It might be thought that viewing just over 500 images in a little under two hours might be somewhat arduous and a case of photographic overload. However, this was far from the case when the camera club looked at accepted images and prize winners from the 2015 South Devon International Salon of Photography recently.

It’s often the case that presentations such as this are met with quite a lot of photographic banter and critical comments but on this occasion the quality of the pictures rendered that kind of response totally inappropriate. For these were images of fantastic quality, imagination and scope. From across the world the club was presented with pictures which showed the diversity of the planet and the people who inhabit it. The clever use of light created many atmospheric pictures – not least in the images of misty landscapes or towering mountain ranges. There was everything in these shots that any amateur photographer would have been proud to have taken and although somewhat humbling an experience they also provided club members with plenty of inspiration.

Three categories were seen – Open, Nature and Creative. The Nature shots in particular were of a particularly high standard and revealed the incredible patience require to obtain them. But whilst these pictures always get much praise it is harder for everyone to take to the Creative images which are basically pictures created from many others or using special digital effects to compose something that doesn’t exist in reality. For some this strains their acceptance of what photography is about whilst for others this is an exciting development which offers endless possibilities for unusual as well as eye-catching images.

This was an evening well spent in the company of some excellent pictures and photographers from around the world.