Booking Bob Bishop for a talk was a no-brainer after his popular “Have Camera Will Travel” evening last year. Thus, the last face to face meeting at our venue before the summer break, featuring “More of me pics” was a popular one, with the highest attendance to date from members.

This time, we were privileged to see a wide range of Bob’s subjects and had the opportunity to hear directly from him the details of the post processing techniques that make them so unique. The subject matter was very diverse, ranging from dramatic portraits of goths and the heavily-tattooed, through to graphic, minimalistic bridges, via Bristol street scenes to mighty waterfalls and floating ice off Iceland.

It was this latter environment that led Bob’s wife, Carol, to enlighten us on the dangers of the rogue waves that threatened regularly and once engulfed Bob as he sought to capture the magic of the blue monsters and was almost swept away where the river meets the turbulent sea.

Bob’s images were graphic, dark and moody, often transformed to mono. He explained his selective use of long exposures and intentional camera motion in the field where he makes the most of the natural light available. What made his presentation so valuable was how generously he shared the detail of his post processing techniques to enhance the highlights and how he uses textured overlays to heighten the mood.

Bob completed the evening with explanations and demonstrations of how he had created a number of his successful composite images, and whilst these are currently rarely attempted by our own members, it certainly opened our eyes to what it is possible to achieve creatively.

Next week, hopefully the weather will grace the first of our Summer outings that start with the Glastonbury mural trail and end in July with a day out in Dorset to celebrate fifty years since the club was founded in 1974.

Jenny Short