September – December 2023

Most talks are held via Zoom. Meetings, workshops and competition evenings take place at the United Reformed Church, Vicars Cross unless stated otherwise.

You do not have to be a member to attend our events. If you are not a member you are welcome to sign up to any Zoom talk via Eventbrite. As a guest we ask you to make a small contribution of £3.99 towards our costs.

You can buy your tickets for each Zoom talk directly from this page. Find the event you want and use the box underneath it. For events at the church hall – guests please pay £4 in cash only on the door.

Overview of the Programme

Tuesday 5 September

Meeting – Share Some Images

As this is our first meeting of the season, we welcome non-members to join us for the evening at no charge.

A chance for you to bring along a small portfolio of 3 images, either DPI or prints, to show to other members and discuss. There is no theme – bring any images you want to share.

We will organise into small groups on an informal basis, with each group using a laptop to display digital images.

Tuesday 12 September

Graham Dean – Why? (Including manipulation in Elements)

http://www.grahams-gallery.co.uk/

Graham is a life long photographer who has gathered many acceptances in international exhibitions as well as having solo exhibitions around Lancashire.  The first part of the talk will look at what motivates us to take images and then in the second half we will see how Graham manipulates his images using Photoshop Elements.

Tuesday 19 September

Workshop – Photoshop

A hands-on workshop for members to learn some basic skills in Photoshop.

Guests welcome £4 – Pay on the door.

This follows on from the talk by Graham Dean. We will set up about four tables in the hall and volunteer members will demonstrate different techniques that we hope you may find useful. These will include simple uses of layers which can improve your images. Layers are sometimes regarded as “complicated” but in reality they can provide a simple nondestructive way of modifying your image and we will have a short introductory talk about layers at the start. There should be time to get round all the tables and see all the techniques.

Tonight is the closing date for submission of images for the Open competition

Tuesday 26 September

Robin Whalley – Using Lightroom

Through his company Lenscraft, Robin, a landscape photographer, has an ambition,  “I want to help 1 million photographers improve their photo editing through my tutorials, YouTube videos, books, and courses. I also want to do this whilst charging realistic and affordable prices. Why should the benefits of photo editing skills be restricted to those with the deepest pockets? Knowing how to improve an image should be open to everyone who loves and is passionate about creating great photography.”

In this session Robin will guide us through Lightroom and may make available images we can use to work along with him.  The session will be recorded so we can play it back afterwards and not have to spend the two hours frantically making notes!

Tuesday 3 October

Competition – Open

With two classes, Prints and Digitally Projected Images (DPI), the competition will take place at the United Reformed Church, Vicars Cross.

Guests £4 – Pay on the door.

Tuesday 10 October

Ian Butterfield – Confessions of A Wedding Photographer

https://www.ians-studio.co.uk/

Ian has worked full-time as a professional photographer since 2003. He has focused on two key areas over the years, Theatre Photography and Travel Photography. He is the official photographer for three local theatres in the Stockport area and has photographed hundreds of shows. In 2011, Ian opened “Ian’s Studio” as a base for his training activities training and mentoring both amateur and professional photographers.

In 2020 Ian started a weekly live stream on YouTube – where he talks about different photography topics, provides feedback on viewer’s images and does live Q&A sessions.

Tuesday 17 October

Workshop – Lightroom Follow-UP

A hands-on workshop following on from Robin Whalley’s talk on 26 September.

Tonight is the closing date for submission of images for the Landscape competition

Tuesday 24 October

Ann Healey FRPS DPAGB EFIAP/s BPE4* – Capturing Magical World of Insects

annhealeyphotography.com

Multi award-winning photographer Ann Healey has spent the last 15 years gaining her distinctions and accreditations, in an attempt to achieve excellence, and is renowned for her nature photography. She had two images shortlisted in the 2021 Close-up Photographer of the Year and in 2022, was shortlisted in the British Wildlife Photography Awards.

This talk will be focused on the practical aspects of photographing insects, ie equipment settings and methods used to capture the image, through to the final result. A wide variety of insects, varying in size from less than 1mm to around 63mm in size, will be on display, to amaze and inspire.

Tuesday 31 October

Competition – Landscape

With two classes, Prints and Digitally Projected Images (DPI), the competition will take place at the United Reformed Church, Vicars Cross.

Guests £4 – Pay on the door.

Tuesday 7 November

Tracey Lund – Wildlife Photography – My Month in the Falklands

Tracey has given us two very popular talks in the last couple of seasons and returns with her newest talk.

Tracey is a Hull-based photographer who specialises in wildlife. Her love of wildlife photography began on an Africa trip in 2004 and has since taken her around the world. She loves the experience of watching and photographing wildlife, and considers it a privilege to be able to do so. She says she as not yet been everywhere, but it is on her list to do so!

Tuesday 14 November

Practical session – Macro

A hands-on practical session for members to learn some basic skills in macro photography.

Bring your macro lense if you have one and any item you would like to photograph.

Tonight is the closing date for submission of images for the Nature/ Natural History competition

Tuesday 21 November

Eddie Hyde – Motion Capture

https://eddiehydephotography.zenfolio.com/

A comprehensive Guide to the Creative Use of Shutter Speed.
The talk is an exploration of how shutter speed is critical in “telling stories” and perhaps far
more creative a tool than we all realise.
Subject matter will range from cars, bikes, planes, trains, people, wildlife, water,
landscape, astro, fireworks, ICM …… and how the choice of shutter speed for all these
subjects is very important in the final image.


Photography has captivated me since I was a young boy with a Kodak Brownie 127.
I have explored a wide variety of photographic genres and styles over the years and this
broad appreciation helps me as a Judge with the Surrey Photographic Association and as
an RPS Licentiate panel member assessing Licentiate Distinctions submissions.

Tuesday 28 November

Competition – Natural History/ Nature

With two classes, Prints and Digitally Projected Images (DPI), the competition will take place at the United Reformed Church, Vicars Cross.

Guests £4 – Pay on the door.

Tuesday 5 December

Jane Lazenby – Inspired by the Old Masters

https://www.ejlazenbyphotography.co.uk/

I’m often told I have a unique style to my work…. I edit in a very intuitive way without trying to maintain a house style or use a preset, but my background as an equine and portrait artist combined with my knowledge of art history has given me a specialist base from which to create giving my work a united and cohesive feel.

I decided to examine my artistic influences and document how, why and where they have had an effect on the images I create.

A fascinating and in depth commentary on how art has influenced my work. Contains a live edit to create a great master of your own!

Tuesday 12 December

Meeting – Christmas Social

An informal evening including food and a fun member-judged photo competition.

Tonight is the closing date for submission of images for the Monochrome competition in January

Tuesday 19 December

No meeting.