Morning All
Well, that was a remarkably busy evening — almost standing room only!
Welcome back to all our returning members, our shiny new recruits from the last couple of weeks, and the brave guests who turned up to find out what on earth we actually do on a club night. I sincerely hope we met expectations, or at the very least didn’t lower them too dramatically.
Deep gratitude to Stan, Dom and Bob for their talks. Each one was delivered with the poise of someone who absolutely didn’t finish preparing five minutes before speaking.
And thank you to everyone who voted in the Opening Night Competition. The results will be announced on Weds 16th, assuming the counting team has recovered from the emotional strain of tallying numbers and no one demanding a recount!
Finally, a heartfelt thank you to Freda and Rhona for those dangerously delicious homemade cakes. Truly magnificent. Next week we return to biscuits, which feels a bit like following a Michelin‑star meal with a packet of Rich Teas, but hey-ho, here we are.
Paint Garstang – En Plein Air :
Garstang began Saturday under the faint smell of linseed oil and the sight of folding easels appearing in places they had not been the previous evening. This indicated that the annual Plein Air Painting Competition had arrived. 24 artists turned up, each equipped with brushes, canvas bags, and hats that defied both logic and meteorology and some very interesting umbrellas.
The town spent the day quietly absorbing an influx of colour and earnest concentration. Artists positioned themselves across cobbles, fields, and any location not already occupied by livestock. Locals observed with a mixture of interest and mild confusion as painters squinted at buildings, held their thumbs in the air for reasons known only to them, and attempted to negotiate with the sun, which refused to remain still.
By late afternoon, the artists transported their completed work to Garstang Arts Centre. This was done with great care, presumably to avoid any accidental contact with a rival’s canvas. The procession was orderly, if slightly tense.
Musical accompaniment was provided in the courtyard by ukulele band Buzz Cadillac and the Lightning Rods, whose name continues to be genuine. Front man Andy Stuart led a performance that resulted in toe tapping and hip swaying at a level considered moderate but noticeable.
I can report that Garstang remained intact throughout the event.
The weather read the script and stayed fair for the competition, just, and I managed to get a few photos of most of the artists including an outlier, our own Maddy, using charcoal on canvas, representing the beautiful architectural engineering of the Wyre Aqueduct was, I judged, magnificent!
The afternoon concluded with a prize ceremony heroically steered by Sheila Tearle of the Arts Centre, who kept the proceedings moving forward with momentum throughout.
The judge faced the deeply unenviable task of choosing a winner; nevertheless, he praised the overall standard, and then presented first, second and third certificates, followed by six boxes of chocolate distributed to artists described as “nearly there.”
Anyone who took photos and wants to share them please send them to me and I’ll forward them on to whomever.
Notices:
Before last week’s talks began, I went through the internal competitions for this ‘season’ with various dates and also a list of ‘challenges’ that are part of the programme. These 2 documents are attached.
I would like to emphasis that competitions and challenges are not compulsory!
However, I would like to say that in the competition ‘world’, when shown, the judge can provide very useful constructive feedback, mostly, and images are entered anonymously; only the Competition Secretary knows and Lewis displays the highest discretion!
As for challenges, again they can be entered anonymously and only the highest bribe will force me not to divulge the author! No, Lewis taught me everything!
Reminder: First Show and Tell (SAT): Challenge 1
If you have had the opportunity to look at the programme you will see, dotted throughout, are various SAT’s (Show and Tells).
On Wednesday 23rd September, amongst other things, we have our first SAT, ‘Colour.
The idea here is to show digital images (no prints) that contain either the colour red OR yellow or red and yellow.
However, the images MUST be taken on a phone or on an iPad.
There are 3 ways to show your images:
Put them on a USB ‘stick’ and I’ll put them up on the screen and you can chat about them, at the front of the room; perhaps you may want to say, where, why and any editing.
Put them on a USB ‘stick’ and I’ll put them up on the screen and you can chat about them, from your seat; again, perhaps you may want to say, where, why and any editing.
Or, send them to me on info@garstangcameraclub.co.uk and I’ll put them on a PowerPoint presentation and show them anonymously and the members can chat about them.
How many can I show I hear you ask – as many as you want, with reason – please don’t show 40+!
Please have a go – there are few of these throughout the ‘season’ and we are a very friendly bunch!
Second SAT – Water: Introduction to challenge 2
As with the above challenge 1 the idea here is to show images that contain ‘Water.’
Thoughts!
This challenge is WATER — that well‑known substance responsible for rain, tea, and 97% of British small talk. Your mission, should you choose to accept it (and you do, because we need entries), is to produce an image that contains water in any form, state, mood, or level of chaos.
To help you along, here are some highly professional suggestions!
- Actual water — Rivers, lakes, puddles, or that suspicious drip under your kitchen sink.
- Water behaving badly — Waves crashing, taps leaking, sprinklers attacking innocent passers-by.
- Water pretending to be something else — Mist, fog, steam, or the condensation on your glasses when you walk into Booths.
- Water in domestic captivity — Kettles boiling, washing-up bubbles, or the bath plughole (for the truly avant-garde).
- Water in emotional turmoil — Tears, sweat, or the rain that arrives precisely when you’ve just set up your tripod.
- Water in unexpected places — Dew on a spiderweb, droplets on a car bonnet, or the pint you accidentally knocked over at the Royal Oak.
Please remember: You do not need to get soaked for this challenge. You do not need to submerge your camera. You do not need to recreate the Titanic. But if you do, please film it horizontally.
Plenty of time – well, at the moment! Entries to be shown on Wednesday 28th October.
Message from Tim: Sale of donated camera Kit
Many thanks to all those members at last week’s meeting who said they would like to buy one or several pieces of the camera kit kindly donated by Tim’s friend. In a number of cases several members wanted to buy the same piece of kit. For these, Tim’s wife has drawn names out of a hat to determine who the buyer of each item should be. The table attached shows who the successful members are and, for the kit where only one member wants to buy it, who this is.
Tim will bring along all the sold items to this week’s meeting. Please could those members who have said they want to buy the items, either bring cash on Wednesday or transfer their payment to the Club’s bank account prior to the meeting. All proceeds from this sale are going to the club’s funds.
Bank details for BACS
Account Name: Garstang Camera Club
Sort Code: 20-55-41
Account Number: 90896284
The attached list also includes those items that did not sell last week.
If anyone is interested in any of these, please let Tim know (timflesher@btinternet.com) and he will also bring them along to this week’s meeting for you.
Message from Dom:
Attached is the PDF version of the portrait photography slides I talked about on Wednesday.
Garstang Camera Club Skills Survey
Our club survey:
It is mostly ticky boxes, just 5 mins of your time, honest!
The aim is simple: it will help us plan talks, workshops and outings that people actually want, discover the hidden talent in the club, and maybe match members who’d like a bit of help with those who are happy to share their experience.
There are no wrong answers. Please complete: just click on: https://forms.gle/7S8suxaAoadmmQGW7
At the end of the form just press submit!
Thank you it is really appreciated!
The Events Cup
A reminder! The last date for entry, digital images and prints, is Wednesday 16th September. If anyone wants a hand with their digital images – basically getting them on to a USB stick correctly please just email me on info@garstangcameraclub.co.uk – I’m more than happy to help.
Coffee duty:
Coffee/tea duty for Wednesday 9th September is Phil and Freda – thank you!
Up and coming programme of events:
Wednesday 9th September – Our first speaker of the season – Gordon Watson, ‘live’ at the Arts Centre; talk titled ‘Coast.’
Gordon writes: The UK coastline is extraordinarily diverse, from dramatic cliffs and windswept headlands to secluded beaches, harbours and estuaries. In this talk, we will take a photographic journey around the UK, exploring how geology and history have shaped the landscapes that we see today, and how the opportunities for landscape photography change as we travel around the coastline.
Wednesday 16th September – This evening’s speaker is Ian Brodie with a talk titled, Local Damselflies and Dragonflies: Ian is a former member of the club as those more mature members will, I’m sure, remember. Ian’s talk will be followed by:
A short talk from Tim titled – “Family History – a Photographic Practical Joke”.
Plus, of course, the Opening Night Competition result!
Wednesday 23rd September – Members evening; members will be invited to vote on the ‘Battle’ images needed for the 3 ‘Battles’ this season.
Stan will introduce the ‘Battle’ concept and all the images will be shown as a slide show then one by one to vote on. Stan will coordinate the results which will be presented during a subsequent club meeting.
Following the voting, and the coffee break, members are invited to SAT the first challenge this season which is ‘Red and/or yellow images taken by mobile phones or iPad only, digital no prints – no cameras! See above – challenge 1
Wednesday 30th September – A talk by Jonny Gios on Landscape Photography, centred on the Lake District. More information to follow.
That’s all folks,
Mike
Garstang Camera Club 