Chairman's Newsletter No. 32

Dear Members,
I must get this done today! I have been telling myself this half a dozen times why? Because tomorrow is April Fool's Day that's why!

Last nights Landscape Trophies went to two excellent images the print from Peter Read fully deserved the gold award and Pat Ball's image getting the judge almost wetting himself with envy and stating that he felt it could not have been improved gave Pat something to be very proud of.

Ken Scott is a very well respected photographer and his judging last night was a treat to hear. He certainly has a gift coupled with a vast knowledge and he managed to offer constructive critique in such a manner that nobody felt anything but enthusiasm. So well done to everyone who entered and in particular to those who were awarded certificates. One mention for a new member Gary Richardson who gained a seal of merit with an image that is possible his very first 'judged' attempt.

My thanks to all of you who assisted in the various roles last night, it makes life so much easier when everyone mucks in to set up and put away the clubs equipment, and a first time for me, a full night sleep after a meeting!!

Ok so Thursday is April Fool's day but the 'Pro Show 2010' still goes ahead at the Novotel, Southampton, 11 - 7pm. It is free and there is normally lots to see and 'show prices' available.

As it is Easter this coming weekend there is no meeting on the Tuesday, however we do have our friendly competition with the New Forest CC on Thursday 8th at Colbury Village hall, Main Road, Colbury SO40 7EL. 7:30pm.
Please watch out for the sharp turn into the hall almost immediately after the junction.

11th April. The SPF Print Championships at Littleton Hall near Winchester, we are bound to see some excellent prints and although the entry fee is £5 I'm sure it will be worth it to see 440 prints, the best from 21 clubs!
The judging starts at 11am, drinks available all day, bring a snack lunch.

13th April. We have our 6th assessment with judge John Wigley. Please ensure you have your entry submitted by midnight Friday 9th.

Thats all for now, my regards and keep snapping!

Terry

Brian Most = A Retrospective

Brian Most  16th August 1930 – 13th January 2010

A Retrospective

Friday 9th April 2010 7-8.30 pm

Park Community School, Middle Park Way, Havant, PO9 4BU
We can have a drink and a gossip, look at and discuss his pictures – or ignore them – then, if anyone wants to take one home they can make a small donation to Brian’s favourite cancer research charity – and help to beat this ghastly disease!

Tessa M.Most (Tel: 023 92 593084)
The motorway NOT labelled on this map IS the A3(M)!

Print Boxes - Order now

Just a Reminder

I would be grateful if you would bring the following to your members attention.  This information can also be found on the SPF Website  -   www.southernfed.org.uk    My Tel No. 01420 88743  or Email - jeneric@pearben.wanadoo.co.uk or perhaps you would forward this email to any of your members who express an interest.  -  Very many thanks,  Jennie Pearson

_____________________________________________

To All Club Members

The closing date for the next order for PRINT BOXES is SATURDAY, 27^th MARCH 2010.

I expect that the boxes will be available for collection at the Club Reps meeting in May or possibly at Finals Day on 18^th April.

You will not be surprised to see that the price has risen. However, Nomad has rationalized the pricing to some extent by removing the differential between similar sizes, e.g. 2½” depth and 3” depth cost the same. I would also like to point out that Nomad do give a discount on quantity. Obviously this cannot be reflected in the price of individual boxes but any ‘profit’ is paid to the SPF, thus helping to keep Federation costs down.

SIZE                                                   COST

21" x 17" x 1 5/8"                               £21.50

21" x 17" x 2"                                      £21.50

21" x 17" x 2.5"                                   £22.00

21" x 17" x 3"                                      £22.00

21" x 17" x 3.5"                                   £22.50

21” x 17” x 4”                                      £22.50

21" x 17" x 5"                                      £23.00

21" x 17" x 6"                                      £23.50

Handles can be supplied at an additional cost of £3.00.

Orders in writing and with cheques payable to J. PEARSON

 to Mrs. Jennie Pearson,

6, Inhams Road, Holybourne, ALTON, Hants. GU34 4EU.

BEFORE SATURDAY, 27^th MARCH 2010.

Boxes to be collected at the SPF Representatives Meeting

IN MAY 2010 or by arrangement.

Chairman's Newsletter No. 31

Dear Members,
         Last nights club fund raising evening was just great from the entertainment point of view.
Donald's images were first class and to get the chance to see just a few of the endemic species was a real treat.
I was just a little bit disappointed with a few things, we will have to discuss the full implications in committee.

           Next week is the 'Landscape' trophies so please get your entry in by the normal Friday midnight deadline.
Your images should not have been shown in any of our previous 'landscape trophy' competitions, however images used in assessments are eligable,
as is of course completely new work. Ken Scott will be looking for the light!

           Just a reminder that Saturday 27th is the day for the Petersfield camera clubs exhibition, held in the community centre, Love Lane. Petersfield.

My regards and keep snapping
Terry

Chairman's Newsletter No. 30

Dear Members,
      Tuesdays club evening showing our own in house audio visuals was another step in the clubs learning curve on the digital AV front. With 22 sequences available we managed to get through 21, with some interesting comments from the members in between each sequence. The variety of subjects shown created an interesting program. The gap of skills between those experienced members in AVs to those of us on the steepest part of the curve could be seen and our thanks to all of you who made some very constructive comments and tips being offered.
       League semi finals at Woolston. Last night we came up against some strong opposition and the scores from Judge Chris Palmer were very hard. Chris, some of you may remember was a member at Southampton CC, now living in the North London area he gave each image a good examination and his experience showed with the wide knowledge base he has acquired.
        The final results are:- Prints - Chichester CC 67 points, Bournemouth PG 64.5 pts and Viewfinders 55.5 pts. PDIs:- Southampton & Bournemouth tied on 65.5 pts with Havant on 59pts.
So it remains for me to say many thanks to all of the members who work was used this year and good luck to both Roy Lambeth & Peter Read whose images go through to the finals as our individual club highest scoring print/PDI. entry. Les Lloyd the SPF league secretary tells us that all the results will be on the website by the time you read this.
        Next week. It would appear that we are going to be short of committee members on Tuesday due to holidays and other commitments so any help with the hall setting up and clearing away will be most welcome.
My better half will be helping with the raffle, Liz may be standing in as treasurer, I am not sure who is in charge of crowd control! Donald Bradshaw has indicated that the red carpet may be OTT, so that's out!
      Sorry this is short but I'm off to France and Belgium for 3 days wargraves work, the weather forecast is wet! However so is the wine!
Regards & keep snapping
Terry

Yahoo VF Site RSS Feed is now on the News page

Please note that on the right side there is now a feed from the Viewfinders Yahoo site. So the latest headlines will show here. You may have to log on to read these. I am not sue. If so let me know.  Peter

Chairman's Newsletter No. 27

Dear Members,
Don Mitchell was at his best for Tuesdays assessment, we have seen Don many times and it was no surprise when he announced that this was his 40th year of being involved with Bognor Regis CC and the SPF as a judge. 40 years of photography experiences went into his assessments of the images held over from our postponed January event. Never scared of being over critical he awarded low when necessary and gave high marks to the images he thought warranted them. Well done to all the members who got 10s and how good it was to see some of the newer members being awarded the maximum.

Next week we have some 22 digital audio visuals to see, or at least the promise of 22. They are a real mixture of subjects and it looks as if it will be an entertaining evening. We do not intend to have any scoring or judging of them but I would like you all to offer constructive remarks after each show, possibly the authors may like to say a few words, it is up to the members to make the evening, that's what members evenings are all about.

Look forward. If you are intending to visit the Isle of Wight soon you might like to drop into the 'Dimbola Lodge Gallery' in Freshwater. From April 16th until 13th June ( closed Mondays) 10am - 5pm. An exhibition from the internationally renowned marine photographers 'Beken of Cowes' showing prints from 1855 - to date, from silver gelatine photos to digital. 'Beken' have and are still creating classic boating and racing yachts photos and this exhibition is bound to be good.

Things to do. Want to improve your photo skills? One way I have found is to look at as many galleries as is possible, see what other club/organisations have on their websites. Going away for a break? Why not look up one of the local clubs in the area you are going too, see what they have done in their area, check out the best views. Start you break/holiday with a list of sights to see and go for it!

Club Fund raising. I hope you have got your tickets by now, have you found that little something for the raffle? Now again in the interest of sharing the work load, do we have a volunteer to do the summary on the night? Your applications pinned to a £10 note to me !!!

Landscape trophies. 30th March, not to far away, some of you have been asking for a definition of 'landscape' well a few years ago the club asked if there was a definition, unfortunately there does not appear to be one!
For my own guide lines I always think that 'land' is the major part of the image. Yes there can be water within the image and of course the sky is acceptable. If the majority of the image is water/sky it's in my mind a seascape or skyscape. As a well known television character say 'simple'.

My regards and keep snapping
Terry

Peak Photography Competition

The competition is run by Buxton Festival in collaboration with Visit Peak District. It was started by Buxton Festival five years ago and has just been re-launched with new prizes, new judges and new rules. It would be wonderful if you and some of your members were keen to enter!

Here is a link to the competition page on the Festival website: http://www.buxtonfestival.co.uk/community.html#photocomp

Please do get in touch if you have any queries.

Thanks and best wishes,
Johanna

PAGB E-News No. 25

Hi All
Welcome to Issue 25 of e-news which is only worth opening if you are interested in copyright matters when making AV shows.

There has been quite a bit of "blog" activity concerning the Digital Economy Bill now before parliament and I also attach a recent statement by the Royal Photographic Society which may alleviate concerns. The RPS have been swiftly proactive in this regard and seem to have done a good job on behalf of amateur photographers.

Rod Whelans
Click on the Notice below to enlarge it.

Chairman's Newsletter No. 27

Dear Members,
On Friday last the selection group meet at my home and we spent several hours going through some 80-90 prints.
This may seem an easy process but any of you who have done this before will know that it is not that simple. Allied to the 20 prints to go forward to the SPF print championships I also wanted to take the opportunity to find 12 prints for the friendly match against the New Forest CC. 
On Tuesday evening I will bring to the club those prints that are not required, however, the thanks of the club go to all of you who allowed your images to be used. Please bring your print boxes with you.

SPF 
On Thursday last the Southern Federation held a quarterly meeting of the club reps. These meetings are designed to allow a two way flow of information from and to the SPF council and the members clubs. Here are some relevant points we were asked to pass down to you.

• The SPF council are in need of several new members for next season, in particular they urgently need someone to run next seasons league matches or to take over as webmaster. Les Lloyd has been doing both jobs this season and would like some assistance, if you are interested please speak with Lynn or Roy Lambeth or make your interest known to Liz Whitemore who will put you in touch with a council member.

• Once again we are asked to remind you that if you should use any of the companies who advertise in the SPF please mention that you are a camera club member and saw the advert on the SPF website. www.southernfed.org.uk.  This really helps when the fund raising member of the council tries to get firms to pay for adverts. Fotospeed this year have donated vouchers valued at £10.  These are available from David Kessel (SPF publicity sec.) at £9 cost to you.  Or two at £15 or 3 at £18.  Seems like a gift if you use their paper or inks.

• Print boxes are again available to order, details on the SPF website.

• Now the last item is for a suitable gallery or display area that the SPF can use/hire soon after July 2011. The SPF are hosting the PAGB Print Championships and need a suitable venue to display 150 glass/plastic mounted prints. If you are aware of a possible site please contact Roy Lambeth ASAP.

PAGB
Now some news from the PAGB.

• They need an archivist you will need lots of space to store papers etc.

• They are holding an extra assessment for distinctions in Dec 2010, in order to reduce a back log, it will be hosted by Chilterns Fed but will not be open to spectators.

• The PAGB AGM will finalise the club trustees insurance plans, the majority of clubs are in favour of the scheme.

• They advised clubs to be 'forward thinking' in respect of the proposal to abolish cheques.

Ok I think you should now be 'in the loop' goodness I hate those american phrases.
Keep snapping
Terry

1st China International Digital Photographic Art Exhibition

Dear Photographer friends:

Digital technology brings great changes to the photography. Take photos is no longer as patent to a few people, it has involved in the daily live of all the people. Every perfect second could be “ exposure” and recorded.

As the first Town of Photography in China, own the first photography museum in China which is the unique photography museum sponsored by government, Li Shui city has the top-ranking photography exchange platform and image resource. “ Vision image- Lishui Photo” website (www.lsphoto.org) and “Lishui Photography” magazine are set up base on these resources. Now, they together with other professional photography media organizations will hold “The 1st China International Digital Photographic Art Exhibition” which will provide more exchange chances to the photographers all over the world and promote the development of photography.

We sincerely invite all photographic organizations, professional and amateur photographers and young photographers from all over the world to submit entries to “The 1st China International Digital Photographic Art Exhibition”.

100 works will be accepted and 28 works will be awarded.

1) The photographers who have won the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal will be invited to the awarding and opening ceremony of the exhibition and have a photo creation in China for one week. The organizer will bear the expenses including food, accommodation and transfer of the visitors during their stay in Lishui city, Zhe Jiang province. While the international travel fee between home and Lishui City has to be paid by the winners.

2) All the accepted works will be exhibited during the 2011 Lishui China International Photographic Art Festival which could be said the largest photographic festival in China. All the entrants could also be invited to attend the festival, while all the fees have be born by themselves.

3) Each entrant whose print(s) is/are accepted will receive relevant “ Vision image- Lishui Photo” website certificate. All the entrants will receive an attractive digital catalogue.

4) All the accepted works will be Collected by Photography Museum of Lishui China, which is the first photography museum in China. “Lishui Photography” magazine will also publish the awarded works and will introduce the attracted photographers no matter he/her was awarded or not.

5) With the permission of entrant, the organization committee will help to send the works to attend the 2011 China 14th International Photographic Art Exhibition which received the patronage of FIAP. You could found the detail about the past exhibitions from the website: http://world.cpanet.cn.

The entry form is attached.

Mr. Li Xiaoyuan

Senior Photographer of China

Secretary-general of CIDPAE Committee

Chairman's Newsletter No. 27

Dear Members,  Welcome to issue #27.

The 'Les Fredericks' Trophy Competitions'.
Caroline Colgate was the judge for last weeks Les Fredericks trophies competition, this was a classic 'how to give a chairman high blood pressure' situation.
    First getting the news from Janet that the judge was stuck on the M5, surly you mean M3? after all Caroline lives in Bracknell eh! OK but she is going to be late....panic! OK so we choose to have all the notices and a quick demo from Sheila and a bit of help from Peter, we made a couple of sales of the very reasonably priced tripods, Caroline arrives having missed all of the speed restrictions!!! She then calmly went on to judge the competitions, giving some excellent critique and somehow managing to find a story in every image! She then purchased the only tripod left!!
     Congratulations to Lynn Lambeth for her winning print and to Maureen Heading for the winning digital image.  Both of the images well reflected the subjects chosen for this seasons competition. I did not personally know Les so I asked Jack to give a brief background on him and the competition and feel sure that he would have approved of the standard of the winners. So thanks to Jack and of course to Malcolm and his top table team for a well run evening.

Club fund raising tickets. I've have mine have you got yours yet? See Andrew Kirby asap please.

Marwell zoo visit. We now have sufficient numbers to go ahead with the visit, Mark tells me that this does not mean that the numbers are closed and that if on the night you feel you want to come along you can.

Social Documentary photography.
Graham Sergeant's lecture was outstanding last night. John Walter and I went to the hall early to do a few running repairs to our equipment, and Graham turned up at 6:00 with another Chichester member Ruth, to set up. When we saw his equipment (steady now) we were amazed at its size( Steady there). A double FRPS and the quality of his images proved just why he is.
  The first part of prints were all real B & W and as he does not do digital the film prints were first class. Graham followed up by showing how slides could be made into AVs and I now know why 'film buffs' go on so much about quality. Watching his "World War 2" documentary and then his "Shakleton expedition" brought back lots of memories to many of us. The way he mixed images, music and voice overs was just wonderful. I felt my little bit of AVs were put well and truly in the shade, however it also gave me a bench mark to aim at, I hope you were also inspired. My thanks to Stan for his summary of the night, it hit the right note and I just wish I could do it as well as he does.

How nice it was to once again see Ray Kemmish at the club, he appears to be regaining some of his mobility although using a couple of crutches he is up and about and I'm sure he will get rid of the aids as soon as he can.

Next weeks assessment is of course the rescheduled meeting. Don Mitchell will be the judge and I am sure a lot of you were holding back train/railway images for him, come on now be honest, oh alright I certainly was!

2009/10 SPF league - semi finals.
We have now had confirmation of the venue and our opponents, your support at the match will be much appreciated.
Venue and hosts - Woolston CC, St Christopher's Centre, Pepys Avenue, Thornhill, Southampton, SO19 6PJ. Date & Time - Wednesday 17th March @ 7:30pm.
Our opponents - Bournemouth PS & Chichcester CC , both of these are strong clubs and the standards will be high. Should be quiet a good evening whatever the result.

My regards and keep snapping
Terry

PAGB E-News No. 24

Welcome to Issue 24 of e-news which contains some "highlights" from the last meeting of the PAGB Executive Committee. A bit dryer than usual but you may find some useful information.

Unusually there is a second attachment which you need only open if you are interested in the PAGB Awards for Photographic Merit. Before you can apply you have to be approved by your Federation as being "a photographer active in support of Federation events". The second attachment outlines the different criteria applied by different Federations to allow them to assess "activity". If you have any enquiries about your Federation's rules please take it up with them as I will not be able to answer you.

rod whelans