Unusually, Chris Stone’s visit to Retford and District Photographic Society (RDPS) was notable for the story he had to tell rather than the quality of the photos he showed. Visitors to Matlock are now spared the mile long steep trek to the top of Masson Hill thanks to the construction of an alpine style cable car. Chris was able to document the construction of this popular attraction from the site alongside the workers.
Digital photography had not yet taken over and all his images were recorded on 100ASA slide film. He has had them copied digitally and showed a selection of them with recent shots to bring the story fully up to date. Interestingly he told members that the operators of the cable car installed for the London Olympics were trained at Matlock.
Sometimes members take centre stage in a ‘Show and Tell’ evening, bringing their own images to share. Jane Brownley showed some underwater images taken in British waters to emphasise just how good those shown by David Keep had been.
Two members showed shots from London, but they could not have been more different. Lee Dalgleish had documented some of the colourful graffiti in the East End while Ben Searson had recorded a visit to Battersea Power Station in black and white. Simon Carr rounded off a great evening with a selection of his beautiful bird shots.
The annual portfolio competitions are designed to test the versatility of photographers. In February the print section was held, including classes for colour and monochrome images. When the night’s judging was done, the honours were taken by Simon Carr for his colour portfolio and Alan Burkwood for his monochrome entry.
Chris Hodgson gave a live demonstration of how to go about the conversion of a colour image to black and white and RDPS’ final evening in this period was devoted to hearing from Steven Fairbrother about Easy Wildlife Photography. He quickly clarified that this did not mean the actual photography was easy, but rather that the subjects were close to home and did not require trekking across the globe to get the shots.
For more information, visit www.retford-photographic.co.uk. The club is based in St Joseph’s Hall, Babworth Road, Retford and meets at 7.30pm on Mondays until the end of April. A warm welcome awaits guests and potential members.
Image: Reflection pool, Simon Carr