As Einstein quoted “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere” and Robin Gregory treated us to an entertaining and highly enjoyable journey through his imaginative images. Starting with simple everyday objects like matchsticks, dolls, feathers and miniature models, Robin’s creative thought processes went into overdrive. Combining a number of photographic images along with extensive post- processing and image manipulation skills, Robin’s photographic artistry came to the fore.

He uses a Fuji camera with a fixed lens and demonstrated that imagination creates the final image with the camera really only recording the inputs with which he can work. Unashamedly admitting to learning by copying good ideas and developing them further through experimentation provided the stimulus to create futuristic, escapist and in many cases very humorous images.

The use of audio-visuals, street photography and an insight into some of the tips and techniques used all combined to create an inspiring evening

Despite competing with firework displays on Guy Fawkes night, a good attendance was recorded for Keith Hart from Stroud Camera Club, who made his first visit to our club to judge the first Open competition of the new season.  Having recently qualified as a judge meant that Keith brought an uncluttered approach to the judging process and his comments were both detailed and constructive. His analysis of each image not only covered technical matters including overall presentation but also explored the impact, creativity and the narrative conveyed by the image.

Accordingly his feedback offered several ideas to experiment with ranging from repeating the shoot with a different compositional approach to trying out various post-processing techniques.

The winning print was “Howling wolf” by Jim Bullock who also won the projected category with his image entitled “Revenge”.  In summary the evening went with a bang.

The Club was treated to a very special evening with Damien Demolder who shared his extensive experience, ideas and insights into the world of street photography – which can be loosely defined as achieving extraordinary images of ordinary situations. He emphasised the importance of working with the light, carefully composing the image and looking for contrast on many different levels. This all helped to capture the moment  that lended impact and drama to the image. Damien was assisted by Andre from Park Cameras who displayed a range of Panasonic camera equipment which members had the opportunity to get their hands on both before the talk and during the tea break.

Damien’s talk was great preparation for the workshop session on the following day in Swindon town centre. This gave attendees the  chance to use the Panasonic cameras and put into practice the ideas conveyed by the presentation.

As usual the audio-visual entries for the 2019 Western Counties Photographic Federation competition provided an entertaining evening’s viewing with a wide range of styles and subject matter. Each AV was preceded by a look at the judges comments before viewing the AV.

Every year the presentations become more sophisticated and incorporate new effects which add to their messaging and impact, whether it be a humorous composition or a deeper and more emotionally intense presentation.

The evening finished with the winning AVs that were selected across 5 different categories and in each case the attendees concurred with the judge’s selections.  Hopefully this evening will have enthused our members to experiment with their own AV presentations in readiness for an AV members evening that has been arranged in 2020

As is customary, the first meeting of the season was the presentation of awards to the competition winners from the previous season.  Once again we were privileged to have the Mayor of Royal Wootton Bassett, Councillor Steve Watts in attendance to make the presentations.  During the evening, Steve revealed that he is a keen photographer and we would clearly like to have him as a member if he wishes to join a Camera Club.

Unfortunately some members were unable to attend the meeting and this meant that some unclaimed silverware was left behind on the table at the end of the evening. this will be presented at a later date.

After the refreshment break, some prints from the regional travelling prints exhibition were viewed and commented upon.