NEXT MEETING – ONLINE VIA ZOOM
Wednesday, 16th December at 8pm
Members Christmas Competition: “Contrast or Contrasts”
Normally this is our Christmas Competition and Social.  The “Social” aspect may be a challenge this year on zoom, but pull up a chair, log into zoom (link will be sent to Members and those who have signed up) and relax for an evening of pictures and (friendly?) competition. 
This year’s theme is “Contrast or Contrasts”.  Each member was invited to submit up to three digital images.  The key rules were that entries had to be on-topic, must be the Member’s own work and should ideally have been taken this year. 
Gerald Kitiyakara LRPS, a well-known SPA Judge and President of Carshalton Camera Club, has kindly agreed to be our Judge and we very much look forward to hearing what he has to say about our images.  As usual, Gerald will use his judgement to select the three best images and we will vote to choose the winner.
                                   
This picture entitled “Papillon” by Rick Goldstein was the winning entry in last year’s competition when members were asked to take pictures to represent a book title.
If you are not a member but would like to come along to this evening, follow the link here to sign up on Eventbrite – or link here for Meetup.

LAST MONTH’S MEETING
Wednesday, 18thNovember at 8.00pm
Chris Hutchinson – ‘Landscape with Figures’
In “Landscape with Figures”, Chris talked about a project, which he started in about 2000, to explore the human body in new ways. In his research into this question, Chris came across the fascinating work of the American optical surgeon Howard Schatz (see https://howardschatz.com/) and decided to try to build on this work by photographing the body underwater.   He told us in a very engaging and entertaining way how the project worked out and what came afterwards.  This talk was much enjoyed.

FUTURE MEETINGS
Wednesday, 20thJanuary at 8.00pm via ZOOM
Portraiture / Studio Work
In January we planned to have a Studio Session, but it doesn’t look as if this will be possible with the current “Tier” system.  (Most of us are in Tier 2, meaning that we are unable to meet in groups indoors).  At our Committee Meeting last week we decided reluctantly that we should put the In-person Studio Session on hold for the time being.   
 
Instead, we have arranged for professional photographer Stewart Wall to give us a talk Online. He will focus on how he has used flash throughout his career, both as a press photographer and as a studio photographer.  Stewart says:  “As digital cameras allowed us to increase ISO without causing too much noise (digital grain) it is easy to forget about flash equipment in poor lighting scenarios. But what flash does, is allow us to put light into a scene when light is not there”.  Great for those indoor family portraits and backlit subjects!

ONLINE EVENTS DURING LOCKDOWN AND BEYOND
Some Clubs are welcoming guests to their Zoom Meetings, many with excellent speakers:   here are some which have arrived in our inboxes recently.   We have also included links to the Martin Parr Foundation talks, SPA, RPS and PAGB, which you may find of interest.
14thDecember (via Zoom).  MPF (Martin Parr Foundation) live chat with Alys Tomlinson.  Coinciding with the launch of her new photobook – Lost Summer – Alys Tomlinson will discuss her creative practice in this, the next MPF Photochat Live event. Alys has just been awarded the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize for three images from this series.  Tickets and more information here.  More Martin Parr information and events here.
15thDecember (via Zoom).   Ashford Camera Club invite you to a talk by James Kerwin on ‘Abandoned Architecture’.  Guest Fee £3.00. Tickets are limited but to request a place e-mail  Ashford Camera Club here.   James Kerwin’s work can be viewed here.  
11th January 2021 (via Zoom).  Guildford Photographic Society invite you to a talk on Sports Photography by Mark Pain.  Guest Fee £5.00.  For sale on Eventbrite here.

The SPA Facebook page is a good source of information for events being run by other SPA clubs, to which guests are invited: link here.

RPS Bristol HQ still has many talks and events running online: many are free for RPS Members and free or at nominal cost for non-RPS members.  For talks try this link to see what’s on offer.

If you have not already done so, it’s well worth subscribing to PAGB e-news at http://www.pagbnews.co.uk/.

HHPS WEBSITE 
Members, if you can, would you please update your gallery by sending us up to 10 of your best, recent images.  Please send them to this Dropbox if you wish (you do not need a Dropbox Account to use it).  Images should illustrate the range of your work and/or your special interests, but not be the same as those in our 2020 Exhibition:  these are shown separately under Exhibitions.  

FINALLY
We hope to see many of you at our next meeting.  
Meanwhile, Stay Well and Stay Safe!

David, Chairman