13th February 2017

Exchange Visit to Ponteland Photographic Society.
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Last night saw Cramlington Camera Club visit to Ponteland on the return leg of our joint exchange.
We where made very welcome by our hosts and after the formalities of introductions by both Ponteland members and myself we got into our presentations.
We started off with a display of prints by Derek Parker, starting with the wild Hare and its sad decline in the countryside, followed by  some of his bird shots and travel photographs from Thailand; each with a humorous  anecdote describing the shot or a bit of history about  the area.
 
This was followed by two AV productions from Alec Cowley, a short 3 minute "jigsaw" piece showing views of the north east then a longer tour around the interior of Cragside Hall in Northumberland accompanied  by some classical music.  Alec gave a brief description of his "style" of photography at the end.
 
Next up was Jamie who took us on a tour of sports venues in Scotland, showing and explaining the complexities of getting "that action" shot of the athlete.  Whether it be a mountain biker trying to overtake or young downhill skier taking a sharp bend, also some fun shots of the water  jumps at Belsay Hall Championship. Finishing off with some landscape shots.
 
Bill Stephens came next with a storyboard of his photography and how he liked to manipulate the original image to the final version that he had envisaged. Everything from desolate bridges in the lakes that suddenly enjoy the presence of sheep or horses to canal side warehouses with the lights on or off. Also a selection of oil and watercolour conversions of some images.
 
Following on, Margaret Stephens showed a short selection of her photography. Margaret likes to work with still life and occasional landscape but using similar methods of manipulation and "her vision" creates some stunning art work with her photography.
 
Winding up the presentations was Ian Leask, with his collection of aeronautical images from air museums and air shows.  Primarily Canadian and giving a brief history of the aircraft and its location.
 
Thanks to all our members for their time and also Alan Tailford who came with us but due to time limitations kindly dropped his presentation.
 
At the end of the evening Ponteland thanked us for our work and the variety of images and styles. We then got together with each other to talk about the images over tea and cake.
 
Colin Livingstone
Secretary