Members of Retford and District Photographic Society (RDPS) have played a big part in making this season interesting. Early in October, Geoff Stoddart was declared Photographer of the Year 2021–2022, based on total points scored in all competitions. Following the presentations, Des Lloyd, a previous holder of the title, gave an impressive talk based on his wildlife prints. He specialises in bird photography.
His suggestions for success were knowing the habits and territory of the subject, endless patience, and a smattering the luck born of endless practice! His tale of spotting a fox in a rabbit hole and managing to later erect a hide to photograph it was a great illustration.
David Keep gave a professional’s view of underwater photography. His talk last year was a highlight, and he did not disappoint eager members with this new talk. His images are simply stunning.
More wildlife followed in the second open competition, where members could enter any subject. Rob Falconer, the judge, commented that it could have been an insect theme. He seldom sees one, but that night had a good selection to view. From a broad selection of subjects overall, his winner of both the colour print class and the digital (DPI) images were birds. The winners were:
- Colour Print: Des Lloyd with ‘Back Headed Gull Nest Building’
- Mono Print: Andy Stephenson with ‘Black Rock Cottage in January’
- DPI: Mike Vickers with ‘Gentoos in a Sandstorm’
Mike’s image was an excellent example of the powerful images that can be taken simply by getting low to the ground – even if he did risk his lens being sand blasted on this one!
Halloween was a Monday and Jane Brownley arranged a themed quiz. It is to be hoped the club’s photography is better than their knowledge of obscure facts about Halloween! It got things off to a humorous start and warmed members up to the subject.
Jane, with husband Neil, then arranged a light painting session. They had planned several set ups where lights were turned off to enable members to capture the patterns made by moving a selection of coloured lights in a variety of ways.
The dark theme continued into November with Peter Jenkins visiting to talk about Astro Photography. Members were centre stage later in November at an evening of ‘Show and Tell’, followed the next week by a themed competition featuring ‘Textures’.
RDPS meets on Monday nights at 7.30pm until 24th April. For more information visit www.retford-photographic.co.uk.
Image: Mike Vickers