Blog

Despite only starting her photography journey in 2013, our latest Zoom speaker, Jo Knight, DPAGB BPE1* QPSA EFIAP, has already attracted considerable  international acclaim for her unique creative fine art images. We were enthralled and enthused after her first presentation to the Society in March and couldn’t wait to have her back for this season. In the new presentation, titled Promoting Passion, Jo convincingly demonstrated the truth of her aphorism of do what you love and love what you do. Jo has chosen a photographic path in which she single-mindedly pursues the style of photography which resonates with her artistic sense regardless of more conservative and restrictive external judgements.

Much of her work involves constructing photographs by combining a number of her images in Photoshop, such that she spends almost as much time in front of a computer screen as in front of the camera viewfinder. Not that this applies to her first love of wildlife photography in which she sensitively brings out the character of birds and animals in their natural setting, although she is not averse to improving the backgrounds for pictorial effect.

Jo has had to overcome many obstacles in her all-consuming passion for photography, not least that she has invisible painful neurological disabilities which limit her mobility. So the majority of her images are taken within 10 miles of her home in the Eden Valley and she has to use herself as the model for her creations. Her composite image called On The Shelf has her own figure positioned on the shelf in her hallway to metaphorically address an implied critical comment by a friend as to why she was still single in middle age.

 

The image illustrates her way of working in which a long time is spent developing the concept of the story she wants to tell and then she takes the various photographs to produce a compositionally strong and effectively-lit image in the computer, including adding shadows by hand. The On The Shelf image took two years from conception to creation but the effort was rewarded by it being selected for the exclusive Master of Print award of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain as well as gaining a gold medal in the 2019 Scottish International Salon.

Jo became the Lady of the Lake only by immersing herself in her bathtub clutching a sword and with the camera suspended from the bathroom ceiling. The background was taken at the local River Eden.

 

While not actually confining herself to a bird cage, she created Life Behind Bars in which the birds are the ones looking in, in a series of thematically connected images commentating on the way we keep animals in solitary confinement.

 

The series was nominated for an award from 5000 entries to the  2021 Fine Art Photography Awards. The Enemy Outside shows her trapped during lockdown behind a window (salvaged from house demolition in her village) which is being beseiged by red Covid viral particles. This was the global winning entry of a Covid-19 lockdown competition attracting over 6000 entries from 90 countries and was shown in a large outdoor exhibition held at the Beijing World Art Museum.

 

Jo highlighted other obstacles which rang true with our own female members. Camouflage wear for wildlife photography comes in pink for women! Adventure watches hang off the wrists of the fairer sex and hides have viewing holes beyond the reach of any but six-footers. She also has her own sad tale of male harassment and champions the cause of gender equality in a number of her composite photographs, including a literal Breaking The Glass Ceiling and a hard-hitting image titled Child Bride. Equally poignant was her image of Evacuee showing a young girl with a teddy bear and with a disappearing railway line added to the background.

These and other images of  social commentary and of personal tribulation show Jo to be an outstandingly unique photographer with a gift of being able to translate the stories conceived in her mind into striking creative fine art representations. She certainly lives up to her mantra of Have The Courage To Tell Your Own Story and the exquisite and moving photographs that we were treated to in her presentation certainly justified the enthusiastic reception she was given by members at the end of an unforgettable evening.

Keith Snell

On Wednesday 22^nd September David Bibby entertained Keswick Photographic Society’s members with an illustrated talk on Iceland in winter. He first visited Iceland seven years ago with two aims in mind; to walk on a glacier and to see and photograph the Aurora Borealis. On his way to achieving these he travelled along the south coast of Iceland visiting some of the now well-known sights. On his first visit however, there were very few tourists and he and his travel companion were often alone.

 

His presentation started in Reykjavik.  He then took us eastwards, first to the Strokkur Geyser which he illustrated with a short video clip of an eruption. He then went on to several dramatic waterfalls including Gullfoss, which was partially frozen, and Skogafoss. After this he went on to photograph the Eyjafjalljokull ice cap. At this point David gave us a lesson in how to pronounce the seemingly unpronounceable Icelandic names which we were greatly in need of!  His next destination was the Myrdalsjokull ice cap which covers the Katla volcano. With the help of a guide, he ascended this by snow mobile.

 

David then showed us images of the wreck of a US Navy Douglas aircraft which crashed on the coastal plain of Solheimasandur in 1973. This is a desolate spot and a four-mile round trip on foot is required to reach the crash site. Weather conditions can be hostile.

His journey then took him further east on to Hofn. On the way he stopped to visit Jokulsarlon which is a glacial lagoon usually filled with icebergs. These eventually drift out to sea; some being deposited on the way on the nearby black volcanic sand beach.

 

David then described the difficulties he experienced in trying to achieve his aim of walking on a glacier. Several of the glaciers that he visited proved to be unsuitable however he finally settled on the Skaftafellsjokull glacier and, equipped with suitable footwear including crampons, he and his travelling companion ascended it.

Finally, David explained how he had achieved his aim of photographing the Aurora Borealis, including what not to do. He was lucky to witness three displays of this amazing natural phenomenon.

 

We had a very enjoyable evening listening to David and looking at his superb photographs and videos which showed off the stunning Icelandic landscape to full advantage.

Julie Walker

 

On Wednesday 15th  September members enjoyed three different presentations.

The Chairman, David Woodthorpe, opened the evening with a presentation explaining the complexities of the annual PAGB (Photographic Alliance of Great Britain) Inter-Club Projected Digital Image Championship. As winners of the NCPF Club Championships, Keswick Photographic Society was selected to represent the Northern Counties in the National Championships. Success in rounds one and two carried Keswick into the final round where they achieved 6th place overall. Another fantastic achievement for Keswick. Judges selected ‘White-tailed Eagle Patrolling Forest’ by Ronnie Gilbert for a Silver Medal Award.

 

‘Taking Pictures of the Milky Way’ was presented by Richard Jakobson. His images are absolutely stunning! He captures not only the wonder of the sky at night but includes foreground detail to create spectacular landscapes.

 

Images were shown from Buttermere, Hard Knott, Crummock Water, Ennerdale, Stonehenge, Portugal and Namibia. Richard demonstrated how the galactic core becomes more visible as you travel further South.

 

The need for rigorous planning was stressed and details of Apps and Software that support planning were shared. The time of year, phases of the moon and weather conditions all need to be considered.

 

A tripod is an essential piece of kit, a wide fast lens if possible, and at a basic level a head torch with red lamp, warm spare batteries and several layers of thermal clothing! Finally we learned about processing and stacking and merging multiple images. Richard is leading an Astrophotography group for any club members who would like to learn more about this aspect of photography.

Finally Simon Roberts demonstrated his enthusiasm and expertise in Wildlife photography through a wide range of impressive images taken in locations across the world including India, Svalbard, South Africa, Finland, Norway and closer to home Wales and the Scottish Highlands.

 

Simon’s narrative was both informative and really interesting thanks to his stories along the way. Being at risk of becoming stuck in sea ice and dangling cameras attached to monopods over the side of ships are two that come to mind!

 

Simon left us with some key ethical questions around the welfare of both the animals and the bait that is used to attract them in locations that are specifically set up for photographers.

 

Keswick Photographic Society welcomes beginners and expert photographers, as new members, or guests, to their meetings. Due to COVID live meetings are restricted to members only for the time being. However, meetings are also being broadcast via Zoom and guests may join these. For information about how to join Keswick Photographic Society or to participate in one of our Zoom meetings as a guest please e-mail: contactkeswickPS@gmail.com.

Sue Rugg

 

This week’s meeting was the second of the new season. Our speaker was David Garthwaite, a fine art photographer from Leeds. His speciality is architecture but he photographs landscapes and does some portraiture work as well. The talk was given via Zoom and most members watched from the comfort of their own homes, but some chose to attend our normal venue, the Friends Meeting House, where we watched via a laptop linked to the television screen.

David began by showing a short video of some of his monochrome images. These included several of the stunning City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Some, taken closer to home, were of the Roker Pier and Berwick Lighthouse. There were images too from London, including an image of The Shard.

 

There were also images from the Netherlands.

 

David researches his locations thoroughly before travelling. Once on site he spends time viewing his subject from every angle and then he decides on the best composition. All this before even taking his camera out of the bag.

 

Unlike many photographers he prefers to shoot on dull, overcast days as this does not create strong shadows and provides a flat image that he can add his own shading too as he sees fit. On bright days he waits until the sun disappears behind a cloud. Sometimes he also uses long exposures to eliminate distractions such as people or vehicles moving through the scene.

David’s distinctive style is largely due to his meticulous approach to processing his images using Photoshop and other software and most of his talk comprised a master class in this.

 

He can spend hours processing one image and he employs such techniques as replacing skies and selectively lightening and darkening parts of the image. While many other photographers also employ such techniques David goes to great lengths to ensure that these changes are employed gradually to ensure they look natural.

 

It was a very informative and enjoyable evening although many of us will need to watch the recording of this meeting several times before mastering his approach.

Keswick Photographic Society’s welcome both beginners and expert photographers, either as new members, or as guests, to their meetings. Due to the COVID pandemic live meetings are restricted to members only for the time being. However, meetings are also being broadcast via Zoom and guests may join these. For information about how to join Keswick Photographic Society or to participate in one of our Zoom meetings as a guest please e-mail: contactkeswickPS@gmail.com.

This week saw the start of the 49th season and the resumption of physical meetings.  After months of zoom it was good to have the personal interaction badly missed by many of the members. The society provided a simultaneous zoom transmission for those not able, or uncomfortable with attending such a gathering.

As is tradition, it was The Chairman’s evening, and David Woodthorpe presented some of his favourite images taken during three visits to India, the country which has captured his heart. India, he explained, is a place where everything that bombards the senses of western visitors and appears to be extraordinary and at times quite shocking to us, is in fact quite normal.   Unlike European countries which differ in quite minor ways, India is a world apart in terms of the history, religion, culture, behaviour and sheer number of people.  With a population of 1.3 billion it is more than 20 times that of the UK.

 

David began by showing images from some of the iconic Sikh and Buddhist temples in Delhi, Guwahati and across Rajasthan explaining how many of the temples prepare and provide thousands of free meals a day to the poor, hungry and homeless of the city, funded by donations. During the pandemic as the numbers of needy grew the Gurudwaha Bangla Sahib Sikh Temple in Delhi increased its provision of meals from around 30,000 to an eye watering 100,000 meals a day and expected to increase that number. One of David’s favourite buildings is the Lotus Temple in Delhi, a Baháʼí House of Worship.

 

Many of the temples are of a scale difficult to comprehend, with for example, the Ranakpur Jain Temple having 1444 individually and uniquely carved marble pillars supporting 80 domes over 29 halls.

In Varanasi, possibly the oldest inhabited city in the world, it is normal from the banks of the mother river Ganges, to launder clothes, to bathe, to drink and to cremate bodies.  It is difficult for the western visitor to comprehend these simultaneous activities.  But every evening the Aarti Festival, a well-choreographed ceremony restores peace, calm and tranquillity to the Ghats.

 

India has retained an enormous wealth of ancient buildings, maintained in superb condition and accessible to all.  Members were shown images of a wide range of forts, castles, palaces and historic monuments.  But it’s the very talented, colourful, characteristic, often beautiful or handsome and happy people who really make any visit to India unforgettable.  David showed many portraits and scenes of people carrying out their everyday activities, whether at home, in markets, at work or simply relaxing or playing.

 

Rajasthan is a land of colour with the Amber Fort, The Blue City of Jodhpur, the Pink City of Jaipur and the White City of Udaipur, all of which are populated with colourful characters.

 

Of course, no presentation would be complete without reference to the special wildlife and David showed images of One Horned Rhino, fearful Monitor Lizards, Gharials, Crocodiles, colourful birds and Butterflies from across Northern India.

 

David concluded his presentation with some amusing examples of the transport system from the Toy Train of Darjeeling, goats on Motorways, incredibly overloaded vehicles and the rather dangerous habit of farmers choosing to drive the wrong way along the fast lane of motorways!

 

Such is the captivating sub-continent which is India.

The Society’s fourth Set Subject Competition took place via Zoom on the evening of Wednesday 30^th June. The competition was the last meeting of the extended season. Members were invited to enter up to three digital images according to the theme ‘Isolation’. The judge was Robert Given MPAGB FBPE EFIAP EPSA, a Society member based in Belfast who is a renowned and talented photographer. Seventeen members entered the competition resulting in a total of forty-seven images for Bob to judge.

People, animals, plants, structures and transport all featured within the ‘Isolation’ theme. One particularly poignant image by Carol Minks featured a view of central Keswick deserted by people as a result of the pandemic.

 

Before starting the judging, Bob commented on the exceptionally high standard of the images that he had received. He then gave a critique of each image and, on occasion when needed, suggested where improvements could be made. Marks were not awarded but at the end of the judging Bob revealed his chosen first, second and third images as well as seven further images he designated as being within the Highly Commended/ Commended category. In first place was ‘No Escape’ by David Woodthorpe.

 

This was a strong graphic image with a viewpoint looking up towards the top of two intersecting, extremely tall, concrete walls. The feeling of isolation was intensified by the rungs of a ladder fixed to one of the walls failing to reach ground level so being out of reach to someone standing on the ground within the walls. Bob pointed out how well this superb graphic image illustrated the theme of isolation. In second place was ‘No Boundaries’ by Alan Walker, a beautifully captured snowy scene with an S-shaped line of fencing leading up to three distant deer on the far horizon, the whole image anchored by a fence post just peeping out of the snow.

 

In third place Bob chose ‘Restriction’ by Marilyn Woodthorpe. This was a very strong side-lit image of a man with piercing blue eyes and a mask staring out from behind a grid, the mask adding an increased sense of foreboding to the image.

 

Bob’s chosen Highly Commended/Commended images were ‘Winter’s Solitude’ by David Stephenson, ‘Isolated Church’ by Alan Walker, ‘Lone Penguin in Blizzard’ by Julie Walker, ‘Arctic Isolation’ and Icelandic Isolation’ both by Keith Snell, ‘Lockdown Hair Cut’ by Barbara Keen and ‘Alone Again’ by Ken Rennie.

All the images submitted can be viewed on our gallery page:

Isolation images gallery

David Woodthorpe, the Society Chairman, thanked Bob for his hard work giving a critique of the images. David also pointed out that the range of images entered covering the theme of isolation certainly justified having set subject competitions. The Society now has a summer break before starting its 49^th season on 1^st September with a meeting titled ‘The Magic of India’ given by David Woodthorpe CPAGB. If you are interested in joining our friendly club for the next season either as a beginner or as a more experienced photographer please email us at contactkeswickPS@gmail.com.

Tricia Rayment

We were privileged to have an evening with David Clapp on 12^th May. David is a professional landscape and travel photographer from south-west England. He has recently been giving talks all over the world via Zoom and in normal times he runs numerous workshops and photographic trips both close to home and in countries further afield. As well as being an award-winning photographer David is also an accomplished musician and he has spent the last few months perfecting his technique on a vintage banjo.

 

David is a highly entertaining speaker and he showed us numerous examples of his superb work starting with landscapes. His normal technique is to take seven or so images in portrait mode which he then stitches together to create a panorama. This creates a huge file which allows him to select smaller areas of the image without any loss of quality. David went on to explain the importance of the proportions in his images. Careful alignment is also essential which he demonstrated in his architectural images taken in India. He had carefully positioned his camera in these to achieve a symmetrical image. The direction of the light is also important, his preference being for side lighting. It is his attention to such details that have contributed to his success. David also presented several infra-red images taken on a camera converted for this purpose. Theses included some beautifully tinted photographs of the Taj Mahal.

 

During the second half of the evening David talked about a visit to a refuge camp in Palestine which had clearly made a deep impression on him. He had been accompanied by local guides and was able to access areas of the camp that might otherwise have been impossible for a European. His aim had been to document life in the camp and as such he had only used a small and discreet camera.

 

This visit had influenced the direction of his photography and he was now determined to carry out more project-based work.

David’s advice to other photographers is that they should avoid seeking to please others but instead focus on developing their own creativity. He also believes that impactful images can only be achieved through observation. It was important to capture the moment, particularly in travel photography. This ability had to be learned. He also considered it important to experiment in order to develop an individual style and unique images.

 

Our season has been extended until the end of June and we will be meeting via Zoom twice a month until then. Our next meeting will be held at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday 26th May when we will be holding a fun battle with Northallerton Camera Club which will be judged by Ross McKelvey, an award-winning photographer from Belfast.

Julie Walker

Tonight, a panel comprising three of the Society’s most experienced members commented on members’ images.  Alan Walker, Bob Given and Keith Snell are all award-winning photographers who also judge club, regional, national and international competitions.

Photographers often find competitions and critiques intimidating and can be deterred from submitting their images, however this can be one of the best ways to improve. To encourage members to participate in tonight’s event it was made less threatening and more friendly by allowing the authors to remain anonymous.  Fifteen members, including novice, intermediate, and experienced photographers, took advantage of this opportunity and in total forty-five images were submitted. Landscapes predominated but there were also images from a number of other genres including people, wildlife, flowers, abstracts, travel and astrophotography.

 

The majority of images had been taken locally but some were from more distant lands including Sri Lanka and Iceland. The panel members agreed that, overall, the quality of the images was very high.

A number of lovely landscapes were seen during the evening. The authors of these had made a considerable effort to achieve them. Many had risen early to take advantage of the dawn light and in some a mist had further enhanced the image.

 

Another member had spent the hours of darkness in the cold photographing the Milky Way from Crummock Water.

 

Others had endured less than perfect weather conditions to create some very atmospheric images.  All demonstrated the important part that the quality of light plays in producing landscape images.

 

The panel took care to draw out the positive aspects of each image as well as making suggestions on how each could be improved. In the main they were in agreement but in a few cases the three panel members had a lively discussion on their different ideas on how to enhance the image. Overall, their suggestions fell in to a number of different categories. The first of these was to remove any obvious defects such as bright spots, out of focus areas and other distractions.

 

Cropping was suggested in several of the images, sometimes to eliminate distracting elements, but in others to simplify the image or to emphasise the main point of interest. In several cases square or letterbox formats were suggested.

 

Another was to add contrast to some images by selectively lightening or darkening different areas. It was also important to ensure that images were sharp but not to over sharpen. The fifth was to ensure that the colour was natural by correcting any colour casts and to avoid oversaturated colours which can be a problem with digital photography. Digital noise and artefacts also need to be avoided.

 

The evening was both instructive and very entertaining. The panel members worked well together as a team and demonstrated that simple adjustments could be made to most of the images submitted to enhance them.

Our season has been extended until the end of June and we will be meeting via Zoom twice a month until then. Our next meeting will be held at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday 12^th May when David Clapp, a well-known professional landscape and travel photographer will talk about his work.

Julie Walker

KPS has entered the Photographic Society of America, Projected Image Division, Interclub Competition for several years now. We have steadily worked our way up the 6 leagues and now compete in Division One of the competition. Clubs from the USA and many other parts of the world compete in this competition ( as far as I am aware there are no plans for a breakaway European Super League!)

We were successful again this season finishing second to Greater Lynn Photographic Association from Massachusetts. Finishing so high in the competition several of our members images received awards. Julie Walker received the highest award of the season for “Pelican on Ice with Fish”

 

Other award winners in the Open Competition included Bob Given for “Together”

 

Simon Roberts for “Osprey”:

 

Alan Walker for “What are you looking at”:

 

and Ronnie Gilbert for “Evening round up  on the marsh”:

 

KPS have also entered PSA Nature Division Interclub Competition over recent years and compete in the first of three divisions. This season we came second and were again, like the PID, pipped to the post by Greater Lynn Photographic Association.  Members images which received awards in the Nature Division included Ronnie Gilbert for Grizzly Bear Fishing:

 

David Woodthorpe for Snow Hare washing:

 

and Alan Walker for Long-eared Owl with Kill at Dusk:

 

And finally for the first time  KPS has entered the PSA, Photo Travel Competition this season. The competition has two divisions and we finished sixth in league B. Award winners included Ken Rennie for “The Raven”:

 

Fred Bell for “The Witches Hat”:

 

Carmen Norman for “Alpe di Suisse”:

 

and John Macfarlane for “Over the high pass into Zanskar”:

 

Thanks to Alan Walker, Keith Snell and David Woodthorpe for organising the entries for the Open, Nature and Travel competitions respectively.

Richard Jakobson