Calendar 24/25
The calendar can sometimes be subject to change, so please keep an eye out on this page.
Key: Holcombe Village Hall Outings and visits to other clubs Zoom
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Wednesday 18th September
Welcome & images of summer
We will introduce our new season with a rundown of the year's activities. Please bring in your images (prints or on a tablet) and from the summer break, whether on one of our many outings or anywhere else, and we will look at them and critique in groups.
Wednesday 25th September
David DuChemin - The heart of the photograph
A compelling photograph is more than visual. It's visceral. We don't only see it, we feel it. It's more than just focusing our lenses, it's also focusing the attention of those who will experience our photographs. Great gear helps, but what about the other tools? What about juxtaposition and mystery, story, mood, depth, and energy? What about the power of a great moment? And when it comes to gear, is it enough that we have all the tools, like great optics, or should we be developing a sensitivity to the unique ways in which different focal lengths amplify the feeling of a scene when used well? The Heart of the Photograph is an inspiring presentation about these very ideas, and it will change the way you make your photographs and reignite the spark it it has cooled off.
Wednesday 2nd October
Huw Alban - Place, process, print
I am often asked about how I process my images, and the simple answer is that my post-camera work is generally very light touch. I choose to put a lot of effort and time behind the camera getting the originally captured image as right as possible at the time, and in part that helps to reduce the time I need to spend behind the computer. However, it is a fact that for most of us putting our images through a software program is part of the digital process. With this talk, I walk through a number of images showing the process of taking the image and the decisions that I made behind the camera at the time (and why), and then the software steps that I took to then create the final image (and again, why I took the steps that I did).
Note: Bring in your entries in for the WCPF Salver Panel Competition
Wednesday 16th October
Masai Mara trek - Pam and Eddy Lane
Vast herds of Wildebeest crossing the Mara River on their migration, plus a wide selection of African beasts, particularly the Big Cats – Lion, Cheetah and Leopard. The migration is a time of plenty for the all the predators in the region, and the prey animals need to be very watchful. Eddie and Pam are Wildlife and Travel Photographers based in Calne, Wiltshire. They have each won International Photographic Awards and this talk will combine images from both. Pam Lane ARPS DPAGB EFIAP APAGB and Eddy Lane ARPS DPAGB EFIAP APAGB
Tuesday 5th November
Flaming Tar Barrels
The Tar Barrel tradition is hundreds of years old. The exact origins are unknown but probably started after the gunpowder plot of 1605. Various alternative reasons suggested for burning barrels have included fumigation of cottages and as a warning of the approach of the Spanish armada. The West Country has a history of torchlight processions and burning barrels and Ottery was only one of the many towns and villages following an annual tradition containing barrels which were rolled in the streets on November 5th each year. Somewhere along the line someone decided rolling was tame and carrying barrels on your shoulders was far more appealing and so the present tradition was born and now Ottery is the only town in the country carrying full sized lighted tar barrels through the streets. The procession of tableaux is also an old West Country tradition and is still a popular part of the winter months when most weekends will see a procession of brightly lit tableaux in a great many Towns and villages. November the 5th each year is the traditional day for the Tar Barrels and only changes when the 5th falls on a Sunday. The procession and fireworks are normally on the Saturday before the 5th of November.
Wednesday 6th November
David Bathard - Mono photography
In my zoom talk I will show how colours will change when converting to Mono and by using the correct filtration you will come to a better solution. Also how to tone pictures and to make a quick Infrared conversion all without any third party software and with the use of any Photoshop or Elements software. There will be many images to view and judge for yourselves how close the images are to the traditional darkroom print.
Wednesday 4th December
Marko Dutka - The song of The Severn
The Severn Estuary is beautiful, deadly, immensely neglected and ever changing. It is the UK’s most polluted river. Some may see this as a mundane landscape but there in is its fascination and there lies its real beauty. This is a complex environment with a sensitive and precarious balance between the human and the non-human. The process of revealing is archaeological, unpicking-the layers of the river and revealing these in plain view in the resulting images. Showing the palimpsests - things that are reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of their earlier form. This is both a journey along the Severn and a voyage through a Doctoral research project. An attempt to show the river in a new form.
Sunday 5th January
Snowy Dartmoor landscape photo walk
A snowy winter walk up on Dartmoor to brush away the cobwebs and get creative with our cameras. We could undertake some landscape photography of the stunning dartmoor secenry or we could look for Dartmoor ponies and cattle or enjoy close up photography of little things we find. Anything goes on this walk!
Wednesday 8th January
Mike Martin - Shooting People
This charts my journey into creative portraits, discussing how to get started, the value of collaboration with others, thoughts on composition and style, the importance of shooting for yourself. Images are accompanied with a description of the processing in an attempt to de-mystify and to encourage members of the audience to become more adventurous and have a go themselves.
Sunday 2nd February
WCPF Inter Club Championships
Our print entries to be in by 6th and digital entries by 12th January.
Presentation of the Western Counties Photographic Federation Inter Club Championships at the Corn Exchange, Exeter. Our print entries to be in by 6th and digital entries by 12th January.
Wednesday 5th February
Viveca Koh - Urban Exploration to Fine Art: A Photographic Journey
This presentation encompasses my photographic development from around 2008, which then progressed at a fairly rapid rate for a few years, following an albeit slightly slower but life-long love and practise of photography. I discovered Urban Exploration in 2009, which led to a series of visits to abandoned mental asylums and hospitals, where I spent much time taking photographs and showing these online via the photo-sharing website Flickr. It was here that I received much positive feedback and encouragement, and gradually developed my technique and post-processing style, which led to my submitting a panel of ten photographs to The Royal Photographic Society for a Licentiateship Distinction, which was attained in April 2010. I began experimenting with texture overlays in my work and gradually developed a different style of photography, which in turn led to a collection of images based around what remains when people leave a building for the last time. This became my successful Associateship panel ‘Left Behind’ with the RPS in June 2011. Over this period my work moved towards a very artistic and painterly style, which is why I often refer to what I do as Fine Art Photography. This presentation is not so much about attaining Distinctions from the RPS, although I do discuss the process during my talk, but more about how I developed in terms of style and maturity of vision during this period. There will be plenty of photographs, tales of Urban Exploration and the attendant thrills and spills which are a part of this activity, and even an image of something which may or may not be a ghost!
Wednesday 5th March
Warren Alani - Talk Sports
A focus on creating impactful images from sports photography, capturing the action in a creative way. In this presentation I will share techniques and tips that will take you from standard imagery to striking pieces of work. The presentation features stills from the worlds of athletics, para athletics, tennis, swimming, BMX and much more, captured at both local and international levels of competition, from amateur clubs to some of the biggest sporting events in the world. Alongside the ‘hero moments’, in this talk you will also witness candid sports images captured before, during and after the event, highlighting the emotion alongside the action.
Sunday 9th March
WCPF Knights Hayes Print Competition & Talk
Digital version submission deadline is 2nd February.
A free to enter Members competition held annually in March at Bovey Tracey for the magnificent Trophy to be held for one year. Open to all members of WCPF Clubs who can submit up to two mounted 50cm x 40cm prints on a subject set annually by the WCPF President, who also judges the competition.
Wednesday 9th April
Laura Pearce - Portrait, Beauty, Fashion - My Photography; My Way
A bit about me……."I was given a camera by my husband at a point in my life when the children had flown the nest and life was going nowhere. I had always had an interest in art but found that it never quite gave me the adrenaline rush I was after. And then photography found me and it became a passion. I love the way I can create images full of emotion that resonate with the viewer. My style is contemporary and modern and I like strong colours and contrast, but equally I adore the simple, classic tones of mono that always remain timeless. I am super crazy about fashion, beauty and portrait photography and I have a style that is adaptable for commercial and editorial work, either on location or in my own bijou studio.”
Wednesday 7th May
Mike Moats - The Properly Equipped Macro Photographer
Being a properly equipped macro photographer is not just about the equipment, but also equipping yourself with the how-to knowledge of macro photography. Mike will cover the most important equipment for macro photography, how to control depth of field, composition, and finding character in your subjects. Bio: Mike Moats is an international award-winning full time pro macro photographer from Michigan. He is a Tamron Image Master, Vanguard Pro, and his articles and images have been published in many photo magazines for over 15 years. He has a Macro Photo Club online with over 2,800 members, from 29 countries. Mike teaches workshops and speaks at photo conference throughout the US.
