So a very happy Christmas and healthy New Year to all. Monday 16th December was our last meeting of the year with diplomas hosted by Rod Fry, a buffet and a Christmas raffle.  Thank you Rod for introducing and commenting on the diplomas.  Well done to everyone taking part, it was good to see everyone gained their diplomas.  Darren Thompson - General Diploma, Dave Collerton and Stuart Chapman were both awarded Contemporary Diplomas.

Very well done also to Russell McGowan for gaining a Silver medal at the Masters of Print.  Russell travelled to Birmingham to receive his award.

We have Tony Worobiec on the 6 January, very worth while seeing, plus it is the last day for entries into the AV's/Multimedia for the Mason Trophy and also the Chairman's Challenge which this year has the theme of A Closer Look. 

Best regards, Angie Cottis

Angie Cotitis writes - Well done to everyone who was placed and all who entered in this years Sleep Trophy, especially Julia who managed to have all three entries placed.  John Baker was a very good judge who manged to compliment and critique all the images in a very positive and kind way. For anyone who is a member of the National Trust, there may be good photo opportunities at some of the local places like Colleton Fishacre, Killerton and Saltram.  The gardens and interiors are decorated for the Christmas period.

Next Monday is the last one before our Christmas break, we have our Diploma evening hosted by Rod Fry.  It is also the Christmas Buffet and raffle.  Please bring something with you if you are able, either food or a raffle prize.  A number of members have already stated what they will be bringing with them and so far we have enough sausage rolls (provided by the club), mince pies and pork pies.  All other items gratefully received.

Congratulations to Darren Thompson, Stuart Chapman and Dave Collerton for their recent successes in the Club Diploma section for 2019. Darren created 10 very different images which showed his depth and understanding of photography despite his relative newness to the art form. Stuart chose to focus on the water and in particular, the movement of water. His 15 images captured a variety of situations including some wonderful close ups of cascading water and a number of very enigmatic images of our coastline. Dave by contrast chose to show the very different nature of the TQ2 postcode by highlighting both wealth and poverty in the region through a single body of work.

Where available, you can find the images associated with the individuals diploma entries in the Members Gallery section of this website.

Angie Cottis writes "What a great variety of speakers we had last night, well done and thank you to everyone who took part.  Rod the Gold Bus story to Plymouth was great, very different and entertaining.  I am not sure I could do the two hours there and two hours back by bus, but you never know.   Chris Arkell, well done your photo stacking was fantastic - I'm not sure I understood some of it - a tad too technical for me, but very interesting and some good results. A great photographic journey around Brixham harbour from Chris Champ was very interesting, along with some of your amazing underwater and other prints up on show for us all to see and appreciate. Willie showed some the great shots that members had taken during the famous Summer School.  Well done, so much effort put into the evenings, you certainly come up with some great ideas Willie. We had a lovely journey to Scotland with Stuart, as usual Stuart amazing landscapes. Last but not least and holding the fort, Mike Bond showing his fabulous aeroplane photos, sorry Mike I have forgotten where it was.

Here is a date for your diaries Friday 10 January to Monday 23 March 10am to 3pm, RPS South West Region is holding their Biennial exhibition of South West Region Members' work at Torre Abbey Museum and Art Gallery, Torre Abbey, Torquay TQ2 5JE.  I couldn't find our if it is free entry or not.

On Monday we have the results of the Sleep Trophy on the theme Modes of Transport.  The judge for the evening is John Baker. See you all Monday"