Kirkbymoorside & District Camera Club

I’ve been a keen photographer since I was in my teens, having been shown the way by my father, who also introduced me to the darkroom. I’ve now moved on to digital – you’ve got to move with the times. Cameras give as good, if not better results, and the ‘darkroom’ is now so much easier and family friendlier.

I haven’t adopted a speciality in photography – I’ll photograph anything that I think will make a reasonable picture, or contribute to one (I try to build up a library of useful bits). The treatment of an image is handled in a similar way – I use a technique which I think is suitable for the image (though judges may have different opinions). Sometimes monochrome is the best for an image; some cry out for further imports (often a seagull can really make the difference); others benefit from HDR or infrared – so long as the treatment is right for the image.

I enter most of the club competitions and I’m not surprised when the judging doesn’t always go my way – I don’t pretend to know much about photography anyway. I do it to be part of the club and to get a critique of my efforts. It’s a means of finding ways to improve myself.

I managed to get two entries accepted in the Wath Salon this year (Tangles in the Groynes is shown here) which I took as a pat on the back. The other image was taken in the Monument Arcade in Newcastle – just for the fun of it. Believe it or not, they’re just straight shots – no digital manipulation of any kind, other than HDR and colour balance in Photoshop. You’ll maybe notice that there’s not a seagull in sight!!

I’m very appreciative of Viv, who indulges me in my ideas – whether it’s accepting that I’m going out at 5.00 a.m. to catch the light, or coming home shivering after looking at the hoar frost, or falling on my backside at Falling Foss (well named) – she’s always there to laugh with me and give me inspiration too.