Summary of 2025-26 club activities

 

23 April - British wildlife - A Zoom presentation by professional wildlife photographer Tesni Ward.
Britain is home to some of the most charismatic wildlife in the world, yet some species can be elusive, making them a challenge for any photographer. This talk by Tesni covered her stories from the field, essential fieldcraft and how to ensure you remain ethical whilst developing your own portfolio. She also made her presentation interactive at various points during the evening by inviting the club members in the audience to guess answers to some of her questions. A very informative talk and her enthusiasm for wildlife photography was abundantly clear to everyone in attendance. Below are a small albeit representative sample of her images, all copyright of Tesni Ward

16 April - This was our 5th and final colour print competition of the season which was judged by Justin Cliffe ARPS. As well as giving a good critique of all the prints on display he also commented on how pleasing it was to see so many printed images from a relatively small club such as Cranleigh. After holding back 10 of the 34 entries the judge awarded 10 to the images from Julian Hall and Ron Boon.

The winning images were:

    
On the road from Agra to Delhi by Ron Boon and In Memory of Jan Norwegian Musician by Ron Boon

Lion in the morning light by Julian Hall.

9 April - Cranleigh hosted the 2-way interclub competion which was judged by David Smith LRPS CPAGB BPE1. Congratulations to Ludshott Camera Club who were the overall winners of the competition with a strong selection of images. Cranleigh narrowly won the Open section but in the second half of the evening Ludshott stormed back by winning the Nature section convincingly

The overall points awarded were:

Section	Cranleigh Camera Club	Ludshott Camera Club
Nature	66	73.5
Open	136.5	134.5
Total	202.5	208

9 April - Cranleigh hosted the 2-way interclub competion which was judged by David Smith LRPS CPAGB BPE1. Congratulations to Ludshott Camera Club who were the overall winners of the competition with a strong selection of images. Cranleigh narrowly won the Open section but in the second half of the evening Ludshott stormed back by winning the Nature section convincingly

The overall points awarded were:

Section	Cranleigh Camera Club	Ludshott Camera Club
Nature	66	73.5
Open	136.5	134.5
Total	202.5	208

2 April - No meeting - our Easter break

28 March - We held our annual exhibition at the Cranleigh Village Hall with 227 prints and 132 projected digital images on display in 12 categories. Many visitors commented on the high standard of images on show. Paul Graber ARPS AFIAP judged the exhibition entries and declared Girls just wanna have fun by Chris Flood as the best image in the exhibition.

Girls just wanna have fun by Chris Flood ARPS FIPF

A summary of the winners in each category is shown in the table below.

26 March  - Our Reg Mullard wild flora and fauna competiton was judged by Rosemary Wilman Hon FRPS and in what proved to be a strong competition, she judged Mike Hall's PDI of Confrontation between jackals as the overall winner, narrowly beating Tim Cheshire's winning print of Pintail ducks mating.

The full list of those receiving awards in both print and PDI sections are shown in the table below.

Best PDI and overall winner of Reg Mullard Trophy - Confrontation between jackals by Mike Hall.

  
Griffon vulture dispute by Tim Cheshire and Male Orange-tip butterfly by Angela Karney.

Best print - Pintail ducks mating by Tim Cheshire.

  
Watchful cheetahs by Mike Hall and Brown bear chewing a log by Chris Flood.

19 March  - Owing to a fairly late change in the club programme, members were asked to bring along any of their nature images, eg plants, animals, insects, reptiles, fungi, etc, taken within the Surrey or West Sussex border.
There was a good response resulting in many prints and PDIs being shown and discussed during the meeting. A small albeit representative selection of members' images are shown below.

    

    

      

12 March  - Graham Kurn kindly judge our annual Match-a-Print competition between ladies and gentlemen knowing he would be heckled by many members for his judgements, such heckling being an encouraged part of this fun event. Both teams each had 40 images from which they could choose a match during each of the forty competiton rounds with 1 point for a match and 1 point for the best of the two competing images on display. In the end the points were evenly split between the ladies and gents. It was a well fought match of two halves with the gentlemen 8 points clear in the first half but the ladies stormed back in the second half, refreshed after the coffee break, and forced the draw.

All in all a good fun evening with much heckling of the judge's decisions taken in good humour in keeping with the spirit of the competition and if you are interested to see the rules for this competition they can be found at Match a print

5 March - Eddie Hyde FRPS judged the 28 PDIs and 26 mono prints in our 4th PDI and Mono print competitions which also included the Set subject: Dusk to dawn. He gave a good critique of all the images on display and made suggestions for how some of the images could be improved.
In the PDI competition he held back a total of 7 images (5 in the open section and 2 for the set subject) before awarding the amaximum score of 10 to three images in the open section from Ron Boon, Pete Baldrey and Elizabeth Bulley and to two set subject images from Stefan Foryszewski and Tim Cheshire.
In the Mono print competition he held back 9 images (5 open and 4 set subject) before awarding maximum marks to Mike Hall and Jonathan Harrison in the open section and Stefan Foryszewski and Tim Cheshire in the set subject.

PDI Open section:

  
A Different Liverpool by Elizabeth Bulley and Girl with the braids by Pete Baldrey


Becky by Ron Boon

PDI Set subject section - Dusk to dawn


Hove shore front on a miserable morning by Stefan Foryszewski


Sunset - Wildwood Lane by Tim Cheshire

Mono print Open section:

    
Mountains at Maligne Lake, Canada by Mike Hall and Oaks in the mist by Jonathan Harrison

Mono print Set subject section - Dusk to dawn

    
Medieval bridge at sunset by Tim Cheshire and Cranleigh fireworks by Stefan Foryszewski

26 February  - No formal meeting as members brought along their images and completed entry forms for the club's Annual Exhibition due to be held on Saturday 28 March 2026 and judged by Paul Graber ARPS.

19 February - The 4th round of our colour prints competition with the set subject Dusk to dawn was judged by Rob Bonfield. Out of the 36 entries, 18 in the open section and 18 for the set subject, he held back a total of 11 images before awarding the maximum score of 10 to Julian Hall and Angela Karney in the open section and 10 to the image from Anne Ingram for the set subject.

The winning images are:

    
Open section; - Elephants everywhere by Julian Hall and Pink carnation by Angela Karney

Set subject: - End of the day by Anne Ingram

12 February - Our ex-chairman and life member Dave Brooker returned to the club to give a talk about his travel photography. Landscape photography is Dave's preferred genre and he showed us a variety of of his images taken during his travels to many locations far and wide. All his superb images were shown in the form of AV presentations which also had our feet tapping along with his choice of the supporting music accompaniment. During the second half of the evening Dave reviewed various travel photos brought along by club members. All in all a very interesting and entertaining evening.

5 February - Pete Baldrey led an evening devoted to smartphone photography. Members brought along some of their images taken on their phones and these were discussed and commented upon by other members. The discussions were not just about the images but also how to use the phone tools as well as post processing and how the images could possibly be improved in some way. A small albeit representative selection of the many images discussed during the evening are shown below.

  

29 January - There were 26 PDIs and 28 mono prints entered in the 3rd round of the open colour PDI and Mono print competitions judged by Bogdan Schiteanu. He gave a fair critique of all the images on display with suggestions for how some of the images could be improved.
In the PDI competition he held back 9 images before awarding the amaximum score of 10 to three images from Ron Boon, Pete Baldrey and Julian Hall.
In the Mono print competition he held back 9 images and awarded maximum marks to two images by Stefan Foryszewski and to an image by Tim Cheshire.

PDI Open section:

  
Otter by Ron Boon and Through the Braids by Pete Baldrey

Wild Dog Puppy Stare by Julian Hall

Mono Print Open section:

    
Kane by Stefan Foryszewski and Secret Courtyard - Girona by Tim Cheshire

One sixth of a second by Stefan Foryszewksi

22 January - A presentation by Stephen Ball "Scotland through the lens".

Stephen Ball is one of Scotland’s most respected and influential photographers with a body of work that captures the stunning natural beauty Scotland has to offer. Stephen's talk was a captivating journey through the lens of a skilled photographer,showcasing over 180 photographs of Scotland's breathtaking landscapes and finishing with pictures taken as an official photographer during the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Throughout his talk Stephen not only showed stunning images but also provided valuable insights into the techniques used to capture them. From the field to the processing stage, Stephen's attention to detail was evident as he shared his camera settings, including aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, that brought his images to life as well as delving into the use of filters, composition, and light to create visually striking and emotionally resonant photographs.

Stephen's ability to blend technical expertise with artistic vision made this talk a truly enriching experience for photography enthusiasts and nature lovers alike. A small selection of his pictures, copyright of Stephen Bell, are shown below.

15 January - Our 3rd open Colour prints competition of the season was judged by David Hughes DPAGB ARPS BPE2. 37 images were entered for the competition and during a well balanced critique he held back 9 images for further consideration before awarding Stephan Foryszewski, Mike Hall and Angela Karney the maximum score of 10 points for their images, as seen below.

    
Mushrooms by Stefan Foryszewski and Watchful cheetahs by Mike Hall

Kotor, old town by Angela Karney

8 January 2026: - The first meeting after the Christmas break was a scheduled workshop – Q&A, plus advice for your images but unfortunately it had to be cancelled at the last minute because of the bad weather forecast that evening.

18 December, 25 December and 1 January 2026: - Club was closed for the Christmas break.

11 December - Club members and partners celebrated Christmas 2025 at the Bricklayers Arms, Shamley Green with a good meal in convivial company. During the evening the chairman announced the Chairman's challenge this year which will have the theme Show me love.

The challenge will not be about technical skills either in camera or editing in post but needs to clearly demonstrate love through emotion and how you feel.
As examples it could be a favourite image of your wife, husband, partner or children or it may be the love that someone else shares, ie a couple in love. It could also be a loved pet or even include something that is physical and moves you emotionally in some way such as a vehicle, car, motorbike, cycle, train, tree, plant, flower or place.

4 December - Graham Mansfield judged our 2nd PDI and Mono print competitions which included the Set subject: Anything in water. After holding back 5 images in the Mono print open section and 4 in the set subject he awarded the maximum score to images from Angela Karney and Mike Hall respectively.
In the PDI competition he held back 4 images in the open section and 2 in the set subject before awarding maximum marks to Julian Hall in the open and to Ron Boon in the set subject as follows:

Mono print Open section:

Falling tulip by Angela Karney

Mono print Set subject section - Anything in water

Zebras in the waterhole by Mike Hall

PDI Open section:

Baby Elephant having a rest by Julian Hall

PDI Set subject section - Anything in water

Waiting by Ron Boon

27 November - The evening commenced with a presentations by fellow member Ron Boon: People whilst traveling - Street and candid photography. Ron showed a number of his images, some taken years previously on film and digitally scanned, most of which related to his travels overseas including the USA and Cuba. Ron explained why he had taken each image and how he approaches people in order to gain their consent to be photographed. He emphasised how important it was to greet people with a smile and in many cases where there are language difficulties to gesture with his hands to indicate he would like to photograph them. In the majority of cases this always works. Ron generally uses small cameras with reasonably short focal length lenses, a 50mm standard being one of his favourites, enabling him to be less conspicuous and less threatening as well as not advertising expensive camera equipment.

For the second half of the evening Miles Thompson's talk covered: Spanish architecture and Scottish landscapes. Miles has a love for landscape photography and architecture, historic buildings such as castles, palaces and churches in particular. He took us on a brief tour of Andalusia in Spain visiting the architectural wonders of Seville, Cordoba and Granada namely: the largest gothic cathedral in the world - Santa María de la Sede and the Royal Alcázar of Seville, the amazing intricate Moorish architecture of the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos and the Mezquita in Cordoba as well as the Alhambra in Granada before ending the Spanish element of his talk with images of Gaudy's gothic architectural masterpiece the Basilica de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona.

Some of the images from their talks are shown below:

        
New Orleans street kids and Cuban lady at home by Ron Boon

        
Seville Cathedral and On the path to Kilchurn castle on Loch Awe by Miles Thompson

20 November - Our 2nd Colour prints competition also included an open and a set subject section which were judged by Keith Newton LRPS. The set subject being - Anything in water. In all 37 images were entered and, after Keith gave some feedback and advice for how each image could possibly be improved, he awarded the maximum score of 10 in the open section to Mike Hall and Ann Smith and to Mike Hall and Ann Smith for compliance with the set subject. Their winning images are shown below.

Open section

        
The leopard stare by Mike Hall and An impression of autumn by Ann Smith

Set subject - Anything in water

    
Hippos play fighting by Mike Hall and Stillness by Ann Smith

13 November - Photo art challenge. Ten club members brought along their own creative art, inspired by the work of Stan Farrow we saw during his presentation the previous week. Despite having such a limited time to prepare their submissions it was remarkable to see so many images and just how creative our members are in producing photo art, often a genre not commonly seen during club competitions outside of the digital art category at the club's annual exhibition. Each member described why and how they created their images which led to some discussion by those present. Most of the artwork submitted had been processed using software such as Photoshop in order to produce the final result in the few examples from Ann Smith and Angela Karney below.

  

 

6 November - Photo art - A talk by Stan Farrow. Stan describes himself as a creative digital photographer. When he took early retirement a few years ago, he returned to university to study Art History, to follow a strong interest in Modern Art. Nowadays he enjoys applying his interest in art to his photographic work which has been ongoing since childhood. In this Photo Art talk he showed the inspiration behind some of his creative photographic artwork, also describing how it was produced. He is always far more interested in turning his photography into art, rather than producing work for competition purposes, although often the two go hand-in hand. He greatly enjoys using Photoshop creatively to make his digital art, especially still-life work with layers of texture. Having said that much of his work is simple to create at home and involves few digital skills whatsoever.

Here are just a few examples of his work, © Stan Farrow, shown during his presentation:

30 October - There were 28 PDIs and 32 mono prints entered in the 1st round of the open colour PDI and Mono print competitions judged by Geoff Young. He gave a fair critique of the images on display and offered his opinion of how some of the images could be improved. In the PDI competition he held back 10 images before awarding amaximum score of 10 to two images from Ann Smith and Tim Cheshire. In the Mono print competition he held back 14 images and awarded maximum marks to the images from Angela Karney, Ron Boon and Mike Hall.

PDI Open section:

    
Cormorant on an rusty hulk by Tim Cheshire and After the road cleaner by Ann Smith

Mono print section:

    
Medicine Lake, Alberta Canada by Mike Hall and Meiji shrine Buddist contemplation by Ron Boon

Winter Clematis by Angela Karney

 

23 October - Maintenance work at the church hall required this meeting to be changed to a Zoom only event but this did not deter members from submitting a range of images as PDIs. The subject for the evening was Photo disasters and what the judge said and the objective was to allow members to air their views on why they may have liked their particular images and what they meant to the photographer even though the images may not have always been seen favourably by others. Overall a full and entertaining evening.

16 October - Our 1st open Colour prints competition of the season was judged by Tim Morland ARPS. 37 images were entered and during a well balanced critique he held back 11 images for further consideration before awarding Julian Hall (2 images) and Pete Baldrey the maximum score of 10 points for their images as seen below.

    
Egrets and Lion siblings by Julian Hall

Breaking the rules by Pete Baldrey

9 October - An informal club meeting where many members shared some of their favourite images or those that they simply liked and which, on occasion, may not always have been appreciated by external judges in competitions. The range of photographs was wide in terms of when the image was taken and subject matter - portraits, street photography, landscapes, wildlife, flowers and abstracts. Members gave their reasons for wishing to share their image, what it meant to them and the why and how they may have taken the shot. A full and very enjoyable meeting with many interesting stories behind each of the photographs, information that often we don't get to hear during events such as club competitions etc.

2 October - A Cranleigh Camera Club meeting where members shared some of their photographs taken during the summer as part of the summer challenge The Joys of Summer. It included any subject that reflected joyful summer experiences. In total nearly forty photographs were shared stimulating excellent conversation and feedback and whilst there were typical images of summer others were less so, including an outstanding photograph of a badger.

Here are just a few of the images shown during the evening.

    

25 September - Making sense of the landscape - A talk by Eddie Hyde in person at the Baptist church hall.

The talk was Eddie Hyde's personal take on how to meet the challenges of landscape photography.

The main themes were:

• Composition (How much of what can be seen should be included in an image)
• Lighting and weather and options for variations (Right Place at the Right Time)

Quoting Ansell Adams “Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer and often the supreme disappointment”, Eddie regarded this as extremely apposite. While we can travel to a destination that holds the potential to deliver great images if the lighting and weather are not “right” then maybe we will not obtain any images

That said, his talk went on to explore what makes satisfying and artistic landscape images. How to find compositions in less obvious places but where also there is more chance of getting an image that has not already been photographed a thousand times ie an image that is truly our own, together with understanding what are the best lighting conditions and what options are available for when the conditions are not “ideal”.

Here are a few sample images, copyright of Eddie Hyde, discussed during the evening:

18 September - Our first club meeting after the summer break was an informal event hosted by the new club chairman Mike Guy and it was an opportunity to welcome and introduce new members to the club. Phil Copestick had put together a slide show showing a number of images created by various members on their mobile phones, which was a mini project, held by a small group of members during the summer break in order to explore various camera phone modes and settings including techniques such as using the camera upside down. This generated much discussion before we eventually broke for refreshments and socialising for the remainder of the evening.

A few examples of the mobile phone pictures, extracted from the slide show, are shown below.