Hello to all readers, our last two presentations have been excellent. Boyd Harris talked of his climbing and trekking adventures in the Himalayas over the past few years alongside his photographic skills of his visits. Justin Garner gave an insight to how he lights his subjects in great depth. When we look at his images he showed us that much of what we see doesn’t just happen, it was an eye opener ! His last visit was by way of ZOOM but this one was live and very well presented.

December’s calendar shows only one presentation on DEC. 6^TH. that of Kevin Pigney who will give us his Passion for Wildlife. The following week, we hold our Christmas Social which includes Quizzes, a raffle accompanied by a Hot Pot Supper. We break for Christmas and re-start on JAN 3^rd. with Justin Mimms on ZOOM  on Nature Landscapes and Wildlife .

As we say goodbye to 2023, may I wish everyone Season’s Greetings and a Happy  and Healthy New Year in 2024.

Maurice  Barker

garstangcameraclub.co.uk

Welcome to the Club’s report , I hope it makes interesting reading.

During the early part of our new season in which we welcome a small number of “new recruits”, worthy of note are two of the presentations. The first one gave Harry Emmett the floor to give us his experiences in gaining the entry level of the Credit award of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain. Quite a lengthy and intricate process in which one of our members decided to follow him and have a go…..maybe ! Very good luck.

Garry Cook gave us, in soccer parlance, an evening in two halves. The first half gave us his interesting view on street photography and some of it’s difficulties one can encounter. He followed on after the break giving us a Journalistic Tour of Israel. Quite an eye opener given it’s  closeness to the previous Saturday’s world news.

November’s programme is as follows:  :-

Nov. 1^st.  Failure and Success in the Himalayas

   ..   8^th  Justin Garner  shows  the Lighting Behind the Image                                           

   ..   15^th.   Inter Club Competition between Garstang/Poulton.N. Fylde and Lytham. This takes place at Poulton.

   ..   22nd.  Iceland in Winter  by  Gordon Watson.

Dec, 6^th Kevin  Pigney shows his Passion for Wildlife.

I do hope that since my last report there have been ample opportunities in capturing the Autumn Colours.  Don’t let the camera hibernate for the next few months, keep it “well oiled”

Maurice Barker

http://www.garstangcameraclub.co.uk

Hello readers, here we are at the start of our new year. During the summer, the weather has been very mixed with more rain that shine. We completed our Events programme with the Garstang ashow, again half and half, rain am and shine pm.

Our first meeting on Sept 6^th was a very busy one with various presentations but no new members ! Happily, we have had a sprinkling of new blood in the past few weeks, but we still have room for more. Do come along and see what we are about, We have every level of competence within the club, all we ask is a modicum of enthusiasm, skills will come later to whatever level you want. We are a very friendly club whose members will gladly pass on their expertise.

During this month our programme is as follows, and at this point, I have to mention that our Photographer of the Year, John Moxham has let go of the reins of Programme Secretary and we have to thank him for his splendid efforts over the past years. Thank you John.    Michael Orr has now gripped the reins and this augurs well for the future. Thank you Michael, we are n safe hands again.

October   4^th.   Harry Emmett……….Towards gaining a photographic qualification.

    ..          11^th.  Garry Cook………………Street photography and a project in Israel

    ..          18^th. Judging of our first competition, the Events Cup  by  Nicki Greenwood.

    ..          25^th. Member’s Evening. ( various activities )

and in case of a late Focus:

November 1^st. Boyd Harris …………….Failure and Success in the Himalayas.(some of our members may remember Sir. John Hunts expedition  in ’53 when Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing topped out in early June )

Let’s hope for a colourful Autumn, after all,  our area can be beautiful given the right conditions.

Maurice Barker

http://www.garstangcameraclub.co.uk

A very good read to one and all. Firstly, I must apologise for the lack of a report in August’s copy, this was missing due to circumstances unknown, it may well appear from the ether at some future date just as the Phoenix !

August 5^th brought us the annual Garstang Show at which we were present promoting our Club. It was manned by our usual “sales people” meeting and greeting the public and included a display of member’s prints alongside all details of our future meetings. Club members did well in claiming the two cups awarded in the Photography Class and a handful of certificates !

A visit to Rheged (Penrith) in mid August took place to see the exhibition of the top 100 images from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year and finally we hope to visit Heysham to link up with Morecambe Camera Club at the end of August for photographic opportunities, just as they did when visiting Garstang earlier in May.

I will now list our meetings taking place during the month of September.

We start with our open night on September 6^th.  An informal and varied evening where we welcome back existing members along with, we hope, new ones. This will include various presentations along with a theme set to members last summer of a “view” taken at the same position each month entitled  12 in 12. Do come and give us “a coat of looking at“ you will be made most welcome. Our meetings are held in the Arts Centre on Wednesday evenings and begin at 7.30pm.

Sept. 13^th.   Brian Law   Live  (ie.  not a Zoom meeting)  presents  Realising your Potential

…………20^th   Geoff Reader  Live, on  Snowdonia and the Peak District.

………..27^th   Member’s Evening………..various activities.

October 4^th Harry Emmett.   Live, Towards  CPAGB  Prints. (Credit award of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain) and if awarded , you can write this after your signature ! !

Well folks , that’s all for this month, I wish you good shooting, we don’t seem to be having too much sun to contend with!

MAURICE  BARKER

www,garstangcameraclub.co.uk

Hello to all readers. First of all, I must apologise to half of the readers for an absence of the last report. I was behind in submitting it and now have it stamped on my wrist saying “ must meet the deadline “ ! Since the content was current, there seems little point in repeating it.

Here we are in what my father always referred to it as flaming June. The weather has been/is superb. The gardens both near and far are splashes of wonderful colours for photography, something which monochrome could never match (purely a self opinion). Even the Tourist Trophy races (Isle of Man) have gone without fault in conditions I cannot remember in my lifetime due to adverse weather conditions. It has been a photographers paradise in these last two weeks.

Our last two visits for the Events Cup are  Wednesday July 12^th. to Brockholes Reserve, all day and finally The Garstang Show, in which we will have our usual stall and mini exhibition. Do come and have a chat and see what we are about., even if you are still using a Box Brownie !  The August edition will have a pre-amble of what we will start our new season which starts early September

Finally, may I wish everyone a continuing good Summer.

Maurice Barker                      

http://www.garstangcameraclub.co.uk

Hello all.  As I write this, the club has come to the end of our official meetings for the past year, and a successful one it has been. Membership remains steady but there is always room for more. We held the AGM earlier in the month to which the Committee was re-elected . The evening concluded with a presentation by Robin Shorrock on a recent visit to Northern Ireland, very entertaining. Thank you Robin.

Our second Events Cup visit took place on Tuesday 9^th May under reasonable conditions. We have also had a combined  “ walk Garstang “ with Morecambe Camera Club. A group of 17 split into one member from each club wandering the delights of the town searching for photographic opportunities.  A similar evening will take place later in the summer, this time in Heysham.

The club has been involved in judging a photographic competition run by Garstang Primary School involving pupils in two groups ie. Key Stages 1 and 2. Presentations to the winners will take place in a few week’s time. Keep your eyes on the Garstang Courier for a report.

Although we are technically “out of season “ there is much taking place over the summer.

June 7^th…..a trip to the sand dunes at Ainsdale photographing insects and small creatures.

June 11^th……Events Cup no. 3.  Gresgarth Gardens.

The Club will have a stall at this year’s  Garstang Show promoting itself along with a small display of prints so come along and have a chat and see what we are about.

For further details on any points please link in to our website given below.  I wish you all a good summer >

Maurice Barker

garstangcameraclub.co.uk

Hello to all. 

We are nearing the end of what has been a very busy and successful year. The range of speakers has been quite varied and of a high quality,  and we even had an image battle with a club in New Zealand, the Rangiora Photographic Society…….distance no problem !  The remaining three official calendar meetings take place in the first half of May.

May 3^rd…….Members Presentation by Stan Pearson on  Local Sports.

..  ..  10^th ……Our Annual General Meeting

..  ..  17^th……..The Presentation  Evening ,  on which, after a meal, the winners of the Cups and Certificates will be awarded. Our Guest of Honour this year is Mr. David Pearson who was in the Club from it’s inception, and holds the membership no. 1 . He will present the awards.

On Thursday May 11^th. we are meeting up with Morecambe Camera Club as a joint venture. They will visit us in the first instance and join us in twos/threes to walk around Garstang looking for image opportunities. This will be reciprocated later in Summer at Heysham Village.

During our “closed season” we have five outings known as the Events Cup in which images taken from any or all of these visits can be entered in our first internal competition.  The second of these visits takes place on May 9^th.  at Cleveleys, incorporating the sea front , the town and the Fleetwood Wrecks. I have to apologise for missing the first one, a visit to Kendal, since the venue and dates were only finalized after the last copy of the Focus went to print. Ah well………..the best laid plans of mice……. etc !

Yet another project under way, is supplying The Arts Centre with a number of images of Garstang from which they will pick 12. These will take the form of a calendar which will be published in early Summer to be sold in an attempt to raise funds for the Arts  Centre.

Even though the ’22-’23 season has finished, I shall still be reporting each month to keep in touch with information.

Enjoy the late Spring and what I hope will be a good Summer.  Happy Shooting !

Maurice  Barker.

garstangcameraclub.co.uk

Hello to our readers.

As I am writing this, we have just passed the first official day of Spring and , surprise, I am looking outside on a carpet of the “white stuff” !  I well remember in the early 1960s  camping at Watendlath and waking up to a silent and white out as far as the eye could see, it being Good Friday, and not having all the modern clothing and equipment available to us today. We stuck it out for three days !   “It’s not over until the opera lady sings “

The club has just had it’s Humanity Competition judged and the standard of entries was quite high indeed. Our final competition  ANYTHING GOES will be judged on Wed. April 19^th. by Nick Hilton EFIAP  DPAGB BPE5*  ( don’t ask !)

Our programme for April is as follows :-

April 5^th.          Club Workshop

   ..   12^th.         Alf Myers presents  BACK FROM THE STREETS  Live, ie not ZOOM.

   ..   19^th.         ANYTHING GOES   judging.

   ..   26^th.         Member’s Evening   Various activities.                                  

All the above in the Arts Centre starting at 7.30pm.

That gives us only three more gatherings before our season finishes. Where does the time go ?

I would urge more of our members to join in , in entering our competitions even if only to learn more from the judge’s comments. I have had a camera in my hands for the past 70 years and with my first attempt at a competition was awarded  first prize in the Newcomer’s Cup section. Talk about irony ! I think that we are always rather apprehensive at the beginning in sharing our efforts in front of other members. Nothing could be further from the truth. They don’t have to be framed prints, Digitally Projected Images (DPI) carry the same prestige. You can submit images taken on an iPhone and with one of these, you always have it on your person. The best image you never shot is the one where you didn’t have your camera with you !

For more information , check out the website where you can indeed view the winning entries along with commended and highly commended in all of our competitions to date.

Finally, I wish you good shooting.

Maurice Barker

garstangcameraclub.co.uk

Hello to all readers.

As I write this , we are having a spell of fair weather i.e. no rain! ( that does it )  Cameras are being dusted off after a short spell in their bags and batteries being charged, always an important tip. Since my last spell sitting here at my escritoire or should it be screen and keyboard (oh for times past), we have been involved in two battles in which we achieved two second places! The first was against Morecambe Camera Club and the last one on Feb. 7^th. between Rangiore Photographic Society in New Zealand (you do the maths!)  We lost the battle of the Hemispheres by 10 points, however one of our members, Stanley Pearson held 1st. place with his image of Lytham Jetty. Well done Stan.  Both battles being judged by independent adjudicators.

Irrespective of the many different makes of cameras, there seems to be a plethora of new models aimed at the beginner and the professional coming onto the market each month. Personally, I would hate to be in the position of starting out in our craft and having to choose one. The advice I would give  would be to knock on doors, in short, to attend/join a club and seek the advice on various makes and types. It is just as important to know what NOT to buy as well as being given the correct information. At this early stage, avoid websites with used equipment unless armed with knowledge.

Our menu for March is as follows :

March  1^st.   Audio Visual Presentation by Adrian and Sue Whittaker.

           8^th.   The judging of our Humanity Competition by Steve Proctor  DPAGB….BPE5*

           15^th.  Speed and Motion   by Paul Dunbar Live   i.e. NOT Zoom.

           29^th.  Member’s Evening………….Various activities.

That’s all folks .

Maurice  Barker

http://www.garstangcameraclub.co.uk

Hello folks.  Here we are in February and as a person on the radio announced yesterday regarding the ever increasing fuel payments  “ well the worst of the cold weather is now behind us “   what planet is she on ?  No way! Although the past month has seen record rainfall in many parts of the country and therefore poor opportunities for camera work, we can still hope for some better days….dare I mention the word SNOW ? As I look out onto the garden, I can see the harbingers of spring announcing daffodils, snowdrops and crocii , all raising their welcoming heads once more.  The climatic change is still surprising some people, an ex- colleague of mine travelled to his son’s family in Sunny California for the festive season and the State had it’s worst floods ever recorded, and so not much film used there !

Our last two meetings produced two excellent presentations on Lake District Moods ( never seen it like this before ) and a quite informative evening on Long Exposures promoting members to go out and have a go.

Future meetings are as follows :-

Feb. 8^th            The Battle by Zoom between Garstang Camera Club and Rangiora Photographic Society of New Zealand, the first time we have gone International.

Feb.15^th.           Martin Jump presents ( live )  Lancashire Landscapes  Flora and Fauna.

Feb 22cnd.      Member’s Evening,  various activities.

March 1^st.        Adrian and Sue Whittaker will give us an Audio Visual presentation……..always interesting.

March 8^th.       Judging of our Humanity Competition.

Best Wishes and good shooting.

Maurice Barker

http://www.garstangcameraclub.co.uk