The article below from our President, David Leck was in a recent edition of the NCPF's magazine and tells you lots about Consett Camera Club. Please read on...
In 1949 the town of Consett was a very different place to that of today. The Consett Iron Company or “The Works” as it was so fondly known was in full production with a workforce of around 6000 this huge complex totally dominated the town and surrounding area. Even the air was red with iron oxide which settled on cars and hedgerows. It was however the year that Consett Camera Club was founded, meeting in a variety of venues over the years including The British Legion, The Demi, The Steel Club and even Consett Bowls Club.
We were one of the last clubs in the area to offer our judges and speakers tea, sandwiches and cakes after the meeting. An old fashioned tradition but well received by some of the older NCPF judges!
Whilst it’s good to remember our heritage this article is about the present Consett Photographic Society and like the town we have moved on. We meet each Monday evening from September to April at the newly built Citizens House in the centre of Consett. We have around 34 members, men and woman young and old, we pride ourselves in being a friendly club and actively encourage new members to get involved. Like all camera clubs CPS is made up of individuals with a range of equipment and skills, from the latest mirrorless, a whole host of DSLRs to some very successful compact systems. Help and advice is always on hand whether it be camera related or just another moan about printers and ink. |
Monday evenings at the club come in various guises thanks to our excellent programme secretary Ian Stonehouse. We have both guest speakers and CPS members giving talks on all things photographic, some nights are dedicated to certain skills such as Macro or Flash photography and weather permitting we occasionally take a walk outside with our cameras.
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No camera club would be complete without its competitions and CPS is no exception, we have competitions for both prints and PDIs and the popular Panel of Three. Always looking for something different a new competition for this year is entitled “Breaking the Rules” and as expected comments like “there are no rules in photography” have already been heard muttered in the corridors.
We also “enjoy” entering inter-club competitions although enjoy is probably the wrong word, shall we say members are badgered into providing images for competitions such as the Wear Area Battle and the NCPF Club Championship. Modesty prevents me from saying how good some of our members are but we were joint winners of the Wear Area Battle two years ago and third this year. CPS will be putting up another strong entry for the NCPF Club Championship in February so watch out Keswick.
One of our members Julia Richardson has recently achieved her ARPS with a splendid Natural History panel. |
Throughout the year we have assignment days, these are well planned outings organised by Lynda Golightly. It may be to Edinburgh or Skipton, Corbridge or Consett, but most months we visit somewhere with a different challenge and images taken are sent to Lynda for a presentation later in the year. Another regular monthly activity is our Homework Group we meet on a Thursday a topic is chosen and the following month the images taken are screened and open to critique from whoever is present. This has people thinking outside the box and a fun way of expressing yourself without the pressure of competition. |
As the local camera club we hold various exhibitions of our work throughout the year in our area. These include an annual exhibitions at a local church hall and in Consett library, and we have a permanent show of our images in the foyer of Consett Empire.
Finally I must not forget to mention our past presidents and committee who do a sterling job and have made us a very welcoming and friendly club.
Finally I must not forget to mention our past presidents and committee who do a sterling job and have made us a very welcoming and friendly club.