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Camborne & Redruth Camera Club (CRCC)
Thursday 15th April 2010
(Images by David Chapman)
The Club met last Thursday (15-04-10) at the Treleigh Church Hall for an evening with the author and wild life photographer David Chapman.
David took as his theme ‘Some Photographic Moments’ which covered his photographic work from the cold winter weather spell of 2009 to just after the recent frost and snow of 2010. David estimated that he took at least 30,000 images during this period. He was away in the Cotswolds when the cold snap struck the country, the only bonus being that he was able to take pictures of frost of the type that is rarely seen in Cornwall.
Once back in Cornwall he went on a snow trail trip starting at Hayle and down the coastal route to Zennor in his camper van. This was used as a precaution in case he became snow bound - at least he had a bed and hot food available. However for this type of photography covering landscape and wildlife one had to be really fit to cope with the arduous conditions, walking to seek out suitable locations and carrying the necessary equipment. He returned to the Camborne/Redruth area attracted by the snow lined engine houses at South Wheal Frances and the Carn Brea outcrop.
March found him at Prussia Cove trying to take pictures of ravens, tempting them with the bodies of dead rabbits but this didn’t really work as while he waited patiently for some raven action none were to be seen. After packing up and walking away from the site the ravens were seen to be feasting. However he had more success at the Cheesering when the ravens were more cooperative.
As always David was generous with his technical information as well as describing his techniques. He showed seascapes of Godrevy and Gurnards Head making use of a special 10 stop neutral density filter which necessitated long exposures giving a milky smooth sea and emphasising the colour of the cliffs.
He explained that to take satisfactory pictures of bluebells and bluebell woods one had to be an early riser so as to catch the morning light before the sun rose too high which would create too many highlights on the flower heads thus making them more difficult to photograph.
2009 was the Year of the Painted Lady butterflies and he explained how their journey started from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and continued through Spain, France and on to the United Kingdom. The curious thing was those making the return trip to Morocco were two to three generations on from those that had originally set out. The interesting question was ‘How did they know the way?’
Not all his 2009 photography was taken in Cornwall and a three day stay on the island of Skomer off the Pembrokeshire coast yielded images of puffins, manx shearwaters and vistas of bluebells and red campion.
He also visited Southern Ireland’s County Clare and Kerry. At Mullag Moor the abundance of local limestone not only had been used to shape the landscape but had yielded a surfeit of limestone loving wildflowers. He found that it was not an easy area in which to move around with the narrow roads and lack of any coastal footpath. However it was again the off-shore islands that attracted him in particular Skellig Michael an island steeped in archaeological history where there were the remains of a 7th century monastery with its beehive huts and of course colonies of sea birds. He detailed his return journey to the mainland which was unbelievably rough.
After the interval a large part of the illustrated talk was literally at home where on his smallholding he had successfully developed areas to attract wild life and also successfully had seeded an area with a wildflower mix. To fulfil a professional contract he showed how he had improvised using gardening equipment as perches for birds, and a DIY shallow pond set almost at eye level to facilitate photography helped to yield many intimate images.
He has found it difficult to obtain good images of rodents such as field and bank voles, house and wood mice in their natural surroundings so to this end he has developed a vivarium where he has constructed suitable micro-landscapes in which the rodents are placed.
Autumn brings fungi and he showed images taken during a combined field trip with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Photo-group and C-RCC at Golitha. He also included images of the River Fowey at Golitha and Polruan and the Tamar at Cotehele.
Trying to take satisfactory seascapes during the Autumn and Winter storms can be difficult and quite dangerous but the effort and the risk can certainly be worthwhile as David showed. The other bonus is to search the beaches afterwards as you never know what rarity you may find washed up.
His image of St Michael’s Mount at sunset and high tide was interesting as he revealed that this event only occurs just after mid- December each year.
Patience, perseverance and ingenuity as well as knowledge of the subject were certainly necessary attributes besides having the photographic skills which David showed he has over the course of his illustrated talk.
Finally the 2010 frost and snow yielded many images of birds not usually seen in Cornwall and resident birds seen in unusual places - birds so hungry that they were almost tame in their quest for food
Clive Kingsley thanked David for a fantastic evening and with a touch of humour thought it had been a good way to miss the much publicised three party election debate.
C-RCC members continue to feature in external exhibitions and Salons. In the National Grid 2010 Competition Reg Poad had an acceptance with his picture ‘St Nectan’s Glen’ and in the Fresno International Malcolm Jenkin’s ‘The Red Steps’ was accepted.
For the CWLT exhibition at Allet the following had work selected :- Clive Kingsley – ‘Lizard’, Jenny Goodman ‘Song Thrush’, Mary Poad ‘Bluebell Wood’, Reg Poad ‘Shaggy Pholiota’ and Jim Tarbox ‘Magpie Inkcap’