The Club is showcasing members’ prints from the 2017-18 season at an exhibition at St Mary’s Creative Space (the former church at the top of St Mary’s Hill just behind the Castle) on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th September from 10am – 4pm.
Members of the club will be on hand during the exhibition do drop in and encourage your family and friends to visit too.
Cambrian Photography in Old Colwyn is one of the few remaining, privately owned camera shops that cater for enthusiasts and professions, selling a great range of new and used equipment.
Twice a year they have an open day, where many manufacturers set up stalls so you can try out different cameras and equipment and get advice from people in the know. They also put on a series of lectures and workshops – with free beverages including their much lauded lemon drizzle cake. For those want to make a purchase there are usually special discounts which are available only on day.
These events are usually a bit crowded and hectic, but always fun. The next one is on Saturday 24th November starting at 10 am. If you are interested, put the date in your diary and keep an eye out for booking yourself a place.
Congratulations to Richard who recently gained his Licentiateship of the Royal Photographic Society. The successful panel of ten photographs is featured below, along with Richard’s summary of the whole experience:
I joined the RPS back in November as it seems to be much more receptive to the type of photography I want to do than the typical camera club judge. As soon as I joined I decided to have a bash at their entry-level, licentiate distinction and quickly assembled a panel of ten prints from existing images for an advisory day I attended in Manchester in February while still hobbling around on crutches after fracturing my hip.
At that, a panel of RPS judges give you advice about your work in front of an audience of other members, telling you the good, the bad and the ugly. They also pick through the best of your spare images to make a panel that they feel would improve your chance of success. For an LRPS you need to demonstrate competence across a range of different techniques, show good control of the camera and produce finished prints. And although the panel does not need to have a theme running through it, it should be balanced and pleasing to the eye. One of the best bits of advice from that day was not to print any larger than A4 unless you want to show up your flaws.
I reworked my panel in line with their advice and entered myself for assessment at the RPS offices down in Bath in early April as soon as I could safely drive again. These are pretty stressful events as again the assessment is done by a panel of five RPS judges in front of a public audience. However although everyone can hear their commentary, the judges sit with their backs to the audience and their voting is done by discretely flashing green or red cards that only the coordinating judge can see.
Also only the names of those who the judges recommend for the distinction are announced to the audience with the majority of applicants appearing to wait for a suitable time before quietly slipping out of the auditorium to collect their rejected portfolios. I was one of the lucky ones but I suspect I scraped by on a majority rather a unanimous verdict, I’m busy writing another book at the moment but am already exploring some ideas for compiling a portfolio for the Associate distinction which requires 15 images around a theme. So I guess I’ll take a bash at that sometime in the next couple of years.
It’s not cheap – £130 annual membership, plus £20 for an advisory day and £65 for an assessment, but you do get the monthly RPS magazine which I think is exceptional, and discounted fees to courses and workshops. I also pay extra to participate in the North West Region Landscape Group and Contemporary group, where the only rule is your image has to be about something, not just of something.
Richard
A good review of the pro’s and con’s of home printing from Amateur Photographer.
Thanks to Peter Turner for submitting this.
From Friday 22nd June until Saturday 30th June, members of the club will exhibiting their prints of Chester at the Wesley Church Centre on St John’s Street as part of the Chester Heritage Festival.
Here’s your chance to get that close up raptor shot you’ve been looking for – and try out some of the latest gear from Panasonic.
On Friday 15th June local retailer London Camera Exchange have arranged exclusive access to Chester Cathedral’s Falconry Centre where you will be able to capture the birds of prey both in flight and in close -up while getting your hands on some of the latest Panasonic camera equipment and putting it to the test in real world conditions with the help of Joshua Cunningham from Panasonic UK and Paul Hackett who is a Panasonic Pro Photographer Ambassador who will be able to answer your questions and assist you.
The Falconry day including lunch and 3 hours exclusive access to the birds of prey is £25 and you can book either by dropping into the store in Chester or calling them on 01244 326531.
9.15am – Meet at LCE Chester store,9 Bridge Street Row, Chester, CH1 1NW
Briefing of the day’s event, handing out of camera & lenses and Q&A
9.45am – Leave store and walk to Falconry Centre
10.00-11.00am – Shooting Portraits/Static images of the birds and reptiles.
11.00-1.00pm – Varying displays where we will have control to change the direction of the birds flight to get a variety of images. You may also have the opportunity to handle and fly the birds.
1.00pm – Make our way to the Cathedral Cafe for lunch and an image Review to select your favourite picture for 12×18 print.
For those who wish to stay after lunch we will be returning to the Falconry Centre for a public showing at 14.30 followed by a short street walk as well before ending back in LCE Chester store.
In a closely contested season , Malcolm Peacock was awarded Chester Photographic Society Photographer of the Year with 480 points. The 2nd Place Photographer of the Year was Sue Champion with 479 points, and Patricia Keegan was 3rd with 467 points. Ray Groome won Print Photographer of the Year topping the sections for Nature, the President’s Transport Theme and also Monochrome. The Annual Open competition for Prints was awarded to Malcolm Peacock along with the President’s Transport Themed Digital section. Patricia Keegan was awarded Digital Photographer of the Year , topping the Annual Open and Nature Digital sections. The People Trophy for Digital images was won by Sue Champion with Keith Fitzpatrick winning the People Prints. Ron Sutton won the Digital Monochrome category and John Hoyle was awarded Beginner of the Year for his Digital Images.
Of very limited interest. Those photographers who pass through Singapore will know of the Funan Mall, a five story shopping mall devoted almost exclusively to photography. Sadly, one of our members called in there in March, only to find it had been demolished for redevelopment. He concluded that there was little point in purchasing in Singapore, when better prices can be found in the UK high street. Nowadays, only the USA seems to offer significantly better priced kit?
Cambrian Photography in Old Colwyn are one of the remaining independent camera shops in our area, and they seem to thrive. They are staffed more by enthusiasts than by salespersons. They hold occasional shows, where the main manufacturers set up stalls, and you can try out their latest kit, and get special deals on the day. They also run programmes of guest speakers during the day, for which you need to book seats.
Their next event is on Saturday 26th May. Speakers are Thomas Heaton (Landscape, and youtube video producer), Alyn Wallace (Astro, Timelapse and landscape), and Jonathan Edwards (Landscape, Commercial and product).
If nothing else, you can sample their lemon drizzle cake and coffee. All free.
