Club Meeting, Members A.V. Night - Tuesday 15th January 2019.

   
     Palais Ideal du Facteur Cheval.                           Swaledale.                                    Neon Lights,Wroclaw.

Morpeth Camera Club held its Audio Visual evening on Tuesday 15th January 2019, this was an opportunity for members
to showcase their images which are accompanied by music. Some images had never been seen at the club before, such
as holiday shots, taken on days out or at family gatherings, and although being very good in their own right, they would
not be entered into competitions for all to see. Audio visual presentations have to be a labour of love as it takes time to
firstly choose which images to include, then to sort them into a sympathetic order and then to allow enough time for the
viewer to admire the image and to read any text which may be used. Once assembled the project has to have appropriate
music to accompany it and for many this is the most time consuming part of the process.

We saw some excellent examples of audio visual sequences and first up was Mike Weighall with views of the Peak District.
Village scenes at Monyash, rocky outcrops, streams, dry stone walls in Lathkill Dale with ruins, castles and waterfalls. The
Monsil Trail with its viaduct, and in ancient Longnore, its alleyways and lanes and finally Hadden Hall, a 12th century manor
house with medieval wood carvings, murals and stained glass.

Next was 'Palais Ideal du Facteur Cheval' by Stephanie Robson, the true story of a French postman who built a palace in his
garden with unusual rocks that he had collected on his postal round. A fascinating account of his lifelong project, this a.v.
presentation showed a remarkable building, complete with palm trees, ornate columns, archways and exotic animals, all of
which had been an inspiration to him by looking at postcards he delivered from abroad.

Davy Bolam was next with Photographing Smoke. This was definitely a labour of love in that Davy had taken time to direct
smoke trails to pass through a cheese grater, a sieve and anything which would produce a different effect. A kaleidoscope
of coloured smoke patterns, some resembling models, faces, insects, beetles and devils, were followed by pastel coloured
swirls of smoke which resembled fine voile.

Paul Appleby followed with his project on flowers. Starting with images of the original flowers, Paul had then turned them
into abstract images. Using different hues and saturation the flower heads were transformed into abstract swirling patterns,
waves, almost ethnic zigzags patterns, circles, retro square blocks, and ‘dripping’ petals. This was a good platform to show
a set of images that we may otherwise not have seen.

Beadnell by Sue Dawson, a ‘sentimental’ view of the coastal village and its shoreline followed. Starting with a globe of the
world it quickly honed in on Beadnell, with its fishing boats stranded at low tide at sunset, lobster pots, ropes, fishermen,
children with kites and wind surfers. Her lovely Av was accompanied by lilting Northumbrian music adding to the gentle
atmosphere of this coastal village.

Isle de Re was the subject of Stephanie’s Robson’s next Av. Situated off the west coast of France, and accessed by a long
bridge, the audience enjoyed scenes of salt flats, poppy fields, abundant colourful hollyhocks and busy marinas. With the
island being so flat, it is a perfect location for cyclists with quaint villages and beautiful beaches.

Glyn Trueman followed on with his view of Swaledale with its rolling valleys and villages with cobbled winding lanes. Taking
us around Reeth, Gunnerside, and Muker, images of Dalesmen’s cottages among a network of dry stone walls, sheep resting
in ruined cottages, wild flowers and thistles, and together with misty, milky waterfalls at Hogarth Leap captured the perfect
ambience of this lovely area.

Project Neon Lights by Davy Bolam was up next with striking images of neon street signs taken in Ruska Street, Wroclaw,
Poland. Images of these retro lights, which have been saved from the last regime, added amazing atmosphere to the area,
especially at night when graffiti, artwork and murals were enhanced by the multi coloured collection of old neon signs from
all over the country that line a secluded courtyard.

An eclectic choice of subjects, all set to great music contributed to another interesting night at the club.

Steph.