Club Meeting, Vice Chairs Challenge 1 - Tuesday 22nd November 2022.

  

At Morpeth Camera Clubs meeting on Tuesday 22nd November 2022, club Vice-Chairman, Peter Downs revealed
the results of the first of his beach themed challenges, where members had been asked to submit up to 4 images
on the subject of seaweed. To open the evening, Peter said that he was amazed by the response and of the high
standard of work submitted, where twenty members took up his challenge, entering seventy images.

  

As each image was projected the authors were encouraged to comment upon and to explain methods used to
produce their end result. Most images had been taken on our coastline from Bamburgh down to Lynemouth and
included stylised zoom effects, stranded seaweed forming lines and patterns, a polar co-ordinated creations,
posterized abstracts, macro shots, minimalism, the use of psychedelic effects, highly saturated inverted colour
waves and moody, eerie creations.

                        

Included in the challenge were sea kelp forests moving with the waves or stranded on the shore; seaweed roots
resembling creatures emerging or languishing on rocks, monster like triffids floating in rock pools, some clinging
to groynes others resembling leather, conifer fronds and pasta, and abstract moody and eerie creations. More
unusual interpretations of the challenge included seaweed within an evening seascape, on which godwits were
feeding, presented as a floral display and a very original still life image of sushi.

  

A wide variety of seaweed were represented; Bladderack, dead mans rope, coral seaweed, layered spiral and
Egg wrack, Oarweed, sea Kelp, Gutweed vibrant sea lettuce, and spaghetti seaweed, in a wide assortment of
colours of pink, lime green, apricot, rust and subtle ochre colours, olive brown, and in vibrant oranges, gold
and blue.

                        

Peter stated that this had not been a competition but an opportunity for members to see each others’ work
and how they had reacted to the challenge in their own individual ways. It was also very interesting to see how
seaweed reacts to water and can morph into something which we can all interpret in different ways. He ended
by saying that it was also a reminder that in photography we don’t always have to stick to the norm. Another
well attended evening then concluded with refreshments.

  

From the seventy images submitted we are indebted to the following members who have each allowed one image
to be displayed in this report. Images by authors in this order, Stephanie Robson, Stephen Perry, Pat Wood, John
Thompson, Antony Vaudrey, Sue Dawson, Jeremy Cooper, Keith Pratt, Karin Jackson, Glyn Trueman, Graham Sorrie,
David Moore, Trevor Langhorne, Helen Vaudrey, Paul Appleby, Roseanne Robinson, Dave Bisset, Davy Bolam, Peter
Downs and Ursula Pearce.

   

                                                                                *****