4th Quarterly Competition Tuesday 27th April

Tillman Klinhans was our judge for the final quarterly of this session, stepping in at short notice when our original judge decided he would be away (though the judging date had been agreed in July 2003 ! ). Due to other commitments Tillman decided that he would judge the entries ‘cold’ on the night, (Judging by his comments on the images this proved a good decision for several of our members.)

Dorothy did extremely well getting both of the 20’s awarded in the print section. Geoff Robinson did well with ‘Spitfire’ (19) and Tony Redford produced images up to his usual high standard getting a 19 for ‘Dunham Deer’.

I had the benefit of seeing this image close up and the back-lighting on the deer was exquisite showing up the deer’s individual hairs – but Tony I seem to remember seeing the subject in ‘Peeping Tom’ in a much different image in the past – these moggies will wander !! Not entering any prints myself, this quarter, I can say, impartially, that the understated simplicity of Gordon Robson’s ‘Spiral Stairs’ was a well produced piece of work - the metal work contrasting with the colours. Tillman’s suggestion of the addition of a pair of disembodied legs would not in my opinion add to the image.

I must apologise to the slide workers for not reading out all the titles to their images; but lack of a torch on this occasion meant I was struggling at times, particularly on the darker slides. (I hope, for their sakes, that I entered the correct scores against the images displayed! ). I must admit also to shooting myself in the foot again – yes the ‘spotting curse’ struck me once more; both the images which were incorrectly spotted belonged to me.

(Will anyone volunteer to do a part evening on slide spotting, masking, remounting etc?? ).

Jonathan Bawden’s image entitled ‘Sunrise’ gained the only 20 for slides on the night with Colin Pickles ‘Puffin’ attaining a 19. But here's the rub ! Bawden’s entries came a day late (he blamed builders) and his entry was written on scrap of paper. Worse still Mr Pickles presented his entries written on the back of Chadband’s entries!!!

Now, as I read the rules, there are strict guidelines for entries to the quarterlies just as there are to the Annual exhibition, and sad to say, if Gordon and myself rigorously applied the said rules, then the number of legitimate entries would be drastically reduced. For example I may not be able to ‘spot’ images correctly on all occasions but at least the spots are RED. If I applied that rule we would have shown about 12 slides on the night.

That said we all presented images we value and which we think have some merit but after a year as competition secretary I still haven't produced an image the judge merits very highly – so is it time to change that rule book. !!

The Final Meeting Tuesday 4th May

The final meeting before the AGM began with the Pictorial Monochrome competition for the Rosalind Bramley Trophy. About 15 prints were on display for member's perusal after which voting by show of hands took place to determine the winner. The three runners-up, each with eight votes, all came from Gordon Robson, but Dorothy Redford pipped him to the post with 10 votes for her simple image of a tree and grazing horse. The suggestion that she had borrowed the horse from Bill were treated with contempt by a delighted Dorothy.

Following an early tea break the rest of the evening was designated Digital IV. Brian Turnbull took the hot seat first to emphasise the need for some initial thought in setting up a folder system for one's digital images, before things got out of hand. There was no penalty for taking excessive numbers of pictures with a digital camera except when it came to trying to recover an image from the thousands one had recently taken. A programme to quickly show thumbnails of the images in a folder was equally important. By popular request John Ade attempted to expand upon his earlier expositions regarding the printing of digital images (the initial 5 levels and final 5 levels show no discrimination at the printer scale). As is almost inevitable things did not go entirely as planned by either member, which was (secretly) a great comfort to the rest of us who perpetually suffer the same fate. Tony Redford noted that he had printed out the instructions regarding the digital projector. So long as we were careful with the setting up and turning off of the system the expensive bulb should last us for a decade.

NCPS Trip to Prague

The raucous noise on Friday at 3.30pm was our alarm..

Hands up those of us who didn't bother to wash at that ungodly hour of the morning! We arrived at a deserted airport (we were of course in the wrong terminal); but finally located the rest of our group in the buzzing terminal 2.

After a comfortable plane journey, which included an indigestible breakfast, we arrived in Prague. Our journey to the hotel was an experience: our taxi overtook all others by various tactics (such as driving on the pavement, following a police car in the wrong lane, and jumping the traffic lights). The temperature was 8 degrees centigrade and it was inclined to rain.

The same afternoon saw us on a city tour, including a visit to the castle, to the oldest Cathedral of St Vitus with its magnificent stained glass, and the main square with the famous clock (watched by an admiring crowd of tourists). Frank was overheard asking Marjorie to stand still so that he could use her in place of his tripod!

At the end of the tour we were left in Prague to find our own way back to the Hotel Belvedere. Most of us travelled by tram and in spite of initially boarding one going in the wrong direction (and all having to get off again) we made it. We had by now lost Bill who had sloped off in search of hot dogs!.

At 7.00pm we all dined in the hotel, having not eaten since the morning plane fare, following which we staggered to our beds. The building opposite our hotel was called BACHACEK - pronounced "backache" which was what some of us had after our walk around Prague!

The following day a group of ten of us set off on foot to further explore the city. By some means we lost Don and Geoff en route. As the weather seemed uncertain Joyce wore her sunglasses and Tony his Gore-tex jacket, whilst Fred carried his umbrella (which fortunately , he did not need). We meandered along the riverside, over the bridge, and into the old part of the city taking lots of pictures en route. The place reverberated with the noise of tourists. Along the medieval Charles Bridge street performers and artists engaged our attention. We fortified ourselves with coffee, apple strudel, toasties and milk shakes and eventually arrived back at the hotel, via the tram, footsore but happy.

The evening found us all on a boat trip along the Vltava. We saw little of the scenery as our group were confined in the hold. This, I suppose had one advantage - if the boat sank we would be the first at the bottom! Quite a lot of time was spent in queuing for food and eating it. In fact Bill made his meal last for almost three hours, and announced at the end of it that he was going to slim.. Frank on the other hand tried to pour out his wine with the cork still in the bottle. We arrived safely at the quay-side and finally got to bed at a reasonable hour utterly exhausted. The hotel was very comfortable. It had one fascinating characteristic - the water stopped running and the light went out if one stayed in the shower for too long. I forget who said this was a good idea and he would consider introducing it into his own house.

Sunday saw an improvement in the weather, with brief bursts of sunshine. A group of us visited the Monastery with its famous library, and church with its wealth of gilding, ornate decorations, and painted ceiling. The digital cameras captured the dimly lit interiors with no problem, whilst my slide film failed miserably! We were very lucky to be able to see the magnificent state rooms in the Palace (they are only open to the public for two days in the year). Some of us watched the changing of the guard and their procession through the Palace to take up positions in the various rooms. More walking and then a tram ride back finally spending Sunday evening in the Pizza restaurant to end another delightful day.

On Monday, our last day, a group of us set off through the park to visit the Jewish cemetery, where bodies are piled 10 high in graves. The entrance charge was £12 per person, so we decided to forego the pleasure after, of course, taking a few illegal photographs through a gateway. After coffee in a nearby cafe, we headed for the brewery. Frank map read and lead us through a maze of side streets. It was pouring with rain by this time. He attested that he knew where we were and pointed to his map to prove it, but we weren't taken in; the brewery proved quite elusive and we headed in some haste towards the nearest genuine Czech restaurant. Here we dawdled over a leisurely lunch of Goulash and a variety of dumplings, thus escaping the rest of the downpour. As a sort of dessert, Colin went into the ladies toilet (by mistake!) but no-one seemed to mind. We realized that we had seen most of the important sights of Prague, so wandered towards the main square and a trip up the tallest tower via a lift. By 5.15pm we were back in the hotel lobby waiting for the taxis to take us to the airport and our flight back to Manchester, Fred remarked that flying is like celery - its OK if you like it.

We were saddened to learn that John Ranson had had all of his camera gear stolen and sincerely hope that he can recover all of the cost.

We are all very grateful to Colin Pickles for organising such a super weekend and would like to say a big thank-you on behalf of NCPS. Well done Colin - we will not forget Prague in a hurry.

Tell-Tales from Prague

Roy Cheetham , our wizard WEB finder, had read all about Prague cheats. We didn't have to pay 700 Kc for a taxi to the hotel; we could get there for 320Kc. Colin appointed him as our Traffic manager. After our plane had landed and all other passengers had left Roy was observed to be on his mobile in intense negotiation with the taxi firm AAA. Halfway through, Wife Audrey was observed to seize the phone and put her own brand of pressure on the company. What was said on the phone is lost to posterity but sufficient to say six taxis duly turned up and it only cost us 400Kc per car.

Our first dinner together at the hotel was notable for the hard working single waiter, cum-odd job man. When we ordered sweets we were restricted to the top six items. However,, more restrictive, was the limited number of glass bowels for these ice-creams, which meant that we ate in relays: the last to be served waiting for the earlier bowls to be washed and re-used.

When does 7.00pm become 6.30pm? This was the plaintive question from Alan and Jackie when they were hauled from their cosy room by a querulous phone call by Colin, with the rest of the party plus two Germans waiting to be taken to the boat for the meal and cruise. Colin's heightened sense of alert was no doubt raised by the man accompanying the two minibuses who insisted that he receive the full amount owed for the meal (17,000Kc) before the transport set off. The Germans claimed that they had already paid in full. As Colin noted, it is unusual to have to pay the taxi-driver for the meal one proposed to have in the restaurant; but then - this is the Czech Republic!

Having experienced two days of successful shooting Bill and John called at the Municipal House (No. 23 in the AA Pack of 25 Top sites in Prague. It houses the 1200 seat Smetana Hall, besides meeting rooms, restaurant, bars and a small cafe. The cafe included a small display of glassware by students of the local college and a variety of wall mounted prints and a sales counter. Our explorers decided to have a coffee and cake before looking around. They were influenced in their choice by the Irish-man (and his wife) ahead of them at the counter and eventually sat at a corner table next to this couple. Facing inwards Bill observed an elderly man two tables away, and opposite them, apparently changing the batteries of his Nikon camera. This man then received; then made a telephone call. Nothing else of interest was happening, and John got up to look around saying 'you stay here with the gear whilst I look around, then we'll change' He put his jacket on the seat, his camera bag beside the chair and went off on his tour. He returned later with a plastic carrier containing a paper-weight which he had just purchased and, giving Bill the bag, announced that he wished to ascertain the maker of the weight. Off he went again for about 10 minutes. During this time the coffee server cleared the table. When John finally returned his first comment was 'Where's my Bag?' Bill handed him the plastic bag, but 'No' John said 'I mean my camera bag'. Looking beneath the table Bill saw that the Camera bag was missing. Looking around he observed that both the Irish couple and the man opposite (with the camera) had also gone, though neither had excited suspicion by closely approaching the table.

The incident was reported to the box office. The only comment was that it happened a lot and that the Police should be notified. Having found the nearest Police station John and Bill entered the building, were directed upstairs by the concierge; rang the bell of the barred door, and were let in by a key wielding policeman. Attempting English, then French, then German John got a shake of the head each time. John and Bill were beckoned to an interview room and left there for about 20 minutes. They observed footprints on the walls, plus scuff marks; and Hey! Are those spots of blood on the floor? Fortunately the door was left open. The wall was a good 15 inches thick. The room was 5 metres tall and 3 by 4 metres cross-section with a long table and bench on the 4m side facing the door. A young girl arrived and spoke German rapidly. John, who had studied German for two years at school, waved her to slow down. He had written out the details of the loss plus his home address, telephone number and the name of our hotel on a notepad Bill carried with him.. The girl understood but wanted prices for all the items lost, an OM1 body, OM4 body, four prime lenses, flash, filters and lost film (6 rolls). John did his best to comply after which the girl left for another twenty minutes to get it all typed up.

She returned with sheets typed up in Czech, which John was asked to read and to sign. She endeavoured to explain the contents, and John signed adding that he could not understand the language! Our gallant pair discovered the loss about midday and finally left the police station at about 2.30. John still had a small pocket camera but had lost some incentive to continue taking pictures.

If only........................!!!!

The AGM on Tuesday 11th May 2004

26 Members listened to reports of the Society officers summarising the events of the past year. Members passed nem con the committee proposal that the weekly subscriptions be increased to 50p; that the visitor subs remain at £1.50; and that the annual subs remain unchanged, It was noted that the Society had stayed in profit over the year by dint of the profit of the Annual Exhibition, and this resulted mainly from the raffle and the sponsorship obtained. Gordon Robson noted that he had been Exhibition Secretary for five years and he wished to step down after the next Exhibition. In view of the many details involved it was desirable that his successor be found and that this successor 'shadow him' for the coming Exhibition, arrangements for which were already being made or considered. Bill Chadband noted that 80 A5 pages of Focus had been produced at a cost of £2 per member. If a member's copy was not picked up after two meetings the copy was mailed to the member at a cost of 23p (stamp + A5 envelope).

Brian Bower complimented the committee on the smooth and efficient running of the AGM. He observed that the finances were sound, and was amazed at how quickly the Awards for All grant had been conceived, applied for, and granted. He was saddened that the club's trophies were no longer being engraved as he felt such engraving was a more permanent record. Speaking of the trophy he had presented to the club, he noted that there was still space for more engravings and offered to foot the bill for such engravings. Gordon Robson explained the committee's decision to halt the engravings, noting that most trophies were full and that adding height to the trophy base whilst distorting its aesthetic appeal was still only a short-term solution. The historical record was maintained by ensuring that on the reverse side of the certificates given out with the trophy the complete list of past winners was included. Nevertheless, the feeling of the meeting appeared to be that where the donor was still active in the club, and furthermore was willing to pay the costs of the engraving; with space still available for this purpose, the committee could reconsider its general decision in such an instance.

In her final remarks as President Joyce Streets declared that she had enjoyed the past two years of office. She had endeavoured to encourage our newer members, and to involve the local community. She was excited that the award of the lottery grant would enable further interaction with the local community. She was extremely proud of the Society, of its Social Outings, its fabulous Annual Exhibition and its general camaraderie. Her last act, to applause, was to crown the new President, Richard Scaife, with the Presidential Red Bowler. In turn Richard placed the Black Bowler of a Past President on Joyce's head.

New President, Richard, paid tribute to the last two successful years under Joyce's Presidency. He hoped to continue to attract new members and invoked the proposed Digital Course as an important mechanism for achieving this aim.. He invited members to communicate any new ideas to him.

Under the item Elections he noted that there were no posts with more than one proposed nomination. Geoff Robinson had agreed to be the new treasurer though he emphasised that he could not attend every week. John Coles had agreed to chair the Selection committee along with being Competition Secretary. Richard would continue as Syllabus Secretary, and Joyce Streets, now past President, agreed to continue as Membership Secretary. Other posts continued as at present:

Secretary - Joyce Robson

Exhibition Sec - Gordon Robson

Publicity Sec - Frank Hutchinson

Social Sec - Colin Pickles

Equipment Officer - John Ade

Focus Editor - Bill Chadband

Committee Members:

Brian Turnbull

Tony Redford

Jonathon Bawden

Sheila Edwards

Gordon Robson distributed the proposed summer walks programme, and Richard Scaife asked that members intending to join the Joint walk with Sheffield club on 25th July and take the meal at the Rising Sun Inn prior to the evening competition let him know so that the meals can be booked.

Tony Redford reminded members that the Keswick week-end 5/6 November was still only £45 per night He invited members to tell him if they proposed to go. The meeting ended at 10.07pm

NCPS Summer Programme

Tuesday 29th June 2004 - Lowry Centre / Harry Ramsden's

Present Tony and Dorothy Redford, Joyce and Gordon Robson, Alan and Val Wild, Geoff Robinson, Alan Bromage and Jackie Allen (Harry Ramsdens only)

This was Geoff’s first visit to the Lowry Centre!!! What a pity the weather was rather dull and cloudy so there was no chance of Geoff or anyone else producing any competition shots – still you never know!!! Alan was busy testing a 135mm lens for his Contax but he will have to be patient whilst the film is developed. Its surprising how many Club members have changed to digital imaging. We spent about 30 minutes taking pictures and upon returning to the multi-storey car park – guess what - we went round in circles trying to find our cars – meeting Tony and Dorothy three times on different floors in the lift. Tony thought his car had been stolen until he discovered he was on the wrong level. Geoff found his car very easily and off we drove to Harry Ramsdens and supper (our so we thought). After negotiating a roundabout twice we came behind Tony in the outside lane and had to reverse slightly as we were both in the wrong lane for Harry Ramsden's restaurant. We finally arrived and had a well earned drink whilst waiting for Alan and Jackie. The fish and chips were well up to the usual standard (as was the sticky toffee pudding) the men helping out the ladies in eating this.

An enjoyable evening, but a pity that the light was so poor.

NCPS Meet with Sheffield PS Sunday 25th July

NCPS responded positively to the suggestion by Keith Brown of Sheffield PS that the two clubs should meet together in a friendly competition.

To add to the event it was agreed that Sheffield should organise a walk in the peak district prior to the event, and that we could all enjoy a meal before the competition began.

Thus it was that ten members of NCPS gathered at the Rising Sun Inn on the road to Hathersage and looked forward to the gentle stroll to the summit of Win Hill and back. Admittedly, it was pouring with rain when we set off from home for the event but we all knew the truth of the adage "rain before seven, fine by eleven". Past President Joyce was sceptical and sent her apologies re the walk; Tony Redford hurriedly arranged a pupil to give him a legitimate excuse. By 10.45am six members of Sheffield PS had arrived and we were introduced to our walk leader Frank Milner. Besides being a past Sheffield President, Frank is a Peak Park Ranger. He had two alternative circuits in mind the short 5 miler, or the longer 7 miler, depending upon how long the sun stayed out. At this stage it was still raining, but then, it was not yet eleven o' clock. As expected, by eleven the rain was easing and folks debated as to whether or not to remove some of the water-proof clothing they were encased in. Sadly Colin Pickles refused to remove anything and the Rain-God responded by tipping another bath-full of water over us. At this point our guide showed us the well, served by water seeping from the limestone rock-face, which for years had been the freshwater supply for the hamlet of Thornfield. We were told of the great views available over the valley on a clear day, and pointing into the fog and mist Frank said 'There be Yorkshire'. And true enough we saw a sign saying Yorkshire Bridge. Passing through a small copse we were reminded that this was the last bit of shelter before the summit. Amazingly, we saw several other groups of walkers undeterred by the weather. Near the Summit we came across a family cheerfully eating Walkers crisps as they crouched low behind the last wall. They had preceded us along the same route. Guide Frank suggested that we too should drink our coffee and eat our lunch behind the wall. After twenty minutes the family got up to make their way to the Summit and this goaded Frank into suggesting that we did likewise. We all touched the Trig Stone for luck in passing and Frank didn't need a vote to decide that the shorter route would prevail. On our return journey there were several occasions when the rain looked like easing, but only to return with a vengeance. At 2.30pm having walked the five and a quarter miles round trip NCPS males were to be found in the Gents Toilet of the Rising Sun bemoaning the fact that it contained no hooks on which to hang sodden clothes.

Sitting around the table with drinks the world again looked a rosy place as we contemplated the forthcoming meal and competition. For the record Brian and Hilary Turnbull, Frank and Margery Hutchinson, Richard and Penny Scaife, Roger Dye, Gordon Robson, Colin Pickles and Bill Chadband were the brave souls who did the walk; Joyce Robson and Milly Chadband, Rod and Jill Hargreaves, Joyce Streets and Hugh, Tony and Dorothy Redford, Gerald Hallworth and John Bawden joined us for the meal. Though the Inn was fully booked, stretching the staff to the full, the consensus was that the meals were excellent.

At 6.00 pm Keith Brown introduced the Sheffield President Erica Oram. It was at this point that Bill Chadband remembered asking this seemingly young girl walking beside him in the rain if she was a photographer as well as a hill-walker. Erica welcomed us and introduced the judge for the evening, Les Nixon from the Bakewell Club. The agreed rules for the event were 15 prints and 15 slides from each club, no more than two images from each member. Les proved to be an excellent judge, offering constructive criticisms to all the images, whilst noting that at the end of the day judges have their own foibles and preferences (prejudices?) which are unavoidable. At the end of the print section the scores were Sheffield 243 and NCPS 275. In the slide competition NCPS scored 254 whilst Sheffield scored 262. Thus the overall competition result was Sheffield 505 points, NCPS 529 points. Erica thanked all took part. Richard, on behalf of NCPS thanked Sheffield for organising such a splendid event; agreed that we should continue the venture, but suggested that next year it should be held in the Summer.

Individual image scores for NCPS are given below:

PRINTS

Mountain Goats Gordon Robson 16

Indian Woman Brian Turnbull 16

Gemsbok, Etosha Steph Clack 19

Wild Flower Meadow George Beaumont 17

Indebted Tony Redford 20

Paris Match Geoff Robinson 18

Leaves of Gold Dorothy Redford 19

Bliss Bill Chadband 18

Arc-Light, Place de la Concorde Colin Pickles 18

The Walkway Brian Turnbull 19

The Chancel, Lichfield Cathedral Gerald Hallworth 19

Corridor of Light Tony Redford 20

Polar Bears Steph Clack 20

The Look Dorothy Redford 20

"Mystere" Brian Bower 16

SLIDES

Puffin Colin Pickles 18

Leopard On Watch David Clack 16

Barcelona Supporters Brian Turnbull 15

About to Strike Dorothy Redford 17

Chinaman Gordon Robson 19

Chimpanzee Steph Clack 16

Silhouettes Tony Redford 18

Sunset at Callanish Colin Pickles 19

Textures and Curves Frank Hutchinson 15

Autumn Glow Tony Redford 18

Catching the Rays Brian Turnbull 19

Buttermere Jon Bawden 14

Shades of Autumn Dorothy Redford 15

Foxgloves Gordon Robson 15

Ennerdale Evening Jon Bawden 20