This week we were back at the Mill for one of our regular Members’ Nights.
These evenings are always quite relaxed and varied. We’ll usually see a handful of photographs from several members, perhaps hear about a favourite location or a new app or technique, and catch up with some of the other things happening around the club.
Philip started us off with an interesting set of images from an Edinburgh Photography Meetup Group photo walk, on the theme ‘Inspired by Saul Leiter’.
There was plenty of movement, strong colour and a real sense of city life, particularly around Edinburgh’s street food area. Leiter’s own photography often turned ordinary street scenes into something much more abstract and painterly, using reflections, colour, obscured views and fleeting moments to create images that feel almost dreamlike.
Philip’s photographs captured some of that spirit perfectly.
The Edinburgh Photography Meetup Group also has an exhibition coming up at the Edinburgh Photographic Society, 68 Great King Street, Edinburgh. It is open on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September, and Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October, from 10am until 4.30pm. Entry is free, so it could be well worth a visit.
Next, Karen showed us a wonderfully varied collection: a butterfly, a brightly painted alley in Venice, a Red Kite at Argaty, some beautiful Glencoe colours — one of which is our featured image this week - and the magnificent Burnham Oak.
Something emerged from both Karen’s and Philip’s photographs which is worth remembering: take photographs that please you.
Not every photograph has to be made with a competition judge in mind. Photography should, first and foremost, be something we enjoy. An imaginary judge looking over your shoulder is an effective way of spoiling a perfectly good day with a camera!
Grace then took us rather further afield - although geographically only as far as nearby Dirleton and Archerfield - with photographs from the Solar Walk. Starting at ‘The Sun’, the walk headed out through the Solar System and, most importantly, eventually ended with cake at the café. There was even a visiting alien.
Fran transported us considerably further away with a lovely collection from a holiday in Namibia.
Her photographs made it very clear that Africa holds a special place in her heart. We saw wonderful night skies and wildlife including elephants, giraffes, leopards, cheetahs and a warthog, along with the enormous Hoba Meteorite and the beautiful atmospheric phenomenon known as the Belt of Venus.
Quite a show!
Grace also introduced us to an app called One Lab, demonstrating some intriguing kaleidoscope-like interpretations of her autumn photographs. It was another good example of how experimenting with an image after pressing the shutter can sometimes take it somewhere completely unexpected.
And, as always, it was a pleasure when Rudolf shared some of his wildlife photographs from Mull, including his wonderful otters.
Several people commented that Rudolf must have the patience of a saint - and undoubtedly he does - but there is much more to successful wildlife photography than patience alone. Rudolf shows how it takes fieldcraft, empathy, an eye for detail and, importantly, an understanding of how to photograph wildlife without intruding unnecessarily into its world.
Club matters
We now have a Christmas Dinner menu. There isn’t a date confirmed yet, but it certainly pays to be organised - and Grace is! You can find the menu on the club Facebook page.
Next Tuesday we’ll be photographing Little People at the Mill — toy models, that is, not children!
If you need some inspiration beforehand, remember that David Gilliver’s recent Zoom presentation is available to members from the Recent Zooms members page on the website.
Also approaching is the deadline for our Season Starter competition. If you’re thinking of entering and would like some guidance, please get in touch. There was also some general competition guidance in last week’s blog post.
And finally, if you still have prints at the Lightbox from our exhibition, please remember to collect them.
See you Tuesday!