SLIC News page 2009

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2008

What's been happening at SLIC month by month in 2009

**2009 SLIC NEWS**

January 2009	What a great start to the year January's meeting was! Chris Widdall from Oldham PS came to visit SLIC. During the first half of the meeting she gave us a talk on flash photography using on-camera flash. Each point of her talk was illustrated by carefully prepared dp images showing the effects as a flash gun angle was changed or modified. For those of us who avoided using flash like the plague it was an illuminating (forgive the pun!) talk which I , for one, thoroughly enjoyed and from which I learned a lot. During the second part of the afternoon Chris showed us the prints which have been accepted in both National (BPE) and International (FIAP) Salons. The subjects ranged from landscapes (land, sea and urban) to still lifes with a creative aspect. All of them exhibited the same creative eye for composition, attention to the smallest detail, and real quality in printing. All in all, a great start to the year and an afternoon I wouldn't have wanted to miss.
February 2009	This month SLIC gave a warm welcome to our old friend Gordon Jenkins who visited us to judge our Quarterly Competition once again. As usual, our digitally projected entry was many times greater than our print entry. Gordon judged the prints first and was able to give the authors constructive and helpful comments on all the pictures put before him. In the same way Gordon gave us a useful appraisal of the digitally projected images as they were presented to him. Gordon is always honest in his opinions and appraisal of images but is also always able to begin with positive and encouraging comments. He is never knowlingly unkind or disparaging; a great quality in a judge! See RESULTS
March 2009	This month's speaker was someone who had not visited SLIC before and I hope that he enjoyed his visit to us as much as we enjoyed his talk. Our speaker was Ray Grover, from South Manchester, who treated us to his 'Photographic Journey'. His images, even the earliest, were all digitally projected and ranged from his earlier interest in astronomy and the night sky to birds, to competition themes, to creative, to commercial. There were some pictures that thrilled us and some that made us laugh but all were absolutely great. As the pictures were projected Ray talked us through the times and circumstances that had inspired the pictures or made their capture possible. His talk was entertaining and informative and the afternoon passed far too quickly. Our thanks to Ray who made me, for one, want to reach formy camera again as soon as possible.
April 2009	April's meeting saw a return visit by Barry Colquhoun who introduced us to the pros and cons of the newest version of Photoshop - Photoshop CS4. For some of us there were more cons than pros but there was plenty of interest in it, regardless of the up-graded hardware that appears to be necessary in order to enjoy the new all-singing, all-dancing version. Barry's talk was interesting and informative as he guided us through the new features whilst keeping up his usual entertaining anectdotes and comments as he went along.
May 2009	This was a busy meeting as the first part was taken up by the AGM. When things run smoothly it's all done and dusted in short order but, when there's a proposal for change that invites discussion and argument, then it can drag on forever. We did manage to avoid that particular pitfall yesterday and, after only a few sticky moments, the AGM was concluded and harmony reigned once again (I hope!) as the meeting moved on to the more enjoyable part, ie., that of the Quarterly competition. This month it was judged by Mike Lawrence, from Oldham PS. There was a fairly large entry, almost 70 projected images and over 30 prints, to be judged. Mike did a sterling job first on the prints and then on the dp images. His comments were constructive, helpful and always encouraging. Time ran out before we got to the 'Experimental' section so those will have to wait for the next Quarterly.
June 2009	Our meeting this month saw the welcome return of one of our 'old' friends, Geoff Robinson, as our speaker for the afternoon. He brought with him a selection of his prints which ranged from a few of his early favourites made in the darkroom, through those scanned from negatives and slides, to his most up to date images including one 'hot off the press'. It's always a pleasure to hear Geoff talking about his approach to his photography and image-making as his enthusiasm and passion for what he does never wavers. Geoff has great 'straight' photographs of landscapes, portraits, natural history and record which all find salon acceptances at both national and international level but, to me, his greatest strength is in the constructed images. It's in this selection that we saw the creativity and technical skills that Geoff draws on to make his fascinating and thought-provoking images. It was a great afternoon as Geoff showed us that, first and foremost, you need good photographs to start with and relevant computer skills but, after that, the rest is up to the individual. Above all, he reminded us that we should still be getting fun out of our image-making!
July 2009	Our guest speaker this month was Geraldine Hilmer, from Wilmslow, who brought a selection of her prints to show us. Her subjects ranged from steam trains to landscapes but each had that extra element of compostition or light that made it in some way special. Textures, shapes and light were always important factors in her pictures, whether it was the shape of the waves washing across sand or early morning mist around sea and rocks. Every picture captured a mood or a moment that lifted them out of the ordinary. In many clubs we don't see as many prints as we used to, as more and more of us turn to the digitally projected image, so it was a real pleasure to see a collection of prints that were of such quality.
August 2009	The Quarterly competition, this month, saw the return of Graham Dean, who has been a popular visitor to SLIC in the past (and still is!!). Graham had over 100 images (dpi and print) to appraise and mark. He did his usual sterling job, including positive comments and advice for every picture. See RESULTS
September 2009	The focus for this month's meeting was audio visual. In previous years we have looked at, and enjoyed, just current and new sequences from our members. This year we decided that we would take a trip down 'Memory Lane' and include not only new sequences but old favourites, as well. Because many of the sequences don't go into competitions outside SLIC many hadn't been seen, by members, since they were first projected at SLIC's own AV meeting. It was great to see so many sequences that gave both the maker and the viewer such pleasure.
October 2009	This meeting had to be one of the high-points of the year's programme. It was Dianne Owen's first visit to SLIC but her name is well known to many photographers both in the L&CPU and other federations. We had great expectations and we weren't disappointed. Diane brought with her a fantastic selection of prints and talked us through her own individual approach to her subjects and image - making. Unusually, for club speakers, the room wasn't darkened and the prints were passed around for us to look at more closely, as she gave her talk. It can be a long afternoon for a speaker to fill but Diane had no problems holding us all enthralled. We can only hope that she also enjoyed her visit and that this will only be the first of her visits to SLIC.
November 2009	It's always a pleasure to welcome Tony Redford to a SLIC meeting and this one was no exception; making it even better was the fact that Dorothy also came with him. Tony's talk was split into two parts; the first part was given over to prints, both his own and Dorothy's, and the second to an AV presentation. His selection of prints was varied and interesting and, as always, accompanied by the stories that lay behind each image - how they were made, what sort of reception (both good & bad!) that they'd received in competitions, and where they were photographed. All was delivered in Tony's self-deprecating and humorous manner. They all had one thing in common, though, and that was the overall quality of both content and execution in each image; ample evidence of both Tony's and Dorothy's attention to the smallest detail.
December 2009	See 2010 page for news, HERE