24th October

With October whistling by, the 24th at Camera Club was a presentation by the president of the WPF , Peter Young. Peter’s theme was how his love of photography developed from a youngster to the present day . His love of darkroom techniques to develop his images has been consistent throughout his life. Darkroom manipulation is a traditional method of manipulating photographs without the use of computers. Some of the common darkroom techniques for manipulation are dodging, burning, and masking, which though similar conceptually to digital manipulations, involve physical rather than virtual techniques .Preferring black and white photography, we were shown how darkroom development can match software procedures such as Lightroom, Photoshop and Affinity.

A wide range of landscapes, portraits and architecture were show with conventional effects but also with infra red & lith film techniques ( which give a hand drawn effect) . Many prints showed the importance of lighting to make the subject interesting. Although many members do not use darkroom techniques now it was interesting to see what can be achieved without digital intervention. A skill which would be a shame to lose.

At the start of the evening Peter presented prestigious Inter-federation award certificates to Gill Mackay for two of her images "The Last Tram " and " Looking Out" and one to Dave Lewis for " Catch me if you can " . A distinguished achievement indeed.

Next week we have Judging of the Landscapes Competition