a friendly group of photographers at all levels of skill, experience and equipment
Dear Members,
The committee and I would like to say a huge thank you.
We know that during the last few club nights we have not covered very much, as in assignments. But believe us when we say that it was worth it to sort out our exhibition. Stephen has still put quite a bit of work in to get us exhibition ready.
The photos have all arrived and we are doing the finishing bits to them this week.
So thanks again, we look forward to see them all on display on feast weekend.
Take care,
Anita
The details of your exhibition entries will be printed by Fred, and he needs them as soon as possible. Please fill in this Exhibit details form and send it to Fred at lemansjag@hotmail.co.uk.
The current gang of five is Tony, Fred, Symon, Phil and Anita.
We had our group meeting not long ago to discuss the next 6 month’s assignments. Both Francis and Stephen attended giving their technical support on our ideas. We hope that you will agree with us that we have set some interesting and challenging subjects.
Exhibition news
Firstly, may we apologise for the number of sessions and amount of club time we have used preparing for the exhibition. In years past we have been chasing people up at the last minute for both their photographs and their information. This was the reason behind our choice to do this.
The date for the exhibition is Saturday the 10th and Sunday the 11th of October, our opening times are 12 until 5 on Saturday & 10 until 4 on the Sunday. We will be asking for volunteers to help set up, be available to support the show and talk to visitors, even if you can only help for an hour or so. This is your show and without your help we cannot run these exhibitions.
Our website
I am not sure how many of us have had a look at our website recently. It is full of helpful presentations put together not only by Francis & Stephen but by other members of the club.
There is a sale page which you can use if you have anything you wish to sell; just send Derek the info and he will upload it for you. Look for this under “Categories: For Sale”.
For the August presentation on CameraSim software, there are links on our site, too. You just need to go into “Categories: software” and look for the “Simulated Cameras” page. There are links to both CameraSim & Play. You can play to your heart’s content. I have found this very visual and very useful myself.
So please when you get a chance visit our site and have a look around – it might be more helpful than you think. Derek puts a lot of hard work in keeping the site up to date and running for us, to use.
Assignments & workshops
Please note sometimes there is a need to change a workshop – we will do our best to inform you as early as possible to any changes we may have to make. Please make sure we have a correct email address for you in order that we may do this.
We would like to try and organize a few social gatherings/outings during the next six months. These will include partners and children. Alas, we were not able this year to have a summer BBQ. We are open to suggestions – maybe a picnic day? We would need to think carefully about transport, for those people who do not drive, we may have to car share. Please let us know your ideas.
We are thinking of a meal out during November. In the past we have been to the Indian restaurant in the village and this has worked well. We booked the whole place out on Monday night.
And finally, we need your help with ideas for assignments. Every 6 months we come up with new ideas and sometimes revisit past assignments. Please feel free to talk to one of us about your ideas, it does not matter how obscure you think it may be.
At the Willingham Parish Council meeting last night, it was agreed that we will be able to use the Public Hall for our exhibition. Thanks to Anita and Fred for writing letters and turning up, Reg (and WAG) for pushing this whenever he could, the Public Hall Users Committee for their support and finally the Parish Council for letting this popular event continue in what we like to think of as its home.
Graham Mumby has pointed out this photography competition, in case anyone in the club is interested. There is no obvious closing date on the site, but it does say the winner will be announced at the end of July.
We’re looking for your best photos of woodland and nature with a family and friends focus – don’t forget to say trees!
Whether it’s a riverside walk, a den building expedition with the kids to your local woods or a weekend camping adventure, grab your camera, get snapping and upload your best effort.
The current Gang of Four is Tony, Fred, Symon and Anita. We will be wearing committee badges once they have arrived to help new members identify us.
We had our group meeting to discuss the next 6 months, with both Francis and Stephen attending to give technical support on our ideas. We hope that you will agree with us that we have set some interesting and challenging subjects.
Symon has agreed to take on the role of Club Secretary, and will be updating both the Willingham News and the village website with our monthly assignments.
Exhibition News
It was agreed by all those present at our meeting that our 5th exhibition was a great success. The standard of photography this year caused Francis and Stephen a few headaches whilst judging our entries.
We discussed the exhibition for 2015 and agreed to run a children’s competition, opening it up to primary schools in our area. The logistics of this still need to be worked out, i.e. age groups, prizes, etc.
We also agreed that it would be helpful to have a couple of club sessions to help with getting your photos ready to exhibit, cutting mount board, etc. We would like to know your feedback on this…
Feast Weekend is usually the first weekend in October, and the exhibition is now an established part of the Feast.
Grant
In October we received a Community Chest Grant of £1000. This will be used for the purchase of our own projector in the new year. A very big thank you to Symon for the hard work of putting together the application paperwork for the grant.
Club Account Details
We currently have £1439.08 in our bank account. Rent is to be paid, 10 months from March 2014 to December 2014, of £200 – the rent is currently £20 per month. The balance is therefore £1239.08.
There are a few subs still to be collected. All costs for the exhibition have now been paid out.
Photographs for Assignments
Due to our membership now getting larger, we request that you limit yourselves to just 2 photos for each assignment set. Please remember to label them with your name, title of assignment and number 1 or 2.
See the Diary of upcoming events for future assignments
We are also introducing a suggestions box, this is for your use. We of the Gang of Four need other inspiration from time to time on what assignments, tutorials, workshops and field trips you might like to have in the club. This is your club – if there is anything you think that others might benefit from, then please don’t be shy and let us know! It can, of course, be anonymous.
You may be interested in a Photography Competition being run by the organisers of the annual Cambridge Light Festival.
They want photographs of “moving light” in one of four categories, all of which have been – or soon will be – subjects of club meetings:
The competition is open for photographs taken between 11 November 2014 and 11 January 2015.
Entrants need to register online at the e-Luminate website, which has all the details.
Anita has transcribed the comments book so we can share our visitors’ views:
Very impressed by the unique photographs. Inspirational.
Lovely collection of work, obviously some very talented photographers. Good
stuff.Lovely prints. Seen 2 I want to buy, will send husband round. Makes me want
to get my camera out!Very good photos.
Brilliant talent!
Wonderful range of images, great artistry.
Getting better each year! Labelling very informative. Hazel Denslow.
I really liked it. A very impressive exhibition, there are really range of
photographs. K Moma.Very interesting and varied exhibition no.42. Jim & Carol Grant.
Superb, thank you.
Wonderfully wide range of excellent photos.
Wonderful. We all loved trying to work out the locations of some of the
photos.Brilliant. some great shots.
Very surprised!! Really good.
Really enjoyed it, good pictures to look at.
Great pictures, thank you.
I really enjoyed the display and loved Colin Brown’s Pics!!
Great photos, really enjoyed the exhibition 2014.
Very interesting subjects & colour images.
Very nice exhibition, excellent photography.
Great shots.
Excellent photographs, what a talented group!!
The photographs get better every year. Jenny Purnell.
All the photographs are beautiful. Jo Bouar.
Love the piano keys. G Vass.
Brilliant, standard goes up each year, so much talent in our village.
Excellent photographs. P Marshall.
Very interesting exhibition, very enjoyable. T Bier.
Wonderful photographs. Judy & Robert Williams.
Great Exhibition and range of images.
On behalf of the current gang of 4 I would like to thank everyone for their help and support in putting on this year’s exhibition. We have had quite a few people say they will come and try and out the club.
We have had 194 visitors and 5 dogs over the last 2 days.
I will be emailing Derek with the written comments people have made, so keep looking at our website.
Well done everyone,
Anita
And a huge thanks to you Anita and the Gang for organising and admin.
The standard of photos was so high the judging came down to very fine points of technique and composition. Congratulations to the winners and to everyone for displaying your work, it all made for s great exhibition.
Best regards
Mr Francis J Pullen
Well said, Francis, many thanks to all involved in making it such a great exhibition. Much evidence of lots of planning, practical help, creativity, display manufacture and donation of time and enthusiasm! Great stuff.
Andrew
Dear Photo Club
Just to say thank you for holding the exhibition again. The Feast continues to be a significant event in the village life and the photo exhibition has become a very important part of it.
Sadly, I didn’t get to see it as I didn’t get a free minute from early Saturday until now on Sunday afternoon. However, I did get a preview via the internet and I see the standard continues to improve.
With very best wishes
Mike Tidball
Madam Chair
I too would like to add my thanks to the gang of four for their efforts in organising yet another successful exhibition. As the current chair of WAG I am fully aware of the effort needed to make such events successful. I would also like to record the efforts of fellow members in producing a display of incredible quality. I was yet again “gob smacked” by the quality of the photos which get better year after year as recorded by many of the visitors to the exhibition. Alas this means we have to produce even better photos over the next year. For me not a problem, not because I am starting from a low level but as I know I will be helped by over 30 other members who are not only willing to share their experience and expertise but to do this in such a friendly atmosphere, and of course our two professional members who are so willing to help us improve. But beware Francis and Stephen; civilisation grows and improves as the students become the teachers. I am looking forward to becoming a professional photographer in a few years.
To end on a slightly personal note the overall organiser of the Feast is WAG (Willingham Action Group) as well as the community Orchard/woodland at the Old Rec, QEII field children’s area, tree planting throughout village, electrical recycling, “Its a Knockout” and more. We too need volunteers to organise and deliver the improvements sought by the village. If you are interested please come to the WAG executive/member meeting at the Octagon 19:30 8th October.
Reg
The current gang of four, Tony, Fred, Symon and Anita, will be staying on for another 6 months.
We had our group meeting to discus the agenda for the next 6 months, with both Francis and Stephen attending to give technical support on our ideas.
We hope that you agree with us that we have set some interesting and challenging subjects.
The date for the Willingham Feast and our exhibition will be 4th & 5th of October 2014.
It’s a great way to show the talent of our club to the village. This also helps to draw in new members to the club.
We really do need your photos by the 18th of August. To do this, please bring your photos to a club meeting on a memory stick. The photos need to be labelled with your name so we can match them up with the labels that Colin will produce for us. Stephen will download your pictures straight to his laptop. Your photos need to be 12” x 16” 240 to 300 DPI.
We will also need your help to run the exhibition, so please look out for sign-up sheets. We will give you more information during club nights, about size etc.
We are currently looking into ideas for different field trips that have been put forward by members of the club. These will be held either on a weekend or a non club evening. See below for details.
We are also looking into some social events: a club summer BBQ, and a Nov/Dec meal out.
We are currently putting an application in for a Community Grant. We will keep you updated on what we would like to use it for as well as our progress.
We are also introducing a suggestions box, this is for your use. We of the Gang of Four need other inspiration from time to time on what assignments, tutorials/workshops and field trips you might like to have in the club. This is your club – if there is something you think that you or others might benefit from, then please don’t be shy let us know!!!
Please remember to only supply 3 photos for each month’s assignments. They need to be numbered 1,2 & 3, they need your name plus the title of the assignment.
We came up with the assignments, now it’s down to you to interpret them into your own ideas. They are listed in the events calendar.
I have contacted both Ely Cathedral and the Raptor Foundation.
Here are the cost for a group trip to both.
Admission £8.00
Concession £6.50
Photo permit £2.00
Tower visit £6.50
So for admission/tower visit & to take photos it will cost £16.50
£15 per person, we need to make up a party of at least 10 people to get in for this price. You can take photos and they are happy for you to use them for exhibitions. No need for a permit of any kind.
For both of these visits we need to give them several dates we are able to attend. If you are interested in any of these please let one of the Gang of Four know.
Anita