Christmas Social 23/12/20

Last week Sue and James Gibson worked together to treat a further 22 members to an inventive Christmas Social, rising to the challenge of developing entertaining activities that pitted 6 teams against one another in competition remotely via Zoom.

Everyone was assigned a team and the club experimented with the use of 'breakout rooms' for the first time. These were used to great effect alongside the more traditional group assembly over a number of rounds, including general knowledge and sports quiz rounds, a film music identification round, video observation and even a scavenger hunt!

Although it was a departure from our traditional Christmas meeting in that members had to supply their own food and drink, many people dressed up for the occasion in their finest Christmas-themed attire and a great time was had by all. I think it fair to say that perhaps because of, rather than in spite of the logistical challenges, the resourcefulness of the hosts made for an even more entertaining evening than usual and one that was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

2020 has been challenging for everyone in many ways and for HPIC it has been no different. However, both the committee and the club itself have risen to the challenge at every step and carried on operating almost as normal, even down to this social evening. This meeting was the last scheduled event on the 2020 programme, so we sincerely hope you'll continue to join us in 2021 for an exciting new programme of events.

Monthly Challenge – Street Photography16/12/20

Kamal Samanta’s picture featuring a fashion icon and some very sexy knees of mechanics working under a car, perched precariously on a brick, appealed to members and the image was voted into third position against some pretty good competition.

Kamal Samanta - The Mechanics

In first place was Harry Wentworth’s Help, which Alan Stopher described as poignant, telling as it did an interesting story within the depicted environment. The light in the subject’s eyes conveyed emotion with the subject well contrasted with the subdued background.

Harry Wentworth - Help

Richard Fulcher’s image, showing the joy of children playing with well captured and brilliantly

illuminated soap bubbles in the streets of Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana, came second.

Richard Fulcher - Children Playing

Well done to the winners, thanks yet again to all those who submitted images and of course to Alan and James for their critiques.

Next time it’s party time! James described to members how the rich facilities afforded by Zoom will be used to amplify the sense of fun and games during the last meeting prior to Christmas.

Tune in next week to find out more: usual time and place!

Fourth 10 from 6 Evening 09/12/20

As with all the 10 from 6 evenings that have proved popular, we had 5 members showing their images that have either inspired them or hold significant memories on their own photographic journey.

James Gibson

James shared his photographic journey which started watching his Uncle, who was a press

photographer in London and Glasgow taking photographs and printing them. His early images which were black and white from the late 1970’s where he had taken photos with his friends camping trips, family members, changing to digital camera and joining the club in 2008, from showing images from all genres, to sharing his passion of street and portrait photography.

Mary Rogers

Mary explained when taking photographs likes to tell a story with the memories associated with the image. From her first photographs of visiting Kinderdijk windmills to interacting with people in the street to stepping out of her comfort zone and going on studio shoots, Mary showed a variety of genres in which held specific memories, whether they be of a technical nature or those of that made you laugh.

Carla Lloyd

Carla called her set of images ‘Adventures In JPEG’. From starting out as a social member when first joining the club to sharing her travel adventures, all images shot in jpeg and the challenge that Carla gave herself of getting it most right in avoiding the need for post-processing. From traveling around the world Carla, ensures that she researches the country and has specific shots in mind. We were treated to images from Austria, Japan, USA, Italy, Laos, Cuba, Hong Kong and with lockdown getting to grips with macro photography too.

Quarry Bay Apartments, Hong Kong by Carla Lloyd

Chris Rogers

Chris took us through images that inspired him, from the challenges of an industrial shoot in an iron foundry to those of landscapes. For taking photos in the style of Bill Brandt using black and white medium, shot in Halifax, even down to the wet cobbles evoking a feeling of the environment being gritty. Chris favourite genre is landscape, where he showed a variety of landscapes from Scotland, Cumbria and the North East.

Kevin Lloyd

Kevin's images were on the theme of 'firsts', generally his photographic firsts, from his first

camera at the age of 5, to his first experience of presenting images in critiques at club and at a new members night. Like Carla, Kevin loves travelling. Kevin says he is constantly learning,

from producing graphic images in the early days, to developing panning technique when taking fast moving cars, to taking environmental portraiture, which portrays the vibrance of life of each country that Kevin and Carla have visited.

Effecting The Pass by Kevin Lloyd