Weekly Reports by Steve Wells
(Older reports in Archive)
2023-2024 Programme
8th April 2024
The latest of Thornbury Camera Club’s internal competitions had the theme Action or Movement. This is something of a contradiction. After all, a single image is by its very nature static and photographers will go to great lengths to get sharp images. Yet, to represent movement, the best approach may be to throw caution to the winds and to permit, even to create, blurred images.
The judge charged with the task of judging these contradictions was Steve Field (LRPS AWPF AIPF EFIAP BPE2*) from Bristol Photographic Society. Unfortunately, an accident shortly before the judging prevented Steve from being with us. However, he provided the marks and his comments which were ably presented by the Internal Competition Secretary Brian McBride.
There were forty-two projected entries. George Collett came both first and second with “Head in a Spin” and “Hand Off My Ball”. “Driving Around the Clock” gave third place to Robert England. Other photographers noted by the judge were Mike Ashfield, Rodney Crabb, Garry Holden, Simon Meeds and Eirwyn Thomas.
Twenty prints went forward for judging. In first place was Dean Packer with “Yakatabune Light Trails”. George Collett took both second and third places with “Pelican Splash Landing” and “Fighting Red-Legged Honey Creepers”. Mike Ashfield and Simon Meeds were also mentioned.
The latest of Thornbury Camera Club’s internal competitions had the theme Action or Movement. This is something of a contradiction. After all, a single image is by its very nature static and photographers will go to great lengths to get sharp images. Yet, to represent movement, the best approach may be to throw caution to the winds and to permit, even to create, blurred images.
The judge charged with the task of judging these contradictions was Steve Field (LRPS AWPF AIPF EFIAP BPE2*) from Bristol Photographic Society. Unfortunately, an accident shortly before the judging prevented Steve from being with us. However, he provided the marks and his comments which were ably presented by the Internal Competition Secretary Brian McBride.
There were forty-two projected entries. George Collett came both first and second with “Head in a Spin” and “Hand Off My Ball”. “Driving Around the Clock” gave third place to Robert England. Other photographers noted by the judge were Mike Ashfield, Rodney Crabb, Garry Holden, Simon Meeds and Eirwyn Thomas.
Twenty prints went forward for judging. In first place was Dean Packer with “Yakatabune Light Trails”. George Collett took both second and third places with “Pelican Splash Landing” and “Fighting Red-Legged Honey Creepers”. Mike Ashfield and Simon Meeds were also mentioned.
25th March 2024
This was a magazine-style evening where Thornbury Camera Club included several topics rather than welcoming a single speaker. A couple of weeks ago the club viewed the first part of an audio visual presentation from the North and East Midlands Photographic Federation. This evening opened with the second part of that presentation. This offered images including dance, wildlife and sport. For me, the photographs of butterflies were outstanding.
For most of the remainder of the evening Barry Wilson, a member of the club, talked about studio photographs. This style of photography used to be popular but is rarely seen today. This is probably because the investment in setting up a studio is prohibitive for many people - not only the cost of the equipment but the availability of the space needed. The best approach today is to hire studio space by the hour. One studio Barry has used organises days and half days where the cost of the studio and model can be shared by several photographers.
The evening closed with a presentation of images from students on the club’s recent course for beginner photographers. Many of us were thinking how long ago it was since we started out learning the craft of photography and how much more we still have to learn.
This was a magazine-style evening where Thornbury Camera Club included several topics rather than welcoming a single speaker. A couple of weeks ago the club viewed the first part of an audio visual presentation from the North and East Midlands Photographic Federation. This evening opened with the second part of that presentation. This offered images including dance, wildlife and sport. For me, the photographs of butterflies were outstanding.
For most of the remainder of the evening Barry Wilson, a member of the club, talked about studio photographs. This style of photography used to be popular but is rarely seen today. This is probably because the investment in setting up a studio is prohibitive for many people - not only the cost of the equipment but the availability of the space needed. The best approach today is to hire studio space by the hour. One studio Barry has used organises days and half days where the cost of the studio and model can be shared by several photographers.
The evening closed with a presentation of images from students on the club’s recent course for beginner photographers. Many of us were thinking how long ago it was since we started out learning the craft of photography and how much more we still have to learn.
18th March 2024
Now retired, Phil Savoie was a producer and cameraman for the BBC Natural History Unit. He is notable not only for excellent pictures but for knowing what he is talking about technically. This technical knowledge is not based on theory but on “doing the job” over several decades.
On this occasion the subject was “shutter speed”: From very fast shutter speeds to freeze the motion of an insect in flight to the use of very slow shutter speeds for artistic effect.
He started with a brief discussion of the quality of lenses and identifying the “sweet spot” – typically an aperture of about f/5.6. Smaller than this and diffraction starts to degrade the image.
For insects, Phil used very fast shutter speeds of about 1/4000 second. Even so, the wings were still blurred. He also made the point that, despite the preparations, it is often necessary to take many images, perhaps thousands, to get the result required. It was clear that Phil starts with a very clear idea of what he is looking for.
At longer shutter speeds Phil looked at creating the impression of speed in sports photography. Finally he moved to Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) where, far from freezing the action, the idea is to use blur to simplify the image.
Now retired, Phil Savoie was a producer and cameraman for the BBC Natural History Unit. He is notable not only for excellent pictures but for knowing what he is talking about technically. This technical knowledge is not based on theory but on “doing the job” over several decades.
On this occasion the subject was “shutter speed”: From very fast shutter speeds to freeze the motion of an insect in flight to the use of very slow shutter speeds for artistic effect.
He started with a brief discussion of the quality of lenses and identifying the “sweet spot” – typically an aperture of about f/5.6. Smaller than this and diffraction starts to degrade the image.
For insects, Phil used very fast shutter speeds of about 1/4000 second. Even so, the wings were still blurred. He also made the point that, despite the preparations, it is often necessary to take many images, perhaps thousands, to get the result required. It was clear that Phil starts with a very clear idea of what he is looking for.
At longer shutter speeds Phil looked at creating the impression of speed in sports photography. Finally he moved to Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) where, far from freezing the action, the idea is to use blur to simplify the image.
11th March 2024
It is important not only to take photographs, but to look at photographs. On this evening, Thornbury Camera Club looked at images from two very different sources. In the first part of the meeting, images from the North and East Midlands Photographic Federation annual exhibition were shown. We see this exhibition every year. The images are always varied and of extremely high quality. The number of “fantasy” montage images seemed to be lower than in previous years. Sports and wildlife, however, were in abundance. Particularly of note were a series of images of wheelchair sports men and women playing tennis. Not only were the images excellent but the achievements of the players were an inspiration.
In the second part of the evening, club member Rose Kemp showed some of her images. Starting with the trees and leaves of Westonbirt she moved on to close-up flower pictures taken at home. These were presented both as individual images but as panels: groups of images presented together. She went on to show her fascination with the work of Edward Weston who was working in California in the first half of the twentieth century.
It is important not only to take photographs, but to look at photographs. On this evening, Thornbury Camera Club looked at images from two very different sources. In the first part of the meeting, images from the North and East Midlands Photographic Federation annual exhibition were shown. We see this exhibition every year. The images are always varied and of extremely high quality. The number of “fantasy” montage images seemed to be lower than in previous years. Sports and wildlife, however, were in abundance. Particularly of note were a series of images of wheelchair sports men and women playing tennis. Not only were the images excellent but the achievements of the players were an inspiration.
In the second part of the evening, club member Rose Kemp showed some of her images. Starting with the trees and leaves of Westonbirt she moved on to close-up flower pictures taken at home. These were presented both as individual images but as panels: groups of images presented together. She went on to show her fascination with the work of Edward Weston who was working in California in the first half of the twentieth century.