Something about us!
Go straight to: Visiting or joining | Tuesday evenings | Annual Exhibition | Competitions | Outings | Poynton | Keeping in touch | The Committee | Annual General Meeting | Equipment We are typically here to take pictures, to improve our photography, and generally to have a good time. |
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Visiting or joiningNew members are always welcomed. Come along on any Tuesday evening during our season - there is no obligation to join straight away. |
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Tuesday evenings(Let's mention only what we can talk about in public!) The SyllabusOur 2008/2009 season commenced on 9th September with an all new syllabus which offered the usual variety of top class lectures, competitions and informal members evenings: A few examples from last season:
Digital WorkshopsSee the Syllabus for more information. A few examples from last season: |
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Annual ExhibitionThis is the main event in the Society's calendar, during February. We showcase our members' work (about 150 prints and the same number of projected images) for the acclaim of the local community as well as fellow photographers attracted from similar clubs spread throughout the northwest. On the Wednesday evening a digital print competition attracts all the top clubs from the North West and beyond. On Thursday we host a prestigious digital image knockout competition for the North Cheshire Challenge Trophy.
To round off the exhibition a major public event is arranged for the Friday evening. For example, in recent years we have held a musical evening with renowned and popular choirs and bands from the region. |
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CompetitionsInternal competitionsWe have about 7 or so internal competitions each season, mostly with an external judge. Judging is anonymous (no, not the judge!) so there is no need to be embarrassed. Unless you do well, in which case your name is mentioned! |
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Interclub competitionsWe have some annual interclub competitions, (which we host when it is our turn), and we also enter as a club for some other competitions on an ad hoc basis. Here are a few examples: |
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OutingsSummer activitiesThere are typically one or more informal outings during the summer. A few examples:
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Keswick weekendEach year we have a weekend in the Lake District, combining photography with an interclub competition. |
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Our annual outing abroadWe typically have a few days abroad each spring:
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PoyntonPoynton ShowWe play our part in the Poynton Show each August Bank Holiday. For a number of years we have been the official photographers for the Show. We also judge the photographic section and the winner of the Best Print receives a year's free membership of our society. We have a stand in the Creative hobbies marquee with prints on display and members available to answer questions. |
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Poynton LibraryPeriodically we display a set of our prints in the library, both to advertise the society and for the sheer pleasure of seeing our work on display in public. |
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Keeping in touchApart from meetings, the two main of staying in touch with what is going on are the (paper) newsletter "Focus", and the Blog this website. Many of the reports and news items that get published on this website start in Focus. |
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The CommitteeThe committee works tirelessly to support our members. We don't do it for the money - we are all paid less than £10,000 per year for the task. In fact - we are all paid nothing for the task! But we typically get free tea and biscuits during committee meetings. (Or even scones and fruitcake). We are not fuddy-duddies, out of touch with the modern world, still using plates and afraid to try film. We are all less than 90 years old, and some of us still have our own teeth. Sometimes relatively new members find themselves on the committee just a year or two after joining the society, and wonder "what did we do to deserve this?" But if we told them, they would know how to escape! |
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Annual General MeetingThis is when we have the serious business of revealing that we are a healthy, viable, society. The AGM offers members the choice of throwing the committee out on their ears, and/or changing the constitution and rules for the coming year. It is also when members are presented with various trophies for their successes during the year. |
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EquipmentSome assets are used solely for society business, while others are also available for members to borrow when they are not needed for society business. Equipment dedicated for society useWe have top of the range digital image projection equipment. We use SXGA+ (1400 x 1050) format for our own use and for competitions that we host: A 140 Watt Portable PA system with a four input Mixer which takes Line inputs or XLR Microphone inputs. It also has a USB slot and built in mp3 player. A UHF twin channel Radio microphone system, with two hand-held microphones, a Lavavier (tie) microphone and a head set microphone. The latter both use the waist mounted radio set. Two 10m long XLR leads allow the receiver to be away from the PA system. For our annual exhibition, we use our 10-foot x 10-foot screen. We have a smaller screen for typical Tuesday-evening use. |
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Equipment more generally availableThese include:
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