Phil Benton

This evening (4th April) we were delighted to welcome back Phil Benton to Cramlington CC.
 
Phil, a member of South Shield P.S. Entitled his presentation ‘My View of the World’ and he commenced by showing mono images taken on Holy Island of St Aidans Church and Lindisfarne Castle followed by the thought provoking metal sculpture locally known as ‘Tommy’ showing how he often ‘breaks the rules’ by using a very shallow depth of field and close up focus to direct the viewers eye to parts of an image.
 
Moving on to colour images Phil showed us images of the iconic ‘Angel of the North’ taken from side on, not a composition normally used but very effective non the less. Moving north to lovely sunset images of Berwick, where Phil explained how he liked to keep the saturation down so as to retain the subtlety of the images by keeping the colours more muted. Many easily identified local landmarks followed including Alnwick Castle, Steetley Pier on a freezing cold day and St Mary’s Island, followed by locations a little further afield, like the famous Crosby Beach sculptures,  the old Forth Road Bridge, Glencoe and the Lake District.
 
Phil uses a Canon 5D Mk11, not the latest technology but, as Phil says, it’s not about having the latest ‘gear’ but making the most of  and understanding how to use what you have.
 
Although a passionate landscape photographer Phil showed he can turn his hand to more ‘creative’ work showing an image of The Angel of the North partly submerged in water in a different location. An image he titled ‘Out of Place’ that he was awarded 1st place in a competition. Another very successful image was a sunrise at the ‘Sage’ gaining a 3rd place in a worldwide competition. Phil was also awarded ‘Landscape Photographer of the Year’ by South Shields P.S. He can often be seen throughout the region at craft fairs and markets, where he sells his photographic products, part of his unique style is the variety of media he uses to print onto, based on his passion for landscape photography, much taken in and around the North of England.
 
 
Phil ended the evening with images taken on a trip to Iceland where he managed to capture stunning images of the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) frozen waterfalls and glaciers.
 
Phil stayed to answer questions from the members, who also had the opportunity to view samples of mounted prints and other items.
 
We thank Phil for once again providing an excellent evenings entertainment enjoyed by all.
 
Bob Finlay (President)
 
 
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