Camborne & Redruth Camera Club

Reg Poad

I am the current Chairman of the Club and my wife, Mary, is the competition secretary. Members keep her busy presenting work for competitions, which she logs in and then we are off to deliver to one of the judges in the area.

Over the years that we have been involved with the Club we have seen it move into the digital world and go from strength to strength, with members of the club helping each other.

We take digital images as well as slides. The slides are used for competitions, and creating audio visual presentations, which are taken to various clubs and associations in the area. We are now getting to grips with digital audio visual and hope to have this worked out to a fine art shortly.

I enjoy entering external competitions as well as those within the Club, and have had some success, in particular, with Gun Gate, which was actually a gate found in Gruyere, Switzerland, and the Satsuma, which was a set up on the kitchen work bench.

I hope you enjoy looking at the Club’s site and if you are interested in joining us then please come along to one of our meetings where you will receive a friendly welcome.

Reg Poad

Clive Kingsley

I have had an “off and on” interest in taking photographs for around 55 years. (I don’t look old enough,surely !?) Initially using 120 film and Rangefinder cameras via 35 mm, eventually to digital….Trying out around 30 digital cameras before arriving at the current 3 or 4 that I own.

Currently like most others who are “serious“ with their interest, I am finding it a continual and never ending learning experience, not just with taking photographs, but also with both the evolving technological aspect of cameras and of the computer software available.

I enjoy most types of photography, but perhaps especially with subjects involving the natural world---- landscapes, flora and fauna; but also with the interaction of human beings with it and each other. The latter can be anything from action shots, to macro photography, to ‘candid’ or journalistic styles.

Peter Keverne (ARPS)

I am relatively the new boy of C/RCC, being a member only from September 2005, and I must say how much I have enjoyed myself with my re-entry into Camera Club life and look forward to each Thursday meeting. At one of the early print commentaries, one member said of one of my pictures that it was good to get some new young blood into the Club - little realising that I was approaching the mid-seventies. I was very flattered but in reality I have been around photography for over sixty years now. I am a native of Camborne and was educated locally and set out on a career in the Electrical Supply Industry on leaving school. Running in parallel with my working life has always been photography. In my ‘spare time’ I undertook a lot of freelance work in particular when I was in the Croydon area, specialising in sport and the entertainment world. I was a member of the Croydon Camera Club and eventually worked my way through the various levels to the Advanced Group which comprised mainly RPS Fellows and Associates and members of the Institute of British Photographers.

From out of the Croydon Club, PhotoGroup7 was formed by photographers (of which I was one) who had a passion for contemporary photography which did not always meet with the approval of the more staid membership. The Group rapidly gained international recognition and had a lot of work published collectively, exhibited widely and took part in the final and tenth programme of the BBC series ‘Better Photography’. PG7 was in on the early movement of Art Galleries associating themselves with photography, a trend which started in the mid-sixties, David Gaynor of the Eastbourne Gallery being one of the pioneers. PG7 conceived and eventually promoted the travelling contemporary exhibition ModFot One. Thirty leading photographers were invited to participate plus five colleges of photography. The exhibition made its debut at the RWS Gallery London and then visited more than thirty galleries in the UK and on the Continent over a period of 3½yrs.

On my return to Cornwall in 1970 I became a photo-technician at Cornwall College, providing a photographic service to the College (apart from the Art Department). This required a wide range of photographic skills from highly scientific work to public relations photography.

I became involved with the Flower Arranging world and working with the international flower arranger Richard Jeffery published greeting cards, illustrations for magazines and for the BBC’s programme ‘Flowers for all Seasons’. I also did work for Interflora and for NAFAS’ magazine advising on the photography of flowers and arrangements and judging the National and Regional Photographic Competitions.

I have had ‘One Man’ shows at Redhill, Newlyn Art Gallery, Redruth Library, Cornwall College and as part of the Cornish Stand at the Lorient Celtic Festival, Brittany. For relaxation I did pottery, making one-off items. Through this I became associated with the Cornish Craft world and for several years photographed for the Cornwall Craft Association.

I have been a member of the RPS for over forty years now and I gained my Associateship in1971. More recently I have become a member of the RPS Digital Group and its Creative Group. Two of my pictures are housed in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television at Bradford.

Unfortunately I had to retire from work for health reasons in 1990 -13yrs of coming to terms with ME/CFS and more lately cancer and something akin to TIAs. Through this period I retained an interest in photography but alas not doing much practically.

About four years ago now an artist introduced me to the practical side of digital photography. I thought ‘that’s for me - no more dark rooms etc’ and it has released a burst of creativity as with software I can now produce work that would have taken hours to do in the darkroom. My equipment has rapidly grown – I use an Olympus E20P, a Sony P200, and more recently a Sony R1. On the printing side I use Epson printers. Software: PhotoshopCS2, Corel Draw Graphics Suite12, Painter IX and a multitude of plug-ins to which I seem to be addicted.

Finally I must say how grateful I am to my wife and closest friend for the support she has given me through our 48 years of marriage.

Paul Davis

My adventure into photography started relatively recently. I was very interested in web design and used a photo community website to store family snaps for my website. Soon I was receiving comments on my photos and I started to develop the photography bug. From here on I wanted to improve, so read magazines and visited many websites. At the time I had a simple point and shot but decided to get more serious and bought a Canon 350D dSLR. I found that going digital allowed me to experiment without the cost incurred with film, and the results were instant. I now have a Canon 40D but there is always a new piece of glass I want! .

Last season (2007/08) I did very well, especially as this was my first full season. I was put in the intermediate class for projected images but advanced for colour and monochrome prints. I won the projected image of the year and gained the most points in the open competitions throughout the season. I also won the monochrome print of the year and gained the most points in the open competitions throughout the season in this section. I also won the ‘Panel of 5’ competition with my entry ‘The cemetery’ and the panel of 3 for projected images.

I am also the webmaster for this site, I hope you like it :).

First Open Competition: 08/09

First Open Competition
Judge: Adrian Rowlands (Truro).