Lacock Positive 14th November

In this meeting we reviewed results from the five club members who, earlier this year, travelled to London for a dance shoot with Panikos Hajistilly of Panikos Photography.

The problems faced were that the studio was quite small, thus flash units, softboxes and lighting stands tended to intrude into images.  This meant either attempting to clone them out, or use Lightroom's AI remove tool.  

Those who had tried AI remove found results could be unpredictable with almost everyone saying it would often replace a flash unit with a slightly different flash unit, or a lighting stand with a slightly different lighting stand.

Other problems were that the white backdrop used in some of the shots was "well used" and had very many marks and scuffs.  Also the model sported a large number of small tattoos, which some members felt they needed to remove in post.

Jumping dancer, showing intrusion of lights and supports © Danny Wootton

After post processing © Danny Wootton

One member was a bit more extreme, extensively using Photoshop's liquify tool for a "slimming" effect, together with its AI generative fill to add flowing hair

Liquify filter applied © Tony Bamford

Generative remove was especially useful in this shot where the material used wandered well beyond the backdrop:

Dancer before processing © Phil Male


Generative fill was also quite inventive here when (without prompting) it replaced the studio lights with a curved window: 

After processing © Phil Male

Converting to black and white also worked well:

Dancer before processing © Phil Male

Dancer in black and white © Phil Male

Replacing the background in post was an option which was actively encouraged by Mr. Hajistilly himself. However, due to the large amount of work needed to select the dancer (neither Lightroom, nor Photoshop do a sufficiently good job without lots of time-consuming help) only two members attempted this:

Dancer before processing © Lesley Cadger

Dancer on steps © Lesley Cadger

Way out pink © Lesley Cadger

(Slimmed) Dancer on stage © Tony Bamford

We then followed with best picture of October.
Diamond Beach © Caroline Howe

© Derek Liversidge

© Julia Lloyd-Parks

The Lake District © David Sage

Salisbury Cathedral © Lesley Cadger

Bodium Castle © Pam Bamford

Snettisham © Phil Selby

Black Church Rock © Tony Bamford

Then we moved on through the alphabet to our challenge "The Letter M".
M is for Mouse © Amanda Gregory

M is for Mirror © Caroline Howe

Mouth of Glen Aros © Craig Purvis

M is for (Cinnabar) Moth © Derek Liversidge

M is for Marcos Mantaray (1997 4.6L V8) © Derek Liversidge

M is for Moai © Helen Day

M is for Milky Way © Lesley Cadger

M is for Monkey © Adrian Fox

M is for Multiple © Pam Bamford

M is for Mandarin © Phil Male

M is for Mist © Phil Male

M is for Music © Rob Macklin

M is for Morning © Sue Power

M is for Magpie (feather) © Tony Bamford

Our next meeting will be on November 28th

Lacock Positive 31st October

Our meeting on Halloween saw a talk given by Craig Purvis, of our own parish, on walking El Camino de Santiago. In English, "The Way of St. James", is a network of pilgrims' ways leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northwestern Spain.

He was inspired by the film "The Way" in which Martin Sheen plays a father who leaves America to recover the body of his estranged son, who died while walking "The Way" and decides to take the pilgrimage himself.

Craig chose his camera equipment carefully - a small camera, just two lenses and no tripod as this was, after all, a walking trip and not a photography trip.

His start was in Sarria.

Albergue Mosterio da Madalena © Craig Purvis

The Way is well signposted with the yellow-on-blue sign (representing a scallop shell) shown above.  Pilgrims have a choice of overnight accommodation, ranging from dormitories to small hotels.  For anyone intending to use dormitories, taking your own sleeping bag is a must.

Horreos © Craig Purvis

Craig also mentioned that some pub and restaurant owners can gently "redirect" some of the signs to point towards their establishments, leading pilgrims around the houses slightly more than necessary.

There is not only accommodation, but also a choice of food on The Way.  This can vary from a basic three course meal at around €10 to more expensive tapas.


Old Village © Craig Purvis

Part of The Way takes pilgrims through a eucalyptus forest where some pilgrims feel the need to decorate some of the way markers with graffiti.


Eucalyptus Forest and Camino Marker © Craig Purvis

Finally Craig reached the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela where many pilgrims end their journey.


He gave a special shout-out for Bridgedale socks, which saw him safely through the whole walk without blisters.  This purchase was advised by staff at "Go Outdoors", many of whom had walked The Way themselves and were able to recommend guide books and maps.

After a coffee break, we resumed with a talk by Caroline Howe, again of our own parish, on her 6 day trip to St Kilda in July 2023 with Mc2 Photography.  There were 8 people in the group, with 2 leaders and they had their own cook.  

Fortunately, as many of us weren't entirely sure where this was, she provided a map:


St. Kilda is the small dot on the extreme left.  It is reached by a five hour boat ride from Skye. The boat has a "flexible" departure time because of weather conditions.

The boat to St. Kilda © Caroline Howe

On that note, the weather can deteriorate during the journey such that a landing at Village Bay isn't possible.

The islands are a UNESCO World Heritage site and are controlled by the National Trust for Scotland. Keeled boats are not permitted to land in case they carry rats, which would wipe out the local wildlife.


Only the main island has ever been populated and it is also the only one with spring water.  There is a permanent, manned, military radar station there, but those are the only people now permanently occupying the islands.

These islands are so isolated, they have:

  • their own subspecies of Wren
  • their own subspecies of Mouse
  • their own subspecies of Dandelion
  • a particularly ancient breed of Goat, which have been the subject of genetic studies
  • around 135,000 pairs of Atlantic Puffins (roughly 30% of the UK population)
  • around 30,000 pairs of Northern Gannets
  • around 65,000 pairs of Northern Fulmars

St Kilda Wren © Caroline Howe

Atlantic Puffins © Caroline Howe

Everything is based around the village at Village Bay and everything must be carried up from the jetty.  All paths out of the village are up and visitors should also be aware the sea cliffs are the highest in the UK, so there's a lot of up!

View of the Village © Caroline Howe

Recent research shows the islands have been inhabited, on and off, for the past 4000 years.

The Village in evening light © Caroline Howe

One evening the group walked to the opposite side of the island and camped overnight in tents to capture sunrise the following morning.  Unfortunately although they set off in sun and clear skies, overnight it rained and this sight of Boreray greeted them the next morning:

Looking towards Boreray at "dawn" © Caroline Howe

The island has its own cannon (now a rusting relic), which arrived months after the island was shelled by a u-boat, which surfaced in the bay during the first world war. Several houses were destroyed. The best theory is that the u-boat was lost.

The St Kilda Cannon © Caroline Howe

Departing St Kilda © Caroline Howe

Our next meeting will be on 14th November.

Lacock Positive 17th October

 

Our club chair, Julia Lloyd-Parks and Amanda Gregory, a club member, gave a talk about their trip earlier this year to the Outer Hebrides.

© Julia Lloyd-Parks

Luskentyre Sands © Julia Lloyd-Parks

ICM © Julia Lloyd-Parks

Eagle in flight © Julia Lloyd-Parks

We then reviewed club members' images taken in September


Blooming Artichoke © Sue Power

Coffee Concentration © Roger Parry

© Philip Male

© Phil Selby

Kew in colour infra red © Pam Bamford

Stourhead Cottage © Lesley Cadger

© Julia Lloyd-Parks

© Helen Day

© Derek Liversidge

Starlings © David Sage

Kilchurn Castle in the Sun © Craig Purvis

Pumpkins © Caroline Howe

© Amanda Gregory

Finally, Julia showed some Red Squirrel images taken on a trip arranged by Canon where she was able to try out a 400mm f/2.8 lens.

© Julia Lloyd-Parks

© Julia Lloyd Parks

Our next meeting will be on 31st October.