The Eternal Amateur

21 October 2009

Nigel Cheffers Heard, a well known and liked photographer from Topsham, was the guest speaker at Dawlish and Teignmouth Camera Club last Wednesday.

Nigel’s delivery was humorous, informative and easy to absorb being accompanied by many projected images which drove home his advice. The experience of the photographer, the value of the camera, or the complexity of any software used to manipulate images, were, in Nigel's view, secondary aspects. He recommended that we look at the world around us and take note of the humour, the pathos, the colour, the patterns, the shapes and the textures.

We should not forget to record day to day events in a fast changing world. Above all, we should note the lighting conditions which are the essence of a good image.

As in life, luck plays a part in photography, but Nigel paraphrased a well known view, that “the harder I work, the more luck I have.” It was essential to look about you, have even a simple camera to hand, and anticipate what might happen next.

Put simply, select f8 and be there!

Nigel did have a serious point to make. Based on his own experience with the police (PCSOs seem to be a particular problem), he emphasised that photographers should stand up to their right to take images in a public place. To that end he asked photographers to log on to www.not-a-crime.com and follow the BJP camapaign.