Newsletter of the North Cheshire Photographic Society

September 1999

Happy New Photographic Year! We particularly welcome new members, and hope that your interest in photography will be stimulated and that that you will be able to gain more enjoyment from your hobby.

Gerald has prepared an interesting and exciting syllabus for us and I am sure that there is plenty for us to learn from, to enjoy, and to take part in.

At the AGM I talked about "Participation in Photography". So far I have participated in several committee meetings, one Summer evening outing, the Poynton Show, two thirds of a weekly meeting, and a quarterly competition! Unfortunately I was unable to attend the first meeting of the new season due to a last minute change in holiday plans.

I hope that you will take part in all the club activities – weekly meetings, competitions, social events and specials, etc. – but above all that you will expose some film and create some images.

I am pleased to see digital photography on the programme. Initially a sceptic, I now believe that digital photography will feature more and more in our activities, and is to be welcomed for itself as a technique to enable more people to take part in photography. It used to be said that the biggest expense in photography was the cost of travelling to where you take your photographs. Soon it will be the cost of the computer, the scanner and the printer!

I was particularly pleased to learn of our success this year in the L&CPU competitions, confirming our position as one of the top clubs in the Northwest. This gives us all a target to aim at. However we cannot all be winners – I believe that photography is, above all, about creating something that we enjoy for itself. If others enjoy our work, then that is a tremendous bonus.

Colin Pickles

We are already into our new syllabus, and most of us will have given it a cursory glance. IT IS WORTH MORE THAN THAT. It’s the backbone of the club’s season and has been painstakingly put together on our behalf by Gerald, using his charm and experience to tempt a great range of speakers up to Poynton.

Scanning down the list reveals a host of big names with their attendant string of "letters" who certainly need no introduction to our experienced members. We know we can really look forward to their performances with great confidence. But never assume that the lesser names, including our own members, will present anything other than a challenging and rewarding evening. You could be in for a few surprises.

Then there are the competition nights and inter-club battles. As a club, we have already proved that we can match the very best in terms of ideas and quality. Just look at our results in the L&CPU competition! So we can be certain of viewing some exciting new pictures in our quarterlies and battles.

Even the "small room" nights have a habit of throwing up some real crackers. The more intimate atmosphere encourages members to have their say often to startling effect.

So, don’t even try to pick your nights at the club this year. Make EVERY Tuesday your club night, and you will realise what amazing value your subscription represents. And do your friends a favour. Drag them along and let them experience what goes on in a leading photographic society. They’ll be queuing up to join if they possess even a modicum of artistic inquisitiveness.

Of course Gerald is always a hard act to follow. But give me a bit of encouragement by attending regularly and even participating whenever you can, and I’ll be striving to make the next syllabus even stronger than his!

Tony Redford

There are a couple of programme updates I can pass on to you. Firstly the 5^th October meeting will be held in the Civic Hall. On entering the building, turn immediately left and the room we will be using is just along the corridor.

The other update is a programme change. L&CPU President Ian Stewart ARPS DPAGB will now be giving his three projector AV show, "Tanzania – a jewel in East Africa" on 18^th April, swapping dates with our own Tony Redford, who will now be performing for us on 15^th February.

Lastly, a gentle reminder to those of you who haven’t yet paid your subs. Please do. With the subscription income barely covering the cost of the room hire, let alone the speakers, I am sure you realise how important it is for the club to retain and expand its membership so that it can maintain the quality and diversity of entertainment on offer.

I understand, too, that other benefits may soon be available to paid up members in the form of membership cards that can be used, amongst other things, to obtain discounts with a well known chain of photographic shops. More about this in the next newsletter.

And finally….

Last Christmas, some of you asked for Jill’s Mulled Wine recipe, so here it is!

1 pint of water 4 sticks of cinnamon

1 bottle of red wine 4 cloves

4oz granulated sugar 2 lemons

• Boil the water with the sugar, cinnamon and cloves for 5 minutes.

• Add thinly sliced lemons and allow to stand for 10 minutes.

• Add wine and heat slowly but do not allow to boil.

• Put into jug and serve very hot. You could keep it on the cooker and serve from the pan or put it into flasks, etc.

• Enjoy.