At this week’s meeting we were entertained by members of Morton Photographic Society from Carlisle. This was an opportunity for their members to demonstrate the variety and quality of their work and to show images that might not otherwise receive a public airing. During the evening we enjoyed a range of subject matter from various locations as well as different styles of presentation including stills, slide shows and audio visuals prepared by both experienced and novice photographers.
John Reed kicked the evening off with a presentation simply titled “Cumbria”. He showed a collection of beautiful and atmospheric landscape images, all taken over the last three years. He included shots taken at a variety of locations in Cumbria and at different times of year and he presented both monochrome and colour images:
Richard Speirs followed with a presentation titled “A Sense of Place”. Richard too focused on the Lake District with landscapes taken at several of his favourite locations throughout the year. He also demonstrated how an image could be improved by tweaking it during processing and he explained how he added elements such as light and mist. The quality of both presentations served to remind us of the potential that exists for wonderful images so close to home. The first half concluded with an audio visual presentation titled “Route 66” prepared by Ian Gregory. This dealt with the history of the A66 and took us along its route from the east to the west coast stopping at some of the highlights along the way including Brough and Appleby.
There was more variety in the second half with Gerald Chamberlin presenting several slide shows on different subjects. The first of these focused on classic cars which he had photographed in various stages of decay. A number of images of cars, or parts of cars, taken in woodland illustrated Gerald’s ability to produce unusual and artistic work . The subject of his next presentation was infrared photography and he showed a number of images taken in Scandinavia.
Finally he presented some of his intricate composite images, explaining briefly how he had achieved them. We then enjoyed some still images of Iceland, a popular destination for many photographers, taken in snowy and sometimes blizzard conditions by Fred Bell. A further set of his images taken at the South Lakes Zoo demonstrated that you do not have to travel to distant lands in order to photograph exotic animals such as tigers and snow leopards. This was followed by an entertaining audio visual presentation prepared by Gilly Linton of a recent trip to St Kilda which featured towering cliffs, lovely seascapes and abandoned buildings. The final presentation, another AV, had been prepared by Steve Jeffery. Steve is a keen mountaineer and adventurer and could not attend the meeting because he is apparently currently kayaking in the Antarctic. His presentation of stunning scenery in the Himalayas and other mountainous regions vividly illustrated his love of adventure and wild places. Altogether it was a very enjoyable evening.