This evening was very busy and varied. We started with a “Sets of Six” session. This was an idea that folks could show a short video or AV or show a set of (up to) six images on whatever subject they choose, and folks could ask questions and discuss. The first item was a short AV presentation from Allan Cameron that was prepared from film images taken on a compact camera on a visit to Tunisia in 1986. This featured some appropriate music and on-screen captions. The film-based images have a certain look and colour that added to the aged look of the photos that digital images just don’t have. Ross Robertson provided a selection of landscape shots. Malcolm Roberts had a set of images from a studio day organised by Ron McCombe, from a harvest mice to a tarantula. Steve Williams had a set of aviation images, including some taken from Traprain Law so that he was even higher than the planes. Derek Muller brought along a set of images that he thought captured Feelings, and they sparked some discussion. New member Jim Innes had a variety of shots from the iconic dark hedges in Northern Ireland to the lit up phone box in Portobello with a light streak from a passing bus. Liz Sowler had some images from her travels including Lake Garda and the Faroe Islands. Gavin Marshall showed some photos of clay pigeon shooting, one freezing the shot in mid-air while another showing the moment the clay disintegrated. Joe Fowler brought a set of images that highlighted his photoshop compositing skills. George Todd brought 2 versions of the same image showing how a problem image that had a colour cast (from the long exposure used) and many blotches caused by light rain, that was not too obvious at the time. He then showed a mono version that got rid of the colour cast and had various other adjustments made along with a lot of careful cloning to get rid of the many raindrop splodges. His patience was rewarded with a striking image produced from a fairly unpromising start image.

Next up were ideas submitted for a poster to advertise the club in local shops etc. There were quite a few candidates shown. An interesting suggestion was made that we could use more than one design. A decision was deferred until next week and George invited anybody who wanted to submit any other ideas.

Finally, Joe gave a very clear and useful demonstration on how to prepare a window
mount using a Logan mat cutter along with a scalpel, scissors, masking tape, etc. This led
to some discussion around whether competition judges subconsciously preferred window
mount images to the simpler method of sticking prints straight onto the mount board.

• Steve Williams announced the request that the club has received about running a Photo Walk as part of WalkFest 23 later in the year. Any interest should be discussed with Steve in the first instance. The web page for last year is here:
  https://www.volunteereastlothian.org.uk/latest-news/east-lothians-festival-of-walking-and-wheeling-15-21-august
• There is a “free to enter” photography competition being held by the Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL) and more information can be found on their website:
  https://www.rosl.org.uk/photography
• This coming Thursday, 30th March, we will be holding our annual joint meeting with Musselburgh Art Club. We will be meeting in G6 at 7pm. Our meetings with the art club tend to be hands-on, with artwork displayed around the room, which is not a good format to view by Zoom. Members are encouraged to come to G6 in person.