Club Meeting, Blyth PS Exchange Visit - Tuesday 18th November 2025.
On Tuesday 18th November Morpeth Camera Club welcomed members of Blyth Photographic Society who
came to entertain us with samples of their work. Exchange visits offer a great opportunity for different clubs
to meet and share their styles of photography.
Graham Harland, President of Blyth Photographic Society opened the evening by explaining that in their
club they hold an annual project on a common theme and we saw examples of the images which had been
entered; of lovely land and seascapes, natural history, flora, castles, classic American cars, abstract images
and still life.
Graham then revealed that the common theme was that all of the images had been taken on mobile phones.
The one criteria being that there should be no external manipulation and any changes must have been done
‘in phone.’ The aim of this project was to encourage new members who maybe only use a mobile phone and
to push the boundaries to see what one can be achieved with this genre of photography.
Grahams bittersweet collection of images followed where he had been invited to take portraits of people with
Alzheimer’s at a club dedicated to creating positive memories. Photographs taken in Times Square, Marseilles,
Hollywood Studios, the Ground Zero Memorial, a night shot of the Kelpies and a colourful Miami Lifeguard hut
concluded Grahams’ set.
Next on was John Cox with a presentation entitled Attempting to Conquer Photoshop. With a background in
painting John now uses his own work to create composite images. Objects in unusual situations such as an
eerie bride in church ruins, gangster twins in a warehouse, a Zebra in a park, and an owl and a pussycat in
a pea green boat. He uses skulls, skeletons, damsels and knights, intimidating ravens and owls, also using
family members or Whitby Goths to set the scene.
To compliment the subjects, he uses reflections and textures to form backgrounds. John explained that he
achieved his composite images by looking through his stock to inspire him into achieving fantasy and legend
effects; he was not looking to portray realism, and has a vivid imagination to create such otherworldly images.
Ian Danielson followed by saying that he loves portraiture, motorsport and bird images adding that he can
often be seen in a hide, wearing his ghillie suit. We enjoyed seeing images of models posing behind water
sprayed glass, Goths, underlit flowers, sugar poured into a cup, intentional camera movement creations,
luminous plastic cutlery and action shots of motorsports. To conclude Ian’s presentation, we enjoyed seeing
shore birds in flight, Blyth pier at sunrise, and being lashed by waves during Storm Arwen.
A short Q & A followed which covered techniques in Photoshop and Lightroom and methods of selection and
blending. Three members of Blyth Photographic Society, each with their own style and aspirations, all with a
great sense of humour, made for an interesting evening. Club Chairman Jeremy Cooper, thanked the visitors
for their varied and entertaining presentations after which a pooled supper was enjoyed.
Steph.
came to entertain us with samples of their work. Exchange visits offer a great opportunity for different clubs
to meet and share their styles of photography.
Graham Harland, President of Blyth Photographic Society opened the evening by explaining that in their
club they hold an annual project on a common theme and we saw examples of the images which had been
entered; of lovely land and seascapes, natural history, flora, castles, classic American cars, abstract images
and still life.
Graham then revealed that the common theme was that all of the images had been taken on mobile phones.
The one criteria being that there should be no external manipulation and any changes must have been done
‘in phone.’ The aim of this project was to encourage new members who maybe only use a mobile phone and
to push the boundaries to see what one can be achieved with this genre of photography.
Grahams bittersweet collection of images followed where he had been invited to take portraits of people with
Alzheimer’s at a club dedicated to creating positive memories. Photographs taken in Times Square, Marseilles,
Hollywood Studios, the Ground Zero Memorial, a night shot of the Kelpies and a colourful Miami Lifeguard hut
concluded Grahams’ set.
Next on was John Cox with a presentation entitled Attempting to Conquer Photoshop. With a background in
painting John now uses his own work to create composite images. Objects in unusual situations such as an
eerie bride in church ruins, gangster twins in a warehouse, a Zebra in a park, and an owl and a pussycat in
a pea green boat. He uses skulls, skeletons, damsels and knights, intimidating ravens and owls, also using
family members or Whitby Goths to set the scene.
To compliment the subjects, he uses reflections and textures to form backgrounds. John explained that he
achieved his composite images by looking through his stock to inspire him into achieving fantasy and legend
effects; he was not looking to portray realism, and has a vivid imagination to create such otherworldly images.
Ian Danielson followed by saying that he loves portraiture, motorsport and bird images adding that he can
often be seen in a hide, wearing his ghillie suit. We enjoyed seeing images of models posing behind water
sprayed glass, Goths, underlit flowers, sugar poured into a cup, intentional camera movement creations,
luminous plastic cutlery and action shots of motorsports. To conclude Ian’s presentation, we enjoyed seeing
shore birds in flight, Blyth pier at sunrise, and being lashed by waves during Storm Arwen.
A short Q & A followed which covered techniques in Photoshop and Lightroom and methods of selection and
blending. Three members of Blyth Photographic Society, each with their own style and aspirations, all with a
great sense of humour, made for an interesting evening. Club Chairman Jeremy Cooper, thanked the visitors
for their varied and entertaining presentations after which a pooled supper was enjoyed.
Steph.