Window Shopping by Christine Smith
The Venture group concept was started by Jim Henson and Phil Peddy in 2005, and Headley was one of the original three groups. It has been going well ever since, with a few changes of members, but two members have belonged to the group since its inception.
We meet regularly through the year to discuss photographs and suggest topics, either in a member’s house or, lately, on Zoom. We have practical sessions occasionally on technical matters such as flash or depth of field, and hopefully at least one meeting each year is a visit to a place of interest.
We normally have a social gathering near Christmas, usually afternoon tea somewhere local.
April 2024 Black and White
David chose this month’s subject, suggesting that it was a good time to try out different ways of producing a black and white image. So we tried photoshop sliders, raw v jpg, producing B+W in camera and other similar techniques. The results are interesting.
February 2024 Low Light
This subject was chosen by Sonia, a suitable subject for winter months. Leslie attended this meeting for the first time, and to see our efforts click here
November 2023 Water
Colin suggested this subject, which resulted in lots of streams and waterfalls, but I believe most people managed to stay dry. Harold produced some scary looking drinks, and David’s drips caused much splashing. Some of our efforts are available here.
September 2023 Window Shopping
This subject, chosen by Kathleen, sounded difficult, but everyone seemed to enjoy it once they went out looking. There are some interesting results, with glass window reflections causing much discussion. Some people successfully used reflections as a feature, and others tried to eliminate them using a polariser or by putting the camera lens against the window.
August 2023 A visit to the Rural Life Centre
We chose a beautiful summer day for this outing, but WiFi was down in the area so only cash payments were taken! This was a dilemma as we planned to go for lunch, and ended up scraping our cash together to buy tea and toasted teacakes all round, the cheapest thing on the menu. We were allowed into the museum when we promised to pay on the way out. The displays there are well done and interesting – have a look at the photos we produced.
June 2023 Machinery
Ann chose this subject, resulting in some interesting photographs. It is surprising how much machinery can be found at home, and as usual aeroplanes featured strongly.
March 2023 Movement
We met at the Pottery for tea on 1 February, a cold day, but the lemon meringue pie and cream scones did wonders! During tea Paul told us the choice for our March meeting, Movement. The variety of photographs to illustrate the subject is impressive considering the awful March weather. Plans to go to the Hawk Conservancy and other interesting places were cancelled due to rain. Paul and David nearly froze on their trip to photograph the A3 at sunset.
Enjoy our photos.
January 2023 Abandonment
As we have been asked to produce photos of “Abandonment” for the Rose Bowl selectors this year, Harold proposed that we use the theme for our meeting. It produced a large number of photos, with two from each of us displayed here – click on the date to see them.
November 2022 Lighting Experiments
It was David’s turn to choose the subject, and he always gives us a real challenge! This time was no different, to photograph a subject with different lighting at different angles. We had some interesting results. (No I am not posting the photos he took of me – they are most unflattering!) But enjoy the interesting effects on the others.
Sept 2022 Fine Art
Sonia chose this subject, and it provoked much debate as to what exactly is meant by Fine Art. We decided it is whatever the viewer chooses to call Fine Art! So look at our photos and decide for yourself.
April 2022 Slow Shutter Speed
For this meeting we aimed to take photos with a shutter speed of 1 second or longer. This was not easy as the weather was bright, but it proved to be an instructional exercise, even if it didn’t produce winning photographs. But some of the results were interesting.
Ann chose “Chocolate” for our March theme, not an easy subject. Ann’s photos showed us all up, they are creative and different.
January 2022 Metal
It was Paul’s turn to select a subject, and he suggested Metal . “My thoughts were that we could photograph the object in colour and then experiment to see if the image looks better in colour or monochrome. Perhaps we could also make adjustments to the contrast etc to see if that improves the image” There were some interesting variations and a few images from each of us are on show.
December 2021 Ready to Eat
Harold chose “Ready to eat” as the subject for this meeting, and some very colourful images resulted. If you are hungry you had better not look!!
October 2021 Glass
This was David’s choice of subject. He recommended a book called “Light – Science and Magic” as an excellent way of learning how to light glass so that highlights were avoided but the edges were emphasised. It was a challenge! But see for yourself how we fared.
August 2021 Visit to the Sculpture Park
Our outing to the Sculpture Park at Churt was attended by only 3 of us. It was a warm afternoon with a tropical feeling in the lush growth, still damp from all the rain we had had. The number and variety of the sculptures impressed us. Well worth going.
June 2021 Insects
This was a hard subject because the cold winds of May delayed the emergence of many insects. They are a challenge to photograph anyway, but we achieved a colourful display, Our thanks go to Geoff for choosing this subject.
April 2021 Spring
Sonia chose Spring for our theme this time, and very springlike the images look.
February 2021 Favourite Photos
For this Zoom meeting each of us chose between 6 and 8 of our favourite photos from the last 10 years or more. This produced a variety of interesting images, and it was interesting to hear what the author felt about each of them. This was Kathleen’s choice.
Three from each member of the group can be seen here.
December 2020 Animals
We had an interesting Zoom meeting on 15 December looking at animal photos from the group. Rob chose this month’s theme.
October 2020 Skies
Most members agreed that this was a hard subject especially if no trees, roofs etc were included. But we ended up with an interesting set of images. Thanks for the idea Ann.
August 2020 – Shadows
Harold’s choice.
June 2020 – Still Life
13 May 2020 In the last few weeks some of us have attempted multiple exposure images in the camera, and some have chosen different subjects in the garden or on daily walks. They can be seen here
1 April 2020 While we are in lock down we have chosen
Self Portraits for this month’s subject.
On 7 January 2020 we gathered at the Pottery in Grayshott for afternoon tea. The cake was delicious and the conversation animated, but the photos I took with my phone are awful. They only serve to show who was there.
Pathways November 2019
Not one of our more popular subjects, but still some good photographs.
Four of us made a visit to West Dean Gardens on 18/09/19. It was a day of brilliant sunshine, perfect for us too much contrast for the photos. More photos here
We had tea at the Chocolate Frog as our Christmas celebration on Friday 14 December 2018..
We meet every 2 months in Headley Down, and have 7 members in the group. Here are some of the projects we have undertaken –
Fruit and Veg Nov 2018 (This was our long term project for 2018)
Movement October 2018
Reflections July 2018
Rubbish May 2018
Bosham visit on 3 May 2018
Umbrellas February 2018
“Flame” – May 2017
Lead in Lines. September 2016
Our long term project over 2016 was Landscapes
Looking Up February 2016
Food and Drink
Marwell Zoo Outing June 2015
People at Work 2015 project This was a long-term project, photographed over several months.~
Candlelight Feb 2015
Eyes December 2014
One Tone October 2014
Boats August 2014
Spring April 2014
Altered Reality Mar 2014
Glass Sept 2013
Bygone Times June 2013
Still Life April 2013
Night Feb 2013
Architecture Oct 2012
