At the end of June Snappers Camera Club’s members visited the Framework Knitters Museum in Ruddington, Nottingham. They were admitted an hour before the general public and made the most of it to photograph the small rooms of the Manager’s house and the cramped workshops where the work was done. It was impossible to imagine the crowded living accommodation and sanitation, which was basic in the extreme.
The first challenge for the July meeting asked members to bring their photographs from the visit to show. The June challenge photographs were also shown – a ‘finished’ photograph along with the image which was exactly as it came out of the camera and to discuss how they had edited it. The impressive thing was how much of a difference the edits had made, which itself demonstrated the new skills several Snappers’ members had developed.
Particularly impressive was the work done by Kerry Muscott on an image of the Flying Scotsman near Sutton on Trent. She didn’t like seeing overhead electric wires above this grand old train and there were various other items in the original image which seemed out of keeping. Experimenting with new software, she had made an exceptionally good job of removing all these items and producing a lovely photograph of the iconic steam train without any of the modern trappings. She was disappointed that at her chosen viewpoint there was no steam visible and admitted that more work was needed to produce a credible cloud of artificial steam.
In early August members will be visiting the Secret Gardens of Louth. Later the same week the August meeting will feature another practical opportunity with items on table tops to be photographed. Everyone’s best shots from both occasions will form the subject matter for the September meeting.
The next meeting takes place on Friday 5th August. Visitors are welcome at any time, but if you go in August, don’t forget to bring your camera and tripod. You can find out more at www.snappers.org.uk and always check the website to make sure they’re not on a trip before you go along.