Diary 2007 

For quicker uploading for viewers without Broadband the diary is divided into yearly quarters

“Gold Seal”  
Well Mr. Gold Medal himself returned to the winning enclosure, with his “Seal” finishing top of the pile in our annual “Nature Photography Competition”. Our guest judge for the evening was given a truly difficult task with a very strong field of nearly forty prints. Trailing Stewart into second place was Peter with a wonderful flower study. Julie closed out the top three with her “Damsel Fly” and Larissa snuck into forth with her evil looking “Fly”. The most exciting aspect in seeing the entries up on the walls was the huge variety of subjects which had taken our members interest. If a lesson need be learnt it is that there is a whole big world out there so get out and explore (it don’t hurt to bring your camera too!).
 

“Who are you calling Big Nose?”  
Once again, after class we had the opportunity to put some theory to test, on this occasion focusing. With this in mind Paul roped in the assistance of a couple of big nosed, hat wearing models to highlight the perils of auto focus. So with Beaney and Barney in place and with camera on tripod, Peter did a masterclass on how to manually focus for the assembled gallery. After everybody had a go, Beaney and Barney were given the sack, but by that stage a whole new appreciation for the art of correct focusing was understood by all.
 

“Laugh, I nearly split my pants”  
It was with great pleasure we welcomed the S.W.C.C. to our humble abode. With over thirty entries for the competition and the standard being so high, the judges had a particularly difficult task on their hands. The competition was split into two sections. The first was all about capturing the essence of the Dog Show and was duly one by Joe, with his situation comedy involving two owner’s, two dogs and some laughing onlookers. Larissa grabbed second and the Honourable George was third. Section two was purely a photographic quality class and was headed by Larissa with her leaping dog with Paul snaffling up second and third. Congratulations to all the winners and those that took part. Sympathy must be extended to Stewart who left his entries with a “friend”  who failed to then submit them, goes to show the old saying, “a mans best friend is his dog”, does have a certain validity! 

Click here to see the SWCC photos.
 

“Canine Capers”  
So on the feast day of Pauley, we gathered at the Arklow Sports Centre for the Annual South Wicklow Canine Club Competition. As well as a fun afternoon in the sun there was also the serious question of getting entries for next Wednesday’s competition. Once again a sizable collection of members represented the Society at the event and many good photo opportunities were to be had. Of course Wednesday will see the fruits of these labour’s.
 

“Homework - Cutlery”  
Back by popular demand, tonight we have the return of our homework sessions this weeks theme is “Cutlery”. So dig out your old Bob Carlos Clarke video’s and let’s see you get your gums around some knives, forks and spoons! Print them out and bring ‘em in!
 

“Fine art paneling with Mr. Case”  
Stewart has kindly agreed to begin our winter season and the lead up to the November Distinctions in Carlow, with a workshop on panel presentation. So all you budding L’s and A’s lets see what you have being working on over the last few months.
 

“People nearly at the Ready”  
With Peoples Photography only days away, tonight we will make the hard selections of what to put on show. So don’t forget to bring your mounted photos in please, at least six would be nice! Please also support the manning of the exhibition over the weekend; it is also a great opportunity to see some great work from other photographers and talk to them too!
 

“What a fine potpourri”  
It was another fun practical session tonight, with Paul bringing along a flatbed scanner and an odd assortment of plant life. In short each member had to “Take and Make”

their own little arrangement on the scanner glass which was then sucked into the computer for some Picasa makeover. With a selection of Potpourri, Lavender, Honeysuckle, Holly and some other odds and ends, the creative juices really began to flow. In the end everybody had a go, with in my opinion, Colum coming out on top for his “minimalist selection”, Peter second with his “little friend” (spitting image of Willie), and King Robert third with “Gingerbread man in space”.

“Are you feeling lucky?”  
No matter how hard we tried, we still could not turn El Presidente into a beautiful blonde! Of course we are talking photography here, particularly that handy little bundle of fun “Picasa”. Although its “Are you feeling lucky” selection failed miserably on a photo of Robert, Julie managed to work wonders on a number of selections from her archives’. Even Mr. Film, His Excellency Colum D’Wobbles, was impressed if not a little jealous. Just as well he has no computer at the moment or he may have turned back to the darkside! Remember “Picasa 2” is available for free download from the Google Website, so no excuses!
 

“Four Willies and a Downpour”
So Sunday was a total washout, but the Five Musketeers (Pat, Stewart, Colum, El Presidente & Paul), duly manned the barricades’ to collect as much cash for Arklow Lifeboat Station as possible. As usual poor Pat got the hot and sweaty job inside of “Stormy Stan”, Paul ran the stairs and Stewart extracted the cash. Unfortunately just as we were getting into the grove, a heavy shower of rain dispersed the crowd and ended our day. Even so “Stormy” collected €160 in 3.5 hours, which is not too shabby. Meanwhile Colum and Robert managed to sell six pictures from our “Mallow Panels” at the TBPS stall, which raised another €60, bringing our total up to €220. Although this was shy of the €400 raised last year, we did it in a quarter of the time. Well done to all!

Final Score, - Larissa 1 – Paul 1 – Willie 4.  

“In search of the Third Man (Gingerbread Edition)”
As promised Ines delivered her eagerly awaited slideshow presentation and in the process set a new standard for the Society with the quality and breath of the work. Comprising the combined photographic works of King Robert and Ines herself, the show was truly magnificent. With excellent changes of pace provided by an expertly chosen selection of music, this really was a major jump forward in the quality of work hither to shown at the Society.

The show itself was of their summer vacation in Budapest and Vienna , but my particular favourite section was the “Third man” homage. The use of black and white stills taken at the real film locations, plus the jaunty theme tune form the film, really made a great impact. Also it did not hurt to have mister photogenic “The Gingerbread Man” doing the closing titles!

^“Making an Exhibition of Ourselves”
Well it was the highlight of our artistic endeavors for the year, The Tommy Byrne Photographic Society Annual Exhibition. Many thanks are extended to Vincent and his wonderful staff at the Arklow Business Enterprise Centre for allowing us the honour of using the fabulous facility as our second home! We are particularly grateful for the magnificent spread they put on for us on the evening.