Ashbourne Show 2026 turned out to be very successful in terms of response to our images and to the number of new members who showed interest and have signed up for our new season along with all the encouraging comments from visitors to our tent at the show.
At the first meeting we welcomed them and hoped they would enjoy the programme we had put together for the new season. As usual we also showed some images taken at the Show and from our members taken during the break in the summer.
Simon Watkinson was our first speaker returned and showed us some images from his work as a commercial photographer. Throughout his talk he encouraged us to look at our own work, particularly in terms of what the light was doing and how we composed our images. He illustrated this from his own work in Derbyshire and from Nepal, where he spent time working for travel companies in a very testing and sometimes dangerous environment.
Our first competition was titled, Transport, not everyone’s cup of tea but showed some interesting images. Judged by the very well respected and experienced Judge, Ralph Duckett, we were all given insight into our own entries especially focussing on Composition, Lighting and Distracting elements. The constructive comments were all designed to make us think and improve own photography. The winning images were from, Frank Hobbs, who took the Printed Section with an Image called Holding the Bend and Stephen Frampton took the Digital (PDI) section with Fly Me to the Moon. Congratulations to them and to all who entered.
The members evening was shared by Alison Matthews and Glyn Bass. Alison had images from a Press Photography Competition in 1956 which she was given, or rather, were saved from a skip. Research into the images then put Photographers names to these black and white images and the stories of these photographs. It was obvious, that, between then and now only technology has changed but the skill still lies in the composition and actual skills involved in taking of the photographs often under quite dangerous circumstances. In the second part of the evening, some famous images were the shown of iconic photographs from the last 70 years with instant research using google to identify any outstanding questions about those images. Something a little different involving an often forgotten group of photographers.
The technical section, which we intend to make an important part of this year’s programme, was given over to an update by Grain Photography about the Shrovetide Football Game Project. They have worked with town schools and with organisations in our community who are closely linked to the Game and its Heritage. An explanation was given about the work and progress of the project in our community. Some of their work has been shown in the town, but they are hoping on completion, that the images and results of conversations with local players and those who support the game will be shown locally and eventually as an exhibit in Derby Museum. We will keep you informed as this continues, our club has made a contribution to the project. In the second half of the evening, Steve Warren, showed some ingenious ways to use home made filters to modify images. Using everyday household objects such as glassware and papers with a pair of scissors he has found ways to change images. Very much food for thought and experiment!
So we begin. We look forward to our new season and to working with our new members. It is good to see so many showing an interest in what we do. We look forward to seeing their images and learning from each other and we hope to show their work in this report and on our website.
G.B.
