PhotoGroup
News and news archive

Winter 2009-10

MEETINGS

Chiltern Society members with an interest in all levels and styles of photography are welcome to attend all PhotoGroup meetings and events. The stress is on 'non-techie' informality. The first indoor meeting for 2010 will be held at 10.30am on Saturday, 9 January at the Amersham Community Centre. PhotoGroup member John Fitzgerald will show pictures of Cuba, noted for being a photogenic and fast-changing country.

On Saturday, 27 March at 10.30am at the same venue Steve Brabner will give a light-hearted talk illustrated by photos and an audio-visual presentation. Called 'Ten Years with a Harley Davidson - What Mid Life Crisis?' it shows what happened after he had bought this iconic motorcycle in California in his mid-40s. He eventually clocked up 40,000 miles travelling across the USA and Europe experiencing the biker culture, huge rallies, mixed weather and a lot of polishing.

OUTDOOR EVENTS

The first outdoor photoshoot will be on Wednesday, 26 May when we visit Latimer and Chenies. Keith Hoffmeister is our guide. We meet at 10.30am, full details to follow.

On Wednesday 7 July the venue is Wallington in South Oxfordshire. Quiller Barrett is our guide. We meet at 10.30am, full details to follow.

The Chilterns photo archive

Outdoor photoshoots in 2009 increased the number of locations and photographs for the archive (www.chilternphoto.org.uk). We now have many historical and contemporary photos of Denham, Aldbury and Goring & Streatley. Members' individual projects also make a valuable contribution. Last summer Don Collier and Keith Hoffmeister separately visited some of the delightful villages that lie at the foot of the Chiltern escarpment, namely: Chinnor, Bledlow, Lewknor, Britwell Salome, Pyrton and Shirburn. A new channel exists for Chesham. Ian Bullock took photos of some of the town's historical features, as well as such recent additions as the Mosque.

Quiller Barrett, PhotoGroup website editor, has produced a documentary set of pictures showing a major barn conversion at Dagnall Farm, near Whipsnade Zoo. He worked with architect Peter Bradford, a committee member of the Historic Buildings and Landscapes Group and co-director of Thompson Bradford Architects Ltd, Tring. You can now see the result at: http://www.chilternphoto.org.uk/introduction/photogroup/dagnall/index.htm

There are now over 4,000 captioned pictures covering over 40 locations in the Chilterns taken in recent years. Collectively, they form a valuable pictorial archive for future generations, recording the region's special character, qualities and amenities, including images of everyday scenes that are not usually photographed. The website regularly receives hundreds of hits each month, including many from overseas visitors.

Every year, from January to December, the PhotoGroup hosts an annual on-line exhibition of 'best work' open to all members of the Chiltern Society. It comprises four categories: Landscape, Buildings, Flora/Fauna and Heritage. Subjects are not necessarily confined to the Chilterns. Full details of this and other PhotoGroup activities, as well as a list of photo archive locations in the Chilterns, are available at www.chilternphoto.org.uk or phone chairman Guy Patterson on 01442 866491.
Bradenham House, pictured by David Iles.