Tag Archives: East Lothian

12 February 2026 (Audio Visual Evening)

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This week we welcomed members from Penicuik Photography Club to Musselburgh for our annual audio visual evening. Musselburgh started the evening with a presentation made during a club photoshoot in Dalkeith Country Park, where members had been challenged to spot shapes in the woodland that could be turned into creatures with the aid of some googly eyes! Penicuik followed with a presentation which followed the route of the Seven Hills of Edinburgh event, giving information about each of the seven hills in turn. We then moved on to some individual presentations. Derek Muller introduced us his model Groot, which helped him create cinematic pictures set to great music. Brian Nicolson then showed a beautiful, nature-inspired video called Nature’s Beauty around Penicuik (click here to see it on YouTube). Steven Beard continued the nature theme and added some myth and legend with a presentation about Sherwood Forest. This was followed by Gordon Peerless’ video about Neildpath Castle, near Peebles. Charlie Baird then introduced her beautiful but heart-rending music video called Bittersweet (also available on YouTube). The evening then turned technical, with a a spectacular presentation by Bill Baird, in which fractals seemed to explode on the screen like fireworks. Everybody wanted to know how he did it (apparently using the magic of a fractal generator combined with Photoshop and a video creator). We then had two water-related presentations, with Mike Clark describing the life-cycle of grey seals, and Brian Salvona showing us some beautiful photographs and videos made at the Falls of Clyde. The evening turned technical again when Steven Beard showed us how to make 3-D photographs without using expensive equipment. Gordon Peerless then showed us some breathtaking displays from the Edinburgh Fire Dancing Club. We closed the evening with Derek Muller’s short “Goodbye”, made during our photoshoot at Cramond. We then broke for a delicious selection of sandwiches, cakes and biscuits provided by Jennifer Davidson and Amber Morris. Thank you to everyone who provided their videos.

  • Next week (Thursday 19th) Fiona Brims will be giving us a talk entitled “I am not a wildlife photographer…But…“. I look forward to it.

06 February 2025 (Audio Visual Evening)

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This week members of Musselburgh Camera Club travelled to Beeslack Community High School to meet with members of Beeslack Penicuik Camera Club for our annual audio visual evening. Beeslack’s usual room was occupied by a Taekwondo class, so we started the evening in a small classroom.

Musselburgh started with an introduction to ICM photography in Butterdean Wood, created by Steven Beard, based on the club photoshoot from July 2024. Then, Beeslack’s presented a history of coal mining in Scotland, based on information and materials picked up from a club visit to the National Mining Museum, supplemented by club photographs and drone shots. There was a change of mood with the third presentation, when Derek Muller showed a video entitled “Birds Having Lunch” featuring some great shots of wild birds feeding. The change of mood continued when Beeslack showed another beautiful and calming creation by Brian Nicolson, featuring photographs of trees and woodland enhanced and blended with art filters from paint.NET. Musselburgh followed with a presentation compiled from photographs taken by club members on a photoshoot to the Balgone Sunflower Trail. This was followed by Beeslack’s presentation on the history of East Lothian, which used to be known as Haddingtonshire. The presentation took us on a journey through time, from the battles for dominance between the tribes of ancient Scotland and the construction of castles, to the witch trials and the impact of all this history on the modern landscape of East Lothian. Melanie Gallacher followed with a musical video in celebration of her daughter, and then Beeslack finished with an inspiring collection of long exposures of a fire dancer, set to Stravinsky’s The Firebird. And on that note we finished the evening and retired to Beeslack’s usual room for tea and biscuits. Thank you Beeslack for hosting us.

  • Next week (Thursday 13th) we have another flexible Members Evening. I propose that we have a session on camera skills. Please bring your camera (plus a macro lens and a flash if you have one). If you have any interesting small objects to photograph, bring those along as well. I’m especially interested in moving objects (such as a pendulum or a dancing robot), if you have any.
  • I am planning to demonstrate the settings on my Nikon camera. It would be good to have volunteers to cover Canon, Sony and Panasonic cameras as well.

See you next week.