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On 5^th February Keswick Photographic Society members enjoyed a talk given by Colin Trow-Poole via Zoom. Colin dedicated the first half of his talk to some of his panels of prints. He commenced with a panel of infra-red images put together for his successful application for an Associateship with the Royal Photographic Society (ARPS.) in 2006. To achieve his ARPS Colin was required to produce a panel of 15 themed images. His chosen subject was the sailing barges of the rivers Severn and Wye, known as Trows, which had been beached many years ago to reinforce the banks of the River Severn. As it was important to show variety in his panel Colin explained how he had taken the images from both low and high angles.

When it came to applying for his RPS Fellowship in 2022 Colin chose to document the lives of a Romany Gypsy family who regularly spent the winter months living in their two wagons and a yurt close to his home. He befriended the family, earning their trust, and was thus able to produce a fascinating panel in monochrome showing intimate aspects of their lives both out in the open, especially around the camp fire on which they cooked their meals, and inside their accommodation.

Colin has a wide range of photographic interests and he presented several other panels produced purely for personal pleasure. These included one of colour images of rusty old cars taken at Pendine Sands in Wales, another infrared panel of images taken of the Porth Wen brickworks on Anglesey and another of abstract images of ceilings in colour. He also showed a monochrome panel taken in Kerala, India, of people in their environment.

The second half of Colin’s talk was dedicated to his street photography during which he showed a selection of images from various locations including London, Birmingham and New York emphasising the use of light in them.

Throughout the evening Colin entertained his audience with stories about how he had achieved his photographs as well as providing useful tips on photographic techniques and how to put a panel of images together to achieve a cohesive whole. It was yet another very enjoyable and absorbing evening.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 19th February when Alistair How will give a talk on Urban Night Photography.

Julie Walker

On 29^th January Keswick Photographic Society members enjoyed an inspirational talk by Bill Pickard on creative photography. His main subject was Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) whereby the camera is moved very slightly while taking an image to produce an artistic image but he went beyond this to describe how he processes his images using other creative techniques. Bill’s talk was illustrated with an extensive selection of his superb images.

Bill photographs a wide range of subjects including street scenes, landscape, wildlife, flowers and sport. One of the most imaginative but simple images he presented was of two pieces of electrical wire, not a subject that many photographers would think of taking.

He explained that he usually carries two cameras, one of which he uses to take straight images and the other for ICM. He showed a number of straight images and then versions of the same subject taken with ICM and used these to illustrate what he referred to as the magic of ICM, the ability to transform something mundane into something special.  He described some of the other advantages of ICM as being the opportunity to create impressionistic art, the ability to hide distracting details and its versatility.

In particular this technique works well in low light when normal photography would be difficult. His images were taken in a variety of locations, some as nearby as his own garden, Morecambe and Blackpool and others further afield such as France, Italy and Iceland.

Bill wowed us with his enthusiasm for his subject and his lovely images. He gave members numerous tips on how to achieve a variety of different images. In conclusion he recommended ICM to us as a means of achieving totally unique images. This was a totally absorbing evening especially for those members who particularly enjoy creative photography.

Julie Walker