Robert Thompson visits SACC Camera Clubs – Jan 2016

Cork Camera Group Chairman Noel O’Connell pictured with Robert Thompson

The January calendar highlight for three SACC clubs had to be the visit and presentation by internationally renowned nature photographer Robert Thompson FRPS, FIPF. The SACC, on behalf of Cork Camera Group, Shannon Camera Club and Kilkenny Photographic Society invited Robert to make a series of presentations to the three clubs on Jan 19th, 20th, and 21st respectively.

From member feedback and social media posts the three presentations were a resounding success with individual members commenting that Robert’s presentations were among the best they had attended.

Robert’s knowledge, professionalism, and attention to details were a revelation. He generously shared his knowledge and experience of nature photography and left members with much to think about and to practice in their photography.

Among the many points made by Robert during his presentations were:

• Know your camera equipment and be instinctive about the menu system so that you can quickly access and set the camera settings required for a given situation.
• Plan your photo shoots and pre-visualise the image(s) you wish to capture. This not only helps with a positive outcome but also assists in developing your creativity.
• As much as is possible, pre-select the camera settings required for the shoot. In some cases frequently used settings can be pre-programmed into “memory” buttons on your camera – learn how to do this and set them up.
• Research and study your subjects and their environment before heading out into the field. When in the field also take the time to study the environment before taking images and think about different angles and an uncluttered background.
• Avoid being a seasonal photographer and if your particular genre of photography is seasonal, then practice an alternative, but possibly related, genre in the off season to keep your camera and creative skills honed.

Kilkenny Photographic Society Chairman Eugene Canning pictured with Robert and SACC Chairman Richard Dwyer

The SACC Committee and the three camera clubs would like to extend their warm thanks to Robert for his excellent presentations. At the end of each presentation Robert generously raffled a number of his highly successful books.

Our sincere thanks to Robert for this series of fantastic presentations.

Thanks must also be extended to the SACC committee and the representatives from the three clubs for their coordination and organisation of the three extremely successful events.

For more background on Robert Thompson and to see his exemplary work check out the following links:

• (SACC Post) https://sacc.ie/robert-thompson-lecture-tour-jan-19th-to-21st-2015
• (Robert Thompson’s website) http://www.robertthompsonphotography.com

Robert Thompson Lecture Tour

We are delighted to announce that Robert Thompson FRPS will be conducting a lecture tour in the SACC region this January.  There will be a €5 cover charge for each talk.

Robert will be speaking across a range of photography topics including nature, landscape and macro, and discussing his approach to these genre. We are very excited to have a photographer of Robert’s reputation visiting us and we encourage SACC members to attend one of the talks.

The talks will take place at the dates and venue below – see posters at the end of article for full details:

• Tuesday, January 19th at 7:30 pm in 36 St Patrick’s Quay, Cork.
• Wednesday, January 20th at 7:30 pm in Oakwood Arms Hotel, Shannon.
• Thursday, January 21st at 7:30 pm in The Pembroke Hotel, Kilkenny.

Robert is a nature photographer, author and educator.
He is the author of a number of books on photographic technique and it is hoped to have some of his books available to raffle at each of the above venues.

Robert’s interest in natural history began during his childhood explorations of a large parkland estate where he grew up. He is a highly accomplished freelance natural history photographer and multi-author with a number of well-known publications to his credit on natural history and nature photography. He has also been a major contributor to many other natural history publications in Britain and Europe. He is widely acknowledged in the UK as a specialist in close-up and macro photography and is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and the Irish Photographic Federation.

As an active conservationist, he has worked on several high-profile natural history recording projects in Ireland for the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, National Parks and Wildlife Service in the Republic of Ireland and television. He has a particular interest in dragonflies,
butterflies and moths for which he has specialist knowledge.

His work is widely published in the UK, Ireland and internationally, with numerous photographic credits in a wide variety of books, magazines, calendars and various other media sources through his library and agencies.

He is frequent writer and contributor to the photographic press and other natural history media. He has had several solo exhibitions of his work including the aerial landscape collection from the highly acclaimed ‘NATIONAL HISTORY OF ULSTER’ publication. His work has also been featured
in Nikon Pro magazine and Nikon UK.

He runs workshops in the UK and abroad and has traveled widely in Europe, photographing its flora and fauna with particular attention to its declining wild orchid populations.

Robert Thompson Photography

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We’re pleased to announce that the SACC regional qualifying round of the IPF Nature Photographer of the Year 2015/2016 in association with Mahers Photographic is now open for entries. Please note that this is the competition formerly known as the IPF National Nature Competition.

To read more about this competition, the themes for this year, cost of entry etc please read this article.

To enter, you must be a member of an SACC affiliated club.

The competition takes place on Sunday January 24th at the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery, West Cork and is being hosted by Clonakilty Camera Club.  Why not make a weekend of it in a beautiful part of the country?  The Celtic Ross have a limited number of rooms left on Saturday night for €45 PPS for bed and breakfast and €65 PPS for dinner, bed and breakfast! First come, first served!

Closing date for entries is Friday, January 22nd.

Please note this year:

• You must use the new colour coded labels on the back of your prints – please print them in colour and attach securely to the back of your prints
• You must upload a digital copy of all prints at time of entry
• Make sure you enter the correct level as defined in the rules
• For sections under FIAP nature definitions, please ensure you comply!

Rules

The updated rules for the 2015/2016 are available to view on IPF website.

Labels

Labels can be downloaded from the IPF website. Prints without these labels will not be accepted. Please print the labels in colour and attach securely to your prints.

To Enter

Entry must be completed online via the online entry system. If you experience any issues with the entry system, please contact the IPF webmaster via their contact page. Please, first check that your system meets the requirements for using this software.

Judges

We are delighted to welcome the following judges for this years event:

• Gerry Kerr AIPF AFIAP, Celbridge Camera Club
• Kevin Murphy FIPF ARPS, Mayo

Schedule (note that times are approximate)