Club Meeting, Photographic Mix - Tuesday 22nd March 2022.
On Tuesday 22nd March, Morpeth Camera Clubs' scheduled evening’s plans had to be changed at very short notice
due to the unavailability of the guest speaker who had tested positive for covid, but the committee quickly pulled
something out of the bag to save the evening for club members.
First up was Peter Downs, our Print Secretary, with his presentation entitled Abstraction 2022. Peter is an avid fan
of abstract photography which he prefers to be known as digital art, a genre which is becoming increasingly popular
in photographic circles. The point, in his view, is that one should not be ruled by the title of a picture, with abstract
imagery one should not immediately realize what the subject is, but to use one’s imagination and interpretation.
There are no rules in the genre and he used two quotations to convey his view; 'Why do you stay in prison when the
door is wide open', by Ram Dass, and 'Every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain an artist once he grows
up', by Picasso.
We enjoyed everyday images which Peter had transformed by using inversion, motion blur, red field plug-in filters,
fractalius, pixilation and colour balance to create colourful abstract creations with other worldly qualities. Explaining
his techniques throughout, we enjoyed seeing glowing ivy leaf veins, surreal boats moored at a quay, iridescent bark
patterns on silver birches, abstract crashing waves, and Scottish hills transformed into Martian landscapes which
accompanied Peters’ very interesting talk.
Davy Bolam came on next with his report on the 7-way Interclub themed competition which took place on Sunday
20th March hosted by Amble Photographic Group, together with the projection of the winning club images. This is
an annual competition where each of the Seven clubs in the NCPF Northern Area were invited to enter 10 images
with not less than 1, and no more than 2 images to be submitted in each of the following categories - Landscape,
Interiors, Portraits, Sport & Action, Photo Journalism, Flora & Fauna, Still Life, and Fantasy, Myth, Legend or Religion.
Amble had given the task of judging to Joseph Duffy LRPS, CPAGB, APAGB of Whickham Camera Club who passed
comment on all sixty images, giving his opinion as to whether it matched the category in which it had been entered
and then marking out of thirty. The scores for each of the club's individual images were then added together and in
a very close contest, two clubs, Morpeth and Blyth had the same final score and were awarded equal first place. The
trophy was then awarded to a representative from both winning clubs who will each hold it for six months. Davy gave
the audience a chance to see the images which had been submitted by both Blyth and Morpeth, to witness how the
competition had panned out and to show the different interpretations of the set categories.
The third part of the evening concluded with a chance to see a collection of stunning images from S.P.S (Shropshire
Photographic Society), Shrewsbury Open International Exhibition. Two twenty-minute Pdi presentations included the
acceptances and award winners in the Landscape Section and the Open Monochrome Section of this recognised
exhibition with PAGB patronage.
Club Co Chair Roseanne Robinson thanked Peter and Davy for putting together such a hasty replacement evening
after which refreshments were served.
Steph.
due to the unavailability of the guest speaker who had tested positive for covid, but the committee quickly pulled
something out of the bag to save the evening for club members.
First up was Peter Downs, our Print Secretary, with his presentation entitled Abstraction 2022. Peter is an avid fan
of abstract photography which he prefers to be known as digital art, a genre which is becoming increasingly popular
in photographic circles. The point, in his view, is that one should not be ruled by the title of a picture, with abstract
imagery one should not immediately realize what the subject is, but to use one’s imagination and interpretation.
There are no rules in the genre and he used two quotations to convey his view; 'Why do you stay in prison when the
door is wide open', by Ram Dass, and 'Every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain an artist once he grows
up', by Picasso.
We enjoyed everyday images which Peter had transformed by using inversion, motion blur, red field plug-in filters,
fractalius, pixilation and colour balance to create colourful abstract creations with other worldly qualities. Explaining
his techniques throughout, we enjoyed seeing glowing ivy leaf veins, surreal boats moored at a quay, iridescent bark
patterns on silver birches, abstract crashing waves, and Scottish hills transformed into Martian landscapes which
accompanied Peters’ very interesting talk.
Davy Bolam came on next with his report on the 7-way Interclub themed competition which took place on Sunday
20th March hosted by Amble Photographic Group, together with the projection of the winning club images. This is
an annual competition where each of the Seven clubs in the NCPF Northern Area were invited to enter 10 images
with not less than 1, and no more than 2 images to be submitted in each of the following categories - Landscape,
Interiors, Portraits, Sport & Action, Photo Journalism, Flora & Fauna, Still Life, and Fantasy, Myth, Legend or Religion.
Amble had given the task of judging to Joseph Duffy LRPS, CPAGB, APAGB of Whickham Camera Club who passed
comment on all sixty images, giving his opinion as to whether it matched the category in which it had been entered
and then marking out of thirty. The scores for each of the club's individual images were then added together and in
a very close contest, two clubs, Morpeth and Blyth had the same final score and were awarded equal first place. The
trophy was then awarded to a representative from both winning clubs who will each hold it for six months. Davy gave
the audience a chance to see the images which had been submitted by both Blyth and Morpeth, to witness how the
competition had panned out and to show the different interpretations of the set categories.
The third part of the evening concluded with a chance to see a collection of stunning images from S.P.S (Shropshire
Photographic Society), Shrewsbury Open International Exhibition. Two twenty-minute Pdi presentations included the
acceptances and award winners in the Landscape Section and the Open Monochrome Section of this recognised
exhibition with PAGB patronage.
Club Co Chair Roseanne Robinson thanked Peter and Davy for putting together such a hasty replacement evening
after which refreshments were served.
Steph.