Portraiture
A change to the scheduled programme this week, due to unforeseen circumstances, but we look forward to welcoming Zaneta Threlfall to Falkirk before too long.
Instead, we looked at portraiture which has been a popular topic this season. Indeed, we held two portraiture events this week. From cave drawings to modern and contemporary portraits human beings have sought to record themselves through the ages. Irrespective of the technology available at the time, the character of the era is often reflected in the images left behind. The first surviving photographic portrait, actually a self-portrait, is a Daguerreotype of a man named Robert Cornelius in 1839. The Daguerreotype process was announced earlier that same year by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre in France. Daguerreotypes were recorded on to silver plate, usually quite small, and one of two photographic processes announced that year.
Last Monday evening Dave Ferguson held a practical studio lighting workshop in a local studio. On Thursday evening Dave further discussed and demonstrated portrait lighting. Starting with a simple flash on the camera, Dave showed how the addition of a diffuser could soften the lighting, then moved on to the lighting improvements which could be made by using a single flash off camera. There was a time when an electronic flash had to be connected to a camera by a cable, these days an attachment on the camera can communicate with an off-camera flash so Dave explained the benefits of such a system. He then introduced reflectors to illustrate yet more improvements.
These were a highly instructive evenings and much appreciated by all.
New Exhibition: Falkirk Writer’s Circle & Falkirk Camera Club
Our two groups have collaborated on a number of different projects for many years, and the latest is now on display in Callendar House, Falkirk.
It’s the first of two exhibitions, this one on the theme of autumn in Callendar Park & Estate. F.C.C. photographers and F.W.C. writers visited the area during autumn 2025, photographing and writing inspired by the colours and atmosphere as the season unfolded.
The poetry and prose from the writers movingly interprets the light, forestry and land of the area as the season progresses. The photographers were inspired by the changing colours and weather, the wildlife and the way that the area is used by visitors.
The exhibition is in the ground floor turret, and admission is free.
Photograph by Ian Pratt