RPS Talks with Iñaki Hernandez-Lasa FRPS and Will Cheung FRPS 14/10/20

Tonight’s evening, we were presented with something different. Videos of two talks where notable photographers were interviewed.

Peter Hayes FRPS, talked with Iñaki Hernandez-Lasa FRPS, who is an architectural photographer. Iñaki talked about his passion for architecture which started after using his father’s camera where he learnt his camera craft using film, starting with landscape photography, studio work, his long-standing passion remained architecture and the two Irish photographers who influenced him namely Gareth Byrne and Gerry O’Leary. Iñaki talked about how he carefully composes, uses light, reflection, curves, outlines of the building, if an image does not look right in camera, he will not take the image. Iñaki described his images and the stories behind them, leading to the minimalistic architecture that he is known for.

After the break, we had Peter Hayes FRPS taking with Will Cheung FRPS, a very different style of photographer. Will is a freelance journalist and photographer, who describes himself as an enthusiastic and passionate photographer who is an amateur at heart. Will started out at the age of 11 with a film camera which also made him disciplined in his camera craft. Photographers who influenced Will, were Bill Brandt, Irving Penn, which led to Will’s passion for black and white photography. Will talked but his style of photography which are namely projects that take up most of his time, starting out with friends and family, street photography, coastal photography down to his current project of the Docklands Light Railway.

Will emphasised that it is important to look, wait and to ask yourself ‘Have I got the shot that I wanted?’ if not then wait a bit longer. His advice is to always have your camera with you, switched on and be prepared to take pictures.

Will edits Photography News which goes out to some 500 camera clubs and is full of interesting articles.

Photographers' Question Time 07/10/20

Everyone learnt something this week when we held our own version of Question Time. Needless to say it was conducted in a much more friendly manner than its namesake.

Our panel of Barbara Sheldrake, James Gibson, Chris Rogers and Graham Sykes exhibited a wide breadth of knowledge and President, Tony Renshaw kept us in order from the chair.

Subjects varied from soft box diffusers to exposure values, sharpening to Intentional Camera Movement, how often should you calibrate your screen to what the panel thought were the two most useful lenses to acquire.

As the evening progressed we were given advice on cost effective post-processing software, recommended commercial printers and when to use curves and levels. We even found out about panel members’ favourite Youtube presenters and what projects they had in mind when Covid restrictions were lifted.

President's Evening - Man's Impact On The Environment 30/09/20

Our annual ‘President’s Evening’ took place on Wednesday this week and it generated some interesting work from our members. The ‘President’s Evening’ is an opportunity for our current president to set the agenda for the evening and Tony Renshaw certainly gave us something to think about with the subject, ‘Man’s Impact on the Environment – Good or Bad’.

In all, 35 images were submitted by 19 authors and the openness of the subject provided a broad variety of work. Everything from moorland fires, polluted rivers and the motorway to a metaphor for global warming (ice cubes in a microwave), our impact on nature and extinction rebellion protests were on show as well as a number of images of wind farms.

Each author was asked to provide some commentary on their image – what had drawn them to take the image as well as their thoughts on the current environmental situation. Tony also provided his thoughts in terms of interpretation of the images and how they tied in to the subject matter. The images of wind farms generated a lot of differing opinions as to whether these are majestic to look at or a necessary blot on the landscape as we move towards renewable energy.

Tony finished the ‘President’s Evening’ by sharing the 4 images he felt best conveyed our impact on the environment both photographically and in the choice of subject matter. The four final images were by Mark Turner, Matteo Leonetti, Mike Hey and Graham Sykes.