Welcome to the first in a what we hope to be a new series of posts were we will profile Pudsey Camera Club Members.
With the member profile we hope to give new and prospective members and idea of what it mean to be a member of a camera club, what a camera club can do for your photography and most importantly why Pudsey Camera Club should be your camera club of choice.
Now lets open the floor up to Helen Marchant in her own words…
Helen Marchant – Pudsey Camera Club Member
Hello, I’m Helen and I have always enjoyed taking photos. I have had point-and-click cameras for as long as I can remember but it wasn’t until I took early retirement several years ago that I decided to develop this interest further by getting my first ‘big camera’ (a Canon DLSR) and learning how to use it.
I enrolled on an online course and have never looked back. I still have the same camera – and though the course has long finished I’m still learning!
Before I got my DSLR camera the majority of my photos were mid-range landscapes. Today my favourite genres to shoot are wildlife, flowers and architecture.
My favourite lenses are my 24-105mm standard zoom, which sits on the camera most of the time, a 100-400mm zoom for wildlife and a 100mm macro for flowers and insects.
As I sometimes have back problems, I am limited in the amount I can carry around. I keep equipment down to a minimum. I rarely use a tripod, although I do have a GorillaPod which makes the occasional appearance at home if I get the urge to practice some table top still life. My camera has an APS-C sensor, which helps keep the weight down. I plan to switch to a mirrorless system at some point in the future.
If I have not got my ‘big camera’ with me, I will happily shoot using my phone camera. The quality of modern phone cameras continues to improve and when my compact camera died last year, I decided that an upgraded phone (and camera) was my best option. Your best camera is definitely the one you have with you!
In the main, I take a light touch approach to editing. I edit in Lightroom and have made the odd foray in to Photoshop. I would like to learn how to do more things in Photoshop – but I don’t find it intuitive to use and need to dedicate the time to mastering it.
I joined Pudsey Camera Club when it restarted face to face meetings after the pandemic. I like the mix of speakers, practical nights and competitions. I was hesitant to enter competitions, mainly out of fear of the judge’s comments – but I have been fortunate enough to hear only constructive critiques so far, and hearing the feedback on other’s entries as well as my own has been very helpful.
I enjoy the opportunity to learn from others who are more advanced or have different experiences to me. It gives me ideas for projects or areas to look into and helps keep the motivation going – especially during the long winter months. Most importantly I enjoy sharing my hobby with like-minded people – sharing the successes, the failures and the frustrations and having a laugh along the way.
