Blog archive - January 2010

29 January. (Awards and acceptances & Members' exhibition results)

Members' work at the 2010 Exhibition - awards

(Although this article identifies the final award winners, images are not yet published for most of the work. So it is expected that this article will be superseded by one showing most or all of the "Best X" images).

Our Annual Exhibition provides a showcase of members' work. Despite restricting the entry per worker, (6 prints and/or 6 projected images), we had a very enthusiastic entry, with just over the number of prints we can display. The two extra prints are on display in Poynton Library, along with many others. (There were no slides this year).

All submitted work was judged by Tony Pioli ARPS ABPE and he awarded various certificates and trophies. In the absence of slides, we intend to use slide-trophies, where available, for the corresponding PDI award-winners. Tony will return to explain his judging on 16th February. Here is his choice of the award-winning photographs:

Here is ongoing material on this website about members' work in our exhibitions:

28 January.

Martin Currie's Bookstore

Martin Currie - Blurb Bookstore

On Tuesday 2nd February, Martin's Digital Workshop session is "Photobook publishing".
(Geoff Robinson also has a session that evening).

You may want to know what to expect (and what not to expect) from Martin's half of the proceedings. You can see (five) examples of photobooks, (the latest published just days ago), and access lots of his images, by previewing his books here:

Martin's Bookstore at Blurb is now in our Links page.

27 January. (Notices and news)

Meal at Beijing Restaurant on Sunday 14 February - menu & booking

This echoes Colin Pickles' announcement on Tuesday 26 January. In summary: Colin, on behalf of the society, has booked the Beijing Restaurant, (we will be the only ones there), for lunch on 14 February, a "banquet" style meal (grab what you want) costing £15 per head. If you are attending, please let Colin have a cheque (made out to the society) by the evening of Tuesday 2 February at the latest, accompanied by a simple booking form.

Colin's document giving the menu and booking form are here in two different formats for convenience:

(After editing that web page, my mouth is watering! I wonder if they could do a banquet for breakfast now?)

26 January.

New gallery uploaded

There is a new gallery "One Day in Manchester" by Brian Turnbull in our galleries page.

Brian Turnbull - Faces

 

25 January, by Barry Pearson.

My eye operation

A number of people have asked me about my eye operation last Tuesday. (Thanks!). Here is a summary.

It was interesting to see that the NHS still relies on the old technique of drinking lots of alcohol to numb the senses before the operation. And that's the surgeons.

Seriously though .... (You don't want to click on the following links!)   I had a chalazion in my left eyelid. I also has double vision in my left eye. The operation was to cure the chalazion. No expert would actually confirm that the double vision was likely to have been caused by the chalazion. Nor would anyone even hint that curing the chalazion might cure the double vision! (The purpose of my operation is listed as "to remove discomfort").

After the operation, once I knew the name of the problem, I consulted that source of 100% reliable information, Wikipedia. It says: "A large chalazion can cause astigmatism due to pressure on the cornea". Wow! And it also says: "If the astigmatism is caused by a problem such as deformation of the eyeball due to a chalazion, treating the underlying cause will resolve the astigmatism". I really wish I'd known for the last few months that my vision might eventually return to normal!

It is sobering to realise that, at its worst, my vision was still better than that of many millions of people in the world. Probably including some members of the society - after all, I still had a good eye.

ps: The incision was to the underside of the eyelid. It doesn't look as though I have recently had an eye operation! I'm convinced my left-eye-vision is improving; after my eyes have stabilised, I'll get my optician to check them.

Wikipedia gets bad press. It has problems with Biographies of Living Persons - people have fans and enemies who compete to have the final say in Wikipedia. And some product-articles such as Photoshop frequently suffer vandalism. But lots of technical, unemotive, articles are actually pretty good. In the unlikely event of anyone wanting to know about CinemaDNG, I can recommend the Wikipedia article. But I would say that, wouldn't I!

24 January, by Bill Chadband. (Meeting and event reports)

An Evening with Richard Scaife and Paula Martin

Richard’s title was An Accidental Hero. He borrowed the title from novelist Zadie Smith who wrote a feature in the Telegraph, on the 60th Anniversary of D-Day, about her own father’s experiences, and in this article referred to Richard’s father 5 times. Richard went through his parents photographs (with them) identifying who was who, and in the process realized how much Social History there was, and what a good subject it would make for his presentation.

So the early part of his presentation was a photographic history of members of his family from about 1902 to the 2nd World War. His mother’s Grandfather, John Maud, was a farmer at Rillington and the farm is still in the family. Leonard Maud, his Mum’s father was a Postmaster and shopkeeper in Skipworth. His Dad’s father, Herbert Scaife was apprenticed in 1896 as a joiner and wheelwright in Escrick.

By 1944 Richard’s father was training for D-Day. He got a week’s leave to marry his mother; and his father’s sister arranged to marry on the same day but in the morning. They had a joint wedding breakfast at Skipwith.

His father was a tank Commander, and the latter part of Richard’s talk related to the D-Day landings and tanks. We saw wooden ramps and “hedgehog” defences on the Normandy coast designed to capsize or sink landing craft. We saw AVRE’s (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) fitted with a variety of attachments to assist in assaults. His father’s Group landed at Le Hamel, now swallowed up by Asnelles.

His father was awarded the DCM and eventually baby Richard accompanied his mother and father to Buckingham Palace to the investiture. Though told all of this by his parents he sadly has no memory of the proceedings.

Paula’s title was A Safari in Zambia. She told us about the camera equipment she had bought, and the 10 week Open University Photography Course she had enrolled on. We saw a map of the tour with the various safari camps they stayed at. Her AV presentation was a feast of waterfalls and the various animals they had encountered; elephants and hippos, canoes and crocodiles, giraffes, zebras, apes and a variety of birds. Apparently the bush camps were all temporary structures liable to be washed away in the rains. And she told us a little about the life and the high mortality rate of infants in the country.

In his vote of thanks Brian Turnbull noted that the evening had been a game of two halves; Richard’s History in Monochrome, and Paula’s Colourful Travelogue accompanied by modern beat music. Clearly both presenters had put a lot of effort into producing the splendid evening we had had. The audience responded with applause.

20 January.

An exhibition by Alan Saunders

Alan will be exhibitioning between 20 and 30 of his prints at Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve from January 29th to February 22nd 2010.

Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve is about 50 miles from Hazel Grove, about an hour or so away. Martin Mere is less than 6 miles away from the Reserve.

18 January, by Bill Chadband. (Meeting and event reports)

The Time Machine and all that Jazz

Brian Bower FRPS gave what has become a regular after-Christmas presentation, on Tuesday 12th January, This time Brian looked at early significant images by the early photographers, before going into some detail about the evolution of Leica cameras towards the present digital age. After the interval Brian entertained us with digital AV presentations of recent trips he had made to the Caribbean and to Memphis.

Brian noted that camera images record, for posterity, a moment in time; and in this sense are time machines. Early cameras were bulky with large emulsion plates and the emulsions were slow (ISO values in single figures), So relatively static scenes were the ones that could be recorded, Frank Meadow Sutcliffe recorded for posterity many scenes around Whitby as early as the 1870’s. Some remarkable images from war; the Crimean war, the relief of Mafeking, and the Spanish Civil war were produced. Robert Capa in a famous image recorded the moment a soldier in the Spanish Civil War had been hit (1935), and went on to capture instants of the D-Day landing (1944) and the faces of victims of the Hiroshima bombing. We saw pictures of early cars (1905), Ascot, just after the death of Edward VII (everyone in black); the Abdication of Edward VIII, Hitler with Mussolini , Chamberlain with his piece of paper “Peace in our time”, and the 1966 World Cup Football winners,

Henri Cartier Bresson (born 1908) was an early adopter of the 35mm Leica camera, which allowed him to become a master of candid photography. Brian has been a keen advocate of the Leica. The first prototypes were built by Oskar Barnack in 1913. They went through several iterations and in 1923 a prototype series of 31 were produced, to immediate success..The Leica II in 1932 had a built-in rangefinder coupled to the lens focusing mechanism, In 1954 the M3 introduced the bayonet type lens mount. The M8 was the first digital M model introduced whilst the M9, introduced in 2009, is the first full frame digital camera produced by Leica.

The Caribbean AV was described by Brian as being a trip around the many islands in 7 minutes flat. Val and himself had been on a sea-cruise, but instead of doing the organized tours they had taken a taxi each time, to do their own thing.

In his vote of thanks Tony Redford remarked that we had had three talks for the price of one; a look into the early history of photography, a look at the evolution of the 35mm camera, and a trip around the Caribbean and the town of Memphis: three contrasting talks and we had enjoyed all three. The room had been packed for the talk and the applause was heartfelt.

17 January.

New gallery uploaded

There is a new gallery "Liverpool" by Colin Pickles in our galleries page.

Colin Pickles - Liverpool gallery

 

12 January. (Interclub competition results)

Results of the Great British Cup 2010 competition

There is a new gallery "Selection for Great British Cup 2010" with work by several members in our galleries page.

Paula Martin - Dawn over Empire State

 

Judging and the weather!

Extracts from the message from Rod Wheelans:

Well, due to the weather, everything did not go exactly to plan but we still got the GB Cup (Small Clubs) and GB Cup (Open) done.

Of the nine judges booked to do the job only 3 made it. Russ & Barbie Lindsay plus Anne Greiner who I keep in my house for such situations. We tried, at short notice, to get two PAGB listed judges from nearby Cumbria but they couldn't get here either. Everybody tried the best they could but really it was impossible.

Libby Smith had come to operate the projection system but we delegated that job to her husband Neil. Libby was drafted in as a judge. (We are grateful to Dumfries CC and Carluke CC who agreed to withdraw from the GB Cup Open so that we could use their members, Libby and Anne, to judge it.)

So, despite everything, we had excellent judging teams and the GB Cup (Small Clubs) is judged by Anne Greiner MPAGB, Barbie Lindsay MPAGB EFIAP and Libby Smith MPAGB EFIAP whilst the GB Cup Open is judged by Anne Greiner MPAGB, Russell Lindsay MPAGB EFIAP and Libby Smith MPAGB EFIAP

Results

North Cheshire PS came equal 23rd out of the 93 clubs remaining when Dumfries and Carluke withdrew. Wigan 10 came first.

Our full results in the full article . . .

11 January, by Roger Dye. (Meeting and event reports)

The First Meeting of 2010

5th January 2010 saw Hazel Grove and Poynton under 15cm or more of snow and freezing temperatures. Understandably most members decided against venturing out. 15 brave (or perhaps foolhardy) did make the journey to the Bowling & Tennis Club in Hazel Grove for the “Image Appraisal” evening of our Digital Workshop series, including one visitor and one new member. Fortunately all the necessary equipment also made it to the meeting. Those using four-wheel transport and the north access to Douglas Road made it all the way. Some had to complete their journey on foot as the small hill at the south end proved too much for the typical car. Colin Pickles came on foot all the way, not, much to the disappointment of us all, on skis.

A range of images were shown by various members, all in projected form. Tony Redford led the discussion on each image presented giving the “judges” point of view and he also drove the computer as Barry’s much admired skill with Photoshop tone curves was not enough for him to negotiate the up hill ‘S-bend’ in his front drive; and as Roger was reduced to cracking the presidential whip with his left arm only. All the images seen were of competition standard and evoked favourable comment whatever the grade of camera used or the author’s length of membership. Members found the evening helpful and enjoyable, and thought such sessions should be repeated. For once, the “social break” was unhurried and it was possible to finish slightly earlier than usual. As far as is known, no member was reported missing on the journey home!

At the time of writing the snow cover in Poynton is undiminished, but hopefully by next Tuesday road (and front drive) conditions will have improved enough for us all to make it to the Civic Hall.

8 January. (Awards and acceptances)

2009 NorthStar International Circuit of Nature Photography

The 2009 NorthStar International Circuit of Nature Photography, approved by the PSA, comprises 6 exhibition venues: Twin Cities Area Council of Camera Clubs; Minnesota Nature Photography Club; Western Wisconsin Photographic Club; Little Crow Photography Club; East Troy Viewfinders Camera Club; North Metro Photo Club.

Five of the International Salons comprise two sections: General Nature Digital Images and Wildlife Nature Digital Images. The Minnesota Nature Photography Club Salon comprises two sections: General Nature Digital Images and Botany Digital Images (the Minnesota Botany International). A single catalog of results will be published for the six salons.

Acceptances

Alan Saunders:
General Digital Nature Section
Wild grey seal - Donna Nook (2);
Fighting Ruff (2);
Wild Red Kite in Flight (4);
Wild Red Kite (2)

Alan Saunders - Wild Grey Seal

Alan Saunders - Wild Red Kite

Alan Saunders - Fighting Ruff

Alan Saunders - Wild Red Kite

Alan Saunders:
Wildlife Digital Nature Section
Gannet in Flight (2);
Puffin - Isle of Lunga (5);
Female Sparrowhawk with Kill (5)

Alan Saunders - Gannet in Flight

Alan Saunders - Puffin - Isle of Lunga

Alan Saunders - Sparrowhawk with Kill

5 January, by Bill Chadband and Roger Dye.

URGENT! Tonight's meeting still on, but hand-in delayed 1 week

In view of the weather, last hand-in for the Exhibition will now be next Tuesday, 12 January, (Poynton).
But Bill asks for proposed entries to be emailed to him so that he can start the lists.

Tonight's meeting (Digital Workshop at the H/G Bowling & Tennis Club) will go ahead for any who can make it. For those who are attending, it would be useful to bring the work to be entered along if possible to enable the process to start during the week.

Attempts are being made to contact members by other means too.

1 January, by Roger Dye. (Meeting and event reports)

Christmas Special, 15th December

More than 40 members and visitors gathered in the Civic Hall Council Chamber for the Christmas Special this year. After a brief introduction from the President, Tony Redford started on his programme of digitally projected AV sequences. Members enjoyed a two part set of sequences covering a recent trip made by Tony and Dorothy accompanied by Brian and Valerie Bower to the south western USA. We saw landscape, natural history and reportage images, many using the power of the software to scan across a scene and all exactly in time with the accompanying music tracks. They were followed by “Trains”, a sequence starting at a model railway exhibition then progressing through real steam train scenes to scrap-yard images. The mood of the presentation then changed with a sequence of images taken on club outings. Early ones were “doctored” by Tony by the addition of supposed speech in “balloons”, mostly greeted by hilarity from the audience. Later in the sequence Tony had added “Santa Claus” type white beards to club members, succeeding in making them appear funny rather than disguised and provoking even louder laughter. The climax of the evening was Tony’s renowned and very aptly named “X-Certificate Christmas Cards” sequence. The earthy humour evidently appealed to the majority of those present with laughter so loud that it was fortunate that NCPS were the sole users of the building that evening.

A brief but sincere vote of thanks from the President and announcements about the first meeting of the New Year (and handing-in for our Annual Exhibition) closed the formal part of the evening. The chairs were then quickly packed away and all present tucked in to the extensive spread of eats and drinks with a Christmas party flavour that had been provided by members, making a suitable end to the first half of the society’s session.

  News and blog archives December 2009