Exmouth Photo Group

Review of our Project Evening 26th August 2020

 

We started our summer ‘Zoom’ programme on 15th April with a project evening by one of our own members and ended the programme and our fiftieth anniversary year with projects by five of our members and a guest speaker.  Over the summer we have been privileged to have an interesting, informative programme with high quality photography from speakers from various locations in the UK and further afield including Seattle and France.  We are grateful to our chair Ian Bateman FRPS MPAGB AV-AFIAP APAGB for hosting these sessions so well. Thank you Ian. .

 

Christine Chittock CPAGB

With my ‘What does photography mean to me; a cornucopia of photos’ I started the evening by looking back at some of the photos that are special to me highlighting how fortunate I had been to have the photographic opportunities offered by early morning Prague, the wonderful architecture of the Reichstag dome in Berlin and the colourful reflections of the Roman Baths in Bath.

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Viewing some of my ‘Small is beautiful’ photos I talked about the challenge of capturing, butterflies, bees and in particular grasshoppers.  I was certainly grateful for days with good light and no wind.  My ‘Trees’ photo harmony Audio Visual (AV) followed with trees across the seasons.  Throughout, my emphasis was on capturing photographs whenever you have the opportunity and how Lockdown had offered us the chance to explore our own locality seeing things from a different perspective.

 

Lynn Middleton-Flynn

The beauty and wonder of the local area was portrayed in Lyn’s ‘Lockdown Wanderings’ with superb photographs of Exmouth beach.  Lyn had taken the opportunity of a quieter Exmouth during Lockdown to explore the beach showing us the beauty of the shells she had collected, arranging them with an excellent eye showing them off at their best.  It was clear that Lyn had spent time ‘really looking’ for photographic opportunities that some of us might have missed.  Unquestionably Lyn had a ‘good’ eye for patterns, textures, colour and tone as shown in her photographs of pebbles and indeed throughout all that she had taken.

  

A sandstorm that might have seen some of us pack up our cameras had captured Lyn’s attention as she had appreciated the photographic opportunities offered by fast moving sand and an empty beach.  Then to contrast sand patterns in damp sand showing us the beauty of unusual shapes.  Lyn certainly showed us that the landscape at our feet is definitely worth capturing.  Thank you Lyn.

 

 

Steve Reynolds FRGS FIPF EPSA EFIAP/p ARPS 

Steve our guest speaker from Torbay Photographic Society showed us how he had achieved the Fellowship of the Irish Photographic Federation FIPF with his ‘Dark Venice’.   Every year in late January to early February photographers from all over the world visit the incredible city of Venice to capture people in elaborate costumes with intricate masks posing on bridges, in the streets and by the gondolas.

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Steve had decided to try something a little different with his print panel. It was clear that he knew how to play with colour, tone and movement to produce individual prints that would form part of a successful panel; a real achievement.  Steve had chosen his titles well; ‘Blood brothers’; Flame of Orange; Distorted; Dual Personality were just some of his titles.

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We were shown the prints that made the final panel and those that were left out; all though were of a high quality showing Steve’s ability to capture the emotion of the scene in camera, with clever post processing and printing.  Importantly we could see how Steve had placed his prints in his final panel, not an easy task but managed very well to show off the prints at their best.  Thank you Steve.  To see his website click here

 

Mike Gillan LRPS

We travelled to Udaipur in India with Mike’s lovely photographs capturing scenes of the streets with electric cables tangling, crowds of people, decorative palaces and the beauty of the evening light.  We appreciated a clear map so that we could see how Mike had travelled across the region.

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Mike clearly had an eye for capturing evocative scenes giving us a real feel of the place, shown so well in his photo of a building with work in progress via all the wooden scaffolding.  Importantly Mike gave us additional information so that we could imagine the scene at the time as shown by his bagpipe band playing ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow.’  Through his well taken photographs we could see the intricate carvings and then the beauty of the reflections of the expensive and magnificent eighteenth century Taj Lake Palace on Lake Pichola.   Due to time constraints we were only able to see a small part of Mike’s project on Udaipur and so based on this evening we are assured of more wonderful photos at a later date. Thank you Mike.

 

Derrick Holliday ARPS

Derrick showed us with his ‘Silence’ that he is a master of AV making.  Derrick had taken the photos he took in Oradour France, then processed as monos and placed together to produce a superb thought provoking AV.  Well-chosen text was spoken with a clear voice with variety and tone by one of our own members Tony Ovens MA.  Choosing just the right music is not an easy task but Derrick had achieved this in his AV showing us the tragedy that occurred all that time ago on 10th June 1944.

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Through Derrick’s AV we learnt of the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre.  During the 2nd World War German troops entered the village of Oradour-sur-Glane in central France and rounded up the inhabitants.  Massacred by machine gun fire and burnt in a church, within hours 642 villagers were dead.  The horror and sheer terror of that day was preserved as a poignant reminder to future generations of the atrocities and cruelty of war.  Not an easy task to take on as an AV but managed so well by Derrick. Thank you Derrick.

 

Mo Martin LRPS

Mo certainly showed us that she has a talent for making an excellent AV with her ‘Camargue’.  To start with she set the scene with her photos of the area, followed by striking photographs of the black bulls.  Lovely, dramatic well composed photographs of the wild white horses with their ‘gardians’ were included, captured so well as they moved through the water.  A close up of an eye of one of the horses was so sharp and well placed in the AV.

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Beautiful reflections, carefully managed transitions and well-chosen music kept our attention throughout.  We were impressed by Mo’s ability to capture and process her photos so well, placing them with care in her AV so that she captured the mood of the Camargue.   A real treat for us all and a fantastic end to the evening. Thank you Mo. 

 

Review by Christine Chittock, CPAGB Exmouth Photo Group Programme Secretary