Last Thursday’s NRPS evening was hosted by the Audio Video sub group who continue to meet monthly at the Paulton Rovers Football Club. The club generously provide a room on their premises in exchange for regular match photos for their website and programmes. 

The evening was full of beautifully put together artistically in short sequences of photos, accompanied by appropriate music, and provided a relaxed and sociable context for our chats over Louise’s quality fruit cake and hot drinks.

There was plenty of variety for sure, with Geoff Noad providing lively, foot tapping music to his succession of photos of outrageous headgear and Country and Western musicians at local rural shows, and Suzanne Ladd contrasting nicely with her more spiritual visits to Delhi and Amritsar, as well as a truly spooky look at winter trees.

Whilst Jane Richardson, absent as a result of a golf trip to Spain, had put together a sequence from a recent visit to Sardinia, Janice Cuer stayed closer to home with a series of photos taken in Scotland and Wales accompanied by appropriately patriotic music that put me in mind of the renditions that precede international rugby matches, but her short sequence featuring the life of the late Queen was very emotional and had many close to tears!

A focus on wildlife and flora and fauna was to be expected of Jill Toman and Diana Walker and they did not disappoint with “Secret British Wildlife” featuring Wild Cats, Lynx and Pine Martens, “Dragon Flies and Damsels” and “Funghi in Finland”. However, each went somewhat off their usual subject matter with Jill producing and narrating a set of images illustrating “Pilates” and the life of the technique’s inventor, and Diana on a Light Trail, albeit at one of her usual haunts, the Longleat estate.

It was Bill Collett, whose visit to Leeds where he faithfully recorded the architecture of the city as well as its street life, was plagued by blizzards and snowstorms, who reminded us of just how much rain we have endured in the first two months of this year. His bleary images of rain soaked mortals hurrying through downpours under umbrellas braced against the elements, and his creative slow shutter speeds with photos taken through streaming windscreens or the windows of buses and trains, certainly were a sombre reminder of all that the current climate crisis is throwing at us.

It was a very relaxed, enjoyable evening for which we thank this small, but perfectly formed, group within the membership. Next week it is Jill Toman’s turn to entertain us so we look forward to some high-class images, and anticipate our annual awards dinner the week after. 

Jenny Short