​A list of the 'Summer Walks' for this year have been listed in the 'Summer Walks' section of this website.
Please check in on a regular basis to the 'News' section of the website for meeting times and locations etc and any updates or changes to the itinerary.

Sunday morning saw twenty-one members and guests meet at Smithy Square for the first "Summer Trip" of 2017. The coach left on time at 09.00 and we were transported to the town of Richmond on the River Swale.

The main reason for the visit was to go the "The Station" Art centre and view Richmond Camera Clubs exhibition. This was on the ground floor gallery and showed some excellent work by their members, all hung and framed very professionally. We stayed for an hour then set off for the  picturesque town of Staithes on the Yorkshire coast.

This was quite a journey and took over an hour. We arrived and set off to explore this pretty post card setting. Members went off in small groups and some went off to find some lunch.

Staithes is a small town with very steep access. So for some the hills were quite arduous, but everyone had a great day and commented on how many photos they took. There were fishing boats, cottages on hillsides, breaking waves, and the over view from Cowbar Bank was worth the steep climb.

Everyone back on the coach at 4pm and our driver Ian made good time and got us home before 6pm.  Personally I had  a great day out and I think everyone felt the same.
 
Colin Livingstone
secretary

Thursday 20th April was our end of season presentation evening at the Clef & Cask to celebrate everyone's achievements thought the season. 
The raffle was well supported by the club members, but this year there were some extra surprise prizes in the form of Intu Vouchers worth £25, £50 and & £75 for three lucky winners. 
Certificates were given out for the winning photographs from the season and the overall club competition champions were announced. 
Congratulations to Julia Robson who won PDI photographer of the year and to Bill Stephens who won both colour print and mono print photographer of the year.
Bill Stephens was also awarded overall Club Photographer of the the Year.  Well done.
An enjoyable evening was had by all and marked the end of the 2016/17 well. 

Lauren Clayton
President

My Inspirations, Mavis Ord.

On Thursday we were entertained by Mrs Mavis Ord, who showed a series of images covering her journey with photography looking back over more than forty years. Mavis explained that for her photography is capturing "that" moment in time and to always be ready to take the shot. Mavis is self taught and learnt her craft by spending many hours in the darkroom and learning from her mistakes.

Her portraiture spanned the generations with classic shots of models and children taken from darkroom images where she taught herself, to present day Cuban women on the street.
Over the years Mavis has travelled far and wide, from Koekohe Beach New Zealand where she photographed the Moeraki Boulders, driving down the coast on her own in a hire car. To the other side of the globe in Cuba to do a series of street photography of the women and their environment. Taking in many other cities and locations on her travels. Images of The Louvre in Paris, the red roofs in Prague, and closer to home the Groynes on Blyth Beach.  People play a big role in her images, the little boy writing on his hand up against a wall in Cuba. Mavis explained that she took these images for herself, and not judges, that they should make you, think or tell a story, and most importantly "do your thing".  All the time her images where accompanied by a story of the scene or an anecdote about the model in the image. The quality of her prints was impressive which emphasised her skill. It was a joy to see her work and listen to her storey.
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All too soon the evening came to an end and we thanked Mavis for her presentation and she stayed and chatted to members for a while.
 
Colin Livingstone
Secretary

06/04/2017
3rd Open PDi Competition
 
This weeks competition and the final for the current season was the 3rd Open PDI, judged by David Stout, DPAGB, EFIAP. from Whickham Photographic Club. David started off by saying that the high standard of images had not made it an easy task to select the winning images.
 
 There were 53 images entered in this competition, He praised all the members for their ingenuity and adventure in getting into some of the locations, and others for their patience and creativity of their work.
 
He commented how some members had used a digital border to focus the eye and others used the tight crop to highlight the focal point in their image. David commented on some images bringing back childhood memories such as "Girl Talk" and  "View From Mont Blanc" reminding him of his working years in the Alps.
 
David awarded 5 Highly Commended;
East Force Gill                           Peter Moody
Aiguille du Dru Ridge                Bill Stephens
Ready for Transport                 Tom Wilson
Catkins and Jug                        Julia Robson
 
Top five as follows;
5th, The Hatchling                    Jim Meikle
4th, Pink Roses In Bowl          Julia Robson
3rd, Speed King                        Alan Lockey
2nd, Tic Tac Toe                       Colin Livingstone
1st, View from Mont Blanc     Margaret Stephens    

​The winning images can be viewed .....(HERE)
 
Colin Livingstone
Secretary

On Thursday 30th March we hosted the results night for the North Tyne PDI competition. We were joined for the evening by Gosforth, Morpeth, Whitley Bay, Tynemouth, North Shields and Wallsend.

Eight images from each club were judged by Malcolm Blenkey ARPS of Saltburn Camera Club. We never like to give the judge an easy task, and this year's entry made his job a very tough one indeed. 

In the end, Tynemouth claimed the top spot for the fourth year in a row.  Cramlington finished in fourth place. The winning image of the evening was awarded to Whitley Bay for 'Tynemouth Spray' by Andrew Nichol.​

The night finished with Cramlington Camera clubs' president Lauren Clayton handing out the winners trophies and thanking the judge followed by tea, coffee and nibbles until late into the evening.

​Lauren Clayton. President

  Highest Scoring Image.  'Tynemouth Spray' by Andrew Nichol