In Paul's absence, Gerard chaired the meeting and explained that we would be looking at 63 images contributed by 15 of the 24 people who attended the Canary Wharf walk on 3rd August and 2 members who couldn't get to Canary Wharf but went on their own walk. We split into 5 groups and each group discussed the images taken by members of the group and chose one image per member to be shown in the open forum after the break. This gave us 17 extremely varied and interesting images each presented by its own photographer and compèred by Lisa who had organised the walk so well. John ran the technology side of the meeting from the church hall where he and Dennis were trying out the new arrangements for when we start to meet again in the church hall, hopefully on 3rd August.
Gerard talked about Paul's "Sunset" (above left) with the focus on the couple in a pleasingly symmetrical setting with the trees and lights, and the glimpse of the Shard in the background. There is a beautiful tonal range in the B&W, which just manages to avoid being a cliché.
Margaret took the selfie, entitled "Myself" (above right), in the rain spotted reflective surface of a curved bar. It produces an interesting effect, nearly splitting the skyscraper behind in two. Kate photobombed the image on the left.
Nick changed the "Untitled" (above left) to "Susi's Legs" when he realised that is who was in the background. He was not particularly impressed with the sculpture in the foreground, but by careful focus he has maximised the effect of the golden light and raindrops to produce an intriguing image.
Kate noticed the "Red Gates" (above right) and managed to get three shots as she was walking past. It was only in post processing that she noticed the two men and chose the image that best framed them to show the engagement between them. The symmetry of the gates is perfectly balanced.
Lisa was jostling with quite a crowd of photographers as she took "Striding into the Future" (above left). It was a striking scene with the setting sun straight ahead and all the glare and reflections. The helmet of the Deliveroo deliveryman creates a futuristic, dystopian feel to the image.
As Jean couldn't join us a Canary Wharf she took an "Evening Stroll" (above right) at sunset on a glorious evening in the fields near her new home in Devon. Her group reported that it was almost impossible to choose a favourite image from the idyllic country scenes that she submitted, but they chose this one because of the engagement with the bullocks who were all looking at the photographer. The iPhone has created an almost 3D effect with the backlighting and the wonderful mist in the hills beyond.
John's "Illusion of Permanence" (above left) was taken in a shallow puddle. The reflection of the monolithic building was inverted so that we feel we are looking up at it. As it is possible to see the road surface through the water which was not still, the effect is to undermine the solidity of the structure and question its brash statement, which makes for a different and edgy interpretation.
Nick spoke about Debbie's "Quadruplets" (above right) as she could not join us. It is a dramatic, symmetrical composition, where the strong clear lines of the stone are punctuated by the window glass in which everything is distorted. It is particularly good in B&W.
Hilary's "Charming the birds out of the trees" (above left) shows our Chairman doing what he does best, taking wonderful street portraits. There was quite a crowd of photographers around us, so this image is heavily cropped, and a couple of distractions cloned out, to focus better on Paul and his lovely subjects. The crop of Paul's foot leads us in and gives us the feeling that we are right beside Paul in the photo.
Natalie's "Dialogue" (above centre) is a tall narrow crop in order to accentuate the void and the interplay between the two buildings, their reflections and their contrasting architecture. The perspective is straightened and the corners of the image align precisely with diagonals in the buildings. The stripy clouds tie the buildings together and almost give the impression that they are talking to one another. The red logo on the left building acts as Barthe's "punctum", "the accident that pricks me".
Graham's "Westside Abstract - 12 Bank Street" (above right) is almost purely abstract. He used a long lens to focus on the surface of an interesting building. The precise squares and rectangles are filled by seemingly random diagonal patterns caused by the light on the cladding. The two black windows and the break in the architecture towards the right further articulate the image. The whole has an unworldly feel.
Richard's "One Park Drive" (above left) is part of a new cylindrical building, taken with a fixed 28mm lens on a compact camera. He cropped the image slightly and rotated it so that the right hand edge of the building lined up with the right hand edge of the image, in order to provide an "anchor". He liked the reflection of the sky and the uniformity of the building.
Gerard's "Capturing the Moment" (above right) is similar to Lisa's image earlier on with a different person in the centre. The light in this spot was fantastic, particularly on the railings and the star burst effect, and results in a futuristic effect. The challenging light resulted in the image being underexposed so Gerard increased the exposure in the shadows. He chose to leave the other photographers in the left of the image to show the different realities.
Terry's "Big Easy" also has a futuristic, hyper-real effect. He particularly emphasized the sky as it is the story of nightfall. The cleverly cropped tunnel on the right draws the eye towards the main roof. It also directly points to a "hole" through the building where one can see a tree in the undeveloped area beyond. This and the portacabins on the left make for a slightly disturbing effect.
Stephen did not join us at Canary Wharf but went on a London Photo Walk around the City during which he took "Skyscraper" (above right). He loved the reflections especially of the clouds which cause the left hand building almost to disappear into the background.
Colin also took a photo in the same "Puddle" (above left) but with a very different effect from John. At first it is difficult to understand but then amongst the "ink blots" you make out a foot, a building and then a tree, for a most intriguing image.
Dennis' "Perfect Match" (above right) resulted from him noticing the instructions on where to put your feet on the garden bridge escalator. He defiantly placed his feet on either side and created a fun interplay between the diamonds on his shoes and the stripes on the diagram, only a true photographer would notice the potential of this detail!
Gerard thanked everyone for participating and particularly Lisa for organising the walk, John for making it all possible with the technology, and Dennis for preparing for our return to the church hall. It was amazing to see the variety of images that we managed to produce despite all the chat that went on after we hadn't seen one another for so long. A gallery with all 63 images is available
here.