Reviews of TPC weekly meetings prepared by Christine Ryske.
Thursday 16th October 2025 Aleks Gjika EFIAP/b DPAGB BPE1* - 'Shandong China 2025'
Gloucestershire based freelance photographer Aleks Gjika EFIAP/b DPAGB BPE1* has visited Tyndale Photography Club as a speaker and judge many times and it was good to welcome him back to deliver his engaging talk and travelog ‘Shandong China 2025’.
Despite its huge size, relatively few people have had the opportunity to visit China, so Aleks explained how privileged he felt to have been invited by the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP), in cooperation with FIAP China, to be part of a group of international photographers on a trip to Jinan, the capital of the province of Shandong in East China, (and to quote Aleks) take pictures.
From the morning to night, the group were taken to a variety of places, including cities, festivals, museums and factories. The images Aleks shared alongside his commentary were a joy to behold, truly captivating, he skillfully captured the essence of the culture, history and architecture of each site the group were taken to.
Alongside the daytime images of the waterways within Jinan, Aleks skillfully captured night-time images showing how the city, with over nine million residents, is covered with high rise buildings. The variety of subjects in the presentation was immense, besides dancers and magicians in brightly coloured costumes entertaining the group in celebration to Confucius, there were images of huge bulldozers produced by robots. In contrast to these vibrant images, we were also shown people dressed in soft pastel costumes, their hair adorned with flowers. At a visit to a pottery, Aleks took stunning images of painters delicately applying paint to the ceramics, demonstrating the remarkable talent of these skilled workers.
Most of the architectural photographs taken by Aleks were in black and white. The indoor shots captured at the airport highlighted the sweeping curves of this incredible ultra-modern building, while the outdoor images of traditional Chinese buildings showcased the character of China’s heritage.
The members present had a most entertaining evening and felt they had attended a masterclass in travel photography.
Thursday 9th October 2025 Thomas Greetham - 'Pre-visualisation in monochrome photography'
Bristol based photographer, Thomas Greetham paid his first visit to Tyndale Photography Club to give his talk ‘Pre-visualisation in monochrome photography’. Thomas explained that he is entirely self-taught, it all began in his teenage years when his father gifted him a camera, this started his journey as an open-minded photographer who developed a deep love for black and white photography.
American landscape photographer Ansel Adams, known for his striking black and white images and German filmmaker and photographer Wim Wenders have both been a great influence on Thomas. He believes that by studying their work he has been able to develop his pre-visualisation skills enabling him to see his final monochrome image even before pressing the shutter button. He showed various images from Ansel, Wim and other street photographers giving us an insight into where he gets his inspiration from.
When Thomas plans an image, he focuses on the shapes rather than the colours and then pictures it in black and white. He contemplates what he can do with it in post-processing and then plans his photographic trip. When arriving at his chosen location, he takes initial shots to figure out the necessary camera settings, he feels that in doing this he can take a photograph in a split second when the perfect moment happens. He is willing to wait and bide his time until either a person or animal enters the frame just where he wants them. Images that Thomas shared with us included shots taken in London, Bristol and the Sycamore Gap.
Thomas’ work is very different to most speakers who visit our club in the fact that he only takes monochrome images. One piece of advice he gave was that even if you’ve carefully visualised and planned your shots, it’s important not to get discouraged if they don’t turn out as expected— there’s always another day to try again.
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Thursday 2nd October U-Judge Print Competition & Social
Where did those summer months go? I can hardly believe that October is here and that we are at the start of our 2025/2026 season.
The first meeting of this new season saw a good turnout of members and, as is tradition, we kicked things off with the ‘U-Judge’ print competition.
Chairperson Diana Baker opened the meeting by welcoming everyone back and then left us to browse the thirty six prints displayed around the room. Each club member had the opportunity to submit anonymously up to three images for this competition and those present at the meeting could cast their votes for what they believed to be the top three images.
As we wandered around, we could hear each other quietly muttering on how challenging it was to choose just three favorites, given the exceptional quality of all the images. The subject matter was varied and included both colour and monochrome photographs. With the first round of voting over the top seven were displayed at the front of the hall for a ‘show of hands’ vote to decide on an eventual winner. After the votes at this stage had been counted, two images ended up in a tiebreak, prompting a second ‘show of hands’ vote to break the deadlock.
Barbara Gibbons took home the U Judge Trophy for her image ‘Old Sanatorium’, while Steve Stone’s ‘Crisp Morning’ secured the runner-up position.
With the competition over, a light buffet supper and plenty of social chat finished off a most enjoyable evening.
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THURSDAY 24th April 2025 - FINALS NIGHT judged by Doug Lodge LRPS
I can hardly believe that I am writing the final report of the season—time really has flown this year!
Doug Lodge LRPS, made the trip from Frampton Cotterell, where he is a member of their local camera club, to judge our end of season competition. He kicked things off with a brief introduction about himself and then began the eagerly awaited judging process. Doug had clearly invested a considerable amount of time and effort into his judging over the past week or so as he had detailed notes for every single image. He commented that the high quality of the entries made his task particularly challenging and he had to scrutinize the images closely to search out the most subtle details before arriving at his final decision on the winner.
The end of season results are as follows: Photographer of the year – George Ryske Highest overall score for monthly PDIs – Christine Ryske Highest overall score for monthly prints – George Ryske
PDI of the Year 1st place – Aquilegia – Christine Ryske 2nd place – Incoming Tide - Don Grundell 3rd place – Floral Pattern - Lionel Jones
PDI Personal Selection Competition 1st place – Preparing to Climb - Elizabeth Restall ARPS 2nd place – Aiguille du Midi - Stephen White 3rd place – Charge - Battle of Tewksbury - George Ryske
PRINT of the Year 1st place – Sliced Carrot - Steve White 2nd place – Marjoram with Lantern – Steve White 3rd place – London Bridge Station – George Ryske
PRINT Personal Selection Competition 1st place – Plankton – Steve Varman LRPS 2nd place – Futuristic Opera House – Diana Baker 3rd place – Catching the Light – Joan Scott
I’m now going to put my notebook and pens away for a few months, I hope each and every one of you have a delightful summer and I look forward to meeting up with you all again in October for our 2025-2026 season.
THURSDAY 10th APRIL WCPF Travelling Print Exhibition
Every year the Western Counties Photographic Federation (WCPF), of which Tyndale Photography Club is a member, organizes an exhibition highlighting the work of its members. This exhibition showcases a collection of both print and digital images submitted by individual members from various clubs affiliated to the WCPF. The selection process is made by three judges who are not part of the WCPF area. The exhibition featured open colour, open monochrome and nature categories in both print and digital formats. In 2024, the event consisted of 250 printed works alongside a display of 350 digital images.
This year the travelling exhibition featured a collection of 71 prints and it gave the members Tyndale Photography Club, who could not attend the exhibition in person, to view a selection of accepted works during our latest club meeting. North Nibley village hall was set up with six tables, each laid out with a selection of prints. Members gathered in small groups to browse through the images and select their two preferred prints from each table. The varied range of subjects including portraits, landscapes, architecture and both flora and fauna, made it difficult to decide on ‘the best two’. It definitely highlighted the challenges faced by judges when deciding on their placements in club competitions. With this selection process over, the top images were displayed at the front of the room and a hand vote was then taken to determine which of these images was the one we, as a club, liked the most.
Thursday 3rd April - Competition Night Judge – Rob Heslop LRPS
For the final monthly competition of the season, Ron Heslop LRPS graciously agreed to take on the role of judge, stepping in after Nick Jenkins was unable to participate due to ill health. Rob began by expressing his gratitude to the club for the opportunity to return as a judge. He noted, however, that the experience proved to be quite challenging due to the exceptionally high quality of the entries and in particular he commented on the exceptional quality of the prints.
The print competition was an open subjects competition and consisted of 18 varied images. Rob spoke in depth about each entry and said he felt quite guilty in having to decide which of the outstanding prints were to be placed. Two images were commended and three highly commended.
The projected digital image competition had the set subject of ‘motion’ and it was remarkable to see how the title had been interpreted across the 44 entries, images ranged from fast-paced action shots to subtle, artistic blurs. Again Rob provided comprehensive feedback on each image highlighting strengths and areas for improvement. Two images were commended and two highly commended.
PRINT WINNERS First place - Next Years Nigella - Steve Stone Second place - Watcher of the Woods - Graham Robinson Third place - Marjoram with Lantern - Steve White PDI WINNERS First place - Buzzard Hunting - No stopping NOW - Mike Smith Second place - Falling Feather - Christine Ryske Third place - Fun Times - Steve Varman LRPS
THURSDAY 27th MARCH 2025 visit from Thornbury Camera Club
It is a common practice for members of camera clubs and photographic groups to exchange visits to showcase their work. In this spirit, it was a pleasure for Tyndale Photography Club to welcome six members from Thornbury Camera Club at a recent meeting.
Andy Gillingham kicked the evening off by presenting a selection of prints. As he chatted about each image he elaborated on the techniques he employed to achieve the final outcome. His collection featured studio portraits, street photography and action shots from the Berkeley Point to Point event. Matt Webb chose to show images that he loves and that mean something to him. He displayed a wide range of subjects including reptiles and spiders from the natural world, tribute acts and singers from the entertainment world and boxers and rugby players from the sporting world. Although Ann Foster wasn’t able to attend her work was presented on her behalf. Her colour and monochrome projected images did not show that she was relatively new to photography and her shots of the Red Arrows in flight were such that any photographer would be proud to claim as their own. Brian McBride presented something completely different. Feeling that he was in a rut he decided to challenge himself with astrophotography. With no special lenses or cameras he unbelievably succeeded in capturing not only the twinkling stars overhead but also the Andromeda Galaxy and various nebulae. Vince Mann decided to take us on a journey to Iceland and The United States of America. He and his wife like to wander off the tourist routes and as such Vince was able to show wonderful and different landscape views from both these countries. To bring the evening of entertainment to a close Simon Meeds shared and chatted about the images he had taken to fulfil assignments set by Thornbury club members. These included a variety of themes including food and/or drink, newspapers and ‘into the light’.
The presentation given by Andy, Matt, Ann, Brian, Vince, and Simon was varied and entertaining, it was thoroughly enjoyed and greatly appreciated by all attendees.
Thursday 20th March 2025 Nigel Walkley - My Photographic Journey from Film to Digital
During covid lockdown, Brian Wetton, who at the time was Programme Secretary, came across a photographer on Facebook. Attracted by his work, Brian contacted Nigel Walkley to see if he would be interested in giving a talk one Thursday evening to Tyndale Photography Club. Imagine Brian’s surprise when he discovered that their lives had crossed several years earlier at Rednock School, where Brian was a teacher and Nigel, who now resides near Royal Wootton Bassett and is chairman of their camera club, was a pupil.
Nigel introduced himself as an ex-local lad knowing the Dursley and Cam area very well, having spent his childhood there alongside his parents. Nigel’s father had a passion for photography and developed his own films, with Nigel being his ‘chief helper’. It was during these times spent together in the darkroom that Nigel’s fascination with photography first began. The presentation titled ‘My Photographic Journey from Film to Digital’ began with the very first photograph Nigel had ever taken – a dragster car – which at the time he was really pleased with but now knows if he took it today it would be much improved. From then on, the evening was split into several various photographic genres. Whilst he doesn’t really specialise in portraits he did manage to capture the personality and emotions of the individuals he had photographed at stage shows. His landscape images included shots taken in Weymouth, Southampton and Gloucester and his still life compositions were mainly taken in a ‘studio’ set up in his garage. Nigel has a deep passion for wildlife photography, he really enjoys photographing animals in their natural habitat and often spends hours patiently waiting for the perfect moment to snap the ideal shot. Among the delightful bird images he shared with us were blue tits, red kites, swans, kestrels and grebes, each showing his talent and dedication to wildlife photography. His commitment to ‘the waiting game’ paid off at Berkeley Deer Park, where he was able to photograph deer up close.
To wrap up the evening, Nigel shared with us clever post processing images and the 2025 wildlife calendar he had created for his family and friends.
THURSDAY 13th MARCH 12th Cheltenham International Salon of Photography (2024)
Richard McCleery EFIAP, member and former chairman of Cheltenham Camera Club, along with Linda Kirkhope AFIAP and Dave Hyett EFIAP, DPAGB, BPE2* paid a visit Tyndale Photography Club to present the 12th Cheltenham International Salon of Photography (2024).
With 406 photographers from 40 countries submitting over 4600 images the panel of six internationally recognized judges certainly faced a huge task. The sheer volume and diversity of the entries must have presented a significant challenge in the selection process, especially when awarding medals and ribbons.
The evening commenced with the TRAVEL section which presented a series of images that encapsulated the richness of our varied world. Featuring landscapes, church interiors, nightscapes and portraits this segment took us on a journey through numerous locations, including Uzbekistan, India, Dubai, Singapore, and Great Britain. The MONOCHROME section presented wide collection of images stripped of color, each illustrating the richness and texture that black and white photography can capture. The displayed photographs included scenes of waterfalls, watersports and racing as well as flowers, animals, and people. The CREATIVE section often receives mixed reactions as it showcases a distinctive, unconventional and often a ‘weird and wonderful’ style of photography. The photographers’ imaginative thinking and skillful post-processing result in extraordinary and unique images. Whilst all the others sections have strict rules attached to them, this section operates under a single principle – every element of the final work must be entirely crafted by the photographer with no involvement of AI. The NATURE section showcased various aspects of natural history covering both the living and non-living entities. Macro images of insects and fungi were mixed in with scenes of birds in flight and fighting monitor lizards. Among the diverse array of animal photographs there was also an image capturing the migration of zebras. The final section was COLOUR where images were judged based on their visual appeal. The variety of subjects was wide ranging and included still life, the Northern lights, various sports, ballet and portraits. It was good to see such a broad selection of images featuring both vibrant and subtle colour palettes.
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 and an evening of superb entertainment.
Tyndale member Kay Welsh had her image ‘Dunraven Dusk ‘ accepted in the colour section of the salon – well done Kay!
THURSDAY 6th MARCH MONTHLY COMPETITION judged by ALISTAIR RICHIE
Alistair Richie, a member of Backwell Camera Club, made a return visit to Tyndale Photography Club to judge our latest monthly competition, his previous visit was in April 2024 when he judged our final competition of the 2023-2024 season. Alistair was aware that he faced a busy evening, tasked with commenting on 19 prints and 38 digital images, so he opted to spare any introductions and immediately began the judging process. He did however, at the end of the evening, express his genuine appreciation for the opportunity to view the images that had been presented to him. He remarked on the quality of all the images, noting that, with such a high standard, the task of selecting the winning images was particularly challenging. It was clear that Alistair had taken a considerable amount of time and effort in his judging duties, as he had prepared notes for each individual image. He said he like an image to either tell a story or to be different and he felt it was absolutely allowable to deviate from conventional photographic guidelines if the photographer felt it improved the final result. He spoke at length about the composition, palette of colours, format and technical elements of every image and the methods used for mounting the print images and how these choices contributed to the overall presentation.
COMPETITION RESULTS PRINTS First Place : Floral Display – Jane Martin Second Place : London Bridge Station - George Ryske Third Place : Floating Apple - Steve White DIGITAL IMAGES First Place : Fruit Bat - Christine Morgan Second Place : Crocus - Brian Wetton Third Place : Tyndale Monument - Graham Robinson
THURSDAY 27th FEBRUARY 2025 MEMBERS EVENING - DAVID BROOKES ARPS and CHRIS MORGAN
A couple of times in each season, Tyndale Photography Club have an evening when a couple of members volunteer to give a talk. At our recent ‘members evening’, David Brookes ARPS and Chris Morgan kept us entertained for over two and a half hours with completely different presentations.
David took to the floor for the first half of the evening sharing a visual narrative of his time spent in France renovating a property that he originally bought as a holiday home but ultimately lived in for seven years. He started with a map of France, pinpointing the region where they settled and followed this with images of the inside and outside of the house as it was when purchased. We could see just how much work was needed to make it liveable and wondered how they would tackle such a daunting project. Room by room, David showed the progress made and explained how the repairs were done and the ingenious ways he did them. Rafters had to be replaced, lintels had to be constructed and installed, walls had to be either rendered or boarded over and cast iron wood burners were put in place before any decorating and final touches could be made. Each phase of the renovation was documented through a detailed series of images that captured the progress of his French home.
Following the break for tea and coffee, Chris Morgan delivered her presentation entitled ‘African Safaris’. Chris’s enthusiasm for safari adventures began during her then future husband’s time spent working in Kenya. Whilst visiting him out there, the African wilderness definitely had a massive impact on her, prompting them to make several journeys back to Africa following her husband’s return to the United Kingdom. A beautiful sunrise was the first image Chris shared saying this was the sight they woke up to each morning and enjoyed breakfast taking in the magnificent view. She then went on to describe the different types of accommodation that were available to them on a safari, with accompanying images of the lodges and tents they had occupied. Visiting Lake Nakuru, gave Chris the opportunity to capture brightly coloured images of the fuchsia pink flamingos that live there and she shared with us wonderful images of elephants, buffalos, lions, lizards, giraffes, zebras and cheetahs to name but a few, all taken within the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Serengeti National Park National Park, Kilimanjaro National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater.
Many thanks to both David and Chris for the time they spent putting together the images they shared giving the members present a most enjoyable and informative evening.
THURSDAY 13th FEBRUARY FOLIO FIVE COMPETITION judged by PETER CRANE ARPS
Two years ago, street photographer Peter Crane ARPS visited Tyndale Photography Club to present his talk ‘Street Photography My Way’ so it was good to welcome him back. This year, however, the purpose of his visit was to serve as a judge for our annual ‘Folio Five’ competition. Participants in this competition are required to submit a set of five digital images that revolve around a common theme along with a sixth image that presents these five individual images in a coordinated panel format.
Before proceeding to critique and evaluate each panel, Peter, who is a member of Highworth Camera Club, explained how much he enjoys photographic panels and can appreciate the time, effort and dedication required to create such a piece of work. His expertise in this area is highlighted by the fact he has won his club’s print panel competition for the past two years. He was pleased to say that the quality of all the panels submitted was really high, but with several outstanding entries it made the selection of an overall winner challenging.
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 a shortish feedback on each individual image but spoke at length on the overall composition of the panel, commenting on how the images sat together, the balance and arrangement of the panel and the backdrop against which the images were displayed. Working through the sixteen panels entered, Peter held seven panels back giving his final judgment after the tea/coffee break.
The final results of the 2025 Folio Five competition were:
First Place : A Touch of Red – Jenny Fryer LRPS
Second Place : Botanical Ghosts – Steve Varman LRPS
Third Place : Curves – George Ryske
Highly Commended : Arranging the Autumn Display – Christine Ryske and Birds of Prey Hunting – Mike Smith
Commended : Cruella de Vil – Christine Morgan and The Battle of Tewkesbury – Graham Robinson
Thursday 6th February 2025 Bob Bishop EFIAP/p BPE5* - 'Have Camera Will Travel'
With ‘Have Camera Will Travel’ as the title of a presentation, you might expect a collection of photographs showcasing exotic faraway places, however, this was not the case when Bob Bishop EFIAP/p BPE5* visited Tyndale Photography Club. While a brief section of his talk did transport the members present to Burma, I would say that approximately ninety five percent of the images Bob presented to us were captured within about two hundred miles of his home. This illustrates that remarkable photography can be achieved in familiar surroundings, demonstrating that stunning images do not necessarily have to originate from far-flung locations.
Bob, a member of Backwell Camera Club, began by saying he primarily uses a Fujifilm camera for most of his photography. However he is open to using his smartphone camera as nowadays modern phones can capture impressive images.
During the evening, Bob presented and discussed photographs captured in such counties as Essex, Suffolk, Kent, Somerset and Dorset. Even when the weather conditions are unkind to him, Bob seems able to identify elements within a scene that could be transformed into an impressive image through post-processing. He illustrated this by showing a series of images before, during and after editing whilst providing an explanation of the methods he used to reach his final image. Just before the onset of covid, Bob attended a workshop in Burma and in the second section of his talk, he presented a selection of photographs he had captured there. Images of trainee monks, Burmese women in a woollen mill wearing brass coils around their necks and fishermen in their boats were accompanied by Bob’s commentary telling of the culture and daily life in Burma. The street photography shots Bob took in Bristol, Wells and Wimbledon were very similar to the magazine-like images taken at a model shoot in Cheltenham; however, the photographs from the Whitby Goth event were in complete contrast to those taken at a Ragged Victorians event.
It was an enjoyable evening conveying the message to appreciate your local beauty spots, as they can also provide breathtaking images.
THURSDAY 30th JANUARY 2025 CHAIR'S EVENING - DIANA BAKER
Diana Baker, the current chairperson of the Tyndale Photography Club, gave no indication as to the agenda for the upcoming meeting referred to as ‘Chair’s Evening.’ The format and substance of this meeting is at the discretion of the chairperson and, as she did last year, Diana opted to present her own work which resulted in an evening that was most enjoyable.
Whilst showing the title image ‘Enjoyable Discoveries’ Diana elaborated on her presentation. She was going to share with us photographs she had taken by seeing familiar subjects from a new perspective or an alternative viewpoint. Splitting the first part of her talk into four distinct sections she began with ‘Local Scenes’. This segment took in not only vividly hued skies at sunrise and sunset but also powerful horses ploughing, deer at Berkeley Deer Park and muddy football players participating in a local football match. The ‘Birds’ segment featured images from a trip to Wren Birds of Prey and of a family of collared doves that had chosen to nest beneath Diana’s bedroom window. It was fascinating to see the parent doves, the small details of the nest, the presence of the eggs and the gradual growth of the tiny hatchlings as they developed and fledged. The vibrant images captured at Westonbirt stood in contrast to the infra-red and sepia photographs that Diana shared, which demonstrated her experimenting with various effects both in camera and in post-processing.
After the tea break, part two highlighted the discoveries Diana had made abroad. Whilst on a workshop in Cinque Terre – a coastal region in Italy, Diana took stunning images of the picturesque coastline and the vibrant buildings perched on the cliffs of both Manarola and Monterosso. During her visit to Valencia, Diana took both colour and monochrome images of the buildings that make up City of Arts and Sciences, an architectural complex in the city of Valencia in Spain. The buildings are striking, the cinema resembles a giant eye, while the museum resembles the skeleton of a whale. These extraordinary structures stand in sharp contrast to the images of the brightly coloured buildings found in the historic center of the city.
Many thanks to Diana for a delightful evening, the visuals were breathtaking and the commentary was informative.
Thursday 23rd January 2025 Peter Rose CPAGB/AV - 'A Variety of Audio Visuals'
It was most definitely a meeting that strayed away from the normal, yet proved to be a most enjoyable evening! Peter Rose CPAGB/AV, chairman of WAVES (Western Audio Visual Enthusiasts), made a visit to Tyndale Photography Club to present ‘A Variety of Audio Visuals’. WAVES is a small group of audio-visual enthusiasts based in the West Country, who by means of pictures, words and music produce entertaining ‘films’.
Peter began the evening by telling his audience a little about himself, saying for twenty years he had belonged to a camera club but his passion and creative journey shifted when he became inspired by audio-visuals. He said that the presentation we were about to see was not solely his creation but a compilation of contributions from both current and former members of WAVES. He hoped that we would not only be entertained but also be inspired and motivated to ‘have a go’ ourselves. He admitted that creating an AV could be challenging but when completed, would be extremely rewarding.
Three of the AVs we saw were created as part of a ‘club challenge.’ Each member was provided with an identical set of images and tasked with crafting their own individual piece. It was amazing how, despite working with the same material, each had produced something completely different. The first titled ‘Opposites’ showed images that contrasted with one another, whilst the second named ‘The Cumerbunce’ was a story told by a pop musician. The third ‘Geordie Lads’ told a tale of the adventures of three Tyneside pals. The images contained in ‘From Russia with Love’ and ‘The Monarch Islands’ each told the story of a holiday, whilst ‘3 O’clock in the Morning’ and the images accompanying the Flanders and Swan song ‘The Gas Man Cometh’ brought humour to the evening. Amongst the many informative AVs Peter shared with us ‘The Strawberry Queen’ told life story of English horticulturist Beatrix Havergal MBE and ‘White Horses’ explained the history of the eight remaining chalk horses cut away from the grassy hillsides in Wiltshire.
Before showing an AV using images Tyndale club members had sent to him, Peter presented ‘Inspired by the Landscape’ an AV which earned him his CPAGB/AV.
THURSDAY 16th JANUARY 2025 COMPETITION judged by JAY HALLSWORTH LRPS AFIAP BPE3*
For his second visit to Tyndale Photography Club as a judge, Jay Hallsworth LRPS AFIAP BPW3* had a busy night in front of him critiquing over 60 images. Being an active member of both Gloucester Camera Club and Bristol Photographic Society, Jay made the decision to take on the role of a judge as a means of giving back to those who have provided him with immense joy in his photographic pursuits. This is his third season as a judge for club competitions and he has now expanded his role to include judging international competitions and salons.
The winner of this month’s print competition would win the Landscape Print Trophy and Jay expressed his delight in judging the 21 amazing prints submitted. In the digital images competition, where the subject matter was unrestricted, Jay had the task of assessing a mixed selection of 41 entries.
It was clear that Jay had spent a considerable amount of time viewing and judging the images as he spoke in great detail about the composition and subject matter. In particular, whilst commenting on the entries into the print competition, he focused on how light influences the overall beauty of a landscape.
COMPETITION RESULTS LANDSCAPE PRINTS 1st place – Pembroke Castle - Steve Varman LRPS 2nd place – Vale of Neath - Steve Varman LRPS 3rd place – The Avenue at Dyrham - Graham Robinson DIGITAL IMAGES 1st place – The Girl in the Red Scarf - Jenny Fryer LRPS 2nd place – Floral Pattern - Lionel Jones 3rd place – Hummingbird Hawk-moth - Barbara Gibbons
Thursday 9th January 2025 Ed Cloutman EFIAP Hon. FWPF 'Bermuda Revisited' and 'What Judges Look For'
It was zero degrees outside and the weather forecast indicated that the roads could become icy, so I am sure that our speaker for the evening was pleased that he didn’t have to make the journey from St Athan in The Vale of Glamorgan to the village hall in North Nibley. Ed Cloutman EFIAP Hon. FWPF a member of the Executive Team of the Welsh Photographic Federation joined us in a Zoom meeting to deliver his presentation ‘Bermuda Revisited’ and ‘What Judges Look For’.
Ed began his talk with a Google Earth aerial image of Bermuda, explaining both its geographical and geological features and highlighting the coral reef which clearly surrounds the islands which make up the archipelago. He followed this with a collection of images captured from various locations across the island. The main reason for his many visits to this idyllic, picturesque paradise was to visit a friend who had invited him, as a horologist, to repair and survey the many clocks located on the island. Alongside images of flowers in the botanical gardens, buildings in the towns and cities, Ed shared with us not only the clocks standing tall at the top of theirs towers but also the numbered components and mechanisms he had disassembled in preparation for repair.
As well as giving talks, Ed is also a photographic judge and in the latter part of his presentation he provided an insight for members who enter into photographic competitions as to ‘What Judges Look For’. He discussed techniques such as cropping, enhancing sharpness and eliminating unnecessary or unrequired elements from an image. Through a series of his own photographs, he illustrated how these adjustments can transform ordinary photographs into competition worthy images, overcoming common mistakes that often occur.
Ed did not want a fee for his talk but asked for a donation to be made to the Polycystic Kidney Disease Charity.
Thursday 2nd January 2025 Cherry Larcombe EFIAP ARPS DPAGB BPE5* 'Creative Flower Photography'
Having had two years of Zoom meetings during the covid lockdowns it was decided that it would be a beneficial to hold a couple of Zoom meeting each season as it would enable us to invite speakers from further afield to deliver their presentation. So it was a pleasure to welcome Sussex based photographer Cherry Larcombe EFIAP ARPS DPAGB BPE5* to our first Zoom meeting of the year when she gave her talk ‘Creative Flower Photography’.
After wishing everyone a Happy New Year she began her presentation with floral images that had been taken in the outdoors. She explained how she likes to take her time on the composition of an image and will more often than not just focus on a single flower. By blurring the background it gives an impression of the surrounding environment and by using a fair amount of negative space the flower is definitely ‘the star of the show’. She demonstrated the impact of rain droplets, softness in an image and background colour by showing us delightful photographs of numerous flowers including aquilegias, bluebells, forget-me-nots and poppies.
As the evening progressed we were shown images taken indoors. These featured both live and dead flowers arranged beautifully in vases set against a white backdrop, flowers photographed underwater, pressed flowers shot on a lightbox and in-camera double exposure shots. Cherry then talked about her approach to post processing. By cropping she is able to eliminate unwanted distractions saying that very often less is more, by using various tools within Photoshop she is able to create abstract images and by blending in textures she can make her image a ‘work of art’. She now uses many of her images to make into greetings cards to send to her friends and family.
It was an excellent presentation, beautifully illustrated with Cherry’s delightful images.
Thursday 19th December Christmas Knockout and Social
As a member of the Tyndale Photography Club, you know Christmas is upon us because when you enter North Nibley village hall there is a tombola table brimming with prizes, the tables are organized with quiz sheets and the front screen prominently displays an announcement for the ‘Tyndale Christmas Knockout Competition.’ At the year’s final meeting, members and their partners have the opportunity to chat, socialise and feel what it is like to judge high-quality competition entries.
Whilst Christine and Brian Wetton co-ordinated the tombola, Don Grundell and Christine Ryske oversaw the quiz, which featured questions and images centered around Christmas themes. The victorious team was awarded a large box of chocolates.
As in previous years, members were once again allowed to submit up to three images for the open knockout competition. The diverse range of images submitted contributed to an enjoyable evening for everyone involved.
Images were presented in pairs, allowing members present to cast their votes for their preferred photograph. Through a process of elimination, entries were gradually removed one by one, round by round, until the final eight remained to compete against each other.
Quarter-finalists were :
Don Grundell – Seascape
George Ryske – St John’s Chapel, Tower of London
Kay Welsh – Grounded
Mike Smith – White Orchid
Semi-finalists were :
Jane Martin – Light Bulb Moment
Steve Varman LRPS – Amsterdam’s Red Light District
Second place :
Barbara Gibbons – Seedhead
First place :
Kay Welsh – Cwmorthin Slate Quarry
Both Kay and Barbara won cakes kindly donated by Wotton Farm Shop.
A huge thank you to all who took part and a massive congratulations to the worthy winners.
I would like to finish off my final review of 2024 by saying ‘ Merry Christmas Everyone ‘.
Thursday 12th December 2024 Competition – judged by Jonathan Bolgar
When Jonathan Bolgar, a retired structural engineer, was asked If he would like to judge one of our competitions he was more that pleased to choose the month when the set subject for the print competition was architecture – he felt this would be ‘just up his street’. Jonathan developed a serious interest in photography after he retired and last season he visited us with other members of North West Bristol Camera Club where he shared with us several of his favourite photographs, many of which were monochrome and colour architectural shots.
Before passing critique and giving out the results Jonanthan explained that likes images that attract the eye and have impact and whilst he was talking about each of the 22 prints and 40 digit images he gave his personal view on the composition, lighting and technical merit.
COMPETITION RESULTS DIGITAL IMAGES 1st place – Christine Ryske - Aquilegia 2nd place – Don Grundell - Incoming Tide 3rd place – Don Grundell - Sliced Pomegranate PRINTS 1st place – Steve Stone - Real Casino, Murcia 2nd place – Brian Wetton - Shutters & Balconies, Verona 3rd place – George Ryske – Greenwich Passage
THURSDAY 5th DECEMBER Huw Alban - 'The Emotional Landscape'
It was nice to see a good turn out on such a foul weathered evening for the latest Tyndale Photography Club meeting. It was a very different evening, our speaker, Huw Alban, had travelled up from Dorset to give his talk ‘The Emotional Landscape’ – I say talk, but Huw actually refers to it as a lecture – and yes, it was different to our normal presentations, but by no means was it boring. It was a brilliant talk, full of ideas aimed at encouraging landscape photographers, accompanied by numerous impressive images.
After thanking us for inviting him to our club, he expressed how he loves to escape the pressures of everyday life and explore the great outdoors, in particular, the beauty of the Dorset countryside and in contrast the majestic peaks of the Lake District. He likes to take time to absorb what goes on around him and to engage with his surroundings, his approach to landscape photography is influenced by mood and emotion and he strives to capture unique compositions that convey a story.
He believes that inclement weather should not deter him from taking his camera outdoors, he considers such conditions give rise to different emotions and he proved this with the black and white images he shared. Captured with a slow shutter speed and later converted to monochrome in post processing, these images now had the distractions of colour removed and highlighted the moving clouds against the ominous sky.
Huw spoke of the various techniques he uses when creating an image, including orientation and composition when out in the field and frame type in post processing. He displayed images showing each of these techniques and shared with us which emotion he felt was conveyed.
Huw regards himself as an artist, using photography as his chosen medium rather than a traditional brush. To Huw, technical perfection is secondary and he demonstrated this by his use of intentional camera movement to convey the sounds of the ropes striking against the masts of the bobbing boats anchored in Plymouth Marina – ok, it’s a distortion of reality but the images were stunning.
Huw is an excellent speaker and held the whole of his audience for the duration of the evening and he certainly believes that best art and photography comes from the heart.
THURSDAY 28th NOVEMBER David Bathard FRPS AWPF - 'My Approach to Monochrome'
On arriving at North Nibley Village Hall the members of Tyndale Photography Club were taken aback to find the chairs had been arranged in quite a different way to normal and the projector and pull down screen were nowhere to be seen. The reason for this was that David Bathard FRPS AWPF, our speaker for the evening, was set to deliver his presentation ‘My Approach to Monochrome in Print’. As indicated by the title, the focus of the talk would solely be on printed images.
David began with a brief introduction about himself – he has been interested in photography since 1980 and is an active member of both Norton Radstock Camera Club and Crown Monochrome Group in Bristol. In 1982 he began printing his own photographs from film and it was at this point he was completely hooked. He was fascinated by the darkroom process and the magic of watching images come to life before his very eyes, it was with these images that David started his presentation stating that in those days from two rolls of 36 exposure film, he would maybe only get six images that he was pleased with.
David’s approach to photography is that he likes to set himself a particular subject to concentrate on aiming to produce up to twenty images that will form a final panel. He demonstrated this with a twelve image panel taken at Dungeness Beach and a twenty image panel taken at Shepton Mallet Prison. Both these panels contained moody, atmospheric prints and each had a story to tell whether it be the desolation of the shingle beach or the horror of the small cells in the jail. Having made numerous visits to India, David has gathered a remarkable collection of images and from these, created several stunning panels of Indian folk going about their daily activities. ‘Seat 52’, a panel of fifteen images, shows what he could see from seat 52 on a train journey and in contrast the panel ‘Portraits of India’ featured a collection of Indian portraits highlighting the interaction between David and the subject.
To conclude this unique, enjoyable evening we were given an overview of David’s current projects, some of which were infra-red.
Thursday 21st November 2024 - Competition – judged by Bob Phelps
Just over two years ago, during a covid lockdown, Bob Phelps joined our Zoom meeting to judge the fourth open competition of the 2021-2022 season. On his recent in-person visit to North Nibley Village Hall he was tasked with judging our open print and landscape digital image competitions. He provided succinct yet clear feedback on each of the 22 prints and 30 projected images submitted, concluding his feedback with his personal thoughts on areas for potential improvement. He hoped that his thoughts on composition, lighting, post processing and the choice between monochrome and colour images would be useful for everyone in the club.
COMPETITION RESULTS PRINTS 1st place – George Ryske – Leather Worker 2nd place – Graham Robinson – Emerald Haze 3rd place – George Ryske – Angel of the North LANDSCAPE DIGITAL IMAGES 1st place – Jenny Fryser LRPS – Autumn Sun 2nd place – Jenny Fryer LRPS – Breaking Through 3rd place – Don Grundell - Rockhampton
Thursday 14th November Ashley Franklin ARPS APAGB BPE2* - 'From Pursuit to Passion to Profession'
The advantage of Zoom meetings is that we can invite speakers from further afield and it was in the Januarys of 2023 and 2024 that Derbyshire based Ashley Franklin ARPS APAGB BPE2* used this platform to deliver his talks ‘The Wider World of Photography’. In contrast to other speakers both these presentations only included a limited selection of his own images, Ashley’s third visit however was completely different in both respects – it was a ‘face to face’ presentation and it concentrated exclusively on him and his photographic journey, aptly titled ‘From Pursuit to Passion to Profession’.
Over forty years ago Ashley became a member of Derby City Photographic Club and he said, many times throughout the evening, that he owed so much to the club members, both past and present, for the inspiration, help, advice and ideas they had given him. Before engaging with like-minded people Ashley, like many other folk, just took photographs of his family and holiday ‘snaps’ but with the encouragement of those at club he began to explore many different photographic techniques. He was delighted with his results and photography now became a passion. The images he projected during this part of the presentation clearly demonstrated how he had now begun to think about and compose his images in a completely different way and after moving to digital cameras, along with post-processing, new creative possibilities opened up for him.
Having had the chance to exhibit several images in a local gallery and being encouraged with twelve sales in twelve weeks he decided to launch a website hoping to sell his work on-line. Although turning professional hasn’t been easy, Ashley has found that being the official photographer for Derby Cathedral Quarter and chief writer and photographer for Derbyshire Life magazine many other opportunities have arisen. In addition to the remarkable images he produced for these assignments, he also shared the photographs of beautiful Tuscan landscapes, the Pembrokeshire coast and the stunning colours at Westonbirt . Alongside calendars, book covers, home-shoots and even jigsaws Ashley has made a living from what started out as hobby.
THURSDAY 7th November 2024 - MEMBERS EVENING
Four members volunteered to show images and talk to those present at our first members’ evening of the season.
Steve White kicked things off with his ‘Welsh Wild Camping Trips’. Whenever he gets any free time he likes escaping for a peaceful weekend of hiking and camping in the Welsh hills. He plans his route, organizes his kit, drives to his planned parking spot and then treks off for, on average, a two day / fourteen mile solo walk. He guided us through four walks, one of which was in the Brecon Beacons and another in the Black Mountains. Equipped with his camera and drone, we saw the scenery from both ground and aerial perspectives. With no light pollution he was able to capture stunning images of the starry sky.
Next up, Don Grundell kept us enthralled with a project he had set himself – Cyanotype Printing. This type of printing is an early photographic process and Don talked us through the steps he took to produce the stunning cyan-blue prints he had on display. He began by preparing a UV light-sensitive solution from various chemicals, which he then applied to paper and left it to dry. Using his own home made UV lightbox, he then placed the treated paper and a photograph negative into the box. Following exposure to the UV light, the paper is developed by rinsing it in water resulting in the areas exposed to ultraviolet light turning blue.
Mike Baxter, who had organised the evening, then led a quiz displaying twenty images provided by a member of the North West Bristol Camera Club. It was to test our ability in being able to distinguish between real and AI-generated images. The quiz consisted of ten rounds; in the first nine, we viewed pairs of images depicting similar subjects and selecting either A or B, indicating whether the image was real or AI-generated. The final round required us to determine if both images in a pair were either real or AI. When the results were revealed we were left astonished at the number of incorrect guesses.
In July of this year, David Arkwell embarked on a cruise with P&O and he took delight in sharing his holiday images with us. He joined 5,799 fellow passengers aboard the Iona, a 200,000 ton, 19 deck vessel, which set sail from Southampton to Norway. The images captured within this enormous floating hotel illustrated the opulence David experienced during his holiday. David photographed the brightly coloured buildings along the cobble stoned streets in Stavanger as well as the colourful oil rig in Haugesund. He also filmed his journey on the skylift at Olden where he was able to enjoy the panoramic views of the fjord scenery followed by, when back at ground level, the impressive sight of the waterfall at Hellesylt.
Jenny Fryer LRPS presented two audiovisual pieces. The first, entitled ‘The Green Fields of France’, which told the experiences of those who served in World War I. It was a poignant, emotional audiovisual for the time of year and a piece she had put together in memory of her uncle. To lighten the mood and ensure everyone left in good spirits, her second audiovisual was entitled ‘When I Were a Lad.’ This consisted of a collection of images taken from a book of the same name, reflecting adventurous childhoods from the past. Each frame brought chuckles from the audience, with everyone, I am sure, reminiscing about their own childhood experiences in an age prior to the intervention of Health and Safety.
It was highly enjoyable and genuinely unforgettable evening.
THURSDAY 31st OCTOBER 2024 Competition – judged by John Taylor
A couple of weeks back, members who wished to submit prints and digital images for the club’s first competition of the season sent in their entries for judging and then anxiously looked forward to competition night to find out what the results were.
This months judge, John Taylor, is no stranger to the members of Tyndale Photography Club having previously judged one of our competitions, that however took place over a Zoom meeting during one of the covid lockdowns. He made an in-person visit last season alongside fellow members of the North West Bristol Camera Club when he shared a collection of vibrant Street Art and Graffiti images as part of their clubs’ presentation.
After thanking us for inviting him to judge, he stated how he hoped his comments about each image would be constructive and not critical. He said that judging was subjective and that different judges would have completely different views. Whilst judging the 22 prints and 40 digital images he was kind with his comments and shared his personal suggestions on how he might have modified the images to enhance their visual appeal.
With judging over he said he that he had truly enjoyed viewing all the entries and that there was a varied selection of really good images.
COMPETITION RESULTS PRINTS 1st place – Sliced Carrot – Steve White 2nd place – Forth Rail Bridge – Brian Wetton 3rd place – Kestrel in Flight – Graham Robinson PROJECTED DIGITAL IMAGES 1st place – A Helping Hand – Christine Ryske 2nd place – Misty Blues – Jenny Fryer LRPS 3rd place – A Stag Do – Diana Baker
Thursday 24th October Daniel Callejo Rossi - 'Wildlife Photography'
Daniel Callejo Rossi, amateur nature photographer, was born and brought up in Argentina, so it was only right that, whilst introducing himself to the members of Tyndale Photography Club, he should show beautiful panoramic images taken in and around his home town Tandil, Buenos Aires.
Daniel was invited to give his talk ‘Wildlife Photography’ after a member of the club admired his photographs on social media. We were uncertain about how the evening would pan out, as we had never hosted a speaker of this kind before, but as it happens the event proved to be ‘a hit’.
Daniel has always felt ‘in touch’ with nature saying that photography complements perfectly the two things that he loves most, nature and art. After relocating to Bristol, he began, with a small camera, to capture images of birds. With his background in illustration, he discovered that his artistic skills enhanced the way he composed his shots and colour matched his backgrounds, this soon lead him to investing in more advanced camera equipment.
Throughout the evening Daniel demonstrated that you do not have to travel too far to capture wildlife images and he particularly enjoys Eastville Park and The Avon Gorge for capturing stunning images of birds and butterflies.
He was extremely open about his approach to photography and how he achieved the beautiful images in his presentation. He also displayed the camera settings for each photo, providing a valuable insight for anyone interested in trying out Daniel’s style of photography.
Questions from the floor were aplenty and when asked about the extent of his post-processing, he acknowledged that he performed minimal adjustments and subsequently presented both before and after images to illustrate this point.
He has been shortlisted, placed and won many prestigious competitions such as British Wildlife Photography Awards, Close-up Photographer of the Year and Amateur Photographer of the Year and several of his photographs have been featured in various photographic magazines and publications.
Daniel loves working with colour and really wants his images to speak for themselves, he is clearly a perfectionist and his presentation was truly unique.
Thursday 17th October 2024 David Rutter LRPS ARPS FRPS & RPS Distinctions - ' The Work of David Rutter FRPS - Part Two'
It is almost twelve months to the day since David Rutter LRPS ARPS FRPS & RPS Distinctions paid his first visit to Tyndale Photography Club to share his talk ‘The Work of David Rutter FRPS’. We were pleased to welcome him back to our recent meeting at North Nibley Village Hall to present ‘ The Work of David Rutter FRPS – Part Two’. He began by reminding us of the numerous activities he had undertaken before becoming a professional photographer, he accompanied this with photographs of the pop group he had been part of and also images of the helicopters he has flown.
He split his presentation into distinct parts, starting with one called ‘Zombies’. On a couple of occasions David has travelled to London to capture photographs of those participating in World Zombie Day. The photos he shared revealed the dedication of the participants, showcasing their elaborate costumes and makeup that highlighted the seriousness with which this gory event is taken.
Following this David was keen to show us the fifteen images that made up his Associate of the Royal Photographic Society panel. All images depicted eggs yet through his creative imagination each one was, although of the same subject, completely unique showing raw, broken and cooked eggs and even just the eggshells.
David has a remarkable ability to capture lines and shadows in architecture, which shone through in his street photography across cities like London, Bath and Oxford. Most of the photographs he shared were in black and white, featuring silhouetted figures to add a human touch. Other subjects in David’s presentation were Politics and Portraits and he demonstrated how he captured ‘real life’ within each of the categories but by adding personal touches through post processing was able to transform the images into pieces of art.
David’s approach to photography is that it is art using his camera as the tool and he wrapped up the evening by sharing before and after photos of portraits, guiding us through the steps he took until he was happy with his final image, albeit standard or creative.
Thursday 10th October Simon Pizzey - 'A Life in Regional Photography'
What an excellent start to the season! Our first speaker was local press photographer Simon Pizzey and his outstanding presentation ‘A Life in Regional Photography’ definitely won over the members present.
He kicked things off by sharing how his love for photography started and how he always viewed being a professional photographer not as a job, but as a true privilege.
The first image shown was one of Simon as a child, which had been taken by his mother, and he followed this with several newspaper cuttings of memorable events that happened throughout his childhood years.
The section titled ‘Front Pages’ showed how powerful an image can be and Simon demonstrated how very few words were needed for major events such as the moon landing, the Ethiopian famine of the mid 1980’s, Queen Elizabeth II funeral and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Simon explained how ‘Picture Posts’ magazines had a huge influence on him and he regarded the quality of their powerful images as unparalleled.
Simon has dedicated over 30 years to his career, during which he has worked across the whole of Gloucestershire and beyond, engaging in a wide variety of assignments under tight deadlines in many different situations. A standard workday for Simon may have involved reporting on the dog swim at Cheltenham Lido, attending the pixie fairy event in the Forest of Dean, or observing hummingbirds pecking wool from visitors’ hats at The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust in Slimbridge. One of his preferred tasks was reporting on a game at Gloucester Rugby Club. To Simon, no day was a dull day.
A project that Simon is particularly fond of involves taking photographs during both the summer and winter solstices. Several of the images he presented have been featured on the front pages of not only The Stroud Citizen and The Western Daily Press but also national newspapers such as The Daily Mirror, The Telegraph and The Times.
The images in Simon’s presentation were exceptional in both quality and quantity and they demonstrated how good a photographer he is. It was a truly remarkable and interesting evening that passed by all too swiftly.
Thursday 3rd October 2024 OPENING NIGHT
The first meeting of our 2024/2025 season was very well attended and it was good to welcome a couple of visitors. As is customary, at the first meeting it was the ‘U Judge’ competition where members can, if they wish, enter up to three prints for all those present to vote on.
Chairperson Diana Baker opened the evening by welcoming us all back and then left everyone to browse the images and cast their votes – each person present was allowed to vote for what, in their opinion, were the best three of the thirty three prints displayed around the room.
All entries were of a very high standard, included many varied subjects and shared a good spread of votes. With the first round of voting over the top five were displayed at the front of the hall for a ‘show of hands’ vote to decide on an eventual winner. After the votes at this stage had been counted there was a tie between two of the images, so a second ‘show of hands’ vote was taken.
It was Bill Beere who, with his image ‘The train now arriving at platform 1 is the ….’, was handed the U Judge Trophy – well done Bill!
Other finalists were Don Grundell, Graham Robinson and Steve Stone.
With the competition over a light buffet supper and plenty of social chat finished off a most enjoyable evening.
