The club held its final competition of the season with the presentation of the Annual Awards judged by Barbie Lindsay MPAGB ABPPA This represented the cream of members’ photography over the last year. Results were as follows:Colour Slides: Best pictorial was won by Barry Henshaw with a slide entitled ‘Harvesting Barley, India’. Barry also won the portrait class with a shot of a Vietnamese food vendor. 1st in the record class and best overall slide was a fine study of a Cheetah by Terry McDonald.Mono prints: Best entry level was ‘Trafalgar 200’ by Simon Bromwich, best record was won by Bruce Gray with a striking image of the Sydney monorail; best pictorial was ‘Frosty Morning by Pat Frewin who also won portrait and best overall print with ‘Violin Mime Artist’.Colour Prints: Best entry level record was a picture of the Louvre after dark by Colin Birch and best record was a close up of a spider by Pat Frewin. The portrait class was won by Terry McDonald with ‘Masai Herd boy, and in the pictorial class Colin Birch won entry level with ‘Atlantic Coastline’, but best in class was an evening shot of the Tyne bridges taken with a wide-angle lens from the new Millennium bridge by Bruce Gray.Dennis Clarke thanked Barbie Lindsay for the high standard of her judging.Regular meetings at Moulsham Mill will resume in September but the club will hold a number of visits and occasional practical sessions throughout the summer.
The club held its last competition of the season on the theme of After Dark judged by Ken Payne. Entry level colour print was won by Colin Birch with ‘Montmartre in Winter’. In advanced level mono Malcolm MacGregor scored 10 with ‘Constellation of Bats’ and best print was a nocturnal shot of the Sage music centre in Gateshead by Bruce Gray. In advanced colour Pat Frewin scored 10 with ‘Light Trails’ and Bruce Gray had 3 top scoring pictures one of which showing the River Tyne Millennium Bridge was best picture.Entry level slide was won by Colin Birch with a study of a car, and at advanced level Barry Henshaw gained 10 marks with a colour pattern image. Melvyn Frewin also scored 10 with a shot of night fishing in Madeira but best slide was a contre jour beach scene by Pat Frewin.
Micky Andrews gave a slide lecture entitled ‘Insects in their Natural Habitat. This was a beautifully photographed record of many species including lesser known ones indigenous to Essex.
This evening the club enjoyed a slide-tape presentation of some of the more outstanding images from last year's London Salon of Photography exhibition. A lively debate ensued on these sometimes controversial pictures.We also were pleased to see a panel of 15 mono images showing erosion on the east coast which had secured member Bruce Gray the accolade of becoming an ARPS . Bruce was congratulated by the club for his achievement.
An evening of practical demonstrations in Photoshop techniques for improving digital photos. As before this was conducted by club president Barry Collin who has thoroughly mastered the software and members were shown many valuable tips and procedures for getting the best results from their photography. The methods described, and many others, are on the club's website together with lots of other information about the club. Just type 'Chelmsford Camera Club' into your browser window and a search will get you there.
The Club held its annual panel-of-three competition prints for the Burley Cup. The invited judge was Harold Mousley LRPS , recently moved to Essex and widely acknowledged to be an accomplished judge.He explained that a successful panel is like a milking stool on 3 legs. All three have to be the same length for the stool to fit well together.Of the 22 entries, highly commended were Figures in Mist (Barry Henshaw) for subtlety, Falling into Autumn (Andrew Pickess) for an Acer leaf through the season and Swan Lake (Ann Burley) for a swan with wings outstretched in different poses. In second place came Rocks and Water, Cornwall (Pat Frewin) for softness of flowing water over hard rocks. In first place, winning the cup, was Bruce Gray who presented Thames Estuary in three matching prints with the magical light of misty mornings.
Slide competition No. 5 was judged by Heather Clarke DPAGB from the Icon group. Results were as follows:In entry level, best slide scoring 10 marks was a well lit study of a guitar by Colin Birch.In advanced level, four slides achieved a top score. These were:' Portuguese Man' by Melvyn Frewin,' Happy Food Vendor' by Barry Henshaw, 'Boreal Shield' by Terry McDonald, and 'Trebarwith Strand,' a sweeping landscape by Pat Frewin which was judged best slide.Paul Beko thanked Heather for her eye for detail and knowledgeable approach.
The club welcomed Marilyn Steward ARPS of Edmonton camera club who gave a talk illustrated with prints on her introduction to club photography and her progress over the first five years. We saw a selection of her images which showed that she was an inventive darkroom worker and outstanding were pictures of sporting events where movement and athletic prowess had been neatly captured.Club chairman Dennis Clarke thanked Marilyn and commented on her skill and range of abilities.
The club welcomed Joy and Mike Hancock from Sheringham who gave us an entertaining show of their recent prints. Particularly impressive were a number of panoramas which had been assembled from several images, the most unusual being a vertical panorama of Bridgnorth in Shropshire. Paul Beko thanked Mike and Joy for an excellent display of prints.
Joe Dodgson ARPS gave a slide show of scenes in and around Windsor. The club enjoyed a detailed photographic 'tour' of the area which included the pomp and ceremony surrounding the castle. A special bonus was reserved for the end when Joe showed some atmospheric nocturnal shots of steam locomotives at Didcot. Joe was thanked by club chairman Dennis Clarke.
This evening the club initiated a new programme of instructional evenings with a digital photography session conducted by Barry Collin which explored the mysteries of Photoshop and Elements software. The evening was a success and 25 members attended.These sessions take place in the church hall in Writtle and the next one on the 8th May will deal with photographing small objects and will e conducted by Arnold Cleaver.Due to demand, the second digital instruction evening has been brought forward to Wednesday April 12th at Moulsham Mill.
This evening, the club held a print competition which was judged by Elaine Allen LRPS of Harlow. Results were as follows:- Best print in entry level colour was 'Winter Lay-up' by Simon Bromwich coring 10 marks. In advanced level mono Bruce Gray gained 10 marks with 'Waiting at the Church' and also 'Sea Defence Failure' the latter being best picture.Advanced level colour was keenly contested by many high quality entries, no fewer than 12 of which scored 9.5 marks. However Ann Burley was awarded 10 for a pattern picture entitled 'Sand', and 10 was also given to Malcolm MacGregor for a winter shot of a Robin, and a landscape with human interest called 'A kiss on the beach' which was awarded Best Print.Club president Barry Collin led the vote of thanks for Elaine.
On Sunday, 12th of February the club hosted the 2006East Anglian Federation AGM and Slide Championship at the Latton Bush centre in Harlow. This is a major event in the photographic calendar and a team of club members worked hard to make the day a success.After the AGM in the morning the afternoon was given over to the slide competition which was contested by 30 clubs from East Anglia. At the end of the first round Chelmsford were placed ninth equal with two other clubs but were eliminated on a tie-break from the finals which were won by the Beyond Group. This contest reflected a high standard of entry and judges Vic Attfield, Mike Chambers, and Roger Parry awarded the marks with considerable skill.On 22nd of February the club presentation was a slide show assembled from the best entries from 15 participating areas of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain. Here also a high standard prevailed.
The club held a slide competition. This was to be judged by Nick Berentzen from Harlow but on this occasion we got two judges for the price of one since Nick was unavoidably delayed which resulted in club president Barry Collin stepping into the breach for the first half of the evening.The results were as follows: in the Entry Level there was one slide with a score of 10 which was a colourful shot of a pair of buses in Guatemala by David Whiteing.At Advanced Level scores of 10 were achieved by Melvyn Frewin with two images, one of a Scottish stream, and the other a view of traditional stone barns in the Yorkshire Dales.In contrast, Barry Henshaw had two top scoring slides of scenes in south east Asia, the first of which showed a woman winnowing rice, but the second was a striking high relief image of rice fields and terraces and this was adjudged best slide of the evening.Paul Beko led the vote of thanks and paid tribute to both judges.
On 2nd February the Club was delighted to be the winner of the 9-club Essex Interclub Transparency Competition with the accolade of best slide being awarded to Pat Frewin for 'Rock Faces'.On the 8th February widely travelled lecturer John Yateman presented his slide talk with 280 top class colour slides. Starting with famous Paris landmarks from 1999 onwards, we enjoyed Versailles, Monet's garden. Loire, Mont Blanc, Wetzlar, Avignon, through a little-known region of Italy, then Egypt, New York from unusual angles, Australia and finally Thailand.Accompanying the slides we learned many details of Western Australia and its wildlife, Thailand and its elephants, hill tribes, longneck ladies and the floating markets that never miss the tourists.Dennis Clarke gave the vote of thanks for a first class evening.
The lub was treated to a presentation by two of our members David and Brigitte Whiteing depicting the Palaces of Rajasthan. David showed us a magnificent selection of slides featuring the architectural treasures of this region of India and these were ably augmented by a beautifully printed album which Brigitte had prepared from her own photos. The evening was a success and this well travelled husband and wife team were warmly thanked by club chairman Dennis Clarke.The annual Chelmsford v Colchester print and slide 'battle' had taken place in Colchester the day before when entries were judged by Barbie Lindsay MPAGB AFIAP . This proved to be an evenly matched cliff-hanger but when the final scores were counted Chelmsford, led by rnold Cleaver had held the opposing team to a draw, the result being 15 all.
This evening marked a new departure for the club when it held its first projected digital image competition, judged by Yvonne Jackson ARPS . The following images were awarded 10 marks: - 'Strawberry Delight' by Pat Frewin, 'Laser,' a study of an Alsatian by Joe Oherlihy, 'Alnmouth Beach' by Bruce Gray, and an ingenious Photoshop image entitled 'Distorted Pencils' also by Pat Frewin which was adjudged to be best image of the evening. Club chairman Dennis Clarke thanked Yvonne for the skill she had displayed in assessing a new form of competition.
We welcomed Colchester photographer Roger Hance FRPS who presented an evening of is prints. These covered an astonishing range of subjects including figure studies and dramatic mono images taken at pop concerts. But it was clear that Roger's first love is natural history and wildlife and it was easy to appreciate the art, and also great patience involved in obtaining such pictures, the majority of which represented traditional dark room skills at their best. Arnold Cleaver praised Roger for demonstrating perfection in so many areas of photography and thanked him for an entertaining evening.
The club held a combined slide and print competition on the theme "In The Street", which was judged by Patrick Higham. Results were as follows: In entry level, best slide scoring 10 marks was 'Manhattan Streets' by David Whiteing. Two slides scored 10 at advanced level, the best being 'Look Before you Cross' by Bob Scott with 'Caricature Artist' by Pat Frewin a close runner up. Entry level colour print was won by Colin Birch with 'Kathmandu Snake Charmers', and advanced level mono saw Pat Frewin take the honours with 'Florentine Mime Artist'.Pat also displayed her prowess in advanced level colour print with 'Tuscany Street Artist' and 'Boom Boom!' both of which scored 10, the last named being best print. Club Chairman Dennis Clarke thanked Patrick for his skilled adjudication.
Elaine Allen CPAGB, LRPS gave a talk with slides about her travels in Namibia. This proved to be an interesting evening and Elaine had prepared a show which covered a wide cross section of life in that country with emphasis on the wildlife and geography. Lions, giraffes and elephants featured but most striking were her images of wind swept sand dunes in the desert coastal regions. Club chairman Dennis Clarke thanked Elaine for an entertaining evening, and for giving us such a first class insight into the diversity of the country.
The club enjoyed a photographic presentation by members Mike and Ursula Fuller (with commentary by Mike) on the Orang-utans of the Tanjung Puting area of orneo.This digital slideshow had a strong conservation theme and we learned of the efforts to maintain the habitat of this dwindling and threatened species in the face of illegal logging and gold-mining activities which have destroyed so much of the natural forest, and placed the remaining Orang-utans in great jeopardy. We were shown the effects of this, but more heartening were the images of successful attempts at conservation and of course a splendid set of close-ups of the creatures themselves. Club chairman Dennis Clarke thanked Mike and Ursula for the excellent photography and for describing the situation with such clarity.
This evening the club welcomed back favourite Tony Rye who gave us a slide lecture on Mali. This West African country, fourth poorest in the world, operates a basic subsistence economy where most houses are built of mud and the dugout canoe is still the principal means of transport. Many of Tony's images indeed provided food for thought as we enter the festive season in a land of plenty. Most memorable was a moving a/v sequence of sunsets and big African skies, set to the rhythms and beats of renowned local musician Ali Farka Toure. Club chairman Dennis Clarke thanked Tony for good photography which had given us a real insight into life in Mali.
The third print competition of the season was judged by Brian Willett LRPS from Hornchurch.The results were as follows:-In entry level mono best print with a score of 10 was 'Vintage Steam' by Simon Bromwich. Best in entry level colour was 'Sunset at Instow' by Ken Dawe with 9 marks.In advanced level mono 'Beach at Wells next the Sea' by Mike Daly,' East Gill Falls' by Pat Frewin, 'Bikes and Bits' by Melvyn Frewin all scored 10, but best print was 'Angles' by Melvyn Frewin also with 10 marks.Advanced colour was contested by many high quality images of which 'Veined White Butterfly' by Mike Daly and 'Persian Leopard' by Dennis Clarke gained 10 marks, best print being 'The Long Run Home' by Andrew Pickess also scoring 10.Club president Barry Collin thanked Brian for giving the club consistent and constructive opinions throughout the evening.
The club hosted the annual friendly 'battle' with the Benfleet club. Each club showed a total of 18 mono and colour prints and our efforts were judged by Nick Berentzen from Harlow.The outcome was a win for Benfleet but by the smallest possible margin, Benfleet scoring 160 to our 159.5 and also managing to secure the judges accolade for best print in both colour and mono.Following this cliff-hanger, club chairman Dennis Clarke thanked Nick for appraising the pictures in a very professional manner.
Garry Coward-Williams, editor of the magazine 'Amateur Photographer' gave us an evening of slides and a fascinating personal commentary to go with them. Garry's entry to the world of photography was an unusual one:-As a 14 year old schoolboy armed with a borrowed camera he had managed to talk his way into the film crew shooting episodes of the 'Sweeney' in his native Acton and this had resulted in a fine collection of candids and portraits of John Thaw, Dennis Waterman and other cast members of this iconic TV series. Bitten by the bug, Garry took a career path which led him via commercial photography into journalism and ultimately to the hot seat at Amateur Photographer, and in the second half of his presentation we were treated to many revealing insights into his life at the helm of the UK's premier photo journal. Club secretary Paul Beko thanked Garry for an outstanding evening.
The club welcomed Bernard Smith of Upminster to judge the second slide competition of the season. In entry level Bernard awarded 10 marks to Simon Bromwich and also to Sheila Binns whose colourful image of sunrise at Renvyle Bay was best slide. In the advanced section 10 marks went to Barry Henshaw, Arnold Cleaver and Bob Scott. The latter had two top scoring slides and one of these which showed two women in conversation in a picturesque street was best slide. Club secretary Paul Beko thanked Bernard for his helpful and entertaining comments.
The club hosted a presentation from veteran photographer and AV consultant Mike Woolnough entitled 'My Way with Prints'.In an entertaining evening Mike took us on a journey from the seventies up to the present day as he showed us his style of photography. Highlights were his many well observed reportage style portraits of the unusual and unexpected on the streets of London.Club chairman Dennis Clarke thanked Mike for reminding us all that photography had a lighter side and was there to be enjoyed. For reasons beyond its control the club regrets that the annual exhibition at Chelmsford Central Library will now have to close two days earlier on the 10th November.
The club held a print competition which was judged by Marilyn Steward ARPS CPAGB from Enfield. Results were as follows: - Entry level: Alan Homer was awarded 9 marks for 'Under Cover,' Colin Birch scored 9 ½ marks for a night picture of the Louvre and also 10 marks for 'Olympic Reflections' which was best picture. Advanced level mono: Pat Frewin gained 9 marks with 'Storks eye view,' Melvyn Frewin scored 9½ with 'Abstract Praia de Rocha' and best picture with 10 marks was 'Lindisfarne Castle' by Dennis Clarke. Advanced level colour: 9 marks went to Barry Collin for 'The Land of The Mountain and The Stream', 9½ each to Terry McDonald for 'Nasaro' and Eileen Gray with 'Two is Company.' Best picture with 10 marks was 'Tyneside Twilight' by Bruce Gray. Club chairman Dennis Clarke thanked Marilyn for the high standard of her judging.
The club presented a slide show which featured the best prints and slides from the 2005 exhibition held by the East Anglian Federation of Photographic Societies accompanied by a recorded commentary given by Gerry Metcalfe DPAGB .This represented the cream of the output of some 30 plus clubs and included entries from our own Melvyn Frewin, Barry Henshaw and Trevor Burley. Afterwards Arnold Cleaver led a discussion in the course of which it emerged that the highlights of the evening were some of the landscape images and in particular a superbly executed wildlife picture of three swans in flight.
The club held a slide competition which was judged by Martin Barnard from Basildon. Results were as follows:- Entry level: David Whiteing scored 9½ marks for 'United Nations Plaza' and best slide with 10 marks was 'Dhow Abu Dhabi' by Colin Birch. Advanced level: Out of a high quality entry 9½ marks were awarded to Paul Beko for 'Yellow Necked Spur Fowl' and Veronica Rice for 'Tropical Bird Galapagos'. 10 marks went to Pat Frewin for 'Swaledale,' Barry Henshaw for 'Cycling Vietnam,' Malcolm Macgregor for 'Teasle' and Bob Scott for 'Roadsweeper' the last named being best slide in category. Club secretary Paul Beko thanked Martin for his contribution to the evening.
The club hosted a slide presentation from railway photographer David Eatwell entitled 'A Lifetime at the Lineside.'David showed the club a superb selection of steam train images from all over the world. Many exotic locations featured, including Java, Eritrea, Cuba, India and South Africa.Closer to home, Europe provided classic views with the more familiar hill shrouded outlines of the U.K.'s Settle to Carlisle route not being neglected.Member Simon Bromwich thanked David for an entertaining evening and commented that he had displayed extraordinary perseverance and skill in assembling such a collection of top quality photos.
Tonight, the first members print competition of the season was judged by Tony Estcourt of eigh-on-Sea. The results were as follows: - Entry level Mono:- 10 marks were awarded to Simon Bromwich for 'Trafalgar 200' a panoramic view of the recent warship gathering in the Solent. Entry level Colour:- Steve Baxter gained 9 marks for 'Leopard' and Simon Bromwich 10 each for 'Charmouth Surfboarder' and 'Dungeness', a sun drenched view of that well known isolated beach which was also best print in category. Advanced level Mono:- 2 prints scored 9 marks. These were 'Icebergs' by Malcolm Macgregor and 'Protector of Gateshead' by Bruce Gray. Bruce also did well with a striking image of a bridge with reflections which netted 9½ marks as did 'Cooling Towers Lincolnshire' for Pat Frewin. Best print in this section awarded 10 marks was 'Creative Fingers' by Malcolm Macgregor, a high key image of hands cradling a crafted disc. Advanced level Colour:- 'Scottish Sea' by Arnold Cleaver gained 9 marks as did 'Porthmellon Beach' by Dennis Clarke. 10 marks went to Pat Frewin for 'Rock Faces' but best 10 was 'Quality Time', a beach scene imbued with subtle pastel hues by Bruce Gray. Club chairman Dennis Clarke thanked Tony for his high standard of judging and in particular for emphasising the technical qualities of the prints entered.
Maggie Tear LRPS CPAGB gave a slide lecture entitled "Doing the Lambeth Walk".This talented photographer, a Londoner by birth, took us on a beautifully observed journey 14 Sept 2005 Thames-side London and presented a selection of slides which displayed the full diversity of her subject. Particularly memorable were moody images of light and shade in the Tate Modern, and strikingly realised views of Canary Wharf outlined against dark thunder clouds.In thanking Maggie, club president Barry Collin said that she had provided an excellent commentary to go with superb pictures. Many familiar parts of London were shown in a different light, bringing to life the vibrancy of both people and architecture in the city.
The club started its new season with an illustrated talk by Barry Freeman ARPS entitled "Wet and Dry".The title referred to Barry's personal progression from traditional darkroom printing to the latest digital techniques employing a computer and inkjet printer. Members were treated to many superb landscape images employing both disciplines from this award winning photographer, which strongly featured the broad expanses of sky so familiar to those who know East Anglia.In thanking Barry, club chairman Dennis Clarke paid tribute to Barry's stunning eye for detail and the dramatic scenes and skies which he had photographed.