Bradford Photographic Society

This week's meeting was devoted to the images from this year's Photographic Alliance of Great Britain competition, in which the regional federations enter their best photos.  As you would guess, the images were of a very good standard, with some outstanding photos spread throughout the selection.

There seems to be a trend of "environmental portraiture" in the last two years, where photographers use wide-angle lenses to include the subject's "natural habitat" as context.  Old favourites included "colour-popping" (where the background is converted to mono), and there were plenty of Natural History images, some of which were breathtaking.  The Brits are obviously getting about a bit too, as there were quite a few exotic photos included.

Members were encouraged to comment on the images, with some guessing the techniques involved, and others praising or disagreeing with the judges' in their choice of images, and the authors' skills.  Overall, it was good to see what "the competition" is up to (and how much of a threat they pose!), as well as hope that some of the great works' inspiration might rub off.

The Bradford Photographic Society was treated to a lecture by renowned exhibitor Andy Goodall, with an insight into Urban European landscapes, and his current revelation, Portraiture. With over 40 years of experience in Photography, Andy not only showed his work, but gave an insight to his reasons of why he captured the images in his own particular style.

It soon became apparent that Andy's Urban Landscapes showed a special art form which Andy had developed over a period of time. His style has been praised and accepted from some of the highest photographic organisations in the country. Andy made a point of interacting with the attentive audience, who appreciated his comprehensive display.

Our sincere thanks go out to Andy, for his in-depth work in preparing such an interesting night.

Thursday night saw the first portrait night of the year, and what a success it was.  There was a large turn out of members, old and new, all with their cameras reading to either learn new or further enhance their portrait photography skills.

Paul generously provided a large array of lighting equipment for the evening, and two models bravely took to their respective stools, no doubt feeling like stars on a red carpet for a premier, in front of enough lenses to fill a generously apportioned camera emporium.

Many shots were taken, poses struck, and great portfolio photographs made.  It was also great to meet a couple of people from Bradford Community Radio (BCB 106.0 fm), and we look forward to seeing how the shots work out.