Isle of Man Photographic Society column: The most recent gathering of the Isle of Man Photographic Society saw a presentation by club president Tony Curtis.
His theme was ‘disappearing’ based on this part quote by Henri Cartier-Bresson - ‘Photographers deal in things which are constantly changing...’
A photograph captures a moment in time and that moment can never be recaptured because undoubtedly something will have changed such as the sun going down or a cloud going dark, a shaft of sunlight is a momentary sight gone in seconds. Also, a child, animal or bird is never still for long.
Tony ably demonstrated his theme of ‘disappearance’ by presenting images, many and varied of his own photographic work, most of which he took during his lunch breaks.
His images included landscapes and coastlines which are quite difficult to turn into a balanced composition without having too much of either sea or land in the frame.
He showed us scenes of last year’s winter freeze including some beautiful naturally-sculpted waves of snow in Kirk Michael.
We saw some stunning wildlife photos including wild wallabies in the Curraghs, a hard-to-find red-legged partridge, fabulous Scandinavian waxwings, and a heron in flight for which Tony had patiently waited for two hours.
Another change of subject was beach racing and the TT, with some outstanding shots of bikes and riders including some famous faces.
Tony amused the members with anecdotes of how he actually ended up getting some of those photos.
Tony is also a wedding photographer and he showed us some wedding shots which had been incredibly difficult to shoot due to either weather or the venue not being suitable for taking great pictures.
He told us how he often had to use combinations of flash and exposure to make colours, textures and light look natural in the photos.
By the end of his presentation Tony had clearly demonstrated that photography really is dealing with ever changing things. We usually get only one chance to get our pictures right so it’s good to think in advance of what you want your finished picture to look like then to go out and, especially with wildlife - be patient.
On January 22, the society will be holding an assignment competition entitled Night Time. Images will be in both printed and digital format.
Entries for the next open print competition will also be due in on the same evening.
The society was very saddened to learn of the recent passing of one of its members.
Roy Gerrard died on January 5 after a long and brave fight with illness.
The committee and all the members of the IOMPS would like to send their condolences to his family during this very sad time.
Visit www.iomps.com for more information about the society.
Anne Bidwell
IOMPS president Tony Curtis is pictured with one of the images from his presentation.