Club News

Read all about our activities here ...
10/03/24
Another recent successful Club outing was to Sculpture By the Lakes. We were so pleased that we went ahead with our visit in spite of the weather. The rain stopped as we arrived and gave us perfect conditions -overcast and still. The reflections were excellent and the still- dripping sculptures and catkins were a photographer's dream. Much time was spent trying out ICM and multiple exposure inspired by our recent talk from Andy Page. We finished off with a very cosy coffee by the log fire in the cafe. See some of our images here.

SCPF(Southern Counties)
After a nail biting round 7 of the SCPF League it was down to the last round to decide if we stay in League One or be relegated to League Two. So, we were delighted to have come 7th in the last League competition thus putting us just above the relegation zone. Huge congratulations to the participants - especially given that there are 70 Clubs overall! The challenge once again is to stay up in League One next season.

03/03/24
We have been incredibly lucky to have had recent presentations from two talented professional photographers. Mark Bauer (https://markbauerphotography.com/profile/) is local but of national repute as a landscape photographer.(LPOTY) We were reminded of the great opportunities on our own doorstep and how to make the most of light and composition. Andy Page(https://www.silverliningphotography.co.uk/) also excels at traditional landscape photography but also showed us a more abstract and thought provoking interpretation. We all learn so much and find inspiration from such gifted photographers.
Well done NIgel Gidney for winning both PDI and Print sections of our League 4 competition. Full results here.

01/02/24
After 5 out of 8 rounds WCC is holding it's head high in SCPF Division 1 with some excellent 10 scores by Nigel Gidney and Gordon Chamberlain. The latest Round was hosted by Wareham. However with three rounds yet to come we hope to improve our position further by the end of the competition.
Member Graham Tarrant gave an excellent presentation last week on 'Great Bear Country' to a full house of Members and guests. He travelled by yacht along the Alaskan coast and we were treated to many fine images of bears and whales as well as evocative coastal landscapes.
A recent Club outing was arranged for a morning photo shoot at the two main churches of Wareham - both originally Saxon but with St Martin's largely unchanged with some fine wall paintings.(Images here) Quite a challenge with available light but nevertheless enjoyed by all attendees. Many thanks to Jean Dixon and Mike Brown for continuing to organise these sessions.

17/01/24
Happy New Year to all Members and browsers!
League 3 results (09/01/24) can now be found in Internal Competitions. Well done to the winners.

We have already had two great presentations this year by our own Tim Green (https://www.timgreenphotography.com/) and also Dapper and Jude (https://www.dapperandjude.com/). Tim took us to North Dakota and Montana with evocative images of abandoned farmsteads and autos - remnants of the old settler West, while Dapper and Jude showed mainly portraits of elderly isolated farming inhabitants of northern Romania. The latter were beautifully lit, full of character and important evidence of a rapidly disappearing way of life. All were high quality images with interesting and informative themes.

20/12/23
We have enjoyed a very successful first half of the season with high standard presentations and Members showing their usual impressive imagination and skills in League Competitions 1 and 2 (Internal Competitions) as well as in the Theme Competitions.
We ended the year with an entertaining Christmas Club evening with a selection of short AV's and presentations by Members which took us to Peru, Italy, Brazil, Canada and Norway together with some creative and skilful interpretations of our local area. Most of all we were treated to a magnificent 5* buffet organised by Jean Dixon and her team - a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach! (see images) and now look forward to an equally successful New Year. Best seasonal wishes to all .

01/12/23
Well done so far to those Members whose images were entered for this year's SCPF league. We are currently third out of eight in Division1 after two rounds but plenty of rounds still to come going into next year. A great start however.

12/11/23
Well done Mike Grigsby and NIgel Gidney who won The Intimate Landscape competition for prints and PDI's respectively. The brief was well interpreted by Tony Worobiec who judged with great perception and clarity. Full results here.

A group of members also visited Kingston Lacey last Thursday focussing on the Japanese garden with Jean Dixon ably modelling as a coy geisha! The weather was kind and colours were stunning. Images can be seen in Club Activity/Kingston Lacey 2023.

26/10/23
October has been a busy month at the club. As well as the usual excellent presentations an outing was organised to Dorset Falconry Park - a challenge to capture the 70mph peregrine falcon but lots of opportunities with a range of raptors. We've shared an epic photographic exploration of Western Canada with Di and John Tilsley, wonderful wildlife images from Adrian Davies (https://www.adriandaviesimaging.com/ ) and superb landscapes from Jack Lodge.
(https://www.jacklodge.co.uk/). Jack not only showed outstanding images and prints but gave us a wealth of information on his thoughts and techniques - instructive and inspiring. Finally a very enjoyable Club 'Knockout' evening was won by Nigel Gidney with his excellent Highland Cattle portrait.

01/10/23
Congratulations Jean Dixon and Mike Grigsby- winners of DPI's and Prints respectively in the first League Competition of the season. Full results here.

24/09/23
A great start to the season. Brian Chard ( Link here... ) treated us to many splendid wildlife images - especially of birds- with a variety of habitats and activity. Great technique and enormous patience and mainly local - exotic locations not always necessary! The SCPF presentation reflected the extremely high standards of the region for all of us to aspire to and last week Andrea Hargreaves ( Link here...) demonstrated outstanding imagination and processing technique with her mysterious and evocative images of a Nordic world of dragons and goddesses. A lively discussion of 'photography or art?' ensued!

10/09/23
Pictures from an Exhibition! Click here.

13/08/23
2023 EXHIBITION

A huge THANK-YOU to everyone who contributed to our Exhibition in any way, We all felt that it was a very successful day: our prints were shown off at their best and hundreds of people heard about Wareham Camera Club and its programme and friendliness.
As an extra bonus we were able to offer people the most delicious homemade cakes and drinks and they could win prizes in our legendary raffle. We made £113 on teas and £144 on the raffle - plenty of money to pay for the hall and have a bit left over.
Many thanks to everyone who helped in any way.
Jean Dixon
Chairperson

01/08/23
We were delighted to be asked to exhibit 18 framed prints in the ‘Not Just Sundaes’ community cafe, Trinity Church, South Street. The cafe is a hidden gem, a place to enjoy a coffee, home made cakes or a light lunch. The building is a beautiful historic building that used to be the Church of The Holy Trinity. The Exhibition will run for the Summer. See images here.

02/06/23
Continuing the garden theme from the Holme Gardens visit around a dozen members met at Carey's Secret Garden near Wareham yesterday.(01/06) A morning of wonderful sunshine, brilliant colours (roses, lupins, alliums etc) as well as learning about the garden's history and the current project of restoration and community involvement. Check their website : https://www.careyssecretgarden.co.uk/.Jean Dixon and Mike Brown organised the visit and suggested a range of techniques we could try. A very successful and enjoyable morning and images can now be seen here.

02/05/23
Our final session was the AGM ably presided over by Jean Dixon who remains Chairperson for next season. The full list of Committee members for next year can be seen here.. Our President Nigel Spiller gave an excellent summing up report remarking that it was the 58th AGM since the Club was founded in 1965 - at which he was present! Cups, trophies and certificates were presented by Nigel and congratulations to all those who were successful this year.(see full list of winners here) The Club continues to thrive thanks both to a core of long-time and loyal members as well as those joining more recently. We look forward to another enjoyable and successful season from next September.

16/04/23
After a very close last round in the SCPF league competition along with Fordingbridge C.C. we are being promoted to League One next season, Congratulations to all our photographers, Nigel, Terry, John, Tim, Jean and Rob.  Nigel’s Female Bearded Reedling was our top scoring PDI and goes through to the Finals at the SCPF AGM in the Littleton Millennium Hall on May 14th judged by Barbie and Rusty Lindsay. See images here.

Our Best of Year competition (April 4th) again demonstrated the high standard of the Club - overall and well deserved winners were Alan Bevis (both Colour and Black and White prints)and Mike Grigsby (PDI's) with full results in Internal Competitions.

31/03/23
Final League competition of the season (League 5) was held on Tues. Well done Mike Grigsby, Alan Bevis and Gordon Chamberlain. Details in Internal Competitions.

27/03/23
On Thursday 23rd a group of members spent an enjoyable morning at Holme Gardens. Mike Brown gave us a list of ten different techniques of which we were to attempt 5 and the results of which can be seen here in Club Activity Many thanks to Mike and Jean Dixon for organising.

Recent presentations have continued with Tim Downton ARPS(Dorchester CC) - brilliant local wildlife images illustrating both activity and environment. Also Simon Turnbull FRPS - an outstanding landscape photographer(LPOTY 2022) with real mastery of light and composition and generously sharing tips and ideas.(https://www.simonturnbullphotography.com/)

04/03/23
League Competition 4 results are now posted here. Well done Alan Bevis and Nigel Gidney - again setting standards we Members aspire to!

26/02/23
Our regular presentation evenings continue to entertain, inform and inspire all of the Members. Emily Endean is a talented professional photographer with a special interest in seascapes.(https://www.emilyendeanphotography.co.uk/) Her beautiful images - especially local coastal scenery- showed a mastery of light and imaginative composition. By contrast Warren Alani (https://www.warrenalaniphotography.com/sports) is a professional sports photographer who let us into the secrets of high quality images vividly capturing 'the moment' with maximum impact. He was generous in sharing his technique as we all continue to develop our own skills. Finally our own Graham Tarrant is an excellent wildlife photographer who has in the past taken us to Antarctica and Africa but this time we journeyed to Svalbard. Apart from the inspirational images of polar bears, Arctic foxes and bird life the impact of climate change on this habitat was clear in the unusual lack of snow and sea ice. An entertaining as well as instructive evening with an important message. Many thanks Graham.

08/02/23
Congratulations to Nigel Gidney and Derek Way, winners of the Woodhouse Trophy(print) and Bert's Bole(PDI) respectively. Full results here. Sadly Bert Wason,a stalwart of the Club for an amzing 48 years, passed away in 2018 but we remember him as follows:
BERT WASON FRPS
1933 - 2018
It was during a school visit to Swanage from his home in 1947 that Bert first discovered the wonders of Natural History, the rocks, the plants, Insects and birds enthralled him.
He learnt about the basics of photography during his National Service as a Model Maker in the RAF. He was working in a joint Service Intelligence Unit which involved the taking and use of photographs.
In 1955 Bert purchased his camera and joined Epsom Camera Club. This was the beginning of his competitive and exhibition type of photography.
His next club was the Woking Photographic Society at which time he was working in the wind tunnel dept of Vickers Armstrong Aircraft, Weybridge. There was a well equipped darkroom which he put to very good use. In 1964 he moved to Wareham putting a damper on his photography until 1970 when he joined the young Wareham Camera Club. After complaining about competitions he was coerced into being Competition secretary, this was followed by various committee posts until the 80’s when he had the honour to be President.
It was in 1977 that a member encouraged him to join the RPS (Royal Photographic Society) and introduced him to the techniques of nature photography. In 1980 he attained his first ambition, Associateship in Nature Photography. In 1987 Bert achieved his Fellowship in Nature.
Bert tutored courses on Nature Photography and lectured widely to many societies. He published in various magazines and his awards include:-
Royal Photographic Society International Exhibition 1991 & 1992.
Southampton International Photographic Exhibition 1995.
BBC‘Gardeners World’ Photographer of the Year 1992 with his‘Long - Headed Poppies’.

19/01/23
Our first outing of the New Year was a successful visit to Wareham's famous Art Deco Rex Cinema. Beautifully restored and maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers, it created a challenge for low light indoor photography which the members tackled with imagination and skill. Many thanks to Mike and Jean for organising. See a selection of images here.

11/01/23
A great start to 2023.Our first session was hosting the beginning of the SCPF Digital image league on Zoom with a highly promising start. We are in Division 2 (of 8) with eight Clubs competing over 8 judged competitions. Judges marks can very considerably however and reports on our progress will be made later in the year.
Last night was our annual AV evening with many Club members demonstrating a tremendous variety of subject and style all of a high standard. It ranged from evocative home landscapes of Scotland and Wales to an epic walk in the Alps, cycling in Spain, an African safari and the skyscrapers of Chicago as well as stunning woodland images, a high impact and vivid boxing sequence, our local steam railway and a variety of architecture. All were accompanied by well chosen music to enhance each presentation with the whole evening enthusiastically appreciated by the excellent turnout. Well done to all contributors.

06/12/22
Our Alison Macalister Competition was a special evening with Alison's sister and niece attending and sharing memories. Alison was a long time member who despite her physical disability threw herself enthusiastically not only into photography but into life in general and is missed greatly by all. Well done to the trophy winners Erica Beck and Terry Mullen amongst a wide range of high standard entries - full results in Internal Competitions. It was ably judged by Trevor Prince whose balanced and constructive comments were much appreciated.

01/12/22.
A brilliant achievement by the Club - we came First in the SCPF Annual Exhibition judged on Nov.20th by Eddy Lane ARPS DPAGB EFIAP APAGB. Huge congratulations to Nigel who had a 10 for his Female Bearded Reedling and a 9 for ‘Hare in the Rain’, and to Terry a 9.5 for his ‘Milky Way rising at Durdle Door’, both Nigel and Terry receiving HC’s. Well done to all members whose work was selected - a tremendous credit to the Club especially with entries from 60 Clubs with over 400 images. See images here and list of entries in External Competitions.

25/11/22
Congratulations to Gordon Chamberlain, Alan Bevis and Jean Dixon winning League 2 best Colour Print, Black and White print and PDI respectively. Full results here.
Last week we had an excellent presentation by Ken Scott ARPS APAGB MBPsS who undertook a journey around the coast of the UK with considerable 'ups and downs' but captured the purpose, people and scenery vividly with his series of images and av's. A thoughtful, moving and professional presentation. Link to Ken's 'Touching the Light' website here.

09/11/22
Lucky weather! Club members were inspired by a talk by Paul Mitchell FRPS called "Woodland Ways". We loved the way he photographed woodland and decided to have an outing to try try out his techniques. We chose Thorncombe Woods near Dorchester and got the first fine day for weeks and were astonished to find colour on the trees after weeks of gales. As always it was interesting to see how different everyone's images were and we now have the pleasure of processing them and seeing what effects we can produce. Here are a few of the images.

08/11/22
We hosted the All v All Inter Club Friendly competition on the 8th November, 8 former SAPA clubs took part and Leo Rich ARPS EFIAP/gold judged, it was won by Wimborne C.C. Ferndown was 2nd and Wareham a creditable 3rd. Well done to all participants, our top scorers were Terry Mullen and Nigel Gidney - Terry with a 10 and Nigel a 9. It was a very entertaining zoomed evening with superb images from all participating clubs.

25/10/22
The prestigious Wessex Battle was a great success! Nine clubs competed and the hall was full with a brilliant atmosphere. Sue Sibley ARPS EFIAP/S DPAGB BP4* was the judge. Wareham came a creditable 3rd, so very well done all participants. Our own Gordon Chamberlain won Best Image from 72 entries with ‘Reed Bunting Feeding’. Wimborne won overall and BH Photography Club were 2nd. Wimborne’s President Norman Wiles was presented with the winners shield and Gordon with the individual winners shield, See photos in For News gallery. Next year Bridport C.C. will be hosting this annual competition.

20/10/22
It is always rewarding to see relatively new members making their mark through the Club. John Crawford Hayes has developed an interest in what he terms 'Photoelasticity' which involves stunning abstract images of vibrant colour created with fragments of plastic and glass. He has successfully submitted a spectacular panel to achieve an ARPS award which can be seen on this link to SCPF. It also explains his technique and how he developed his original ideas. Great initiative - well done John!

11/10/22
Full results of our 'LINES' theme competition are now posted in Internal Competitions. Well done all - some striking images, great imagination and thoughtfully judged by John Tilsley.

10/10/22
We never cease to be impressed by our presenters and certainly not least by Kevin Pigney (20/09/22) and Paul Mitchell(04/10/22). Kevin specialises in close up wildlife photography with the subjects isolated from their background to produce stunning portraits - many beautifully backlit. He was also very generous with information on technique which Club members always appreciate.(https://kjpphotography.myportfolio.com/)
Paul showed us how we can make the most of our local woodlands using light, composition and colour to maximum effect. His Woodland Ways portfolio is inspirational and true photographic art. (https://www.paulmitchellphotography.co.uk/portfolio#/new-gallery/) Paul was also incredibly helpful with advice on technique including the use of Photoshop editing. A Club outing to beech woodland is planned for November 9th.We all continue to be entertained with the variety and quality of our presenters and never fail to add something to our own skill development. Many thanks to Maggie the Programme organiser.

03/10/22
League 1 Competition results are now posted in Internal Competitions. Well done to Alan Bevis, Nigel Gidney and Jean Dixon.

15/09/22
Our season got off to a great start last week with an entertaining session by visitor Chris Hilton. He gave an imaginative and varied presentation laced with a sense of humour- photography for us non-professionals should always be about enjoyment! Yesterday saw our second session with 'Projects, Panels & Montage'. We had a good number of contributions of all three elements covering people, landscape, nature, sport and travel. Our expert guest Norman Marsh commented positively and constructively on each and members were given the opportunity to add their own observations. There was no marking but simply a rewarding and relaxed Club evening enjoying fellow members work with lively discussion and helpful and encouraging comments from Norman.


27/08/22
1.Our annual Club Exhibition took place as usual in Wareham town hall on Saturday(27/08). Most of the prints on display were from the last few years. Our visitors which included Anne Eckersley - SCPF President - ( What a super exhibition please congratulate everyone involved!.) were a mixture of holidaymakers and local people but everyone commented on the quality of the work and the fact that it gets better and better every year. Also at the Exhibition Nigel Gidney was presented his outstanding DPAGB Award by Chairman Nigel Spiller. See images from the Exhibition here.

2. Member Alan King has produced an excellent portfolio of black and white images taken at the recent Wareham Saxon Festival. Well done Alan and thank you. Click here to see images.


10/08/22
Dorset Arts and Crafts Association Showcase - Aug.5th-9th

The club was privileged to have been invited as guest exhibitors at the DACA (Dorset Arts & Crafts Association) this year. In 1906 a small exhibition was held at Hinton St Mary and it’s success led to the formation of DACA in 1907. The association's first exhibition was held at the Blandford Corn Exchange in 1907 and their 100th was held at the Purbeck School in 2014.
This event attracted between 300/500 visitors each day this year and our exhibition was enjoyed by everyone who viewed with really lovely comments left. Special congratulations to Gordon for a Highly Commended for ‘Female Reedling Feeding’ and Jean Dixon for two Commended for ‘Tufted Vetch’ and ‘Borrowdale' in the DACA Photography Competition. See our display here.
 

07/07/22
Congratulations to Jean Dixon (our Chairperson) who gained a Highly Commended at the RPS Nature Group 2022 Print Exhibition with ‘Frosted Willow’. A prestigious achievement Jean - well done and great credit to the Club as well as to you of course. See the image here in For News Gallery.


01/07/22 Knoll Gardens
Eleven club members enjoyed an outing to Knoll Gardens which is especially renowned for it's selection of ornamental grasses as well as perennials, trees and shrubs. It is a naturalistic setting and provides an excellent range of photographic opportunities in terms of both subject and technique.
During our initial coffee break Pattie Norris and Pam Hunt gave the group some very useful hints on ICM and use of multiple exposures respectively. ICM images required a slower speed of around 0.5 sec and hence a smaller aperture, low ISO and ideally the use of ND filters but there is plenty of scope for experimentation. Pam helped by demonstrating the in-camera settings for multiple exposures using a Canon or Nikon, either retaining separate images or merging within camera. Members consequently enjoyed producing a range of images including 'standard' shots as well as applying the techniques discussed. Many thanks to Pattie and Pam for their contribution as well as to Jean Dixon for organising a very successful outing. Check the Members Gallery here for a sample of interesting images!


03/05/22
Our season has now finished with our AGM with confirmation of next year's Committee members.(click here)
Next year's Programme has been finalised (thanks Maggie) and will be shortly added to the site. Nigel Gidney also kindly showed us his successful DPAGB images explaining how they were judged - very informative and motivating for those attending.
Details of the Annual Exhibition in August will also be posted in due course.
Another visit to Knoll Gardens has been organised for Friday July 1st - please contact Jean if you wish to attend.

30/04/22
1.The last of the season's presentations was Jean Dixon's 'Chairman's Choice'. A well chosen programme that included Bev Langden's illustrated profile of the Arne RSPB Reserve, local night-time images by Club members and Jean's own excellent wild flower images taken throughout the season. Many thanks to Jean for a very successful year as Chairperson.
2. Congratulations to Nigel Gidney who has achieved the prestigious award of DPAGB - Distinction level of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain. This reflects a persistent standard at the highest level and we are proud to have such a talented photographer as a member of the Club. In addition, as in previous years, Nigel continues to take technical responsibility each week for AV presentations for which we are all extremely grateful.

19/04/22
Overall internal League competition trophy winners have now been announced- check full results here. Well done Gordon Chamberlain, Nigel Gidney and Jean Dixon, overall winners of colour prints, black and white prints and projected images respectively. Sustained high standards for all of us to aspire to!

On Tuesday 19th Jane and Stephen Lee of Dorchester CC presented 'Cold feet -Wet feet'. Aficionados of cold climate images, we journeyed with them from Svalbard to Yellowstone via Iceland and Hudson Bay - epic frozen landscapes with spectacular wild life including polar bears and bison. Then 'Wet feet' in and around the Mull of Kintyre with atmospheric seascapes and highland scenery followed by creative ICM images – a gallery of subtle colours and aesthetic composition. Finally a moving and beautiful AV presentation 'Hebridean Dreams' with sand, sea and evocative Gaelic music. A memorable evening of great variety enjoyed gratefully by all.

The results of the Best of the Yearcompetition (05/04/22) are now in the Internal Competitions section.
Well done to all the winners and runners up.

06/04/22
The SAPA Best of Year Competition was held tonight Wed. April 6th.
All nine clubs entered their 5 best images and those of Gordon Chamberlain, Jean Dixon and Nigel Gidney were all held back with Gordon's Reed Bunting Feeding coming an excellent Second overall and Jean's Rosa Rugosa Highly Commended. The judge was Jim Pascoe and standards were very high.Well done all and as always a great credit to WCC. (External Comp.link)

Gordon MacPherson
Our meeting of Tuesday March 29th was dedicated to the memory of Gordon MacPherson. Gordon, who sadly passed away in November, was at the heart of the club for many years both as Chairman and an articulate and entertaining voter of thanks to judges and presenters. His wife Shelley and members of the family attended and we were treated to an evening of Gordon's images and AV presentations reflecting his wide range and increasing level of photographic ability over the years. There were many happy reminiscences of a member who is very sadly missed by all.

29/03/22
Link here to SCPF newsletter and final Championship results- Wareham CC a respectable 20/34.

26/03/22
League 5 results now posted in Competitions section. Well done John, Terry and Gordon.

17/03/22
SCPF
After a shaky start and quite a difference in Judges marks we crept our way up the SCPF (Southern Counties Photographic Federation) league and ended the season in 4th place ensuring we stay in league 2 next season. Congratulations to all participants. We will be striving to be promoted back into league one next season. Onwards and upwards.

15/03/22
Zoom presenter Rene De Heer took us on a journey ranging from Eastern Europe to Spain, Svalbard and Yellowstone showing mainly a series of outstanding bird images - some familiar, but mostly rare or unseen in the UK and thus all the more interesting. From Golden Oriole to Griffon Vulture to Lammergeier and White Tailed Eagle they were all captured with immense patience resulting in high quality characterful images - despite hides of seemingly increasing levels of discomfort! A real enthusiast and truly dedicated wildlife photographer. Thank you Rene. Check his website here.

10/03/22
A small group of members ventured again into the night (03/03) – this time to Wareham and ably organised once again by Mike Brown. Undeterred by rain they practised a variety of techniques to produce an interesting range of memorable images. Click here to see a sample of their work. Many thanks again Mike.
Last Tuesday Janey Devine FRPS was our local live presenter who is a member of both of the esteemed Arena and Focus Photography groups. Members were treated to a series of AV presentations ranging from moody and atmospheric black and white visits to Scotland to colourful Myanmar, Tamil Nadu and Ethiopia. She gave hints on text and music and emphasised the importance of story telling in her work which was supported throughout by high quality images. A highly instructive and enjoyable evening and inspiration for those intending to produce their own AV creations in the Autumn. See examples of her work here.

01/03/22
After a series of excellent presentations largely via Zoom it was refreshing to have one of our own members provide a highly memorable evening in the hall. In 2019 Stephen Thorne participated in a spectacular hike to the high point of the Kuari Pass in northern India- almost 4000m. With some days comprising up to ten hours strenuous walking at altitude it was not only a challenge but clearly inspirational with incredible views to the high Himalayas including the highest peak entirely in India, Nanda Devi, at 7800m. We walked alongside Stephen by means of a series of vivid images of both scenery and people and a clear, reflective and often amusing narration.He finished with a quick tour of the Golden Triangle to complete an absorbing and informative impression of both colourful, chaotic 'tourist' India and the magnificent Himalayas. Many thanks for a great evening Stephen.

22/02/22
League 4 results here. Well done Pattie,Jean and John!

Congratulations to Nigel Gidney and Pattie Norris.Both had images accepted by the Bristol Salon with particular success by Nigel as follows:

Nigel:
6 Acceptances including :

Female Bearded Reedling on Mace was awarded a GPU Silver medal

Hare in the Rain was awarded a PSA: Gold medal

Hare Portrait was awarded a Highly commended

Pattie:
3 Acceptances:

After the rain

The Meadow.

Fading Rose

Well done both - a credit to the club as well as yourselves.Click here to see images


16/02/22
Many thanks to Amanda Miller (Dorset Light) for her lively presentation of images from her Iceland trip.(01/02) Great photography with enthusiastic and humorous commentary and interesting back stories.
Our latest Zoom presenter(14/02) was professional photographer Ross McKelvey MPAGB MFIAP FIPF EFIAP/p FBPE who is based at his 'Catchlight' studio in Belfast. We were treated not only to outstanding images of professional life models at a technical standard most of us can only aspire to but also to an 'eclectic' mix of landscape, wildlife and sport. Ross specialises in fine art prints- particularly in black and white- and has been voted No.1 Black and White photographer in the world by the PSA (USA) plus countless other awards. He also entertained us with his dry sense of humour and shared many secrets of his 'dark art' success. A real treat and an example of one of the great advantages of Zoom in gaining access to one of the best international photographic artists.
https://www.rossmckelvey.co.uk/

08/02/22
Bert's Bole PDI's and Woodhouse prints competition results here.

29/01/22
Following an lively presentation of night photography images by Richard Sercombe (18/01) a small group of members ably led by Mike Brown spent an enjoyable hour and a half in Swanage ((26/01) testing their skills after nightfall. Mike took us to a variety of interesting locations from sweeping views of the bay with beautiful reflections to street photography and the classical columns of Prince Albert Gardens.Richard had included lots of technical hints and Mike kindly reinforced these with experience from his home town.Thanks initially to Richard for a stimulating presentation and of course to Mike for helping us put theory into practice during a highly rewarding evening session.See a selection of images here.

11/01/22
An excellent and highly enjoyable Zoom exhibition of members' presentations this evening. Seven members showed 10 images each that reflected their particular interests or experiences. From biographical to a spectacular trip around Western USA as well as candid people photography, local natural history, beautiful montages, artistic ICM images and a spectacular set of LRPS images from Mike Brown. It demonstrated not only the the high standard of WCC photography but the broad range of interests and backgrounds of our talented members. Well done to all contributors and many thanks to Maggie for coordinating and chairing such a successful evening and also Nigel for handling the image presentation via Zoom.

20/11/21
Well done to yet another successful member! Terry Mullen has now also been being awarded his LRPS. Congratulations on behalf of the Club Terry.
Also we were treated to an excellent presentation last Tuesday (16th) by Ade and Clive Gidney (brothers of member Nigel). Clive did a biographical interview with Ade who is a superb landscape photographer based on the edge of the Lake District. We learnt of his development as a photographer and were given insight into his priorities of light and composition illustrated by an array of spectacular images - both highly entertaining and instructive. (Click here for link to Ade's website)

16/11/21
We were so sad to hear of the recent death of Gordon Macpherson, a much loved and respected club member. Gordon was twice chairman of the club. He was a highly respected photographer and was expert at giving the vote of thanks to our speakers and judges, something he did with great grace and generosity. We will miss him.

03/11/21
Congratulations to member Michael Brown who has recently been awarded an LRPS (Licentiate of the RPS). This required submission of 10 quality images showing a variety of technique and approach which Michael clearly mastered so very well done!

02/11/21
Our programme continues very successfully, albeit mostly on Zoom. Recent presentations were from Steve Myall with his 100 Strangers (Tues.Oct.26th) and tonight from Tony Worobiec with Intimate Landscapes. Steve impressed us with his colourful street photography based on the project of photographing 100 complete strangers at random. A blend of personal confidence, great social interaction and clever selection of visually colourful characters. Tony is a talented landscape photographer who convinced us through his stunning images of the need to find one's own interpretation of the detail in our compositions and to avoid the common overview of popular scenes. All of us will now be looking for those beautiful rhythmic patterns in rocks, water, trees, vegetation and landscape forms. Many thanks to both.

23/10/21
Geoff Pyle 'Out and About' Competition took place last Tuesday.(19th) A good range of both prints and PDI's and congratulations to overall winners Nigel and Terry - full results here.

02/10/21
League 1 competition results now in-click here. Well done to the winners Gordon, Alan and Rob.

23/09/21
Excellent Zoom presentation on 21/09 by Tony North DPAGB BPE4. Beautiful flora taken throughout the year plus magical macro images of fungi - all with clever use of light. Also generous technical tips to help all of us improve.

18/09/21 (see home page image)
Great news from member Nigel Gidney. He has not only had 31 acceptances from 2 International Salons this Summer but also won a Silver Medal from the SCPF Championship for his superb image 'Pounce' (key [16842601] doesn't existClick here) Home page photo shows the Medal presentation by Chairperson Jean Dixon at last week's Club night. Congratulations on behalf of the Club Nigel!


Annual Exhibition Town Hall 21st August 2021
We thought it may never happen but it did-what a brilliant day. All the Club pulled together to produce a great exhibition and people poured through the door in their hundreds. We had praise and often amazement from all that came at the quality and diversity of the work. This has been a difficult year (understatement!) but we pulled off a superb exhibition accompanied by delicious refreshments and a very impressive raffle.
Many thanks to EVERYONE who made it such a success.   
It was great to see people in the flesh and chat and catch up and I think the food was the best ever.
I feel the season is off to a brilliant start and look forward to our first session on 7th September.
With thanks again to all who contributed in any way.
Jean Dixon (Chairperson)

Summer Newsletter 23/07/2021

Dear Club Member,
I do hope you are finding lots of inspiration for images at the moment even if it is rather warm. Maggie has put together a brilliant PROGRAMME for next year - really top quality speakers and something for everyone. You will see that we have talks on Underwater (by the legendary Spike and Penny Piddock), Macro, Wildlife and Landscape all before Christmas, as well as our usual competitions. It is our intention to return to the hall on 7th September with precautions in the way of good ventilation, spacing between chairs etc. (Click Programme section for full details.) We are, however, keeping a close eye on what is happening and could move to zoom if necessary – I will keep you up to date. We will be going ahead with our programme whatever the situation. Before that we have our EXHIBITION ON 21st August. Everyone is invited to show their work and there is still time to send your titles to Pat. I have had lots of offers to steward but could do with a few more and of course we are hoping for more raffle prizes and offers of cakes – please! Do bring friends and family along to see the club’s work and to have a cup of coffee and a piece of home-made cake. It will be really good to see everyone. In the meantime I do wish you a happy summer – whatever the weather. We don’t want “bad” weather, but its great for photography.
Best wishes
Jean


04/06/2021
Around 14 members of the Club enjoyed a group visit to Knoll Gardens near Ferndown. There is an excellent display of a wide range of plants in bloom in a natural setting and especially many types of grasses in which the Gardens specialise. The weather was dull in the morning which was ideal for close up photography but the sun shone later for those taking colourful wide angle shots. A bonus was the presence of a moth specialist with some spectacular caterpillars for some interesting close up work. A number of images linking wildlife to the setting were submitted to the owners and may appear in due course on their website and/or newsletters.We look forward to perhaps seeing some of the images in competitions next season.



























































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