Check back here frequently for updates on forthcoming events, activities and new features of the site.
Processing Workshop
29th October. Our usual hall, kitchen and small meeting room were converted into a college of further and higher photo editing for the night with groups led by Mike, Susannah, Ross and James B. Members had the choice of two tutorials with a tea-break in between. The overall feedback was that the evening was a success, with members at all levels able to gain something from the experience.
1st Monthly Competition
22nd October. Bolstered by fresh portfolios from the summer break, the first monthly competition showed breadth and depth in the range of subjects and approaches employed by members in their photographic work. Judge Gordon Rae displayed a wealth of experience, delivering constructive criticism and wit as he gave his feedback on each piece. Among the winners, this striking still life by Mairi Anderson. See our competitions section for more.
Palace Grounds Photoshoot - Review
15th October. The first Zoom meeting of the season was well attended and ran with few technical difficulties. A small set of photographs by each participant were shown in turn for review, praise and some constructive criticism from the group. Due to the constraints of the weather and the location on the night, the same subjects were covered by several members, but this only added to the interest, as it showed how only minor changes in position and angle could significantly affect the feeling of an image. Not everything worked, but a highlight was the creation of a ‘pumpkin’ - a long exposure of a ball on a string being swung around vigorously by our Chair and Competition Secretary.
Ascension and Sri Lanka - Roger Shearer
8th October. Gusty winds and heavy rain did not deter a good turnout of members to be swept away to sunnier climes by Roger Shearer’s highly engaging talk on two very differnent islands - one in the South Atlantic and the other in the Indian Ocean. See the blog section for a full review.
Documentary Photography - Cameron Scott
1st October. Cameron Scott made a welcome return to the club, this time as a speaker on documentary photography and photojournalism. He provided a fascinating insight to a style of photography which is almost another world from the pictorial approach typical of cameral clubs.
A full disucssion is in the blog section.
Palace Grounds Photoshoot
24th September. An ominously cloudy night did not deter a sizable group of club members heading to Hamilton Palace Grounds to try some nighttime photography. On the menu were ICM, multiple exposures, zoom bursts, silhouettes and light painting. Torches and tripods at the ready we tried various locations showing off water features and public art. Although much creative fun was had, the weather was not in our favour as the drizzle became increasingly persistent. The outing concluded for many of us at the channel connecting Cadzow Burn to Strathclyde Loch. The resulting soggy, torchlit scenes will be reviewed at a future club meeting.
Landscapes My Way - Jim Stevenson
17th September. Jim Stevenson treated us to an evening of stunning landscape photograpy from trips in Scotland, Iceland, Lofoten and Dungeness. Along the way he provided lots of advice for members with ambitions to create photographs of a similar standard. More in our blog.
My Summer Photography
10th September. Members had sent in images of their summer work, focussing on new experiences, locations and techniques. As each image was shown the author described what how they had taken it and what they were trying to achieve. It was then up to the audience to critique - what had worked well, what could have worked even better, and similar approaches which could be explored. Then on to the next photographer. It was a great example of the inclusive and supportive ethos of the club in action, and a lot of fun.
3rd September. There was a palpable buzz as the club reconvened after the summer break, welcoming both familiar and new faces. During the first half, Mike explained the club's operations for the benefit of new members, while Susannah detailed the new syllabus, covering events like guest speakers, photo shoots, and competitions. After the tea break, Mike, Susannah, and James B. shared their contrasting approaches to preparing, printing and mounting images for competitions.
Welcome Back!
Chatelherault Print Display,
1st to 31st August
See a selection of club prints in the front and rear
entrance lobbies at the visitor centre
Annual General Meeting and Trophy Presentation
This year, the trophy presentation had Ross taking the photos as each winner collected their prize. Despite some confusion on which trophy was which, Mike orchestrated the event with his usual aplomb, creating quite a few laughs in the process. Additional excitement was generated by a batch of fruit scones provided by James Lyons, which received much appreciation during the tea interval. The AGM section of the evening was handled in an efficient, businesslike manner by the relevant committee members. Finally the vote on next year’s themed competitions emphatically selected Solitude (2nd monthly) and Nostalgia (3rd monthly). No excuses for not being prepared!
Annual Exhibition
The results are in! Thanks to judge Cameron Scott whose enthusiasm and carefully thought out critques made for an exciting and enjoyable evening. Winners are:
Susannah Smith (division 1 prints and monochrome), Mike Farrance (divsion 1 images and provost’s trophy), Jean McMillan (division 2 prints), Graham Horne (division 2 images), and Gordon Stewart (sports).
See more at Annual Exhibition
Hamilton Evening Photoshoot - Review
Our photoshoot in Hamilton, which had seemed so unpromising when we set out, proved to be fertile ground for the club’s ingenious photographers. Each of the teams has been able to put forward entries in all the categories, which we reviewed within the wider group. Some memorable images were the pun-tastic entry for “light and shade” (a light bulb in a lampshade) and an open doorway revealing some twists of paper and an overturned oil can, seemingly a prelude to arson. But the standout pieces were some monochrome images including the depiction of a young man vaping in the shadows. The author, Mike, later gave credit to a Creative Mono course he had taken via the RPS for inspiring him in this type of work.
Despite a forecast of rain and general pessimism on the allure of Hamilton town centre on a cold Thursday night in March, a good number of club members turned out to see what we could make of this outing. We broke off into small groups and started circulating the town, trying to meet the challenge of predetermined topics: 1) Movement, 2) Light and shade, 3) Silhouette, 4) Leading lines, 5) Shape(s), 6) Look up, 7) In a frame, and 8) Small details. By some miracle the rain largely stayed away. Possibly it was the effort of clambering around street furniture, trying to get a good angle, but it also seemed to get warmer. What was definitely enjoyable was the companionship of fellow photographers, which meant it ended up being a memorable and congenial event. Next meeting - the review…
Hamilton Evening Photoshoot
Members’ Challenge
Well done to everyone who entered the Members' Challenge (Thursday, 19th March). There were a great range of images within the theme of silhouettes and voting for our top 3 proved quite a challenge in itself! In the end we had a clear winner - congratulations to Alan. We had 2 equal 2nd placed images by Susannah, and 2 equal 3rd placed images by Mike. Alan’s winning entry depicting Tintagel Castle Footbridge in Cornwall is shown here.
GDPU Review
The evening of Thursday 12th March was an opportunity for members to score and judge the colour section of the GDPU portfolio. With Gordon on the timer, each image was brought up in turn on the projector. Members then had two minutes to review each photo and agree on a score, using the usual HCC scoring scheme. The process was a little reticent at first, but before long praise, criticism and scores were being enthusiastically shouted out from all corners of the room. Perhaps surprisingly, we got through all twenty images more or less on time. Also notable was the distinct consensus that emerged favouring more natural and less contrived images. With most scores clustering around the same area it wasn’t too difficult to decide a result in the majority of cases. Mike then took us through our results, contrasting them with those of the official judges. Another fun night.
4-Way Print Competition
Triumph in the 4-way print competion Lanarkshire derby on 6th March fell to Carluke (as usual) with 187 points, but Hamilton tied with Lanark for runner up with 171 points with Motherwell trailing on 163.
3-Image Portfolio
On 26th February it was the club’s 2nd annual event based on the 3-image portfolio. Members submit up to three sets of three images, presented on a panel in PDF format. After viewing the images on the panel and individually, members secretly score the entries, awarding up to 10 points for the panel itself. Presenting images this way focuses attention on the cohesiveness and continuity of the author’s work, as well as on the quality of the individual images themselves. It is a new twist on the creative process of photography. After scores were counted, congratulations fell to Heather, Susannah and Mike.