Mark lives in Redditch and is a Member of Redditch Photographic Society as well as DCC.  He has had many exhibition successes and awards, gaining distinctions from the RPS, PAGB, FIAP & BPE.

Mark will be showing us how he goes about taking a photograph.

Chris believes that we all see the world slightly differently. It is never his intention to mimic another photographer's shot, but to bring his own vision to bear to produce an individual and personal point of view.  His particular way of working is to identify something within a scene that interests him, and to represent that element strongly in relation to its surroundings.  When on location it is important to allow time for the creative process to take place, and let the subject speak to him. The interaction between him and the scene allows him to produce a personal response, and to record an image in such a way that it is visually appealing, simple, and reveals something of the feelings and emotions that he experienced when he fired the shutter.

MCPF Travelling Portfolio

A recorded presentation giving you an opportunity to see some of the best photography in the West Midlands.

Monthly Competition 6: 'Open' Prints and 'Macro' DPIs

Judge: Peter Preece

For the DPIs, you can enter any photograph which is a close up of any subject matter, possibly nature or manmade objects.

5 Way Interclub Competition: to be held at Stourbridge Photographic Society.

Ben Hall has gained worldwide recognition as one of Britain's foremost professional wildlife photographers.  His images are often surprising, always striking and ever striving to awaken people to the diversity of the natural world.  He is described by 'Living Edge' magazine as a "passionate and experienced wildlife photographer, with a perfectionist's eye for detail".

Nigel is an enthusiastic and very active wildlife and macro photographer. The workshop will introduce techniques which are used and practice some of these during the evening.  These will include focus stacking, lighting, composition in macro images, and soft focus techniques.

Martin is Cheltenham born and joined Cheltenham Camera Club as a teenager.  A retired Head Teacher, he has always been inspired by 'capturing the light' in his native county and the spectacular Cornish landscape.  He is renowned for his audio-visual presentations which he thinks is such a creative medium, giving the image maker the freedom to express ideas, share experiences or communicate a message.  Tonight he will give a practical demonstration of how to produce an AV and Members are encouraged to bring along their own laptops.

15 February 2018 (Thursday)

Interclub Competition against Stourport CC and Beacon CC: to be held at Beacon CC.

Monthly Competition 5: 'Low Light' Prints and 'Open' DPIs

Judge: John Hartshorne

Your DPIs should have been taken in low ambient light such as after sunset or at night, which requires special consideration such as the use of extended exposure times, a tripod or high ISO to obtain a correct exposure.  Entries can also include photographs taken indoors.

Terry has run this type of workshop at other clubs in the West Midlands.  He will first talk will be about the different flash models and modifiers and then do a live demonstration with a mannequin and use a projector to make it appear in real time on the screen so that everyone can see instant results.  The aim is to help everybody to be able to get stunning images using a single flash.

The Graham Trevor British Isles Landscape Competition

Judge:  Tony Winfield

Enter your Prints and DPIs taken anywhere in the British Isles (which includes Ireland, Great Britain, the Isle of Man, Shetland, Orkney, the Channel Islands and thousands of smaller islands) to try to win the trophy in memory of our late Member, Graham Trevor.

Lee was born in the UK but now lives in Canada where he runs 'Lutra Wildlife and Wilderness' with his wife, Lindsay Janes.  Both are guides who share a passion for wildlife, wilderness, photography and bringing people to exceptional places.  Lee is a professional ecologist, naturalist, photographer and writer with more than 10 years experience of guiding a wide variety of natural history tours all over the world but has a particular passion for the wildlife of the Pacific Coast.  Prior to relocating to Canada in 2014, he worked as an environmental educator and ecological consultant in the UK and has extensive experience of working closely with a wide variety of rare and protected species including bats and other small mammals.  He is an enthusiastic all round naturalist and a good bird watcher, with a great ear for finding birds in dense cover and a good eye for identifying them.  In his talk, Lee will be showing us some of his wildlife highlights from his guiding adventures in Canada and sharing with us some of the important considerations when working up close with some of Canada's iconic species.  

www.lutrawildlife.com

'Open' Prints and DPIs of 'Panels'

Judge: John Lacey

A panel (or digital portfolio) for the purposes of this competition is a single image containing a number of digital images which are related in some way to a common theme of your choosing. There should be a minimum of 3 images but no maximum, although more than 5 often looks too ‘busy’ and the images themselves are a bit small.  The final image should also contain the title and the background can also relate to the theme.

There is a detailed instruction of how to create a Digital Portfolio on the Tutorial page of the DCC website.

This talk argues that landscape photography should be considered an action genre and Claire will show many images and several AV presentations to illustrate this point.  She considers her own motion, the rotation of our planet and in particular how the forces of nature impact on landscape photography.  One AV is devoted to aurora photography.

Match That! The annual fun competition against the Vale of Evesham CC and Stratford Photo Group, to be hosted by VECC.

'People' Prints and 'Open' DPIs

Judge: Ken Hudson

The prints must have a person or people as the dominant element.  This can include formal or informal portraits, candid photographs or people doing things. 

Roger lives in Colchester, Essex, and joined Ipswich and District PS nearly 30 years ago and the RPS in 1985 where he progressed through LRPS and ARPS and gained notoriety in 1990 when he was awarded three FRPS's simultaneously in the Portrait, Applied and Pictorial sections.  He won the 'Amateur Photographer of the Year Award' in the AP magazine in 1990 and was invited to join the RPS Licentiateship Assessment Panel the following year and served on this for 8 years.  He took up Natural History Photography in 1993 and obtained his 4th FRPS in 1998 with a panel of prints of British Fungi. 

Interclub Competition against Kidderminster CC and Studley CC: to be held at Droitwich

Judge:  Michael Krier

This talk dispels some myths and investigates image manipulation through the ages and up to modern day.  It includes examples from yesteryear in the first half and goes through the processes involved in creating composite images using Photoshop in the second half.

Warren is based in Sutton Coldfield and will be presenting a wide selection of his photographs from his early days to the present.  These will include Architecture, Travel, Environment, Portraits, Sports, and Street Photography and will include many award wining photos.  In addition to this, he will be presenting photographs of a subject that has very rarely been photographed in any other photography club before.

'Mono' Prints and 'Open' DPIs

Judge: Graham Walton

The FIAP definition of a monochrome image is as follows:

A black and white picture varyingfrom a very dark grey (black) to a very clear grey (white) is a monochrome work with the various shades of grey in between.   A black and white work toned entirely in a single colour will remain a monochrome work able to stand in the black and white category.  A black and white work modified by a partial toning or by the addition of one colour becomes a colour work and is not eligible.

Johnnie is a retired teacher of photography and has been taking photographs for the last 45 years.  His love of nature began in Norfolk as a boy and developed after he moved to Bristol and then on to South Wales where he now judges and gives presentations for the Welsh Photographic Federation. 

This will start with a brief account of a long overland trip in the 70s to Yemen where Ian got involved in smuggling amongst other things.  He will then talk a bit about some other trips made in recent years including diving in Iceland, and with big sharks in S Africa, as well as trips to Tanzania, Madagascar, Brazil and the Amazon basin, Borneo and Sumatra.

Carl is based in Solihull in the West Midlands and teaches photography professionally.  This talk will offer a practical workshop in how to use Adobe Lightroom to process your digital images.  Members are encouraged to bring their own laptops (loaded with a demonstration version of the software) so that you can follow along the workflow.

www.teach-me-photography.co.uk

It's easy to find a multitude of opinions about the best camera, but how do you know if it's the best for you?  During the evening, Gareth will take you through a range of the latest cameras from point & shoot to professional DSLR's and provide advice on the pros and cons of each.  After the talk, there will be time for questions and help with your equipment as well as an opportunity to try the kit that he's brought along.

The DPIs must have shadows or the patterns created by shadows as the main subject.  They can be created by nature, people or buildings etc.  There can be an element of abstract in this providing it is obvious that shadows were the basis for the image.  Remember that reflections are not shadows.

Focusing on some less frequented destinations, highlights include a World Heritage site deep in the Libyan Sahara, a seaside resort full of ghosts in Cambodia, and a couple of active volcanoes in Java! Not to mention a close encounter with Eagle Hunters in Western Mongolia.

This is an opportunity for Club Members to bring along photographs they have printed to be reviewed by each other.

Andy’s photography was born from a love of roaming the North Yorkshire Coast and Moors of his early to mid teens resulting in the desire to record the scenes he enjoyed so much.
With a natural gift for art and drawing, Andy quickly took to ‘seeing’ through the lens and found an immediate ability to make compelling compositions.