COMMENTS ON REFLECTIONS ON LOCKDOWN CHALLENGE

So, we went on a final walk round the Tor Hill area of Wells on Wednesday, and finished up with tea and cake in the marketplace which was lovely. Led by Suzanne, the walk took us round part of the moat, across fields, up a short sharp hill and down through cool and shady woodland. We all enjoyed the leisurely stroll and the company on this occasion, and the Zoom meeting on Thursday featured views from this walk as well as those from Jill’s recent visit to Dartmouth, and a look at the challenge subjects, that members have favoured and had another go at to round up our Lockdown Survival series. We are now taking a break in August, although obviously the walks with friends will continue more informally, and we are taking some time before September to take stock of our situation as a club, and plan a way forward whilst the virus is still around.

It has been a real pleasure to be involved with this core of NRPS members during the past four months, setting Challenges, running the website with galleries and feedback has really kept me busy and focused at a time when I needed my camera most as a distraction from the isolation. It seems to me that we have all grown as photographers and critics, trying new techniques, taking risks and playing around with technology. We have also got to know each other better, and the informal chats and meetings has seemed to be exactly what was needed, at least for those who took part. Now we need to look seriously to what is possible and viable in the future, so a questionnaire will be e mailed to all members shortly in an attempt to judge the needs of members who want to continue in these challenging times. Hopefully we can then set out our stall, and plan an appropriate programme in the months to come that will get us through this silly season and out of the other side in ways that will inevitably have to change, but just might end up being better.

Before we look at the Reflecting on Lockdown Challenge feedback, it is worth mentioning the successes of two of our members in the U3A arena recently. Both Graham and Jane Richardson featured in the awards mentioned in the most recent newsletter and Jane’s winning shot, I know, was taken on our very long Dunkerton walk ! I have posted the images, on our own website in a new gallery called "Successes Elsewhere" under the general hading of Members in the gallery section..but these were the comments in the U3A newsletter:

“The theme of the competition was "Forms in Nature" which proved to be a very challenging topic, and the judges were impressed by the range and diversity of entries.
I am very pleased to be able to record that the Norton Radstock U3A Group entry compared very favourably with the others, and overall we had two commended, and two highly commended. However, the real success was Jane Richardson who was awarded first place in the Digital Image category.

Jane Richardson’s WINNING ENTRY "A Tuft on the Top" is the image accompanying this news Article- The judges commented about the "Strong composition and point of interest, good colour, a sharp point of interest with out of focus background with no distractions." "Knotty Wood" also by Jane Richardson was Commended "Chinese Clematis" by Graham Nichols was Highly Commended.”

Well done both of you -your skills are justly celebrated by U3A!!

Now for Feedback on the REFLECTING ON LOCKDOWN CHALLENGES:

Jenny says:[/i]
It was good to see the variety of challenges that members had found most engaging in the past 4 months , and to hear the reasons why. Interestingly, in the Zoom meeting when I anonymised images, members were able to identify the photographer fairly easily, which to me indicates that each is developing a style of their own, which is great!

Bill: I like the use of Textures on each of the Sheep images – particularly think the Union Jack and the Bathroom window work well. Good to hear that you have increased your “stock” folder full of textures etc in the past four months!
[i]Pamela: Greta that you persevered with the ICM ideas. Nicely captured images all three but I particularly like the red one and the one with the water which otherwise I suspect was not a particularly spectacular shot. This really does sell it!
Tony: I really thought that tree was a double image in layers!. I agree your revolving ICM needs a central focal point but the water droplets are well done indeed I like it very much for colour, composition and sharpness.
[i]Suzanne. The Monet effect is riht up my stree- was it a combination of both textures and ICM? The shoes are very you-put your feet up why don’t you!. I do admire the light trails- I am not always a fan of these and I don’t remember ever having tried them really but with the zoom effect I think it works well.
Jane R: All these show just how well you now use your Lumix!! I think re doing the Pensford viaduct with the wood texture worked well and it is good to see someone liked the Ice Chakllenge!! My favourite, and I think yours too is the looking up through the trees starburst effect Well seen and manipulated !
Graham:your three images are really sharp and well focused. I do share your obsession with oil and water and am glad you revisited it and remembered how to do the background. The orange is a good choice. The two water droplets are masterly! i like the choices of crop in each - really suits the compositions and the colours are very strong and yet remain true to form and natural.

[i]Pamela says:
A big thank you to Jenny for coming up with all these
interesting and varied challenges. It’s been such fun and a wonderful
learning process.
JENNY POV 2. I just love all your family photos and
hope your models have copies for their albums. The angles they are
taken from all work well, their facial expressions are natural, the
colours in the photos - just everything.
BILL. I really like all the
sheep but especially the Union Jack and glass. I find them intriguing
to look at. The Union Jack one should be a large poster in a wool
shop.
GRAHAM. Your oil on water shots have made me want to try and do
the same. I like the different bubble sizes and the large blob at the
bottom. I think the colour works really well. Generally speaking, I am
attracted to colour but out of phlox and fern this time I prefer the
fern. I think the composition is more unusual and the patterns are
lovely. The little purple flower just adds to it.
JANE R. Pensford.I
love the textures here as well as the angle you have taken the bridge
from which could have meant the foreground was too heavy but I think it
works very well. Witch fascinates me. I keep seeing new things every
time I look at it. Really interesting. Sunbeams is good but I find the
other two more original.
TONY. I can see that you and I have caught the
ICM bug! I like Dahlia but I would prefer it without the beige/pink
colour on the left and if it had a sharp centre it would be very good.
(Who am I to talk??) Spring to Summer. This tree is such a good record
of the natural world; a sense of the old and new, life and death,
despair and hope. Lovely. Water droplets. Very clear droplets, lovely
colours.
SUZANNE. Evening light. I am envious, I attempted this sort of
thing ages ago and now I feel inspired to try again. I really like the
effect because it’s not overdone with too many streaks and shades of
colour. The Monet Moment certainly does conjure up a long, lost Monet
probably found in a car boot sale. The continuation of the colour from
the centre and out of the picture just adds so much to it. Silly moment
is a good finale to our challenges. A bit of humour!