With the output from their practical afternoon last month and two challenges to view, Gainsborough Snappers had a busy and diverse April meeting. They were pleased to welcome three visitors to join them.
The tabletop session had a good variety of subjects ranging from the straightforward display of tomatoes to the complex set up to take shots of droplets landing in water. Des Lloyd presented prints of his own water droplet shots, and members were interested to hear how long it took him to get everything set up to work accurately at home. His results were stunning.
The first of the monthly challenges asked people to take pictures of reflections, thinking ‘outside the box’. This produced a great selection of subject matter.
Alan Pinder brought an evening shot of the Trent at Gainsborough while Joyce Bell and Paul Lancaster had both taken shots of reflections at Brayford Pool. Paul had also caught some unusual shots local scenes reflected in windows. Joy Allison had spotted a distorted reflection of a Big Top in the chrome wing mirror of one of the huge trucks bringing the circus to Nottingham while at quite the other end of the size scale, Kerry Muscott had taken a macro shot of a dandelion seed with a tiny droplet of water at its centre supported by a cloud of cotton wool.
Pat Oaks is to be congratulated on spotting a reflection of a car apparently on the balcony of a sky scraper, as is Russ Smith for interpreting the challenge of Reflections as the small maquettes of the Kelpies at Falkirk reflecting the 30m high statues.
In both May and June, members Paul Lancaster and Russ Smith will be leading the sessions. In the first meeting they will describe how they each go about using flash for portraiture and the following month everyone will be encouraged to process their results as they see fit. These will be viewed quickly in June before Paul and Russ demonstrate how they do the job.
Members are now thinking about potential trips and outdoor opportunities during the summer months. Any suggestions will be welcomed.
There is no membership fee and visitors are welcome at any time. See www.snappers.org.uk for more information.
Image: Killingholme, Sue Cross