Hayling Island Camera Club has attracted a large number of new members this season, many of whom are new to a photography club. Eager to encourage such people to take part in the club’s annual internal competitions, a special skills evening was arranged to ensure they were aware of the competition process and had the necessary skills to prepare their entries, such as re-sizing images for Projected Digital Image Competitions and mount-cutting for Print Competitions. As a result, the number of entries in the Beginners Section has been more or less equal to those in the Intermediate or Advanced Sections this season, a very different situation to that experienced in the last few years. Welcoming this state of affairs, Keith Tester, the new Club President, said he felt this augured well for the future of the club.
Skills development at all levels within the club is one of the new President’s objectives for the year, together with encouraging more members to enter external competitions. To this end, the Management Committee and the more experienced club members have arranged an optional programme of skills evenings on one Wednesday evening each month covering such things as Adobe Lightroom, Light Painting, Portrait Lighting, etc.
There have been two rounds of each of the Club Internal Competitions so far this season – the P.D.I. (projected digital Image) and the Print Competitions. Each competition has three sections – Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced, each member being assigned to the section appropriate to their experience. An overall winner for each section is selected by the visiting judge and then, at the end of the evening, an overall winner of the evening. At the end of the season, the member with the highest total score becomes the winner of their specific section and can win promotion up to the next section. However, it is not compulsory to compete! Some people just like to see the entries of other members and to learn from the critique of the qualified judges.
Winners of the Projected Digital Image of the Evening for Round 1 was Sarah Horsley with “Wall of Fire” and for Round 2 Janet Andrews with Early Morning Mist at Emsworth. Both these ladies were competitors in the Intermediate Section – it is not always the Advanced Section which wins the Best of the Evening accolade!
Winners of the Print of the Evening for Round 1 was Stan Clements (Intermediate Section) with “Honesty” and for Round 2 it was Keith Tester, Club President, (Advanced Section) with “The Sanderlings”. It was clearly Keith’s evening for both his entries got a top ten mark as well as winning the Print of the Evening.
Several very entertaining and informative evenings presented by visiting photographers have been enjoyed by members together with an internal team competition – a friendly but competitive evening where the visiting judge has to be prepared to cope with the banter and laughter from the teams to one another on the other’s entries.
There will be a very special evening on Monday, 15th January, when Gavin Hoey will be making a welcome return to the club. Gavin is a very talented presenter who demonstrates clearly what he is doing and how he is doing it and then carries out live post-processing of his photographs. His session is entitled “Lighten up” and Gavin will be showing some great ways to light your photos, from objects to portraits. As always, non-members are welcome to attend the evening by payment of £5 at the door. However, the event has been circulated to other Photography Clubs in the region and is likely to be well-attended so prospective visitors are advised to contact the club secretary at: secretary@haylingislandcameraclub.co.uk to book a seat in advance.