Camera Club Competitions

Moving away from Prague for a little while.

This shot was taken some time ago when I used to belong to Rayleigh Camera Club in Essex. I cannot for the life of me, remember where I was at the time of taking.

I remember the process of taking the picture though, would have been with my OM1 with a deep red filter - you can tell if you look at the odd bit of blue sky, the red filter turns blue to black by allowing more red to pass through it whilst holding back blue elements. (think that's the right way round).

A wide angle low viewpoint specially designed to do well at our local camera club.

The main reason I no longer attend camera clubs is because of the on-going focus on competitions, competitions with Judges that have all read the same "how to judge competitions in camera clubs" book! - I soon realised what it was they liked and began churning out to a formula.

Bad news....

I still like the final printed image though.

Is it still like that at clubs?

Prague Doorway - Jan 2006

Light, shade and texture - that's what attracted me to this doorway.

Once again we see live music being advertised, this time at the "Marqis de Sade". Best get in out of the -6 degree cold as it was as we were strolling along looking for a coffee shop.

Untitled - Prague

Another "off the cuff" shot made while strolling around the old city. Looking at this image again I think what caught my eye was the suggestion that Vinyl might equal antique.

Puppets - Prague, January 2006

You really can't walk more than 100 yards in the Old Town without passing a shop selling these puppets. Some seem mass produced whilst others are clearly hand made and carry a handmade price to go with them.

I try to photograph this sort of detail, to try to convey an overall feeling of a place, never been much of one for grand views.

Been spending quite a bit of time in the darkroom over the last few weeks, mainly concentrating on these Prague photos. Been printing on to Resin Coated paper made by Ilford, I use a vertical print processor made by a fantastic UK company called Nova, this processor stays full of chemicals between printing sessions and all I need to do is switch on it's built in heaters to bring it all up to temperature.

When I have an image that I'm happy with I print on to 12X16 Fibre Paper.

Enough of the nerdy stuff.

More soon...

Underground - Prague, January 2006

Back to the Prague images.

Printed deliberately in a way to convey the emotions I felt at the time of taking this picture, there was something slightly foreboding about this apparently innocent entrance to Prague's underground system, the stairs descend into a black hole.....if you dare enter will you ever see the light of day again?

All those people walking past in the background, don't they realise the entrance to a subterranean hell is right under their noses?.....or do I have an over active imagination?

Look at the guy on the poster in the background, I wonder how his gig went? There seems to be a big music scene in Prague and you are never far away from some live music in a bar or club.

My Wife and I celebrated my 40th Birthday in Prague and we saw a fantastic Czech blues band in a timy underground club, I'll post a picture later on.

All for now, take care.