YOUR PICTURES IN PRINT
© STEVE GEARY
© JOHN COE
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This active club in the Staffordshire moorlands is a hive of creativity When was the club founded? As far as we can tell, a few fellow enthusiasts founded Leek Photographic Club in the 1890s. We are possibly one of the very early clubs still in existence today, and were originally known as Leek Camera Club. We are affiliated to Midland Counties Photographic Federation and the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain. What does your club offer to new members? New members are welcome to join any time. We ask them to complete a small questionnaire detailing any photographic experience they have, the equipment they use, and what type of photography they are interested in so that we can determine how best to help them with any problems they may have. We are not a teaching organisation, but for example, we help those who seek it by inviting them into our homes to learn Photoshop skills etc. One of our members regularly offers printing and mounting sessions 40
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1 Moulting Mountain Hare by John Coe A great subject, well observed with good background bokeh.
2 Chesil Beach by Steve Geary The foreground interest leads the eye nicely to the richly coloured sky.
against 20 or more clubs. We have had recent success in the Staffordshire Photo Clubs PDI competition, competing against some of the top clubs in the area, winning by a narrow margin. Irrespective of the number of clubs we Describe a typical club evening Our club evenings start at 7.30pm prompt with compete against, the standard of work is a welcome from our chairman who outlines the always very high. Some of our members also enter individually at national and international evening, makes any announcements and introduces the speaker or judge as appropriate. level, salons and newspaper/magazine competitions with an amount of success. Some We have a varied programme featuring guest speakers talking about and showing a range of also actively seek recognised accreditations. photographic topics, competitions for both Are trips or outings planned? print and projected digital images (PDI), and the occasional studio or practical evening. Our We do not organise any trips or outings as such. Members are made aware of any photographic member evenings where members talk about opportunities via email or website. We offer their images, and how they have achieved the finished result, prove to be very popular. A tea/ car-sharing, or just meet up at an event in small groups – this seems to work. coffee and biscuit break at half time gives the opportunity for members to socialise. Our Do you have any funny stories? chairman brings the evening to a close with a brief summing up and thank you to the speaker Most clubs have numerous funny stories, from people falling over and getting wet, to tripods or judge. We aim to finish by 9.45pm but do falling over in streams complete with camera occasionally run over. This allows packing up time so that we can vacate the room by 10pm. and lens. On one occasion – a day out at a motorcycle race meeting – one of our members had a problem with his viewfinder Do you invite guest speakers? going black. Then he realised that one of his We do have guest speakers, some are local, ‘friends’ was putting their hand in front of his others have to travel a good distance to show lens. Lesson learnt – keep both eyes open! their presentations. It is always interesting to hear speakers talk about and show their images and the club can learn a lot from them. What are the club’s goals for the future? In the winter months – January/February – we Most clubs want to try to increase membership – we all seem to be struggling. But visitors are try to keep speakers and judges more local always welcome, paying £3 admission. We want owing to the adverse weather conditions we to learn from each other, make lifelong friends sometimes get in our area. and enjoy our environment in all its glory and of course improve and take great photographs. Do members compete in regional or national competitions? The club is active in entering regional and Want to see your club featured on these pages? Drop interclub competitions. These range from just us a line for more information at ap@ti-media.com three local clubs competing, to larger events to enable members who haven’t the necessary equipment to enter print competitions. Visitors are always welcome too, paying £3 on the day.
22 February 2020 I www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
