
Sometimes it's good to have an evening where we find out more about each others' photography interests. We love our guest speakers, but some of them work in areas which aren't accessible to all of us, whereas images shot by our friends and peers may make you think 'I could try that too'.
Urban landscapes with an abstract twist was Darren Barton's theme. The earlier images were shot in Leith, Scotland; with close-ups of dockside peeling paint giving the abstract theme. Since moving to London, Darren has done a lot of monochrome and motion-blur work around The City, using the techniques to reflect the busy pace and anonymity of daily life. He has also used abstract angles to add his own touch to architectural images.
Steve Dennis' style is to have fun with some simple images of his friends and family, and turn them into something extra-ordinary with very creative use of Photoshop. He modestly describes himself as a 'happy snapper', but the base images are actually very high quality - for example, the pin-sharp photos of his young grand-daughter, now set up as triptychs.
Since joining CoL&CPS, Steve has also produced some more serious images. He's even been disciplined enough to shoot to the brief for our competitions. This was a really entertaining show!
CoL&CPS supports Islington Giving charities with photography for special events. Ilya Fisher presented images shot by herself, Geoff Doran and Sean Gallagher at AGE UK's That's Entertainment lunch for over 200 local seniors. As well as providing a valuable photography service, our crack team were able to hone their skills in low/available light and portraiture. And we applaud their generosity in giving up a whole Sunday.
Ilya also reminded us that Freightliners Farm in Islington welcome us. They have even used one of her images on their new farmyard top trumps cards.
After the coffee break we went travelling. Colin Barratt took us to Asia. He really captured the essentials of places. Colin started in Vietnam , and the tyranny of the scooters, but shot more creatively than just standing on the street corner. A quick tour through Burma, where he says the slow trains provide opportunities which you'd miss if they speeded up or ran on time. And we ended in India. The landscape shots are carefully planned to be in the right place, at the right time for the light. Other street scenes are more serendipity, and Colin talked about how he shoots the portraits slowly and sensitively, giving people time to say no or turn away, if they wish.

Thank you so much to the five for their time preparing excellent presentations and for putting their images up for scrutiny. We hope we were an appreciative audience. An evening where I was proud to be in the company of such fine photographers - Cathryn.