Club Meeting, Members Evening - Tuesday 26th February 2019,

          

On Tuesday 26th February 2019, Morpeth Camera Club held a members night when those that wished were invited
to give a short presentation on a subject of their choice. First up was Sophie Elliott-Edwards a recent new member
who said that she had studied photography at college and has continued to enjoy photographing landscapes, wildlife
and macro shots. Living in Morpeth for two years she is keen to photograph our lovely beaches and sunrises and her
audio visual presentation set to soft music included rocky outcrops in the mist, beautiful waterfalls and golden sand
patterns. Birds of prey, deer, puffins, nesting guillemots, egrets, elephant, orangutans, zebra snakes and butterflies
were also included in her impressive av.

Alistair Cooper, describing himself as an ‘old newby’ followed with photographs taken on Arran & Islay which included
the distilleries, Lochranza castle, Holy Isle’s forested landscapes, the lighthouse on Islay, all being favourite locations
where he had holidayed as a child. Then came images of his beloved Harley Davidson, and together with stories of his
road trips all over the USA, we saw gleaming machines with individual tank artwork, and en masse at rallies. Alistair
followed on with macro shots of seed heads and flowers in vibrant colour and then Battle of the Somme murals and
monuments to the fallen including the Highland and Welsh regiments and to animals who served. Kelpies with angry
eyes cleverly added, red tractor wheels, smokestacks and steam engines concluded Alistair’s colourful presentation.

John Barnes came next, with a presentation entitled Timeslip. Illustrating his love of history, and providing interesting
historical facts along the way, he took the audience to English and Scottish Heritage properties including Abbotsford
House and its association with Sir Walter Scott, Audley End near Saffron Walden, Brodsworth near Doncaster, and
Hardwick Hall, Chesterfield. Images followed of Gainsborough Hall a Tudor mansion with stories of visiting royalty,
tales of Rievaulx Abbey’s Cistercian monks, and Tilbury Fort where Queen Elizabeth I famously rallied her army nearby
to face the threat of the Armada. Finishing off he showed images of hidden Northumberland. The remains of The Moor
Inn situated just off the old coach road from Wooler and Morpeth, with tales of smugglers, highwaymen and ghosts,
proving, he said, that you don’t have to visit big houses to explore and enjoy history.

Brian Morris followed with a tutorial on using Photoshop, with one image taken in Austria of a busy street scene he
went on to show the beginners in the audience his way of subtly changing a scene to accentuate the focal point, which
in this case was an old Citroën 2CV. Going through the process of levels, cropping, changing to monochrome and sepia,
bringing out sections of colour, he advised that one should play around and experiment with the controls. He ended by
saying that that monochrome doesn’t have to be simply black and white, subtle changes make a difference and with
lots of patience one can achieve the end results hoped for.

Paul Appleby was next with colourful images of his recent trip to India. Starting with shots taken out of their vehicle
window, we saw near collisions, bullocks and pigs causing mayhem in the traffic and heavy laden scooters and lorries.
Village scenes of ladies mixing cement, smiling schoolchildren, dinner ladies and teachers illustrated life off the beaten
track. We saw exotically named birds such as the Jungle Babbler the Indian Tree Pie and the Thick Knee Lapwing, also
monkeys, Gharial crocodile, locusts and bats. Back to village life in Rohet, the audience enjoyed images of busy welders,
street barbers, tailors, stonemasons, colourfully dressed lady road sweepers, chapatti makers and sesame seed grinders.
To Phulad by rail, shots of the antiquated power system, bustling passengers and scenery concluded an interesting insight
into his adventurous holiday.

Peter Downs concluded the evening with a series of images, firstly of an original photograph of grasses in his garden, and
then by using the fractalius filter he showed abstract and stylised versions. Club Chairman thanked all who took part for
providing a good mix of photography and interesting dialogue, after which coffee was enjoyed.

Steph.