Club Meeting, '10 yrs of Landscape Photographs' - Tuesday 5th Sept 2023.

   

For the first meeting of the new season, Morpeth Camera Club were very pleased to welcome Mick Watson LRPS
from Durham Photographic Society as our guest speaker, with his presentation entitled 'Ten Years of Landscape
Photographs'. Mick, who had given us an excellent show on wildlife photography last year, did not disappoint with
a new selection of his high-quality landscape images together with descriptions of his photographic experiences.

He opened with Glencoe winter scenes, of Rannoch Moor reflections, crashing waves at Bowfiddle Rock, storm
clouds over Glen Etive, milky waters of the Falls of Balloch and the Old Drovers Bridge near Aviemore together
with stunning landscapes of Orkney and Isle of Mull. Nearer to home we saw sweeping winter scenes at Ingleton
escarpments, Pen-y-Ghent shrouded in hoar frost, Rookhopes’ derelict dwellings and a Low Force panorama.

On the shoreline, we saw Whitby sunsets, wrecks at Saltwick Bay, storm clouds over Marsden Rock, progressive
stages of sunrise at Howick Scar and Cullernose Point and a classic sweeping panorama of Bamburgh Castle. His
presentation then took the audience to Utah with anecdotes of travelling alone in this red landscape which he said
glowed with the sunrise and when the sun illuminates the rocks, together with storm clouds, these provide the
conditions that he loves.

                            

An Av (audio/visual) followed where he, with the use of a drone, captured Ashgill Force from above and from unusual
and dramatic viewpoints. His Av of Blue Morph Arctic Foxes in their Icelandic habitat followed; capturing the behaviour
of this lovely animal, illustrating the dramatic scenery and extreme weather conditions, from crisp sunshine to total
whiteout.

Mick provided us with humourous anecdotes; including the necessity of wearing waders or arctic snow gear in his
quest to get the perfect shot. One can plan a trip, he said, but one is always in the hands of the weather. He can
visit one place during autumn and then winter and by walking around to different points of view he can produce
an array of different images. In photography it is all about the light and his aim is to use it to capture atmospheric
skies and reflections. With the use of filters and slow shutter speeds, he can produce the milky waterfalls or stormy
shorelines that he strives for.

Scotland is his favourite place to take his photographs he said, with Northumberland a close second and we could see
the passion he has for these regions in his high-quality landscape images. Club Chairman, Peter Downs, thanked Mick
for his brilliant presentation after which refreshments were enjoyed.

Steph.