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Gerald Chamberlin
This week (24th Oct) we were delighted to welcome as our guest speaker Gerald Chamberlin EFIAP, DPAGB. Gerald lives in Cumbria and is Chairman of Morton Photographic Society. Gerald is passionate about black and white photography and lately infrared photography. Gerald had entitled his talk ‘My World in Black and White’ and it would include both print and digital media. Although Gerald describes himself as ‘not a landscape photographer’ he has a passion, through his love of fell walking and bike riding of everything to do with the outdoors, especially the Lake District. As the title of his talk would suggest all the photographs, both print and digital would be monochrome with perhaps just a hint of colour in the odd one. Gerald likes his pictures to tell a story and he likes to spend time ‘building’ these stories, often returning to the same image many times over using Photoshop to edit, often meticulously replacing the backgrounds and backdrops to an image where he felt the original didn’t work. This evening we were treated to some stunning black & white images, both print and digital were topnotch. The prints beautifully printed, mounted and presented. From images of the Lake District and Tanfield Railway to trips to Nantwich and Aberdeen following the actors from ‘The Sealed Knot’, an historical association dedicated to reenactment of English civil war battles that provided some stunning images. Locations such as Blist Hill and our own Beamish provided inspiration for more quality images. One in particular taken at the Edinburgh Fringe of a couple of black ‘slaves’ was, in addition to the quality of the image, quite thought provoking. The second part of Gerald’s presentation entitled ‘Something Different’ concerned infrared photography. Gerald explained how he had an old Nikon D200 converted to infrared at a cost of around £200 and how he found infrared to be a steep learning curve and a learning curve he is still on. Unlike some of the traditional infrared images many of us have seen where only white, black and greys are visible, Gerald’s images contained subtle almost sepia tones and in some cases hints of blues and yellows. A trip to Sweden, where Gerald has friends who have an equestrian farm in the forrest provided an opportunity to experiment with infrared on the many interesting, unusual and beautiful locations and subjects available. Old wrecked cars hidden amongst the trees in the forrest, a sculpture park with some huge exhibits. An old house in the woods, the ‘Badger House’, abandoned and left almost as a time capsule. Gerald also related how some of his infrared images when entered into competitions often fooled the judges who would comment on how well the snow and ice had been captured on the trees and grass oblivious to the fact that it was probably taken mid summer. Gerald finished the evening with a brief explanation on his editing workflow for infrared using Photoshop. Gerald stayed to answer questions from the members who then were able to view the prints he had brought to display. We thank Gerald first for making a none to inconsiderable journey to be with us this evening and for delivering an excellent presentation backed up with beautiful images and prints. Bob Finlay (President)
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1st Open Print Competition
Tonight (17th Oct) saw the results of the seasons 1st Open Print Competition judged by Malcolm Boyd, Secretary of Castleside & District Photo Club. Malcolm provided constructive and positive feedback on each of the prints which was well received by the members. Malcolm explained that it was a difficult task to decide on the best prints and that a number of prints had changed position over numerous viewings. Congratulations go to Alan Lockey for Laughter in the Rain (colour) and to Colin Livingstone for Kosgei (mono). At the end of the evening Malcolm was thanked for his judging skills and positive comments and received a round of applause from the members. A full list of the prints 'placed' and' highly commended' are shown below. To view the images, both colour and mono click ...(HERE) Paul Dunn (Print Competition Secretary) Colour 1) Laughter in the Rain Alan Lockey 2) Gone Fishing Paul Dunn 3) Olive Backed Sunbird Derek Parker 4) Distortion Peter Moody 5) Blue Tit Derek Parker Mono 1) Kosgei Colin Livingstone 2) Watch the Birdie Alan Lockey 3) Splish Splash Liz Lockey 4) Northumberland is Full of Castles Alan Lockey 5) Romana Alan Lockey Highly Commended Colour Fox Glove Terry Cookson To the Manor Born Colin Livingstone The Shanty Man Colin Livingstone Canoeist at Tees Barrage Adam Burness Green Tree Frog on Calla Lily Jim Meikle Mono Lifting Beam Jim Meikle Going Down Peter Moody Bamburgh Castle Adam Burness In the Shadows Liz Lockey Old Sea Outfall Jim Meikle There is a change to the current program for the evening of 24th October. Our guest speaker will be Gerald Chamberlin from Cumbria.
His talk is entitled 'My World in Black and White' Members Night (Oct 10th)
Thursday 10th October was the second time this season that we had the opportunity to photograph live models using studio lighting. Not only that, but also a ‘still life’ setup for members to try their hand at. In the main hall we were joined once again by David Waters and Bill Fell from North Shields PS who kindly brought their lighting equipment, backdrops and expertise to allow members to experience a studio type shooting environment with our own Lauren Dunn once again modelling for us. This time Lauren was joined by male model Joey Wood from Ashington. Joey is an up and coming and in demand model with a bright future ahead of him and is well known and respected in the local modelling scene. In our normal room we had 2 tables set with ‘still life’ sets kindly supplied by Julia Robson who was, through a case of the ‘lurgy’ sadly unable to attend but kindly allowed us to use her ‘sets’ brought along to us by husband Keith. The evening proved to be very interesting fun and educational to those who attended and we look forward to more of the same in the future. Our thanks to David & Bill for giving up their time and for the use of their equipment, also to Julia for allowing us to use her sets in her absence. Special thanks must go to our models Joey and Lauren for their patience and professionalism. Joey is a finalist in the ‘Alternative Model of the Year’ Competition and we wish him the very best of luck in the final being held this coming Saturday Oct 19th. Bob Finlay (President) Members Night (10th Oct)
This Thursday for ‘Members Night’ we will once again be practicing our studio skills. With the help of David Waters and Bill Fell of North Shields PS who will be bringing some equipment for us to use, and along with our own members equipment, kindly loaned we will have 2 ‘setups’ in the main hall. Once again Lauren has kindly agree to model for us and in addition we will also have a male model who we haven’t seen before. I understand he is very ’photogenic’. We will also have use of our normal room where Julia Robson has kindly agreed to setup a still life 'Studio Set' for us. Pease bring your cameras for an enjoyable evening of Photography. North Shields PS Visit
This Thursday (3rd Oct) we were pleased to welcome a visit from North Shields Photographic Society. David Waters (President) of NSPS and Bill Fell (Secretary) of same had agreed to each give a presentation to CCC members. Bill Fell took to the floor first. Bill’s presentation was entitled ‘Iceland’. Bill has been to Iceland twice on organised photographic trips, once during the summer months and once during the winter months. Because of its northerly location this means long hours of daylight during the summer and long hours of darkness during the winter and whatever the season, lots of rain! Bill showed some beautiful images of Geysers with apparently the strong smell of rotten eggs, spectacular waterfalls such as the huge Scogafoss and Gulfoss falls, followed by the well known and well photographed ‘Ice Beach’ explaining that the blue hue in the icebergs was caused by the freshwater trapped within. Beautiful images of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) followed, and the strange fault plates in the National Parks that resembled long corridors of strata moving apart some 4cm per year. Bill finished his presentation with images of the capital Reykjavik showing brightly painted houses and a stunning church shaped almost rocket like. Bill took questions from the floor on his presentation and received a rousing round of applause from the members. David Waters was next to give a presentation, which couldn’t have been more different to Bill’s. Whilst Bill is a keen landscape photographer, David’s passion is ‘Portraiture’. David has a keen eye for portraiture and enjoys the challenge this genre offers with regard to the critical factor of how best the light the subject. Perhaps not a problem in a studio where David does a lot of his photography and lighting can be well controlled but much more of a challenge when out out on location where David also likes to shoot. David took us through a series of his photographs starting with images of Jeremy Corbyn taken at the Durham Miners Gala. This was followed by portraits taken at various locations such as Delaval Hall and Newcastle City Centre. A wedding shoot on a local beach taken when David was involved more in wedding photography than he is now. A ‘staged’ shot of a chip pan fire must have proved something of a challenge to light. With each image shown David explained how he lit the subject, whether with single or multiple lights and their placement and whether any ‘modifiers’ such as umbrellas or diffusers had been used. David had brought two lights and stands and a soft box that he uses for the CCC members to see. David also took questions from the floor and also received a well earned round of applause from the members. A big ‘thank you’ to both Bill & David for providing an entertaining and informative evening. Bob Finlay (President) |
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