Last night we were joined again by Dulverton and Tiverton Camera Clubs, the 'Alliance' seems popular with everyone and is one of the positives that has come out of this awful situation that we find ourselves in.

It was good to hear that quite a few members had received their first vaccine, the rest of us 'younger' ones are waiting to hear!! Let's hope it has the desired effect.

We were entertained by our first visiting speaker of the year - Ashley Franklin. He is a professional photographer from Derbyshire who charted his journey from 'happy snapper' to pro. He produces stunning photographs in many different genres for a wide variety of clients. He also explained how he progressed from film to digital and I think it was something of a journey down memory lane for some members.

He also sang the praises of Camera Clubs and how much he learnt in his early days in photography, which was very gratifying.

When he decided to go professional, he told us that he got himself a website and sat back waiting for it to happen. Needless to say, it didn't!!. He obviously learnt very quickly how to market himself and to make the best of any opportunity that he made for himself. He also obviously learnt how to take the type of images that his clients loved and were different from other photographers' work. I think many people starting on their professional career could learn a lot from him.

We saw loads stunning images of different types, there were some great landscapes of Tuscany where he runs workshops, some sounded tempted!!