Blandford Forum Camera Club

This topic has now produced its 11th comment, shown below, and I have taken the liberty of starting a second thread to make it easier to follow (and possibly contribute) for those members who are interested in, and concerned about, this important subject.
Keith

Last evening Colin asked how many members regularly access the web site; he also mentioned contributions and comments by members.

I didn’t see how many hands were raised in response to the first question but I guess maybe half, or less, of the membership. I do, however, know the answer to the question of contributors and it’s about the same as the fingers I have on one hand, which is five. No, I lie, there are now 6, welcome aboard Peter. In comparison with most of the population who are very seriously into web related communication and very ready to put their personal lives on facebook etc. why are you so reluctant to take an interest in this means of sharing thoughts about your club and your hobby?

I suppose there are a few of the more ‘mature’ members who just can’t be bothered with this new fangled stuff and I’ll let you off. However we have an increasing number of members who look young to me although that may not be a reliable basis for judgement. At the danger of conflating the two issues, (regularly accessing the site and commenting) could it be that Malcolm and I (who produce most of the content) are considered too remote and part of the ‘establishment’ and therefore distant from the ‘normal’ membership? Surely not; I am firmly anti-establishment and Malcolm far too nice although quite prepared to speak his mind when the occasion demands.

My brother David made an interesting comment about the running of the club which he apparently sees (I think this is correct) as something a bit remote, conducted by others who apparently meet, discuss and make decisions and have little relationship to many of the members. Maybe a bit like a bus that we regularly use, get on and off but have no idea of the ultimate destination or the route.
If members were a little more aware of, and felt more involved in, the running of the club and if club business was reported on the web site, would more of you feel involved and take an interest?
Over the next week or so (now complete please call me if I have missed you) I will try and register every member on the site and provide the password necessary so you can comment, when this is done I will email you individually together with instructions. I may be wasting my time but please prove me wrong.

I conclude with an invitation to the Committee to report on your deliberations in respect of how ‘Points Cup’ numbers will be restrained (if this becomes necessary) and the quality of judge’s comment improved.

Discuss.
Keith

On Tuesday 3^rd January, at the first club meeting since the Christmas break, we welcomed Tony Worobiec who gave us fascinating presentation on ‘Night and low-light photography’.  This was essentially based on his eponymous book that first appeared in 2009 and deals with the subject in very great detail.  In fact, unless one’s special interest here is the night sky and star trails, the book (and the talk) covers pretty much all one could wish to know. 

When viewed on the screen it was difficult to believe that such splendidly detailed images could be produced in lighting conditions that often required the photographer to use a torch when moving to and from a particular viewpoint.  Furthermore, in landscapes and in the absence of artificial light, images possess a quality of luminosity and colour quite different from that obtained during daylight hours.  Although this is presumably to be expected because the colour of the light illuminating the subject is so very different, the nature and quality of these images have to be seen to be properly appreciated.

Tony is a gifted communicator and the evening flew by as he gave this talk that was special in the sense that it dealt in detail with an aspect of photography with which relatively few of us are very familiar.  Many of us left fired with an enthusiasm to try something different.  Time will tell …

Malcolm Bowditch

In recent times, it has been SAPA practice to invite viewers of the exhibition, mainly shoppers at the Dolphin Centre, to vote for their favourite picture from those on display and – as you will know – Colin Cross received the most votes for his picture of an owl. As an acknowledgement, Colin was presented with the trophy (also of an owl as it happens but it’s perpetual and therefore always is) at the SAPA individual’s slide competition held at Bournemouth Electric on 9th November by the judge for the evening, Leo Rich. The picture shows Colin on the right holding his award-winning picture in one hand and Leo’s hand in the other. At what was clearly quite a challenging moment, Leo is also holding the trophy and the certificate immediately prior to the presentation.

Malcolm Bowditch

Digital camera courses are scheduled as follows:

Courses for beginners, are to be held in the Club House from 7:30 to 10:00 pm on the following dates:

January 11, 18, 25,

February 1, 8, & 15

Full details of the courses and application form can be found on our
Current Courses page

Reading Malcolm’s review of last Tuesday evening and conversing about the event with others prompted a number of thoughts.

Have so many images been entered for a ‘Points Cup’ evening before? And isn’t it great that so many of our members are contributing images? Then, I thought, just imagine if all of our members each produced 3 images for one points cup evening, what would we do then?

Then I got to reflecting on related matters. Over the years, slide entries have declined, prints as well and DPI’s have come from nowhere 2 or 3 years ago assisted by the Lottery’s generosity. Could it be that slides will disappear next year and prints gradually decline while DPI’s prosper? And does it matter?

To the last question, well yes, I think it does. It seems to me that producing a print takes a different order of commitment (and cost, which cannot be disregarded). And I have heard it expressed that an image, not quite good enough to produce a print from, can still make a very acceptable DPI.
I would argue that more is learnt, and ones abilities, artistically and technically, developed through the practice of producing satisfying prints, and reflecting on the result, than putting an image on a memory stick. On the other hand it is much to be preferred that members contribute images for projection rather than not produce prints; also, as mentioned above, the cost of printing and mounting an image cannot be ignored. To conclude this point I would urge members who only contribute DPI’s to have a go at prints as well…….and I appreciate that many members do both.

But getting back to the main issue which is that number 101 (and my title). are the points cup competitions only to produce ‘winner’s’ at the end of the season?
If so then the judging could be done, with plenty of time, during the week before. On the points cup evening the images could be displayed and the marks called out and it wouldn’t matter if we had 150 entries.

On the other hand, if, as well as the competitive bit, (aren’t we all a bit?) we expect the judge to provide a considered critique of our images and so help us improve and ‘grow’ photographically, then a reasonable time must be provided for the judge to consider a response to each image. Is it fair to the judge, and the member whose image is being considered, for a situation like last Tuesday to be repeated?

So what are the options? Only two come to my mind:
Limit the number of images to 2 each (which I would much rather not happen), or how about starting points cup evenings at 7 rather than 7:30; after all many members already arrive by 7 anyway.

Don’t other members have similar thoughts and concerns……..what do you think? I guess this subject will be on the next committee agenda; in the meantime, it is our club……. how about sharing your thoughts.
Keith