Competition season is well under way at Alton Camera Club, and the first Print Challenge competition had a distinctly local feel with the theme being Alton and Around.

The judge, Mike Taylor, had the difficult task of selecting his top three from 34 worthy images. Club member Tony Coles was awarded 10 points for both of his images Victorian Cricket on the Butts (pictured below) and The Ghost of Alton’s Sweet Fanny Adams which were placed first and second respectively. Renee Smith was awarded 10 points and third place for St Michael and All Angels, Cheriton.

Barry Clark was Highly Commended for Crown Hill, Alton as was Kelvin Perry for Battle for Church of St Lawrence.  

Our league competitions got under way also. In round one of the Print League competition, Kelvin Perry was awarded a ‘10’ for his image Move Over Honey and Tony Coles was awarded 10 points for Purple Haze performed by Eric Gales.

In round two of the PDI (Projected Digital Image) League competition three images were awarded ‘10’s’. Lynne Harles for Wailing Stag, Sue Dewey for Misty Walk and Paul Booker for Stop Looking at Me. 

In the first of two talks, the club welcomed professional photographer Andrew Mills who gave us an insight into My Career as a Professional, a presentation of his work from the last 45 years in advertising, freelance, magazines and general commercial work. 

In contrast, Linda Haney gave an inspiring talk on My Creative Journey. Linda’s main photographic interest is wildlife photography but she uses creative lenses to capture the natural world in a more abstract way. 

A busy field trip programme saw us at Winkworth Arboretum where we had a glorious day capturing the reds, oranges and browns of autumn.  We also travelled to the tropical environment of The Living Rainforest in Berkshire where we photographed lizards, blue frogs, toucans, many exotic birds and plants.

December sees us ‘winding down’ for Christmas although we’ll still manage to fit in a Panoramic print competition, a trip to London to capture the Christmas illuminations, a tutorial evening and our Christmas social.

Alton Camera Club would like to wish readers of the Herald a very Merry Christmas. Our season resumes on Wednesday, January 10. New members are always welcome at the club, no experience is necessary, just enthusiasm and a camera or mobile phone camera.

We meet every Wednesday, 7.30pm at Holybourne Village Hall, GU34 4HD. Please see www.altoncameraclub.org.uk for more details and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.