Exmouth Photo Group
Est. 1969
Newsletter Year 2018
‘Time Travelling’ by our Chair Ian Bateman FRPS MPAGB AV-AFIAB APAGB
On 5th December 2018 Ian took us down memory lane, back to when the average salary was £6.997, a litre of fuel was £0.44 and a loaf of bread was £0.48. That was 1985 when Ian started making Audio Visuals (AVs) and we travelled back to a time of cassette tapes, slide films, boxes and trays and hoping that we had inserted the film roll correctly. Many of us will remember family slide shows when at least one member of the family fell asleep! Ian’s shows were in a different league with fade ins, voice overs, visual and sound effects and EPG members (all awake) watched in awe as Ian showed us an amazing variety of superb AVs.
In pre Internet days Ian had clearly been thorough in his research and chosen the salient points and some interesting facts and curiosities to inform and entertain the viewer. In Ian’s AV of ‘Carcassonne’ we were told about the siege of Carcassonne and the ‘force fed pig’ and today with the advantage of the Internet I can supply you with a link . Likewise in Ian’s AV of ‘Fascinating Follies’ our attention was held by an incredible variety of follies photographed so well from different angles. To name just one: ‘Chesterton Windmill’ it certainly looks impressive and worth a visit.
So overall we had a wonderful evening viewing 7 of Ian’s AVs and could admire his dedication, determination and ability to produce wonderful AVs back in the 80s and 90s. With the advantages of modern day technology we have seen how Ian has moved onwards and upwards. However, Ian showed us one AV ‘Beauvais Cathedral’ where we could see the advantage of showing an AV from a slide deck as all the slides were shown in their portrait format and we could certainly see the full glory of the Cathedral. An evening that started and ended so well.
Christine Chittock Programme Secretary
South Devon League Competition Wednesday 28 November 2018
The Print Competition for the SDL was held at Dawlish and Teignmouth Camera Club which was very well attended. Dawlish put on a good spread of cakes for half time refreshments but best of all Exmouth came first. John Baker from Exeter judged the competition and it was a very tight match. There were 60 prints to be judged and our entry can be seen here.
Exmouth scored 236, Dawlish 235, Newton Abbot 232 and Crediton 223. Well done to all the entrants who represented the club with their prints.
WCPF Kingswood Salver Saturday 17 November
The Kingswood Salver was held at the Bovey Tracey Golf Club and judged by Rosemary Wilman. There were 21 panels from around the West Country and we can pat ourselves on the back as we came second with our panel Working On Updates. Also John Perriam gained a Highly Commended for his image PC4 in the best individual images. All results are on the WCPF website.
In the afternoon Rosemary gave an excellent talk on her work.
Project Evening 31st October 2018
The Exe Estuary: Facts and Curiosities: On 31st October members were impressed by Mary Solway’s ability to talk so knowledgeably about a wide range of photographs without any reference to notes. Mary had an impressive collection of photos to show off the Estuary from different angles and viewpoints. It was particularly interesting to see the aerial shots.
Following on from Mary, Andy Lock LRPS kept us guessing as to what his presentation was going to be about; very clever! He had a lovely collection of animal photos, taken so there was only an occasional hint of captivity. Andy had taken full advantage of having a friend working on the premises who gave him greater access than usual. So members were treated to a number of close ups and it was wonderful to see his results.
The evening finished with Ian Bateman FRPS MPAGB AV-AFIAB APAGB showing us some of the winning entries from the 23rd International Audio Visual Competition. Altogether a most enjoyable evening.
images and write up by Christine Chittock
Simon Caplan LRPS – 24th October
Simon Caplan LRPS http://www.simoncaplanphotography.co.uk entertained members with his vibrant colourful prints of many everyday objects with some that were more unusual. Discussion around the print displays centred on his more unusual angles and his sharp centre of focus softening away to produce interesting and effective images that captured the viewer’s attention. His talk ‘Extraordinary Ordinary’ lived up to our expectations of something more unusual with plenty to go away and think about. Not all his photos on screen were of objects as we also saw his striking images of people and landscapes. By the end of his talk we were thinking about how we could look at our subjects from different angles, how we could centre on a particular feature and where we would decide to centre our focus. Once again photographic food for thought. Photos by Christine Chittock
Open Evening - Studio Session
17 October 2018
Chaz Madge took the opportunity of photographing two of our members whilst running the studio session. Derrick Holliday receiving the monthly cup for the overall best image and also produced a portrait of Ian Bateman as the new President of the WCPF
Below photos of members at the Open Meeting taken by Christine Chittock
David Shawe - Black White and Infra Red - 10 October 2018
David Shawe made us think about ‘Black, white and infrared photography’. David told us that he thinks in mono when on location rather than looking at a set of RAW colour images later on and then converting them to mono. David showed us a variety of scenes that were further away but we also viewed local places and so could make a note and try them out later. Usefully David showed us some colour versions of his mono images so that we could discuss which we preferred. To conclude we were shown a set of infrared photos taken on David’s converted infrared camera. It was great to see so many infrared photos together so that we could study the art of infrared. We agreed that trees work well but also close ups of plants such as ferns. So again much food for thought.
Alex Nail - Timelapse and Mountain Photography - 3 October 2018
Members were treated to a stunning set of photos and time-lapse sequences when Alex Nail gave his illustrated talk entitled ‘Time-lapse and mountain photography’ at the beginning of October. To secure his photos Alex researched possible locations in depth looking at the terrain for potential landscape scenes and using ‘Windy.com’ for mapping and the weather forecast.
We were all amazed and impressed by Alex’s determination to trek through extremely difficult conditions avoiding polar bears, not always avoiding snow storms, locating a lost boat and camping in the wild. Through his beautiful dramatic landscape photography we were able to see places most of us will never visit such as the Drakensberg Escarpment in South Africa. However, we learnt that it is important to do your research, plan well, study the weather forecast, think about the position of the sun and the potential of the night skies, and think carefully about the amount and type of equipment and provisions you will carry, wear appropriate clothing and take plenty of batteries.
RPS 23rd International AV Festival
9 members from Exmouth Photo Group attended the RPS 23rd International AV Festival at Cheltenham on the 22nd and 23rd September 2018. Ian Bateman was the Chair of the 3 man Jury and I am delighted to say that he was awarded the prestigious RPS Dobson Henry Medal. This award is for outstanding contributions in the AV medium. This not only includes organising events at National and International level, but helping and advising others. Congratulations Ian this is a very well deserved honour. Congratulations also to Sheila Haycox who achieved an RPS H/C Ribbon for her AV "Recognition".
It's also congratulations to both Derrick Holliday with his AV "Eleven "0" One" and Christine Chittock with her AV Kaleidoscopic Stourhead in obtaining FIAP Acceptances.
Its thanks to Ian that we have an AV Group and because of this several of our members are now taking a great interest in doing Audio Visuals. If you wish to attend an AV evening please look at the programme, they are on a Tuesday evening.
To see images taken at the event, kindly supplied by Christine Chittock by clicking on this link.
Matt Whorlow - 19 September
On 19th September Matt Whorlow gave members an illustrated talk entitled ‘Enlightenment’. Members were impressed by Matt’s landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes and his dedication to getting up early for sunrise and staying up late for night shots. Concentrating on Cornwall and Devon Matt showed members a large number of scenes with ideas of where to go to capture that definitive shot. It was clear that Matt thought carefully about the best time to visit each location and we were treated to a large variety of well composed images which were a joy to see.
To see more of Matt Whorlow's Photography of Cornwall and Devon please go to his website by clicking here.
End of Season Meal & Skittles
On Wednesday 29 August Christine Chittock arranged our end of season meal at the Maltsters, Woodbury with a lively game of skittles after. There were winners and losers and images are below, click on an image to expand.