RPS Landscape Group Newsletter, July 2016

NEWSLETTER JULY 2016 / VOL. 1 / NO. 6

CONTENTS 01 Editorial

by Jim Souper, Newsletter Editor 02 Gower Peninsular Weekend

by Peter Douglas-Jones ARPS 03 Members Survey Results Now In!

by Mark Reeves LRPS 04 My Favourite Place Winskills by Dorcas Eatch and Derwentwater by Trevor Rudkin 06 What's On A selection of exhibitions and events, including both photography and other forms of art, of possible interest to group members.

The Milky Way from Harting Down

Š Paul Stone

Editorial It is now just over 6 months since we launched the Landscape Group and, as I write this, membership has just broken the 400 mark. On behalf of the Committee, thank you to all who have joined and supported us during the first part of the year.

In this month's edition Mark Reeves reports on the results of our first members' survey and Peter Douglas-Jones on last month's Gower Peninsular Weekend.

We also have the first contributions to the new My Favourite Place and Featured Image sections. As well as Paul Stone's image above, I have included another page of members' images at the end of the newsletter. There are also some guidelines for future submissions.

My thanks to all who have contributed so far. There are some in the bank for next month, but please keep them coming!

With kind regards

07 Events Details of group events 08 Members' Images More Featured Images

Submissions The next newsletter will be out in early August The deadline for submissions is Wednesday 3rd August.

For articles, please keep your copy to 500 words or less and include two or three images at least. Feel free to send a brief summary of your idea before committing to the full piece

Jim Souper Newsletter Editor

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EVENT REPORT Gower Peninsular Weekend, 4th-5th June

by Peter Douglas-Jones ARPS It was very helpful that Paul and Shirley Graber came to Gower. Paul is our events organiser. We had made plans for the weekend, but chiefly we made it up as we went along, taking soundings and doing what members wanted. We are particularly pleased that we found a parallel programme for two who could not walk far. They were good company and I hope they would say that getting out of puff was a price worth paying. (We had a fallback plan for rain.)

Sea Cave

© Jan Harris

Gower lacks outright grandeur. It is, instead, a diverse and intimate peninsula with a run of dramatic limestone cliffs to the south. There are beaches, inland commons, woodland, an extensive estuary cum salt marsh, Norman castles and churches, and two lighthouses.

The conditions on Saturday 4th were dry but bland with a high overcast and hazy air. Rhosili and Mewslade in the morning provided our divided group with opportunities for smallscale landscape – but not the big vista. After a pub lunch, we went to Three Cliffs Bay, where the light disappointed us. In the evening, we ate together.

Sea Cave, Mewslade

Worm Head

© David Harris

© Sarah Kinsella

Sunday promised sunshine, which we had in full measure. The haze continued to be blight.

With friends of mine (LRPS and FRPS) as local scouts, we had a morning catering fully for different levels of mobility. Burry Holm, Spaniard Rocks and Broughton Bay satisfied the larger group. The less active party saw Cheriton Church, Weobley Castle and the salt marsh at Landimore. We lunched again at the King Arthur and then went to Arthur’s Stone (a cromlech with commanding views of the estuary) followed by Oxwich Bay and marsh.

If it all sounds tiring, that is probably what it was.

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MEMBERS SURVEY - RESULTS NOW IN!

by Mark Reeves LRPS A big thank you to everyone who completed our recent members’ survey, the aim of which was to help establish priorities for the Landscape Group programme over the coming year. Almost a third of group members completed the survey and the results are now in.

There were a wide range of opinions expressed, with all potential activities receiving a degree of support but, in descending order, members’ top priorities are:           

Monthly e-newsletter Practical workshops Help with distinctions Opportunities to view other group members’ work online Annual or bi-annual printed magazine Annual exhibition One-day field trips at weekends Lectures / speakers Means for members to make contact with other local members Email critique group Mentoring

The activities for which there was least demand were longer field trips, weekday trips, postal critique groups and members’ competitions. A full report of the results can be downloaded here on the RPS website.

The committee will now consider the best ways to move forward with these results with the aim of ensuring that we are able to reflect the views closely as possible. All our events so far have been fully booked so we hope we think we have been doing something right in our first six months and we intend to build on this success over the coming year. A significant challenge for us, of course, will be ensuring that our events have a wide geographical spread so that they are within reach of as many members as possible.

The committee would also like to express its sincere thanks to all those survey respondents (over 50 of you) who offered your help in organising and running events. Whilst we will not be getting in touch with everyone immediately, please be assured that your offers of help are sincerely appreciated and that the knock will almost certainly come to your door sooner or later!

Mark Reeves, Web editor

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MY FAVOURITE PLACE Winskills

by Dorcas Eatch This is a favourite place because although you can hear the roar of the M6 and hear Settle below, you really could not be further from civilization. To me, this has a lot of elements I love; the mountains (Ingleborough), a crooked hawthorn tree back bent yet still strong to the storms and very pretty in May; and the limestone pavement. It catches all weathers and all moods and just inspires.

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MY FAVOURITE PLACE Derwentwater

by Trevor Rudkin When I started to get into photography my "hero" was John Clow FRPS who took superb monochrome images in Snowdonia. Nearly everyone tried to copy him, and we saw lots and lots of Snowdonia/North Wales images. I tried to find a different area to "make my own".

Scotland was too far from rural Northamptonshire, so in 1994, I visited The Lakes for the first time as a photographer. And I have been back every year since. Now that my wife comes with me we use Keswick as a base, and so Derwentwater is the first port of call whenever the weather looks "interesting"

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What's On

A selection of exhibitions & events which may be of interest to landscape group members

Exhibitions Paul Kenny: Land | Sea A new exhibition of camera-less photography will include recent works from his series Seaworks and O'Hanami - re-imaginings of objects found along the shoreline and forest floors of Great Britain. Showing at Beetles+Huxley in Mayfair from 20th June to 16th July.

Ferus The current state of the natural world as seen by final year students from Falmouth University's Marine & Natural History Photography course.

Showing at the Grant Bradley Gallery, Bristol from 8th to 30th July.

Environmental Photographer of the Year 60 winning and short-listed images, on show at the Royal Geographical Society in London until 19th August.

Ellie Davies: Into the Woods Images created in the forests of the UK, exploring the complex interrelationships between the landscape and the individual. At the Crane Kalman Gallery in London from 21st July to 20th August.

Henri Cartier-Bresson: PARIS Features images captured between 1929 and 1985, providing an extraordinary insight into the streets of the city and the lives of its people. Showing at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art, Norwich until 29th August.

Captured at Kew An exhibition of photographs taken at Kew Gardens, from past and current International Garden Photographer of the Year competitions. On show at Kew Gardens until 4th September.

Echoes of the Great War: Photographs by Peter Cattrell Peter Cattrell's black and white images of the Somme today at Museums Sheffield until 4th September.

Travel Photographer of the Year The latest winning images from the Travel Photographer of the Year awards will first be shown at a new venue this year as the exhibition moves to the University of Greenwich's award-winning Stockwell Building from 22nd July to 4th September.

Fox Talbot: Dawn of the Photograph An exhibition exploring the life and career of Henry Fox Talbot, 'the father of photography'. Showing at the Science Museum in London until 11th September.

Noble Prospects: Capability Brown and the Yorkshire Landscape A celebration of the work of designer Lancelot Capability Brown in Yorkshire, with an exhibition of paintings, drawings and manuscripts. In addition, a new film by Simon Warner that depicts a group of Capability Brown’s Yorkshire landscapes as they are today. On show at the Mercer Gallery, Harrogate from 25th June to 11th September.

Painting With Light: Art and Photography from the Pre-Raphaelites to the Modern Age A major exhibition exploring the relationship between early photography and British Art. Showing at Tate Britain until 25th September.

Conferences and Festivals New Pastoral Paradigms: Explorations in Landscape and the Self Saturday 23rd July, 10:30am to 4pm.

As part of photographer and writer Jesse Alexander's residency, Bank Street Arts is hosting a symposium that will consider how contemporary landscape practice has shifted from its pastoral traditions to embrace more nuanced, personal approaches.

Tickets £25 - £40 A Meeting of Minds 2016 18th - 20th November, Rheged Centre, Cumbria Organised by online magazine On Landscape, this year's speakers include John Blakemore, Charles Cramer, Mark Littlejohn, Simon Norfolk and more.

Conference tickets £260.

Do you have an exhibition of your own?

Do you know of a local exhibition which may interest members?

Please let us know at landscape@rps.org.

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For further details of all Landscape Group events please visit the group's event page at

EVENTS

http://www.rps.org/special-interest-groups/landscape/events

Photographing landscape; whatever the weather with Tony Worobiec Saturday 3rd September

Bath HQ The purpose of this course, organised by RPS HQ, is to alert you to the potential of photographing landscape, irrespective of the weather conditions. For full details see here.

Wallingford Wanderings Friday 7th - Sunday 9th October Wallingford, Oxfordshire This weekend has been organised by award-winning wine writer and Travel Group member Andrew Barrow. Andrew is also a member of the Landscape Group and would like to extend the invitation to our members.

Andrew, along with Liz Rhodes, will guide participants around the town and local area. Local photographer Damian Ward will also lead a workshop and a session on woodland photography. The guest speaker will be Jeanne Horak-Druiff who will talk about food photography in the context of travel and discovery.

See here for further details.

Liverpool and Crosby Field Trip Saturday 15th October

Capture the Lake District in Autumnal colours Saturday 22nd October

Elterwater It may seem that summer is only just beginning, but now could be a good time to start booking your autumn outings! The North West Region is again running its successful autumn trip to the magnificent Langdale valley in the Lake District; a trip that will be of interest to many members of the Landscape Group.

See here for further details.

Long Exposure Coastal Exploration Sunday 4th Dec., 10:00am - Sunset Shoreham and Brighton - EVENT FULLY BOOKED

Meet at the car park on Shoreham Old Fort Rd, BN43 5HL The day will start at Shoreham harbour, making images of the harbour structures and the harbour wall. After two hours the group will drive along to Shoreham beach and make images of the posts and breakwaters as well as break for lunch. The day will finish on Brighton beach with the opportunity to photograph the old west pier at sunset.

Participants: Max 8 to attend.

Please email Richard Ellis sre868@gmail.com Cost: RPS Landscape SIG member £0, RPS £5, Nonmember £10

© Mark Reeves

Spend the morning photographing the blend of magnificent Georgian, Victorian, neo-classical and striking modern architectural styles in and around the city centre. Then, weather permitting, relocate (by car or easy public transport) to visit Anthony Gormley's renowned Another Place, an installation of 100 life-sized statues at Crosby Beach.

See here for full details.

Could you host an event?

If you know of a promising and photogenic location in your area, and you would be willing to organise an informal session for other members of the Group, please get in touch with Paul Graber at paul.graber@ntlworld.com or on 07971 885905.

We welcome all volunteers and would very much like to hear from members in Scotland and the north of England.

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MEMBERS' IMAGES

Stob Dearg from Rannoch Moor

© Michael Norman

Loch Sunart from Beinn Resipol

Reflections, Loch Achtriochan

© Steve M Smith

© Michael Norman

Emsworth Quay

© Paul Stone

Submission Guidelines Please submit to My Favourite Place and Featured Images using the appropriate topic on the Landscape Group forum page. For My Favourite Place, we are interested in your personal reflections on a place, accompanied by a selection of images you have made there, rather than a location guide. For Featured Images we simply need a captioned image.

Please submit your images as jpegs, sized to 72 dpi and with 1200 pixels along the longest edge. It would also be helpful if you would add your name to the post so that I can credit you correctly in the newsletter.

Thank you!

NEWSLETTER JULY 2016 / VOL. 1 / NO. 6