By Email 16/04/26
Hello MPC Members and Friends,
Our meeting on Tuesday will feature a presentation from member John G entitled, “All Photography Is Autobiographical”. John has very much enjoyed his sixty successful years in professional photography. While photojournalism has played a central role in his career, related experiences have included running a commercial studio, directing television commercials, and serving as the Head of Media at Darlington College.
John will share with us a number of images reflecting his rich experiences in professional photography including slides from his touring exhibition entitled “Children in War”, an especially timely and poignant topic. It’s always a wonderful opportunity for club members and friends to gain a deeper insight into our shared passion for photography when a member agrees to share their experiences. I look forward to hearing about John’s career in photography and I very much hope that you can come along on Tuesday to learn more about John’s extensive experiences in professional photography.
Following John’s presentation Margaret will share the entries and results for our most recent MPC competition, “At The Seaside - Everything But The Sea”.
Best wishes,
Tom
MPC Meeting Agenda
Tuesday April 21st
Masham Town Hall/Small Hall
7:00 for 7:30 PM
7:00 Setup, raffle sales, print collection
(Clare has asked members to collect any prints and certificates that were recently displayed in the Committee Room. They will be placed on tables in the back of the Small Hall)
7:30 Introduction of Guest Speaker
John G “All Photography Is Autobiographical”
8:30 Refreshments
8:50 Competition Results
9:10 Announcements
Next Workshop
Editing Workshop
Next Competition
Outings
Projects
9:30 Close
*Times are approximate
Recent Critiquing Workshop With Tom Marsh:
Eleven MPC members attended a workshop guided by popular photography consultant Tom Marsh that focused on critiquing a photograph for self - improvement. Several club members submitted an image which the group critiqued using concepts and a process that Tom has developed and widely shared.
Immediate feedback on the night was very positive. With each photograph the group offered the photographer constructive feedback including suggestions for alternative composition, ideas for managing practical challenges, and valuable insights into ways to achieve one’s aims.
At the end of the evening much appreciation was expressed for Tom’s involvement and several members suggested that we integrate this process into our club activities and have more regular opportunities for members to participate in this type of activity. Please let me know if this is something that you would like to become involved with. I will set up a critiquing session for the last Tuesday in May, the 26th, if there is sufficient interest.
Photo Walks:
Several members have suggested that we organise more photo walks with Tom in the future. Some of Tom’s recent and upcoming walks include:
Photographing Ruins
Photographing Bluebells
Exploring Liverpool’s Docks
Wildflower Landscapes
Tom prefers to work with groups of up to six people. He’s happy to work with our club to create photo walks on topics that we request. With that in mind, do you have any suggestions for a photo walk?
One member has suggested “Getting Off Auto”, another has suggested photographing the Swinton Estate Druid’s Temple, another has suggested a repeat of the postcard session recently held, and another has suggested low light photography (early morning!). Any thoughts? Please let me know and I’ll compile a list of possible topics.
End of Year Barbecue:
Our end of year barbecue will be held on Tuesday, July 7th at Sue Curry’s home in Pickhill. The cost is £15 per person, with guests welcome. Please arrange to pay for your tickets by bacs if possible, or cash at an upcoming meeting. The deadline for paying for your tickets is Tuesday, June 2nd.
Tom
By Email 12/04/26
Hello All,
We’re all set for Tuesday’s critiquing workshop with Tom. I hope that you can make it, whether or not you have a photograph that you would like to share with the group.
The main idea of this workshop is to become better-acquainted with the valuable process of critiquing a photograph for self - improvement.
We’ll use Tom’s approach to understand a little about the photographer’s aim(s) then employ familiar key elements to analyse the photo. Apart from asking the photographer questions for gaining a deeper understanding of the photo, we can offer observations and raise possibilities to consider.
There is another great benefit to this activity apart from self-improvement as recently pointed out by Tom:
“It is great that people are eager to stage regular critique nights. Not only do they help participants improve their skills, they also provide a more in-depth understanding (and acceptance of), different people's unique approaches.”
Several members have expressed an interest in learning more with and from Tom. If you have an idea for a “photo walk” to explore some aspect of photography, or a topic that you’d like to explore in a workshop, let me know. I’ll compile a list of topics to use to measure interest within the club.
If you have a photo to share on Tuesday please let me know so I can plan. You can email it to me in advance or bring it along on a USB flash drive. You be asked to provide a brief overview of your photo that can include your intention(why you took this photo and what you were after) along with any other details that you recall that you’d like to share(challenges, conditions, good fortune, and so on).
Many thanks! Hope to see you on Tuesday.
Best wishes,
Tom
By Email 08/04/26
Hello MPC Members and Friends,
On Tuesday evening a great turnout of twenty-three members and friends enjoyed a fascinating presentation on architecture and urban decay from Yorkshire photographer Simon Sugden. I was reminded of the old advertisement, “Heineken reaches the parts that other beers cannot reach” as Simon shared his amazing photographs of impressive, once - beautiful, often historic buildings. Simon has searched out once - magnificent buildings, now in disuse and in various states of decay, and has overcome all kinds of challenges to gain unique vantage points within them and around them for his stunning, unique photographs. Simon generously shared many very helpful, practical details of his architectural photography which served to inspire many of us to pursue this interesting genre. Many thanks to John C for bringing us such an interesting and accomplished guest speaker!
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Tom Marsh - Photo Critiquing Workshop: Tuesday, April 14th, 7:00 for 7:30, Masham Town Hall
All Are Invited!
Tom will join us next Tuesday when we put into practice his concepts and process for critiquing one of our photographs as a way to improve our photography.
Please email one photograph to me that we will critique with Tom’s guidance (or you can bring along a photo on a USB memory stick / flash drive). Please also let me know if you are planning to participate in the critiquing session.
The six members who participated in the recent Photo Walk with Tom are especially encouraged to participate in this terrific learning opportunity. All club members are invited to email, or bring along on a flash drive, one of their photos and take part. We will critique as many photos as we can during the evening. It’s a very special opportunity to have Tom with us for this workshop!
It may be helpful to note a few details connected with your photograph to prepare for the session. Ask yourself a few questions:
- What were you aiming to photograph? Why? To what extent have you succeeded?
- What is good about your photo? Think about composition as well as technical elements like exposure and focus.
- What are some options that you could consider? For example, what would happen of you cropped the image differently? Or changed the composition? Or maybe photographed in monochrome rather than colour?
When you are part of a group who are helping to critique a photograph taken by someone else, it is helpful to offer ideas / suggestions instead of criticisms. What do you think “works” in the photo, in terms of what the photographer was intending?
iPhone editing Workshop: Save The Date!
A special one off workshop on photo editing will take place on Tuesday, April 28th at the Town Hall. This workshop follows a workshop offered to local group FLOCK in January on getting the most from your phone camera. This time we will look at basic editing functions available on an iPhone. Basic editing tools and functions are the same across many different apps and software programmes, although some have different names for the same function.
It would be great if as many members as possible can come along to help out. Questions are always helpful and sharing your experiences, whether successful or not, are really valuable contributions.
A more detailed programme along with some basic information connected with photograph editing, will be shared closer to the date of the workshop.
At The Seaside - Anything But The Sea:
Competition deadline is Friday, April 10th. Please email up to three entries to:
Welcome!
Please join me in welcoming new member Peter D to our club! Peter came along to our meeting on Tuesday with relatively new member Ian G. Make a point to say hello to Peter and Ian at our next meeting if you haven’t already done so.
Next Meeting April 21st:
Our next meeting will be on April 21st and will feature a presentation from MPC member and photojournalist John G entitled “Children In War”. The focus of John’s presentation is with a very serious subject but also one that has great importance and significance. I hope you can join us on the 21st.
Get Well Janet!
I’m sorry to report that club member Janet M is ill and in hospital in Darlington (I understand that Janet may be returning home soon). Jayne and I hope to check on Janet as soon as possible, and pass on a get well card from MPC.
Many Thanks:
Many thanks to the eight members who made the recent journey to Seaham for a club outing and shared forty of their photographs with us. As always, it was great to view interesting photographs that revealed the different interests and styles of our members. The photos were beautiful and very interesting - thank you!
Many thanks to Bill T for providing a brief update on the Masham Life project, created and developed with member Andy Burns. And thanks also to Bill for printing and mounting many beautiful prints from the book that are now on display in the Committee Room. The project is having a very positive impact on the Masham community and beyond, and is off to a successful start with nearly 150 copies of the book sold in the first ten days.
Many thanks to Janice for providing us with terrific refreshments - always a highlight of the evening! And thank you all for your help in setup and cleanup!
Best wishes,
Tom
By Email 02/04/26
Hello MPC Members and Friends,
I hope all is well. Our next meeting on Tuesday, April 7th, will feature a presentation from Yorkshire photographer Simon Paul Sugden, aka “Suggy”. Simon will focus on architecture, one of his main interests in photography.
If you haven’t yet visited Simon’s website, please take time to explore his site and view the video you’ll find there about his photography.
Simon has also published two books which are available to purchase:
Beauty In Decay
Abandoned Britain
If you would like a signed copy of either or both books, please phone Simon on:
07725076669
Signed copies are £17.99 each plus postage
A Snapshot of MASHAM LIFE IN 2025
The response from the Masham community to Bill and Andy’s book has been amazing - very positive! We will provide a brief report on this project at our meeting on Tuesday.
If you are free on Saturday (April 4th) anytime from 11:00 am - 2 pm you’re welcome to join us at the Town Hall. The Masham Christmas Lights Appeal bric-à-brac sale will be taking place in the Small Hall while we sell books from the Committee Room.
Tom Marsh Critique Session - April 14th
Tom will join us on the 14th to provide guidance on the process of critiquing a photograph to improve your photography. His process is really helpful for self - improvement and importantly it can also inform our collective understanding of how to evaluate a photograph. Everyone is welcome to attend this session!
I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.
Best wishes,
Tom