Hello MPC Members and Friends,

 

I hope all is well.

 

“A Landscape Journey by Gordon and Clare”, a presentation offered to us by members Clare Watkinson and Gordon Wilson, attracted a record audience of twenty-five people!  We were rewarded for venturing out on a very cold evening with an absorbing combination of beautiful photographs and commentary based around their recent travels to northwestern Norway, the islands of Lofoten.  

 

These islands, located inside the Arctic Circle, are well-known to adventurous travellers and photographers for their incredibly rugged mountains, beautiful fjords, and lovely, restored fishing villages featuring churches and brightly painted dwellings. First Gordon, and then Clare, shared their favourite landscapes with us (including at least one with a person included!!). The quality of their photographs was, as you might expect, first rate. The composition of their photographs, and the extraordinary subjects they captured, provided us with breathtaking images. 

 

Our presenters offered helpful camera setting details, the equipment they found most useful for this unusually demanding environment, an overview of the purpose and use of physical lens filters, and a number of insightful tips for taking a photographic expedition. It was a wonderful presentation with a very special look into Clare’s hidden life as a gymnast.  Thank you!

 

“Telling A Story In A Single Shot” Competition Results

 

Member and competition judge John Gibb opened this part of our evening with a brief slideshow that provided us with a very helpful understanding of this challenging genre of photography.  This information also informed recent workshops which focused on this concept in a joined - up effort to support our learning and engagement with this challenge. 

 

After viewing the forty - eight images submitted by sixteen members John shared the seven photographs that he felt best - displayed the qualities of a story in a single image. With so many fine images to evaluate, the task was challenging!  The winning image, taken by Richard Coulstock, is of a group of four travellers on an underground train carriage / subway who all appear to be deeply engrossed in their devices.  The photograph is very special for its very high technical standard but in this competition its connection with the theme is exceptional: we are intrigued while at the same time confirming the impact of the digital age on us all, a brilliant image!

 

The members receiving accolades in this competition are:

 

Richard Coulstock        First

Kendall Proctor            Second

Margaret Lawrenson        Third

Kate Tench                Highly Commended

Clare Watkinson            Commended

Joan Birch                Commended

John Cole                Commended

 

These images will be added to our website in due course. 

 

Many thanks to all who entered this competition and shared their photographs, and special thanks to John Gibb for provided an overview of the criteria used in this activity as well as constructive, insightful remarks. 

 

Next Meeting December 2nd:

 

Our next meeting on December 2nd will feature a Zoom presentation from Keith Snell.  Keith’s focus will be on the question, “Is It Art?” - a look at photography as an art form. This promises to be a really enjoyable opportunity. You can learn more about Keith and his photography at his website:

 

https://www.keithsnellphotos.com

 

Please remember that on this occasion our normal meeting time may be disturbed slightly because the local primary school will be staging their annual Christmas play from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM and will be using the Small Hall as a dressing room. The children, parents and teachers involved are aware that we hope to start our programme at the usual time of 7:30 PM and will do their best to make way for us. However, please plan to arrive after 7:20 and remain away from the Small Hall until it’s cleared. Thank you for your help and understanding. 

 

Saltaire!

 

Fingers crossed for good weather (maybe a bit warmer?) for our intrepid outings travellers going to Saltaire tomorrow (Friday, 21st). 

 

Bring back lots of photos to share from your visit to this World Heritage Site and have a great time!

 

Next Competition: “This Sporting Life”

 

The deadline for submitting up to three entries for our monthly club competition is Friday, December 5th.  Please email your entries to:

 

Mashamphotocomps@gmail.com

 

Please note that the results for this competition will be shared at our first meeting in January, the 6th, rather than on December 16th. This is due to our Christmas Party schedule of events and activities. 

 

Christmas Party Quiz: Question - Setters Wanted!

 

We are hoping that up to ten volunteers will step forward to set ten questions for our quiz on December 16th. In the past we have used the following topics:

 

Music                    Architecture            Literature

Yorkshire                Nature                 Food

Photography            Animals                Pop Culture

History                    Geography

 

Would you like to help out?  Please email me with one of the above topics or, if you have an idea for a different one - that’s fine!  You will need to develop ten questions, with at least some of them being reasonably challenging (it’s ok to have a few tough questions but please keep in mind that memory is not a strong suit for some of us!).  😂 You can incorporate slides or just about any materials into your questions, or they can simply be read out. 

 

Flock Workshop - “Getting The Best From Your Smartphone Camera”

 

At our recent workshop focused on iPhone photography, members and friends attending helped enormously to draft a plan for delivering our workshop on “Getting The Best From Your iPhone Camera” to members of the local Flock group on January 29th. 

 

We will offer a number of brief presentations (not yet decided how many) of 5 - 10 minutes, with each one providing basic information around a camera function, settings, and camera use that may help an iPhone user make good use of their camera.   

 

Each presentation can be supported with a slide that includes any helpful information including best use of camera modes and settings for a particular function. Some areas that we might wish to use include the following: 

• Camera App: Useful Settings For Sharing or Best Quality

• Macro Photography

• Action Photography: Live Photo and Burst Mode

• Composition: Grid & Level Settings, Rule of Thirds, Aspect Ratio, +++

• Focus and Exposure Control

• Saving and Sharing Photos

• Video Photography

Ideally we will have six or more volunteers to help deliver the workshop. You do not need to be an expert!  Together we will create a slide and examples to share, rehearse together, and on the night each presentation can be quite brief - five minutes - or if appropriate a bit longer (10 minutes). 

 

Following our brief presentations we will open up the session to Q & A and just do our best to help out. Many questions might be about framing, composition, focus and exposure which are more connected with an understanding of photography and less connected to the iPhone’s controls. 

 

This is a good opportunity to share what we know with a local group. There are many possible positive outcomes!  If you are up for this challenge please let me know and we will get organised. 

 

Best wishes,

 

Tom

 

Sent from my iPad