Club News
Read all about our activities here ...
30/04/24
We have finally reached the end of our season meetings with the AGM and Members' awards. Jean Dixon gave a summary of the year's events and was warmly thanked for her splendid service as Chairperson - now succeeded by John Ives. Details of next year's Committee will be posted shortly. Jean gave us hints of an exciting programme next year which includes some prestigious photographers and we all look forward to this. Annual awards (images here) were duly presented by Jean and the evening was completed with a selection of Club competition images .Although the meetings have finished for this season we can still look forward to another Club outing to Brownsea Island (10/05) and our Annual Exhibition on August 24th in Wareham town hall.
07/04/24
As we head toward the end of the season our final internal competitions - League Comp.5 and Best of Year - have been completed. Well done NIgel Gidney for Best of Year in both DPI's and Prints and Nigel again and Gordon Chamberlain in League 5. Full results here. Our Best of Year competition, ably judged by John Tilsley, again demonstrated the amazing range and quality of our Members' work. Many thanks to all Members who make the time and effort to enter the competitions which form the heart of Club activity and do start collecting possible images for next year!
28/03/24
Yet another busy month including a Club outing to Athelhampton House - a small number of Members but it offered interesting forms and subjects in a beautiful garden and architectural setting.(images here)
We were also treated to an excellent presentation by Tony Worobiec ( https://www.tonyworobiec.com/) - a local but nationally rated photographer. Tony gave an articulate and instructive interpretation of his approach to Minimalism with a splendid display of prints and images. A Zoom presentation by Inaki Hernandez (https://www.ihlphotography.com/ ) also impressed Members with superb images of architectural detail in minimalist almost abstract forms. Again full of hints and explanation with photographic art at its best.
The Club also won the Shaston Challenge - a three way friendly but close competition with Shaftesbury and Ringwood so congratulations to the Members whose images were selected.
10/03/24
Another recent successful Club outing was to Sculpture By the Lakes. We were so pleased that we went ahead with our visit in spite of the weather. The rain stopped as we arrived and gave us perfect conditions -overcast and still. The reflections were excellent and the still- dripping sculptures and catkins were a photographer's dream. Much time was spent trying out ICM and multiple exposure inspired by our recent talk from Andy Page. We finished off with a very cosy coffee by the log fire in the cafe. See some of our images here.
SCPF(Southern Counties)
After a nail biting round 7 of the SCPF League it was down to the last round to decide if we stay in League One or be relegated to League Two. So, we were delighted to have come 7th in the last League competition thus putting us just above the relegation zone. Huge congratulations to the participants - especially given that there are 70 Clubs overall! The challenge once again is to stay up in League One next season.
03/03/24
We have been incredibly lucky to have had recent presentations from two talented professional photographers. Mark Bauer (https://markbauerphotography.com/profile/) is local but of national repute as a landscape photographer.(LPOTY) We were reminded of the great opportunities on our own doorstep and how to make the most of light and composition. Andy Page(https://www.silverliningphotography.co.uk/) also excels at traditional landscape photography but also showed us a more abstract and thought provoking interpretation. We all learn so much and find inspiration from such gifted photographers.
Well done NIgel Gidney for winning both PDI and Print sections of our League 4 competition. Full results here.
01/02/24
After 5 out of 8 rounds WCC is holding it's head high in SCPF Division 1 with some excellent 10 scores by Nigel Gidney and Gordon Chamberlain. The latest Round was hosted by Wareham. However with three rounds yet to come we hope to improve our position further by the end of the competition.
Member Graham Tarrant gave an excellent presentation last week on 'Great Bear Country' to a full house of Members and guests. He travelled by yacht along the Alaskan coast and we were treated to many fine images of bears and whales as well as evocative coastal landscapes.
A recent Club outing was arranged for a morning photo shoot at the two main churches of Wareham - both originally Saxon but with St Martin's largely unchanged with some fine wall paintings.(Images here) Quite a challenge with available light but nevertheless enjoyed by all attendees. Many thanks to Jean Dixon and Mike Brown for continuing to organise these sessions.
17/01/24
Happy New Year to all Members and browsers!
League 3 results (09/01/24) can now be found in Internal Competitions. Well done to the winners.
We have already had two great presentations this year by our own Tim Green (https://www.timgreenphotography.com/) and also Dapper and Jude (https://www.dapperandjude.com/). Tim took us to North Dakota and Montana with evocative images of abandoned farmsteads and autos - remnants of the old settler West, while Dapper and Jude showed mainly portraits of elderly isolated farming inhabitants of northern Romania. The latter were beautifully lit, full of character and important evidence of a rapidly disappearing way of life. All were high quality images with interesting and informative themes.
20/12/23
We have enjoyed a very successful first half of the season with high standard presentations and Members showing their usual impressive imagination and skills in League Competitions 1 and 2 (Internal Competitions) as well as in the Theme Competitions.
We ended the year with an entertaining Christmas Club evening with a selection of short AV's and presentations by Members which took us to Peru, Italy, Brazil, Canada and Norway together with some creative and skilful interpretations of our local area. Most of all we were treated to a magnificent 5* buffet organised by Jean Dixon and her team - a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach! (see images) and now look forward to an equally successful New Year. Best seasonal wishes to all .
01/12/23
Well done so far to those Members whose images were entered for this year's SCPF league. We are currently third out of eight in Division1 after two rounds but plenty of rounds still to come going into next year. A great start however.
12/11/23
Well done Mike Grigsby and NIgel Gidney who won The Intimate Landscape competition for prints and PDI's respectively. The brief was well interpreted by Tony Worobiec who judged with great perception and clarity. Full results here.
A group of members also visited Kingston Lacey last Thursday focussing on the Japanese garden with Jean Dixon ably modelling as a coy geisha! The weather was kind and colours were stunning. Images can be seen in Club Activity/Kingston Lacey 2023.
26/10/23
October has been a busy month at the club. As well as the usual excellent presentations an outing was organised to Dorset Falconry Park - a challenge to capture the 70mph peregrine falcon but lots of opportunities with a range of raptors. We've shared an epic photographic exploration of Western Canada with Di and John Tilsley, wonderful wildlife images from Adrian Davies (https://www.adriandaviesimaging.com/ ) and superb landscapes from Jack Lodge.
(https://www.jacklodge.co.uk/). Jack not only showed outstanding images and prints but gave us a wealth of information on his thoughts and techniques - instructive and inspiring. Finally a very enjoyable Club 'Knockout' evening was won by Nigel Gidney with his excellent Highland Cattle portrait.
01/10/23
Congratulations Jean Dixon and Mike Grigsby- winners of DPI's and Prints respectively in the first League Competition of the season. Full results here.
24/09/23
A great start to the season. Brian Chard ( Link here... ) treated us to many splendid wildlife images - especially of birds- with a variety of habitats and activity. Great technique and enormous patience and mainly local - exotic locations not always necessary! The SCPF presentation reflected the extremely high standards of the region for all of us to aspire to and last week Andrea Hargreaves ( Link here...) demonstrated outstanding imagination and processing technique with her mysterious and evocative images of a Nordic world of dragons and goddesses. A lively discussion of 'photography or art?' ensued!
10/09/23
Pictures from an Exhibition! Click here.
13/08/23
2023 EXHIBITION
A huge THANK-YOU to everyone who contributed to our Exhibition in any way, We all felt that it was a very successful day: our prints were shown off at their best and hundreds of people heard about Wareham Camera Club and its programme and friendliness.
As an extra bonus we were able to offer people the most delicious homemade cakes and drinks and they could win prizes in our legendary raffle. We made £113 on teas and £144 on the raffle - plenty of money to pay for the hall and have a bit left over.
Many thanks to everyone who helped in any way.
Jean Dixon
Chairperson
01/08/23
We were delighted to be asked to exhibit 18 framed prints in the ‘Not Just Sundaes’ community cafe, Trinity Church, South Street. The cafe is a hidden gem, a place to enjoy a coffee, home made cakes or a light lunch. The building is a beautiful historic building that used to be the Church of The Holy Trinity. The Exhibition will run for the Summer. See images here.
02/06/23
Continuing the garden theme from the Holme Gardens visit around a dozen members met at Carey's Secret Garden near Wareham yesterday.(01/06) A morning of wonderful sunshine, brilliant colours (roses, lupins, alliums etc) as well as learning about the garden's history and the current project of restoration and community involvement. Check their website : https://www.careyssecretgarden.co.uk/.Jean Dixon and Mike Brown organised the visit and suggested a range of techniques we could try. A very successful and enjoyable morning and images can now be seen here.
02/05/23
Our final session was the AGM ably presided over by Jean Dixon who remains Chairperson for next season. The full list of Committee members for next year can be seen here.. Our President Nigel Spiller gave an excellent summing up report remarking that it was the 58th AGM since the Club was founded in 1965 - at which he was present! Cups, trophies and certificates were presented by Nigel and congratulations to all those who were successful this year.(see full list of winners here) The Club continues to thrive thanks both to a core of long-time and loyal members as well as those joining more recently. We look forward to another enjoyable and successful season from next September.
16/04/23
After a very close last round in the SCPF league competition along with Fordingbridge C.C. we are being promoted to League One next season, Congratulations to all our photographers, Nigel, Terry, John, Tim, Jean and Rob. Nigel’s Female Bearded Reedling was our top scoring PDI and goes through to the Finals at the SCPF AGM in the Littleton Millennium Hall on May 14th judged by Barbie and Rusty Lindsay. See images here.
Our Best of Year competition (April 4th) again demonstrated the high standard of the Club - overall and well deserved winners were Alan Bevis (both Colour and Black and White prints)and Mike Grigsby (PDI's) with full results in Internal Competitions.
31/03/23
Final League competition of the season (League 5) was held on Tues. Well done Mike Grigsby, Alan Bevis and Gordon Chamberlain. Details in Internal Competitions.
27/03/23
On Thursday 23rd a group of members spent an enjoyable morning at Holme Gardens. Mike Brown gave us a list of ten different techniques of which we were to attempt 5 and the results of which can be seen here in Club Activity Many thanks to Mike and Jean Dixon for organising.
Recent presentations have continued with Tim Downton ARPS(Dorchester CC) - brilliant local wildlife images illustrating both activity and environment. Also Simon Turnbull FRPS - an outstanding landscape photographer(LPOTY 2022) with real mastery of light and composition and generously sharing tips and ideas.(https://www.simonturnbullphotography.com/)
04/03/23
League Competition 4 results are now posted here. Well done Alan Bevis and Nigel Gidney - again setting standards we Members aspire to!
26/02/23
Our regular presentation evenings continue to entertain, inform and inspire all of the Members. Emily Endean is a talented professional photographer with a special interest in seascapes.(https://www.emilyendeanphotography.co.uk/) Her beautiful images - especially local coastal scenery- showed a mastery of light and imaginative composition. By contrast Warren Alani (https://www.warrenalaniphotography.com/sports) is a professional sports photographer who let us into the secrets of high quality images vividly capturing 'the moment' with maximum impact. He was generous in sharing his technique as we all continue to develop our own skills. Finally our own Graham Tarrant is an excellent wildlife photographer who has in the past taken us to Antarctica and Africa but this time we journeyed to Svalbard. Apart from the inspirational images of polar bears, Arctic foxes and bird life the impact of climate change on this habitat was clear in the unusual lack of snow and sea ice. An entertaining as well as instructive evening with an important message. Many thanks Graham.
08/02/23
Congratulations to Nigel Gidney and Derek Way, winners of the Woodhouse Trophy(print) and Bert's Bole(PDI) respectively. Full results here. Sadly Bert Wason,a stalwart of the Club for an amzing 48 years, passed away in 2018 but we remember him as follows:
BERT WASON FRPS
1933 - 2018
It was during a school visit to Swanage from his home in 1947 that Bert first discovered the wonders of Natural History, the rocks, the plants, Insects and birds enthralled him.
He learnt about the basics of photography during his National Service as a Model Maker in the RAF. He was working in a joint Service Intelligence Unit which involved the taking and use of photographs.
In 1955 Bert purchased his camera and joined Epsom Camera Club. This was the beginning of his competitive and exhibition type of photography.
His next club was the Woking Photographic Society at which time he was working in the wind tunnel dept of Vickers Armstrong Aircraft, Weybridge. There was a well equipped darkroom which he put to very good use. In 1964 he moved to Wareham putting a damper on his photography until 1970 when he joined the young Wareham Camera Club. After complaining about competitions he was coerced into being Competition secretary, this was followed by various committee posts until the 80’s when he had the honour to be President.
It was in 1977 that a member encouraged him to join the RPS (Royal Photographic Society) and introduced him to the techniques of nature photography. In 1980 he attained his first ambition, Associateship in Nature Photography. In 1987 Bert achieved his Fellowship in Nature.
Bert tutored courses on Nature Photography and lectured widely to many societies. He published in various magazines and his awards include:-
Royal Photographic Society International Exhibition 1991 & 1992.
Southampton International Photographic Exhibition 1995.
BBC‘Gardeners World’ Photographer of the Year 1992 with his‘Long - Headed Poppies’.
19/01/23
Our first outing of the New Year was a successful visit to Wareham's famous Art Deco Rex Cinema. Beautifully restored and maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers, it created a challenge for low light indoor photography which the members tackled with imagination and skill. Many thanks to Mike and Jean for organising. See a selection of images here.
11/01/23
A great start to 2023.Our first session was hosting the beginning of the SCPF Digital image league on Zoom with a highly promising start. We are in Division 2 (of 8) with eight Clubs competing over 8 judged competitions. Judges marks can very considerably however and reports on our progress will be made later in the year.
Last night was our annual AV evening with many Club members demonstrating a tremendous variety of subject and style all of a high standard. It ranged from evocative home landscapes of Scotland and Wales to an epic walk in the Alps, cycling in Spain, an African safari and the skyscrapers of Chicago as well as stunning woodland images, a high impact and vivid boxing sequence, our local steam railway and a variety of architecture. All were accompanied by well chosen music to enhance each presentation with the whole evening enthusiastically appreciated by the excellent turnout. Well done to all contributors.
06/12/22
Our Alison Macalister Competition was a special evening with Alison's sister and niece attending and sharing memories. Alison was a long time member who despite her physical disability threw herself enthusiastically not only into photography but into life in general and is missed greatly by all. Well done to the trophy winners Erica Beck and Terry Mullen amongst a wide range of high standard entries - full results in Internal Competitions. It was ably judged by Trevor Prince whose balanced and constructive comments were much appreciated.
01/12/22.
A brilliant achievement by the Club - we came First in the SCPF Annual Exhibition judged on Nov.20th by Eddy Lane ARPS DPAGB EFIAP APAGB. Huge congratulations to Nigel who had a 10 for his Female Bearded Reedling and a 9 for ‘Hare in the Rain’, and to Terry a 9.5 for his ‘Milky Way rising at Durdle Door’, both Nigel and Terry receiving HC’s. Well done to all members whose work was selected - a tremendous credit to the Club especially with entries from 60 Clubs with over 400 images. See images here and list of entries in External Competitions.
25/11/22
Congratulations to Gordon Chamberlain, Alan Bevis and Jean Dixon winning League 2 best Colour Print, Black and White print and PDI respectively. Full results here.
Last week we had an excellent presentation by Ken Scott ARPS APAGB MBPsS who undertook a journey around the coast of the UK with considerable 'ups and downs' but captured the purpose, people and scenery vividly with his series of images and av's. A thoughtful, moving and professional presentation. Link to Ken's 'Touching the Light' website here.
09/11/22
Lucky weather! Club members were inspired by a talk by Paul Mitchell FRPS called "Woodland Ways". We loved the way he photographed woodland and decided to have an outing to try try out his techniques. We chose Thorncombe Woods near Dorchester and got the first fine day for weeks and were astonished to find colour on the trees after weeks of gales. As always it was interesting to see how different everyone's images were and we now have the pleasure of processing them and seeing what effects we can produce. Here are a few of the images.
08/11/22
We hosted the All v All Inter Club Friendly competition on the 8th November, 8 former SAPA clubs took part and Leo Rich ARPS EFIAP/gold judged, it was won by Wimborne C.C. Ferndown was 2nd and Wareham a creditable 3rd. Well done to all participants, our top scorers were Terry Mullen and Nigel Gidney - Terry with a 10 and Nigel a 9. It was a very entertaining zoomed evening with superb images from all participating clubs.
25/10/22
The prestigious Wessex Battle was a great success! Nine clubs competed and the hall was full with a brilliant atmosphere. Sue Sibley ARPS EFIAP/S DPAGB BP4* was the judge. Wareham came a creditable 3rd, so very well done all participants. Our own Gordon Chamberlain won Best Image from 72 entries with ‘Reed Bunting Feeding’. Wimborne won overall and BH Photography Club were 2nd. Wimborne’s President Norman Wiles was presented with the winners shield and Gordon with the individual winners shield, See photos in For News gallery. Next year Bridport C.C. will be hosting this annual competition.
20/10/22
It is always rewarding to see relatively new members making their mark through the Club. John Crawford Hayes has developed an interest in what he terms 'Photoelasticity' which involves stunning abstract images of vibrant colour created with fragments of plastic and glass. He has successfully submitted a spectacular panel to achieve an ARPS award which can be seen on this link to SCPF. It also explains his technique and how he developed his original ideas. Great initiative - well done John!
11/10/22
Full results of our 'LINES' theme competition are now posted in Internal Competitions. Well done all - some striking images, great imagination and thoughtfully judged by John Tilsley.
10/10/22
We never cease to be impressed by our presenters and certainly not least by Kevin Pigney (20/09/22) and Paul Mitchell(04/10/22). Kevin specialises in close up wildlife photography with the subjects isolated from their background to produce stunning portraits - many beautifully backlit. He was also very generous with information on technique which Club members always appreciate.(https://kjpphotography.myportfolio.com/)
Paul showed us how we can make the most of our local woodlands using light, composition and colour to maximum effect. His Woodland Ways portfolio is inspirational and true photographic art. (https://www.paulmitchellphotography.co.uk/portfolio#/new-gallery/) Paul was also incredibly helpful with advice on technique including the use of Photoshop editing. A Club outing to beech woodland is planned for November 9th.We all continue to be entertained with the variety and quality of our presenters and never fail to add something to our own skill development. Many thanks to Maggie the Programme organiser.
03/10/22
League 1 Competition results are now posted in Internal Competitions. Well done to Alan Bevis, Nigel Gidney and Jean Dixon.
15/09/22
Our season got off to a great start last week with an entertaining session by visitor Chris Hilton. He gave an imaginative and varied presentation laced with a sense of humour- photography for us non-professionals should always be about enjoyment! Yesterday saw our second session with 'Projects, Panels & Montage'. We had a good number of contributions of all three elements covering people, landscape, nature, sport and travel. Our expert guest Norman Marsh commented positively and constructively on each and members were given the opportunity to add their own observations. There was no marking but simply a rewarding and relaxed Club evening enjoying fellow members work with lively discussion and helpful and encouraging comments from Norman.
27/08/22
1.Our annual Club Exhibition took place as usual in Wareham town hall on Saturday(27/08). Most of the prints on display were from the last few years. Our visitors which included Anne Eckersley - SCPF President - ( What a super exhibition please congratulate everyone involved!.) were a mixture of holidaymakers and local people but everyone commented on the quality of the work and the fact that it gets better and better every year. Also at the Exhibition Nigel Gidney was presented his outstanding DPAGB Award by Chairman Nigel Spiller. See images from the Exhibition here.
2. Member Alan King has produced an excellent portfolio of black and white images taken at the recent Wareham Saxon Festival. Well done Alan and thank you. Click here to see images.
10/08/22
Dorset Arts and Crafts Association Showcase - Aug.5th-9th
The club was privileged to have been invited as guest exhibitors at the DACA (Dorset Arts & Crafts Association) this year. In 1906 a small exhibition was held at Hinton St Mary and it’s success led to the formation of DACA in 1907. The association's first exhibition was held at the Blandford Corn Exchange in 1907 and their 100th was held at the Purbeck School in 2014.
This event attracted between 300/500 visitors each day this year and our exhibition was enjoyed by everyone who viewed with really lovely comments left. Special congratulations to Gordon for a Highly Commended for ‘Female Reedling Feeding’ and Jean Dixon for two Commended for ‘Tufted Vetch’ and ‘Borrowdale' in the DACA Photography Competition. See our display here.
07/07/22
Congratulations to Jean Dixon (our Chairperson) who gained a Highly Commended at the RPS Nature Group 2022 Print Exhibition with ‘Frosted Willow’. A prestigious achievement Jean - well done and great credit to the Club as well as to you of course. See the image here in For News Gallery.
01/07/22 Knoll Gardens
Eleven club members enjoyed an outing to Knoll Gardens which is especially renowned for it's selection of ornamental grasses as well as perennials, trees and shrubs. It is a naturalistic setting and provides an excellent range of photographic opportunities in terms of both subject and technique.
During our initial coffee break Pattie Norris and Pam Hunt gave the group some very useful hints on ICM and use of multiple exposures respectively. ICM images required a slower speed of around 0.5 sec and hence a smaller aperture, low ISO and ideally the use of ND filters but there is plenty of scope for experimentation. Pam helped by demonstrating the in-camera settings for multiple exposures using a Canon or Nikon, either retaining separate images or merging within camera. Members consequently enjoyed producing a range of images including 'standard' shots as well as applying the techniques discussed. Many thanks to Pattie and Pam for their contribution as well as to Jean Dixon for organising a very successful outing. Check the Members Gallery here for a sample of interesting images!
We have finally reached the end of our season meetings with the AGM and Members' awards. Jean Dixon gave a summary of the year's events and was warmly thanked for her splendid service as Chairperson - now succeeded by John Ives. Details of next year's Committee will be posted shortly. Jean gave us hints of an exciting programme next year which includes some prestigious photographers and we all look forward to this. Annual awards (images here) were duly presented by Jean and the evening was completed with a selection of Club competition images .Although the meetings have finished for this season we can still look forward to another Club outing to Brownsea Island (10/05) and our Annual Exhibition on August 24th in Wareham town hall.
07/04/24
As we head toward the end of the season our final internal competitions - League Comp.5 and Best of Year - have been completed. Well done NIgel Gidney for Best of Year in both DPI's and Prints and Nigel again and Gordon Chamberlain in League 5. Full results here. Our Best of Year competition, ably judged by John Tilsley, again demonstrated the amazing range and quality of our Members' work. Many thanks to all Members who make the time and effort to enter the competitions which form the heart of Club activity and do start collecting possible images for next year!
28/03/24
Yet another busy month including a Club outing to Athelhampton House - a small number of Members but it offered interesting forms and subjects in a beautiful garden and architectural setting.(images here)
We were also treated to an excellent presentation by Tony Worobiec ( https://www.tonyworobiec.com/) - a local but nationally rated photographer. Tony gave an articulate and instructive interpretation of his approach to Minimalism with a splendid display of prints and images. A Zoom presentation by Inaki Hernandez (https://www.ihlphotography.com/ ) also impressed Members with superb images of architectural detail in minimalist almost abstract forms. Again full of hints and explanation with photographic art at its best.
The Club also won the Shaston Challenge - a three way friendly but close competition with Shaftesbury and Ringwood so congratulations to the Members whose images were selected.
10/03/24
Another recent successful Club outing was to Sculpture By the Lakes. We were so pleased that we went ahead with our visit in spite of the weather. The rain stopped as we arrived and gave us perfect conditions -overcast and still. The reflections were excellent and the still- dripping sculptures and catkins were a photographer's dream. Much time was spent trying out ICM and multiple exposure inspired by our recent talk from Andy Page. We finished off with a very cosy coffee by the log fire in the cafe. See some of our images here.
SCPF(Southern Counties)
After a nail biting round 7 of the SCPF League it was down to the last round to decide if we stay in League One or be relegated to League Two. So, we were delighted to have come 7th in the last League competition thus putting us just above the relegation zone. Huge congratulations to the participants - especially given that there are 70 Clubs overall! The challenge once again is to stay up in League One next season.
03/03/24
We have been incredibly lucky to have had recent presentations from two talented professional photographers. Mark Bauer (https://markbauerphotography.com/profile/) is local but of national repute as a landscape photographer.(LPOTY) We were reminded of the great opportunities on our own doorstep and how to make the most of light and composition. Andy Page(https://www.silverliningphotography.co.uk/) also excels at traditional landscape photography but also showed us a more abstract and thought provoking interpretation. We all learn so much and find inspiration from such gifted photographers.
Well done NIgel Gidney for winning both PDI and Print sections of our League 4 competition. Full results here.
01/02/24
After 5 out of 8 rounds WCC is holding it's head high in SCPF Division 1 with some excellent 10 scores by Nigel Gidney and Gordon Chamberlain. The latest Round was hosted by Wareham. However with three rounds yet to come we hope to improve our position further by the end of the competition.
Member Graham Tarrant gave an excellent presentation last week on 'Great Bear Country' to a full house of Members and guests. He travelled by yacht along the Alaskan coast and we were treated to many fine images of bears and whales as well as evocative coastal landscapes.
A recent Club outing was arranged for a morning photo shoot at the two main churches of Wareham - both originally Saxon but with St Martin's largely unchanged with some fine wall paintings.(Images here) Quite a challenge with available light but nevertheless enjoyed by all attendees. Many thanks to Jean Dixon and Mike Brown for continuing to organise these sessions.
17/01/24
Happy New Year to all Members and browsers!
League 3 results (09/01/24) can now be found in Internal Competitions. Well done to the winners.
We have already had two great presentations this year by our own Tim Green (https://www.timgreenphotography.com/) and also Dapper and Jude (https://www.dapperandjude.com/). Tim took us to North Dakota and Montana with evocative images of abandoned farmsteads and autos - remnants of the old settler West, while Dapper and Jude showed mainly portraits of elderly isolated farming inhabitants of northern Romania. The latter were beautifully lit, full of character and important evidence of a rapidly disappearing way of life. All were high quality images with interesting and informative themes.
20/12/23
We have enjoyed a very successful first half of the season with high standard presentations and Members showing their usual impressive imagination and skills in League Competitions 1 and 2 (Internal Competitions) as well as in the Theme Competitions.
We ended the year with an entertaining Christmas Club evening with a selection of short AV's and presentations by Members which took us to Peru, Italy, Brazil, Canada and Norway together with some creative and skilful interpretations of our local area. Most of all we were treated to a magnificent 5* buffet organised by Jean Dixon and her team - a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach! (see images) and now look forward to an equally successful New Year. Best seasonal wishes to all .
01/12/23
Well done so far to those Members whose images were entered for this year's SCPF league. We are currently third out of eight in Division1 after two rounds but plenty of rounds still to come going into next year. A great start however.
12/11/23
Well done Mike Grigsby and NIgel Gidney who won The Intimate Landscape competition for prints and PDI's respectively. The brief was well interpreted by Tony Worobiec who judged with great perception and clarity. Full results here.
A group of members also visited Kingston Lacey last Thursday focussing on the Japanese garden with Jean Dixon ably modelling as a coy geisha! The weather was kind and colours were stunning. Images can be seen in Club Activity/Kingston Lacey 2023.
26/10/23
October has been a busy month at the club. As well as the usual excellent presentations an outing was organised to Dorset Falconry Park - a challenge to capture the 70mph peregrine falcon but lots of opportunities with a range of raptors. We've shared an epic photographic exploration of Western Canada with Di and John Tilsley, wonderful wildlife images from Adrian Davies (https://www.adriandaviesimaging.com/ ) and superb landscapes from Jack Lodge.
(https://www.jacklodge.co.uk/). Jack not only showed outstanding images and prints but gave us a wealth of information on his thoughts and techniques - instructive and inspiring. Finally a very enjoyable Club 'Knockout' evening was won by Nigel Gidney with his excellent Highland Cattle portrait.
01/10/23
Congratulations Jean Dixon and Mike Grigsby- winners of DPI's and Prints respectively in the first League Competition of the season. Full results here.
24/09/23
A great start to the season. Brian Chard ( Link here... ) treated us to many splendid wildlife images - especially of birds- with a variety of habitats and activity. Great technique and enormous patience and mainly local - exotic locations not always necessary! The SCPF presentation reflected the extremely high standards of the region for all of us to aspire to and last week Andrea Hargreaves ( Link here...) demonstrated outstanding imagination and processing technique with her mysterious and evocative images of a Nordic world of dragons and goddesses. A lively discussion of 'photography or art?' ensued!
10/09/23
Pictures from an Exhibition! Click here.
13/08/23
2023 EXHIBITION
A huge THANK-YOU to everyone who contributed to our Exhibition in any way, We all felt that it was a very successful day: our prints were shown off at their best and hundreds of people heard about Wareham Camera Club and its programme and friendliness.
As an extra bonus we were able to offer people the most delicious homemade cakes and drinks and they could win prizes in our legendary raffle. We made £113 on teas and £144 on the raffle - plenty of money to pay for the hall and have a bit left over.
Many thanks to everyone who helped in any way.
Jean Dixon
Chairperson
01/08/23
We were delighted to be asked to exhibit 18 framed prints in the ‘Not Just Sundaes’ community cafe, Trinity Church, South Street. The cafe is a hidden gem, a place to enjoy a coffee, home made cakes or a light lunch. The building is a beautiful historic building that used to be the Church of The Holy Trinity. The Exhibition will run for the Summer. See images here.
02/06/23
Continuing the garden theme from the Holme Gardens visit around a dozen members met at Carey's Secret Garden near Wareham yesterday.(01/06) A morning of wonderful sunshine, brilliant colours (roses, lupins, alliums etc) as well as learning about the garden's history and the current project of restoration and community involvement. Check their website : https://www.careyssecretgarden.co.uk/.Jean Dixon and Mike Brown organised the visit and suggested a range of techniques we could try. A very successful and enjoyable morning and images can now be seen here.
02/05/23
Our final session was the AGM ably presided over by Jean Dixon who remains Chairperson for next season. The full list of Committee members for next year can be seen here.. Our President Nigel Spiller gave an excellent summing up report remarking that it was the 58th AGM since the Club was founded in 1965 - at which he was present! Cups, trophies and certificates were presented by Nigel and congratulations to all those who were successful this year.(see full list of winners here) The Club continues to thrive thanks both to a core of long-time and loyal members as well as those joining more recently. We look forward to another enjoyable and successful season from next September.
16/04/23
After a very close last round in the SCPF league competition along with Fordingbridge C.C. we are being promoted to League One next season, Congratulations to all our photographers, Nigel, Terry, John, Tim, Jean and Rob. Nigel’s Female Bearded Reedling was our top scoring PDI and goes through to the Finals at the SCPF AGM in the Littleton Millennium Hall on May 14th judged by Barbie and Rusty Lindsay. See images here.
Our Best of Year competition (April 4th) again demonstrated the high standard of the Club - overall and well deserved winners were Alan Bevis (both Colour and Black and White prints)and Mike Grigsby (PDI's) with full results in Internal Competitions.
31/03/23
Final League competition of the season (League 5) was held on Tues. Well done Mike Grigsby, Alan Bevis and Gordon Chamberlain. Details in Internal Competitions.
27/03/23
On Thursday 23rd a group of members spent an enjoyable morning at Holme Gardens. Mike Brown gave us a list of ten different techniques of which we were to attempt 5 and the results of which can be seen here in Club Activity Many thanks to Mike and Jean Dixon for organising.
Recent presentations have continued with Tim Downton ARPS(Dorchester CC) - brilliant local wildlife images illustrating both activity and environment. Also Simon Turnbull FRPS - an outstanding landscape photographer(LPOTY 2022) with real mastery of light and composition and generously sharing tips and ideas.(https://www.simonturnbullphotography.com/)
04/03/23
League Competition 4 results are now posted here. Well done Alan Bevis and Nigel Gidney - again setting standards we Members aspire to!
26/02/23
Our regular presentation evenings continue to entertain, inform and inspire all of the Members. Emily Endean is a talented professional photographer with a special interest in seascapes.(https://www.emilyendeanphotography.co.uk/) Her beautiful images - especially local coastal scenery- showed a mastery of light and imaginative composition. By contrast Warren Alani (https://www.warrenalaniphotography.com/sports) is a professional sports photographer who let us into the secrets of high quality images vividly capturing 'the moment' with maximum impact. He was generous in sharing his technique as we all continue to develop our own skills. Finally our own Graham Tarrant is an excellent wildlife photographer who has in the past taken us to Antarctica and Africa but this time we journeyed to Svalbard. Apart from the inspirational images of polar bears, Arctic foxes and bird life the impact of climate change on this habitat was clear in the unusual lack of snow and sea ice. An entertaining as well as instructive evening with an important message. Many thanks Graham.
08/02/23
Congratulations to Nigel Gidney and Derek Way, winners of the Woodhouse Trophy(print) and Bert's Bole(PDI) respectively. Full results here. Sadly Bert Wason,a stalwart of the Club for an amzing 48 years, passed away in 2018 but we remember him as follows:
BERT WASON FRPS
1933 - 2018
It was during a school visit to Swanage from his home in 1947 that Bert first discovered the wonders of Natural History, the rocks, the plants, Insects and birds enthralled him.
He learnt about the basics of photography during his National Service as a Model Maker in the RAF. He was working in a joint Service Intelligence Unit which involved the taking and use of photographs.
In 1955 Bert purchased his camera and joined Epsom Camera Club. This was the beginning of his competitive and exhibition type of photography.
His next club was the Woking Photographic Society at which time he was working in the wind tunnel dept of Vickers Armstrong Aircraft, Weybridge. There was a well equipped darkroom which he put to very good use. In 1964 he moved to Wareham putting a damper on his photography until 1970 when he joined the young Wareham Camera Club. After complaining about competitions he was coerced into being Competition secretary, this was followed by various committee posts until the 80’s when he had the honour to be President.
It was in 1977 that a member encouraged him to join the RPS (Royal Photographic Society) and introduced him to the techniques of nature photography. In 1980 he attained his first ambition, Associateship in Nature Photography. In 1987 Bert achieved his Fellowship in Nature.
Bert tutored courses on Nature Photography and lectured widely to many societies. He published in various magazines and his awards include:-
Royal Photographic Society International Exhibition 1991 & 1992.
Southampton International Photographic Exhibition 1995.
BBC‘Gardeners World’ Photographer of the Year 1992 with his‘Long - Headed Poppies’.
19/01/23
Our first outing of the New Year was a successful visit to Wareham's famous Art Deco Rex Cinema. Beautifully restored and maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers, it created a challenge for low light indoor photography which the members tackled with imagination and skill. Many thanks to Mike and Jean for organising. See a selection of images here.
11/01/23
A great start to 2023.Our first session was hosting the beginning of the SCPF Digital image league on Zoom with a highly promising start. We are in Division 2 (of 8) with eight Clubs competing over 8 judged competitions. Judges marks can very considerably however and reports on our progress will be made later in the year.
Last night was our annual AV evening with many Club members demonstrating a tremendous variety of subject and style all of a high standard. It ranged from evocative home landscapes of Scotland and Wales to an epic walk in the Alps, cycling in Spain, an African safari and the skyscrapers of Chicago as well as stunning woodland images, a high impact and vivid boxing sequence, our local steam railway and a variety of architecture. All were accompanied by well chosen music to enhance each presentation with the whole evening enthusiastically appreciated by the excellent turnout. Well done to all contributors.
06/12/22
Our Alison Macalister Competition was a special evening with Alison's sister and niece attending and sharing memories. Alison was a long time member who despite her physical disability threw herself enthusiastically not only into photography but into life in general and is missed greatly by all. Well done to the trophy winners Erica Beck and Terry Mullen amongst a wide range of high standard entries - full results in Internal Competitions. It was ably judged by Trevor Prince whose balanced and constructive comments were much appreciated.
01/12/22.
A brilliant achievement by the Club - we came First in the SCPF Annual Exhibition judged on Nov.20th by Eddy Lane ARPS DPAGB EFIAP APAGB. Huge congratulations to Nigel who had a 10 for his Female Bearded Reedling and a 9 for ‘Hare in the Rain’, and to Terry a 9.5 for his ‘Milky Way rising at Durdle Door’, both Nigel and Terry receiving HC’s. Well done to all members whose work was selected - a tremendous credit to the Club especially with entries from 60 Clubs with over 400 images. See images here and list of entries in External Competitions.
25/11/22
Congratulations to Gordon Chamberlain, Alan Bevis and Jean Dixon winning League 2 best Colour Print, Black and White print and PDI respectively. Full results here.
Last week we had an excellent presentation by Ken Scott ARPS APAGB MBPsS who undertook a journey around the coast of the UK with considerable 'ups and downs' but captured the purpose, people and scenery vividly with his series of images and av's. A thoughtful, moving and professional presentation. Link to Ken's 'Touching the Light' website here.
09/11/22
Lucky weather! Club members were inspired by a talk by Paul Mitchell FRPS called "Woodland Ways". We loved the way he photographed woodland and decided to have an outing to try try out his techniques. We chose Thorncombe Woods near Dorchester and got the first fine day for weeks and were astonished to find colour on the trees after weeks of gales. As always it was interesting to see how different everyone's images were and we now have the pleasure of processing them and seeing what effects we can produce. Here are a few of the images.
08/11/22
We hosted the All v All Inter Club Friendly competition on the 8th November, 8 former SAPA clubs took part and Leo Rich ARPS EFIAP/gold judged, it was won by Wimborne C.C. Ferndown was 2nd and Wareham a creditable 3rd. Well done to all participants, our top scorers were Terry Mullen and Nigel Gidney - Terry with a 10 and Nigel a 9. It was a very entertaining zoomed evening with superb images from all participating clubs.
25/10/22
The prestigious Wessex Battle was a great success! Nine clubs competed and the hall was full with a brilliant atmosphere. Sue Sibley ARPS EFIAP/S DPAGB BP4* was the judge. Wareham came a creditable 3rd, so very well done all participants. Our own Gordon Chamberlain won Best Image from 72 entries with ‘Reed Bunting Feeding’. Wimborne won overall and BH Photography Club were 2nd. Wimborne’s President Norman Wiles was presented with the winners shield and Gordon with the individual winners shield, See photos in For News gallery. Next year Bridport C.C. will be hosting this annual competition.
20/10/22
It is always rewarding to see relatively new members making their mark through the Club. John Crawford Hayes has developed an interest in what he terms 'Photoelasticity' which involves stunning abstract images of vibrant colour created with fragments of plastic and glass. He has successfully submitted a spectacular panel to achieve an ARPS award which can be seen on this link to SCPF. It also explains his technique and how he developed his original ideas. Great initiative - well done John!
11/10/22
Full results of our 'LINES' theme competition are now posted in Internal Competitions. Well done all - some striking images, great imagination and thoughtfully judged by John Tilsley.
10/10/22
We never cease to be impressed by our presenters and certainly not least by Kevin Pigney (20/09/22) and Paul Mitchell(04/10/22). Kevin specialises in close up wildlife photography with the subjects isolated from their background to produce stunning portraits - many beautifully backlit. He was also very generous with information on technique which Club members always appreciate.(https://kjpphotography.myportfolio.com/)
Paul showed us how we can make the most of our local woodlands using light, composition and colour to maximum effect. His Woodland Ways portfolio is inspirational and true photographic art. (https://www.paulmitchellphotography.co.uk/portfolio#/new-gallery/) Paul was also incredibly helpful with advice on technique including the use of Photoshop editing. A Club outing to beech woodland is planned for November 9th.We all continue to be entertained with the variety and quality of our presenters and never fail to add something to our own skill development. Many thanks to Maggie the Programme organiser.
03/10/22
League 1 Competition results are now posted in Internal Competitions. Well done to Alan Bevis, Nigel Gidney and Jean Dixon.
15/09/22
Our season got off to a great start last week with an entertaining session by visitor Chris Hilton. He gave an imaginative and varied presentation laced with a sense of humour- photography for us non-professionals should always be about enjoyment! Yesterday saw our second session with 'Projects, Panels & Montage'. We had a good number of contributions of all three elements covering people, landscape, nature, sport and travel. Our expert guest Norman Marsh commented positively and constructively on each and members were given the opportunity to add their own observations. There was no marking but simply a rewarding and relaxed Club evening enjoying fellow members work with lively discussion and helpful and encouraging comments from Norman.
27/08/22
1.Our annual Club Exhibition took place as usual in Wareham town hall on Saturday(27/08). Most of the prints on display were from the last few years. Our visitors which included Anne Eckersley - SCPF President - ( What a super exhibition please congratulate everyone involved!.) were a mixture of holidaymakers and local people but everyone commented on the quality of the work and the fact that it gets better and better every year. Also at the Exhibition Nigel Gidney was presented his outstanding DPAGB Award by Chairman Nigel Spiller. See images from the Exhibition here.
2. Member Alan King has produced an excellent portfolio of black and white images taken at the recent Wareham Saxon Festival. Well done Alan and thank you. Click here to see images.
10/08/22
Dorset Arts and Crafts Association Showcase - Aug.5th-9th
The club was privileged to have been invited as guest exhibitors at the DACA (Dorset Arts & Crafts Association) this year. In 1906 a small exhibition was held at Hinton St Mary and it’s success led to the formation of DACA in 1907. The association's first exhibition was held at the Blandford Corn Exchange in 1907 and their 100th was held at the Purbeck School in 2014.
This event attracted between 300/500 visitors each day this year and our exhibition was enjoyed by everyone who viewed with really lovely comments left. Special congratulations to Gordon for a Highly Commended for ‘Female Reedling Feeding’ and Jean Dixon for two Commended for ‘Tufted Vetch’ and ‘Borrowdale' in the DACA Photography Competition. See our display here.
07/07/22
Congratulations to Jean Dixon (our Chairperson) who gained a Highly Commended at the RPS Nature Group 2022 Print Exhibition with ‘Frosted Willow’. A prestigious achievement Jean - well done and great credit to the Club as well as to you of course. See the image here in For News Gallery.
01/07/22 Knoll Gardens
Eleven club members enjoyed an outing to Knoll Gardens which is especially renowned for it's selection of ornamental grasses as well as perennials, trees and shrubs. It is a naturalistic setting and provides an excellent range of photographic opportunities in terms of both subject and technique.
During our initial coffee break Pattie Norris and Pam Hunt gave the group some very useful hints on ICM and use of multiple exposures respectively. ICM images required a slower speed of around 0.5 sec and hence a smaller aperture, low ISO and ideally the use of ND filters but there is plenty of scope for experimentation. Pam helped by demonstrating the in-camera settings for multiple exposures using a Canon or Nikon, either retaining separate images or merging within camera. Members consequently enjoyed producing a range of images including 'standard' shots as well as applying the techniques discussed. Many thanks to Pattie and Pam for their contribution as well as to Jean Dixon for organising a very successful outing. Check the Members Gallery here for a sample of interesting images!