Chairman's Newsletter No. 39

Dear Members,
A bit later than normal for this newsletter I'm afraid, mainly down to a PC problem which is still ongoing!

Tuesday nights assessment was once again well supported with 32 prints and 40 PDIs up for the judge Chris Whiting to work through. Once again Jillian had to restrict the entries and we may have to look at a different system if the current trend continues, however that is for the future. I said Chris had to work his way through the images and he appeared to make hard going of it, almost turning an assessment into a competition by holding back print after print however he managed to change his system for the digitals. This just goes to show how hard the job of judging is. Well done to all of the authors who managed to score 10s and to the near misses, to get 9.5s is so very close, and as long as the judge justifies the dropped half points with constructive critique then we can hopefully recognise how close we came.

Tuesday 1st June. There is no planned meeting due to the bank holiday.

Treasure Hunt. Liz gave a run down of how the hunt will run on Tuesday night. The details are:- Date - Tuesday 8th June, meet at the carpark in Alma Road from around 6:30 - 7:45, you are welcome to bring your partners/wives/girl/boyfriend/husbands and friends. Liz & Jack will set us off in 2-3 minutes intervals ideally in pairs, for this FUN event you will need to bring clipboard/pen or pencil, with the aim to finish back at the carpark to hand in your clue sheets and relocate to the pub nearby, The Old House at Home. I'm told that these evening have been fun in the past. Hopefully the weather will be kind to us, should it be really inclement than common sense will take over, straight to the pub!!!

Tuesday 15th June. The last of this seasons assessments with George (cropper) Walsh judging. Last time he was here a certain senior member put in a very closely cropped image as 'judge bait' I wonder what will happen this time!

Ideas. Thanks to all 3 or 4 members who have sent suggestions in for the subjects for next seasons Les Fredericks trophies. This seems to me to be a poor selection so far, dare I say not very inventive.
So come on you have a few more days to get some ideas sent in. Any idea is better than none, how about some right off the wall ones, for example, 'survival' or 'odd angles' . What would be ideal is a subject that makes you think outside of the box about your image.

Photo opportunities. This weekend there is a 'Truck & Troop' show at Beaulieu from 10am each day. Sunday 'The New Forest Brass Band' will be playing at the bandstand in Romsey Memorial Park 3pm.

My Regards and keep snapping!
Terry

Romsey Firestation visit; 1st June

Southampton Camera Club have arranged for the firemen in Romsey to put on a special hour and a half display specifically for photographers at one of the industrial estates in Romsey on Tuesday 1st June 2010 at 7.30pm.

We hope some of your members would be interested in joining us, as there needs to be a good number there to make it worthwhile - having run these events before the firemen guarantee everyone will get great photos from behind the safety cordon

The cost is a donation of £10 per head to the collection for the two fireman who lost their lives in Southampton earlier this year, you can book your place with either Terri or myself, please contact us as soon as possible if you are interested.

No commercial photography is allowed, there is car parking - but car sharing is advisable, if you want to use a tripod please be respectful to other photographers who also want good photos. There are several local pubs if everyone wants to meet up for a chat afterwards.

Kindest regards,

Chris & Terri Neill-Griffin

Chairman's Newsletter No. 38

Dear Members,
Finally, yes folks that's finally we managed to get the chairman's evening completed last night. One of the postponed events from January, one that I and a few of you thought might not be that well received within a camera club. Steve Rogers was waiting in the carpark when we sailed passed him to disappear, now he was now wondering "am I in the wrong place,..... bloody satnav" we had of course had gone around to pick up the hall keys, the look on Steve's face when we returned was that of a much relieved man. Well aware that several members are away on holidays it was nice to see that we had almost a full hall.
The lecture was apparently well received by those who attended and I thank Lynn for her sum up. As much as I tried to get Steve to accept a fee/donation he bluntly refused, and told me in 'matelot' terminology it will cost me a few beers the next time we are on one of our little trips.
Ray Kemmish brought in an album of photos taken way back in 19....... showing some of the grave sites in North Africa and has kindly offered to let the project have copies.  
Pam Bradley is also in contact with family and friends in South Africa and has promised to try and get some images for the project, sadly it seem the new government in that country are trying to obliterate all/any references to the past history and this include the destruction of cemeteries, very sad!  
David Horscroft has also expressed an interest in joining us the next time the project has an away weekend, I not sure what attracted him to the idea, possibly the backache, sore knees and ankles after taken several hundreds of photos in a day but more likely the thought of those nice French and Belgium beers, good food and possibly a great sense of achievement at the end of a long day.

On the TWGPP website there is a wonderful gallery and in there is a photo of Terry not quite at his best.  The link is HERE

Just one more reminder that I need your suggestions for subjects to be used in next seasons Les Fredericks trophies, I have had a few but some of them have been used before, so thinking caps on please.

New member. It was my pleasure to welcome another new member last night, fully paid up so now we can look forward to seeing Lisa Richardson's images. Keeping it in the family so to speak Gary brought in a few prints for assessment last night, I asked two of our more experienced members to look at them and they both agreed with me, so it is straight into the advanced class for Prints.

Next Week. Is assessment No. 7, with Chris Whiting judging. Entries in by the normal method and by midnight Friday.

Photo Competition. One for all of you who visit the New Forest. The annual competition is underway for the National Park, it's free to enter so look at the website for details. http://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/index/dreamviewcomp.htm

My regards, now get out & about and keep snapping!
Terry

RE: Long Barn Art and Photographic Competition

You may not have heard of us but we are lavender growers with a difference. We opened a magnificent green oak barn last November between Bishops Sutton and Alresford, which is surrounded by newly planted lavender and a view of the River Itchen. We have a boutique plant nursery, lavender collection and a variety of complementary home and garden wares sourced from English producers.

We hold a number of events throughout the year and this year sees our first Festival of Lavender. This will take place in the grounds of Long Barn from July 30th to August 9th and we would like to invite you to take part in our Art and Photography Competition. There is a nominal entry fee of £5.00 which includes tea/coffee and cake and a winner’s prize of £50.00 plus a Long Barn Gift Box.

We are hoping your members will be interested in coming to the Barn and taking that special shot. Although our lavender is young the site offers fantastic opportunities for the artistic eye – our new straw bale wall, chicken and shepherd’s hut, kitchen garden beds and the Barn itself which is one of the largest green oak structures in southern England.

We would ask you to be aware that there will be other events taking place during your time here should you wish to take part in our competition so we urge you to book as soon as possible to secure your pitch!

You may wish to visit our website which will give you some idea of the area described above –www.long-barn.co.uk and in particular under News/Chronicle.

If you think this event is of interest to you, please contact us on the numbers/email below and we will be happy to provide you will more details.

The Events Team    Tel: 01962 738684    events@long-barn.co.uk

John Henshall ‘Unsensored. A snapshot of 50 years of electronic and digital imaging’

Digital photography expert, John Henshall, will host a free public lecture at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) at Farnham on Thursday 20 May 2010.

John, who was awarded an honorary degree by UCA in 2009, is a pioneer in the new art and science of digital imaging.

He began his career at the BBC and was later Director of Photography on hundreds of early music videos for the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, David Bowie and Elton John, plus major network productions such as Spitting Image.

He is currently CEO of EPI-centre, a company providing consultancy and research into the digital imaging industry, which he founded in 1993.

John has served as President of the British Institute of Professional Photography and is currently Co-Vice Chairman of the Guild of Television Cameramen.

The lecture, which starts at 6pm, will be followed by a drinks reception. The evening is free of charge and open to all, however places are limited and must be reserved.

To book your place, please e-mail: events@ucreative.ac.uk or call 01252 892 682. 

Adele Wordsworth
Events Officer
Marketing & Communications
University for the Creative Arts
Falkner Road
Farnham
GU9 7DS

Tel: 01252 892682

awordsworth@ucreative.ac.uk
www.ucreative.ac.uk

Upcoming Public Lectures
20 May - John Henshall ‘Unsensored. A snapshot of 50 years of electronic and digital imaging’ at UCA Farnham

Chairman's Newsletter No. 37

Dear Members,
I hope you have all enjoyed the short bank holiday break, while the weather was almost back to winter the short warm period prior to the break was enough to start some rapid plant growth, the wildflowers seem to be more abundant than in previous years. In particular I have noticed the local hedgerows have a mass of Bluebells and Stitchworts.

Assessment No.6. Coming the short drive from Andover CC John Randall immediately looked at the prints on display, wiped his forehead and stated he was in for a tough night. John does not give high scores easily and his critique may well use his cropping board a little to frequently but that is his style and how he thinks an image could be improved. There were some well earned 10s and two members managed to score enough points to progress to the advanced section, Andrew Greenwood in prints and George Atkins in PDIs, well done to both of them.

Stockbridge exhibition 2010. Martin Brown gave the meeting a brief update about this years exhibition and he will be sending out an email with all the facts soon.

Mottisfont Abbey. Currently running an exhibition/sale of photos are three of our members, Betty & Tony Rackham along with Roy Brothy have got together with 3 other like minded people and called themselves 'Lightcatchers'.
The exhibition is on until 16th May during the normal opening hours, Tony tells me that the weather has had an effect on the number of visitors but that the gardens are looking very good and that they have managed to sell several images.

Les Fredericks 2011. Do you have ideas for the subjects for next seasons competitions? Then your committee are looking for them! As you the members pick the subjects at the AGM we would like your suggestions so that we can make a list to present at the AGM. Please send me your short lists for prints and digitals before the end of the month, this is so the committee meeting on 3rd June can review and delete the subjects that have recently been used.
The whole idea for the competitions is to produce 'new' or previously unseen work. The author of any suggestions will be known only by me, your secrets are in safe hands!!!

Sheila Budden. I managed to have a few words with Arthur on Monday. Sheila is still in hospital at the moment and at that time Arthur did not know just where she is! The team caring for her had planned to move her to another ward or possibly another hospital, it was all dependant on bed availability and another assessment of her needs. Arthur knows that we are asking about her and thanks us for our concerns. Hopefully I can bring you better news soon.

Portable screens. Jean Russell knows of two screens going free to a good home, 1 x 6 footer and 1 x 4 foot. If you are interested please deal direct with Jean.

May 18th This is the postponed 'chairman's evening' from January. Steve Rogers, project director for the 'Wargraves Photographic Project' will be giving a lecture on the project. You may remember that he asked any member who had a family issue/query to write to him. I know he wrote direct to some of you and that he has a few answers for others. It should be an interesting evening with a macho ex Chief Petty Officer.
Any friends of members are welcome to attend.

May 25th. This is assessment No.7.  Due to the earlier postponed meetings we now go into a busy period for the internal competitions. Chris Whiting who for many years ran the SPFs leagues, has agreed to judge that night.It should be fun. So please do your best to assist Jill get you entries in on time and with your preferred sequence order clear.

June 22nd. As you may recall this is the night when some of us are making a visit to Marwell. Our initial thoughts about this evening was to close the club but we now have an alternative activity for those not going to Marwell.
George Atkins has offered to run a 'teach in' using his laptop and the clubs digital projector. George intends to do some lessons on how to produce better colour prints and PDIs. He also wants your questions or any difficulties you have in photo enhancement. Please send your queries direct to George prior to the meeting so he can set up his program to suit you the members. Several members have asked for this sort of evening before this is your opportunity to get some answers, please take it.

My regards to you all, keep snapping!
Terry

PAGB E-News No. 27

Welcome to Issue 27 of e-news.

Click HERE to read of the successes in the PAGB Distictions adjudication.

ADVERTISING IN e-news
e-news now circulates to at least 10,000 club members and we can take one page of advertising at a very reasonable price. This issue carries an advert for a photographic holiday. If you run photo workshops or photo holidays then e-news could work very well for you - giving direct access to your prospective customers! If you know of anyone who might like to advertise please ask them to e-mail me. Please don't just send me names and numbers as I'm not into "cold calling".

rod whelans