Club President Bob Black welcomed everyone to the meeting on Thursday night with a few reminders. The hand-in date for this season’s Talking Pictures, with Falkirk Writers Circle, is 3rd November. At this annual event we supply the writers with a selection of photographs which might inspire pieces of prose or poetry. The writers make a selection, with both photographs and writing being presented at a joint evening later this season. It’s an opportunity to explore the relationship between photography and writing without a competitive element. Please upload submissions through PhotoEntry.
Club members are also asked to complete Membership Forms. It can be done online though the Members Area of the website or, paper copies are available on a Thursday night.
Finally, an evening photo-walk in Bridge Of Allan has been arranged to coincide with the fireworks display on 5th November.
John S. Pow is a prolific Commercial and Landscape photographer who works with a wide selection of high profile quality brands on sales and corporate campaigns. He combines this with producing highly original landscape and environmental photographs used in tourism, hospitality and event industries. He has a busy schedule so we were fortunate to welcome him to Falkirk last Thursday night.
John opened his presentation with a photograph of Dunnottar Castle at sunrise captured with the rising sun precisely positioned on the outline of the building. This set the tone for the evening as John explained how planning and preparation form a large part of his routine. He frequently checks weather forecasts and uses his experience to determine what lighting conditions will be like at any time of the day or night. Lighting conditions are the key as John explained, photography is all about the light.
Night-time photographs around the Queensferry Crossing and Forth Bridges illustrated John’s attention to detail as, even after dark, being aware of subtle variances in points of interest and the directional lighting enabled him to highlight the original characteristics of this historic yet evolving location. Durness in the north to St Andrews in the east all featured as John’s skills were applied to a variety of locations. He cast a spell over the Glenfinnan Viaduct producing a photograph distinctly different from those we usually see and he took full advantage of the mist over Glen Affric.
Moving south Stonehenge is one of the most photographed locations in the UK and, here also, careful planning enabled John to photograph it after dark with the added benefit of a diagonally angled Milky Way accurately positioned in the sky above the megalithic monument.
Returning north, and bearing in mind the approaching festive season, John’s closing photograph was indeed appropriate. Santa and his reindeer photographed passing over the Forth Bridges !
John explained his methodology throughout the evening providing us with a highly educational evening. You will find John S. Pow on Social Media and online.
Take care and thanks for looking in.