Sid Jones of Dorchester Camera Club gave us a very entertaining talk on the History of Photography this week.

Starting with the ancient Egyptians, who made images of the sun by exposing papyrus soaked in silver salts, Sid took us through the 16th and 17th painters using camera obscura, then through to daguerreotype, film and on to digital. Sid commented that there had been more changes in the last ten years than in the previous 100 years.

Sid showed us many seminal images that illustrate the photographer’s art, including works by William Henry Fox-Talbot, Nadar Price, Ansel Adams, Julia Margaret Cameron, Henri Cartier Bresson and more.

To round the evening off he showed us some of his own images, shot with digital cameras, that he had taken on his travels around the world. These illustrated how far photography had come in the last few years.

In all, this was an exceedingly interesting and informative evening. Thank you, Sid!

(click on a pic to see it full size)

(more to come!)

• Best colour print
• Best black and white print
• Best digital image
• Most unusual photograph

Our judge was Charles Hallsworth from Bridport Camera Club. As usual, the prizes were hotly contested and Charles had his work cut out to judge a total of 30 prints and 13 digital images.

As he went through the entries, the judge commented on each one, pointing out the good bits and diplomatically mentioning where the bad bits could be improved. His commentary was very informative and his experience as an artist was clear from his remarks.

After selecting shortlists of both prints and digital images, Charles chose the winning entries. The trophies were awarded as follows

• Best colour print – Linda
• Best black and white print – Michael
• Best digital image – Gillian
• Most unusual photograph – William

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to Charles Hallsworth for being such an excellent judge!

So, now the patients waiting to see whether they will need to be x-rayed can sit and contemplate x-rays of shells, Mark’s toy robot and the inside of the club’s laptop, amongst others.

Here’s what they look like:

(click on the pic to zoom in)

Norman has been working on this portfolio to illustrate a book to be published by local historian Caroline Rowland. The photos he showed illustrated memorials commemorating both WWI and WWII. As well as being evocative reminders of twentieth century conflicts, the photos are also a great example of Norman’s unique style. He is, of course, a technically masterful photographer but he also has the gift of presenting the subject in a unique way that brings home the pathos and significance of the subject matter. Here are a few examples of the images he showed us:

More of Norman’s work can be seen on his website www.normancrabb.com

Brian C. gave us an educational and entertaining talk on Tuesday evening about the benefits of RAW – and some of its problems too. The main one being that, unlike JPEG and TIFF which can be read internationally, there is no standardization for RAW. Different cameras each have their own system. Adobe’s software is limiting as there is no backdating and a DNG converter download is needed so it can be read by any Photoshop DS.

However once a RAW file is opened on the computer the fun can begin. There are a variety of controls available for manipulating the picture. Some of the more specialised and useful ones are the Clips to warn of out-of-limit exposure, Clarity which sharpens the mid-tones, two kinds of Curves, a Defringeing option and Graduated filters which Brian says are “the bee’s knees”.

And RAW data can’t be lost – like a negative it will stay as originally taken by the camera. We had a good demonstration of this!!! The final touches can be done is Photoshop.

Members stated that it would be very helpful if Brian could be persuaded to add some notes to his ‘How To Do’ downloads on the technical aspects of RAW, in particular the requirements for accessing it and the software needed.

Brian gave us a very entertaining and informative evening, as usual. Thanks a lot Brian!

On Tuesday evening we enjoyed a very interesting talk and slide show by Pauline Rook ARPS.

Her slide show covered a variety of projects, beginning with the building of ‘Vera’, a replica lerrett which is a double-ended clinker-built fishing boat which has been in use on Chesil Beach since 1650. There were portraits of the remaining few people who had sailed and fished in them. The flat-bottom boat used on the Fleet was the trow propelled by means of a forked pole, a quant.

Then there was photography of archaeological discoveries. Pauline showed a black and white print of the mosaic at Lopen with its curious discrepancy in the pattern. It was good to be able to look at this more closely in the interval. There was also the possible site of Alfred’s burnt cakes at Appley excavated by ‘Time Team’. Then followed the exciting find of the Frome hoard of Roman coins and, more recently, the derelict Moorlands factory before demolition. These all led on to Pauline being invited to record the story of the reconstruction of the new museum in Taunton Castle and its fascinating diversity of workmen in their environment. These pictures have been on display at Taunton for the past six months.

For the second part of the evening Pauline told us about her project in the Blackdown Hills. She was asked by the Countryside Agency to photograph this ancient rural landscape, its buildings and people and their activities throughout a whole year. She related many amusing anecdotes about this project. Now she is working on the recording of the archaeological work at Hinkley Point before the new development takes place there.

This was an absorbing and evocative account of Pauline’s work which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

Every now and then we hold sessions where members can bring their own photos along and talk about them to other members

The Critique evening began with mounted prints taking up the first part. There was a good variety of prints and plenty of discussion. Prints were presented by John, Trevor, Brian H, Michael, Betty, Adrian, Malcolm, and Brian C. After the coffee break we had the projected digital images from Norman, Roger, Brian H and William.

Then William did a short presentation about a third-hand idea for putting pictures for download on the website and then running a competition to see who could make the best job of retouching (fiddling with) them. That definitely sounds like a fun idea! We’ll have a go at that as soon as possible…

Here are some examples of the images members talked about this evening:

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(click on a pic to view slideshow)

Last Tuesday evening we were treated to a journey through China

In the presentation that we saw, Ted’s photos were interspersed with Malcom’s and the contrast between the two trips emphasized the rapid expansion that has taken place in China in the past twenty years.

The first part of the journey took us from Beijing via the vastness of Tianamen Square, through the Heavenly Gateway to the Forbidden City and a view of the Emperor’s throne.   The queues for the mausoleum were the same but transport in 1989 was bicycle led with very few cars whereas now cars are very much in evidence.

The next stop was the Great Wall.   In 2011 at 9.00 am it was crowded whereas at midday in 1989 there were few people.  Ted’s tour then took him to a jade factory with a large fat Buddha, to the Summer Palace and the marble barge, the Wild Goose pagoda and the huge bell which was rung to let people know the time.  There were views of parks, and evening shows of Chinese acrobats and Kung Foo dancers

Ted then arrived at the Xian Walled City.   There he photographed the amazing Terracotta Army of 7000 soldiers in situ, and its accompanying museum.

The next treat was the Yangtze Cruise which showed the huge locks needed to transport boats to the top and bottom of the Dam.   Then through the Three Gorges of Xiling, Win and Qutang – amazing scenery.

The trip included a visit to the Panda Research Centre where there were good views of pandas in the trees and lazing on garden benches.

Then the tour went on by plane to Guilin – founded by the Qin dynasty – set on the River Li, with its amazing panorama of karstic mountains. The next stop was Yangshua where it was raining.   There were lots of bikes there now and in 1989.   A typical Chinese house showing life as it was, including an old fashioned pump.

Malcolms’s shots of many of the same scenes contrasted very vividly the ‘then and now’ aspects of China.

There was plenty of audience participation with many questions being asked.   It was a very enjoyable evening – thanks to Ted and Malcolm for providing such an entertaining show!

Here are just a few of the beautiful photos they took:

(click on an image to view the slideshow)

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Roger won the prize last year and he suggested the theme of ‘Shadows’.

We had entries giving a wide variety of interpretations of this theme in both colour and black and whiite. There were landscapes, ancient buildings, still lifes, nature and architecture, amongst others.

Unlike other competitions in our Club year we do not have an external judge for this competition but members attending the meeting are the judges. Each member is given a scoring sheet and each entry is displayed to the room while people enter their marks for each photo.

Linda was a clear winner of the compeition with a stunning black and white print depicting shadows cast by a pair of garden chairs. Roger came second with a photo of a shadow of an insect and William came third with a print of a landscape with mists and shadows.

Roger presented the trophy to Linda, who gets to nominate next year’s theme.

This was a fun and friendly evening and we look forward to hearing what we’ve got to line up for next January!