Welcome to the March 2011 edition of the BCC ENews. Our Annual Open Exhibition was judged on Sunday in Hook, and the event was naturally photographically recorded. Follow this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/big_ears2010/5523734282/in/pool-basingstokecameraclub to view it. It’s good to see the tea had been sorted out in plenty of time!

The club’s Flickr Gallery is proving to be a valuable resource for our members. It allows us to show, and view, more photographs than the club’s competition structure would normally allow, and also receive and give feedback and comments in a positive manner, whereas in competition the best you can hope for is getting a view for a couple of minutes on the screen or stand!

At present there are 31 members showing 795 images, but if you would like to join you would be very welcome, as long as you are already a club member. Steve’s initial instructions on joining can be read here.

There are a number of discussion threads about assorted subjects related to our hobby, which can be simply read or you can join in the conversation, and now, thanks to an initiative by Dean, there are fortnightly competitions. Instructions for taking part are in the discussion threads on Flickr.

www.flickr.com/groups/basingstokecameraclub

 Hampshire Gravestone Photographic Resource Project - May to July, 2011

A project to create a photographic record of all the gravestones in Hampshire, and they’re asking for help.

See their poster here.

Dunns have launched their new DunnsPro Designer for photobooks and other photo products and are making it specially available to club members ahead of the formal launch at Focus 2011.

As an introductory offer they are offering a discount voucher code specifically for us

Voucher code: BASING2011

This code will discount any products ordered via the application placed between now and the 1st April 2011 by 15%.

In Praise of Flickr

When I joined my first camera club about 20 years ago, things were very different in many respects. I don’t want to bang on about film, manual exposure and focussing, winding the film on... the difference I have in mind is that of the limited opportunities there were then for having your images viewed and appraised. There were Club Competitions and Club and External Exhibitions, and that was about it. So when you saw your slides or negatives, you had to decide which ones were suitable for those purposes and the rest were consigned to boxes or folders only to be seen by yourself or loyal members of the family.

This situation was static for some years, and it is only in the last 4 or 5 that things have changed. With digital technology came new opportunities. I can’t remember which came first, AV presentations or books, but both opened up the possibilities for ways to show off more images. Suddenly, when you were out somewhere you could think in terms of collecting images which could be put together in book or AV form, and the whole experience became more interesting, giving a purpose for each photograph taken. It was a new skill to be learned, how to take enough images to put together a picture of that subject or place.

The next new initiative was Photo Clinic. I could look through recent images and select ones for printing and appraisal by my fellow Club members. This helped me to see some of my images in a new light and developed my critical powers. I am certain that my photography has improved as a result of these regular meetings, and this continues to the present day. Coming away from Photo Clinic, I often reflect on how things have changed.

Yet that isn’t the end of it. Last October the Club Flickr Group was formed. I know a good number of members had already been members of Flickr for some time, but for me it has been a new and exciting experience. I enjoy immensely the chance to upload my images for viewing and comments by fellow Club members, friends and family, and even strangers. I enjoy counting the number of hits each image receives, and reading the comments, and marvel at the fact that people as far away as India and Japan have seen my images and liked them. I have joined other groups, giving more chances for my images to be viewed. I find that keeping an eye on which of my images gets viewed most gives me an idea of which are the most eye-catching. I don’t get anything like the number of hits that the more seasoned Flickr members get, but it blows my mind to discover that 60 people have viewed a particular image. I love signing in every day and seeing what images have appeared since last time I went in, and reading the comments. The discussions are a chance to exchange news and views and I feel that I have had a better chance to get to know other members than is possible on a normal club evening. I get inspiration from the images I see and love doing a random search for a subject (orchids), place (Suffolk) or category (abstract) and discovering new inspiration and ideas. So as you may have guessed, I now have yet another focus for my photography, and I am grateful to Steve for setting it up and to him and Len and Dean for keeping it going.

So if you haven’t tried it yet, give it a go. It might just give your photography the boost it needs.

Cath Farrow

The Forest Stewardship Council UK (FSC UK)

has launched a photographic competition to celebrate 2011 - The International Year of Forests. FSC UK is a registered charity dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world’s forests. For full competition details please see our website http://www.fsc-uk.org/?page_id=1495

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Theme: We are looking for striking seasonal photos taken in an FSC forest or of an FSC product. To find your nearest FSC certified forest see our map at http://www.fsc-uk.org/?page_id=221

 Your image could show a forest scene, the flora and fauna found in a forest, or a close up of your favourite FSC product. The deadline for the winter entries is March 31st so get snapping!

We hope that keen photographers across the UK will take part in our competition. We have some attractive prizes to offer, prizes will be awarded for each season in 2011 with a separate category for under 16’s.

If you would like to promote this competition to your students or camera club please do. Let me know if you would like any flyers, we will be printing a competition flyer very soon or can send a PDF of the competition details.

Photos can be submitted using Flickr or by email. Just send your photo along with your name, age and the FSC forest location or FSC product type to competitions@fsc-uk.org and we’ll add it to Flickr for you.

A letter from a member on the subject of competitions - and maybe an AGM proposal?

”With the combining of advanced and intermediate classes in club competitions, would not now be a good time to reconsider the points scoring system. I say this because new members to the club and competitions, and maybe those at present competing in the intermediate section, may become discouraged if the are continuously awarded low marks.

I propose that the points scoring system be scrapped and that the judge be asked to select the best six prints/images of the evening, and points be awarded to the six only. At the end of the season all four competition evening scores be added, and first, second and third places be awarded. All prints/images will be assessed by the judge and hopefully some meaningful advice given.

I have made a comparison of the two systems on the advanced section for the 2009/2010 season prints and the results were about the same.”

Brian Burwood.

An advert sent to the club.

NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY BEGINNERS DAY  APRIL 15^th 2011

I am writing to inform you that Colin Varndell is organising a day of presentations and lectures aimed at beginners to nature photography on April 15^th 2011. Last year he organised one such event in the New Forest which proved to be a great success. This event is being held at the Old Manor Hotel, near Bradford-on-Avon commencing at 10.00am. The main theme of the day will be learning how to take great pictures of natural subjects such as plants, fungi, trees, insects, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds. Emphasis will be on how to search for pictures, mainly based on natural history fieldcraft and how to approach subjects in the wild. In addition there will be some technical content covering composition, lighting, exposure and some post production for each subject. Delegates will also be given Colin’s lecture notes and fact sheets for all of the subjects covered. For more information e-mail info@colinvarndell.co.uk or visit www.colinvarndell.co.uk.

For the booking form click here