Belated Happy and Healthy New Year!

Best wishes to all Hedon Viewfinders for a happy – and a HEALTHY – 2021.

It has been a slow start to the new year dictated as it is by the impact of the pandemic. But we do hope that with the roll out of the vaccination programme that we will be in a better position to meet up or engage in activities again by the Spring.

Via our Facebook Group, we have started collecting members’ favourite photographs taken each month in monthly albums. We’re asking members to submit their favourite photograph each month and we will store these for potential use in our annual projects; perhaps to inform the selection of photographs for exhibitions and also, perhaps, to gather enough photos each month to be able to design a club calendar for 2022.

Facebook members can place their favourite photo for January in the appropriate album now. If you are not on Facebook, you can send your favourite photo taken this month to email viewfinders-ttl@gmx.co.uk and I’ll save them for you. We’ll place your image in the Facebook January Album unless you instruct us not to. If you take a better photo before the end of the month and prefer that to your original, just email again and we will replace the photo and delete the old one.

Regarding Facebook – the social network keeps changing and re-inventing itself. A recent change in its notifications has resulted in many members not receiving regular notifications. But you can change this – and hopefully, it will improve your engagement with the page:

1. Go to the three dots on the right hand of the page and click
2. Look for Manage notifications
3. Click All posts to make sure you are notified of All posts.

And to those not on Facebook? Consider it. Whilst in many ways the social network is awful, you can opt to open a basic account and join our group page and do nothing else on the network. The advantages are that we can quick and easily send you messages and notifications about club activities.

Finally, if you are looking for photography inspiration, then have a look at our 52 Week Photography Challenge 2018 and our 52 Week Photography Ideas 2019 for starters.

If you have any ideas on what Viewfinders might be doing to encourage photography in these strange times, then get in touch! Your ideas would be really welcome!

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We are the only Hedon-based photographic club. It’s free to join in and take part, and the club prides itself on its good reputation for its fun and friendly approach.

Live Facebook Photography Challenge Night – Wed 29 April 7pm

Our next Club Meeting on Wed 29 April will run live on our Facebook Group Page from 7pm.

This will be LIVE CHALLENGE NIGHT. We’ll give members a project to complete within 20 minutes. The 20 minutes is time to plan, take your photos, and upload the best to the page.

This is a test of speed, creativity and how you tackle the project technically. Anyone who is a member of this group can take part. There’ll be at least two rounds, probably three.

We’ll offer some PRINTS of your BEST PHOTOS as PRIZES (more details to follow).

Whilst the meeting will be Facebook-based from 7pm, members who wish, can still join us on Zoom for the meeting and pre-meeting chat from 6:30pm.

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/927443060?pwd=bHZWeUdJdi9rc3BNdWpCMUNFckQzZz09

Meeting ID: 927 443 060 Password: 218286

Fun, free, friendly photography club for the whole community.

Daily photos – The Light & The Dark – Online Meeting Wed 1 April

DAILY TASK 9 The Light & Dark. Interpret as you wish. Maybe one or two photos. Objects around you? Or something that reflects your moods perhaps. Be creative. Share your photos online.

Share across social media with the hashtags #viewfinders #dailyphotos #keepsmiling #stayhome

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NEXT ONLINE MEETING – Wednesday 1 April 2020 on Zoom 6:30pm and Facebook at 7pm. Note: The Zoom meeting will be recorded.

Photographers and friends – Join us in our public meeting online. From 6.30pm onwards you can join us on Zoom at the following link:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/927443060 (opens in a new window tab).

From 6:30pm you’ll have a chance to join the meeting and test your sound/visual settings and chat and meet up with your friends from the club. The meeting will be called to order at 7pm and we’ll consider the following Agenda:

1. 1. 1. Quick update on the coronavirus outbreak as necessary (and if necessary).
      2. Our 2020 Exhibition/Competition – Saturday 1 August – Preston (pandemic and Government restrictions permitting).
      3. Our DAILY PHOTO tasks – Entertaining the Nation. Your ideas needed! For the previous tasks, permission to use your photos on the website.
      4. Club Photography Projects during the crisis. Your ideas needed!
      5. Any Other Business? – Send through to viewfinders-ttl@gmx.co.uk.

If there are any questions about your camera, settings, features, kit, etc that you wish to ask, email those as well, at the end of the meeting we’ll go back into general chat and try to pair people up with those who can help.

Ambitiously, during the meeting, we’ll also be attempting to keep the Facebook Group page alive and updated with meeting news and views too, so we can feed those back and forth.

As a public community of photographers, we’re keen to look out for each other and help where we can. Do email us with any concerns or worries during these scary times. 

#keepsafe #stayhome

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NEXT HAPPY HOUR!

We invite you to join us for our next Happy Hour! event on Zoom on Saturday 4 April at 9pm – and here is the invitation link:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/836189559

Whilst at the Club Meetings we aim to continue having fun with the hobby and pastime that we love so much, Happy Hour, however, will be a much more relaxed affair!

“What’s in your camera bag?” / Constructive Critique – Wed 15 May 2019

Wednesday 15 May 2019, Haven Arms, Havenside, HU12 8HH at 7pm

Our meeting on Wed 15 May will appeal to the curious! What kind of camera or image making device do people use? Which camera? And which lenses are their favourite? What gadgets and accessories? What flash, filters and fittings?

We are asking people to bring along your kit and camera bags and show us what you are ‘armed’ with when you go taking photos. If you are ‘self-contained’ with a mobile phone or compact, bring those along too.

You’ll be surprised how many people have the same equipment and sharing knowledge of what is available can really help us when seeking advice from each other on features, kit, accessories and apps. We’ll have a short break when people can meet up with others to ‘talk kit’ and ‘self-help’.

For the second part of the evening we are holding a constructive critique session and ask you to bring along one or two images that you would like to share with us so that we can discuss what we like about the photos, and how we think they might have been improved. Bring your photos along as prints (remember a protective cover for handling), or on a memory stick/flash drive. For those in the Facebook Group we’ll set up an album where you can post your images.

Tuesday 14 May 2019, Haven Arms, Havenside, HU12 8HH at 7pm

We have an extra session arranged on Tuesday for those interested in developing their editing skills. It’s a self-help group on using Layers, Blending Modes, and Masking in Photoshop. We’ll look at some examples on the big screen (using Elements) and those taking part can have a go themselves. You are welcome to bring along your own laptop.

As well as Photoshop and Elements, this should be useful for those that use Affinity Photo, Luminar and some other programs that use layers.

Do visit the web page and see what’s planned for the rest of the year.

Hedon Viewfinders Key Dates at a glance

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: Viewfinders – Through the Lens (Members)