The club held its Annual Awards evening which gave everyone the opportunity to see the season’s best images. Fifteen trophies in total were awarded for prints, slides and digital images, chosen from about 250 entries by Russell Lindsay from Ipswich. The best mono and colour prints overall were both by Trevor Burley, and Mark Elvin won both trophies for the best overall entry level mono and colour prints. Ann Burley won the Digital Annual Trophy and Paul Beko won the President’s Cup for the best slide. This will be the last season for slide competitions as the number of entries has reduced to a very small number, while the entries for both print and digital competitions have increased substantially.
The Annual Exhibition will be held in the atrium outside the library in Chelmsford during the last two weeks of August by kind agreement with Essex County Council. The prints shown will be selected from those considered for the Annual Awards so it should be well worth a visit.
The annual Audio Visual (AV) competition was held this week, judged by Malcolm Tinn who made some very encouraging comments as he reviewed the entries. Each AV was the result of a considerable amount of work and this was appreciated by the audience. The winner this year was Andrew Pickess with a sequence showing the beach at Dungeness. Second was Life on Earth by Stuart Bultitude who also composed his own accompanying music, and third was Colin Birch with an AV of China.
The presenter this week was Dudley Chignal from Witham. After taking early retirement he decided to go to New Zealand and his talk was an illustrated record of a two-month adventure in some of the wilder parts of that country. There were lots of images and Dudley’s dry humour made the show all the more enjoyable, so the evening went very quickly. It was announced that the club had won two external competitions in the preceding week. Firstly, the Maldon Challenge against twelve other clubs was won by a single point, and secondly, the Chelmsford Area Photographic Societies’ digital competition, won by the even narrower margin of half a point.
The annual competition to produce the best panel of six prints was held this week, admirably judged by Naomi Saul from Shillington. The entries were all to a good standard but the best was judged to be a panel entitled Mystic Forest – Madeira by Pat Frewin. In second place, Bruce Gray’s Lessons from Hiroshima was well received and third place went to Barry Henshaw with a monochrome panel entitled Slate Quarry Remains. Panels by Steve Docherty and Melvyn Frewin were highly commended.
At the regular meeting on Wednesday members enjoyed the images selected for the London Salon. This is more avant garde than most competitions so some of the images were challenging, but the standard was judged to be even better than last year and so it made a very enjoyable evening. The highlight of the week was an evening with Joe Cornish held on Friday at the Cramphorn Theatre. Joe is a world-renowned photographer famous for his landscapes, particularly those of Scotland and the north of England, and for his work for the National Trust. The large format camera defines the character of his work and this came through in the stunning images and audio visual presentations shown during the evening. Enthusiasts from camera clubs around Essex joined in and the event was a great success.
It was announced that the club came third at the annual Essex Inter-Club Competition at Leigh-on-Sea. This was not as good as last year, but Ann Burley was congratulated on winning the shield for the best image of the evening with a picture entitled Life Behind the Grill. This week the club held its fifth projected image competition of the season covering slides and digital images, ably judged by Graham Parry from Barking. In the digital category the winner was Mark Elvin with Rise, a monochrome image showing old and new architecture as the backdrop for a picture of an attractive young lady. Other images scoring full marks were Sunset Through the Reeds by Ann Burley, Sparkle in His Eye by Jo Jachimczyk, Blue Evening by Lolita Leistromaite and both On the Prowl and Carnevale by Ray Lawrence. The winner with the best slide was Colin Birch with a still life pattern picture entitled Natural Patterns.
The meeting last week took the form of a presentation on the Galapagos Islands by Mike and Ursula Fuller from Canvey Island. They are both keen photographers and were members of the club until recently. The presentation covered the topography and volcanic origins of the islands followed by the tremendous range of wildlife found there and the ever present threats to this fragile environment. There were some stunning images shown, made possible in part by the use of a small cruiser to get to the more inaccessible parts of the islands, but also due to the fact that the animals are amazingly tame. The usual telephoto lenses required for wildlife photography were not so necessary as a standard lens was all that was needed most of the time. The meeting was very well attended by members, plus visitors who had spotted the topic in the programme. It made a very enjoyable evening and may well encourage some to make the effort to visit the islands.
The final print competition of the season was held last week, judged by Barbie Lindsay from Ipswich who has judged at the club many times before and is always well received. Mike Hayward won the Entry Level Mono with ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ illustrating the recent weather in Essex, and Mark Elvin won the Entry Level Colour with ‘Killing Time’. The Advanced Level competitions were both won by Trevor Burley with a mono portrait entitled ‘Hope’ and a disturbing colour portrait entitled ‘Lady of Gujarat’.
Following this competition the print league was decided. In the mono league the Premier division was won by Ann Burley, the Advanced division by Ray Lawrence and the Entry Level division by Tony Mansfield. In the colour league the Premier division was won by Trevor Burley with an unassailable maximum points score. The Advanced division was also won by Ray Lawrence and at Entry Level there was a tie between Derek Cutts and Steve Docherty.
In addition to the regular weekly meetings the club also organises practical training evenings to help members to improve their photography. The last two were portrait sessions when members were able to take some professional-looking images.
We are the Champions! - Well, almost, as the club came second in both the print and digital image competitions at the East Anglian Federation of Photographic Societies championships held last week in Harlow. This is the best position we have achieved in these events and takes us into the national finals later this year. Congratulations go to Pat Frewin who organises the club’s external competitions. This week’s club meeting saw a presentation on nature photography by Barry and Liz Hatten. They showed some very good images and talked about the techniques and equipment used to take them. Also, rather than travelling to exotic parts of the world, these pictures were taken in the garden or local nature reserves, an encouragement for everyone to have a go.
The club held its fourth projected image competition of the season covering slides and digital images, ably judged by Ken Payne from Waltham Cross. Most entries were in the digital category as most members now take digital images. The winner here was Jo Jachimczyk with ‘Toddlers View of Life Through Alcohol’, a thought-provoking picture reflecting a difficult home environment. Narrowly missing the top spot were ‘Italian House’ by Stuart Bultitude, ‘The Mark of Time’ by Lolita Leistromaite, ‘Pharaoh’ by Tom Plucinski and ‘Photograph in Dunes’ by Eileen Gray. The winner with the best slide was Malcolm MacGregor with a picture entitled ‘Sunrise, Brighton Beach’.
Our annual battle with the Colchester Photographic Society took place this week. This is a very light-hearted competition where a representative from each club offers critical comment on the other’s entries. This quickly descends into little short of anarchy but order is ably restored by the judge, in this case, Harold Mousley, who sorts out the wood from the chaff and chooses the best images. It was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience made up of members from both clubs. In the end the result was very close with Chelmsford winning by a small margin.
The annual competition for the Burley cup was held this week and attracted a good number of entries. Members submitted panels of three prints that each had a theme to bring them together. The competition was judged by Eric Saul, a very experienced judge from the East Anglian Federation of Photographic Societies, and he helped to make the evening an entertaining and informative one. The winner of the trophy was Steve Docherty with a panel entitled “Footworks”, a set of pictures of dancers, digitally enhanced to give a multiple exposure effect, with an artistic use of colour to give the final images. Pat Frewin was second with “Sailing”, a set of seascapes, and third was Melvyn Frewin with “Turbulent Waters”, a set of images of torrents of water cascading over a waterfall.
This week’s meeting was a presentation by Colin Westgate FRPS who showed slides of some of his favourite places to illustrate more artistic approaches to photography. In particular, the quality of the light has a major impact on an image. This often involves getting up very early in the morning to catch the rising sun, or getting out in winter to capture images illuminated by weak sunshine, particularly if there is snow and ice about. Colin was only too happy to share his experience with members and so this made a very enjoyable evening.
There was a last minute change in the programme last week as the invited speaker had an accident and could not make it. Instead, members saw the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB) Projected Image Exhibition 2008, brought forward from later in the programme. This was a good opportunity to see some excellent images from clubs across the country affiliated to the PAGB and several of the entries accepted into the exhibition were by Chelmsford Camera Club members. The club also took the opportunity to show some images from the Rushden 2008 international exhibition and again the standard of work was excellent.
At the meeting members were entertained by a talk by Dave Weedon from Rayleigh on photography from Victorian times. He outlined the technical processes used and gave lots of examples of the work, but in particular, looked at the photographers themselves. He talked about their families, where they lived and worked, and highlighted the fact that these people may have been known for their photographs, but usually had “day jobs” for most of their income. This was an enjoyable and well illustrated talk showing a different side to the development of photography
Members enjoyed a print competition entertainingly judged by Heather Clarke from Bishops Stortford. She had quite a challenge as we had a record entry, particularly well supported by newer members. The best entry level colour print was ‘Barge Race, Maldon’ by Dave Bladon. The mono section was won by John Story with ‘Celebrations’. At advanced level a colour print entitled ‘Late for Prayers’ by Trevor Burley won the day with ‘High Chair’ by Ann Burley winning the top slot in mono. This was the third league print competition of the season so the leaders are starting to come through. In particular, Ann Burley is on the maximum possible points for colour prints whilst Trevor Burley is in the same position for colour prints.
Last week also saw one of the techniques workshops held on Thursday at the Bell Centre in Great Baddow. It showed how to bring together digital images and sound to produce an audio-visual presentation (how to make your holiday snaps more exciting). You can contact the camera club for more information by emailing Chelmsford@eafphotoclubs.co.uk
Chelmsford is a member of the East Anglian Federation (EAF) of photographic societies. At last week’s meeting members were able to see and comment on the images in the EAF’s 2008 portfolio. This forms the EAF’s submission to the national photographic competition held by the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB). Acronyms aside, it was a very enjoyable evening seeing photographs at this level, particularly as five club members had pictures included: Ann, Nick and Trevor Burley were successful, together with Pat Frewin and Barry Collin. Next Wednesday, 7.30 at Moulsham Mill, there will be a digital image presentation by Dave Weedon from Rayleigh. See www.chelmsfordcameraclub.info for more information on the club and its activities.
It was announced that Chelmsford had won two inter-club competitions, one at Halstead and the second at Basildon where we came away with the prestigious Basildon Bowl for prints and the trophy for slides. The club then commenced its second projected image competition of the season covering slides and digital images, ably judged by Caroline Mockett, an independent judge from Chelmsford. Competition was fiercest in the digital category as most members now take digital images. The winner here was Konrad Borysiuk with ‘The Gambler’, a picture of a suicidal cat daring to stray on to a railway line, closely followed by Annie Ringland with a landscape entitled ‘Approaching Winter’. The winner with the best slide was Colin Birch with an evening picture of the fountains at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. The club meets every Wednesday, 7.30 at Moulsham Mill and the next meeting is a print competition. New members are very welcome.