Newark & District Photographic Society

2018 AGM Notification

19/03/2018

Notice is hereby given that the 2018 Annual General Meeting of Newark & District Photographic Society shall be held at Sheldon Suite, Newark Showground, Winthorpe, Newark on the 23rd of April 2018 at 7.30pm – as previously advised in the programme.

Proposals, including those for rule amendments, must be in the hands of the Secretary on the 9th of April 2018 and must be seconded before submission, or at the AGM, to be eligible to be voted upon. No proposals shall be accepted on the night; counter proposals shall be considered.

The Agenda and Nomination form shall be issued shortly; nominations must be made with the agreement of the nominees and in the hands of the Secretary on the 9th of April 2018.

Proposals for Any Other Business must be notified in writing to the Secretary by 20th of April 2018; No proposals shall be accepted on the night.

Change of Lecture: 11th December 2017

10/12/2017

Unfortunately, due to adverse weather conditions, Bill Allsopp will not be able to come to deliver his lecture on Digital Monochrome Methods.

We shall instead be showing something from our collection of Exhibition DVD’s and, time permitting, having a short discussion on the restarting of the Monochrome and Studio Lighting Focus Groups.

Change of Lecture: 18th December 2017

28/11/2017

Unfortunately, Professor Trevor Kerry has been taken ill and will not be able to deliver the planned lecture "Viewpoints & Points of View":

This lecture was to be a look at the ways in which the viewpoint we select for an image affects the 'message' the image puts across, to ourselves and others; and that within images there are hidden points of view.

A number of members had been looking forward to this lecture; we hope to be able to reschedule it for a future date once Professor Kerry is back on his feet.

Annual Exhibition (2019) Themed Print and Themed PDI Section Themes

24/08/2017

As already noted, the 2017–2018 season sees The Society move, away from themed sections in the Photographer of the Year heats, to entries of 6 images (1 representing each theme) in the Annual Exhibition. The same themes apply to both Themed Print and Themed PDI sections and each author may make up to 2 complete entries in each section.

Assuming the steps taken, at the 2017 AGM, to manage the volume of POY entries work and are proved necessary – and that the themed sets of 6 images sections in the 2018 Annual Exhibition are well supported and go to plan – the following themes will apply for these sets in the 2019 Annual Exhibition:

• Food
• Hands
• Horticulture
• Minimalist
• Mood
• Roadscapes

While authors are free to explore any ideas these themes invoke for them, it is worth noting that the Annual Exhibition judge will take into account how well they believe the author has interpreted the brief. As such, subtle and fringe interpretations may not fare as well in judging as obvious ones – even where the less obvious image would have won in an open section. Having said that, more obvious interpretations may suggest themselves to multiple authors, so, try to be creative.

For those struggling to interpret these catchy theme titles, the following non-prescriptive and non-exhaustive definitions may help.

Food
We're not talking about snapping your restaurant meal to post on social media here and nor does this image need to be the sort of thing your see used in cook books, advertising for restaurants or supermarkets, or the final shot before the judges (of certain well known cooking programmes) tuck in. Images of food could just as easily encompass ingredients, preparation, and enjoyment of food, as well as the classic presentation short.

Hands
You don't necessarily need a hand model and fine jewellery for this image, nor do you need to worry about the rest of the model: hands with character and hands doing things are both fair game for this theme.

Horticulture
The word horticulture is a combination of two Latin words 'hortus' (garden) and 'cultura' (cultivation); while agriculture replaces 'hortus' with 'ager' (field). Horticulture is therefore practiced on a smaller scale, in more enclosed plots, than agriculture – and is more likely to promote biodiversity and ecological succession. Horticulture deals with the art, science, technology, and business of growing plants, as well as the study of plants, plant conservation, landscape restoration, landscape and garden design, construction, and maintenance, and includes multiple sub-groups – which cover the cultivation of fruits, herbs, nuts, mushrooms, seeds, sprouts, vegetables, and even seaweeds, along with non-food crops such as algae, flowers, grass, ornamental plants and trees, and medicinal plants. So, 'the world's your oyster', oh wait, that would count as animal husbandry wouldn't it?

Minimalist
In visual arts, and other mediums, minimalism is a style that uses pared-down design elements – basically, like this definition, less is more.

Mood
Whether capturing the subject's mood or attempting to evoke a mood in the viewer, we're not just talking about capturing a pretty (or technically challenging) picture here – it's time to dig deep and find your emotional side, or even to get poetic.

Roadscapes
Landscapes are predominantly natural or rural and cityscapes tend to be grand vistas of urban sprawl and epic architecture. So what exactly are roadscapes then? For this theme you should be thinking of cityscapes on a local and more personal or intimate scale; not so much a scene within which you might find the haunts (including homes and workplaces) of hundreds of thousands of strangers, as one that could hide one's local haunts or those of friends and neighbours.

Important changes under the Changes to Competition Rules (under Committee powers)

13/07/2017

"The Committee may modify any competition rule without recourse to a General Meeting where technological improvements are the driving force in such a change, provided the change is communicated to the membership as soon as possible."

With the move to online submissions:

1. Filenames no longer have to comply with any particular convention.

2. Entries must be made using the online submission system (detailed on the competitions page of The Society's website) by the published deadline, except under exceptional circumstances and with the agreement of the Competition Secretary.

3. Print entry format and submission should be as rules 7 and 8. Where electronic copies are not supplied prints must be made available, for photographing, one week before the published deadline.

Additionally, images with black fills (portraits especially) and/or borders on only two sides cause problems for the newsletter, Annual Exhibition catalogue, Annual Exhibition TV slides, and for the composite images for the Panel entries.

The Committee have therefore implemented the following change:

4. Unused space must not be filled with a background colour (e.g. black) but any borders should be applied to all sides.

[17/08/2017: N&EMPF have imposed a similar restriction on entries in the N&EMPF Annual Exhibition, for much the same reasons]