CHELTENHAM CAMERA CLUB NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2010

ISSUE 124 1

INSIDE

Introducing the Club

Archivist

Club outings

Chedworth, Lacock and

taking a trip back to the 1940s

Members‟ Web Galleries

How to join in

Clogged nozzles? Some tips

Honorary Life Members

Welcome back to a new season with the Cheltenham Camera Club and a special welcome to those joining us for the first time. Nicki Gwynn-Jones is responsible for New

Member liaison but feel free to approach any committee member (red badges) with any questions or suggestions.

No doubt many of you will have been busy over the break taking photographs that you hope will win the odd award or two. There were several club outings over the „summer‟. Unfortunately I wasn‟t able to make any of them and it looks like I missed some great opportunities.

The new, improved website is looking good and Des Ward explains how to put your photos up on it. It is an excellent opportunity to share your images with others and also have them

critiqued, if you wish. Greyscale writes about the importance of photography in preserving the past and the

emotions photographs can invoke. I recently saw the Steve McCurry retrospective in Birmingham.

Even if the name isn‟t familiar you will recognise his image of the Afghan girl with the startling green eyes. We can all think of an iconic photo that in one single split-second of time tells a whole

story. I also saw „The Death of Steel‟, an exhibition of wonderfully atmospheric monochrome, darkroom and vintage prints documenting the history of the recently mothballed steel works at Redcar in the North East. The heart of the region has stopped beating and the photos are a poignant

legacy. How will the photographs we are taking now be viewed in 50 or 100 years time? We welcome David Elder as our new Club Archivist and offer many congratulations and

best wishes to Wendy Outram and Jean Bint on their very well deserved Honorary Life Membership of the club. You couldn‟t wish to meet two nicer and more dedicated people.

I‟d love to have contributions for the newsletter on anything relating to photography or the

club. Technical tips, anecdotes, suggestions. Please email them to me at sandraprowse@btinternet,com by 20th November.

Assignation Richard McCleery

IINN FFOOCCUUSS www.CheltenhamCameraClub.co.uk

Permission to quote from or copy any material from this newslet ter must be obtained from the editor. Opinions

expressed in this newsletter are those of the contributor only: they do not necessarily reflect those of the club or its

committee as a whole

CHELTENHAM CAMERA CLUB NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2010

ISSUE 124 2

MONOCHROME PIXELS by Greyscale

I seem to have reached a certain age. I suppose it comes to us all in the end. It is an age that is that is much venerated by the masters of that web site Friends Reunited. It is that time of life that I shall

name „The Age of Reunions‟. For me there have been two such events this summer, and I will not bore you with details, nor tell you the number of years that they represent. I attended my old school reunion on a very hot day in London in person, the other I attended in spirit, via e-mail. The second

unexpected invitation has spawned a web site for the exchange of photographs of the afternoon in question and of any other relevant photographs from our youth. Several old pictures have been

posted which I found interesting, but I went away and delved into my family album which revealed another. I was happy to contribute to the collection but had to raise a question. There were some fifty to sixty faces and I although I could call most to mind, more than half their names eluded me.

I had broken one of the rules of album construction. Always record where it was taken, when it was taken and who it is. Even if you know it is a picture of Uncle Joe and Auntie Winnie on

Southend beach in 1949, it may pass to some future generation who will be totally puzzled by it. My album contains many such puzzling photographs and if I knew more about them I am sure some puzzling questions of family history would be solved. I constructed the album nearly twenty

years ago, collecting as much material as I could before it was cast into the recycling system. I regret that I know a lot of material has disappeared over the years. I remember my grandfather‟s

plates from the 1920s of which only few fading gaslight contact prints survive and there was a picture of my other grandfather in uniform that hung in pride of place over the fireplace, a reminder, perhaps of the Great War that changed him irreversibly. I would love to have those back,

perhaps some collector still has them? The trouble with forming a personal archive is, of course, what do you put in it and what do

you leave out? The editing aspect needs careful thought if the album is to be of manageable proportions. The past teaches us that things get lost over time if we do not take care to preserve at least the important material. The subject of memory, the recall of past experiences and the things

that cause us to remember is a very interesting area, explored, for example, in the writings of Marcel Proust, which I confess to having not read but have seen the beautiful ly photographed

interpretation on film by Raoul Ruiz. A photograph can bring back memories, the problem being that we do not know which ones will be important in the future. We can all snap away and produce a vast library of personal images; we are often encouraged to take more pictures which are then

filed away in one form or another, but we don‟t know for certain which ones will be the important stimuli of memory in the future.

The same applies to all forms of photography. On March 5th 1960 Alberto Korda took a photograph of Che Guevara but had no idea of how important the image would become. I am sure every one of you can bring that photograph to mind. It has been described as the world‟s most

famous photo. It is unlikely that you or I will produce a picture of that stature, then again, you never know.

Many things can bring back memories, music for example. I have a copy of a well known album from 1968 that evokes many happy memories. One song on it seems very appropriate. I leave you with a quotation from the lyrics.

Long ago...it must be...

I have a photograph. Preserve your memories; They’re all that’s left of you.

Paul Simon

CHELTENHAM CAMERA CLUB NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2010

ISSUE 124 3

Jean with ‘Russell Crowe’ Linda Kirkhope

Introducing the Club Archivist... David Elder rejoined CCC a couple of years ago after a lengthy break from photography when work, family and other hobbies

took centre stage. Now he‟s been saving his pennies and building up his equipment again! His pride and joy is a new Sigma 10-

20mm f3.5 which he‟s been road testing during the summer. His main interests are wild life, travel, portrait, and landscape photography.

Although he hasn‟t been that active in club competitions so far, he promises he is working on it. In the past he‟s had a few

successes in travel magazine competitions. But his key aim this year is to pull together a panel for possible submission for a LRPS distinction.

He has benefitted already from the many active support groups and events which the club has organised. A trip to Skomer (“fantastic fun with brilliant guys”), the basic digital photography

course (“amazing expertise freely shared by some of the club‟s outstanding practitioners”) and a distinctions workshop (“informative, inspiring and delivered with fun”) have been some of the highlights so far.

So, how did he come to be the Club Archivist? Well, it was by accident really. He works in the information/knowledge management business anyway, but it was when he met former archivist

and club stalwart, Dave Lillywhite ARPS, whilst doing research into Dr. Edward T. Wilson (who was original co-founder of the club, then known as the Cheltenham Photographic Society) that the Archive baton came to be passed on. So far, David has co-authored a book on E.T. Wilson‟s son,

the Antarctic explorer, Dr. Edward A. Wilson and an anthology on Cheltenham which was launched at last year‟s literature festival, but he is also planning to contribute to any publications

produced to celebrate the club‟s 150th anniversary which is due in 2015. ********************************************************************************

Outing to Chedworth Roman Villa

On Saturday 24th July a small group of members, Jean Bint, Tony Parsons, Martin Kannreuter, Anthony Siddall

and I, visited NT Chedworth when the re-enactment group Legio Secundus Augustus were visiting.

Hopes were high to get shots for this season‟s set subject „Enjoying the National Trust‟ but the adults in the crowd appeared rather glum. Maybe they were too

stunned by the amputated legs lying around or the tales from a slave about hair being appropriated for use in

wigs. The kids, however, seemed to be having a great time, but these days, who isn‟t a bit uneasy about photographing them?

Anyway, we all enjoyed ourselves, learning the odd fact about Roman life along the way, but whether

any of us has got that winning shot, we‟ll have to wait and see! Linda Kirkhope

CHELTENHAM CAMERA CLUB NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2010

ISSUE 124 4

Oriel Window Ian Gee

Club visit to Lacock Abbey

Lacock Abbey, the family home of William Henry Fox Talbot, inventor of the negative positive photographic process who first

told the world about it 171 years ago, and now a National Trust property, was the location for a club visit in June.

It was a glorious, warm, sunny day and we were greeted by the manager, David Formby in the great hall where he gave us a brief history of the house which was built above the ruins of the

original abbey, partly destroyed by Henry V111; happily the photogenic cloisters remain. The curator of the museum Roger

Watson, then gave us a brief resumé of Talbot's considerable contribution to photography. One of the interesting facts to come out was that even if he had never been involved in photography,

Talbot's name would still be known today for his other important scientific work. He could not have a more fervent supporter than

Watson, an American who has previously worked at George Eastman House Museum in Rochester, NY. He has plans for running courses involving old processes.

We were then free to undertake photography in any of the rooms with an open door. Just over an hour is a short time, but long enough for many members to

obtain interesting pictures, unhindered by the general public which is not admitted to the house on Tuesdays. Afterwards we were free to spend as long as we wished in the cloisters, (where the lighting was excellent) the grounds and even the (modern) camera obscura where it was feasible to

obtain a satisfactory impression of the image of the house displayed on the wall once one's eyes became accustomed to the dark.

Lacock village, all owned by the National Trust and frequently the setting for film and TV costume dramas, provided further architectural scenes and most of us concluded our day with a visit to the museum where we admired cameras from yesteryear and a new exhibition of

photographs of the Route 66 diners and cars that remain from the 1960s USA. All told, Lacock is the complete photographic experience and combined with excellent

weather and the good company of fellow members, all enjoyed a full day's outing. It is just a pity that with the house only closed to the general public on a Tuesday, this was the only day we could have exclusive access for unhindered photography. We need to work on the NT so they will give us

access at a weekend, a couple of hours or so before their properties open to the public, which is often no earlier than noon. Even booking this visit was not straightforward, but when we finally got

there we were given a warm friendly welcome, and there was no surcharge. Ian Gee

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The photograph above shows Ian‟s take on the famous Oriel Window – the subject of the first surviving negative which was produced in 1835 by Fox Talbot. William Henry would have

approved. The National Trust is celebrating the 175th anniversary of the first negative with an

exhibition at Lacock aptly called „Celebrating the Negative‟. It runs until December. For details of

opening times etc phone 01249 730459 or go to the NT website.

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CHELTENHAM CAMERA CLUB NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2010

ISSUE 124 5

Smart Alec Richard McCleery

April Richard McCleery

Brief Encounters by Richard McCleery

I turned, alerted to the percussion of stiletto heels clattering on stone. Like a film noir flashback, her ruby red lips, slim

taut body and dark flowing hair demanded attention. My mind raced, imagining the possibilities. Then I saw her

sensuous smile and dark eyes flash from across the station and wondered if it was really like this in the 40s. Crossing the platform, I stood tall, and introduced myself. She was

charming, possibly even flattered by the attention and returned my smile. Was that my pulse drumming? Could she

sense my excitement? Was she too a little excited by the suggestion? Many questions soon answered when April agreed to a brief liaison a few minutes later.

Independence Day, Sunday 4th July, started well but just kept getting better and better. Photography is a mind

game - I love it when I see an image in my mind and a plan comes together. I found myself, just after lunchtime, at Highley Station on the Severn Valley Railway amidst their

annual 40s weekend celebration and April had just agreed to model for me. I moved her to a darker less cluttered

backdrop with side lighting. Here I worked, directing and shooting this charming and pretty woman who looked like a latter day Rita Hayworth, clad head to heel in glamorous period attire. All I had to do was ask - and it wasn‟t even my birthday! This was just one of many enjoyable moments from

our “40s Railway Adventure”. We left with brains etched by colourful encounters and an interesting collection of image files – some now on the CCC web site.

I think my travelling companions, Dave Hyett, Godfrey Bodenham, Jean Bint, Martin

Kannreuther and Linda Kirkhope and her partner all very much enjoyed our informal CCC outing to the Severn Valley Railway 40s weekend too, with several commenting they would love to do it

all again next year. It was a fun day out and a photo-fest packed with possibility. The event was far bigger than most of us imagined with lots of people re-enacting wartime Britain. Even if you don‟t consider yourself a railway enthusiast it was not hard to enjoy the event. If you do like trains then it

may just be your kind of heaven. We met up at Bewdley Station, where it was possible to park for free all day if you arrive early. Next year we thought it might

be worth paying to park at Kidderminster station, the largest and most southerly point on the Severn Valley line.

Re-enactors, ranging from semi-professional to

amateur, in all shapes, sizes and ages dressed in a variety of costumes from basic to elaborate crossed our path. The typical

style tended towards military - predominantly British, German or American, the Italian and French contingent having retreated sometime earlier (a little like the World Cup). From what I

could see the ladies had already been well supplied by the “Yanks” with most in good quality hosiery and no painted

stocking seams! Late in the day I met and shot a spiv called “Smart Alec”. He travelled with a suitcase stuffed with nylons and cheap Hershey chocolate bars and sported a fine array of

wristwatches and jewellery pinned inside his jacket. A few players were famous - I spoke with “Stanley

Baldwin”, heard “Gracie Fields” and saw “Winston Churchill”.

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ISSUE 124 6

It seems there are house rules prohibiting “Hitler” impersonators and guidelines about engaging the enemy and not pointing guns at visitors. Most players adopted anonymous stereotypical characters,

like the Gestapo twins who interrogated my camera on the train. Everyone I met was courteous, friendly and seemed to be having a terrific time. Generally most were willing to pose for

photographs after introductions and happy to chat about their costumes and day‟s experience. I have long suspected that many eccentrics and almost anyone in costume are “attention seekers” usually happy to indulge polite requests from confident photographers. There is no place for

dithering or uncertainty when trying to interact with and get the best reaction from models. I found many characters happy to “strut their stuff” for my camera during the day and most

were very co-operative when it came to taking direction and role playing. For once I would say there were many more potential models than enthusiastic photographers. The metaphor “like shooting fish in a barrel” came to mind. Despite this I quickly found several lenses peeping over

my shoulder whenever I tried to set-up a shot. Whilst some belonged to my CCC companions a good many were from passing members of the public who were reticent to engage with the players

themselves. Lola Lamour and Paul Harper sang and entertained us at Bridgnorth, the most northerly

station. We encountered singers and soldiers at the very photogenic Arley Station – indeed there

was a strong military presence everywhere. The impressive engine house at Highley Station seemed packed with activity and hosted a lunchtime shoot-out and ambush on the line, where it seems the

Americans won again!? If you like trains then the engine house is a main point of interest and a good place to visit at any time.

If you hankered after taking part there were costume vendors a t several stations to assist. I

got the impression that for some, re-creating and supplying period costume to enthusiasts was a full-time job. Whatever your bias it was a fun, family-friendly occasion catering to a pretty broad

church. Don‟t forget your ID card and ration book next year. Overall it was a long, rewarding, slightly tiring but very enjoyable CCC trip that I can

recommend. A big fish barrel indeed!

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Steve McCurry Retrospective – Birmingham Art Gallery

The exhibition in the Waterhall at Birmingham Art Gallery shows some of McCurry‟s photographs taken all around the world over the last 30 years but mainly highlighting the life of the Afghan

people in the 1980s and 90s. As well as being technically outstanding, each picture draws you in and tells a story. Some

are very powerful and moving. There is also a film showing in the gallery about how McCurry tried

to track down the green-eyed Afghan girl after 17 years to find out what had become of her.

Do go and see it if you can. Admission is free and it runs until 17th October 2010. Tel 0120 4648887 ********************************************************************************

The Death of Steel

Should you find yourself in the North East over the next few months, the exhibition is on at Artsbank in Saltburn-on-Sea, Teesside (www.artsbank.co.uk) until the end of the year. Admission free. There are also some great photo opportunities in the area.

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CHELTENHAM CAMERA CLUB NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2010

ISSUE 124 7

Digital Dabbling by Dave Hyett CPAGB AFIAP How many of you have suffered from a blocked ink-jet printer? I have the impression that many of you find the combination of the running cost and printing problems just too much trouble and

instead use commercial printing. When I recently returned from holiday, I found that the yellow nozzle was completely blocked on my Epson R2880 printer. The normal methods did no t clear the

problem so I bought “Magic Bullet” which is a fluid and syringe to clean blocked jets in Epson and Canon printers. Even this failed on first attempt but did work after a second attempt when left for 2 hours.

As Epson presented their Technology Showcase at the last DIG, we were able to ask them questions about blocked jets. Epson claimed that, if you switch off using the on/off button, the

printer can be left for 2 to 3 months without jets blocking. Mine was only left 3 weeks. Epson then added a proviso that the temperature and humidity would need to remain normal. Well it did get very hot while I was away with no windows open. Many people advise running a nozzle check at

least once a week when not using the printer though clearly Epson think this unnecessary. In future, I will compromise with a nozzle check every 2 weeks or so and keep the “Magic Bullet” handy. I

did find it useful to hear than Epson have a service centre at Ashchurch and they will service a printer for £25. The inks remain very expensive which is the biggest drawback to home printing. I have considered a continuous ink system (CIS) but was not convinced that it would pay for itself at

the volume I print. One DIG member suggested that the Club ideally needs a communal printing se rvice. This

would certainly be feasible if the Club had its own clubhouse so that a CIS printer could be used by many members thus ensuring high volume.

We are at a time when many of us will ask whether it worth upgrading to Elements 8,

Lightroom 3 or Photoshop CS5. I have had a quick look through each. Elements 8 has improved User Interface, Guides, Panoramic Exposure (a simplified HDR type feature), Face Recognition and a Recompose Tool. Lightroom 3 has Improved Input Options including video, tethered

Shooting, Lens Correction, improved Raw processing and improved publishing (particularly Flickr). CS5 has much improved selections, content aware fill, Mixer brushes (facilities like

Painter), Morphing, improved Illustrator functions, same improved Raw processing as LR3, HDR Pro and 32 or 64 bit operation. The only features of Lightroom 3 that really interests me are the lens correction and raw processing. On the other hand the improved selection with content aware fill,

mixer brushes and HDR pro are of particular interest with CS5. As I have LR2 and CS4, the improvements are more limited so I may hang on for LR4 or CS6?

In the last In Focus, I mentioned that I was having my Canon EOS 20D converted to Infra Red. Advanced Camera Services had promised delivery in 8 weeks but took 12. However, they did make a special effort to deliver just before my Canadian holiday. I have now used the IR camera for

a few weeks and I am still learning. Because you can take the photographs so readily (no need for special focussing, filters or long exposure times), I have tested the camera in several different

circumstances. My early conclusion is that, unless there is bright sunlight, then it is probably not worth taking a shot. Landscapes definitely benefit from some foliage. This is probably already well known to film IR workers so brightly lit landscapes with trees are ideal. Many other subjects which

work well in visible light are not that impressive in IR but there are some exceptions so it is well worth experimenting. I like the false colour versions of IR and I will be experimenting a lot in this

area but these will not appeal to everyone. Many of the straight mono-versions work very well for landscapes.

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CHELTENHAM CAMERA CLUB NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2010

ISSUE 124 8

The Website Galleries by Des Ward

It‟s been 9 months since the gallery section of the website opened, and for me and nearly half of the club who are members; it has been an exciting journey.

The initial idea for the gallery was to be able to show some images from club members, but I knew we would want to quickly move on from there and would have to continually keep it fresh.

I wasn‟t going to be able to develop the gallery from scratch, doing that in my spare time would probably have taken a couple of years, so in order to get the gallery off the ground quickly I needed an existing software package that I could tailor to our needs. With a bit of research I found

Gallery Server Pro, which fitted our needs, mainly by being free and having the source code freely available, but also by using technologies such as Microsoft‟s ASP.Net which run on our web host

and which I can program.

The first major problem we came across was that Gallery Server Pro required one of two databases and setups on the server which we couldn‟t use (or which we could use but at

considerably more expense), so I rewrote all the database access stuff to use XML files (actually I reused lots of code that I had written for work as I use XML files for all my storage requireme nts

for the printing application I developed), and the gallery was soon up and running. This gave us the ability to have individual logins, our own albums, watermarked images for non- logged in users, automatic generation of thumbnails and more.

So from the start we had user albums, and soon added more albums for competition results, the aggregate, GB Cup etc. However it wasn‟t very dynamic, and there was little reason for

members to keep coming back to the gallery. To get members more involved I thought that we needed to have some sort of comment or critique system, which unfortunately the original software didn‟t have. It was fairly easy for me to add the ability to the server software to add scores and

comments for images; they‟re just sections in the XML files with the image IDs, the name of the user and a number or comment. The tricky bit for me was to get the user interface right (getting the

„stars‟ to work was especially interesting), as web user interface wasn‟t something I had seriously played with before (all software is playing ;-) ), but I did get some invaluable help from my son James who has been playing with HTML as part of his sandwich course placement at JET in

Oxford. The software already had email functionality so I was able to reuse and enhance that to send an email to the author of an image or album whenever a user left a comment.

Having implemented comments and the star rating system I could now add the „New - for Critique!‟ album, which allows members to upload images and receive comments and marks from all the other members. I‟m sure that many of us find this particularly useful as we can test out what

everyone else thinks before submitting an image for judging in a competition. I think quite a few of us have put up an image and had someone else point out something distracting that we had

completely and utterly failed to notice. And of course, and naming no names, we could then happily clone out the distraction, repost and await the plaudits.

To make fuller use of the marking functionality, and of course just for fun, a monthly web

competition was started in March. You can upload your images, give marks to everybody else‟s work and at the end of the month the image with the highest average wins. You can still see all

previous winners and entries in the Club Competitions album. The competition has also just been enhanced with the support of the Gloucestershire Echo who want to showcase the club members‟ work with a page of our photographs each month, and are offering a £20 prize for their c hoice of

winning image. We will still mark images in the same way and the image with the highest average score by our members will still win but in addition, the Echo will choose the images they want

to appear in their paper, and will choose their overall winner for the £20 prize. Of course before

CHELTENHAM CAMERA CLUB NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2010

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the image is published in the paper the image author would have to agree to the image being published and submit a high resolution version of the image.

Back to the journey – we now had the facility for comments available both on individual images in members‟ albums, and also in the critiques album. Now as a fairly close-knit members

club, I‟m sure we‟re all dreadfully polite to each other, but I felt this wasn‟t really conducive to getting genuinely constructive criticism. I‟m sure that when commenting in members‟ albums, we mostly either say nice things or we say nothing it all. In the critiques album we can probably be a

bit more honest, hey - they‟ve posted their image specifically for feedback; but I‟m sure we‟re all still careful about how we put things. So I approached a number of our most estimable members

and with their support the Guru Zone was born (the name was their choice – I had suggested „Judges Corner‟ or „Ask the Experts‟ but it‟s their page, and they decided they wanted to be gurus!). The idea here is that you can post your images in the Guru Zone, and one or more of the

gurus will give a frank and detailed critique of the image. Their critiques have been uniformly very interesting, informative and enlightening. I think this is a tremendous resource for us all in trying

to improve our photography and thank the gurus for their time, effort and wisdom.

Finally, to help improve communications over the closed season there is a Members‟ Information album where information about upcoming events can be posted and a forums album

for members to discuss anything at all. There is also a „Photo a Day‟ album, and albums for club events and the studio group.

In the near future we‟re looking at adding a members only section within the main website integrated with the gallery login. I‟m thinking of enhancing the email capabilities so that you can opt in and out of following members, images and albums. This would enable you to follow a

member, image or album so that you get an email whenever a particular member posts an image or a comment, or anyone posts an image in a particular album, or when anyone adds a comment to a

specific image. Of course I‟ll let you opt out as well as in!

If you have any new or improved functionality that you would like to see, email me at gallery@cheltenhamcameraclub.co.uk , grab me at a meeting, or start up a thread in the forum - by

just adding an image and a comment.

Are you not already a member?

If you become a member you:

will have your own album where you can upload your images.

will be able to see all the other images on the site without watermarks

can enter the web competitions, add images for critique, and add your own comments and vote for images

will be able to access the members only section of the site

To find the gallery:

Go to the main club website at

cheltenhamcameraclub.co.uk

click on the Galleries link in the menu bar at the top then on the Galleries page, click on the link:

Click here to see the Cheltenham Camera Club Galleries.

(cont)

CHELTENHAM CAMERA CLUB NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2010

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Twilight Camille Silvy

To become a member:

To create your account, click on the 'Create Account' button at the top right of any page. When you

have filled in the form, an email will be sent to you to verify that you have used a valid email address. When you click on the link from this email, the gallery administrators will enable yo ur account, and you should get a final confirmation email - this step may take anything from 5

minutes to overnight, depending on whether the administrator is near a computer.

General Information and Rules

Images

Images must be jpegs, and cannot be larger than 1024 x 1024 pixels. However, as many people

will not have a screen resolution capable of showing an image which is 1024 pixels high, it is probably better to limit the height to 640 pixels.

Each page shows 12 images, so if you could limit yourself to a few pages that would be appreciated.

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Non-Digital Dabbling

If you belong to the school of thought that believes Photoshop goes too far in creating images which never existed in real life, remember that image manipulation is about as old as photography

itself. Take for example, Camille Silvy‟s 1859 photograph „Twilight‟. This comprises four separate negatives – one for the street lamp, one for the foggy background,

another for the two figures and a fourth for the wall and trees on the right hand side. Plus ça change …

Silvy was one of France‟s greatest 19th century photographers. An exhibition of his work is at the National Portrait Gallery until

October 24th.

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Press Photographer of the Year

Also in London – you might just catch the Press Photographer of

the Year exhibition of award-winning photographs on show until 19th September at the National Theatre on the South Bank. Mon to Sat 9.30am – 11pm and some Sundays. Admission free. If you

can‟t get to the exhibition you can see the winning images on www.ppy.com and a book is available.

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Honorary Life Membership

Every year you will see the club presenting many awards to the membership for their photographic achievements within the club. On very rare occasions at the club AGM you will witness the

presentation of an Honorary Life Membership. This award is given to a member who, in the committee‟s opinion, has given a long and

active service to the club or the photographic community in general. The committee take the

responsibility of selecting the recipient very seriously and have many guidelines for any selected member - hence the reason why this award is given so infrequently.

Those who attended last season‟s AGM would have witnessed not one but two new recipients of this award - Wendy Outram and Jean Bint. So may I just highlight the reasons for presentation of these prestigious awards.

Wendy Outram LRPS APAGB

Wendy, wife of Godfrey Outram, joined the club in 1976 and, after a time in Germany through work, returned to the club in 1987. Straightaway Wendy volunteered for committee duty as

Competition Secretary. This was followed by Secretary and then 10 years as Hon Club Treasurer. Wendy then had another stint as Competition Secretary and finally again as Club Secretary. During

all this period both Wendy and Godfrey have been active members of the MCPF and have sat on the Executive Committee. In 2004 – 2006 Wendy was the President of the MCPF. During this period I was very proud to receive my first photographic award from Wendy at Bromsgrove‟s

Exhibition in 2004. Both Wendy and Godfrey received recognition from the PAGB for their continuous work for the MCFP & PAGB by both being awarded an APAGB.

Since joining the club I have always found Wendy one of the most friendly and approachable members of the club and whenever I have questions or problems with photographic or club issues have found Wendy and Godfrey a fountain of knowledge. So may I just reiterate

Bernard‟s words in saying how proud we are to bestow this award to Wendy.

Jean Bint

When you first arrive at the club you will be greeted with a smile and a joyful hello from this lady (The lady with the clip board). I must admit that since I joined Cheltenham Camera Club this

person has always been there to the forefront. Jean, who many see as the Mother of the Club, has officially been a member since 1966.

Those in the know believe that Jean joined in 1964 as Cyril Bint‟s partner. Since the day Jean

joined the club she has been active in the day-to-day running. Jean is one of those members that does not hold office but continuously works in the background to keep the club running. She has

been involved in the Camping Weekends that the camera club used to run and for many years with the Club Exhibition.

For many years Jean has been the welfare officer. Jean has always been there for members

through troubled days. Having been on the receiving end of Jean‟s caring and friendly visits and the always open front door for a cup of tea and a chat I was proud to be able to return this over the last

couple of years. During your time at the club you will come to realise that through all the changes a nd comings and goings the one constant is Jean and I am so glad that she is there with her welcome and smile and I

am proud to call Jean my friend.

Paul Hoffman Chairman

CHELTENHAM CAMERA CLUB NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2010

ISSUE 124 12

THE WIDER WORLD by Wendy Outram

MCPF Seminar This will be held at Burton-on-Trent on 10

th October 2010. This date is also the close date for the annual

Bromsgrove exhibition and entries may be handed in at Burton. Wendy and Godfrey Outram expect to go if you should wish to save yourself postage.

The PAGB Inter-Club Print Championships This event will be at Connah‟s Quay on Sat. 23

rd October. Tickets at £10 each may be purchased from

Christine Langford.

Inter-Federation Print Competitions Graham Hodgkiss, Jane Borland and their MCPF team are to be congratulated on winning the Alexander Keighley trophy for monochrome prints, 2010. This trophy is the Inter-Federation trophy using work from the many clubs in the MCPF. MCPF also won the colour print competition for the Stirling Trophy. All workers whose prints were used in either competition are to be congratulated. Best colour print was by Mike Lane of Arden PG for “Kingfisher surfacing with Fish”. A Selector‟s Medal went to Colin Trow-Poole of Worcs.CC for “Demon Drink”. Ribbons were awarded to Mike Sharples of Stafford PS for “Help to Hand” and to Dennis Worrall of Smethwick PS for “Martha with Pet Chicken”.

The PAGB Inter-Club PDI Championship This was only the 2

nd PDI championship (replacing the former slide championship) to be held at Warwick

university. Two rounds of 10 PDIs per club were shown and marked before lunch and at that point the 8 highest marked were separated to contest the final leaving the remaining 29 clubs to fight it out for the Warwick Plate. This was won by Worksop & District PS. After a short pause the final battle took place with 20 images projected from each of the 8 finalists. It was nip and tuck to the last and Smethwick PS were delighted to have beaten Wigan 10 by one point! Dumfries CC came 3

rd, Amersham PS, 4

th and the other 4 finalists, Beyond Group (EAF), Oxford PS, Norfolk PG and

Worcestershire CC were awarded PAGB Ribbons.

David Marsh FRPS HonPAGB PAGB President 1991-93 Members of long standing will be sorry to hear that David Marsh died recently. David was a superb photographer and he worked tirelessly for his Federation, L & CPU; he was their president on two occasions. Most notably he was L & CPU President in 2005 for the L & CPU Centenary. Godfrey and I were invited to the opening of the Centenary exhibition of photographs spanning the 100 years. David had mounted and framed all the prints, which toured the L & CPU for a few years. David served as the L & CPU representative on the Alliance for many years before becoming its President, 1991-93, he then edited the Alliance Newsletter for some years.

Eileen Stamp Members of even longer standing will remember Eileen Stamp, who enjoyed membership for some years in the late 1950s and early 60s. Eileen served on the committee as our Hon. Treasurer. Sadly Eileen died recently aged 81. Eileen was a school teacher by profession.

Ian Platt FRPS Hon Life Vice President of the PAGB Ian was awarded Hon Life Vice Presidency of PAGB when he stood down from the post as FIAP Liaison officer in April 2010.

Ian Bailey LRPS, Hon. Treasurer of the MCPF, has been awarded the Fenton Medal and Hon. Life Membership of the Royal Photographic Society.

Exhibitions Cotswold Monochrome organised The National Exhibition of Monochrome Photography 2010, held at the Summerfield Gallery on Albert Road, from 10

th July to 17

th July.

Also in July there was an exhibition of work from eight photographers in the Curve Gallery at Churchdown School. Nicki Gwyn-Jones, Peter Campion, David Ross and Brian Swinyard joined with members of Gloucester CC to make an interesting and varied exhibition of photography, both monochrome and colour.