11th September - Places, projects and pictures

​Dave Dixon, a member of Alnwick & District Camera Club, was introduced by Colin Livingstone. Colin explained that Dave presents himself as specialising in rural and landscape photography and with having an interest in guitar playing which Dave says, "may contain traces of competence".
 
Dave opened his presentation with a number of photographs of the five 4,000-year-old  Duddo Stones which are not too far from where he lives. Dave explained the difficulties of achieving a good composition including all 5 stones. He finds that each of his many visits to the stones provides the opportunity for him to produce a different photograph, due to the changing seasons, light, weather, seasons, skies etc plus his own use of different filters and post processing. Dave went on to show many high-quality rural landscape photographs from Northumberland. Dave also included many shots of urban landscapes, mainly from Newcastle and his many photography trips to London. Members commented on the absence of people in Dave's London images, often taken in subways and underground stations, and he explained that they are mainly captured early in the morning or late at night. 
 
Dave shared with us a number of "grungy" images which he had taken in Antwerp Mansion near Manchester. This is an historic, run-down, gothic-style building which was very grand when it was constructed in 1840 but later fell into disuse and was then used as a nightclub for the local underground music scene. Dave has rented part of this building for a few hours, and his fascinating photographs provide evidence of its various uses over the years, including its recent and periodic neglect.   
 
Dave's photographs revealed a great deal of variety in his work and in his thinking. He often uses a tripod for long exposure images, photographing in both colour and monochrome. Many of his photographs use a square format but he also employs landscape and portrait perspectives. His main camera is a Canon DSLR, but he often takes opportunistic photographs using his Google Pixel camera phone. Dave showed us macro images he had taken, using both his DSLR and phone, of various insects. He also takes on projects using various themes: an example of this was the shots he showed us of motorway service station walkways.    

Although Dave specialises in rural and landscape photography, he demonstrated to us that his portfolio contains an eclectic mix of images. After the meeting, including in the pub, the view was that we had been well entertained by Dave's talk although many of us had reservations about spending time alone in London's subways late at night!
 
Ray Barnes
CCC Programme Secretary