Contents THE WCPF EXECUTIVE

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2 THE WCPF EXECUTIVE Because of concerns about publishing details of the Executive Members addresses, phone numbers and addresses in this electronic newsletter, which is now being seen by a far wider audience, it has been decided not to publish these details in this newsletter in future. A Who s Who is appended, and if you need to contact any individual, please consult the latest Directory, or fill in the Contact Us President - Eddy Lane ARPS : DPAGB Vice President - Peter Fry ARPS : DPAGB : BPE3* Hon Sec - Alan James Imm. Past President - Brian Galbraith CPAGB : APAGB Treasurer - Paul Kessler LRPS, CPAGB Newsletter Editor - Ann Owens C&G (Dist) Travelling Critique Sec - Helen Burridge Audio Visual Sec - Peter Fry ARPS : DPAGB : BPE3 Kingswood Salver & Knightshayes Trophy Sec - Carol Wilson Directory Sec - Jim Eastaugh LRPS MPIX & DPIC Secretary - Pam Sherren ARPS :EFIAP/b : DPAGB BPE2*. Assistant to MPIX & DPIC Sec: Paula Graham ARPS PAGB Competition Sec - John Tilsley ARPS, DPAGB, APAGB PAGB Awards Officer - Di Tilsley CPAGB Assistant PAGB Awards Officer - Pam Lane - ARPS DPAGB WCPF Rep to PAGB - Brian Galbraith CPAGB : APAGB Webmaster - Andy White LRPS Additional Executive Member - Sandie Cox Contents WHO S WHO ON THE NEW EXECUTIVE 2 DIARY DATES 3 PROFILE OF EDDY LANE - THE NEW PRESIDENT 4 ADDRESS TO WCPF AGM - OCTOBER LADY DOREEN POLLOCK S PASSING 6 WADEBRIDGE & DISTRICT CC - What They ve Been Getting Up To!! 7/9 CAMERA CLUB & THE LOCAL MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL - A Symbiotic Relationship. 10 PAGB Inter-Fed. PI 2012 Results 11/12 NATURE? 13 A NEW TRIBE? 14/15 PLEASE BE AWARE THAT VIEWS EXPRESSED BY INDIVIDUALS IN THIS NEWSLETTER ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE WCPF. 2

3 DIARY DATES E v e n t 10th November WCPF Kingswood Salver 10th November. WAVES hold another popular Workshop Day. 8 non members. 3 members. 17th November - 6th January. RPS 155th International Print Exhibition he-155th-international-print-exhibition nd December. RPS VA Group Members/ Day. Cost TBC 16th December. RPS DiG Meeting provisionally exploring Adobe Photoshop RAWs interface. 5/ 3 entrance. janet.haines@btopenworld.com for more. 5th January DPIC Closing date From Sunday 3rd February Saturday 9th February Venice Carnival. 9th February WAVES AGM and Theme Day. 10th February. DPIC 10th February - closing date for Knightshayes Trophy Details At the above venue. Speaker and judge will be - Don Byatt ARPS : MPAGB : EFIAP At St Thomas Church Hall, York Buildings, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8PF. From 10.00am pm. Hands-on help creating AVs. Touring Exhibition reaches Rook Lane Chapel Gallery, Frome. BA11 1DN. Contact - Claire Carroll claire@rooklanearts.org.uk At Cudra WI Hall, Bucklers Lane, Holmbush, St Austell. PL26 3JN. Show your work - bring up to 10 prints. Contact linda.wevill@btinternet.com to book. At Merryfield Hall, Ilton, Somerset. TA19 9HG. Meet at for start till 4.00pm. Pre-booked lunches available. See for details on the DPIC page. tonytravel@blueyonder.co.uk for full details. Or phone Answer phone on this number. At St Thomas Church Hall, York Buildings, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8PF. From 10.00am pm. A non-competitive day, where others show how to construct an AV. At the Corn Exchange, Market Street Exeter. EX1 1BW..From 9.30am (for start) finishes at See for details. Bring entries with you when attending above event. 3

4 Profile of Eddy Lane ARPS : DPAGB Eddy was appointed President of the WCPF after two years on the Executive organising, the Members Print Exhibition along with his wife Pam. A member of Calne Woodlands Camera Club for fifteen years, then Chairman for the last six years Eddy was then appointed Hon President after relinquishing the chair. He has been judging regularly for five years, and enjoys reviewing images reflecting all genres of photography. During his working life he initially became a qualified accountant at the age of twenty and for the next forty years was Finance Director of a wide range of manufacturing companies. These included periods managing companies in Bermuda, North East China and California, and these overseas stints increased his growing passion for travel and wildlife photography. He initially gave regular talks on his travels to his Camera Club, and these have escalated so that, accompanied by Pam, they frequently give a wide range of presentations throughout the WCPF region and beyond. Fortunately for Eddy, Pam decided not to be a photography widow, and purchased her Nikon kit to avoid clashes with Eddy s Canon gear and mirrored his interests and distinctions they are both ARPS and DPAGB. Eddy s A was on the Street Life of India and Pam s A was on the Wildlife of the Masai Mara, both gained in Their DPAGB s were gained simultaneously in May 2011 with a mix of Travel and Wildlife Images. Typically they celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary last year whilst on Safari in Namibia. 4

5 WCPF Address to AGM 13 th October 2012 When the possibility of becoming President arose, I was daunted by the prospect, and this was amplified by having to follow in the footsteps of such an impressive incumbent who will be a hard act to follow. We must convey our huge thanks to Brian for being such an effective and well respected President, particularly having had to resolve the major issues that arose three years ago. I am delighted that he has been awarded the honour of APAGB for his meritorious service, and I am grateful to Bill Aven for applying for this in the utmost secrecy that is required, and for having it confirmed just days before the AGM. We are fortunate in that we have a very capable Executive to maintain the programme going forward, and I look forward to working closely with them. The Future The Federation is in good shape, but these are a few ideas to pursue to assist in shaping our future direction. 1 Keep the standard of the WCPF high, and try to increase numbers attending and participating, rather than reduce quality of events (See improved publicity below). Continue the transition to entering WCPF events on line. 2 Improve Publicity & Communications Appoint an Executive member with special Advertising/ PR responsibility, consider possible WCPF Conference for all Club Chairmen next year. 3 Increase Community Involvement by WCPF Clubs A - Encourage Clubs to become more involved in Local Life e.g. Local Festivals, Print Displays in empty shops etc - work with and support local charities/schools. B - Feature/publicise successful local collaborations in WCPF Newsletter/local press. C - Create an Annual Award for the best Club Collaborative project I greatly look forward to the next two years, and hope to get to know better the many Clubs that make up the Federation. I have already enjoyed seeing a wide range of Members images through Judging Competitions and Exhibitions. Pam and I have also visited many Clubs making our various presentations and we look forward to this continuing into the future. Eddy Lane October

6 Doreen Po!ock FRSA : FRPS : MPAGB : EFIAP It is with great sadness we report the passing of Lady Doreen Pollock on 16th October, aged 95. With her husband Sir George, they were the first two people to become Masters of the PAGB in audio-visual work. For many years, she served on the RPS Council, and was instrumental in creating the system of Overseas RPS Chapters, which continues to operate to this day. She also helped to create the Overseas Newsletter and was involved in organising several Overseas Members Exhibitions, held at the Octagon in Bath. She also started an RPS AV Newsletter, first issued in July 1976, and continued to edit this for ten issues, building up a fund which formed the initial capital of the RPS AV Group, which was created in late Her interest in AVs continued, and was to see her involved in the creation of the RPS International Audio-Visual Festival. For many years, she was to serve on the RPS A & F Panel for Slide-Sound Sequences, later renamed the Audio-Visual Panel. Not content with all these activities, Doreen found time to create AV sequences of her own, which were much appreciated. She won first prize in the National AV Championships (at the time a joint RPS/PAGB event) one year with her sequence One Brief Moment about the Lake District, and another year, first prize in the RPS International AV Festival with her interpretation of some verses from the Revelation of St John. To Sir George and her family, we extend our condolences. 6!

7 WADEBRIDGE & DISTRICT CAMERA CLUB AUTUMN EXHIBITION IN COLLABORATION WITH PENCARROW Ever since Brian Galbraith organised a very successful exhibition a few years ago to celebrate Wadebridge & District Camera Club's Diamond Jubilee, the committee have from time to time discussed the possibility of holding another. At that time we learnt much of the positive benefits such an enterprise can bring to the club; apart from anything else it heightened awareness locally that the club existed, and consequently did much for our membership. We were also aware that the costs involved, if one hired a venue, could be very expensive. In the summer of 2011 a couple of us started wondering if there was another way of approaching the idea? Working in collaboration with a local attraction of some kind, was the concept we came up with. The two of us very soon decided that we had a very obvious potential venue, as we are very lucky to have a local stately home which is still occupied by descendants of the family who settled there in the 1500s. Pencarrow House (see front cover of Newsletter No.195) is a largely Georgian mansion with extensive gardens, which lies just a few miles outside Wadebridge and has been open to the public since the 1970s. It is the home of the Molesworth family, who came to Cornwall from Northamptonshire in the late 1500s, when John Molesworth was appointed by Queen Elizabeth I as Auditor to the Duchy of Cornwall. This is the proposal we put before our committee: Rough outline: the idea is to have a project which includes taking pictures throughout the season at Pencarrow, culminating with an Exhibition of the club s work at the House towards the end of the season, which would include a percentage of photographs of Pencarrow house and gardens, as well an open selection of photographs from club members. This was well received and we were encouraged to approach Pencarrow to see whether they would be interested in such a venture. On the 26 th October 2011, I ed the Events Organiser at Pencarrow and within a few days had a very positive response and an invitation to meet and discuss the idea further. At the meeting we suggested that, to make the project attractive to our members, it would be helpful if we could have a limited number of free entry entitlements to the gardens for those participating. After some discussion it was agreed that, although photography is not normally allowed within the house itself, we would be given access to the parts of the house through which tours were conducted, on a couple of occasions, to enable participants to take photographs when it was closed to visitors. By John Evans-Jones 7

8 It was suggested that we could have a 2-week slot at the end of their summer season, running from the middle to the end of September, for the exhibition itself. This meant it would be open for 10 days, they being closed on Fridays & Saturdays as the house is also a wedding venue. As to the actual siting of the exhibition, there was a room at the back of the house, formerly the servants hall, which was available although the lighting wasn t ideal, the room opened out onto the lawn at the back of the house and was just opposite the tea rooms. This gave us good access to the exhibition for anyone walking the grounds, and certainly to all those visiting the very well frequented tearooms, whose cream teas are legendary. We wanted the venture to have positive benefits for Pencarrow, as well as giving the club a prestigious venue for an exhibition of members work. Consequently it was important to create a good portfolio of images of Pencarrow house and gardens that they would be able to draw upon, as well as giving members the chance to enter some other pictures of their own choosing. We reported on the outcome at the next committee meeting, and were invited to submit the idea to club members at the next club evening. The rest is, as they say, history! The whole idea was overwhelmingly supported, and we immediately signed up 23 members wanting to exhibit their work. We had arranged for each member taking part to be allowed 4 free visits to the gardens whenever they liked. This was done using our club program, which they had to produce to gain entry and at each visit the program would be stamped to record that visit. We were also given 2 dates when we could take half of the participants inside the house for a quick tour and then they would have 2 hours to take photographs this was arranged before the house tours started at 11.00am. It was a generous concession on the part of Pencarrow which was much appreciated, and we hoped it would give them access to some interesting interior shots of the house by way of thanks for allowing us such access. We kept the members involved and informed during the season of how things were progressing with the organisation of the event it- By Jenni Cheesman More importantly, during the summer months, when the club doesn t meet, we sent out regular s both updating and encouraging our participants throughout. We also kept in constant touch with Pencarrow; they put details of the event up on their website and, as time grew near, we started putting posters and flyers around the area and contacted local newspapers to advertise the event. We had a keen group of 6 to set up the exhibition a couple of days prior to the opening, and encouraged as many members as possible to turn up for the official opening, which Lady Molesworth had graciously agreed to perform; we also presented her with a lovely spray of flowers at the time, as a thank you for her keen interest in the project and because we knew how important the floral arrangements throughout the house are to her. The whole event was a great success and the tour guides at Pencarrow even re-routed their tours so that they let people out into the room housing the exhibition at the end of each tour. We had a good mix of visitors, some of whom came upon us as a consequence of their visit to Pencarrow, but also 8

9 plenty who came specifically to visit the exhibition; and the tea rooms had a particularly busy time catering to both us and our visitors. Since the exhibition at Pencarrow closed, not only have we shown it at the WCPF AGM but Brian Galbraith has also arranged for part of the exhibition to go up in Wadebridge Library for a couple of weeks, so it continues to get publicity for both Pencarrow and for our camera club. By Jane Pickles I would encourage any club to undertake a project like this, as we all gained much from the experience; some members found taking photographs inside the house a challenge, but all members produced a wonderful selection of images. The camera club has gained much prestige from the event, and we have formed a good working relationship with a high profile local attraction, which is frequently visited by many members of our community. Jenni Cheesman & Linda Fenner Wadebridge & District Camera Club My grateful thanks to Jenni for not only writing the preceding article - but for supplying all the illustrations (also see the front cover one) - correctly sized too! All I ve had to do is insert the pages and pix as necessary! It helps make my job such a joy!! What an interesting use of a camera club s skills, too? A very welcome departure from endless competitions throughout a club season as well! Going by the adverse comments over recent months about judges - I rather suspect club agendas are wide open for something different in future seasons? Maybe now is the time to try a new departure? See the next articles on pages I don t think I m alone with this thought! Ann Owens 9

10 The Camera Club and the local Music and Arts Festival a Symbiotic Relationship At the AGM I expressed a wish to encourage Community Involvement by WCPF Clubs. I fully appreciate that many Clubs have had successful long-standing relationships for many years, but I detail below how my Club has developed its own joint venture. Six years ago Calne Woodlands Camera Club decided to hold a major Members Exhibition dubbed PhotoFest, with the venue being the Heritage Centre, a building previously used as the library it had been endowed by the Dale Carnegie Foundation and has a glass roof that gives fantastic light. We publicised the event as much as possible, displayed 150 mounted prints and the event was judged a success. We decided to make it an annual event, and when planning for the next year began, it dawned on us that the Calne Music and Arts Festival was already an Annual Event that had been running for more than thirty years. It held an Art Exhibition in Marden House, a historic building very close to the Heritage Centre, and we approached their committee to run our Exhibition simultaneously with the Festival and to incorporate PhotoFest into their programme. This was agreed and it has now become an integral part of the Festival. Being promoted by both organisations, the exhibitions now receive even more visitors, who enjoy the experience of viewing two major events at the same time. The Festival had also run a fairly low key Creative Digital Image Competition,.and the Camera Club has taken over and expanded it by making a gallery of the entries on its own web site, with links to the Festival Site. This Gallery has received more than 4,000 hits in the last four weeks, and the images will remain on the site for twelve months. The Club now judges the competition and presents winners certificates at the Festival Party held on the last night. Neither organisation has incurred any extra costs from these arrangements, but both have benefited considerably, and the Camera Club can identify some of its new members having joined through our involvement in the Festival. I hope that it has been thought provoking, and look forward to hearing about similar projects from other Clubs. Eddy Lane 10

11 PAGB Inter-Federation Projected Image Competition & Exhibition 2012 Results WCPF achieved Third Place in the Open section and Ninth Place in the Wildlife section, three of the images submitted by the WCPF won PAGB Awards. WCPF Members Awards and Acceptances are as follows Congratulations to All Name Honours Club Title TONY POTTER AWARD Janet Haines ARPS, CPAGB Dorchester Life Underground PAGB RIBBON Stephen Jones Dorchester Go Helen Jones Dorchester Hanging on with the Boys Susan Brown FRPS, EFIAP, DPAGB ACCEPTED IMAGES Plymouth Reg Clark LRPS Cam & Red Trapped Reg Clark LRPS Cam & Red Lift Off Gone Swimming Valerie Duncan Frome Wessex At the Ballet Greg Duncan ARPS, CPAGB Frome Wessex Clive Figes ARPS Torbay Snow Queen Clive Figes ARPS Torbay Blue Lady Paula Graham ARPS Newton Abbot Out in Front Early Snow on the Wyoming Range Alan Grant f8 Photo p Evening on the Beach Janet Haines ARPS, CPAGB Dorchester Mandrake Eddy Lane ARPS, DPAGB Calne Indian Friends, Agra Mike Longhurst Plymouth The Long March David Morton LRPS, BPE1 f8 Photo p Evening on the Beach John Perriam LRPS Exmouth PG Eyes Right Penny Piddock AFIAP, DPAGB Dorchester Swimming with Convicts Pam Sherren ARPS, DPAG- B,EFIAP Paignton Calm before the Storm 11

12 Name Honours Club Title ACCEPTED IMAGES Pam Sherren ARPS, DPAGB,EFIAP Paignton Frozen Fields Alan Smith Calne Hellebore Mike Venner LRPS Calne From Me to You Pauline Watling Taunton Dark Times Mick Wells Crediton Not Goodbye Just Bonjour John Widdows ARPS, DPAGB Plymouth David Cantrille FRPS,MPAGB,E- FIAP Dorchester Shoal in Rust, rivets & running paint Snowy Egret running on water George Reekie Taunton Slaty Backed Gull in Blizzard Gill Cardy ARPS, DPAGB Devizes Sedge Warbler David Cantrille FRPS,MPAGB, EFIAP Dorchester Confrontation Pam Lane ARPS, DPAGB Calne Male Polar Bear with Ringed Seal Pete Norwood FRPS, MPAGB Plymouth Marbled Whites -oo0oo- 12

13 NATURE A man leaned heavily on the rail of a small cruise ship as it pitched through the Southern Ocean. An albatross soared astern, gaining lift from the wind over the swell, then rising and crossing the wake before gliding down again to revisit the waves. Sometimes the great bird hovered briefly above the ship, seeming to peer at the man below as he followed its flight with the long lens of his camera. A buzz now and again moved six frames per second on to a memory card. After a few minutes, the photographer went below, collected a coffee and began to view the hundreds of images on his laptop. He was sure there would be two or three that would merit exhibition and possibly get him a medal. Eight thousand miles away a photographer left his vehicle on a rough track in the sun-baked desert and set off to trudge through soft sand towards a distant rocky outcrop. The sand gave way to scattered rocks and columns whose sharp edges snagged his shirt and drew blood from his arm as he forced his way through. Slithering precariously across a scree slope he finally reached his objective. After resting briefly to take in the scene before him he set up his tripod in a carefully chosen spot. Lower now, the sun suited his purpose and he took ten photographs of a unique geological feature, making a small camera adjustment between each shot. It was dark when he regained his vehicle. Before a judge in a nature photography competition there is little doubt about which photographer s work will be more likely to receive acclaim. It is accepted that the difficulty or ease with which an image was captured should play no part in affecting the judgment of merit? However, birds, especially birds in flight, will beat geology any day. The F.I.A.P. definition of Nature Photography is that it depicts living, untamed animals and uncultivated plants in a natural habitat, geology and the wide diversity of natural phenomena, from insects to icebergs. Regardless of the scope provided by this definition, birds and furry mammals predominate in the awards lists. In this year s WCPF exhibition the nature section had 46 images selected; 23 of these were birds and 12 mammals. There was one photograph of a flower (well done Ann Owens). We must not be too hasty in blaming the judges for this. They can only select from what they find before them, but we photographers have come to accept that unless the subject has fur or feather it stands little chance of acceptance. Is it time to look again at nature competitions, perhaps having two sections, one devoted to birds and mammals and another for all the rest of the wide diversity FIAP and other governing bodies claim to accept? 13 CLUBMAN

14 A NEW TRIBE? Anthropologists have announced they have discovered a new tribe, found to the east of Bridgwater, which calls itselve "Sydenham/Bridgwater Camera Club" in their local dialect. They note that the tribe appears friendly and shows interest in the outside world. One significant fact they noticed and recorded is the tribe's obsession with a cult; the worship of a god-like creature they call 'NonClubJudge'. Items and offerings are made to the said god. A form of commandments must be followed, some of which the anthropologists identified, 1 Thou shalt have no other god than 'NonClubJudge' 2. All offerings and items will be evaluated by 'NonClubJudge' and no other. 3. All offerings and items must have the tribe member's number on the reverse and nothing else. 4. All offerings and items shall be of a fixed size (50cmx40cm) along with a digital copy of the offering. 5. All offerings must be submitted no later than two weeks before 'NonClub- Judge' views them. 6. Tribe members may not resubmit the same offering to 'NonClubJudge' and so on.... The Anthropologists noted that the tribe had minor cults; in their dialect they are called Tri Competition', 'second Chance competition', 'Open Small Print competition' etc, but the Anthropologists could not understand the function of these minor cults at the moment. Neither could they understand the concept of 'Projected Image' and they wondered if it were a coming-of-age ritual between tribe members? The Anthropologists say they hope, with further study, to understand more about this new, interesting tribe. Following on from this earlier account of the cult of competition and the worship of "NonClub- Judge", by the tribe known as "Sydenham/Bridgwater Camera Club" a report of watching a 'religious ceremony' before and in the presence of "NonClubJudge" revealed the following. This god-like creature lives elsewhere and is a member of another primitive tribe known as 'Taunton Camera Club'! 14

15 Their ceremony started when the "NonClubJudge" spoke of his greatness and why he should be worshipped "I am a great photographer for many years' "I have worked professionally so I am wiser than all of you" " Give heed and listen to what I say!!" The ceremony continued when "NonClubJudge" dismissed the offerings made to him by the tribe. "I cannot see the point of this" "This is not sharp enough" "I could do much better than this!" The Anthropologists noted that the tribe was sorely afraid and bowed their heads as the god-like creature continued: "This doesn't work and I have awarded it 16" "This is sharp enough and well composed, I have awarded it 16" "I cannot see the point of the water drops and the end is chopped off. I have awarded it 16" The anthropologists do not understand the use of numbers in the ritual, but hope by further study to make sense of them. Now Come On!! Isn t there a God-like creature out there willing to enlighten the Anthropologists? Maybe also help Tribe members throughout the region understand the subtleties of..... JUDGING THE PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION? 15