Hexham & District Photographic Society
ASSIGNMENTS
We are presently arranging another 2 assignments which will take place in the next few
months.
Further information will be in the next newsletter.
Assignments are a wonderful way of getting to know club members as well giving you an
opportunity to take more images and learn more about photography.
They are well worth attending.
PRINT OF THE YEAR 2019
It is a timely reminder as we are nearing the Print of the Year (POY) competition that
you are reminded of the rules of this competition which are different from the advanced and Open competitions.
Images submitted for POY have to have been taken in the period 1st January 2014 up
to 10th March 2019. If you are unsure when you took your images then check the
metadata for each image.
Images taken prior to this date cannot be considered even if you have never entered it
previously or even done any processing on the image until recently.
Closing date for this year’s competition is 10th March 2019.
3 PRINTS ON A THEME
Volunteers are needed for our “3 Prints on a Theme” evening which will take place on
22nd September 2019.
The theme is whatever you want it to be and should also include some very brief notes about
the theme and prints.
Please let me know if you want to volunteer.
AUDIO VISUAL EVENING
Volunteers are also needed for our Audio Visual evening which will take place on 6
the October.
AVs should be no more than 5 minutes in total and again can be whatever you choose. They should be Pic2Exec files. Please let me know if you want to volunteer.
PHOTOGRAPHIC TIPS
Henry has been having problems with his printer and found this very valuable tip. Thanks
Henry and hope you got your printer sorted.
Printer Maintenance Solutions
Have you had the demoralising message from your printer that ‘SERVICE IS
REQUIRED Parts inside your printer are near the end of their service life?’
Sooner or later you will as other members have testified. This is probably because all
those expensive inks the printer has swallowed in head cleaning are deemed to have filled up their absorption pad by the software.
Fret no more, help is at hand. You can obtain a software resetting code and precise
instructions for use for a nominal charge from a reliable UK firm called Octoink.
There is a free download of a small program available which will show when your printer is
likely to expire (which will also activate the WIC reset code when required).
To avoid the problem in the future Martin also sells a waste ink diverter tank system for
your printer model again with instructions. There are also inks and CIS systems available so
do have a look at the website.
Have you any photographic tips that may be useful to other members? Then why not
share them and let me know so that I can put them into the Newsletter.
MENTORING
Thank you to our club mentors who volunteered to mentor newer members. If you would like
to be mentored then please let me know and I will arrange.
Bob Tyson has kindly produced a document which newer members may be interested. It is
titled “Basic Technical Photography of Principles”. It includes detailed information about
Exposure, Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO.
If you would like a copy then please contact Bob at [email protected]
SOUTH TYNE INTERCLUB COMPETITION
The STA DPI competition took place on Thursday, 26th February at Gateshead Camera Club.
Six clubs competed in this competition and Gateshead won.
Hexham were third and Mavis will give out more details on Tuesday night.
NORTHUMBERLAND WILDLIFE TRUST BEGINNERS PHOTOGRAPHY SESSIONS
Northumberland Wildlife Trust is running some beginners wildlife photography workshops
with Martin Kitching from Northern Experience Wildlife Tours aimed at getting people into
photography.
The first is next Saturday and there are still have some places to fill. The same event runs
on 3 dates:
• Saturday 28/02/2019 2-5pm
• Saturday 21/03/2019 2-5pm
• Saturday 19/04/2019 2-5pm
STUDIO TRAINING EVENTS – OLYMPUS TRAINING ACADEMY NORTH EAST
Bob Turner received an email recently advertising the Olympus Training Academy Studio
Events. It is a new facility that has recently opened in Team Valley which runs courses and
seminars designed to give photographers of all levels access to models, make-up artists and
the latest studio kit at subsidised prices. Although the name might suggest Olympus users
only, this is not the case; they welcome all camera users and there is no sales pitch. The
cost seemed reasonable at £25 for a morning or afternoon session.
Bob had often wanted to try out a professional studio shoot so asked Gerry Stephens if he
wanted to come with me and we went along one Sunday morning.
They arrived at 9:45 for a 10:00am start and were greeted by the principal, Alan Clarke,
who was also our tutor for the session. The sessions cater for up to 10 people and this one
was filled. Most of the photographers were local with a couple from Durham Photographic
Club. After a quick meet and greet over a cup of coffee Alan took us into the studio where
he gave instruction on how lighting worked and took us through building up a 3 light set
(main, sidelight and rear light) with a model. He demonstrated how each light affected the
overall picture and how to control the output from them. He was using high power portable
flashes, the main one controlled by a transmitter on the camera hot shoe and the others via
built in slave units.
Bob did send me 3 images for inclusion with this article but I cannot get them to open.
Sorry Bob.
GEORGE PROUD
George, one of our members is having a book published in March called Wild Flowers: Myth,
Mystery, Medicine and Images. The first print run will be complete on March 11th – so book
available just after that.
George has been planning the launch which has been quite good fun and Shepherd’s Dene in
Riding Mill is holding a launch party and any Hexham member who would like to come along
would be most welcome.
The time is March 26th, 5pm – 8pm, Shepherd’s Dene. The foreword is written by the
Duchess of Northumberland. If anyone does want to come to the book launch they should
let me know simply to allow me to have some idea of numbers. Drinks and light refreshments.
PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS
This is the free newspaper with the latest news, views & stories from the world of
photography.
When this was first published I was sent 40 copies but this has since been reduced to 10.
However you can get your own digital copy each month on your desktop, smartphone or
tablet.
Registration is easy, simply visit photography-news.co.uk/register and each month you will
be sent a link to view the newspaper as soon as it is published.
NCPF
Gerry Adcock, one of our members is now the webmaster for the NCPF and he is doing an
excellent job of bringing the website right up to date. Gerry is constantly updating the
diary section and you will find lots of events in the Northern Region over the next few
months.
Don’t forget to access the website to get the current news in the Northern Counties
photographic scene. There is a constant update of all news for the Northern region as well
as news from the PAGB.
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The following companies may be of use to you:
Media Service Solutions, This company based at Lynnwood Business Centre, Lynnwood
Terrace, Newcastle NE4 6UL (just behind the old bowling alley on the West Road). It is
owned by an engineer who worked for Turner’s Cameras, a long established camera shop and
repairers which closed a number of years ago. He and another engineer repair cameras,
lenses, monitors, tripods, projectors and other photographic accessories. They also repair
domestic items.
I recently had a problem with a lens and was advised by one repairer in Newcastle
that it was not worth repairing. This was an expensive lens so I decided to get a
second opinion from Media Service Solutions and my lens is now as good as new after a
repair!
Factory Framing Centre, St Lawrence Road, Newcastle NE6 1AR – 0191 276 4489
John and Susan offer a complete framing service as well as very reasonably priced mounting
board cut to 50×40, frames, tape etc. Mention Hexham PS.
John Race, Tel No: 0785531795
John also sells mounting board cut at 50×40 and he also sells them with an A4 cut out.
Mention Hexham PS
APM Camera Repairs, Old Eldon Square, Newcastle NE1 7JG – 0191 2212340
This excellent small company does repairs on all cameras and sensor cleaning and is the last
one standing locally.
Corbridge Computers, 1 Hill Street, Corbridge, NE45 5AA – 01434 633200
These people are local experts on all aspects of computing.