1970

Jim Hewes raised a point about competition judges. He stated emphatically that he didn’t think it fair to members to have non-photographic or artists for judges, even for the finals. One or two had been tried and although they were interesting, they were not a lot of use to members requiring assistance. This started of a bit of a barney amongst committee members, ending with the chairman stopping it and asking for a vote. It was clearly in favour of Jim’s opinion.

This year we lost a real stalwart in the club. Charles Fry, sadly passed away. He had been a very fine worker and being a chemist was a fund of knowledge. He will be missed by everyone. On a personal note, I shall miss Charlie as he has been a friend since our teens.

On the Battle front, we are still in the doldrums, even though there has been some fine work produced this year.
This was also the year that we became part of the Southsea Show, more about this later.

The Club projector, a Leitz Pravada, which was a top of the range model, came in for a lot of criticism. Members were told that as it had had continual use it was probably due for a 1000 mile service. The Chairman, John Moorey told the club, “let those that are not satisfied, bring along a projector for comparison”.

This year’s selection committee included three very volatile members, namely Jim Hewes, Ron Male and Ron Moore. One couldn’t help feeling sorry for the other members of the committee, as by all accounts the meetings were very lively affairs.

“Portsmouth is not ugly” by Jonathon Timewell. Memories of this evening are still very vivid. JT, as he was known, was a very lively speaker. He showed a remarkable collection of buildings that, to say the least, were not items of beauty, but he presented them in such a way that brought out the best in them. He told members that he had spent a lot of time looking at the buildings, and deciding the best conditions to take them in. The whole project had taken two years, in different spells, and were to be used as education on lighting and conditions.

“Stage Photography for the Amateur” with Courtney Hoskings.
Courtney Hoskings was a member of two clubs, Southampton and, when it was formed, Viewfinders. He showed the club a splendid collection of stage shots, mainly in black and white with the odd colour one thrown in. He explained in some detail the technicalities involved and gave a lot of advice about how to make an approach. Go to a local Dramatic Society and talk to them about what they want, attend a few rehearsals, the dress rehearsal is a must. Then talk to them again and arrange a photocall where everyone knows what’s what.
Courtney was a delight to listen to, with a fund of knowledge, who photographed everything.

The Southsea Show 1970 on…

This was the start of our Southsea Show Era, it covered a period of 5 years and was the finest group Club activity that I have ever been involved in. ­It all started after the club was approached by the Corporation and Ron Cake and myself were asked to find out a bit more about it. In the event Ron was unable to make the meeting, so I went on my tod.

I entered a large room at the Guildhall in which there were more than 50 people, all with folders and a lot to say, around a large table. The meeting started, with the chairman going to each group in turn, to find out what they required, and many others dismissing the needs of these groups as unnecessary. The meeting went on and on, but finally came to me as the representative of the Camera Club. One or two people were having there own discussions, which riled me a little, after all, I hadn’t said anything yet. So I stuck up my hand and said “Mr Chairman, if I may, before this committee talks about the Camera Club, I would like to make my clubs attitude clear and I quote, “My Club is not interested in any hole in the corner lark, if we cannot do it properly, we do not want to know.” There was a stunned silence, then the Chairman grinned and said gleefully smiling all over his face “What are your requirements.” My reply was that unless we can be afforded an area for a hundred prints with adequate space to view them, we were not interested. He thanked me saying that he would be in touch. That’s it, I’ve blown it I thought. Oh well maybe another year.

A few days later I received a letter telling me that the club had been allocated a 60’ by 40’ Marquee and would I please let him know the other requirements of the club, as soon as possible. I well remember Ron Cakes face when he read the letter, his first remark parodied that of Laurel and Hardy - “That’s another fine mess you’ve got us into.”
Bearing in mind that the Annual Exhibition would be on in St Johns College at the time, we were both a bit flummoxed, but after talking about it, we came up with the idea of putting on panels of prints from individual members. Ron and I spent days running around the town, digging out prints from members and with the ideas of some of those members, we coped and put on a very successful exhibition, much to my relief, I can tell you.

Putting everything up on the evening before the show was a lot of hard work. The council had erected a form of scaffolding around three sides of the inner tent onto which we had to fix first the boards and then the prints. At one end of the tent was a trade stall from Cross & Herberts (now Jessops), behind which we created a sort of “rest room”,  where tea was on the brew all day long. It was amazing how the grapevine worked, and the number of different celebrities that would pop in to see how we were getting on, and suddenly spot the tea! We won four Gold medals as a top exhibit.

Thanks to the assistance given by a lot of club members, most of whom had taken leave from work, this turned out to be a very good exhibition, also bear in mind that we had one going on at St Johns College at the same time. It was decided to hold future annual exhibitions at the Southsea Show for the foreseeable future, which developed into one of the finest combined activities we’ve ever held. The Cakes, The Moores, The Watts, Percy Clark and Brian Doherty were among the twenty or so members who got stuck in. The Corporation always supplied some extra attraction, in the form of various travelling exhibitions. On one occasion, photographs of artefacts from the Tutankhamun period were on display, the next thing I know, Ron Moore arrives with a load of sand plus various Cacti and other plants and had a whale of a time building Pyramids and sand dunes etc.
On another occasion we had a Victorian and Edwardian Exhibition. This was erected by the bloke that came with it. We couldn’t agree with the way that it was put up and upon approaching him with a suggestion were told “that’s how it has to be.” He hadn’t got out of the show ground before it was in pieces, and led by Ron Moore, assembled more to our liking. An added feature was a Victorian tableau. I acquired a shop window model from Debenhams, while Bina Taylor and Freda Clark dressed it up. The News were so taken with it that we had a large photograph of it in the local paper.

During the show period one year, we were suffering power cuts, with areas chosen at random. I arrived at the site on Thursday morning, to find the place in chaos, no electricity. There was a large Dairy contingent, refreshment booths and tents, all panicking. A few moments later Brian Doherty arrived, who at the time worked for the Electricity Company, and was also the Union area convenor. I told him the problem and he asked for a phone. We went to the show secretary’s tent and amongst the rumpus asked to use the phone. When asked “What for”, he replied “to try and get some juice back on.” The show staff looked stunned and said “please yourself, we’ve already tried.” To see and hear the next bit was really comical, it went a bit like this. - Brian picked up the phone, got through and said “George, this is Brian, at Southsea, will you put the juice back on at the Southsea Show and leave it on for four days.” Silence. Then, “OK, Thanks I owe you.” Everything went quiet in the tent. Then all of a sudden the lights went on, with thanks being given to Brian for whatever he did. I am sure he felt like God at that moment. Anyway, they never found out who Brian was but, we got two free dinners out of it.
One year the tent burnt down on the Wednesday, another one was erected in time for the opening, but we all suffered from black feet that year. That was in 1975, we received a letter soon after, saying that the show was being restructured in content and they could  no longer offer space to us.

1971

A meeting was held at the Avenue Hotel, Northern Parade, to view them as possible headquarters, by the committee. It was agreed that they seemed suitable, once the odd snag had been sorted out. The move had become necessary because Mrs Livesley had intimated that she would like the existing club room for something else. At a meeting held on February 27th, it was agreed that we proceed with negotiations to move to the Avenue Hotel

Dora Cake told the committee that we had made a profit of £15 on the dinner.

A proposition was put forward to form a sub-committee to produce the syllabus. It was finally agreed that whilst a sub-committee could be available for advice, because of the nature of the beast, one person must have full control of it.

The secretary reported that after a somewhat protracted search, he had located the glass name plate of the club. After a short discussion it was agreed that as we had nowhere to store it in our quarters, we should find another storage place. The secretary suggested that the museum authorities had a collection of glass signs and they would probably like it. In the eventuality, they were delighted to have it on the understanding that we could borrow it for the odd occasion, if we wanted it. The name plate was a splendid affair, being 5’ wide by 1’ long, with a bevelled edge and the clubs name in gold leaf.

This year a volunteer was found to take my place. I wished him luck and offered any assistance that he wanted. I am made Honorary Vice President.

“Colour Magic” with Walter Bremer from Agfa Ltd.
I recall this evening extremely well, it was as the title says “MAGIC”. The slides shown were out of this world. Walter showed firstly the original slide, then one or two showing variations of various treatments. He gave a lot of advice to members. There was a section that I liked in particular, where he had solarised them. A truly MAGIC evening.

Bowens Cameras. A member of their repair staff, talked to us about faults in cameras, and what people had done wrong. His catalogue of the things that owners did wrong was amazing, all delivered in a very humorous manner. He also brought along a box full of horrors that members could pick up and examine. He said that the modern camera, if treated sensibly would last for years. It was the ill treatment through ignorance that provided a lot of work for them.

“Fashion Photography” by Reggie St Clair FRPS FIBP.
I had lunch with Reggie, who was a very large man with a full beard and very jovial. A print talk with loads of 16” by 20” prints, all fashion shots, all fabulous quality. Reggie said that although all his studio work was done on the larger format, he did use a “toy” Leica for outside work. Seeing him hold a Leica in his enormous paw was quite a sight, I can tell you.

1972

This years Exhibition venue came in for a lot of discussion. Jim Hewes told the committee that there was a possibility of us being offered space in the new Victoria Barracks City Museum. This was followed up and Mr Barton, the curator offered space on condition that he had complete control of what was hung, and how. This caused, I remember, quite a lively interlude, ending with the decision that it was not acceptable.

This was the year that we finally left the Central association. It was felt that the association did not do a lot for provincial clubs, whilst the recently formed Southern Federation seemed to be going along nicely.

Single membership subscription is increased to £2, this means that it has increased by 19/- (95p) since 1946.

The Avenue Hotel didn’t provide coffee, Ron Moore, I believe acquired an urn from somewhere. The Cakes, Ron and Dora, brought the cups and other necessary bits and pieces, and thanks to the dedication of the female members of the club, coffee was supplied to those that wanted it. I think that a sincere thank you to all concerned was owed by the club.

The exhibition judge, Jonathon Timewell, caused a bit of a shock. He refused to award three cups as in his estimation, there was nothing worthy to award them to. There was a bit of dissent, but Ron Moore stated that it was admirable of the judge to have the courage of his convictions. In his opinion, if the judge didn’t wish to, he was not bound to award a trophy.

We had as a member around this time a Mr Burgess, who always seemed to be surrounded by arguments. One of his troubles was an extremely low flash point, which always seemed to be on the boil. Most of his troubles were of his own making, yet he could be a very likeable fellow on the few occasions that he wasn’t on his soapbox.
We get a donation of £15 this year from the Corporation, towards putting on our exhibition. This came out of the blue and was very welcome.

Dora Cake calls for a special general meeting. It was to do with the amendment of rule 3a, as she did not think that the alteration was in accordance with the general wishes of the members.

George Pollock visits the club with ‘A visual concert with music”.
This was in George’s early days. He used two projectors, hand changing the slides to suit the music. A fine evening, far removed from the complex programmes that he put on later, with all the advanced electronic equipment and abstract colour designs that he showed.

A miscellaneous collection amassed by Agfa Ltd, on their materials showing every conceivable subject, plus lots of variations. A very thought provoking evening if only for the subject matter which should give one or two members some ideas.
Vision 70. An Audio-Visual by the Audio group from the Wimborne Club. This was a splendid evening with all the group taking part. It was an evening of intense activity, spiced by a lot of humour, and some superbly imaginative slides. There were bits and pieces of equipment, lots of wire, four speakers and everything went of smoothly.

1973

A special general meeting was called by a number of members about the constitution of the management committee. A rather stormy evening ensued ending with the Junior Vice President being included in running things. Prior to the meeting there had been a lot of hot air let loose. Ron Cake and myself kept quiet about our opinion, as he said “its best not to get involved, just vote when required.” Sound advice.
Brian Doherty criticised members for not supporting battles. Enough noise was made on our poor showing, for -example one battle there were 18 prints and 11 slides to choose from, whilst for the triple battle it was even less. How on earth the selection committee was expected to select a worthwhile entry from those presented was anybody’s guess.

RULES again. I am part of a committee (Brian Doherty, Ron Moore and me), to discuss the club rules. One of the problems with rules is that when they are altered slightly, anomalies are created that sometimes cause chaos.

The club exhibits a large panel at the Guildhall, when the Do it yourself and Food exhibition was held.

The Richard Tucker creative picture show.
This was one of the finest evenings that I have seen. A series of black and white and colour photographs, everyone of them truly creative. They were superb and in the main the ideas behind them were simple. The prints coupled with Richard’s very lively delivery kept everyone on their toes. It was obvious of the interest shown by the multitude of questions asked.

“Three points of view” by a trio from Southampton. Ursula Jefferies, Courtney Hoskings and Gordon Bird.
Three totally dissimilar outlooks on photography. Ursula spends most of her time wading in pools and streams, photographing all sorts of insects that fly and crawl about. Courtney who is an expert on stage photography, showed some superb colour and black and white stage shots, whilst Gordon (who is an artist) specialises in 20” by 16” black and white abstract prints. He showed many examples, all of superb quality 20” by 16” prints, but I doubt whether many members really appreciated what Gordon was trying to say. This proved to be a very interesting evening.

Frank Clements gave fellow members a practical demonstration on how to put in clouds. Frank still uses an old horizontal enlarger, he wouldn’t use anything else. Frank has given this talk to the club on a number of occasions over the years, and they all stick in my mind. He would keep the members in fits of laughter with his manner. He has a wonderfully blank way of answering questions that he doesn’t want to reply to. To the members, he is dear old Frank, well liked but a real eccentric that produces some remarkable pictures.

1974

The committee were asked                for their recommendations for the set subject. This led to a long and fruitless discussion, which at times seemed to ramble on. Eventually each committee member was asked to choose 4 subjects and submit them to the secretary. In the end the result was even more confused than ever, with the result that the secretary did his own thing and chose his own subjects.

We hire a coach for the Triple Battle at Southampton. The coach was fully booked, not like today when, if 5 or 6 members go, it is a large number.

Dora Cake announces that the annual dinner has had to be cancelled due to lack of interest. This was not surprising really as there had been a gradual fall off over recent years.

Brother Lionel a very diligent photographic worker, left the club this year for pastures new. His educational commitments were to take him from us, leaving a great hole to fill.

In the selection of prints for battles, it was agreed that one or two selected members would be given a second voting card, on which they could record any prints that they considered suitable for possible selection. This, as I recall worked quite well although I am not sure why it was dropped eventually.

“Natural History” by Charlie Roe of Chichester Camera Club.
Charlie is a very accomplished worker whose interests cover many fields of photography. This evening was no exception to his other talks. A superb set of slides was shown, mainly of things that flew, mainly moths and butterflies. He said that he found butterflies much harder than moths to photograph. To photograph moths he would go out into the fields, hang up a blanket, put a lantern in front, set up the camera and flash, then sit and wait. An extremely interesting and instructive evening from a very competent worker.

A speaker that is always welcome at any club especially ours, is Bill Wisden from Brighton. Bill is one of the finest photographers the club has ever seen, on this occasion, his talk was about “Recognition and Reaction.
He produced a lot of pictures, asked members to look at them, identify them, and then asked for their reaction. He then explained his intentions on making the print, saying that he was amazed at the different reactions that he got to his work, and the diverse views that were expressed by the members of clubs. Bill expressed the view that in his opinion about 20% of members agreed with him. When one spends a lot of time producing a masterpiece, very few members realise what you are trying to achieve.

Alistair Black, a member had left the club, turning professional and going on to become one of the foremost dinghy sailing photographers in the world. He would be missed by the club as he was a very profound worker in the club.

A postal slide battle took place with the Asbbourne Photographic Society in Derbyshire. The way that this worked was for both clubs to send 20 slides to an agreed judge, who would in turn send the results to each club. The two sets of slides were projected, with the judges comments, by each club as part of the syllabus. On this occasion we won the encounter by two marks.
It was agreed that it was not a worthwhile thing to pursue, as it was an awful lot of bother for a rather “disembodied” evening.

1975

The Southern Arts Council agree to make a grant to cover the expenses of our Annual Exhibition. The amount of trouble created in correspondence and phone calls made us wonder if it was worth it. It was just a one year thing.

During this year we moved to our new base at the Portsmouth Community Centre. We had a “Photographic Laboratory,” complete with a water system and central heating to use, a veritable palace. The lab was not for our exclusive use inasmuch as a choir had a couple of storage cupboards in the room. The move of all our “bits and pieces” took a bit of organising. Arranging the room was left to a couple of members including yours truly. We now have a very nice steel locker that we acquired. We also have a modern colour enlarger, colour printing system and all the bits and pieces that one requires to print and develop films. Whilst transferring the clubs belongings, we disposed of 114 bottles of various noxious fluids. It was also noted that the two other enlargers were of very little use.

“Photographic techniques in Biology” with Dr Alderman of Portsmouth Polytechnic.
This proved to be an extremely interesting evening. It concerned the effects of sea water on wood and the treatment. Members were shown enlargements in the order of, wait for it, 500,000 (half a million) times. The Doctor proved to be a very humorous speaker who offered to show members over his “factory”. A number of members took up his offer and were fascinated by the whole experience.

“Since 1 went away” Alistair Black on his break into the professional world of photography. Alistair brought a number of slides with him as well as a good supply of prints. He explained the difficulties of dinghy racing. Quite often he used to dive in the water (in a wet suit, well it was after, anyway), to get the effect that he wanted. The slides were of superb quality, some of which showed Alistair in the water taking the photographs. Because of the way that the water was stirred up, it looked pretty rough or as one member told him “it looks b—y dangerous, you must be mad”. The members could clearly see why Alistair was on his way to becoming the best.

“De Dion to Drag Strip” with ME Ware from Beaulieu Motor Museum.
This was a talk on the development of the Museum and how the cars were sometimes located. He explained that there was a fully trained staff plus a marvellous workshop to put very often, rusty heaps of machinery back to pristine condition. They had the largest heap of come in handy ‘bits and pieces’, all carefully labelled, that he had ever seen. That was without counting the technical data required, which was a separate department all to itself.

1976

After some rather heated discussions it was agreed to increase the number of rounds of club competitions from five to six. One vote decided the issue.

The Chairman reported that he had received an application from the Polytechnic Photographic Society, about possible affiliation with us. He outlined the verbal exchanges that had been made. The Pros and cons were discussed at some length until it was decided that the disadvantages were too great and the application was rejected.

Bill Taylor is elected to the Portsmouth Community Centre Advisory Council.

Sid Woodriffe and Ron Moore outlined their efforts to find a venue for the annual exhibition. They had made tentative enquiries with the central library, with the possibility of it becoming a permanent thing. Space had been offered to the club to stage a small exhibition in conjunction with the Horticultural Society at their Autumn Show. Finally agreement was made to display the exhibition in the North Foyer of the Guildhall.
This produced a marvellous exhibition that was marred by the loss of a print belonging to ‘Gosport Dave’. Dave, a very volatile character was not at all amused. He wrote to the Council about it demanding £10 compensation, in the end accepting 10/- (50p).

“Thinking with my eyes” by John McGovern courtesy of AGFA Ltd.
This proved to be a very interesting evening. John was a raconteur, who laced his talk with some very witty stories. His theme was ‘let your eyes guide your fingers’, not the other way round, which so often is the case. Where a little bit of looking saved hours of hard work in the darkroom. So many pictures that come up for judging, come under the heading of ‘IF ONLY?’ Mind you whether the members take it to heart is another matter.

“My style of portraiture” by Frank Clements ARPS
Frank has his own particular way of working. He will take a tree from somewhere, and from his “stock” of cloud negatives, will make some marvellous tree/cloud portraits. The why’s and wherefore’s were explained by Frank in his own inimitable manner. As is usual when a club member gives a talk, many questions are asked of his techniques. Frank has a knack of rousing people from their seats.

1977

At last after months of anxiety re, an annual exhibition venue, thanks to the efforts of Sid Woodriffe and Ron Moore, the problem has been solved for the foreseeable future. In consultation with Mrs Guy, the Head Librarian, it had been agreed to stage the annual exhibition at the Central Library, probably during the last two weeks of April. This was a great relief to everyone after all the uncertainty in previous years.

The Club had agreed to host a convention for the Southern Federation. Lily Male, Ron Moore and Bill Taylor were appointed to organise things locally. It is amazing how much time is spent in running around, making phone calls and all the other bits and bobs that crop up. Still it was a great success on the night.

The competition rules were raised again, as is usual when the subject of rules is brought up, it evokes a lot of rhetoric. The snag with changing a rule in a set, is that invariably, when you change one rule it clashes with another which in turn leads to confusion and problems.

It was decided to appoint a selection committee of four members to select suitable prints and slides for making up club entries to future exhibitions in the area. Lily Male offered to do the administration work.
In practice it worked quite well for a while, but lapsed because of lack of interest amongst the members.

For the Christmas party, it was decided to ask members to bring along an assortment of food and liquid refreshment. It was hoped that as a number of members indulged in the art of wine making that they would be kind enough to bring along one or two bottles for members to sample.

“Dragonflies in the New Forest” with Ursula Jefferies and Gordon Bird..
The members saw a superb collection of colour slides, not only of dragonflies but all sorts of insects and grubs. Ursula told members that taking dragonflies and their ilk, involved standing in water up to your knees or further for sometimes an hour or more, whilst Gordon searched around for the landlocked ones! He told members that at his age he was past the age of paddling by a lot of years. He admired Ursula for her dedication but it was not for him, although he did get wet once. Ursula “trod” in a hole and he had to play the gallant knight to save the maiden in distress.

Lynn Brewer, the owner of a local colour laboratory hosted a colour printing seminar. An invitation to local clubs ensured that there was a packed club room for the evening. Although colour printing is not one of my interests, this proved to be a splendid evening. Lyon had the ability to make everything sound so easy. So easy in fact, that quite a number of members and visitors said that they were going to have a go.

“My Photography” by Charles Rowe of Chichester Camera Club.
Charley is one of the thinking photographers. He told the club that, for other than the casual, run of the mill stuff, his serious work he thinks about and tries to get it right at the taking time, therefore making his life easier in the darkroom.
What the members saw was a superb set of black and white photographs covering a wide range of subjects. Charley explained how the print was achieved in the darkroom, all delivered in his very quiet casual self.

1978

David Moors showed the club an electronic fade and change “gadget” for use with two projectors in audio visual shows. It seemed a very useful gadget and David offered to construct one for the club, so long as the club paid for the materials, which worked out at about £10. The club accepted this enthusiastically. David started the construction but before he could finish it he was posted to Brussels by his employers. Ron Male offered to complete it and having done so, it was used for many years.

Arnold Bradley and myself take on organising the summer syllabus. Arnold informed the committee that it would be our aim to find places of photographic interest in and around the City. One of the places that proved to be quite successful was on the top floor of the Tricorn carpark where a number of aerial shots of the city were taken.

Pete Chambers (Senior Vice President), hit on a novel way of producing the annual syllabus. A committee of three would draw on the experience of previous secretaries and the members wishes. Although it sounded a good idea, in practice it proved impracticable and was abandoned.

“Hints, Tips and Gadgets.” This evening put on by members for the members was truly amazing, with at times the whole gathering collapsed in merriment. Everyone was surprised at some of the ideas that members had come up with. Fred Goldsmith had quite a number of wierd and wonderful gadgets, which, with Fred’s humorous approach was the highlight of the evening.
As one member said to me afterwards “Freds a wonderful lad, full of humour and enthusiasm, but seldom produces anything, a good member nevertheless”.

One evening that sticks in my mind was a practical evening. Members were told to bring their cameras, but the subject was kept very secret. On the evening the subject was a ‘Pop Group’. The most memorable part of the evening was when the Warden, Ethel Stockdale came in saying that the noise was putting off a choir singing in the main hall. The problem was that the group couldn’t pose unless they were actually playing their music with the wick turned right up.
I do know that the evening caused some comment at the next advisory meeting. The funny thing was though, there were not many moans, more praise for bringing a bit of life into the centre!

An Audio Visual evening by Hayling Camera Club. This was a group of six members calling themselves “Colourama”. Now remember that this was before the days of the sophisticated equipment used today, when one person comes along, plugs in a few leads, switches on and sits down. This was the days of manual change, taped music, lots of wires all over the place and everyone doing something, changing places every now and then so that everyone had the difficult bits in turn. There were no stands for two projectors available so you had to construct your own locally. You know, somehow, those evenings were more enjoyable than they are today, if only for the enthusiasm of the people involved in working together.
1979

Ron Male reported that the “Moors” gadget had been completed successfully and that it would be ready to use at the coming slide/tape twin projector evening. This gadget would enable the slides to be moved more in ‘sinc’ with each other. The gadget was used successfully for a number of years until progress overtook it with the more advanced equipment arriving on the scene.

The Battle programme was reasonable this year. On the success side we won the triple battle against Southampton and Winchester, beat Salisbury in a challenge match, progressed as far as the third round of the Southern Photographic Federation’s Knock-Out Competition, losing to Chichester. It’s a faint hope that the success will continue, if past years are anything to go by, let’s hope so!

Lighting for the prints when being judged at the monthly competitions, came in for some strong criticism at the Annual General Meeting. A lot of rhetoric was expounded. What they meant was, that it could be better! It is worth noting that several of the members who visit other clubs, judging and talking, said that they had never seen a really satisfactory system, it would appear to be a universal problem. As is usually the case, the committee were instructed to look into the matter and come up with a solution.

The failure of the club to provide entries for the Southern Photographic Federation Knock-Out Competition and Exhibition sparked off a right old rumpus with some harsh words flying around. Ron Moore stated that it was not part of the competition secretary’s duties to obtain prints and select them and never had been, that part of the matter was down to the committee.
It was further noted by the selection committee that if the members did not support the club by supplying work to choose from, the club could not compete. In other words the problem was at grass roots level, the members.

Harry Newman from the Polytechnic on “Polarized Light”.
This was a fascinating talk that cleared a lot of cobwebs for the members on what is an essential “tool” for photographers to use. Harry went into the subject in some detail pausing now and then to make sure that the members were clear about it all. From the questions asked there was no doubt of the obvious interest that was aroused by the subject. No doubt we shall see a lot of work in the future where polarisers have been used!

Two members of the Hampshire Fire Brigade photographic department, Messrs Cook and Head, gave an insight into their work with the brigade. Two things that spring to mind when I think about them are the fact that they were a right pair of comedians who kept the club in a constant state of laughter and of course the superb, though sometimes tragic pictures that they showed us. They showed pictures of the difficulties and at times danqerous parts of the job. Apart from fighting fires, members of the brigade had to be a jack of all trades. They tackled a legion of problems, car accidents, cats up trees and toes stuck up taps (yes, that’s right, though modesty wouldn’t allow photographs to be taken). The pictures part print, part slide, illustrated how versatile the brigade had to be.

Demonstration of Colour Printing by Durst, courtesy of Eumig Ltd.
This was a technical demonstration on how to go about producing a colour print. It was very interesting, clear and concise, showing the various effects of the colour filters. An excellent talk that must have cleared the air for those members who were on the brink of “having a go”. Plenty of literature, but NO samples.