THURSDAY 14th October 2021
All the Gear no Idea
Roger Hance FRPS AFIAP DPAGB BPE5*
Colchester based, award winning photographer Roger Hance definitely gave us numerous hints and tips on how to use our ‘gear’ when he gave his talk ‘All the Gear no Idea’ at our second zoom talk of the season.
Roger began the evening by telling us he would be showing a mixture of images made up from landscapes, sport and natural history and he split these subjects into separate sections throughout the presentation.
In his stunning landscapes on the Northumberland Coast, we saw the muted colours of beautiful sunrises at Low Hauxley and dramatic black and white seascapes at Rumbling Kern and Bamburgh. His experiment with in-camera double exposure images taken in The Peak District produced very different but very pleasing results, whilst the differing weather conditions of Snowdonia gave him either excellent colourful reflections or moody monochrome scenes. Taking us through extremely vivid action shots of Superbikes and Jet Skis, Roger explained in detail how he had achieved such crisp, sharp images which I am sure will help members who like to take fast-motion photographs. When ‘locked in’, because of wintery conditions, Roger made the most of a home made garden hide to photograph visiting birds. Starlings and blue tits made wonderful subjects on bird feeders, whilst wood pigeons and robins stood proud on the ground in the snow. Images taken in The Farne Isles gave us the opportunity to enjoy the seabirds on our coastal cliffs and islands. Although mainly known for their comical Puffins, Roger also managed to capture images of many other birds including arctic turns attacking other photographers and a black backed gull flying away with a Guillemot chick in its mouth. Other images included in the natural history sections were of butterflies, barn owls, water voles, seals and dippers. All in all the presentation had something for everyone both in content and ideas on how to use the ‘gear’ we own.