Weekly Reports by Steve Wells
(Older reports in Archive)
3rd August 2020
This week there was no Zoom meeting so even more people from Thornbury Camera Club joined the trip out to take photographs. On this occasion 17 people made the trip to Oldbury on Severn. The weather and light were excellent with clear skies with a few clouds. For the photographer, the attractions of Oldbury are the village itself, Thornbury Sailing Club, paths along the Severn and lakes near the power station.
Simon had made arrangements with the Anchor where the group was made most welcome.
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This week there was no Zoom meeting so even more people from Thornbury Camera Club joined the trip out to take photographs. On this occasion 17 people made the trip to Oldbury on Severn. The weather and light were excellent with clear skies with a few clouds. For the photographer, the attractions of Oldbury are the village itself, Thornbury Sailing Club, paths along the Severn and lakes near the power station.
Simon had made arrangements with the Anchor where the group was made most welcome.
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27th July 2020
Despite the weather (Day 4 of the Test Match was a write-off) about a dozen members of Thornbury Camera Club found their way across the Severn to Lydney Docks. As they arrived the weather cleared and, in superb evening light, photography was both pleasant and productive.
Back on Zoom the remaining club members made a vicarious trip to Lydney through Barbara Gibbons’ photographs which included images from last year’s club trip across the water.
Barbara’s images covered the range from gardens and landscapes to the detail of macro photographs of flowers and insects. Her images were, for the most part, local (no evidence here of trips to the USA and the Far East!): Westonbirt, Slimbridge and Newark Park were all mentioned. It was the CORVID lockdown which seemed to be most productive, forcing her to reassess the contents of her own garden. Roses and close up details of flowers were the result. Having seen these images, let no-one say that the lockdown has been totally negative.
Barbara’s photographs of birds were often accompanied by film and recordings of the bird’s songs.
It was her macro photographs which will remain with me for a long time. I remember particularly the head of a blue hoverfly, and of bees visiting flowers in the Spring.
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Despite the weather (Day 4 of the Test Match was a write-off) about a dozen members of Thornbury Camera Club found their way across the Severn to Lydney Docks. As they arrived the weather cleared and, in superb evening light, photography was both pleasant and productive.
Back on Zoom the remaining club members made a vicarious trip to Lydney through Barbara Gibbons’ photographs which included images from last year’s club trip across the water.
Barbara’s images covered the range from gardens and landscapes to the detail of macro photographs of flowers and insects. Her images were, for the most part, local (no evidence here of trips to the USA and the Far East!): Westonbirt, Slimbridge and Newark Park were all mentioned. It was the CORVID lockdown which seemed to be most productive, forcing her to reassess the contents of her own garden. Roses and close up details of flowers were the result. Having seen these images, let no-one say that the lockdown has been totally negative.
Barbara’s photographs of birds were often accompanied by film and recordings of the bird’s songs.
It was her macro photographs which will remain with me for a long time. I remember particularly the head of a blue hoverfly, and of bees visiting flowers in the Spring.
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20th July 2020
Despite slowly coming out of COVID lockdown, Thornbury Camera Club once again met partly on Zoom and partly on another photographic field trip to the local towns and villages (while remaining socially distanced.) On this occasion, the travellers visited Wotton-under-Edge where they benefitted from clear light in the early evening though it disappeared fairly quickly. They then repaired to The Star where they were made very welcome.
Those who stayed at home travelled further afield courtesy of a show of images from Vince Mann. He and Janet had travelled up the East coast of the USA from Boston and across the border into Canada to Newfoundland.
The trip showed the extent to which the area is dependent on fishing and tourism. Everywhere along the coast were fishing villages with lobster as the main catch. For the tourist there was whale watching with picturesque landscapes and seascapes. The classic book “Anne of Green Gables” is based on life on Prince Edward Island. For tourists you can, of course, visit the house where Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote the book. That is, if you can get past the oriental tourists!
History and reconstruction and major themes of the tourist industry in this part of the world with reconstructed forts and costumed characters to show the way and tell the stories. This combined with eighteenth century buildings, gardens, street markets and yet more lobster made an interesting trip. Mind you, Vince did say that he does not actually like lobster!
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Despite slowly coming out of COVID lockdown, Thornbury Camera Club once again met partly on Zoom and partly on another photographic field trip to the local towns and villages (while remaining socially distanced.) On this occasion, the travellers visited Wotton-under-Edge where they benefitted from clear light in the early evening though it disappeared fairly quickly. They then repaired to The Star where they were made very welcome.
Those who stayed at home travelled further afield courtesy of a show of images from Vince Mann. He and Janet had travelled up the East coast of the USA from Boston and across the border into Canada to Newfoundland.
The trip showed the extent to which the area is dependent on fishing and tourism. Everywhere along the coast were fishing villages with lobster as the main catch. For the tourist there was whale watching with picturesque landscapes and seascapes. The classic book “Anne of Green Gables” is based on life on Prince Edward Island. For tourists you can, of course, visit the house where Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote the book. That is, if you can get past the oriental tourists!
History and reconstruction and major themes of the tourist industry in this part of the world with reconstructed forts and costumed characters to show the way and tell the stories. This combined with eighteenth century buildings, gardens, street markets and yet more lobster made an interesting trip. Mind you, Vince did say that he does not actually like lobster!
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13th July 2020
Once again, Thornbury Camera Club split between a trip to take photographs and an on-line meeting using Zoom. Sadly the weather was appalling and only three stalwarts made the trip to Clevedon. We are assured, however, that photographs were taken before the, by now traditional, trip to a hostelry for refreshment. At the time of writing we await the photographs with interest.
Meanwhile the rest of the club used Zoom to meet in the warmth and comfort of their homes. Once again, Jacob joined us from Alabama and Andy joined us from his motor home near Oakhampton. Someone said they thought they could hear the rain beating on Andy’s roof.
The theme for this evening was macro photography. That is, photographing things which are very small. This can include flowers and insects as well as smaller inanimate objects. Steve Wells gave an illustrated talk which introduced the subject, outlined the kind of equipment which is needed and the pitfalls which might be encountered. Steve illustrated his talk with images ranging from his grandfather’s army issue watch from the first world war to recent flower pictures gathered from his garden during lockdown. These included “lily of the valley”, “forget me not” and “nigella”, sometimes known as “love in a mist”.
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Once again, Thornbury Camera Club split between a trip to take photographs and an on-line meeting using Zoom. Sadly the weather was appalling and only three stalwarts made the trip to Clevedon. We are assured, however, that photographs were taken before the, by now traditional, trip to a hostelry for refreshment. At the time of writing we await the photographs with interest.
Meanwhile the rest of the club used Zoom to meet in the warmth and comfort of their homes. Once again, Jacob joined us from Alabama and Andy joined us from his motor home near Oakhampton. Someone said they thought they could hear the rain beating on Andy’s roof.
The theme for this evening was macro photography. That is, photographing things which are very small. This can include flowers and insects as well as smaller inanimate objects. Steve Wells gave an illustrated talk which introduced the subject, outlined the kind of equipment which is needed and the pitfalls which might be encountered. Steve illustrated his talk with images ranging from his grandfather’s army issue watch from the first world war to recent flower pictures gathered from his garden during lockdown. These included “lily of the valley”, “forget me not” and “nigella”, sometimes known as “love in a mist”.
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