Roger introduced the meeting with a few notices. “The World of Denis Thorpe” Exhibition We are mounting another exhibition of Denis Thorpe’s superb monochrome prints from 17th to 27th March at the Café Adventure in Hope. Social Media At last month’s AGM, Zoe Sampson kindly offered to serve as our ‘social media officer’. Les Nixon It is with great sadness that we’ve learned that Les Nixon – formerly a long-standing member of our Society – passed away on 17th February. His funeral will take place at 2pm on 20th March. RIP Les.
The guest presenters for the evening were both Sheffield based photographers, Phil Smith and Mark Tomlinson.
“A Project-based Approach to Photography“ Phil introduced his photography by talking about his “Projects” which embrace a variety of topics. Street Portrait was one of his favourites but we were also treated to images from several others; Protests, Smoking, Scruffy Dogs, Shadowlands & Seaside Decline to name but a few. Phil introduced his photography by talking about his “Projects” which embraced a variety of topics. The spectacular images of the rocks known as the “Wheels” gave him the chance to introduce an app he finds very useful. Photo Ephemeris helps you plan outdoor photography in natural light. According to the website “it’s a map-based Sun, Moon, and Milky Way calculator”. Sunrise or sunset from a particular location can be planned with perfect precision as you can see at what compass bearing the sun will be, given a specific location and time. The second app Phil recommended was Ventusky, an application that allows a display of the development of pressure, wind, cloud cover, precipitation, and temperature at a chosen location. Phil uses the app to see what cloud cover will be like from a particular view and even what height the cloud might be thus making sunrise photos a little less hit and miss. The photographs below represent a tiny fraction of the variety of images that Phil has produced and to see more it would be worthwhile visiting his Instagram or Facebook pages.
Mark Tomlinson was our second presenter following a short refreshment interval. The theme was “Dark Satanic Mills“ Mark has been involved with the production of steel throughout his career and had many stunning images to show us from the heart of the foundry, starting with an explanation of how steel came to be at the centre of Sheffield’s history from the need to produce millstones through the production of scythes and the part that rock, river and lime played in the development of the industry. Mark was at Sheffield Forgemasters when he was asked by his boss to take a photograph to enter into a prestigious industry competition. Winning 1st place not only pleased the boss but lead to Mark being asked in subsequent years to take further photographs. He obliged and won the competition twice more! Not only did the success benefit the company but Mark found he could take photographs in parts of the foundry that would be off limits if he was not an employee. This did lead to one camera being melted but fortunately it was a company one not his own! Images of the sparks flying, molten metal being poured and a colossal press were enthralling as were the three audio visual shows Mark included in his presentation. He also explained that although some processes have been automated, there is still a huge amount of human judgement required to produce the quality products for which Sheffield is still renowned.
You can see many more of images and the much wider diversity of Marks photos at Sheffield Photo Society Members Gallery.
Roger thanked both Phil and Mark for a fantastic evening warmly appreciated by all the members and guests.
Next meeting April 10th when two of our members, Ian Stanyon and Steve Elliot will be our presenters.
Present Keith Brown, Ann Smith, Roger Moore, John Sampson, Joan Clough, Sheila Reynolds, Sheila Woodhouse, Hazel Watson, Axel Chapman, Jim Swithenbank, Nick Chalkley, Ian Stanyon, Zoe Sampson, Margaret Drabble, Ian Holmes, Jeanette Holmes. Alison Johnston Apologies Paul Hatt, Jason Deitch, Karen Frenkel, Wayne Hallam, Mike & Judy Smith, John Loveless, Ray Fowler, The meeting began with a welcome from Keith. Margaret acted as minute secretary in the absence of Paul. The Minutes from the 2024 AGM were all approved and no matters arising. Chairs Report 2024 – Ann Smith It has been a lovely year with CHVPS sharing with like-minded people, ideas, images and laughter. A great year of evenings and outings from Underground Sheffield to “Dental Devices”, VIA USA, Africa and more. Thank you to all members who have contributed in 2024 in so many different ways. Sharing images, supporting the coffee morning, setting up (and dismantling) the 2024 exhibition 3 times! Organising the “none” Christmas meal, making teas, coffees and washing up, working back stage on the committee, encouraging and appreciating those from with in and external lecturers who have shared images and dream with us this year; compiling the Yearbook and entering the exhibition. I am not going to go into detail of all the events and evenings we have enjoyed this year. I will try and summarize but it is hard and I don’t want to miss anyone or images out. So a quick dash through 2024 – I hope sparks some memories and inspires you once again! Great images from members shared at the December meeting with titles covering the variety of interests from members. “Weekend in the Lakes”, “A Year in Brough”, “Animal Trails”, “Sunday In The City”, “Dating Sites” (as never seen before!) and “A bit of this and a bit of that”. Thank you Steve, Joan, Judy, Robert, Alison and Keith. The 2024 General and Themed Exhibition “Man at Work” was well received with members enjoying a different way of evaluating the images entered with input from the floor. We now have “trophies” for all four top images – Catherine Cup – Best Colour Image; Denis Thorpe Best Black and White; wooden bowls for Best General and Best themed – thank you Paul for making these for us. Thanks must go to our external contributors: Erica Oram – “A bit of this and a bit of that” inspired all those present. Joe and Amy Dalton from Aston Hall Farm in Aston, shared life on the farm with us. Great to see somewhere familiar to many present from a different view. Also great to see Amy’s keen eye for composition. Malcolm Imhoff took us over mountains all over the world in his AV Evening. Ashley Franklin “The wider world of photography” looked at the interesting history of style, impact of portraits, fashion, war and the press on photography. Meanwhile back by popular demand we held the now annual Scavenger Hunt in May. Members set off to explore Castleton for the evening while taking 5 images on this year’s theme, Circles. Meeting back at base to share their finds and drink tea! Congratulations to Zoe who won the members’ vote. Zoe and John Sampson took us along with them on a trip down the “Chobe River of Dreams” showing their passion for Africa, animal (especially elephants, John!) and photography – great to share with you. Paul Hatt’s interpretation of “Kinder Mass Trespass” had great landscapes and lots of interesting history thrown in. Wayne Hallam’s “Brace Yourself” images along with explanations of designing and creating braces, dentures and other dental devices! A great evening all round. In the Autumn, we held a Coffee Morning in the Old School, Hope to raise funds for the Club. I admit myself and other committee member (who will remain nameless) did mutter along the line of “why on this lovely sunny Autumn day, ideal for some image catching, are we inside with no one having turned up?” I turned my back for a minute, turning back to find the magic house had arrived, with people piling in to enjoy cake, coffee and to check out the 2024 image exhibition. It was a great result, thank you one and all who helped set up, made cakes, donated raffle prizes and spent money! The ”none” Christmas meal was another highlight of the year presenting no pressures to the committee to come up with a photo quiz – I am saying nothing! It was a lovely evening. If you would like to see more details of 2024 please buy a copy of the Yearbook to see the report in full! Thank you Roger, for once again preparing and organising this. It has been a busy year all round and once again I couldn’t do the job of chairman without the back up and support of all the committee members. Thank you Paul, John, Roger, Keith, Ian and Margaret. I may take a rest from the chair and have a lie down in 2024”! Keith thanked Ann for her second year as Chair – it has been a really good year. Finance – John Sampson, Treasurer The balance sheets were shown on the screen, although copies of the accounts had been sent out previously by email. The m ain points of interest between 2023 and 2024 were outlined. We had spent £51 more last year than in 2023. The main reason for this was the purchase of carry bags for the exhibition display stands. These cost £460.00 in total. Thank you very much to Ian S for organising these with Alpkit, and also for the grant of £250 from the local councillors; therefore we have spent just over £200.00. We made a bit more on subscriptions and also from fund raising events – the meal and coffee morning. The Yearbook broke even – thanks once again to Roger for all his work on producing this. Keith had done an estimated budget for the visiting speakers for 2025 – although the estimate might be slightly more, we still have money to spare. The insurance went up by £25.00 but all in all, 2024 was run on an even keel. Assets –The only change was the purchase of the storage bags. We have kept the insurance the same and everything else is unchanged. Budget forecast this should be up in 2025. There will be a £5.00 per meeting additional charge for the hire of the hall which was reasonable. We have some good speakers arranged for 2025 – especially Alex Hyde in December. Coffee Morning, Social Meal and the Denis Thorpe photo exhibition all help to raise income. We don’t plan any major purchases for 2025. We will cancel the annual Zoom subscription of £160.00. We used Zoom a lot in 2020/21 in the Covid Pandemic, but we have not used this since. Subscriptions these will remain the same as last year – £35 per person, and for spouses/partners the cost will remain £25.00. There were no objections! There were no questions and John was thanked by Keith for a great job on the accounts. He also thanked Ian for all his input on the storage bags – these are kept in the Sacristy at St. Peter’s Church, Hope (free of charge in exchange for putting up the photo display in Wakes Week) these will really protect the boards and stands for the exhibitions. Keith also thanked John for securing the grant for the bags. Election of Officers Notification went out before the meeting; and in his absence, Keith said Paul had not received any other nominations. The President, Ray Fowler, who couldn’t be at the meeting, asked Keith to inform us all that, due to his health condition, he wished to stand down as President of the Society. He is unable to attend meetings and feels that he is unable to contribute to the society in the way he used to. He has been delighted to see the Society grow and achieve the vision that he and Peter Harrison had when they started the Society over 20 years ago. He is now happy to hand over the reins into very capable hands, all being well, for the next 20 years! Thank you, Ray for all your contributions over the years. Margaret would send a Thank you card to Ray. Keith had been nominated President, and was very happy and delighted to take over this role. The Chair, Ann, is standing down after two years in office. Roger is the new Chair – he is delighted to do this, as his last session as Chair was during lockdown in 2020/21. Paul will remain as Secretary. Keith with assistance from Margaret will remain Programme Secretaries. Ian Stanyon volunteered (after the AGM) to be Vice Chair – we are very grateful for this. Thank you. John Sampson is still willing to be Treasurer. Ian Stanyon and Margaret are prepared to continue on committee. All these nominations were proposed en bloc. Thank you all. There are non-committee positions – namely Paul Hatt is the Webmaster and does an excellent job. Zoe Sampson volunteered to be Social Media Secretary The position of Archivist is still vacant if anyone wants to take this on. Refreshments are provided by Margaret and Nick (check this) Roger is happy to continue preparing and producing the Yearbook. Keith and Margaret to continue as Social Secretaries/ Programme arrangers. Gordon Hopewell is happy to continue as Auditor. AOB Margaret went through the programme for 2025 – copies would be available for the March meeting. We have some good evenings planned, with several external speakers, especially Alex Hyde in December. With Zoe’s assistance, we would try and promote the special evenings via Parish News, posters etc. Hopefully this would also encourage people to join the Society. There was no other business and awards and certificates ,for the 2024 Exhibition, were presented as follows:
General Category 1st – John Sampson – “Mother & Child” 2nd – Steve Elliott – “Bolts Over Blue” 3rd – John Sampson – “Clash of The Giants” Commended – Keith Brown – “In Prayer” Commended – Alison Johnston – “Serenity” Commended – Zoe Sampson – “Branch Manager”
Theme 1st – Steve Elliott – “Framing the Fog” 2nd – Keith Brown – “Curious Seagull” 3rd – Margaret Drabble – “Sit” Commended – Alison Johnston – “Concentration” Commended – David Allwood – “Danish Royal Life Guards” Commended – Ann Smith – “Man, Dog and Sheep at Work”
Denis Thorpe Trophy – John Sampson – “Mother & Child”
Catherine Cup – Steve Elliott – “Bolts Over Blue”
Following the presentations (and a cuppa) Roger entertained the members with “Just Scapes”
