Blog archive - May 2010

26 May.

Child (and Vulnerable Person) Protection Policy

We have been operating an implicit Child Protection Policy for some time. For example, at the recent Studio Session, the two children who posed for photographs were accompanied by parents. All clubs and societies have been advised by the L&CPU to introduce a policy for the protection of children (and vulnerable adults) attending their meetings as the insurance cover for clubs does not extend to legal costs in this area.

After consideration, the committee has decided to publish the following policy for NCPS:

“North Cheshire Photographic Society accepts children and vulnerable adults at its meetings and functions only when in the care of a responsible adult.”

Various pages on the website (Join Us page, A-Z & Search page, etc) link to this policy. It will be added to the downloadable PDF version of the "Constitution and Rules" document when that is updated for the motions voted for at the AGM (by 1st August).

23 May, by Bill Chadband. (Meeting and event reports)

The AGM Tuesday 18th May 2010

34 members were present as President Roger Dye opened the meeting. The minutes of the last AGM (on 19th May 2009) were accepted without amendment. Committee members with particular responsibilities then gave their reports.

The treasurer, Geoff Robinson, reported a small surplus for the year, with 67 paid up members, despite an increase in the room hire charge, and noted that with fewer external speakers and judges their costs had reduced by £160 compared with the previous session. He therefore proposed that the subscriptions for the coming session remain unaltered.

The Exhibition co-ordinator noted that reports on this session’s successful Exhibition had already been widely circulated. By reducing the number of prints per member to six we had managed to hang all but two prints. Tony Pioli had been the Exhibition Judge and he and his wife Patricia were our guests for the after-exhibition lunch at the Beijing Restaurant, Poynton. The Redfords had provided the computer screen for the PDI’s to be shown during the exhibition. Tony noted that 23 clubs had taken part in the Interclub digital print competition on the Wednesday (judge John Cartlidge) and 27 clubs entered the PDI knockout competition on the Thursday (judge Tony Dudley). Peter Redford again helped the competitions to run smoothly. The Friday Night Music night had featured the Offerton Choir and the Werneth Swing Band. For the 2011 Exhibition our judge will be Keith Brown from East Midlands Federation, and L&CPU President Christine Widdall has agreed to formally open the Exhibition. Graham has booked David Johnston FRPS to give a Friday evening talk (and claimed this was no relation!)

Frank Hutchinson reported on the Publicity during the year, and thanked Jill Hargreaves and John Garner, who now looked after local Publicity.

Bill Chadband reported that 6 editions of Focus had covered 66 A5 pages. For next session he would again ask members who wished to receive a hard copy to let him know.

Colin Pickles reported on the club’s social activities and particularly the recent club trip to Venice, which, despite the initial rain, had been greatly enjoyed by those 19 members who went. The hotel had proved ideal, and he now asked for suggestions for next year’s weekend away.

Present tradition has it that the President-to-be organizes his own syllabus. Thus Roger was responsible for the syllabus of the current session. Graham, as President elect had organized next session’s syllabus, which he had circulated.

Phil Riley, the Competition secretary, thanked Barry and Roger for their input to the competitions which had gone well; some judges being good, some not so good.

Equipment Officer Jill Hargreaves reported that the.Studio flash had been borrowed twice, the Spyder four times, the Projector five times and the Scanner twice. As Membership Secretary, Jill reported that we had 8 new members this year, making the total of 67, 49 of which were seniors. One person had decided not to join, stating that we were an unfriendly club.

Presentation of Awards:

Ian Bramham was presented with the Rosalind Bramley Trophy. Brian Adams with the Intermediate Club Worker certificate. The Print Worker of the year was Alan Saunders, with Projected Image Worker and the Club Worker of the Year trophies going to Geoff Robinson.

For his Final President’s Address Roger donned the Red Bowler and stated he had enjoyed his 2 year term of office. It had been hard work at times, but rewarding. He thanked Frank and Jon who were retiring from the committee and thanked everyone who had helped to make his 2 years so satisfying. He then presented our new President Graham Johnston with the Red Bowler.

Graham thanked Roger, took over the Chair, and after the tea break considered the resolutions. Resolutions 1 and 2 were to replace Slides with Digitally projected images, in internal club competitions and in the Annual Exhibition. The Slide trophies would continue as PDI trophies. With one abstention the resolutions were carried unanimously

The 3rd Resolution was to appoint only a Selection Committee Chairperson who would then be responsible for choosing members of the Selection Committee. This motion was also carried unanimously.

Election of Officers:

The following were elected to the committee:

President		Graham Johnston
Past President		Roger Dye
Secretary		Joyce Robson
Treasurer		Geoff Robinson
Syllabus Secretary		Graham Johnston
Exhibition Sec.		Bill Chadband
Competition Secretary		Paula Martin
Publicity Sec.		John Garner
Social Secretary		Colin Pickles
Newsletter Ed.		Bill Chadband
Selection Com. Chair		Phil Riley
Members without Portfolio
		Richard Scaife
		Barry Pearson
		Jill Hargreaves
		Alan Saunders
By Co-option
		Tony Redford

AOB

1. As there had been only 1 intermediate worker this year the question arose as to whether we should have only one class for club competitions. After much discussion it was decided not to pursue this for the coming session. The suggestion was made that new members entering competitions could have a mentor.

2. The Keswick weekend, Tony requires deposits immediately.

3. Phil Riley (Chairperson of Selection Committee) asked if he could have a bank of images i.e. prints and PDIs from each member at the beginning of the season for selection for competitions. He remarked that big competitions require our best images, though in general, he would like to use images from a wide spread of members.

4. Ian Bramham, one of our new members, thanked all members for making him so welcome.

22 May.

New link on the links page

There is a new link on the Links page. This is to the 44 Photography website of Jackie Robinson.

21 May, by Bill Chadband. (Meeting and event reports)

Meeting 11 May 2010

President Roger Dye began the meeting with a presentation of a Card and Wine to Colin Pickles in thanks for his successful organisation of the Trip to Venice. Usually such a presentation would be made in Venice, but Roger explained how on the Thursday his Group had left him on the boat whilst they had all sneaked off at a previous stop. He was then unsure as to whether another member of the group was buying the wine (or did Roger drink the whole bottle himself in disgust at such a dastardly action – this recorder is unclear on this point). Colin thanked the members and explained that the Hotel management had given the whole group a glass of wine on the Thursday evening, in a brief reception, presumably because the group had been model guests. Roger drew attention to the resolutions to be discussed at the AGM next week. He then handed over to Tony Redford to conduct the evening by showing images accepted by the RPS and leading a discussion as to whether or not the RPS selectors had got it all wrong. This was a lively, light-hearted meeting with members happy to criticise the choice of images and with Brian Bower (usually) doing his best to explain RPS decisions.

20 May, by Phil Riley.

Images needed for selection next season

It would be helpful if everyone could bring prints and CDs in for the 1st meeting of next season so we can build up a bank of images for the external competitions. Please make sure your name is on the back of the prints and on the CDs.

All images from the last four years or so would be nice for selection.

(This request will be repeated early in August as a reminder).

19 May.

Let's see some galleries of Venice!

Tony Redford requests some galleries of Venice for the website, from those who visited recently. (Surely someone took some pictures?!) One image from each gallery will appear on the Home page, sooner or later.

Ideally, images should be at least 750 pixels on the longest side. If they are larger, the gallery-software will reduce them to this size, so don't worry. Galleries are laid out in rows of 4 so a multiple of 4 images is good, but it isn't a constraint so go with what you think best. Galleries of 8, 12, and 16 are probably best.

Let Tony have your images, typically by CD (or email by arrangement). Barry Pearson acts as back-up to Tony for gallery creation, so if Tony can't be reached give them to Barry.

14 May. (Awards and acceptances)

Digital Master Circuit 2010 Vienna

Comprises 3 salons: Mödling, Rabensburg and Wien. (The number of acceptances for each image are shown below).

• Digital Master Circuit 2010 Vienna
• PSA: Photographic Society of America | PSA Competitions and Exhibitions | PSA Exhibition Forms

Acceptances Martin Currie: Sadhu at Varanasi (2) Dawn Bathing in the Ganges (2) Gannets Feeding Sadhu at Orchha Cornish Tin Mine (2)

12 May, by Roger Dye. (Notices and news)

Agenda - Annual General Meeting 18th May 2010

The Constitution says: "The Agenda for the AGM or EGM must be available to members at least 7 days before the meeting". It has been made available exactly 7 days before the AGM, at the meeting of 11 May. This is what it said:

1		Apologies for Absence
2		Minutes of AGM of 19th May 2009
3		Matters Arising
4		Committee Members Reports
	-	Treasurer
	-	Exhibition Co-ordinator
	-	Publicity Secretary
	-	Social Secretary
	-	Focus Editor
	-	Syllabus Secretary
	-	Competition Secretary
	-	Equipment Officer
	-	Membership Secretary
	-	Secretary
5		Presentation of Awards
6		Presidents Address
7		Installation of President for 2010-2011
8		Resolutions
	-	Motion to authorise and instruct the Committee to change and republish the rules for the 2011 Exhibition to (1) remove the option of entering slides in the Annual Exhibition, and (2) formally re-assign existing trophies for slides as trophies for PDIs.
	-	Motion to authorise and instruct the Committee to change and republish the Clubworker Competition rules for the 2010/2011 season to remove the option of entering slides in Clubworker Competitions.
	-	Motion to change the Constitution and Standing Orders for the Selection Committee so that (1) the AGM will agree the Selection Committee Chairperson, and (2) the Selection Committee Chairperson will then be responsible for choosing the members of the Selection Committee.
9		Election of Officers & Committee
10		Any Other Business

11 May. (Awards and acceptances)

2010 Suncoast Virtual Salon

• FIAP: International Federation of Photographic Art | FIAP Patronage Service | FIAP Patronage 2008
• PSA: Photographic Society of America | PSA Competitions and Exhibitions | PSA Exhibition Forms

Acceptances Geoff Robinson: Rivercraft Nicola The Stowaway Duplicity Contemplation Rust-ic Charm Venetian Beauty
Acceptances Martin Currie: Sadhu at Varanasi Mother and Child

10 May, by Bill Chadband. (Meeting and event reports)

The Trip to Venice 4th-7th May 2010

Nineteen members and friends boarded the 6.45am Jet2.com plane bound for Venice. At Marco Polo Airport a ten minute walk took us to the Water Bus which would deposit us at St Marks square for the short walk to the hotel Diana for our 3 nights stay. The weather forecast was dire - rain, rain and more rain. The Water bus windows were permanently steamed up, so that it was impossible to enjoy the views as we travelled in. We all knew in which street the hotel was, but managed to walk well past it, before passers -by assisted, and we finally found it.

The hotel proved to be an excellent venue; small and comfortable with pleasant English speaking staff. There was seating for only 18 at a time for the Continental breakfast, but the food was plentiful with as many extra pots of tea as one wished. It was agreed that we would gather together early in the evening for a walk to, and communal meal at, a restaurant near the Rialto Bridge. We sat at two long tables for the pleasant meal, and the inevitable common meal bill. As is now custom, paying for one’s food is complicated. We get the inevitable suggestion “Let’s split the bill equally and all pay 55 euros per couple” . This is always irritating to those members who do not order large meals or lots of wine/beer. On our table, when we had all paid, it transpired that we were 15 Euros short, eventually explained as an error when someone took out a 20Eu note instead of a 5Eu note (they were both blue in colour!) And it rained on the way there, and again on the way back; so we began to look pessimistically forward to the next two days. But the weather and our spirits improved, being occasionally showery on the Wednesday, and a glorious sunny day on the Thursday.

Most members chose to explore the hotel surroundings, St Mark’s Square, and the passage ways up towards the Rialto Bridge on the Tuesday afternoon. On the Wednesday and the Thursday a trip, in stages, up the Grand Canal and boat trips to Burano island were favourites. We split into smaller groups, or did our own thing on these two days, with more to see than could possibly be accomplished in the short time available. John and Katie Garner took the Robson’s and Chadband’s to old haunts near the station for morning coffee and walkabout; and in the evening we were taken to a friendly restaurant where John was sure the owner still remembered him! Whether that was true or not, he was most welcoming and insisted that we try free samples of his house wine! Bill’s motto was “When in Rome look for a Chinese Restaurant” and he thought this applied equally to Venice. We discovered a delightful Chinese close to the Hotel and on the Thursday evening seven of us enjoyed an excellent Chinese menu. Chicken with Almonds was only 5.20Eu with 1.30Eu extra for the rice! This was a welcome change from the high tourist prices we were being charged elsewhere eg 6Eu for a bottle of beer, or 25Eu for a simple Italian meal.

For our return on the Friday Colin had organised breakfast at 7.00am, and two water taxis at 8.15am for our return to the Airport. We arrived at Gate 24 in good time for the 10.25 boarding of the bus to transport us to the plane. Sadly we then spent half an hour stationary inside the bus, before being carried to the plane. Inside we again waited patiently whilst the plane failed to take off. Had the volcanic dust finally closed Manchester Airport, some of us wondered? No, apparently there was some confusion with the plane’s paper work, which caused us to lose our take-off slot, and produced a 1.5 hour delay. But all’s well that ends well, and having put back our watches by the required 1 hour we arrived in Manchester at about 1.30pm.

We will all have our own particular tales to tell. For £17.33 I left my car in the Shuttle Car Park for 4 days, which proved an overall efficient system for transport to and from the Airport. We were abroad long enough to get a feel for the Venice area. A 12-hour day ticket, each day, for the water-bus proved to be an effective way of moving around Venice. Mindful of Alan Towse’s quip that it was impossible to get new images of Venice, that hadn’t been taken hundred’s of times before, Gordon Robson was seen to be sneaking up and photographing a large pair of colourful men’s(?) underpants on a washing line. It will be interesting to see if any other new images emerge from this trip.

In conversations we were mindful of the considerable expense involved in a trip to Venice, and the high cost of the food. We wondered if this, plus the fact that it was a midweek trip, prevented other members (particularly working members) from participating. It may be worth considering a week-end trip in the UK next time, to give other members a chance to join in. Some feedback to the committee and to Colin on this point would doubtless be appreciated.

6 May, by Tony Redford. (Meeting and event reports & Interclub competition results)

Romiley Photoshow 2010 – Inter-club print competition

Thursday, 29th April saw the official opening and awards ceremony at Romiley, with Norman Thompson, immediate past-president of the L&CPU, doing the honours. Norman also judged the inter-club print competition which followed an early break for refreshments ensuring plenty of time for the total of 35 prints submitted by 7 clubs to be commented upon and awarded a mark out of 20.

His marks ranged from 14 to one of 20 for best print, with two or three others held back and earning 18 and 19s for their clubs. Unfortunately, none of North Cheshire’s was held back for top marks, although the judge’s comments had been really very favourable for each one. As can be seen from the table, our set scored consistently well, but this earned us only 2nd place behind winners Chapel Camera Club.

The ladies from NCPS outnumbered our male supporters at this event, with Joyce S, Jill, Paula and Dorothy there to pick up a couple of bottles of wine as raffle prizes between them, small consolation for missing out on the night’s competition trophy collected by Tony Pioli on behalf of Chapel C.C.

Although the Romiley exhibition is on a very much smaller scale than ours, we had enjoyed looking at their impressive display of prints and viewing a short “audio-visual” presentation of their members’ successful projected images.

Once again it’s thanks to Jack Byatt and an enthusiastic team of organisisers at the Romiley club for the hospitality extended to us and their other visitors.

Results in the full article . . .

5 May, by John Garner & Roger Dye. (Meeting and event reports)

Studio Evening – 27th April

From John Garner

Some twenty plus members turned up to try their hand at portraiture with Geoff Robinson and Roy Cheetham providing the lighting, studio settings and instruction on the need to shoot manually to achieve the best results. Despite earlier suggestions that male members might model all advances were declined and it fell upon Jackie to talk two of her friends into performing the task. This she said was only agreed after a few drinks!

They not only provided their good looks, poses and smiles but also their twelve and six year old daughters. The six year old, after a nervous start, played to the cameras like a professional. So our thanks go out to Sarah, Victoria, Megan and Rebecca. Everyone eagerly queued for their turn, which was frustrated, as in previous years, by Geoff’s lighting overloading the Civic Halls electrical circuit and tripping out the supply. Nevertheless, everyone persevered and many good shots will have been taken and the results are eagerly awaited for sharing maybe in future competitions and the promise of some copies for the models. Remember to attempt some enhancement to the images using Geoff’s workshop techniques.

From Roger Dye

Geoff and Roy were in the Civic Hall early setting up the equipment in a manner reminiscent of another sport -- Roy was in the Red Corner with his curtain backcloth and opposite was Geoff in the Blue Corner, well actually his background was black, and he had brought two studio lights and a silver reflector (to fill shadows under the models chin, etc). Roy’s setup used the clubs two studio lights. The Council Chamber of the Civic Hall has only one electrical socket but the club’s extension leads and adaptors sufficed to connect all the equipment satisfactorily until the first flash meter test which tripped the Civic Hall’s electrical supply. So more leads were brought in to connect half the lights to a socket by the ladies toilet. Most members came with cameras, although one or two came just to watch the fun and socialise.

After a brief boring bit when the President formally announced motions for the AGM, the evening got underway with Geoff announcing the (manual!) camera settings necessary for the two setups and suggesting each member took four images and then went to the back of the queue. Because Geoff’s two- light setup proved too much for the Council Chamber supply and with the duty caretaker getting tired of resetting the trips, we were reduced to just Roy’s corner. The President was able to keep his promise to brew the tea at least once in the year. Some chocolate biscuits discovered in the depths of the cupboard kept members happy and enough were left over to maintain our young models enthusiasm to the end of the evening. The girls all said they had enjoyed the experience but found it very tiring. Hopefully they will be rewarded with copies of some of the very many images taken in the evening.

	News and blog archives	April 2010