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Last week’s meeting of the Keswick Photographic Society consisted of an informal discussion and critique of the members’ own photographs. Each member submitted a handful of images in advance and the meeting split into groups of three, each equipped with a laptop loaded with the images.

Portrait by David Woodthorpe

Such an informal and non-threatening format allowed everybody to have some of their photographs assessed and admired but with the possibility, where appropriate, of supportive advice as to how they might be improved, either in the taking or in post-processing afterwards.

Indian Child by Marta Almar

Images included, wildlife, sport, travel, landscape, street scenes and a few in camera creatives such as multiple exposure and intentional camera movement whilst taking the picture.

Forest Path by Tony Melling

It turned out to be an absorbing and enjoyable exercise with members having to be dragged away from their small groups at the tea break and at the end of the meeting.

Marsh Harrier by Jeremy Malley-Smith

 

The third meeting of the season featured a presentation by Cheshire photographer Lynda Haney MPAGB FBPE EFIAP (www.purpledaisy.uk) from Southport Photographic Society. Lynda’s talk, entitled Creative Images was about her photographic journey from being a young girl to the present day and learning from her grandad about how an image of herself could be captured inside this box (a camera). He told her it was magic. Lynda went on to explain how she wanted to paint images but eventually chose digital photography.

Through her employer, she was able to learn how to use Adobe Photoshop and also joined the local camera club. Lynda admitted she was initially too scared to submit any images for competition however, when the club had a competition entitled movement, she submitted her first photo called Going Home and won it.

Lynda began teaching how to use Photoshop to teachers who were teaching their children. As this was the mid 90s, there was no internet, Google, YouTube or Wiki to give Lynda the assistance on using Photoshop. Lynda asked her boss for help but he suggested she, “press buttons” to see what happened so off she went to learn.

Later on in her photographic journey, Lynda’s club entered a competition and the winning image was Lynda’s Pheasant In The Snow. The judge was really surprised as it was her old employer but hadn’t realised how far she had progressed.

Lynda’s favourite genre is wildlife and whilst she is happy tackling any another genre, she did say people photos really are the most challenging. Her initial creativity came from her love of painting and trying to create photographs in the style of famous artists. From this she discovered how to create a textured layer that could be added on top of a ‘normal’ photo, before adding several different textures (all on different layers) to create an infinite number of textures. Her creativity was going at full speed. Lynda showed many photos, explained the back story well (her time spent teaching physics to A Level meant she was good at public speaking), interspersing with her own humour to keep the audience thoroughly entertained.

Lynda brought a selection of printed work that was available for all members to view. She talked about paper choice. After a break for tea & biscuits, Lynda dissected a couple of photographs, showing how each one started from the original shot to the finished image, each one having hundreds of layers with huge file-sizes. The mammals were all taken at her local zoo.

Whilst the talk was about Lynda’s creative photography, she did mention that for wildlife photography, her lens of choice was the Sony 100-400mm telephoto zoom lens.

Some of our members will add textured layers to their images but Lynda gave the audience much needed enthusiasm especially seeing so many amazing photos. This really was magic!

Jeremy Malley-Smith

On Wednesday 10^th September, society members were treated to a wonderful presentation given by award winning photographer and member of Keswick Photographic Society, Bob Given MPAGB EFIAP EPSA FBPE.  Bob is a prolific and renowned photographer whose specialism is Sport photography.  And in that respect we’re not talking about a particular sport, but very many different sports.

Bob set the scene by explaining how his vast experience in photography had taught him not only how to choose wisely and therefore limit the amount of camera gear that he had to carry around, but how to get into a strategic position to maximise the chances of getting a good result.  As an official photographer with a Press Pass for some sports he recognised that he had opportunities to get advantageous positions.  However, he went on to explain that for many sports, the enthusiastic amateur can often get equally good positions, especially if they remember to stay low avoiding the normal standing position used by so many amateur photographers.

His prolific activity and range of interests became obvious very quickly when he revealed that all the images to be shown during the evening had been taken within the previous 12 months!  Bob started with individual events like tennis, water skiing and  field sports. These included Javelin, shot put, long jump, high jump, hurdles and track races by able and Paralympic athletes. Some of these images were shown in both colour and monochrome to demonstrate how each could emphasise particular elements that the photographer wished.

The second half of Bob’s presentation centred upon team sports and particularly his love of rugby which he is heavily involved in photographing almost every week.  However, he threw in examples of other team sports including American football, sailing, hockey, cricket and football for good measure. Some of Bob’s rugby photographs have won national and international awards, so it was no surprise to be shown many really excellent examples.

This was a master class in Sport photography and a fascinating and most enjoyable evening.

David Woodthorpe

The first meeting of the new season included a presentation by David Carine ARPS (www.carine.photos), who has been a former member of the Society. David’s talk was on Underwater Photography and he started by outlining the considerable amount of specialist equipment required in addition to the obvious need for a camera! Fundamental is a need to breathe and his preferred approach was to scuba dive with oxygen tanks to prolong the time that can be spent underwater. However, it seems that the bubbles of expired air of the divers can actually be an attractant for certain aquatic species, particularly manta rays. It is likely that they use the pressure of the air bubbles to dislodge parasites from their underbodies.

For most underwater photography a source of light is required since the light from above the surface is rarely sufficient to illuminate creatures at depth. David mostly uses two strobe lights attached on either side of the camera on adjustable arms. The photo of a clown fish (Amphiprion Ocellaris) could only be captured in this way as they dwell enclosed by the giant green anemone with which they have a symbiotic relationship. The stinging cells on the tentacles of this carnivore apparently have no effect on the clown fish, whereas they are effectively deadly to their prey, such as other small fish, crabs and mussels. This is because of a specialised protective layer of mucus on the clown fish skin.

David has had numerous encounters with sharks, all of which have fortunately been non-threatening! In fact, they can often be quite skittish. The hammerhead shark can execute a u-turn in a second when surprised by human encounter and it requires some skill to capture a decent image other than its retreating tail. Sharks in general are encountered in warmer waters and David said that the Maldives were his favourite location, having very clear water coupled with salubrious Ocean temperatures. His pleasure was as much in the scuba diving as the wildlife encounters.

Although our members are unlikely to be investing in the outlay required for underwater photography, they were nevertheless impressed by the wonderful images that David showed us.

Keith Snell

There was good news last week for members of Keswick Photographic Society who had entered photographs in a competition for selection into the prestigious Edinburgh International Print exhibition. This is the oldest photographic print exhibition in the UK, having held an annual exhibition almost every year since 1861. Its prestige lies not only in the high standard of excellence of the prints selected, typically from photographers entering from around 30 different countries in the world. But there is an exclusivity in that the limitations of hanging space in the historic King Street premises of the Edinburgh Photographic Society which hosts the exhibition, means that only a little over ten per cent of entries (around 150 prints) can be accepted. So, acceptance really is a recognition of the cream of photographic excellence. There is also added kudos in that the exhibition is recognised as a fringe event in the annual Edinburgh Festival during August.

There is considerable pride in the Society having four members gaining acceptances in this year’s exhibition. Ken Rennie was outstanding with four acceptances: Scale Force:

Blue Hour Bassenthwaite:

Pistyll Rhaeadr (a Welsh waterfall!):

and Limelight:

Keith Snell had two acceptances: Plunging Penguins:

and Impressionist Sunset, which was awarded a Gold Medal:

Pete Whieldon also had two acceptances: Dancing Feathers:

and On The Move:

and, Alan Walker had Bobcat Hunting Prey Under The Snow accepted:

Out of these accepted prints, three were taken locally: Bassenthwaite and Scale Force in Buttermere and the Solway Firth for the Impressionist Sunset.

Our season restarts after the summer break on 3^rd September with a presentation by David Carine ARPS on Underwater Photography. Full details of the season’s programme can be found at www.keswickphotographicsociety.co.uk. Prospective members and other visitors are welcome to join us at our Wednesday evening meetings at 7.30pm in the Quaker Meeting House, opposite Booths supermarket in Elliot Park, Keswick.

 

This year’s PDI Portfolio of the Year competition was judged by Margaret Salisbury ( “The Welsh Dragon”).  She is a well recognised judge of long standing and her nickname refers the signature she uses rather than to a fiery judging reputation! Margaret commented on the high quality of images submitted, the subsequent high level of marks awarded and the difficulty she had had choosing between them.

In the end the competition proved a tour de force for Bob Given who only dropped 1 mark out of a possible 80. His three top scoring images with 20 points were

“Brutalist” which was the best in the Hand of Man category:

“Six for Artistic Impression”, best in the Sport Category:

and “Stripes”, best in in the People Category:

The other images scoring 20 were

“Hovering Kingfisher” by Simon Roberts, which was best the Creative category and also was awarded the best overall image of the competition:

“The Wreck” by David Woodthorpe:

“Stormy Skies over Liskentyre Beach” by Julie Walker which was equal best in the Landscape category:

“Iceberg Aurora” by Simon Roberts which was also equal best in the Landscape category:

“Focussed in the Snow” by Alan Walker which was best in the Nature category:

and “Winter Round Up” by Alan Walker which best in the People Other category:

All the entered images entered can be viewed in this year’s Gallery Page:

2024-2025 Competitions Gallery

The latest meeting of Keswick Photographic Society was a presentation by Ann and Steve Toon who have led photographic African safaris for over 25 years (toonphotosafaris.com). They focus on South Africa, Botswana and Kenya on wildlife reserves that they have come to know intimately. Being award-winning photographers enables the Toons to ensure that clients will benefit from their knowledge of the precise angles and environmental conditions to achieve spectacular photographic results. Their journalistic backgrounds also mean that they strive to tell stories with their photographs rather than simply recording animal portraits. This is also significant for their campaigns on important conservation issues, such as rhino poaching. Ann and Steve gave an informative and lively presentation with both of them coordinating as speakers to convey the narrative of the images which they were showing.

As they explained, they are not interested in merely reproducing photographic shots that have become clichéd representations of African animals. Instead, they strive to stretch the boundaries of photographic techniques to create unique interpretations of animal behaviour and to reveal aesthetic aspects of the wildlife using artistic approaches. For example, the use of a slow shutter speed creates the blurring of animals on the move to emphasise their motion. Such a photograph of meerkats on the move in the Kalahari Desert won Ann an award in a recent European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

The artistic approach engages the emotions of the viewer in a rhino portrait photographed using intentional camera movement and in a herd of elephants emerging out of the dust.

The creative use of in-camera multiple exposure shows an African spoonbill literally immersed in its environment.

Our members were impressed and appreciative of these approaches by the Toons to lift their images out of the ordinary and repetitive, which is so often seen in safari photographs.

The latest meeting of Keswick Photographic Society was a critique evening of members’ monochrome photographs, mostly projected electronic images although one member did produce prints.

Boo by Fred Bell

The aim was to encourage members to explore the monochrome genre which tends to be otherwise underrepresented in the work which is produced in the club.

Coffee with Milk by Jo Knight

The critique was led by club member Dr Keith Snell EFIAP MPSA LRPS, an experienced photography judge. As Keith explained this was not a competition in which images were to be ranked against each other, but rather it was a critical appraisal of each individual image. Nevertheless, as a broad indication of the photographic success of each image he awarded it with gold, silver or bronze stars.

Charging by Bob Given

 

The work that was assessed showed a broad range of subject matter from the more abstract through to landscape, portraiture and nature subjects. Out of the 56 images entered, 19 were awarded with a gold star and 20 with a silver star, testifying to the high quality of the submissions.

Mouse on Hogweed by David Woodthorpe

The informal approach of the judge and his detailed analysis of each image were very much appreciated by the audience in the meeting room as well as those attending by zoom at home.

All the entered images can be seen in this year’s gallery pages:

Gallery Images

This week Keswick Photographic Society was treated to a fascinating presentation by Mick Watson, an amateur photographer from Durham, who in 2021 was one of the winners in the very prestigious international Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Initially, a keen motor sport photographer, Mick began to experiment with other genres of photography and though he became quite accomplished as a landscape photographer he realised that he was becoming drawn more and more to wildlife.

Although birds weren’t his preferred subjects, he nevertheless showed members some excellent images of a very broad range of birds taken in the UK and wider Europe. Notable images were of Pelicans in Greece, Puffins and Osprey in Scotland and an English Heron which was managing to swallow a fish so large that it was thereafter unable to fly away due to its weight!

The presentation moved to Mick’s mammal photographs and he showed some amazing images of Snow Hares in the Grampians, Brown Hares, foxes and squirrels from near his Durham home and rutting Red Deer.

He explained in detail the very challenging experience of photographing Musk Ox in Norway.  He camped out and climbed in temperatures no-one should be tempted to go out in! He still thinks it was worth the effort to get the stunning images with which he returned home.

In recent years he has become fascinated and very proficient at photographing Seals. In deed his award winning image in the Wildlife Photographer of The Year was of a seal struggling in discarded fishing net, which of course had a strong photo-journalism and environment message. Donna Nook in Lincolnshire is one of his favoured places for photographing seals in early Winter.

David Woodthorpe

Our 4th open competition of the 2024/25 season was held on February 26th.
Simon Allen MPAGB APAGB EFIAP (from Dumfries camera club ) was our judge for the evening. He commented on the high quality, particularly, of the nature images submitted.
5 images were awarded the maximum 20 points.
Ken Rennie  for “Winter Storm ” which was also awarded Best print and Best Landscape:

Julie Walker for ” Bob cat in Snow ” which was also awarded Best Pdi and Best Nature:

Robert Given  for ” Still Smiling ” which was also awarded Best Sport:

Tony Melling for ” Incoming Tide ” which was also awarded Best creative:

Carol Minx for ” Tree Creeper “:

and Simon Roberts for ” A Mother’s Load ” :

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

2024-2025 Competition entries