlined the theme: The Great Photographic Debate.

Thirty minutes late John Edge the Society President welcomed everybody and then, not a little flustered, the new Chair Paul Nash introduced the evening. Photos graphe; drawing with light and the debate about whether photography clubs and societies are more like computer clubs than camera clubs.

The Chair’s introduction began with thoughts about light and what it means to capture light from black holes to sundials. Once captured by the photographer it is then shared but, the question was posed, do we share the picture or do we share the emotion of the moment of capture. In analogue days the interpretation of the image required a great deal of skill but in these digital days where we capture information about light we suddenly have the tools the make that information both mutable and transportable. In the midst of a huge explosion in photography brought about by the technology in what way has impacted on the photographer.

There followed two excellent and thought provoking presentations from Alan Heath on natural history photography and Marian Goody on different approaches to landscapes. Alan’s entertaining presentation looked at the role of field craft and knowledge in getting the right picture and then focussed on how the digital tools can be used to craft the picture within the rigid constraints within which natural history photographers have to work. His talk was illustrated with stunning shots and interspersed with his characteristic humour.

Marian looked at the work of two very different landscape photographers starting from an overview of their work and then taking in the details of their approach by looking at how the masters of their craft approached two images taken by Marion and Chris from the multi-layered simplification of images reducing them down to their basic structural components and colours to the emphasis of detail in line, structure and colour.

Did we resolve the debate? Of course we didn’t but I feel sure that there was deep consideration of the issues and we look forward to the thinking about drawing with light that emerges in the photographs that are shared this season whether that is in competition or in members’ evenings.

In closing the evening the President and Chair thanked the members for their time, Alan and Marion for their excellent contributions and the committee members for making the evening possible.

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Chairman's Evening https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/9/start-of-the-2014/15-season---chairmans-evening Wed, 24 Sep 2014 09:46:39 GMT
Photography News https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/7/photography-news Hi all as you are aware we have less paper copies of the Photography News to pass on so those who want can see web copies at the following link www.photography-news.co.uk.

 

I have put the link into the "Links" Page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/7/photography-news Sat, 05 Jul 2014 08:09:14 GMT
What a great evening last night at the WPS Presentation Night & Auction https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/5/what-a-great-evening-last-night-at-the-wps-presentation-night-auction Last Tuesday saw the annual WPS Presentation evening. This year we tried something a little different and had a fundraiser in the form of an Auction. Members kindly donated an amazing range of goods and services from pots of preservers and rare fuchsias to camera bags, DVD training courses and photographic days out.

Club Finance Officer, Keith Roberts, commented on the evening:

The following quote from Chris Goody just sums it up:

"On all counts that was the best end of season session we've had at the club since I've been a member.  There was a real buzz in the atmosphere.  As well as the income from the auction, I think the services will encourage a greater bonding between the long standing members and the relative newcomers - fantastic."

Thanks must go to Chris and Marian for setting up the auction, to Fred for organising the Presentations, and to Libby (& Chris) for organising the buffet and drinks, and to John for keeping us on track, and many thanks to those who gave goods and services to auction. With particular thanks to all those members (and wives) that attended and so generously supported the auction. 

For those who could not attend you may wish to note that that the auction raised £712 for club funds.  As treasurer, I was 'well impressed' with such tremendous fundraising, which puts the club in a very strong financial position going into the new 2014/15 season starting in September.

Many thanks to everyone, your input is so much appreciated.

A quick reminder that the club will be open for a learning and sharing evening on Tuesday 27th May: Look forwards to seeing you there.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Auction https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/5/what-a-great-evening-last-night-at-the-wps-presentation-night-auction Mon, 12 May 2014 14:10:09 GMT
Didn't We Do Well? MCPF Championships https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/5/didnt-we-do-well-mcpf-championships 2014 was the first year that WPS has entered the MCPF Championships. We have to give a big vote of thanks to Fred Cooper and Geraldine Stephenson and the selection committee for managing to pull together all of the entries for print and PDI. While we didn't make it through to the second round neither did we disgrace ourselves and we are better prepared for next year. 

A special congratulations has to go to Val Garrett whose "Racing Home" managed 14 out of 15 points: a great image and well done Val.

Racing Home by Val GarrettRacing Home by Val Garrett

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Competition MCPF https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/5/didnt-we-do-well-mcpf-championships Wed, 07 May 2014 15:20:20 GMT
WPS Annual General Meeting https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/4/wps-annual-general-meeting There is little that strikes fear into the heart of an organisation’s membership more than the mention of the AGM! The same thought flickers across everybody’s face: will I be asked to do something? The eyes stare off into the distance as individuals calculate the possibilities. I’m sure, for some, last night’s AGM at Whitchurch Photographic Society was no different but you wouldn’t have known it: there was a strong turnout, many constructive comments from the floor and the great atmosphere we have come to associate with club evenings was there in bucket loads.

John Edge (President) with Libby Middleton (Secretary)

John Edge gave us an inspiring opening speech which reminded us of the history of the Association and then the current Chair, Howard Hilton presented his report, a look back at a year that started with controversy and then ended on such a high note. You can read Howard's full report here:

Howard Hilton (Chair 2013-2014)

Libby Middleton’s Secretary’s report reminded us of what an important role the secretary has and everybody showed their appreciation of how hard she has worked away in the background so that the club nights run smoothly.

Keith Roberts (Finance)

Keith Roberts gave a positive finance report: the Association is on a firm footing, he paid tribute to his predecessor, Paul Hayward, and he set out the way forward with an emphasis on encouraging new members and he highlighted the role of fund raising activities.

Geraldine Stephenson gave the Competition Secretary’s report and highlighted the successes of the club in 2013-14; a great place from which to approach the year to come. The role of Fred Cooper, who couldn’t be there last night, was recognised together with his encyclopaedic knowledge of the club’s competition performance over the years.

Chris Middleton was unable to attend last night because of work commitments but I think I can safely say, as someone who has worked closely with him over the last 12 months, that the IT side of the Association which Chris manages so well is in good shape. With the HD projector and the Dichronic competition software working well so that our PDI competitions are as good as any association can expect to be. If we had a wish list I suspect that a permanent mount for the projector and screen would be in there somewhere; we’ll see.

The election of the new committee followed and the membership were kind enough to re-elect the current team for another year. Howard Hilton relinquished the role of Chair which he undertook on the understanding that it would be for one year only: Howard has done an excellent job under difficult circumstances and that we are where we are is largely down to his efforts. In his place Paul Nash has taken on the role of Chair and it was down to him to finish the process of electing the committee and then to close the meeting.

Under Any Other Business the membership considered the subjects for next season’s Portfolio Competition and the committee has been charged to look again at how subjects like portraiture can be made more accessible to encourage new members to take part. The Association is going to bulk purchase and pre-cut mounts to help members with print submissions. An initiative from the President, John, will see additional club nights on the last Tuesday of every month during the closed season so that members can share expertise and resolve questions; a first for the Association which was well supported by the membership. There was a reminder to members to think about submissions to the Festival Drayton Exhibition, closing date is the Chariman’s Evening on the 23rd September and any members submitting for the first time are encouraged to bring any questions about entries to Libby or another member of the committee.

Finally Chris Goody outlined the upcoming auction which will take place at the Social Evening and Presentation on the 6th May. Details of the items for sale will be posted on the website and members will be alerted via e-mail throughout the course of this week. Anybody who has an interest in a particular item but who is unable to attend the event can put in a proxy bid to Chris Goody.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) AGM Chairmans Report https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/4/wps-annual-general-meeting Wed, 30 Apr 2014 09:04:34 GMT
Chairman's Report 2013 - 2014 https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/4/chairmans-report-2013---2014 Whitchurch Photographic Society

 

Chairmans Report 2013 2014

 

Howard W. Hilton, JP, ARPS

 

Well, there it is: finished. Papers into the green file, and the lot into the re-cycling bin. With the end of my period of Chairmanship, our dear old club has completed its transition from the analogue age to the digital future. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an early adopter and have been working with computers for over thirty years; I have had a digital Nikon and Photoshop for about 20 years, but I am of the generations which expect a club programme to be printed on card, to have a diary bought from WH Smith’s, and to read books by turning pages, not swiping a screen, but those who follow use all the modern media instinctively and expertly, speed the work, and open new possibilities.

 

We have gone through an interesting period. Five years ago the club was in decline: members were aging and passing on; despite our best efforts, traditional methods were not recruiting new members; all the office holders had shuffled the necessary tasks between them for years. Then a couple arrived who were skilled in website work, with a commercial background, and skillful and ambitious photographers. A new website brought an immediate influx of new members (a reservoir of new talent and experience), new ideas  emerged such as a portfolio competition which demanded that members exercised their skills over a number of subject areas instead of concentrating one one specialism, and a wider vision of what was possible for a small town society.

 

For a while all went well, but around the time we mounted an ambitious and successful exhibition at Shrewsbury Theatre, personality clashes erupted and two key committee members left, with no warning, and with the new season looming. However, our Society has generated loyalty and affection, and long time members stepped forward: Peter Cooke, LRPS, organised an Extraordinary General Meeting, (and Dr Richard Priestley agreed to use his substantial managerial experience to chair it), and our President, John Edge, did the practical organisation, as he does so well. I was invited to be Chairman and agreed (for a limited period of one year), and was elected.

 

On principle I trust people and try to respect everyone. Having sat as a Magistrate for 33 years, I know people find all sorts of ways to hurt other people (and themselves) and need to be dealt with, but, as a member of the Religious Society of Friends, I believe there is “that of God in every person”. (Forgive me, if anyone is embarrassed or offended by my mention of religion, but it is part of me.) As Chairman, I believed my job to be to trust the talents and capacities of my colleagues to deal with the tasks, problems and opportunities which the Society’s activities generate, to ensure that everyone had their fair say, and to consult and listen to the membership, so that the general direction was set by the members. So that has been our style. And it’s nice to do all this with a smile on our faces!

 

Committee meetings have moved from home to home, and I express the society’s thanks to the “other halves” who have put up with an invasion of strangers and fed and watered them. Libby Middleton has been a first class Secretary, not only recording decisions made and tasks to complete, but nudging occasionally, and taking the initiative to deal with situations such as our donation to Cllr Mullock’s garden at the hospital. She contacted the ex-mayor and arranged for the much–appreciated presentation which we had recently. More than that, she and husband Chris enjoy teaching, passing on their digital manipulation skills through their seminar sessions, which many of you attend. Chris teams up with Paul Nash to deal expertly with all our internet needs, our website and all the technical arrangements for our weekly meetings; they make it look easy. Geraldine Stephenson LRPS has teamed up with Fred Cooper to handle our Competition entries and record-keeping. Geraldine’s organisational expertise is formidable, and Fred, as we know, has a wonderful memory (and record) for what has done well, and where, with what judge. Our thanks also to the shadowy figures who make up the Selection Committee; judging from the results they must get it right. We have had meticulous reports of the Society’s financial affairs from Keith Roberts, and sound advice on ways forward. He will emphasise himself how beneficial it is to recruit new members; I will simply add that each is a further addition to our pool of talent and creativity. We meet him every week, of course, sitting at the entrance: he has the knack of making feel it is a pleasure to give him our money! Finally, our thanks must go to our Butler, Peter Cooke, who, like Jeeves, shimmers about and magically produces our refreshments – and, quietly, a lot of other things are also managed by Mr Reliable. 

 

Others will want to report on the programme, so I shall only pick out two or three events which stick in my mind. First is the Christmas Social: so many of us contributed to the refreshments, then there was John’s parcel game (with a special variation this year) and we had some fun with the Photo Booth which I borrowed from one of our daughters. It came as a bundle of self assembly lengths of wood; practical John put it together in quick time, then we got out the wigs, hats, and props and produced some interesting portraits! There was a great “feel” to the evening. Then I got a lot from the evening when we showed each other the experiments we had been trying, and that led to our decision to put entries together for MIDPHOT. Alan Heath made a great contribution here, organising the entries and not only taking them in, but bringing them back also. The results were astonishingly pleasing, with 19 acceptances overall and exceptional medal-winning performances from Alan and from Chris Goody. We have had some good presentations too: Margaret Salisbury FRPS, for example, but Alan’s account of his “obsession” with birds was a star event. And there was good stuff in last week’s AV evening, which will no doubt be developed in the coming seasons.

 

The Society is in a healthy state: we have fun together, we learn together, we produce some great images together, and we are set up to go forward together. There are some exciting projects planned by your committee, and I wish you all well!

 

HWH 24/04/2014

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Chairmans Report https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/4/chairmans-report-2013---2014 Wed, 30 Apr 2014 07:55:20 GMT
Documentary and Digital Images to Music https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/4/documentary-and-digital-images-to-music On the great estate that is photography the house has many rooms and last night the members of Whitchurch Photographic Society had an opportunity to look into one or two of them. Audio visual presentations have a strong history at the society and we were treated to an entertaining and fun night as both the aficionados and the debutants vied to demonstrate their skills.

Chris and Marian Goody kicked off with a documentary telling the story behind Chris’s successful “Brown Bears Chasing Salmon”; if Spielberg did home movies they would look like this - probably! The early scenes built our expectation of the drama to come and we saw some amazing shots which exposed the sheer size and strength of these amazing creatures. The presentation cleverly cut between live video and still photographs and we began to get a sense of just how difficult it was to capture the images that we see in the final edit. Then to the strains of “Rights of Spring” the dramatic chase as the two bears competed at high speed to take the salmon with the sound of the shutter firing off in the background. The sequence closed with a shot of the prize winning image. Marian brought us back home with a relaxing collection of animals’ eyes which underlined the wealth of material that Chris and Marian have captured over the years.

Geraldine Stephenson gave us a wonderful display of images captured during her safari to the Masai Mara; what she described as the achievement of a lifelong ambition. Delivered in a much more traditional style (something of which we were to see more during the course of the evening) she treated us to image after image of eye popping colour and natural history which covered eleven days of animal tracking across Africa’s spectacular landscape ranging from cute lion cubs and moments of maternal warmth to the dust and heat of the crossing and wildebeest being attacked by crocodile.

Following the break Patrick Miles continued the travelogue theme with a gentle presentation covering his trip to India. These were beautiful images that captured the unique light of that vast country and showed us some of the people, the local colour and the spectacular temples and hill forts. A clever choice of music lulled us into the heat and languid pace of life of that amazing country. Patrick’s presentation was slick and cleverly put together.

To top off the competitive part of the evening John Edge gave us a master class in how to do it the old way. Using a set of images played straight from the projector and a sound track controlled manually from a portable music player John provided a live commentary about how he supports charities using his beautifully restored Triumph Stag; specifically his trip to Eaton Hall in Cheshire as the invited guest of the Duke of Westminster. A fascinating story set to images that captured the scale and grandeur of this historic estate. John finished off his session with images to music where he showed a collection of floral images captured in a variety of styles including using a lens the wrong way around via a small adapter. This provided some stunning pictures with a unique depth of field and allowed John to show off his skill in using natural light and composition.

While the scores were totalled Howard Hilton entertained us with an unplanned showing of a documentary about volunteering in North Western Spain as part of a church based project. Lovely images which gave us a sense of the rural nature of the Spanish countryside interspersed with short anecdotes about the people involved and the people who benefitted from the work. He finished off with images to music that illustrated a 30’s song, “Miss Otis Regrets”, with photographed drawings and at the same time made a strong social comment; who says photography at this level can’t make a statement?

And the winner is...? It was all for fun but the winner was John Edge in both the documentary and the images to music sections. While his presentations were unashamedly old style in more ways than one it demonstrated that the experience that members bring to the club something from which all of us can learn. On the night the many rooms of the house gave something special to the house with many rooms. Thanks to everybody who helped setting up the equipment and matching the variety of file types to the software needed to run it and the laptops needed to run the software; there were moments of understated mayhem but we got there in the end.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Competition Digital Documentary Images to Music https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/4/documentary-and-digital-images-to-music Wed, 23 Apr 2014 08:02:29 GMT
Image of the Year Competition 2014 https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/4/image-of-the-year-competition-2014 You could hear a pin drop: Tilman Kleinhans looked intently at the held back images and considered his verdict. Nobody breathed, even if their image wasn’t one of those on the screen. Would it be the stunning “Jaguar Hunting” the “Sultry” portrait or the dramatic “Mating Lions, March Pride”? What would it be: commended, highly commended, third, second or image of the year?

The Image of the Year competition represents the best that individuals have to offer and it provides an evening of high drama and great humour which is enjoyed by one and all. Tilman Kleinhans took on a near impossible role judging high quality images in the monochrome print, colour print and projected digital images section where he had to compare natural history against landscapes, portraits, abstracts and still life. He did this with a critical eye, constructive comments and great humour that kept the membership spell bound and entertained right up to the final PDI.

Winner of the monochrome print section was Libby Middleton with her atmospheric image "Express Delivery". 

 

Colour print went to Chris Goody for his amazing image of "Brown Bears Chasing Salmon".

 

Brown Bears Chasing SalmonBrown Bears Chasing Salmon

 

Winner of the projected digital image was Geraldine Stephenson’s compelling “Mating Lions, March Pride”.

 

Mating LionsMating Lions

 

This was an excellent evening and the Society is grateful to Tilman for his time and his expertise in judging a challenging range of images. Thanks also to Chris for organising the DPIs and to the competition secretaries Fred and Geraldine.

Last night Alan Heath also gave us the excellent news that Geraldine Stephenson’s Midphot entry: a monochrome entitled "Subway" has been sent forward to the PAGB inter-regional competition. Everybody’s congratulations and best wishes going forward. Next week sees the documentary and images to music competition; always an interesting night and we look forward to seeing everybody at this final competition before the AGM.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Competition Image of the Year https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/4/image-of-the-year-competition-2014 Wed, 16 Apr 2014 09:16:49 GMT
Whitchurch Photographic Society Success at MidPhot 2014 https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/4/whitchurch-photographic-society-success-at-midphot-2014

Whitchurch PS has achieved its most successful result in the Midlands Federation annual competition.  This competition is open to photographers who are members of a Midlands photographic club.  In all 19 Whitchurch PS entries were accepted for exhibition from 7 club members.

 

The Nature Print section of the competition saw the highest awards. 

Allan Heath was awarded the trophy for Best Nature Print for “Lesser Kestrel Landing” and the Gianpiero Ferrari medal for “Male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker”.

He also had 2 other colour prints accepted in this category. 

Chris Goody was awarded the Bill Hall medal for “Great Black Vulture Feeding on Caiman” and the MidPhot ribbon for “Brown Bears Chasing Salmon”. 

He had one other print accepted in this category, and 2 further acceptances in the Nature Projected Images section.

 

  • Chris Middleton had 4 entries accepted in the in the General Projected Images section.
  • Geraldine Stephenson had an entry accepted in the Monochrome Print section, the Nature Projected Image section and the General Projected Images section.
  • Libby Middleton had 2 entries accepted in the General Projected Images section.
  • Howard Hilton had 1 entry accepted in the General Projected Images section.

 

A collection of photographs from the above authors and other members of the club can be seen on the Whitchurch Photographic Society website under the Members Galleries tab.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Competition MCPF https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/4/whitchurch-photographic-society-success-at-midphot-2014 Mon, 07 Apr 2014 13:39:57 GMT
Annual Knockout Competition https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/4/annual-knockout-competition There is a long history behind the annual knockout competition which goes back to the days of badly behaved slide projectors mounted side by side. The principle remains the same: randomised images projected side by side and subjected to the vote of the membership until only one remains to be declared the winner. Without the critique of a visiting judge it’s down to what the members think and what they think is not always down to the rules of composition but down to whether the picture on the left is as appealing as the picture on the right.

An evening of enormous fun and great humour, not to say great humility on the part of the competitors because, as we saw last night, even our best performing members can be defeated by a picture of a pair of performing beetles or a cute vole peeping from behind a small rock.

This is not to say that the best do not prevail and last night was no exception. Highest accolade went to Chris Goody for a magnificent shot of a vulture silhouetted against a burning sunset. V for VultureWinning Picture by Chris Goody

Runner up title went to Chris Middleton for an inspiring picture of Liverpool Cathedral;

Liverpool Cathedral2nd Place photograph by Chris Middleton

Chris also took third with a lovely action shot of a spaniel at full gallop.

SpanielThird place winner by Chris Middleton

Finally Howard W Hilton made a creditable fourth place with a beautiful image from the Basle festival that captured the atmosphere of the day.

Challenging Look - Basel FestivalFourth Place winner by Howard M Wilson

Whitchurch Photographic Society has a deep commitment to encouraging photographic standards of the highest quality but the Society also prides itself on its sense of personal and shared pleasure in the photographic image as well as competitions, last night showed that Photography can be about both of these things. A special vote of thanks has to go to Chris Middleton for taking the time to organise all of the images so that we did not have to resort to badly behaved slide projectors or even dual screens but had the benefit of images presented under equal conditions.

A special week next week with a lecture from Alan Heath; Alan’s photographs always impress and his informal style provides for a great evening. We are also welcoming the former Mayor of Whitchurch Cllr Peggy Mullock who will be presented with a cheque,  by John Edge the Society President, for money raised by the Society at last year’s successful exhibition at the Severn Theatre.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Competition Digital Knockout https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/4/annual-knockout-competition Wed, 02 Apr 2014 08:14:01 GMT
An Evening with Mark Wilbrey https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/3/an-evening-with-mark-wilbrey Mark Wilbrey has been a popular judge at the photographic society: this year he took on the portfolio competition; no easy task in itself with six categories over two nights. Not only did he provide some insightful comments he managed to make it entertaining as well. On Tuesday night he was back to talk in more depth about his philosophy of photography and his current commercial work. We had great expectations and we weren’t disappointed.

Mark kicked off the evening with a section entitled The Flaneur, a voyeuristic journey through his photographic background as an observer of life through the lens. There were elements of the surreal with a nod to Breton and Dali, images from the darker side of 21st century life, characters photographed through windows and images of people caught unexpectedly and not always in the best of humour. The first half of the evening finished with “Paris by Night” and Homage to Brassai shot in monochrome during one 12 hour period capturing all of the atmosphere and characters of the nocturnal city.

During the break we were invited to go an examine some of his print work in monochrome and to sample his more recent commercial work. This served as an entrée to part two where Mark talked about how he began commercial work and grew his portfolio with tales of the best and the worst experiences a professional photographer might have. From shooting a fashion show indoors, producing posters for a Royal visit in just one day to enduring a shoot in the cold and wet in a car park under the Humber Bridge.

Whereas Mark’s approach would seem to be “understand the rules and then go out of your way to break them” it’s clear that his technical understanding of his craft is exceptional and he brings that expertise to bear in some stunning commercial images. His demand for exceptional quality has led him to experiment with traditional printing using digital negative and having work processed as C Type prints; the results speak for themselves.

You can see some of Mark’s work on his website at: www.markwilbrey.com

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Mark Wilbrey https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/3/an-evening-with-mark-wilbrey Wed, 26 Mar 2014 16:44:10 GMT
Preparing for MCPF Print and PDI Championships https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/3/preparing-for-mcpf-print-and-pdi-championships Selecting 25 championship prints and digital images is no easy task but the membership rose to the challenge on Tuesday night by presenting an exceptional array of images and then proceeding to narrow the field by picking their favourites. It's now down to the selection committee to make the final choice. 

A big thank you is due to all of the members who put forward prints and digital images on a wide variety of subjects: landscapes, portraits, nature, architecture and abstract. Anybody who wants to join a vibrant photography club like Whitchurch would be able to experience a wide range of photographic styles and subjects together with a willing mentor to help them on the way.

Moving forward it is clear that the society will have to focus some of its attention on improving the presentation of our digital images. Members who want to work on this area should speak to Chris or Libby who will be organising some weekend workshops in the near future.

What next? The selection committee will choose the final 50 images in print and digital to go forward to the competition which takes place on 28th April at the Civic Centre, Braunstone, Leicester.

In the meantime the Midphot Exhibition opened its doors on Wednesday March 19th at the Old Schoolhouse, Churchbridge, Oldbury; this runs until Sunday March 28th and it is well worth a visit to see some inspirational photography. 

Closer to Home Whitchurch Photographic Society has an exhibition at the Heritage Centre in Whitchurch; it is open weekdays 10:00 to 16:00 and Saturday 10:00 to 13:00. Note that the centre is closed on Wednesday and Sunday.

Next Tuesday night, 25th March the Whitchurch Photographic Society plays host to Mark Wilbrey who will be explaining some of his commercial work and opening it up for critique by the members. Based on previous experience of his entertaining style this is a night not to be missed.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) Digital MCPF Print Whitchurch https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/3/preparing-for-mcpf-print-and-pdi-championships Wed, 19 Mar 2014 14:46:21 GMT
An Evening with Margaret Salisbury aka The Welsh Dragon https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/3/an-evening-with-margaret-salisbury-aka-the-welsh-dragon

Tonights the night a Dragon comes to town..!

Whitchurch PS is very pleased to have Margaret Salisbury visiting us this evening to give, what is sure to be a very entertaining lecture. 

Margaret Salisbury FRPS, FIPF, MFIAP, APAGB is a Fotospeed lecturer and is well known for her 'Dragon Signature' on the back of her prints that earnt her the nick name of 'The Welsh Dragon.' A member of the North Wales Photographic Association her first love is monochrome landscapes, particularly of North Wales and Slate areas. She enjoys expressing herself, and her reactions to strange sights or situations, the bizarre, walls, windows and the way she feels that fantasy and reality are never far apart. Margaret  has traveled all over Britain, Ireland and abroad, which enables her to meet photographers from all walks of life.  She has taught photography and enjoys passing on her "love" of photography. Also enjoys seeing other people's photographs which she is able to do by judging and assessing at local, national and international levels.

 

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) margaret sailsbury shropshire welsh dragon whitchurch https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/3/an-evening-with-margaret-salisbury-aka-the-welsh-dragon Tue, 11 Mar 2014 17:40:45 GMT
MCPF Midphot 2014 https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/3/mcpf-midphot-2014 Massive congratulations to all entrants in the MCPF Midphot 2014 - a total of 19 acceptances is the best result ever for our small club. 
Also, very well done to Allan Heath and Chris Goody for taking 3 out of the top 4 places in the Nature print section. And to top it all, Allan Heath also took the Best Nature Print with his image 'Lesser Kestrel Landing'. 
Well done everyone!

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2014/3/mcpf-midphot-2014 Sat, 01 Mar 2014 19:50:49 GMT
2013-14 Season Kick Off https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2013/9/2013-14-season-kick-off Well we are just one week away from the start of the new season.

The Chairmans evening will welcome new members and update everyone on what the committee have been up to including an update from the EGM which was well attended.

The Theatre Severn Exhibition has now been taken down and many thanks to John Edge for doing this.

Look forward to seeing you all next Tuesday 24th September.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2013/9/2013-14-season-kick-off Tue, 17 Sep 2013 20:38:47 GMT
Exhibition at Calverhall Family Day Sunday 1st September https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2013/8/exhibition-at-calverhall-family-day-sunday-1st-september WPS has taken an opportunity to display some images from its members at the Calverhall Family Day.  The exhibition will be found in the Village hall  at the far end of the show ground.

WPS is well supported from residence of Calverhall and so is fa great opportunity for us to show our work for the village to enjoy.

Say hi if you are passing.

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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2013/8/exhibition-at-calverhall-family-day-sunday-1st-september Tue, 27 Aug 2013 21:10:43 GMT
Forth Coming Presentation, Roger and Judith Parry - 8th October 2013 https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2013/8/forth-coming-presentation-roger-and-judith-parry---8th-october-2013  

Roger and Judith Parry are booked to do a presentation for us at our meeting on Tuesday 8th October. This has been confirmed by Roger and Judith, but in their email they mention the following - 
 
Our lecture is a print talk which consists of a mixture of subject matter in the first half. The second half consists of our exhibition work which does contain a fair amount of Art Nude photography. I understand that you may have some members who do not approve of this type of photography, so please confirm that you are happy for us to proceed with the talk.
 
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(Whitchurch Photographic Society) https://www.whitchurchphotographicsociety.org.uk/blog/2013/8/forth-coming-presentation-roger-and-judith-parry---8th-october-2013 Sat, 10 Aug 2013 13:26:51 GMT