| What | Members Evening - "Still Life Photography" |
| When |
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
7:30pm
-
All Ages
|
| Where |
The Angel Hotel Function Room (map)
47 High Street
Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire SN4 7AQ The Function Room is located on the first floor at the hotel. It can be accesssed either through the front entrance and up the stairs by the bar or through the rear courtyard where there is a set of metal stairs on the left hand side. |
| Other Info | A practical evening provididng the opportunity for members to bring along a range of objects (fruits, vegetables, flowers, objets d'art etc) and their cameras to experiment with different composition and lighting set ups. Hopefully it will generate some entries for a Still Life competition later on in the season. |
Category Archives: Club Nights
A Skillen Presentation – January 4th 2024
Those who were able to attend the talk by Andy Skillen entitled “Tales from the Bush”, which was hosted and jointly sponsored by Swindon Photographic Society, had an evening to remember. Andy is an intrepid wildlife photographer with over 25 years experience of photographing and recording wildlife in remote locations. His talk whisked us around the globe and across five of the seven continents. Much of Andy’s work is focused on commissions and he supplies stills, articles and video clips to well known institutions and publishing houses.
He started by sharing his experiences in Africa photographing lowland gorillas and forest elephants with the latter having provided many heart stopping moments when their behaviour became unpredictable and resulted in him being charged on several occasions. Hyenas, buffalo, musk oxen, wild dogs, many species of bears, wolves, cheetahs and the elusive show leopard featured in the wide collection of images and videos during the evening.
Andy explained what is was like to work on specialist commissions, and how this shaped the style of images that he pusued. His ability to understand the behavioral traits of certain animals enabled him to build a relationship with an individual animal and this in turn allowed him to work at distances most of us would never contemplate, nor consider sane. Wildlife conservation features prominently throughout Andy’s work and he finished the evening with an emotive video showing the beauty of the animal kingdom and the plight it faces.
Talk by Andy Skillen – Swindon PS – 04/01/24
| What |
Talk by Andy Skillen
|
| When |
Thursday, January 4, 2024
7:30pm
- All Ages |
| Where |
Swindon PS (map)
Des Moffatt Western Community Centre
Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 1NF Meeting venue for Swindon Photographic Society on Thursday evenings from 7.30 pm |
| Other Info |
A jointly arranged talk by Andy Skillen and hosted by Swindon PS at their venue - the Des Moffatt Western Community Centre, Somerset Road, Rodbourne, Swindon SN2 1NF.
A great evening is anticipated as Andy presents "Tales from the Bush" a talk illustrated with wildlife images and anecdotes from his extensive travels in Africa and S America |
Christmas Meal – The Angel Hotel – 12/12/23
| What |
Christmas Meal
|
| When |
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
7:00pm
- All Ages |
| Where |
The Angel Hotel (map)
47 High Street
Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire SN4 7AQ |
| Other Info |
Christmas meal for members and partners/spouses at venue to be finalised but probably The Angel Hotel
|
Competition 2 – “Open” and “Flight” – The Angel Hotel Function Room – 28/11/23
| What |
Competition 2 - "Open" and "Flight"
|
| When |
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
7:30pm
- All Ages |
| Where |
The Angel Hotel Function Room (map)
47 High Street
Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire SN4 7AQ The Function Room is located on the first floor at the hotel. It can be accesssed either through the front entrance and up the stairs by the bar or through the rear courtyard where there is a set of metal stairs on the left hand side. |
| Other Info |
Second round of competitions for the Mayors Cups. Subject are Open and "Flight" nad wiill be judged by Doug Lodge
|
Wildlife Presentation – November 14th 2023
Wiltshire wildlife photographer Alan Benson shared a collection of his stunning wildlife images with us and explained how the images were captured. His talk included a wide range of British birds and mammals from locations all around the country with some of his favourite haunts being the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales.and Salisbury Plain.
Alan’s passion for wildlife and the effort he invests in searching out and capturing images with a different approach in their natural settings was evident in every image we saw. His understanding of wildlife behaviour gained through extensive practical experience allowd him to capture the images he envisaged, although he is still waiting to capture a puffin with a sand eel filled beak.
During the interval we were able to view a selection of prints that have featured in publications, calendars etc and Alan is keen to share his images on social media despite some plagiarism that has taken place.
Alan finished his talk with an amusing story about imprint type behaviour of some bustards on Salisbury Plain and their attempt to enter the hide which he was using. In the Q & A session after his talk, Alan made a surprising revelation about his particular approach to photography.
** Presentation by Alan Benson – The Angel Hotel Function Room – 14/11/23
| What |
** Presentation by Alan Benson
|
| When |
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
7:30pm
- All Ages |
| Where |
The Angel Hotel Function Room (map)
47 High Street
Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire SN4 7AQ The Function Room is located on the first floor at the hotel. It can be accesssed either through the front entrance and up the stairs by the bar or through the rear courtyard where there is a set of metal stairs on the left hand side. |
| Other Info |
Alan is a local wildlife photographer who will share his images and tell the story behind them,
Competition entries due tonight for Competition #2 |
WCPF DPIC Viewing – The Angel Hotel Function Room – 31/10/23
| What |
WCPF DPIC Viewing
|
| When |
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
7:30pm
- All Ages |
| Where |
The Angel Hotel Function Room (map)
47 High Street
Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire SN4 7AQ The Function Room is located on the first floor at the hotel. It can be accesssed either through the front entrance and up the stairs by the bar or through the rear courtyard where there is a set of metal stairs on the left hand side. |
| Other Info |
View the entries for the regional WCPF Digital Projected Image competition which features a host of top quality images
|
Members Evening – The Angel Hotel Function Room – 17/10/23
| What |
Members Evening
|
| When |
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
7:30pm
- All Ages |
| Where |
The Angel Hotel Function Room (map)
47 High Street
Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire SN4 7AQ The Function Room is located on the first floor at the hotel. It can be accesssed either through the front entrance and up the stairs by the bar or through the rear courtyard where there is a set of metal stairs on the left hand side. |
| Other Info |
Open evening for members to share their work and explore photographic ares of interest
|
Competition #1 – October 3rd 2023
Our first competition of the new season had set subjects of “Open” and “Abstract” with the latter provided opportunities for a range of interpretations by both entrants and the judge.
Martin Cooper from Yate judged the prints first and the projected images followed after a short interval. He provided comprehensive critiques with several suggestions regarding how the image might have been captured from a different perspective and presented in an alternative way to further enhance its impact and appeal.
The winning Abstract print was “Gridballsmoke” by Jim Bullock and Dave Garmont won the Open prints with “Jay in the woods”. Bob Philpott won the Open section with a butterfly image “Small copper” and Peter Hodgson won the Abstract section with “Mickey Mouse bubbles”
Our next meeting is a Members Evening where images, ideas and photographic issues can be shared and discussed in an informal environment.
Small Copper 
Mickey Mouse bubble