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Updated October 2009
Our annual exhibition was held in Kidlington Library in May for Artweeks, Oxfordshire's annual visual arts festival, followed by the foyer of Exeter Hall for the month of June. We were grateful to the Library's manager Linda Sullivan for allowing us to use Library premises once again. In December we return to Exeter Hall where we will be showing prints from this season's Summer and Autumn competitions.
Do visit one of our exhibitions if you can and you will see at first hand the quality and range of work that our members produce; if you want any further information you can telephone the numbers provided with the displays or contact us.
At the end of last season, in April, we returned to Kirtlington Golf Club, and found it to be as successful as the previous years. Not only do we use this occasion to relax together but we also include the presentation of trophies to winners of the season's competitions and to Photographer of the Year.
This was held on the last but one evening of the season on 20 April and included selection of the next season's committee. We were delighted to have several of our new members join the committee, including, at last, a replacement Secretary. As usual we managed to complete the routine business within the first half of the evening so that we could enjoy a discussion of club issues after the break.
The end of season update included competition winners for the whole of the 2008 - 09 season and provides a link to the rule explaining how someone wins the title of Photographer of the Year. Competition was stiff and we were kept on tenterhooks for the result right up to the last club evening. Congratulations to all our competitors for producing excellent work.
The gallery page is due to be updated soon. As before it will try to show images from as many members as possible and not just winners - some members are not currently entering competitions after all. In addition we are keenly aware that even the best judges have their personal tastes and opinions and we have all suffered from inconsistency in marking at one time or another. This is a chance for everyone to show their pictures and for the full range of work to be seen by visitors to the site. In addition we want our site visitors to feel 'I could do that' and in doing so perhaps get them started without feeling daunted.
The downloadable PDF files for Competition Entry Forms and Guidance Notes, Rules and Small, Medium and Large Competition Guidance. All continue to be available for members and are updated as new versions are issued.
The usual 'Three on a Theme' competition has been replaced for next season by a new take on the format. Called 'Small, Medium and Large', you can view the Guidance here.
Subjects for 09/10 season can be seen on the competitions page and winning images from last year, 08/09, on the winners page.
By making it a club rule that all entries must have been taken since the announcement of the subject titles we keep our images fresh and all have an incentive to keep using our cameras and our imagination.
All members have the chance to be involved in choosing subjects for the following season and this is done in January each year. This voting process allows the Committe to select the most popular subjects which are matched to the various projected digital image and print competitions across the forthcoming programme.
The previous season's winning images(07-08) and the gallery also give a flavour of the range work in the club.
These competitions are entirely friendly and not overly competitive. It is always interesting to see what other clubs are doing and enjoy new ideas and interpretations in photography. It also helps to prevent us becoming too insular.
Last season, we decided it was time to re-join the CACC (Chilterns Association of Camera Clubs) Rosebowl competition, from which we have been absent for several seasons. This meant competitions with several Chilterns clubs and although we did not reach the final we were pleased with our efforts and felt we had held our own. Each competition provided a good evening's viewing of excellent pictures.
Entries for these competitions are selected by the Committee from a pool of projected digital images and prints handed in by members at the start of the season, mainly comprising work from the previous year.
Any other local club out there who would like to join us for an evening please contact us.
Since club members voted at the AGM in 2007 to discontinue projecting slides in competitions, digital photography now dominates the business of the club. We have been keen to support slide photography for as long as possible but with only 3 members now using solely slide film it had become impracticable. As a result digital Workshops are scheduled within the main programme.
Following our excitement in March 2005 over our award to buy digital projection equipment under the Lottery 'Awards for All' scheme, after much deliberation the following August saw the purchase of a laptop and a digital projector, along with the other essential bits and bobs to make a fully functioning system. This equipment will be essential as we move more and more into a digital world; many of our current members use digital cameras and digital editing techniques, new members are joining us to develop their digital skills, and this type of photography is set to take over in time.
In September 2005 we introduced the equipment to club members with demonstrations of its use for slideshows and for competitions. We had member and outsider talks using the equipment during the season but competition use was limited until we were fully conversant with the logistics of showing slides, prints and projected digital images during one club evening. Committee were also conscious that they could not change the designation of media for each competition after members had started taking the pictures, which is from February onwards after announcement of competition titles.
We were very fortunate to have a member to write software for the club for sorting, showing and marking digital images under competition conditions and this was 'test-driven' for the first competitions proving very successful. Our thanks to Geoff Bridges for that. The following season, 06/07, saw projected digital images eligible across all competitions. That has become the norm, but with slide categories discontinued in accordance with the decision of AGM 07. Meanwhile, Geoff has produced a number of updates to his excellent Magic Lantern software including a partner programme which members now use to prepare their images at home, thus making the job of the Competition Secretary easier.
We have now completed six successful seasons in the hall after moving here in September 03 from Gosford Community Education Centre.
Foresters Hall is to be found in High Street, Kidlington ( map ) where we are enjoying a congenial atmosphere and easy parking as well as a 10pm finish. Members and visitors alike are agreed that the club has a more welcoming ambience than our previous venue and the bar is a very popular bonus.