We’re a few weeks into the new season at Pudsey Camera Club, and it’s already been a busy and inspiring start. If you’ve been thinking about joining a photography club in west Leeds, here’s what you’ve missed so far, and why now is a good time to come along.
September
10th September: Alistair How. Alistair How opened the season with an entertaining and informative talk on tools, tips and techniques to improve your landscape photography. (Link: https://www.alistairhowphotography.co.uk)
17th September: Urban Soundbites. Club member Stuart Allen braved his peers to present his own minimalist, topographic take on the urban scene.
24th September: What We Did On Our Holidays. Members shared their summer images, and we reviewed our YPU results. (Gallery below.)
October
1st October: The Butchers’ Arms Competition. Our annual curtain-raiser doubles as a first look at this year’s inter-club themes. Each of the eight categories produced a winner, and those eight went through to a final vote.
Overall winner: “Berlin Ride-By” by Stuart. With 10 members voting, it tied with Claire’s “Into the Light” on 3 votes each in the final, then won the tie-break 7 votes to 3. Claire takes second place, and Stuart’s “Yellow Balloon” was third with 2 votes. “The Lead Church” by Kirsty and “Bradford Stride By” by Stuart each picked up 1 vote.
Category winners (votes in the first round):
- Illusion of a Scape: Larry, “Treacherous Coastline” (3)
- Towards Infinity: Claire, “Into the Light” (6)
- Music: Rachel, “The Darkness Live in Leeds” (7)
- Night Scene: Kirsty, “The Lead Church” (3, tied with her own “St Mary’s”, then won the run-off 7 votes to 2)
- People: Portrait & Figure Studies: Stuart, “Bradford Stride By” (6)
- Travel: Kirsty, “Vancouver – The Other Half” (8)
- Creative: Stuart, “Yellow Balloon” (4)
- Monochrome: Stuart, “Berlin Ride-By” (8)
Congratulations to everyone who entered! These themes return in the inter-club rounds, so we’re keeping the images under wraps for now. We don’t want to show our hand to the other clubs.
8th October: Vale of Evesham Salon. We spent the evening viewing the images accepted into the prestigious Vale of Evesham Salon, a great source of inspiration for anyone thinking about entering their own work.
What’s Still to Come
There’s plenty ahead this season, including:
- Guest speakers on everything from architecture and astrophotography to light painting and smartphone photography, some joining us live on Zoom
- Print and digital competition rounds, each with an external judge
- Inter-club competition against local clubs including Cookridge, Leeds PS, Bingley and Huddersfield
- More salon evenings, a smartphone images competition and the Michael Diffley Competition
- A social pub night in April, and our AGM and Pictures of the Year in April 2027
New to Photography? Come Along
You don’t need expensive kit or years of experience. Our members range from complete beginners to seasoned competition entrants, and a smartphone is welcome too. If you live in Pudsey or anywhere in west Leeds and want to learn, share your pictures or meet people who love photography, we’d be glad to see you.
We meet on Thursday evenings at 7:30pm at Pudsey Library, and guests are always welcome. Take a look at our membership page (https://pudseycamera.club/membership/), or just turn up and say hello.
