First up was Derek who showed 3 images that has significance for him personally, the first was a shot of Seaton Sluice taken from the dunes looking towards the harbour and the Kings Arms pub, this also happened to be one of his first photographs taken on his first camera, an Olympus compact and was instrumental in getting him hooked on photography as a hobby. The second was a long distant view of the Sage, Millennium and Tyne Bridges bathed in sunshine from in Byker, a view now not possible due to the new Jury's Inn building. The last shot was of Hadrian's wall taken on a club outing in February 2012. All of these emphasize Dereks love of landscapes.
Next up was John who demonstrated his love of both water and low-level photography. John loves the perspective obtained from getting down low and dirty (or wet), which was evident in all his images he displayed on the night. These included some great images of Seaburn harbour, St Oswalds Church, Holy Island, the Lake district and St Mary's lighthouse.
Tony began his talk by showing three painting's by Turner of Dunstanburgh Castle. This is a location that he simply loves and has been many times over the years taking photographs of virtually every possible angle. This was demonstrated by a series of photographs including some HDR and Black & White images. It also highlighted his ability to get up and out at silly o'clock in the morning to catch some spectacular images of the castle at dawn.
Dave has been involved with amateur dramatics for many years both on stage and as a trained stage manager, in recent years he has incorporated his love of photography by doing promo shots for various amateur dramatic societies in the northeast. He explained that he doesn't consider himself as a 'good' portrait photographer (I know this not to be true), although he absolutely loves taking portraits of people dressed up in character on stage or out on location. This again was skillfully demonstrated by a series of shots from various stage plays and musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar, Sweeney Todd, Jekyll and Hyde and his use of off-camera light to accentuate the essence or spirit of the character.
Last up, and running out of time was Ron who with a series of power-point slides explained how it was having a young family back in the 1980's that encouraged him into photography by purchasing an Olympus 35mm SLR. He had a very keen interest in film for a number of years before other things overtook that initial plunge and eventually photography took a backseat for a period of time. Joining the Westmoor Camera Club in the last few years seems to have rekindled that love for photography, which he is able to combine with his love of a wide range of things such as architecture, landscape, bands on stage and fast moving objects such as birds, horse racing, aircraft, etc. All of which he demonstrated with a series of images. Ron finished up by showing an iconic image of the guy standing in front of 4 tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989 by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press. It demonstrates the power of a single image in getting a message across to those not present and without the use of words.