It was lovely to see a nearly full house and a number of new faces as well as plenty of old ones last night!!

Peter T (Chair) opened the meeting and gave out some customary notices.
The Pop Up Shop had proved to be a great success, generated lots of interest and some new members - all for a cost of £4.50 - RESULT!!
Wellington Flower Show was less of a result, with no suitable room being offered to us, so we didn't put on an exhibition. The committee will review the future situation.
Parking in the drive up to the science block is reserved for Blue Badge holders and those with mobility issues; it must be left as clear as possible for emergency access. Parking in nearby South Street Car Park is free after 6pm and only a few minutes walk. There is also parking round the adjacent all weather sports field, although a few of us got locked in last night and thought we were spending the night there!! It was very quickly resolved and we were soon released (it has never happened before and was due to a lock down in the school because of a failed attempt of unauthorised entry to the school grounds.)
Andrew reminded us to pay our memberships!!

We were then treated to a wide range of images presented by 11 different members. Many were highlighting what they'd been up to in the last months, some went further back and showed us some favourites from the past and I demonstrated my possible madness with some mad Photoshop images!! Martin started off and showed us a wide range of stuff he'd been trying and getting out of his 'comfort zone'; sport, aircraft, cars and people were among his subjects. Ted talked about his obsession with village pumps - very interesting. Next was Mike who took us to some of the places he'd been to this year and some images from the club's outings - including a very scared me crossing a rope bridge!!. Very different were Debbie's images demonstrating her recent adventures with her newly converted infra-red camera - lots of questions I need to ask her about that!! It had certainly produced some stunning and almost other worldly images.

Then there was me with my adventures with Photoshop showing some strange techniques and images that will never again see the light of day - enough said!! One of our new members, Gail, showed us some of her images and talked about what she hopes to get from becoming a member,. A stunning image of her husband and granddaughter in identical poses reading was, for me, the 'stick out' image of the evening! Andrew showed us some images from his summer. A stunning 'bird' (a red kite) and a lovely one of his newly acquired dog with shadow and reflection were the images that stuck out for me.

Dave H, another new member, showed us some images from the past, what inspired him to take up photography and some of his favourites including a lovely one of a bunch of bridesmaids (is there a collective noun for bridesmaids?). Next up was Steve W, showing his skills in both portraiture and landscapes, but tantalisingly told us we'd see more of Tuscany in the future, no doubt in competitions!! (hope they're not too stunning for everyone else's sake!!)

Huw talked to us about the RPS 6 week course in street photography that he took part it. He showed us the first module, what it contained, and some images from the course. Some great images and the course sounded good value for RPS members. He talked about what makes good street photography and showed some of his images and some from (even more!!) famous photographers and discussed them.

Lastly was Peter E who showed us some great images of characters he'd met at various events through the summer. He certainly has a knack of engaging with his subjects and bringing out the best in them, in sometimes testing weather conditions (I know cos I was there at one of them - very contrasty!!) He rounded off the evening showing someone with a death wish hurling themselves into the unknown and then being set fire to!! Apparently, the dare devil lived to tell the tale!!

A great evening with a wide range of images. Many thanks to all who took part (and those who heckled!!)

Next week we have a talk by Dennis Russ, over Zoom, who has kindly stepped in at short notice to replace Dr Snell who is unwell. I will send out the Zoom link a few days before the event, if you don't receive it, please do email me.

Could I just add that our webmaster, Paul, is very diligent about keeping the website up to date and the answers to most of your queries to the secretary can be found there.

Have a good week all.
Polly