This Thursday our evening walk will be at Sycamore Gap, weather permitting. The ground underfoot can be a bit rough on this walk so stout or walking shoes/boots would be recommended.  Please meet at Steel Rigg car park at 7.15pm.

This Thursday's summer walk will be Newcastle Quayside. Please meet at the Millennium Bridge at 7pm.

This Sunday's trip (12th May) will be to Butterfly World Stockton and the Tees Barrage. We have several confirmed attendees so if you wish to join us please meet at Butterfly World. Preston Park, Yarm Rd, EaglesCliffe. Stockton on Tees TS18 3RH. at 11am.
Adimission Prices  Adult £4.25   Concessions £3.75

A full list of 'Summer Walks' has now been compiled by Lauren and is available to view. Please click on the 'Summer Walks' heading above.

The first walk will be on Thursday 9th May, location being Durham Riverside. Please meet at the riverside DH1 5SY at 7pm.

A bus trip is planned for the 4th August to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Please inform Lauren, Colin or myself ASAP if you would like to go.

Many thanks to Lauren for her hard work in compiling these walks. I hope as many members as possible will join us.

​Bob Finlay (President) 

Don't forget that this Thursday (18th) is Presentation Evening.  This year it will be at the Plough (upstairs) and will include a buffet and quiz.
Any donations for the raffle will be gratefully accepted on the night.

In addition to Thursday's program listing Jim Meikle, acting as spokesperson for the Lighting Sub-Group will be giving a presentation of their findings and recommendation regarding the possible purchase by the club of studio type lighting equipment.

This evening (4th April) we were delighted to welcome back Phil Benton to Cramlington CC.
 
Phil, a member of South Shield P.S. Entitled his presentation ‘My View of the World’ and he commenced by showing mono images taken on Holy Island of St Aidans Church and Lindisfarne Castle followed by the thought provoking metal sculpture locally known as ‘Tommy’ showing how he often ‘breaks the rules’ by using a very shallow depth of field and close up focus to direct the viewers eye to parts of an image.
 
Moving on to colour images Phil showed us images of the iconic ‘Angel of the North’ taken from side on, not a composition normally used but very effective non the less. Moving north to lovely sunset images of Berwick, where Phil explained how he liked to keep the saturation down so as to retain the subtlety of the images by keeping the colours more muted. Many easily identified local landmarks followed including Alnwick Castle, Steetley Pier on a freezing cold day and St Mary’s Island, followed by locations a little further afield, like the famous Crosby Beach sculptures,  the old Forth Road Bridge, Glencoe and the Lake District.
 
Phil uses a Canon 5D Mk11, not the latest technology but, as Phil says, it’s not about having the latest ‘gear’ but making the most of  and understanding how to use what you have.
 
Although a passionate landscape photographer Phil showed he can turn his hand to more ‘creative’ work showing an image of The Angel of the North partly submerged in water in a different location. An image he titled ‘Out of Place’ that he was awarded 1st place in a competition. Another very successful image was a sunrise at the ‘Sage’ gaining a 3rd place in a worldwide competition. Phil was also awarded ‘Landscape Photographer of the Year’ by South Shields P.S. He can often be seen throughout the region at craft fairs and markets, where he sells his photographic products, part of his unique style is the variety of media he uses to print onto, based on his passion for landscape photography, much taken in and around the North of England.
 
 
Phil ended the evening with images taken on a trip to Iceland where he managed to capture stunning images of the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) frozen waterfalls and glaciers.
 
Phil stayed to answer questions from the members, who also had the opportunity to view samples of mounted prints and other items.
 
We thank Phil for once again providing an excellent evenings entertainment enjoyed by all.
 
Bob Finlay (President)
 
 
 ​

3rd Open Print Competition
Thursday 28th March saw the results of the last of this seasons Open Print Competitions judged by Gerry Adcock ARPS.
 
Gerry is External Competitions Secretary of Hexham & District Photographic Society and Competitions Officer for the NCPF. As well as judging competitions Gerry also gives talks on photography. Gerry’s photographic interests cover landscape, especially the Lake District, travel, street and people photography.

For tonight’s competition there were 19 mono entries and 21 colour entries covering a variety of subjects. Gerry provided positive feedback on each of the prints suggesting some areas where improvements could be made as well as suggestions on photographic techniques. 

Thank you to Gerry for judging the competition and to everyone who entered and congratulations to those who were placed or highly commended. 
​
A full list of the prints 'placed' and' highly commended' is shown below and to view the images, both mono and colour click ...(HERE)
 
Paul Dunn
(Print Competition Secretary)

Colour                                                             Mono
1) Doctor’s Orders           Paul Dunn                Sea Fret at Cambois Beach  Jim Meikle
2) Christmas Roses         Pauline Wilson       Steetly Bridge                          Alan Lockey
3)The Pattern Shop         Jim Meikle               Jack the Lad                           Alan Lockey
4) Tyne Sunset                 Alan Lockey             Past Present                           Pauline Wilson
5) South Pier                     Paul Dunn                Amble Pier                              Paul Dunn
 
 
Highly Commended
Cold Feet                          Alan Lockey             Dundas Street                          Jim Meikle
Pont Fawr Bridge            Jim Meikle                Full Moon                                 Paul Dunn
Fairy Glen                         Jim Meikle               Tide’s in at St Mary’s               Pauline Wilson

The results of the North Tyne PDI Competition hosted by Whitley Bay but held at North Shields on the 26th March were revealed. The judge for the competition was Dave Phillips.
Whitley Bay were the worthy winners.
​
The full points listings are shown below.

Whitley Bay          221
Gosforth               217
Tynemouth           213
Ponteland             213
Cramlington         210
North Shields       210
Wallsend               203

​Chris Crane Cup
 
This evening (21st March) the Chris Cane Cup was held for the fourth time. Chris, a much loved and missed member of the club, was a skilled photographer and his passions for wildlife, nature & engineering were again the main topics for this year’s entries.
 
Our judge for the evening was Mark Harrison. Mark is now Chairman of Morpeth Camera Club but was once a valued member of Cramlington CC.
 
 There were 41 images for Mark to assess and with four that had particularly caught his eye there was a difficult choice to make. The winner was Lauren Ashleigh with her image titled “Poser". This was a repeat of last year when Lauren won with “Winterland”. 
Chris’s partner of many years, Ann, presented the cup which was accepted by Colin Livingston on Lauren’s behalf.
 
Many congratulations to Lauren and to all who entered the competition. Thanks to Mark for taking the time and effort to judge the competition and come up with a worthy winner. 
 
Iain Chambers (PDI Secretary)

  Lauren's winning image 'Poser'

 As Lauren was unable to attend Colin is seen here receiving the trophy from Ann on her behalf.