Photography News Issue 71

Club profile

visit these. Fifteenmembers took part and we offered lots of opportunities to learn about camera skills, composition and the use of filters. We have found these events help the members make firm friendships, learn from the more experiencedmembers and improve their photography. We follow up the events with an evening where eachmember talks about and shows the images they have made. Aside fromour regular meetings, we also have studio evenings and training workshops. We are fortunate that some of our members can offer dedicated “Ourmembers are enthusiastic, but get themost excitedby seeing othermembers’ photography improving”

workshops. This is something we aim to continue, as the variety available provides us with a huge resource of material to help the members learn about equipment, techniques and different styles of photography. We will continue to find as many opportunities as possible to encourage even greater participation and interaction among our members with different aspects of photography.

PN: We see you are a club that meets all year round. What is the thinking behind that and are your summermeetings well attended? APG: We never considered taking a break in the summertime. We know some people will be on holiday, but we have never seen a significant fall-off in attendance during July and August. In fact, the longer daylight hours give us the opportunity to runmore practical workshops, such as schedule our ‘Take two images in 60 minutes’ events. For these, we go out somewhere nearby with our cameras, make some images and then come back to our base to share a couple of the photographs we have taken with the rest of the group. PN: Do you do practical evenings and club location trips? If not, do you intend to introduce activities like this? APG: This year we organised the second of our photographic holidays. We spent five days on Anglesey, travelling around the island photographing fromdawn to dusk. Two of the members planned and organised the event, researching possible locations and judging the best times to

IMAGES (Below left) A photo of Thornham in Norfolk by CarolynWalker and (below) a photo by Phil Lewis

facilities to the group for studio nights and training sessions. We like to keep the numbers lower at these events, so we can ensure everyone can learn as much as possible. PN: Does the club have specialist sub-groups? APG: At the moment we do not have any specialist sub-groups, but we may consider this in the future if we feel there is sufficient interest. In addition to the published programme for each quarter, there are opt-in evenings/days where interestedmembers can join in. PN: What are the long-termaims for your club? APG: We would like to see more photographic holidays in the future and are already planning for 2020. The holidays take a lot of planning, but we find that taking time out to focus on photography is the best way to improve. Working alongside other photographers, seeing how they work and what they choose to put in their compositions is something that cannot be replicated in our meetings. We have now started using YouTube videos in our meetings and training

WE NEEDYOU? If you would like your club to be featured in these pages, in the first instance please email: willcheung@bright-publishing.com

CLUB BIOGRAPHY

Membership 40

Subscription Annual subscription is £25 and £2 for each meeting to cover the hire of the venue. Meeting time and place Fortnightly on Thursdays at 8pm in The Saracen’s Head, Main Street, Little Brington, Northampton NN7 4HS. Meeting dates can be found on the website. Facilities The club meets in the function room of the pub, and drinks and snacks can be purchased from the bar. Specialist groups Currently there are no specialist groups, but APG may consider setting up one or more of these in the future. Annual exhibition There's no annual exhibition, but there are permanent exhibitions of the club's work in The Saracen’s Head and at The Bakers Arms in Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire.

Contact Neil Phillips: neilp.apg@gmail.com

Web address aperturephotographygroup.co.uk

Issue 71 | Photography News 31

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