So that was the NEC!

On a shockingly bad day - weather wise, we made the (surprisingly) short trip to the NEC to attend Focus on Imaging and .....our date with the Royal Photographic Society. Suffice to say we were both extremely anxious and had a overwhelming desire to get it over with, (our own fault as we put ourselves foward for it!). Having arrived early we sat and chatted with other candidates as the panel members gathered. At 10.30 the Chairman rose and introduced himself and the panel members and the process began. Panels came and went, some succeeded and others didn't. A number of times the panel gathered to critically examine in some detail, specific photos within the candidates panel - a huddle and then off to their chairs to fill in the marking sheets. One of the panel gave a quick overview of their perception of the portfolio and then the marking sheets were handed into the Chair, who collated the results, sometimes glanced futher at the images and then pronounced whether they would or would not recommend the panel to the RPS council. Generally it wasn't too difficult to see why a panel did or didn't get recommended but there were some surprises - so you just don't know until they read your name out or not. As for us..... well mixed fortunes I'm afraid and I'm not allowed to say..just yet, but we will reflect on the experience, take a deep breath and ultimately get there (nobody said it was easy and success is so much sweeter when it's hard to achieve). Incidentally after lunch four panels in a row failed and the pass rate was hovering around the 65% mark - with a very clear steer towards technical excellence - ie sharp, correctly focussed and no blown highlights or blocked blacks.

Having been battered and bruised we reflected over coffee and a bun then dived into the Focus on Imaging expo. Everything you would ever need in the way of Photography kit! Having been for 4 years running it's getting very familiar, but still nice to have a few hours immersed in the all those lovely images (yes some living models), kit and superb inspiring lectures, just wish we had a fortune to spend on those fantastic cameras and lenses!!!!!!!!!!

Now we need to focus on the workshop in Hathersage and looking forward to meeting our participants and shooting some more frames.

PS I've tried an Andy Wharol type set of images which are going up in Nosh, Sheffield next week - come and view and let us know what you think.           

S40 Local

Then there was snow.. oh and it was cold!

Just when we thought perhaps we had missed the snow February arrived and brought it with it! However snow of course provides all sorts of photo opportunities and besides being stuck indoors leafing through  100s of images to find the final 10 for our LRPS panel can be headache producing, so a chance or two to get out in the snow and frost certainly clears the head.

Actually it was quite a productive few weeks, a very successful night shoot in Sheffield saw a moonlit (if slightly nippy) night adding to the exposure challenge, ably taken up by our enthusiastic photographers. Particularly pleasing that two of our friends were previous participants from our workshop in October. The snow also brought further opportunities and some success - with a shot of Endsor gracing the front cover of  S40 Local and another shot being featured in the Derbyshire Times. I also suspect that one or two of the shots might also make it into the LRPS panel!

So planning now underway for the 4th March panel presentation at FOCUS at the NEC in Birmingham followed quickly by the next workshop on the 14th March in Hathersage.

 

 

2012 - a new year and new challenges

Well, Mrs C and I (plus friends) went to Stamford in Lincolnshire for the New Year weekend, staying at the Bull and Swan (an old 16C inn with friendly staff, good food and excellent rooms).  Anyway, on the way there we stopped off at Peterborough and visited the cathedral.  This is an amazing structure and having paid my £3 photography fee, I was able to roam all over the place soaking up the atmosphere as well as trying to capture the Norman / Medieval architecture with my trusty Panasonic.

However the challenge was the low light - and no tripod !  Ever the resourceful, I improvised using tops of tombs, old wooden tables etc - and the results are fine........the odd jaunty angle but interesting all the same !

And the challenges for 2012......well getting my LRPS in March would be great personal achievement - we shall see !

Happy New Year to you all

Andy C

Next Workshop - Carsington Reservoir, Derbyshire 21 January 2012

Places are still available on our next workshop - this time a Saturday, so it should help those of you who are hard at work during the week...

Carsington is a brilliant location with plenty of opportunities to capture, landscapes, wildlife, water sports, walkers, cyclists and it has an excellent cafe where we will be based! Oh and they have some shops!

Feedback from our workshops has been fantastic so hopefully you will get a great deal out of our time together, but this is just a start once you have been on a workshop we try to keep in touch to help you progress - we love to see your images.

Reflections on Asia

Well..........Hong Kong was great as ever ...........lots of photo opportunities as ever in interesting local markets, amazing restaurants and large national parks to hike in.

And the side trip to the Philippines was an insight into living on white sand/ palm tree islands where you saw differences between the lives of the islanders and those of tourists staying in 5* plus luxury (not us I must add !).

And yes Andrew, the last image probably has a wonky horizon, but sometimes a jaunty angle adds character (though I do think I have one leg shorter than the other !!)

As you dear readers might have guessed, planning is underway for travels in 2012  - watch this space.  Canada is beckoning for a family wedding in June (I'm not down to do the photos thankfully) and we may well venture to see other parts than just Toronto !

Talking of weddings......I covered a wedding in central Sheffield late summer, and this is one of my favourite images of that sunny day.

Our next project is to get a photo gallery set up in the Nosh cafe on Division Street in Sheffield - it should be up by the end of next week.  If you do see the images there (will be changed every month) do let us know.

And finally.........a Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year to you all.

Cheers - Andy

Newark, Night Shoot and Nosh!

Well Andy is still reviewing the overseas images and mulling over the RPS panel selection. Speaking of which Newark was enlightening! We learnt a lot and are reasonable encouraged by the Advisor's feedback. One lesson - don't submit a digital panel, stick to those excellent prints.

The most recent workshop was a night shoot in Sheffield, all lit up for Christmas. The weather was kind and despite it being a little chilly (the hot chocolate was a winner) we managed to get some excellent shots, brilliant feedback and a couple of eureka moments which is always great. Night photography is always a bit of a challenge but ultimately can be very very satisfying. You really must try it!

If you want to see the result of an earlier night shoot in Sheffield then pop into NOSH on Division street and with a bit of luck you should be able to see our new gallery of images adoring the walls thanks to Jonathan the forward thinking Manager who has kindly allowed us to use their walls as a gallery. New acrylic frames have just arrived and look very cool. Now all we need to do is mount and hang the images. The intention is to change the prints on a very regular basis - so do pop in an check the latest offerings. All feedback welcome - or suggestions for new themes would be good.

2012 Workshop Details Now Available

We are glad to announce the first set of dates and venues for the 2012 season. We expect to add more in the coming months. If your interested please get in touch as places are limited.

Andy has returned from Hong Kong and - he assures me - is working through his memory cards!

On top of this we are both reviewing our hundreds of  files to put together a panel of images to be put foward to the Royal Photographic Society as we are off to Newark on the 20th to have these assessed at an advisory day. We will have to wait and see what they think. Nervous.....

Chatsworth Workshop - hardwork but rewarding (for everyone!)

So you think photography is point and shoot? Well yes it can be and there's nothing wrong with that but... there is so much more that you and your camera can do if you explore a bit. Six eager participants joined us at Chatsworth Garden Centre on the 14th to take on the challenge of moving off auto mode and into the dark arts of aperture priority, shutter speeds and the unfathomable links with ISO, not to mention getting creative and seeing things differently. I think it fair to say we all found it a bit of a challenge (for varying reasons) but without exception I'm pretty sure well all got a lot out of it and the excellent feed-back seems to back that up. The enthusiasm of all our guests was an inspiration and both Andy and I (having finally recovered our voices) really enjoyed meeting and helping everyone through the day. 

Next workshop will be a night shoot on 30th November in Sheffield - exploring the challenges of long exposures and chilly evenings!

Anyway I've got to mind the shop for a couple of weeks whilst Andy jets off again - this time Eastwards to Hong Kong, global family visiting. Wonder what music you can listen to in a Rikshaw?

  

Portugal, North Wales, California ..........

Even though Andrew scoffs my choice of music, I still believe that singing 'The Boxer' while cruising around California in an open topped Ford Mustang is just one of those sublime life experiences !

Anyway, music apart, so far this year I've been fortunate to travel yet again on a couple of short trips to  favourite haunts of western Algarve and North Wales......both with great beaches.

However the big trip has been to California where the epic 3,500 mile road trip meant some fantastic landscapes, amazing food (wild king salmon fresh from the Klamath river) and brilliant wildlife.

And as the above images from California show, it was a great trip.......and you can imagine it was hard to come home.

Roll on Hong Kong in a few weeks time - it helps having a global family !