A month by month summary of the Society activities.
November 2024: Lindsey Smith – Scotland’s Wildlife & Landscapes
This month, our very own member, Lindsey Smith spoke to the club about her various trips to Scotland, with her talk entitled ‘Scotland’s wildlife & Landscapes’.
Lindsey’s photography trips started us in the Cairngorms, in Aviemore which is home to various Robins, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Blue tits, Siskins (part of the finch family), Tree Creeper and Spotted Woodpeckers.
Lindsey’s trips also went into the Caledonian pine forest where she found Grouse, Lapwings and Red Squirrels, which can easily be found feasting on acorns. Lindsey explained that these best photos of the Squirrels were taken in a purpose made hide.
Lindsey’s quest to find mountain hares & although she was successful, the ones she found were in the midst of shedding their white winter coats.
Lindsays trip was made even more special with her stay at Aigas Field Centre which is an award-winning Field Centre focused on nature study and wildlife holidays. Whilst there she photographed Mountain Goats, Beavers and Hooper Swans, which over winter all the way from Iceland to Scotland to breed. Lindsey showed photos she’d taken of Pine Martens & Badgers, which were taken from a hide and also explained about a re-wilding program of Wild Cats which Aigas are hoping to reintroduce into Scotland.
Lindsey’s photos also included Sunset & Sunrise landscape photos which also included snow-capped Mountains of Glencoe & included a trip to the gorgeous Kilchurn Castle, a ruined structure on a rocky peninsula at the northeastern end of Loch Awe, in Argyll and Bute.
Lindsey was also lucky enough to trek up the mountain to photograph Eilean Donan castle and then travel onto the lighthouse at Neist Point & the Old man at Storr (a 55-metre-high pinnacle of basalt rock which is all that remains of a 2,800-million-year-old volcanic plug.)
Lindsey’s trip then took her over to Ardnamurchan, the UK’s most westerly point, where she found some beautiful Scot Argyle butterflies, Sandwich Terns and Red Deer. Travelling over the bridge to Mull, she found so much flora & fauna to photograph including Black Guillemots in Oban harbor wall. Lindsay then jumped on a boat to photograph White tailed eagles catching fish with their feet and which have an amazing 8 foot wingspan!
Next Month Martyn Pearse is showing his photos entitled- The People and Places of Rajasthan. Everyone welcome.
Picture Credit: Lindsey Smith
Courtney Killpack, ADDPS
October 2024: Andrew Buchanan – Flowers
For October’s meeting, we were treated to a fantastic talk & practical workshop by Andrew Buchanan, who came to us to discuss his Photographic Journey.
Andrew 1st picked up a camera at a young age and despite his Secondary school report card of Art class as ‘no artistic talent, go do Geography!’ Andrew persevered and went onto dabble with photographing the members of his School play & then later on, was lucky enough to join the Army where he found plenty of opportunity to take Landscape photos, Sports photos and a variety of Travel photos and often forego taking out a rifle to taking out his camera!
His travels with the Army also took him to Belfast during the IRA days in the early 70s, and was fortunate enough to not get caught taking photos, despite wearing civilian clothes!
He also travelled to Sierra Leone, near to where the Diamond mines, and he enjoyed taking pictures of the eclectic markets and local villagers.
Andrew later on ventured into Portraiture photography and was invited to photograph various military events for his regiment which were later published in Military Publications.
Andrew spent a lot of his life living in the beautiful South of France where he found a love of photographing the French Alps & taking his camera with him when out hiking with like-minded friends.
Andrew recently discovered HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging where he transforms basic flower photos into creative & colourful images.
Andrew admits his passion is still Flowers and enjoys the creative, composition side and spends his time pressing flowers and photographing them on his tabletop lightbox.
We had 1 new visitor join us on Wednesday & 1 new member and we hope that they felt welcome and will return for our next meeting in November on Wednesday the 6th at 7.30pm.
Picture Credit: Andrew Buchanan
Courtney Killpack, ADDPS
September 2024: Robert Harvey – Jaguars and Giant Tortoises
We were invited into the world of Robert Harvey with his presentation of ‘Jaguars and Giant Tortoises’ – a Wildlife photographic journey in Tropical South America.
As a wildlife photographer he illustrated the comparisons in the environments of Vast Flat plains, Waterfalls, Lowland rainforests, Cloud Forest and Island life on the Galapagos islands by photographing birds, reptiles and mammals living there. Each area requiring different photographic skills to capture the best image.
It is a continent of birds with so many varieties, both in size, behaviour and colour whilst living in many different habitats. This is a challenge to any photographer which Robert mastered. He gave us examples of settings and equipment that he used when taking these images. Each one
requiring consideration of light, movement and atmosphere. In some areas where he was not allowed to use flash, he was able to capture creatures by torchlight and clever choice of time of day to get the shot he was wanting to take.
The variety of creatures – Giant Anteaters eating termites from mounds in the grasslands of Cerrado and Macaws, toucans, Rhea owls and Storks in the Pantanal he beautifully captured
them in their home environment travelling by boat, light aircraft and by foot. It was on his sixth visit to South America that he managed to photograph a Jaguar in the wild which he had wanted to do for so many years. Dedication.
One thousand kilometres from the mainland the individuality of the Galapagos Islands where active volcanoes change the landscape, Robert was able to be close to the wildlife and
photograph the famous Giant tortoises, sometimes laying on the floor with them for a different perspective.
His website is https://www.naturalworldphotography.net/ should you wish to take a look.
Picture Credit: Robert Harvey.
Miggy Wild, ADDPS
August 2024: Linda Bembridge – Abstract from Landscapes
This month, by the means of the world wide web, Linda Bembridge joined us virtually to talk about her love and affinity with Abstract photography.
Linda explained her love of Abstract photography originally started with Landscape photography. She formats and prints out as a square (30 x 30) in Adobe Photoshop or is equally happy using Pro-create on her iPad.
She then progressed onto tinkering with her photos with glitter pens, calligraphy ink, gold embellishments with gold leaf paint, to name but a few.
She explained that her aim is to create an ‘exhibition worthy’ image every time.
Her other specialism is Abstract Triptych (work of art that is divided into three sections) and her photography subjects varied from views from a dirty window which she abstracted to a look like a pond with reeds as well as Graffiti in Blackpool bus station which she turned into an art deco view.
Linda also delves into water reflection and enjoys changing the white balance settings in her camera to create an abstract style photo when printed on a matt velvet photography paper.
Linda virtually put together an RPS panel, and doing so, created more abstract photos using the multiple exposure setting on her camera and subsequently manipulated them in Photoshop and after printing used her calligraphy pens and embellishments to create six different images.
When Linda is not renovating her house, she regularly writes Blogs on her website and has a self-published book where she discusses all things Abstract in photography.
After the Virtual presentation members shared their images for this months topic which was titled ‘Playing with colour.’
The photos varied from oily bubbles to flowers and street photography.
Picture Credit: Linda Bembridge
Courtney Killpack, ADDPS
July 2024: Jonathan Genevaux – Waterscapes
This month, Jonathan Genevaux came to the club to talk about his love for Waterscapes.
Its no wonder, being born & bred in SW France, in a little town surrounded by canals & rivers many were the bed for Oyster farms, that Jonathan has such a love & respect for waterscapes.
Jonathan is now based in Bristol, with the backdrop of the Clifton suspension bridge, he operates his workshops and exhibitions & takes clients all over Europe and up to the Scottish Highlands sharing his love of landscape & waterscape photography.
Jonathan showed us many pictures of his hometown where the water topography changed from nice calm canals and estuaries to the wild waves of the Atlantic Ocean. He also shared many photos taken by his drone which show a higher perspective of the ocean area.
Jonathan’s photography varies from long exposures of rocky shores and stormy waves and enjoys using his Sony A7iv and advised that it’s best to use a remote shutter to reduce the camera shake and ensure a smooth photo.
He also stressed how important researching your intended location is to understand the objective of the photo by using tools available to everyone such as Google Maps, Open sheet maps etc.
He advised us to constantly check tide time and said that a idea of what time tide you want to be there and made us think about whether it mattered for the overall photo or how crucial tide times were to the photo?
He said it’s best to plan for natural light using a program called photo pills and to always check weather forecasts such as met office and windy.com.
In terms of wind conditions, Jonathan explained offshore winds create nice waves for fast shutter speeds and onshore winds are for choppy waves requiring long exposure times.
Equally no wind can create beautiful photos in harbours.
So in conclusion, arrive early, observe, think about composition, focus on foreground and start thinking of framing your photo.
Jonathan left us with one parting thought: You can only get the shot if you are out there!
We welcome new members to our Society nights on the first Wednesday of each month.
Website: addphoto.co.uk or find us on facebook.com/add.photosoc for further information!
Picture Credit: Jonathan Genevaux
Coutney Killpack, ADDPS
June 2024: Graham Marek – Camera Obscura
This month, our own esteemed member, Graham Marek enthralled our members with his pictures and history of Camera Obscura and showed everyone how it evolved over time to become the Photographic wizardry it is today.
We were told that there is evidence that even artists such as Da Vinci has used camera obscura in his works of art and in the early days, Giovanni Della Porta (Italian scholar, polymath and playwright who lived in Naples at the time of the Renaissance) in 1558 published 4 volumes of books which included how to use Camera Obscura and Robert Boyles & Robert Hook had then constructed a camera obscura, which has theorists believing it could’ve been used in the famous Canaletto paintings and could’ve also been used by Caravaggio & Vermeer.
More recently, Camera Obscuras have progressed to buildings such as Radcliffe Camera in Oxford, Clifton Observatory in Bristol and the Greenwich Observatory.
A smaller version can be bought in most camera shops from manufacturers such as Lensbaby which fit most camera bodies.
Next month we have Jonathan Genevaux coming to discuss Waterscapes & we will be exhibiting at Deddington Farmers market on the 22nd of June.
We welcome new members to our Society nights on the first Wednesday of each month.
Website: addphoto.co.uk or find us on facebook.com/add.photosoc for further information!
Courtney Killpack, ADDPS
May 2024: Tim Pile – Have I got Nudes for You
Tim Pile, accredited photographer from Birmingham, showed the Society a continuous array of fantastic images that he had taken around the world. His research to find venues require him to spend a huge amount of time researching them. From abandoned buildings, mansions, landscapes and more, Tim and female models have produced. He spends much time planning the composition of, and
lighting of, all his photographs. He uses natural light on his models creating back lighting, side lighting, and soft or hard lighting. He takes time to check the direction of light and what time of day it is to produce exquisitely artistic images.
His nude models work in partnership with Tim, planning and executing their shots. Composition and Lighting are carefully considered and are the dynamism of his photographs. The models form rounded or jagged shapes, echoing formations in the landscape around them; they mould to the landscape and become part of an image, not always the focus of the photographs, but inclusive within it.
The mirroring of shapes around them is part of their technique.
Back in 2008, with his Canon G9 camera he joined his first Camera club – ‘The Aston and Erdington Photographic Society’ and later ‘The
Smethwick Photographic Society’, entering competitions and learning new techniques and forming his style. He joined up with a small group of friends who explored nude portraiture taken in studios. At this point his preference was to shoot images with natural light and he developed his style.
His photographic journey has included learning from others including developing techniques from Irene Froy which was evident in some of his shots where he desaturated images, blurred layers and produced white layers, producing images like this one that he is famous for- ‘Pearls’. This image won gold medals and was in the Edinburgh Salon.
Picture Credit: Tim Pile
Miggy Wild, ADDPS
April 2024: AGM and “What Is It”
Our AGM for 2024 was held on April 3rd, electing officers to serve the committee for the forthcoming year. Discussions included the planning for Exhibitions for 2024 which are going to be in Deddington, Steeple Aston and Adderbury.
Once the official part was over the members competed in the Annual ‘What is it? Quiz. We split into three groups and earnestly tried to win the Cream egg prize for each team member.
What is it?
Answer
Courtney Killpack, ADDPS
March 2024: Member Presentations
For Marchs meeting we asked our members to present their favourite photos or photography style to the audience which saw a variety of presentations on Fabric & textile printing, film photography, portraiture (which included Ballet, use of Gel lighting, Flash & blur techniques & flour dancing), Street photography, printed landscapes, inside flowers, ‘looking up from the ground which included reflections & abstracts and UV photography (which uses Ultra Violet Induced Visible Light fluorescents & produces astounding flower & fern photos!)
Our monthly topic was ‘Fine art: Found’ which pushed members to photograph found objects in a Fine art style.
Next month is our AGM and our topic is ‘what is it?’
We welcome new members to our Society nights on the first Wednesday of each month.
Website: https://www.addphoto.co.uk or find us on https://www.facebook.com/add.photosoc for further information!
Photo Credit: John Cavana
Courtney Killpack. ADDPS
February 2024: Jim Muller – Photography in the Peak District
Jim gave an inspiring illustrated overview of the photographic opportunities in the Peak District, which was Britain’s first National Park. He started with a short discussion of the history and geology of the area, including the Kinder Scout mass trespass in 1932.
Mining, cotton mills and agriculture have shaped the landscape, which now bears witness through canals, rail tracks and industrial relics. These range from scenic viaducts to abandoned millstones. Reservoirs, although man-made, sometimes at the cost of submerging whole villages, provide an attractive setting.
Edges and Tors often have spectacular rock formations, complemented by moorlands and dales. Embedded in all of this are rivers, waterfalls and ancient woodlands, each providing photographic material, which was beautifully demonstrated by Jim’s images. The environment is populated by a range of wildlife, including a number of birds that were demonstrated.
Finally, he showed us images of a number of attractive buildings, especially in the Buxton area, that are worth a photographer’s attention. The area is so popular with visitors that it’s often necessary to be up at first light to obtain a photograph without people in it! The Peak District clearly has a huge range of material for photographers interested in landscape, nature and historical material.
Courtney Killpack, ADDPS
January 2024: Favourite/Best 3 images of 2023
Januarys club night welcomed back current members from their Christmas break to a fun filled evening showcasing members ‘best of 2023’ photos. These ranged from Portraiture & Flowers, to Childs toys & composites which were a reminder of the monthly topics of 2023.
Our monthly topic for January was ‘Creative’ which encompassed photos showing motion blur, ICM (intentional camera movement), Light trails, Double exposure & composite images.
This year we are excited to have new & exciting guest speakers at our monthly meetings and will be show casing our works across the county at various shows & festivals! Watch this space!!
We welcome new members to our Society nights on the first Wednesday of each month. Website and contact: addphoto.co.uk for further information.
Courtney Killpack, ADDPS