THURSDAY 25th April 2024 - FINALS NIGHT - judged by Alistair Ritchie
Time flies by so quickly – here I am writing my final review for this season – it’s amazing how fast the year has gone by. The judge for our last competition of the season was Alistair Ritchie and after being introduced he began by thanking the club for inviting him to judge our end of season competitions. It was evident that Alistair had devoted a significant amount of time over the past week or so to his judging, as he had typed up notes for each and every image. He commented on how he likes an image to tell a story and believes that it is perfectly acceptable to stray away from traditional photographic rules and guidelines. He remarked on how the standard of the entries had made his job very difficult and that he had to carefully examine the images to identify even the smallest details before making his final decision on choosing a winner.
End of season results are as follows:
PRINT Personal Selection Competition 1st place – The Printsetter - George Ryske 2nd place – Dahlias - Don Grundell 3rd place – The Single Poppy - Jane Martin
PRINT of the Year 1st place – Walnuts - Joan Scott 2nd place – RJ - David Gamm 3rd place – Mist Rolling In, Talybont - Kay Welsh
PDI Personal Selection Competition 1st place – Lime Avenue, Westonbirt - David Gamm 2nd place – Angela - Dave Rumsam 3rd place – Sunset Seat, Stinchcombe - David Gamm
PDI of the Year 1st place – Sliced Beetroot - Steve Varman LRPS 2nd place – Little Owl - Mike Smith 3rd place – Wainwrights Plant - Kay Welsh
Highest overall score for monthly prints - Steve Varman LRPS Highest overall score for monthly PDIs – Barbara Gibbons Photographer of the year – Steve Varman LRPS
I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful summer and look forward to meeting up with you all again for our 2024-2025 season.
And as a final note – as they say on Strictly – keep taking photographs!
Thursday 11th April 2024 - WCPF Travelling Print Exhibition
The Western Counties Photographic Federation (WCPF) hold six events throughout the year with the Members Exhibition being one of them. Any individual member of a WCPF affiliated club may enter and selection for the exhibition is performed by three ‘out of the area’ judges selected from Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB) judges list.
The Members Exhibition is made up of about 250 prints and a projected display of around 350 digital images, each split into three classes – open colour, open monochrome and nature. The Travelling Print Exhibition this year contains 74 prints selected from the print images accepted into the Members Exhibition and it travels around all the clubs in the region.
North Nibley Village Hall was set up with five tables each holding a number of prints. The members present then split into five groups and sat around the tables discussing the collection of prints in front of them choosing which one or two they preferred. Once a designated time had passed, the prints were transferred to the next table, and the cycle was repeated with a new set of prints.
At the end of the evening the ten most favoured prints were displayed at the front of the room for a ‘club discussion’. It was quite surprising how opinions differed on quite a few of the images but three or four images stood out above the rest receiving unanimous praise from the majority of members for their outstanding quality.
Gold medal print winners in the exhibition were : Open Monochrome - "The Shard" - Jay Hallsworth LRPS AFIAP BPE3 - Bristol Photographic Society https://photoexhib.com/wcpfex/results-2023/ompr_winners.htm Open Colour - "Call Of The Wild" - Martin Horton – Nonpareil https://photoexhib.com/wcpfex/results-2023/ocpr_winners.htm Nature - "Bittern In The Mist" - Tim Downton ARPS DPAGB – Dorchester Camera Club https://photoexhib.com/wcpfex/results-2023/napr_winners.htm
Thursday 4th April 2024 A visit from members of North West Bristol Camera Club
It was a pleasure to welcome the members of North West Bristol Camera Club to our recent meeting and it was heart-warming to witness the large turnout of the visiting members at our weekly meeting. It was wonderful to have the village hall bustling with so many individuals.
Their chairman, Neville Goodman, opened the evening with a brief description of how the evening would pan out and then handed the baton over to their first speaker Jonathan Bolgar. Jonathan developed a serious interest in photography after he retired and he decided to show us several of his favourite photographs – they included stunning monochrome and colour architectural shots, captivating images taken at Bristol Pride and delightful holiday shots from Romania and Uzbekistan. Next up was John Taylor and the topic of his talk was Street Art/Graffiti. John shared vibrant images from Regents Canal, Brick Lane and Stokes Croft and he demonstrated that he has a ‘keen eye’ by spotting small concrete posts and an ATM adorned with artwork. Ruth Spencer revealed how she improves her photography skills by using her annual subscriptions to WWT Slimbridge, Westonbirt Arboretum, and the Wild Place Project. Her collection of images showcased not only shots of birds, trees and lynx, but also experimental techniques like intentional camera movement.
Mike Dales presented three audio visuals. The first one provided a humorous take on how mobile phones have completely taken over our lives. The second was ‘Blue Jeans’ and the third one featured his captivating ‘Favourite People’ images, which even included tattoo artists engrossed in their work. Ray Cottrell showcased his knowledge and passion for British Orchids by presenting us with images of ten different species. He photographed their natural habitat in places such as the Dorset Coast, Lindisfarne and The Elan Valley and his close-up shots captured the intricate details of these beautiful plants. Neville Goodman wrapped up the evening by displaying some of his own photos and then contrasting them with images generated entirely by artificial intelligence. The realness of these images was quite unsettling, but on looking at some of them closely they were a little distorted.
Our thanks go out to Jonathan, John, Ruth, Mike, Ray and Neville for a most entertaining evening.
Thursday 28th March Competition Night judged by Sandie Cox ARPS DPAGB EFIAP write up by Stephen White
Sandie Cox ARPS DPAGB EFIAP was the judge for this evening. Sandie has previously visited as both a speaker with her wonderful wildlife images, and as a judge.
The print competition was open to all subjects and consisted of 28 images. All images had been carefully inspected and constructive compositional criticism given to each. Four images were commended and two highly commended.
The projected digital image competition had the set subject of the animal kingdom. This was hard fought between the 40 images, ranging from bees to rhinoceros. Again, detailed feedback was given to all images, with very useful tips for photographing animals. Two images were commended and four were highly commended.
The print winners were
- RJ – David Gamm
- The Cobb, First Light – Graham Robinson
- Walnuts – Joan Scott
The PDI winners were
- Red Deer, Glenn Etive – Kay Welsh
- Safe with mum – Brian Wetton
- Togetherness – Barbara Gibbons
Thursday 21st March - CHAIRMAN'S EVENING – DIANA BAKER
Once a year, the chairperson has the freedom to choose the agenda for the meeting called ‘Chairman’s Evening’. He/she can invite specific members to showcase their photographs, request others to give a talk, or personally entertain the members present. Diana Baker, our current chairperson, wisely chose the third option making it both a most entertaining and informative evening.
Having to undertake such a daunting task Diana’s first obstacle was to decide the subject of her presentation. After contemplating different choices such as ‘dogs I’ve walked’, ‘macro photography’, and ‘flowers I’ve seen’, she settled on ’12 months of travel near and far’.
Her first port of call was The Netherlands, where she shared captivating photos of the lively cities of Amsterdam and Lieden. However, her visit to The Keukenhof Gardens provided a striking contrast, as she captured breathtaking images of endless fields of flowers in a multitude of vibrant colours. Visiting relatives in Portugal gave Diana the opportunity to take cityscapes of Lisbon and she demonstrated how narrow and steep the streets in the city are with an image of a tram sandwiched between the buildings. The seascapes taken at Cascais and Guincho beaches showed how the calmness of the sea can suddenly become quite wild. Much closer to home on local walks and days out Diana took pleasure in admiring and photographing sunflowers as they stood tall following the sun’s path, beautiful reflections of the Autumnal coloured trees on the lakes at Stourhead and the horses and hounds parading through Thornbury on Boxing Day. Whilst on a ‘street photography’ workshop in London Diana captured some incredibly unique black and white as well as colourful images of our capital city.
With the tea break over, Diana then ‘took us’ to New Zealand where she spent four weeks exploring both the North and South Islands. From the Sky Tower viewing platform, Diana managed to capture amazing daytime views of Auckland city, harbour and waterfront and returning in the evening, she delighted us with stunning images of the Auckland at night. Travelling south Diana captured photos of Mount Taranaki and the vibrant graffiti-covered buildings in New Plymouth before heading off to the South Island.
Having visited Christchurch back in 1987 Diana only recognised a couple of buildings and was amazed to see how much the city had changed since the 2011 earthquake. Street art cheers up the streets whilst the city is still being rebuilt and Diana captured the feeling well in all the photographs she showed. Hiring a car Diana then toured the South Island. The roads were quiet, allowing her to enjoy the breathtaking views as she drove. She discovered charming small towns nestled in the mountains and vast stretches of untouched wilderness. Diana had the freedom to stop wherever and whenever she pleased, capturing stunning photographs of snowcapped mountains, unique buildings, and even remnants of old goldmining sites.
Thursday 14th March - 11th Cheltenham International Salon of Photography (2023)
Richard McCleery EFIAP, member and former chairman of Cheltenham Camera Club, had intended to visit us to present the 11th Cheltenham International Salon of Photography (2023), unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances prevented his attendance. In his absence, Linda Kirkhope AFIAP and Dave Hyett EFIAP, DPAGB, BPE2* graciously stepped in and provided us with an evening of superb entertainment.
A Salon of Photography is an event that showcases photographic work rather than being a competition. It is organized by a photographic society or camera club and consists of a set number of sections. Photographers from all over the globe are able to participate in the numerous salons held annually worldwide and by entering them they get the opportunity to receive awards, distinctions and recognition. As mentioned earlier, each salon usually has many sections and each section can have multiple awards, Gold, Silver, Bronze as well as ribbons for commended and highly commended images.
The Cheltenham Salon was judged on the ‘big screen’ where six internationally recognised judges formed the panel of selectors sharing the sections between them. They had quite a challenge in front of them, viewing 4592 images, entered by 433 photographers, from 46 countries. 1304 of the entered images were accepted into the Salon and of those 60 were awarded medals.
A selection of the accepted entries in each of the five sections were displayed in turn, with the images given awards shown at the end of their respective section. The TRAVEL section kicked off the evening, showcasing captivating Photo Travel images that captured the essence of our diverse world. From stunning landscapes to captivating portraits, this section transported us into a wide range of places including Germany, Hong Kong, India, and Great Britain, offering a glimpse into different countries and cultures. The MONOCHROME section showcased a wide array of pictures devoid of colour, each conveying the depth and texture that black and white photography can evoke. Images shown ranged from piers to staircases and various rough sports to delicate dancers. The CREATIVE section tends to be a ‘marmite’ section as it definitely shows a ‘different’ type of photography. Creative thinking and clever post processing by the authors produce some unbelievable and unique images. Whilst all the others sections have strict rules attached to them, the only rule with this section is that every part of the final product must be of the photographer’s making ie no AI! The use of in-camera movement and composites were bountiful and showcased innovative and imaginative images. The NATURE section, as you would expect, recorded all branches of natural history both animate and inanimate. Macro shots of insects and fungi were paired with safari shots of cheetahs and leopards whilst underwater images were mixed in with various birds in flight. The final section was COLOUR where images following the guidelines were judged based on their visual appeal. The variety of subjects was wide ranging and included landscapes, water sports, architecture and portraits. It was good to see such a wide assortment of images containing both bold and delicates colours. A round of applause filled the room when one of our members had an image shown in this section. The excellent audio visual was well presented and displayed an amazing variety of stunning photographs, it was most definitely a celebration of photography from around the world.
Steve White had two sensational still life images accepted in the colour section of the salon ‘Harvest Lunch’ and ‘Study in Green’ – well done Steve!
Thursday 7th March - Competition Night
Steve Hallam LRPS, the judge for this month’s club competition, had a busy evening ahead of him with 27 prints and 40 digital images to review.
Before the judging process began he thanked us for inviting him to the club and said how much he had enjoyed viewing all the entries. He said we had presented him with quite a challenge as there were numerous exceptional images to consider. Steve had obviously spent a lot of time looking at the images beforehand, as he discussed each image in detail, highlighting the features he enjoyed and offering what he believed were constructive suggestions for enhancing an image that he thought needed improvement.
Three images were commended and three were highly commended in the print section, while four images were commended and four were highly commended in the digital images category. The winning images were as follows:
PRINTS 1st place – Nigella Flower - Steve Stone 2nd place – Portrait in Infrared - Steve Varman LRPS 3rd place – A Quiet Corner - Steve Stone DIGITAL IMAGES 1st place – The last of the Roses - Diana Baker 2nd place – Sliced Beetroot - Steve Varman LRPS 3rd place – Osteospermum - Christine Ryske
Thursday 29th February 2024 - Tom Crowe Competition
Every year, Thornbury Camera Club extends an invitation to local camera clubs for a special challenge dedicated to the memory of Tom Crowe, a former chairman of their club. Participating clubs are required to submit eight entries, each captured by a different photographer. This competition is a friendly battle between clubs rather than individuals.
This year, there were four specific categories which had to be met – Landscape, Portrait, Creative, and Night, while the other four images were entered into Open categories. Peter Crane ARPS, an independent judge from Swindon, who has been a photographic judge for over eight years spoke at length and provided detailed feedback about each of the forty eight submissions, giving his own personal thoughts, comments and mark as each image was displayed.
The scores were tallied at the end of every round, revealing a leader board with each club’s score and photographer for that round, as well as a cumulative total for each club.
As it has been in other years, it was a tightly fought competition with superb images entered by each and every club. The final scores were a little disappointing for Tyndale Photography Club being placed equal forth with 140 points; the top spot was taken by North West Bristol Camera Club with 146 points.
Congratulations are due to all photographers who entered, thanks are due to those in each club who organised and pulled their folio together and acknowledgement must be given to Thornbury Camera Club for, yet again, providing another evening of entertainment.
Tyndale Photography Club images were: Landscape – The Lonely Watch - Steve Varman LRPS Open – Sweet Pea – Don Grundell Portrait – High Alert – Mike Smith Open - Prospect Place Battersea - Elizabeth Restall ARPS Creative – Sunrise at Screw City - Steve Stone Open – Ambulatory, St Germer de Fly David Brookes ARPS Night - London Double Decker Bus - Steve White Open – Dahlia– Christine Ryske Both Steve Varman LRPS and Christine Ryske received full marks for their images.
Thursday 22nd February – TABLES EVENING
Every season we organize a couple of meetings known as ‘members evenings’, where several members get the opportunity to showcase their photographs. However, in a slight departure from tradition, this year we decided to spice things up slightly and introduce a new concept and call one of these meetings ‘the tables evening’ whereby certain members could generously volunteer to pass on their knowledge of specific subjects.
Arriving at North Nibley Village Hall, members found that five tables had been arranged around the room each clearly marked with the designated topic for discussion and demonstration. Eagerness filled the room, with discussions already in full swing at most tables before the meeting had been officially opened.
At the ‘Wildlife Photography’ table Chris Morgan had brought along a collection of photobooks that she had created showcasing her wildlife adventures in Africa – her conversations and creations were a definite hit.
David Brookes, at his ‘Monitors, Printing and Mounting’ table, demonstrated the art of mounting a picture and explained how to calibrate monitors and choose the right paper for high quality image printing.
At the ‘Astro Photography and Photopills’ table, Steve White demonstrated the software he uses to capture breathtaking images of the night sky and explained how, with this tool, he plans his night time captures.
Don Grundell at the ‘Cameras and Lens’ table shared his newfound passion for capturing images with a 70-year-old large format film camera, demonstrating the traditional way of taking photos in the past.
Most members find that their images need ‘touching up’ before entering them into competition and Steve Stone gave a walk through of how this can be done at the ‘Photoshop Demonstration’ table.
Many thanks to the five individuals who made the evening such a success, the evening flew by and I am sure that a similar event will be included in the programme for the 2024-2025 season.
THURSDAY 15th FEBRUARY FOLIO FIVE COMPETITION - judged by PETER WEAVER LRPS CPAGB APAGB
Peter Weaver LRPS CPAGB APAGB, an experienced photographer, speaker, and judge, is well-known to the members of Tyndale Photography Club as he has made numerous visits in the past, and this month he was invited to judge our annual ‘Folio Five’ competition.
As the title suggests to participate in this competition, you are required to submit a set of five digital images that share a common theme, additionally, a sixth image must be generated that presents the five individual images as a panel.
Before commenting on each panel Peter explained that he was looking to see that each of the individual images sat well as a panel and that they flowed well together, they did not necessarily have to do well as a stand alone image. He was pleased to say that the standard of all the entries was very good and that he had very much enjoyed judging them. He then proceeded to display the entered panels, presenting each picture from the folio individually before showcasing all the images as a panel. Peter provided feedback on each image and finally shared his thoughts on how the five images looked together as a panel.
There was a good variety of subjects throughout the 17 panels entered including portraits, nature and industrial images.
The winning panels were : First Place – Meanderings of a Ladybird – Barbara Gibbons Second Place – The Singer Sewing Machine – Steve Stone Third Place – Spring Flowers – Brian Wetton
Thursday 8th February Jack Boskett - 'From Railways to Royalty'
Jack Boskett, multi award winning photographer, had been booked to give his talk ‘Railways to Royalty’ to Tyndale Photography Club back in October 2023. However, due to Jack contracting Covid the presentation had to be postponed – I can now say it was well worth the four month wait – WOW what an evening!
Jack a lifelong resident of Tewkesbury, began the evening by showing photographs of his home town ‘under water’. With his drone he demonstrated how the majestic Abbey stands proud and remains unaffected by the floods and with his hand held camera he captured street scenes showing how deep the water actually was.
Jack told us he has two passions – railways and photography – both having been in his blood from a very early age. In fact, as a five year old he was taking photographs of trains with his father and by his teenage years his photographs were being featured in railway magazines.
With his strong ties to Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railways and an enormous amount of planning and preparation, Jack showed a video of how he managed to recreate a 1930’s picture of a horse galloping alongside a steam engine, which, a couple of years ago, became a feature article in both The Times newspaper and Horse and Hound magazine.
It was in the early years of setting up his own business that Jack was given the fantastic opportunity to photograph The Royals. And from 2011 to the current day his photographs of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, King Charles III and other prominent Royals have featured in many leading newspapers. He was fortunate enough to be the only photographer allowed to watch and photograph the troops not only at their final rehearsal for the recent coronation but also in the trains and coaches taking them to London for the parade.
Jack blew us away with the incredible images he shared – monochrome railway engines, the cheese rolling at Coopers Hill, the fiery tar barrel tradition in Ottery St Mary, the vibrant Bristol balloon fiesta, the solemn lying in state of Queen Elizabeth II, the majestic coronation of King Charles III – he described each subject with such feeling, humour and detail that it felt like we were right there with him, capturing the moment when he clicked the shutter. Through Reuters his photographs have been seen worldwide and by his unwavering passion and commitment to photography, it comes as no surprise that he has been recognized with numerous awards.
Thursday 1st February Tony Gervis FRPS - 2019 – A Year of Travel and Photography
At the beginning of his talk Tony described himself as someone who lives a perfect life, being able to indulge in his passions for travelling and photography to the full. He made it quite clear that he takes photographs for pleasure, does very little post processing and loves every image we were about to see. During his presentation ‘2019 – A Year of Travel and Photography’ Tony shared the images he took throughout the year and told stories of the experiences he had encountered.
Motorcycle racing on Weymouth beach, picturesque Nash Point headland in the Vale of Glamorgan and street scenes in Kidderminster were included in the images taken in the United Kingdom. As he was fortunate enough to spend 26 weeks of 2019 lecturing on cruise liners, visiting 42 different countries, and 9 weeks travelling around the United States of America, the majority of the evening was ‘spent abroad’.
Giving photographic talks on cruise liners gave Tony the opportunity to disembark at every port and explore the local area. This resulted in us being ‘taken to’ an old dockyard in Barbados, able to admire numerous magnificent buildings in Saint Petersburg and ‘watch’ men at work in Cuba and Antigua.
Tony makes regular visits to the United States of America, hiring a motorhome and setting off ‘on the road’ to explore the vast landscapes which provide panoramic backdrops for his West American photography. For 15 years he has been lucky enough to have an all access pass to the Cody Rodeo in Wyoming, allowing him to go anywhere with his camera and capture as many photos as he pleases. The pictures of rugged men being thrown off steers were breathtaking, while the joyful atmosphere at the fair was genuinely heart warming.
Other countries we ‘visited’ included Iceland, Gibraltar, Norway, Mexico, Jordan – the list is endless. Tony amazed us by sharing a whopping 692 images, which I’m pretty sure is a record for any speaker we’ve had at the club.
Thursday 25th January 2024 The Ryskes and The Wettons visit Vietnam and Cambodia
In November 2019, four members of Tyndale Photography Club, namely Brian and Christine Wetton and George and Christine Ryske, embarked on an unforgettable trip to Vietnam and Cambodia and, at a recent meeting in North Nibley Village Hall, they enthusiastically shared their photographs and incredible experience with fellow club members.
Arriving in Hanoi, North Vietnam, the weather was humid and misty but this did not stop them from taking an extraordinary trip around the city’s old town on cycle rickshaws. Whilst in Northern Vietnam, they also visited Halong Bay where some 3,000 limestone islands and outcrops rise almost vertically from the sea. Whilst sailing through these rocks on a Chinese junk, they moored up to visit the stunning Dong Thien Cung caves. After a two day stop off in Hue, Central Vietnam, they then took another internal flight to Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as the locals still insist on calling it). From this bustling, vibrant city they visited the Cu Chi tunnels and took a boat trip along the maze of rivers and swamps in the Mekong Delta to view the floating markets.
With the visit to Vietnam complete it was another flight to Phnom Penh in Cambodia where they visited the spectacular Royal Palace which serves as the royal residence of the king of Cambodia. The next item on their agenda was a very different experience, they visited prison camp S21, where they witnessed the atrocities of the Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge era. They were humbled to meet two of the survivors who courageously share their stories daily telling the outside world the truth of what went on. Another internal flight sees the four arriving in Siem Reap which has become a bustling tourist town being the main base for people visiting Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm – one of the locations for the filming of Tomb Raiders. The final organised trip of the holiday was to visit a typical Cambodian floating village located on the edge of the huge Tonle Sap Lake. The inhabitants of the village primarily rely on fishing and spend their entire lives on the water, even having floating shops and a school that includes a floating playground.
The entire talk was accompanied by photographs all four had taken and seemed to be appreciated by their fellow members and friends.
Thursday 18th January 2024 Competition judged by Rob Heslop LRPS
Although Rob Heslop LRPS has judged at Tyndale before it was over a Zoom meeting so it was good to welcome Rob to North Nibley and meet him face to face. Before settling down to the business in hand Rob, who is a member of The Forest of Dean Camera Club, explained that he knew exactly what it was like to sit and receive judge’s comments and emphasized his intention to be cautious with his words in order to avoid offending anyone during the judging process.
The Landscape Print Trophy was up for grabs in this month’s print competition, and Rob, who himself tends towards landscape photography, expressed his delight in judging all 30 amazing prints submitted. With an open subject in the projected digital images competition, Rob faced the challenge of comparing portraits, landscapes, still life, and abstracts from the 42 images entered, As he spoke about each entry he took time to explain how he had come to his decision for the mark awarded, commenting of lighting, composition and colour tones. After announcing the commended and highly commended images the final results were:
PRINTS 1st place – Rydal Mount & Gardens, Lake District – Steve Varman LRPS 2nd place – Mist in the Gap – Steve Stone 3rd place – Mist Rolling In, Talybont – Kay Welsh DIGITAL IMAGES 1st place – Pomegranate and Dates – Steve Stone 2nd place – Heritage Carrots – Steve Varman LRPS 3rd place – Light Through the Blinds – Elizabeth Restall ARPS
Thursday 11th January Kevin Pigney ARPS DPAGB ASINWP - 'Passion for Wildlife'
I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that I would ever be able to thank covid for anything – but – without covid, we would probably never be holding meetings over Zoom and without Zoom, I doubt very much that we would ever have been given the opportunity of welcoming Kevin Pigney ARPS DPAGB ASINWP to our Club, as Kevin is a wildlife photographer based in Cambridgeshire and we are a Photography Club based in Gloucestershire.
At the start of his presentation, Kevin told us what he feels is essential gear for wildlife photography and said he would walk us through the process he had taken in capturing each of the images he was going to share to us, showcasing how his style had developed over the last six years. He emphasized the importance of establishing eye contact with his subject and highlighted the need to gather sufficient information about the surroundings while maintaining a detached approach so as not to detract from the subject.
Kevin dedicates a significant amount of time to plan and set up his shoot and, as he primarily captures photographs in his local surroundings, he gets to know the habits of the wildlife and he can revisit his selected locations multiple times without too much inconvenience.
In capturing a stunning image of a winter visiting waxwing at the back of a bus station, he proved that an exotic location is not necessary. This remarkable photograph earned him a gold award from The Society of Photographers.
With very little post processing, Kevin is able to present his photographs with excellent composition, a muted and controlled colour palette and a level of clarity that is, I am sure, envied by many budding wildlife photographers.
The evening flew by and personally, I could have spent a few more hours appreciating the incredible photographs of hares, foxes, kingfishers, barn owls and woodpeckers – this list is endless.
Of all the wildlife talks we have had, this one will truly leave a lasting impression, it is guaranteed to be one of the most remarkable ones we have ever experienced.
The Wider World of Photography part II - Thursday 4th January 2024 - (prepared by Diana Baker)
In January 2023 Ashley Franklin ARPS ABPPA APAGB BPE1 showed us part I of his talk on the Wider World of Photography, taking us through the historical development of photographic styles and techniques since its invention. He returned this month to talk through more areas where photography has played a major role, as thoroughly researched and annotated as the first talk.
He began by showing us the very first aerial photograph taken in 1860 of Boston, USA, and continued through the years, including shots of the very daring men and women who took the images. We saw fascinating aerial images of rivers, deltas and lava flows, of environmental damage and decay, somehow finding beauty in it all.
Ashley took us through how photography was used powerfully in advertising (cf the Marlboro, and B&H ads). We saw how stop-motion, then xray photography, created arresting images. There followed a series of images based on astro-photography and, at the other end of the scale, micrography, looking at a range of natural subjects. Ashley touched on sports images and then landscapes, from those of Ansell Adams and subsequent photographers, both monochrome and in colour.
The second part of Ashley’s talk looked at photo art, and pretty controversial some of it was too! Supporters of such art claim the images do not always need to be in focus, nor is technique relevant: images are more of an impression than of reality, even distorted. Subjects included landscapes, urban, still life, portraits – some even downloaded from the internet and going on to be award winners!! But there were exceptions, where images were outstanding, or humorous, or showing sharp observational reporting. Ashley finished by showing us the most expensive photographic print ever sold (to my eye unremarkable) – by Andros Gursky, of Rhine II, fetching £2,745,000. Beat that, members!!
Thursday 14th December 2023 - Christmas Knockout Competition and Social
When you’re a member of Tyndale Photography Club, you can tell that Christmas is coming when you arrive at North Nibley village hall and see a tombola table filled with prizes. The main room is adorned with tables, each one neatly displaying a quiz sheet, and the front screen proudly showcases an image announcing ‘Tyndale Christmas Knockout Competition’.
At the final meeting of the year, members and their partners can come together to chat, socialise, and truly appreciate the challenging task judges face when assessing high-quality competition entries.
This year, Steve White was in charge of creating the quiz, it had various sections covering topics like photography, Christmas, sport, science & nature and food & drink. The team that emerged as winners received a box of chocolates, which they generously shared with everyone present.
Like in previous years, members were given the opportunity to submit a maximum of three images for the open knockout competition. The entered images covered a wide range of subjects including still life, landscapes, creative work, and wildlife. This varied selection made the evening truly enjoyable for everyone involved.
Images were shown in pairs and everyone voted for the one they favoured. One by one and round by round entries were eliminated until the final four were left to battle it out. George Ryske and Christine Ryske both secured third place, with George’s entry being ‘Mullein Moth Caterpillar’ and Christine’s entry being ‘Dehydrated Hydrangea’. Jenny Fryer LRPS claimed second place and a lemon sponge cake with her image ‘Old Greek’, while Kay Welsh emerged as the clear winner with her image ‘Fairy Glen’, she won an enormous chocolate cake kindly donated by Wotton Farm Shop.
A huge thank you to everyone who took part and a massive congratulations to the worthy winners.
Thursday 7th December 2023 Competition judged by Peter Crane ARPS
Peter made a visit to Tyndale Photography Club earlier this year when he gave his talk titled ‘Street Photography My Way’. During his recent visit he took on the role of a judge and despite the nasty weather conditions he travelled from Swindon to provide feedback and scores for the 28 prints and 45 digital images that were entered into the monthly competition.
Peter’s remarks and personal reflections on each image were both fair and valuable, and he hoped that his comments did not unintentionally offend any of the photographers.
Although the print competition was a set subject ‘People at Work’ there was a wide variety of subjects submitted into the digital images competition several of which were very different and Peter classed them as ‘thinking outside the box’.
The winners were:
PRINTS
1st place – No Place for Vertigo, The Shard – Steve Varman LRPS
= 2nd place – Bag Seller – David Brookes ARPS
= 2nd place – Aerial Ring Act No1 – David Gamm
DIGITAL IMAGES
1st place – Little Owl – Mike Smith
2nd place – Wainwrights Plant – Kay Welsh
3rd place – End of the Line – Graham Robinson
Thursday 30th November 2023 John Hudson ARPS DPAGB SPSA ASPS – The Quest and beyond
Despite the chilly winter evening it was good to see so many members turn up to hear John Hudson ARPS DPAGB SPSA ASPS give his talk ‘The Quest and Beyond’.
John began the evening by saying ‘if it moves – I’ll photograph it : if it doesn’t move – I’ll photograph it : if it’s in the air – I’ll photograph it : if it’s on the ground – I’ll photograph it : in fact I’ll photograph anything!’ at this point we knew we were going to see a good variety of images.
John’s interest in photography began because of his passion for birds. Having built a bird house and aviary in his garden, he purchased a camera and began to take images of birds inside them. It was clear that John has a deep love for hummingbirds and, as he shared pictures of the vibrant and iridescent creatures, he discussed the challenges he faced while trying to capture these tiny, fearless, swift birds that fly in every possible direction. John has travelled to many countries and has photographed numerous birds, frogs, bats and spiders and in Costa Rica he finally, after numerous attempts, captured a Macaw in flight.
Ballet is another of John’s passions, but capturing it through photography can be quite challenging. The main obstacles include limited access to the theatre, difficulties with lighting and backgrounds, and the speed with which the dancers move. That said, he amazed us by sharing some breathtaking photos of several ballet companies performing Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. What was even more impressive was how he captured the ballerinas in mid-flight.
The evening drew to a close with aerial photographs of English castles captured by a drone.
As far as photography is concerned it seems that John really does love to challenge himself but his determination and perseverance ultimately lead to success.
Thursday 23rd November 2023 Mike Martin AWPF EFIAP BPE1* - 'It's not what you see, it's what you make'
It has been almost four years since Mike Martin AWPF EFIAP BPE1* last visited Tyndale Photography Club, so it was good to welcome him back to North Nibley for his talk ‘It’s not what you see, it’s what you make‘.
Travelling up from Bristol, Mike began the evening by saying the images he was about to share with us contained creative portraits and his photographic projects undertaken during the covid lockdown – with the emphasis being – the final image is a reflection of your own creativity. The pandemic prevented us all from being able to go out and take photographs during the spring months of 2020 so Mike took it upon himself to sift through his vast collection of images to see how he could repurpose them. Through his post processing, Mike was able to ‘find the image within’ regardless of what ‘came out of the camera’. His approach has three basic steps, firstly he simplifies the picture by cropping, retouching and removing distractions. Secondly he adjusts the tone, contrast and exposure and thirdly reduces the colours or convert to monochrome. If these steps don’t give him exactly what he wants he then add elements from other images to achieve his desired result. As an image was projected Mike explained in great detail the thoughts and processes behind each one and by following this precise procedure, Mike successfully achieved his Associate of the Welsh Photographic Federation, the twelve prints which won him this award were displayed in the hall for us to see.
To conclude his talk, Mike provided a live Photoshop demonstration to show the steps he had taken to create a digital art image. By cropping, mirroring, changing colours and adding people, you would never have guessed what the original photograph would have been. Mike’s passion for photography made the evening enjoyable, entertaining and inspirational.
Thursday 16th November 2023 Competition - judged by Jay Hallsworth LRPS AFIAP BPE3*
With 26 prints and 40 digital images to view we knew that this month’s judge Jay Hallsworth LRPS AFIAP BPW3* was going to be busy. Jay, who has has been judging for just over one year, was paying his first visit to Tyndale Photography Club and before starting the judging he thanked us for the invite and said how much he had enjoyed viewing all the entries. He complemented and congratulated all members who had entered into the open print competition saying that it was good to see so many good quality prints. This month’s digital images were all vying for the Landscape Trophy and had to be landscape photographs taken within the British Isles, Jay commented that they were all great images of which we should be proud. Jay took his time over each image commenting on both the composition and subject matter, he hoped his feedback and comments would help not only the author but also the members present at the meeting.
The winners were:
PRINTS
1st place – Brodiaea – Brian Wetton
2nd place – Retreating Glacier – Steve White
3rd place – Seed Pototoes – Steve Varman LRPS
PDIs
1st place – Approaching Storm, Derwent Water – Steve Varman LRPS
2nd place – As the Mist Lifted – Elizabeth Restall ARPS
3rd place – Sunset on Aran Fawddwy – Steve Stone
Thursday 9th November 2023 Fiona McCowan FRPS - The Wonderful World of Photobooks
It was a pleasure to welcome Fiona McCowan to our recent meeting at North Nibley Village Hall. Accompanied by her husband, it was Fiona’s first visit to our club, so she began by introducing herself and provided an overview of how the rest of the evening would unfold.
Her photographic journey began in 2015 when she registered onto a beginners photography course, from here on in she was hooked and followed this with a Digital Photography course run by the Open University and Royal Photographic Society. She achieved her LRPS (Licentiate) in 2017 and earned her FRPS (Fellowship) in 2021.
Although living in The Cotswolds, Fiona loves being by the sea and her main interest is creating images of seascapes. However covid lockdown put paid to travelling so instead Fiona decided to attend an on-line workshop on practical book making. Having created a concertina book in just one day from images she had previously taken, her passion for creating photobooks began.
During the presentation, Fiona explained about the different types of photobooks she makes and provided examples of each one for us to examine. In addition to capturing the images featured in the books, she also creates the covers and binds them in various different ways. She occasionally uses professional books makers, but not very often, as she prefers and enjoys making her own books from scratch. Her books covered a range of topics and each image accompanied by a page of text that complemented the picture perfectly. But the pièce de résistance was the photobook with which she gained her fellowship – ‘In the Offing’ – this enchanting book showcases a collection of delicate, dreamy and threatening images of the line where the sea touches the sky.
Fiona wrapped up her presentation by distributing paper and scissors and guiding us through the creation of a ‘slit’ book – definitely a first as we don’t usually get a ‘hands on’ experience!
Thursday 2nd November 2023 - Members Evening
Circumstances beyond our control forced us to hold our first members evening of the season over Zoom and it was wonderful to see so many members attend from the comfort of their own home.
Several weeks ago members were asked to volunteer and show about ten images of what they had been up to during the summer months. There were sixteen members who were willing to show and share their images which meant we were in for a really busy evening as there were at least 160 photographs to be displayed.
All in all, it was a very entertaining and successful evening, it would take far too long to write about each individual and their images but many thanks to all who took the time to select and present their photographs.
Diana Baker – Amsterdam and its tulip fields and Westonbirt Arboretum
Bill Beere – Vintage military vehicles and re-enactors at Caldicot Castle
Christine Ryske – The Cavern Club and Mathew Street – Liverpool
George Ryske – Notable buildings in Liverpool
David Arkwell – Holiday hotspots in Jersey
Christine Morgan – Lleida and its Cathedral – Spain
Steve White – Chamonix and solo wild camping in Snowdonia National Park
David Brookes – The valleys and vineyard in Jura – France
Elizabeth Restall – Waterloo Station and Southank areas of London
Brian Wetton – Lake Garda and the surrounding area – Italy
David Gamm – Rock formations in Cornwall and garden plants
Don Grundell – Infra-red images with his recently bought camera
Barbara Gibbons – Holiday hotspots in Cornwall and Scotland
Steve Stone – Topics undertaken by Dursley Photo Group
Kay Welsh – Atmospheric images taken in bad weather
Steve Varman – an introduction to AI with a brief demonstration
Thursday 26th October 2023 Competition - judged by Steve Field LRPS AWPF EFIAP BFE2*
Two weeks ago those members who wanted to enter prints and digital images into the first club competition of the season sent their entries off to be judged and eagerly awaited competition night for the results. However a couple of days before the meeting the judge Steve Field LRPS AWPF EFIAP BFE2* explained that he wouldn’t be able to come as he had been struck down with covid. He was however, kind enough to send his marks to the committee so that the competition could still take place. It turned out to be a very different results night, Don Grundell displayed the prints and Steve Varman the projected images each reading comments, hints and suggestions the judge prepared.
What an unusual competition night – but what a pleasant competition night!
Of the 22 prints and 43 projected digital images entered the winners were:
PRINTS
1st place – Garlic – Steve Varman LRPS
2nd place – Escalator at Tottenham Court Road – Elizabeth Restall ARPS
3rd place – The King’s Tower – Graham Robinson
PDIs
1st place – Ploughing – Brian Wetton
2nd place – Great Langdale – Stephen White
3rd place – Millennium Centre Inside and Out – Barbara Gibbons
Thursday 19th October 2023 Eddy Lane ARPS DPAGB EFIAP APAGB and Pam Lane ARPS DPAGB EFIAP APAGB ‘Down the Brahmaputra, a Journey Through Assam‘
Although Eddy Lane ARPS DPAGB EFIAP APAGB visited Tyndale Photography Club last season as a judge, it has been many years since he and his wife Pam Lane ARPS DPAGB EFIAP APAGB have visited as speakers, so their recent visit was long overdue. Sadly, Pam was unwell so Eddy made the journey from Calne by himself.
Eddy and Pam are distinguished Wildlife and Travel Photographers and the last country they visited, before covid stopped travel, was India. They were fortunate enough to take a journey down the Brahmaputra River from Jorhat to Guwahati and their presentation detailed this remarkable trip.
Their adventure began in Kolkata, where we were shown images of folk going about the daily business and whether it be a family of five travelling on their scooter or the traders at the local fish market, all the images were full of colour and character. From here they moved on to Sundarban Tiger Reserve where they saw an abundance of wildlife including storks, cattle egrets, crocodiles, water hogs, deer and monkeys but sadly no tigers!
Arriving in Jorhat they boarded their floating hotel and began their expedition. During the cruise, they were given many photographic opportunities at several ‘stop offs’ en-route. In the Kamalabari Satra Monastery they were able to take photographs of the monks chanting and at Kamakhya Temple, the worshippers produced a colourful selection of images. Whilst visiting Kaziranga National Park, where, due the the land being marshy, the only mode of transport is elephant, Eddy and Pam saw and took several photographs of One Horned Rhinoceros, Indian Swamp Deer and Wild Elephants. A nearby festival gave them the chance to ‘snap away’ at the many and varied market stalls lining the streets, their images included food, clothes, jewellery and even machetes!
Their trip seemed to be a great way to experience the history, villages and folklore of this great river and their presentation gave us an evening of first-class entertainment.
Recycling, in Assam ….. Darter emerging with prey ….. The Mishing boys of Assam
Thursday 12th October 2023 - Peter Ottley LRPS CPAGB AFIAP - Why I Photograph Birds
Last time Peter Ottley LRPS CPAGB AFIAP visited us it was to judge one of our monthly competitions, so it was good to welcome him recently as a speaker. Having travelled up from Weston-super-Mare, Peter started by saying that he has been a keen photographer for many years and loves to combine his enjoyment of wildlife, travel and photography. As an ornithologist, he particularly enjoys bird photography, however when combining bird watching with taking photographs one has to be careful as they can conflict with each other and you could end up by doing neither satisfactorily.
Peter’s talk began with him displaying a list explaining what he feels makes a good photograph, the first and most important of these was that you, or the person you have taken the image for, likes what you have captured. He then demonstrated each point with various delightful images explaining what, when, where, why and how he had achieved his ‘final cut’. An example of this was an image of a humming bird – Peter owned up to the fact that in order to achieve exactly what he wanted he had to remove the bird feeder and crop the image, but the time spent doing this was well worth it as the result was stunning.
Not only did Peter delight the members present with impressive photographs of larger birds such as Red Kites in flight in Wales, Gannets at Bempton Cliffs and Bewick Swans at Slimbridge he also showed remarkable images of tiny birds nestling in reed beds, stating that the hardest part of taking photographs of tiny bird species is to first find them!
Peter’s knowledge of birds is incredible and his passion for photography really came through in his talk, he fully deserves the awards he has gained in international exhibitions and salons.
Thursday 5th October 2023 - David Rutter LRPS ARPS FRPS & RPS Distinctions
It was a pleasure to welcome David Rutter to our recent meeting at North Nibley Village Hall. As it was David’s first visit to our club, he started the evening by introducing himself and giving us a quick insight to the numerous activities he had undertaken before becoming a professional photographer. Accompanied by photographs, we learned that David had not only been in a pop group, but he was also an accomplished helicopter pilot.
The first section of David’s talk was Travel and we were soon transported to Ondo, a township in south-western Nigeria, where David gave us a good sense of place with images of local market scenes and the inhabitants of the town dressed up in their Sunday best. Much closer to home, David then showed some extremely creative images, both architectural and street, taken in and around London. Good metallic tones at Battersea Power Station, cool clean lines and curves at The British Museum and creative post processing of the ‘coffee roasters and wine bar’ at The London Gherkin are just a few of the images shown of our capital city. David was keen to share with us the twenty one images that made up his Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society panel. He captured light and shade in each of the individual abstract images which when presented as a panel to give a powerful visual impact and all of this was created with the use of only three colours. To conclude his talk David explained in detail the processes he performed to achieve the stunning portraits he decided to show us. David concluded the evening with a section called ‘Portraits’ – he kindly took us through each of the post-processing stages he had performed on the original image until he was happy with his final image, albeit standard or creative.
Thursday 28th September 2023 - U-Judge and Social Evening
With the summer having drifted away, we can now look forward to Thursday evenings at North Nibley Village Hall and what better way to start the 2023-2024 season than with a social get together and the U-Judge competition.
It is customary to start each season with this informal print competition where each member is invited to enter up to three images. Each person present is allowed to vote for what, in their opinion, were the best three of the thirty eight prints displayed around the room. With this round of voting over, the top eight images were displayed together on the print stand at the front of the room for a ‘show of hands’ vote to decide on an eventual winner. All entries were of a very high standard and included many varied subjects and this year The U Judge Trophy was awarded to Don Grundell for his winning photograph ‘RWA Landing’ – well done Don!
Other finalists were Steve White, Christine Ryske, George Ryske, Brian Wetton and Joan Scott. A light buffet supper finished off a most enjoyable evening.
CELEBRATING 75 YEARS - AUGUST 2023
Through the months of May to September, there may not be any weekly meetings for Tyndale Photography Club, but this summer the members have been busy celebrating their 75th Anniversary.
The first event held was an exhibition at Dursley Methodist Church. Alongside the 150 prints on display there was a screen show of projected images to sit and enjoy. From breathtaking landscapes and friendly portraits to still life and creative photography there was something to captivate every visitor. Photography is described as a medium for storytelling and the images displayed and shown in this exhibition excelled in conveying narratives through images. Considering the appalling weather the exhibition was an undeniable success and members of the club hope that it left a lasting impression on all those who attended. Through its various themes it showcased the immense talent and creativity of the photographers involved.
No major milestone would be complete without a meal and members with their partners gathered together to celebrate this achievement at Eastwood Park Country House. It was a delightful evening filled with chatter, laughter and excellent food. The evening commenced with a warm welcome from the club’s chairman, Diana Baker, and concluded with speeches from one of the founder members, Lionel Jones and our guest speaker, Ian Bateman FRPS MPAGB AV-AFIAP APAGB. Lionel, who has been an active member since almost day one, spoke in detail about his time with the club from joining in 1948 to the present day, he also presented Brian Wetton with the Lionel Jones Salver for winning Photographer of the Year. Ian, who used to be an active member when living in the area, also took the members present on a trip down memory lane, complementing his speech with photographs and tales of his experiences at what was then known as Cam and Dursley Camera Club.