Category Archives: Club News

Club News

SPA Biennial Exhibition

The Surrey Photographic Association Exhibition 2024

2024 sees the return of the Biennial Exhibition at the Guildford House Gallery.  Club members submitted their entries for selection which took place 15-17 February.  Suzy Courtnage LRPS had two of her images (Stairwell and Brown Rat) selected for inclusion within the Exhibition.
The exhibition will open on the 5th April and close on 27th.  The awards dinner will be held in Reigate Manor Hotel on the 5th April.

See February 2024 News letter for full details.

Club News, Summer Challenge

Summer Challenge 2022

Summer Challenge 2022

Summer challenge 2022 – “Celebrating the British Countryside in Summer”

The entries may be viewed here

“This may be a long title but I hope it inspires you to go out and photograph our beautiful countryside with its rivers, hills, villages, canals, woods and coasts. I could go on but you know what is out there, and we would like photos taken this summer, not archive images.

The closing date for entries is midnight on Friday 26 August, after which all members are invited to vote for their favourite images. The scores will be collated by David Bird.

 Each member may enter up to 3 images, the usual 1600×1200 pixels, sRGB colour space, with the file named as Title by Name. Entries should be sent to competition@ludshottpc.org.uk 

The Summer Challenge has been running since 2008 as a web based bit of fun during the summer break, and winners since 2012 can be seen on our website at https://ludshottpc.org.uk/summer-challenge. There are some excellent collections from past years.

Kathleen and David Bird

Club News

Mike Withers

I am sorry to tell you that Mike Withers died peacefully in hospital on Thursday 14 April, with his family around him, and our heartfelt condolences go to his wife Marguerite and their children.

Mike was a long- standing member of the club, and was our Chairman in 2012 – 13. He did a great deal of work for the club, including editing our accounts over many years, and was always ready to join in on social occasions. When we moved to Headley Village Hall he, as a Trustee of the hall, went out of his way to smooth our progress.

Mike was a professional electrical engineer and enjoyed a celebrated career which included becoming, in his later years, a Professor at Loughborough University.

Kathleen

Club News

SPA Award for Mike Young ARPS

SPA Award for Mike Young ARPS

At the postponed 2020 SPA Biennial Exhibition Mike Young’s picture of the ‘Cuckoo landing’ received the judges’ Nature section Selector’s Award medal.

On April 4th 2022 David Smith LRPS CPAGB, the SPA president at the time, presented Mike with his medal, certificate and DVD. Below is the Cuckoo landing.

 

Club News

David Barrett

I am sorry to tell you that a long standing and stalwart member of the club, David Barrett, died on Thursday 31 March. When I first joined Ludshott Photographic Club, David,  a founder member of the club, was the Competition Secretary, internal and external.  He ran it all from paper lists – no computers were in evidence then. The competitions were either prints or slides, and David taught me how to label the slides – upside down – and to mask them where necessary; there was no easy cropping in those days.

David had a wonderful sense of humour, and always joined in enthusiastically at serious meetings and fun socials alike. He helped with everything, and did very well in club and SPA competitions. He loved architectural photographs and portraits and ran the first portrait workshop for club members.

Kathleen Bird


Gordon Rae knew David well. He says

I worked with David at ICI in Fernhurst, and we cheerfully competed against each other in the annual friendly photo competitions there in the late 70s and 80s. Then I drifted away from photography for many years until David cajoled me into joining Ludshott in 2007 with something new called a “digital camera”.

I cannot thank him enough for all the fun, friendship and help I have enjoyed ever since in LPC, even though when I showed one of the best flower photographs I have ever taken his remark was “Not that bloody poppy again!”


A message from Brian Thomas:  “Very sad, he was a good friend to me too when I joined the club, and was always supportive and made helpful critiques of some of my efforts, but in his inimitable style he would also gently reproach your efforts if you then didn’t pay attention to his words. A fine photographer and such a valued club member. My thoughts are with his family at this time.”

Caroline Lemka: “I’m very sorry to hear that.  I knew David well having worked with him at ICI in Farnham for the best part of 15 years.  He was always the unofficial photographer at any department event.  In fact I introduced him to computing!”

David at an SPA Awards dinner in 2007 with Tony Riley and Kathleen Bird

David on drinks duty at the club’s 10th anniversary social in 2005 with Les Howard and Jim Henson.

(Click on the thumbnails above for a larger picture)

Club News

David Huntingford

 David Huntingford died peacefully at home with his family on 1 December after a few weeks in hospital.
 
He was a very active early member of the club, and held the position of Club Secretary for many years before becoming Vice Chairman. He took over as Chairman for 2 years when Phil Peddy retired in 2008.
 
David did a great deal for the club especially with regard to our sound system, which he designed and managed for many years. He was always willing to share his camera knowledge and to help new members. In 2007 he was instrumental in obtaining a lottery grant for the club to buy our first computer and projector. Up until then we had been producing colour slides for some competitions.
 
Playing Croquet with Phil Peddy at the Club BBQ in 2015  David explaining a technical point
Club News, Exhibitions

LPC Exhibitions

Biennial Exhibition at the Holme School 2023

 The club held its Bi-Ennial Exhibition on Saturday 23nd September 2023 where we had over 100 images which looked splendid displayed on stands in the hall of the Holme School.

In line with previous years we had a number of pupils from the school who were mentored by members of the club over the summer holidays. Having taken their photographs, they each chose 3 on which to carrying out some post production work before their images were mounted for inclusion in the exhibition.

A large team of members soon made swift work of setting up on the Friday before the exhibition, gave their time on Saturday to provide a meet and greet service during the Exhibition and clear up afterwards.

From the proceeds of the raffle and the sale of some of the prints, the Exhibition successfully raised £170 for the school which was presented to Sarah Stevenson the school head at the end of the day.

There was a vote for the Best Print of the Exhibition which was won by school pupil Lottie Carter’s Robber Fly which can be seen below with Grant Dawkin’s Cathedral coming second and a whole host of third equals.

 

LPC Biennial Exhibition 2021

Ludshott Photographic Club held an exhibition at the Holme Junior School in Headley on 25 September.

A general view was that this exhibition, held in the Hall of Holme School Headley, was one of the best ever attended. A team of members led by Diana Grant planned, advertised and executed the exhibition.

We showed over 100 prints, 15 of which were taken by five young ladies from the school who were tutored by 5 members of the club.  Their standard was so high that their prints seamlessly fitted  among those of members.

The exhibition was sponsored by Allglass frameworks and Alert locksmiths of Bordon, which, together with a very well supported raffle of gifts by local businesses, plus a sale of prints, raised just under £400 for school funds.

The link to the school was via John Gamble, a club member and a Governor at the school.
Club News

Success at Woking’s Rosebowl competition

Ludshott did it! We won this SPA Interclub competition on 9 March 2021!

Congratulations to our selection team and the five photographers who presented the winning  panel  at  this annual  competition.

The five photographs and their authors were:
Now and Then in Russia by Gordon Rae LRPS CPAGB
Mummy’s Angel by  John Dumble
Phoenix Rising by Jonathan Plummer
Pretty Flamingo by John Gamble LRPS
Ownership by John Wichall ARPS DPAGB

Club News

Phil Peddy ARPS APAGB

It fills me with great sadness to have to tell you that our friend and President, Phil Peddy ARPS APAGB, was taken into the Royal Surrey hospital two weeks ago after a fall, and died peacefully there on 27 December 2020. Jose and their son were able to visit him for the last few days when he was moved to a private room. He would have been 95 in January.

Phil lived for many years in Molesey, where he was a teacher and a member of Molesley Photographic Club. When Phil retired from teaching he and Jose moved to Headley Down, and as there was no camera club nearby, Phil set about organising one with a small group of friends. Thus was born Ludshott Photographic Club, with Phil as Chairman, a position he held for 13 years. In 2008 he resigned the Chairmanship and was made Life President of the Club. 

Phil was an excellent photographer, always willing to help new members. He ran workshops and would offer individual training whenever he could. Over the years Phil was involved with running  the Surrey Photographic Association and the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain. He was a well-respected SPA judge, helping to train new aspirants to judging as well as judging competitions and exhibitions in Surrey and beyond.

I learned a great deal about photography from Phil. He started the Venture Group idea to enable small groups within the club to help each other, and he joined the Audio Visual group with enthusiasm from its beginning.  

Phil was an irreplaceable inspiration when it came to appreciating images and running the club.

There will never be another Phil Peddy.

Kathleen Bird LRPS CPAGB
Vice President

Photos of Phil here
Club News

John Wichall ARPS DPAGB

It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that our Club Secretary John Wichall died peacefully on Thursday 30 July 2020 after a long battle with Myeloma. My deep condolences go to Lin and her family.

SPA AGM Individual competition award winner in 2015

John joined the club as a “beginner” in 2011, and quickly became one of our top photographers. He became our Secretary not long after he joined, and remained in that position until the end. He was always willing to help members in the club, offering the excellent advice to would-be competition entrants, “Never give the judge anything to criticise.”

His great interest was wildlife, especially birds, and this was what he mainly photographed, entering many winners into Club and SPA competitions. He always joined in enthusiastically with our social events and outings and was a great asset to the club.

In 2017 John wrote an account of his photographic career for the PAGB News, which is reproduced here –

“My fascination with nature and love of nature photography have their origins in the inspiring wildlife programmes of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It didn’t matter whether it was Armand and Michaela Dennis on the plains of East Africa, Peter Scott telling us to “Look” or Jacques Cousteau who was “Diving to Adventure”, I dreamed of doing what they did and, I guess, the wish to capture the experience with a camera must have been buried somewhere in my subconscious. Fast forward to the early 70’s and I at last got my hands on an SLR, my wife’s Practika, which I quickly discovered was fine for recording friends and family, but with only a 135mm lens was not a lot of use for capturing wildlife.
Though I up-graded my kit in the following years, wildlife photography continued to take a back seat to family, travel and landscapes, and that remained the situation until 2011 when I retired and decided to join my first camera club. Ludshott Photographic Club opened my eye to what was achievable. Although Ludshott is a small village club, it has always competed in events organised by the Surrey Photographic Association and enters the GB Cup annually. Whilst we cannot compete with the larger clubs, entering federation and national competitions gives our members the opportunity to compete against and see some of the best images produced by UK club photographers. I’ve found involvement with these competitions inspiring.
Ludshott has traditionally been strong in producing nature images, which encouraged me to develop my interest, but joining the club has also showed me that there were other genres that I could and should develop to get the most from my hobby. The club encourages members to aspire to PAGB or RPS distinction. I initially followed the RPS route, gaining ARPS with a Nature panel in 2015, which was based on the birds in my home county of Hampshire, and this provided a foundation for a successful submission for DPAGB in 2016.”

To see some of John’s winning photographs click here.

by Kathleen