Our third Open Competition of the season, from which points go towards winning the Mayors Cup, was judged by Peter Weaver from Keynsham.

Peter has visited the club on several occasions and is a vastly experienced photographer, who has been judging for over 25 years. His approach is to give honest feedback and offer constructive comments for the photographer to take on board.  Anecdotes, based on his own extensive experiences were shared in a positive, encouraging and entertaining manner.

In the Prints section, the top three positions were all awarded to Dave Garmont with his picture entitled “Pigeon feeder” judged as the overall winner. In the projected image category, awards were spread more evenly spread across the membership with a wildlife image “Blowing in the wind” from Geoff Snowball selected as the overall winning entry.

With only one more competition left, the competitive pressures are building and several candidates are still in the running to scoop a silver trophy for their mantelpiece.

Eddy and Pam Lane gave an excellent presentation based on their three week tour of India organised by the Royal Photographic Society. The tour started in the ‘Golden Triangle’ which comprises Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. A stimulating collection of images were shown which covered not only the well recognised landmarks like the Taj Mahal, Amber and Red Forts but also every-day pictures of local people going about their daily business.

The presentation then included images taken in Kolkata  and finally featured the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. This narrow gauge railway transports passengers through the lower reaches of the Eastern Himalayas to the rolling hills and lush green tea plantations of Darjeeling, a climb of around 7000 feet over its 50 mile distance.

The strong collection of images, accompanied by informative commentary and a short audio-visual presentation all contributed towards making a very enjoyable and entertaining evening.

Although our formal programme does not start until January 22nd, a couple of informal Photography Workshop events have been arranged which will be held in the Function Room of The Cross Keys pub on the High Street, RWB.  Start time is 7.30 pm.

Anyone with an interest in photography is warmly welcomed. If you got a new camera for Christmas, and aren’t quite sure how to use it, then come along with your camera and seek some help. Or if you just want to talk photography over a beer and share your ideas and thoughts then that is fine.