It has been a difficult time for clubs such as Keswick Photographic Society which have been unable to meet since the imposition of lockdown in March. The last few meetings of our 2019/2020 season had to be cancelled together with our summer social programme. Our 2020/21 programme, which normally commences in September, has also been substantially altered. In common with many other organisations, Keswick Photographic Society is now using Zoom to hold meetings. We successfully held our postponed AGM on 5th August and this was followed by an appraisal of members’ images.
At the AGM it was agreed that we would reduce our annual subscription to £25 in recognition of the changes to next season’s programme and because we will be unable to meet in person for the next few months.
The Society was again successful over the last year in regional, national and international competitions. In the Northern Counties Photographic Federation Annuals Competition 2020 Keswick was awarded the Myles Audas Trophy for several years in succession. This is awarded for the best club entry of projected digital images. Two members were also awarded trophies for their individual entries. Alan Walker was awarded the Bryan Gilbert Trophy for the best portrait and Tony Marsh won the Vickers Trophy for the best natural history image. National competitions are organised by the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain and three members achieved success in the 2020 competitions held in January. Bronze medals were awarded to Ken Rennie for Best Landscape Print, to Keith Snell for Best Family in the nature competition and to Julie Walker. The Society also competes in two international competitions organised by the Photographic Society of America in which clubs from around the world compete against one another. In the Open competition Keswick finished in third place in group A and in the Nature competition we achieved fifth place also in group A.
The AGM would normally be followed by the presentation of trophies to the winners of the club’s internal competitions but of course this was not possible. However, the winners were announced. Alan Walker was awarded the Photographer of the Year trophy, he also won both the Print and Digital Image leagues. Julie Walker was awarded the Portfolio of the Year Trophy for digital images. The Society also holds a short sets competition each year and Deborah Tippett won the Stills section while Richard Jakobson won the Audio-Visual section. Richard Jakobson was also awarded the Chairman’s Award for his work in facilitating Zoom meetings. Finally, Marilyn Woodthorpe was awarded the Trophy for the most improved Photographer.
Following the AGM members’ images were appraised by three of the club’s more experienced photographers, Alan Walker, Keith Snell and David Woodthorpe. Members had been invited to submit up to three new images each and in total 53 images by 18 different authors were appraised. There was a wide selection of subjects including landscapes, natural history, townscapes, people and travel and there was a good mix of colour and monochrome images. The three appraisers gave their views in turn on each image and were, in the main, in agreement although there were some differences of opinion in a few cases. The evening was aimed at assisting members to improve their images and therefore the comments were constructive and helpful advice was given on how images could be improved. Those that were felt to be particularly strong included Wren by Gordon Train, Lion by Julie Walker, Il Pleut, a monochrome image of the Eiffel Tower and people passing by in the rain, by Sue Longstaff, Going with the Flow ,a beautiful image of flowing peaty water, by Tony Melling, Young Grizzly in Downpour by Carol Mink , Mallard Duckling by Tony Marsh and Autumn Mist by Ken Rennie. There were many more but it is not possible to mention them all here. An edited recording of the evening can be viewed via the link below:
Keswick Photographic Society’s friendly members welcome both beginners and expert photographers, either as new members, or as guests, to their meetings and we have set up a mentoring scheme to help everyone improve their photography. We normally meet at the Friends Meeting House, Elliot Park, Keswick, CA12 5NZ, which is opposite the Booths car park, on Wednesday evenings at 7.30 p.m. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, our meetings will be held via Zoom for the foreseeable future.
Our next meeting will be held on Thursday 27th August. The evening will be held jointly with the Reflex Camera Club from Bristol and presentations will be given by six of their members and six of ours. Each presenter will choose ten of their own images to talk about for a maximum of ten minutes in total. Details of our programme can be found on our web site www.keswickphotographicsociety .co.uk.
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