In the first face to face meeting, Ilkley Camera Club continued its new season with a members ‘show and tell’ event in which nine members presented images made over the Summer.
Sharon Sawyer kicked off with a display of creative images which included composite images in which household objects were blended together to produce still-life pieces. She gave lots of practical tips which included obtaining free fabric off-cuts and creating backgrounds from sheet music, bubble wrap and splodges of spilt coffee.
David James presented sporting images including Ripon Races and the Harewood Hill Climb. He talked about the challenges of getting close to the action.
Andrew Sutherland took members on a visual tour of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. He included a photo of Bou Meng, the Killing Fields survivor who was spared from being slaughtered because he was a talented artist.
John Fontana featured a series of moody black and white images. The subject was the forbidding shapes and weathered rocks of Almscliffe Crag. He wanted to think about what the shapes represent and said he was influenced by the darkness of work by the celebrated photographer Bill Brandt.
Jane Sanderson talked about ‘intentional camera movement’ to create soft and blurry images of Ox Close Woods and featured one of her Cyanotype experiments made by exposing natural objects to photo-chemicals in the sunshine. She also presented an intriguing shot of the Yorkshire Dales transformed to look like an Alpine mountain range.
Richard Ramsay focused on nature including the Lone Tree at Malham and birds on the Yorkshire coast at Bempton. He also showed two engaging audio visual presentations.
Nigel Steels took members to Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth to capture the brooding atmosphere and birds. Nearer to home he included an image from Kilnsey’s fishing lake.
Nick Hodgson got into the thick of Leeds Carnival to experience the action, joy and colour of the event. He said when you get that close you need to take earplugs.
Tim Sawyer presented a selection of images made by blending shapes and backgrounds, sometimes into completely new scenes. He said he looks for patterns to blend together and likes pictures he’d be happy to put on the wall.