Ruthin Camera Club

AFTER the Christmas break, Ruthin Camera Club got 2020 off to a lively start.

On January 7, when Denbigh’s Don Jackson-Wyatt presented his “Fast action imagery”.

Don has been lucky enough in recent years to specialise in work which he enjoys to the full, and his pleasure really came across.

He began with music (rock bands in particular), football and motor sport (the muddier, the better), then moved on to aircraft in flight.

These were not the usual images of the undersides of planes or aircraft at a distance; no, these were shots taken from high ground looking head on, or even down, into the planes.

One memorable remarkably sharp image showed the crew from above as they passed at speed.

It seems that Don’s photos are often sought by the pilots who have come to know his work via Facebook.

A bigger change couldn’t be imagined for the next talk.

Club member Mal Ingham showed images of otters, badgers, foxes and other wildlife, almost all taken within a few miles of town during his retirement here after working as a ranger in the Wirral.

Some of the most striking images were taken at night using an array of cameras set up in position.

The key to Mal’s photography is a mixture of patience, knowledge of and enthusiasm for his subjects, as well as technical knowhow.

Not all of the talk had that “ahhh” factor which arises from watching beautiful animals in their environment for Mal also ventured into commenting on his unenjoyable role in cases of cruelty and persecution leading to prosecutions.

Jill Bunting judged the season’s third major competition on January 21, evidently having experienced difficulty in ranking the entries.

In the mono prints category, Jill’s winner was “Statement in chrome” by John Ranson.

In joint-second were Brian Burrows and Dan Muckle-Jones, the latter also being joint-third (with himself).

In addition, one highly commended award was made and one commended.

From the large colour prints group, Mal Ingham triumphed with “Female Agama Lizard”, followed by Dan Muckle-Jones again and Paul Parker as joint-second.

Third place unequivocally went to Jan.

Three images merited highly commended nods and another three were commended.

Of a large field of projected digital images, Stephen Yates won (“Sandwich tern returning with a catch”).

He was also joint runner-up with Stuart Carr, then Stuart again and Jan came joint-third.

Two images were given highly commended accolades and two others were commended.

It is unlikely there have so many top-three places in one evening – 14 instead of the usual nine.

Graham Scott Taylor was the visiting speaker on January 28 on the subject of “Graphic design and photography”.

Graham demonstrated the significance of the shapes of circles, triangles and squares, then S-curves and C-curves, to draw the viewer into images, using a selection of his excellent photographs.

Later, he spoke on producing work suitable for use in publications as covers, or for features and editorial pieces.

As one would expect of a graphic designer, his visual presentation was clear and attractive, and he explained all thoroughly and at just the right pace.

One of the club's own, the talented Jan, gave a creative evening a week later.

She demonstrated techniques of Photoshop, also FastStone, to provide ideas on altering images effectively and imaginatively, showing for example how to add rain and mist effects.

This show was designed to encourage members to be creative, and the results of their subsequent efforts will be seen on March 24.