Thurso Camera Club enjoys talks from special guests Domenic Aquilina and Duncan McLachlan
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Members of Thurso Camera Club were treated to two special guests during November as a professional photojournalist and a local portrait photographer gave advice on all aspects of their work.
The club's November sessions continued to use Zoom to enable the productive contributions of speakers and judges. It has also given the opportunity to have reciprocal arrangements with other clubs throughout the Highlands to attend presentations by other guest speakers.
For the first session in November, the Thurso club welcomed professional sports photographer, Domenic Aquilina, giving his presentation from his base in Malta.
He is the official Malta football writer/photojournalist correspondent to Uefa and covers many of their Champions League matches throughout Europe, including the last 14 finals. He has also achieved international success winning numerous awards.
Domenic gave an excellent presentation describing and demonstrating different aspects of his work accompanied by over 140 images. He talked about practical aspects, for example, different sizes of images required for a newspaper than that of an agency who need a higher resolution.
He emphasised the importance of preparation, punctuality at a venue, knowing the athletes concerned, checking camera settings – what works for different light levels – and a good position to take the photos.
He advised members to “expect the unexpected,” go for the unusual, right picture, right moment, something which might happen when a match finishes and everything has died down.
He talked about the process from the capture to the editing, the writing of the caption, the importance of not manipulating a picture and the ethics of presenting a true image – “take nothing out, add nothing in”.
He concluded with the comment: “Be there to challenge yourself to get the best picture, anticipation is key.”
A full presentation of his career, his work and achievements can be found on his website www.fotoaquilina.com
The speaker for the second session in November was semi-professional local portrait photographer Duncan McLachlan.
Duncan introduced his talk with an account of his own development as a portrait photographer. He is college trained and has worked as an image creator since 1985.
The content of his talk was illustrated with an interesting selection of his portrait work and lots of good advice about his practical experience and the photographic equipment he uses.
Duncan described himself as self-taught, having learnt “the hard way”. Over time he has developed techniques for creating a comfortable environment for his model and advises that “more than anything learn how to have fun”.
He demonstrated the importance of good preparation prior to going to a chosen location, considerations such as the weather, access, safety, but also to take advantage of unexpected opportunities. To think about who, what, when, where – outside or in the studio, clothing and the theme or the occasion.
He suggests be natural, be inventive. He demonstrated, with examples of his images, how he makes the best use of light, artificial or natural, props and modifiers. Finally, he talked about editing in Photoshop and other software.
A full description of Duncan’s photo gallery and services he offers can be found on his website at www.studiograff-photo.co.uk
The second part of this session was followed by Duncan’s constructive comments and advice as a judge for the month’s club competition on the theme of “Transport”.
He made some very helpful suggestions regarding how use of editing tools can improve an image through cropping or compensating for light conditions or removing superfluous “clutter”. Club members found this feedback helpful and had the opportunity to discuss further with Duncan.
A total of 30 images were submitted for the November competition.
Gareth Watkins was first with “Down in the Tube at Night”. Duncan commented on the strong impact of the light and style and the feel of movement.
In second position was James Gunn's “Autocross Explosion”, which Duncan felt gave a dramatic feel to the event. Jason Ridgley was third with “Steam of Dreams”. Duncan commented on the “historical vibe”.
Fourth was Grant Coghill's “Heat of the Night”, in which Duncan liked the activity and energy of the work at night. Joint fifth were Gareth Watkins' “Bumble Bee Camaro”, Neil Holden's “Hyster” and Grant Coghill's “Steamin’ in Mallaig”.
On Monday, December 7, club members Julie Catterall and Gareth Watkins will each give a presentation of 30 of their own chosen images. This will be followed by a show of images taken by club members for the Caithness Collection 2021 calendar.
The continuing Covid-19 restrictions mean the club is unable to have its planned Christmas meal at the Pentland Hotel on December 21, but the club will instead meet for a festive “Zoom” Christmas quiz.
