​       Graham Storrie of Morpeth Camera Club delivered to us on 25th September a talk entitled Beautiful Birds of Columbia. He explained that he is, primarily, a bird watcher and that his interest in photography is mainly to support and supplement his bird watching. When he counted last year, he had so far seen 2,054 species of birds. Graham used to be a chemist for Procter and Gamble, the large American multinational goods corporation, and since his retirement in 2018 he has travelled widely around the world with like-minded friends to bird watch. His photographs of birds are taken in landscape, portrait and in flight and sometimes help him to identify a species at a later date. He explained that although he does take photographs from bird hides, his shots are mainly taken opportunistically in areas where particular species of birds are likely to be seen.  
 
     Although Graham now owns a Nikon Z8 camera, his photographs during his 2023 trip to Columbia were taken with a Nikon D500 and a Z611. He used a 500pf lens and a Z 100-400 mm lens and commented that although his Z (mirrorless) cameras can shoot silently, his D500 was "like a machine gun". Graham uses back button focusing, Aperture Priority mode and either spot or centre metering. 
 
     When in Columbia, Graham and his friends travelled to a number of areas with local guides where they had the opportunity to see specific species of birds. Graham showed us some of his Columbian bird photos which included many hummingbirds (such as the blue-throated Star frontlet, the Tyrian Metaltail, the white-bellied wood star, the long-tailed sylph and the Indigo-capped Hummingbird), different types of antpittas (such as the brown-banded), various tanagers (such as the hooded mountain) and toucans (such as the black-billed mountain and the grey-breasted mountain) and the little tinamou, a ground bird which looks rather like a more colourful pigeon.    
 
     The colours of most of the birds were spectacular and Graham noted that the colours of hummingbirds changed significantly as the light changed. Sometimes he thought he was photographing a different species of bird but then discovered that it was the same species, but the appearance had changed with the light.
 
     Our members very much enjoyed Graham's talk and his photographs of Columbian birds which were, indeed, beautiful. We discovered that Graham is very much a bird watching expert and enthusiast who is prepared to "drop everything" to view a rare species which may be sighted anywhere in Northumberland, and he has a number of international trips with his bird watching fellow-enthusiasts already planned for the next 2 years.
 
Ray Barnes
CCC Programme Secretary

​Paul Kidd, one of CCC's best photographers over a number of years, presented "Creating An Image" to his fellow club members. Paul's opening image was a particularly spectacular shot of a red squirrel flying through the air in the direction of Paul's camera. His talk focused on the techniques he used to produce such amazing and competition-winning shots.
 
Paul explained that when he joined CCC in 2016 he had recently bought his first DSLR camera and had very limited knowledge of photography. However, he worked hard to improve by listening to and picking the brains of other club members such as Colin Livingstone and Bob Finlay - often in the pub after regular meetings. Another way in which Paul had enjoyed and improved his photography skills had been by attending photography trips of small groups led by experienced and professional photographers. Paul had benefited in this way by a Safari trip to Africa, as well as trips to Norway and Scotland.  
 
Paul exhibited many of his high-quality images and went on to outline in detail what had happened when he attended a recent trip to the Cairngorms, which happened to coincide with his 60th birthday. The professional photographer had taken his group to a number of remote locations where the objective had been to photograph local wildlife such as arctic hares, birds, grouse, deer and red squirrels. As it was his 60th birthday, Paul was loaned the use of a 600 mm lens by the professional which was great but very heavy for Paul to lug up the mountains along with all of his other camera gear! The professional had set up props in some locations which facilitated creating images of the wildlife. One example of this, although there had been numerous during the trip, had been the props used to photograph the flying red squirrels. The photographers were able to anticipate the behaviour of the squirrels and so set up their cameras on tripods and focus on the very spot where the squirrels would, hopefully, be flying through the air. Camera settings needed to be exactly right for the conditions, a great deal of time and patience was required,  and it was necessary to take multiple shots per second of the squirrels at very fast shutter speeds. Wildlife shots involved shallow depths of field, and it was also essential to achieve compositions with backgrounds which excluded distractions, such as trees or branches directly behind the animals.  
 
This was what Paul meant by "Creating An Image". Rather than simply taking photographs of landscapes or wildlife as they appeared opportunistically to the photographer, this was about creating the conditions through painstaking research, planning, organisation and patience to produce outstanding images "on purpose". Paul explained that since the Cairngorms trip he had continued to create images, using some of these learned techniques, when he was out taking photographs on his own.  
 
Paul's talk was successful in fully engaging the interest of our members and in providing us with entertainment and food for thought. We recognised that this approach was a step beyond what most of us normally followed and, as one member joked after the meeting, would involve him "going back to the drawing board!". It was all part of our learning curves as amateur club photographers. 
 
Ray Barnes
CCC Programme Secretary  

​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.    

Welcome back to the new season at Cramlington Camera club.

The evening started with the usual welcome back to all and then a moment to reflect
on the Passing of our friend Derek Parker who passed away in June.
This was followed by a short talk on how to present your Jpgs for competition’s and
the reasons why.

I took great pleasure in introducing our first speaker of the season. My good friend
Helen Rowlands(Madfencer photography)
“From Darkness into Light” Photography and Mental Health.
Helen very eloquently introduced herself and started her talk about how moving
from her home in Guernsey to University in England and competing as an
international fencer in the Commonwealth Games. She talked about her PTSD
diagnosis in 2018 and how Covid had on her life. Helen continued to explain her
entry into photography from her enjoyment of taking images on her phone and
entering online photography challenges. Eventually encouraged to get a camera,
Nikon D3400 and very winning the “challenges”. One such challenge “TIME” was
an evocative self-portrait and an outright winner. Helen then went on to show images
of her progression through Colour, black and white, her love of Aurora hunting and
onto her wedding photography. She discussed how photography has helped her, by
getting out with your camera can reduce your stress, giving a sense of purpose,
allowing your creativity to flourish and also meeting people. We finished with a
short Q&A .
We finished in true club style with a round of applause and thanked Helen for her
time and energy.
​
So overall the evening was a very positive start to season
Colin Livingstone
President