Tonight’s theme was “People at Work”
Before proceedings got underway, there were a number of other matters to deal with, first and foremost being a change from the traditional Christmas get together when members bring bits and nibbles to the meeting for a
relaxed evening of banter. This year it has been decided that we should hold our Christmas bash at the Willow Farm pub for a meal and a tipple.
The evening has been booked for Thursday 19th December and early indications suggest it will be well
supported.
Members were also reminded that it was almost the closing date to submit images anonymously to Gordon who will remove all metadata from them before forwarding them to Alan Thompson who will lead the critique night at the next meeting on 10th October.
Administration out of the way, it was time to move on to the evening’s main event, “People at Work”
Alan opened proceedings with his capture of a busker strutting his stuff on the Island of Lindisfarne followed by a short series depicting workers on the Snowdon Mountain Railway, including engineers, trackmen and men repairing the well trodden footpath to the summit of the mountain.
Alan was also recently invited to take photographs of the workings of a local and well known bakery and he gave us a fascinating insight into how food is prepared in a busy working factory.
None of the images he took were posed or set up in advance which posed a number of practical difficulties but as the presentation went on Alan was able to explain how he overcame these problems.
Finally he showed a couple of photographs he took of Cuban’s at work in Havana where the watchword seemed to be “Mañana”
Next was Tony who submitted the second image of a busker that night. This time it was a chap with a guitar and a scowl working the Quayside Sunday Market who Tony believes should be declared a national treasure.
He cannot play a note, has a voice like a siren, does not know the words to a single song and when no one is near, just stands and glowers.
A true genius who does not let his total lack of talent or skill get in the way of his work.
Tony was followed by Derek who opened with a fantastic night shot taken of the Empire State Building taken during recent holiday to The United States of America. This was followed by a series of candid shots of night staff at his hotel redecorating whilst the hotel guest slept.
On next to aerial shots the Hoover Dan where his main subject was the pilot of the helicopter, a man at work. However that did not stop him capturing the grandeur of the great dam. Then on to Las Vegas where he demonstrated the zoom capability of his latest toy, a Canon SX50, which allowed him to take portrait images of window cleaners at work at the top of a mile high super structure.
Finally, Dan went slightly off-piste but demonstrated his love of wildlife with colourful photograph of a greater spotted woodpecker framed by autumnal foliage. This was followed by a capture of a waterfall and a view of the Tyne Bridge which Dan declared had to be built once upon a time by people at work.
Finally as the meeting drew to a close, suggestions were put forward re a destination for the photo day on 20th October. Although nothing was finally decided, it was agreed the it would be an ideal opportunity to capture the golden glory of autumn and likely destinations included Staward Gorge and Allen Banks.