Photogroup Meeting 21st January 2026

Only 3 people attended the meeting with both Pam and Mike Liberson absent. The theme was ‘What I See’. The standard of all the submitted photographs were very high with a wide range of subjects for such a wide-ranging theme from stunning wildlife to well-composed landscapes. The best picture was awarded to Ann Hawke’s ‘Tiger chasing prey’. It was agreed to attach two photographs from each person to the updated Photography Group’s web page.

Tiger chasing prey (Samba Deer) – unsuccessful – Ann Hawke

John Hawke gave a laptop slide show presentation of a November 2025 bird watching trip to The Gambia giving a feeling of warmth to an, otherwise, miserable rainy day. This was a heavy cull from approximately 800 photographs. It was interesting to note Anjie Sargeant’s comments relating to her sightings of some of the birds when visiting South Africa – relevant to the Hawkes’ impending tour next month!

The February theme will be ‘One Colour, Four Photographs’.

Photography Group November Meeting

The Group met at 10:15 a.m. on 17th November with the theme ‘Liquids’.

4 people attended – Pam Liberson had been affected by flu inherited from her husband. For such a wide subject there were several featuring alcohol with landscapes also dominant. Best picture was awarded to Pam Liberson in her absence for a photograph of Town Mill and the River Anton, Andover.

December’s theme will be ‘What I See’ – an opportunity to parade best photos that have not been featured in any earlier submissions.

 

The main discussion, because of the very mild weather to date, relegated the theme ‘Winter’ to February 2026 (see webpage)

Photography Group October Meeting

The Group met at 10:15 a.m. on 13th October with the theme ‘Golden Hour’.

5 people attended. For such a wide subject there were several good sunsets with landscapes also featured. Best picture was awarded to Ann Hawke with a striking sunset taken from her patio days before the meeting. Mike Liberson’s submissions were original and humorous interpretations of the theme – the photograph chosen featured a glass of bourbon whisky.

Patio Sunset – Ann Hawke

November’s theme will be ‘Liquids’.

Pam Liberson was having problems printing from Microsoft Photos and Google Photos – results from recent experience came out in different sizes. Anjie Sargeant showed how to set different sizes, including the preferred 5 x 7 ratio, using her Chromebook and tablet with examples of her recent trip to Krakow.

Mike Liberson showed a treasured photograph of a night scene of a Nuremburg rally and also showed the same photograph after he tried to improve it. The result was a very blotchy and false colour disaster. John Hawke stated that the photo was taken using a low iso camera setting that emphasised the noise. He showed the impact of ISO setting on noise showing way that higher ISO just served to amplify the noise inherent in all digital photographs. John Hawke offered to use his software to try and improve the original, low pixel, photograph. Using a premium noise reducing app (DXO Photolab 8), enhanced sharpening (Topaz) and colour balancing (Photoshop) – Mike seemed happy with the result.