PhotonewsJournal of the Postal Photographic Club

Circles Special Winter 2014

Welcome to a special issue of Photonews to end 2014 in style.In this one-off issue each of the Circle Secretaries has given us an overview of their Circle which hopefully will allow members to better understand what is on offer across the club.

In November we had not one, but two members of internet circles add a print circle to their membership. It would be great if this issue inspires some other internet circle members to try their hand at a print circle. As a member of two print circles myself I can attest to the pleasure and satisfaction from producing a print that is well received by ones peers.

There are plenty of other developments underway including an exclusive club forum to allow members across the club, regardless of Circle, to interact and share their thoughts, ideas and questions plus of course their images!

Photonews has had a very successful year indeed and none of it would have been possible without the support of all our contributors over the year. Planning is well underway for the 2015 issues so why not drop me a note and get involved?

Finally, when you are making those 2015 New Year resolutions why not include a PPC print circle too?

Dave WhenhamEditor - Photonews

Spurn Point

Millstones, Peak District

Essence of Spring

© Dave Whenham

Colour Print Circle 1 is for those of us who like photography as it used to be, that is, photographs that look like they are from real life, without too much manipulation by software. Digital manipulation is OK provided that the final result still looks like it may have come straight out of the camera. Digital or wet darkroom prints are both acceptable provided they are in colour (no monochrome with colour popping! ) but natural monochrome where the image is mostly one hue is quite satisfactory.

Any production method is good, whether it is digitally or darkroom printed or even commercially produced, but the original image capture must be your own work, even if you add, say, a new sky, that must also be your original image.

Maximum size of prints is 7" x 5" and they must be mounted in the club folder

in accordance with the club rules. You will receive constructive critiques from other circle members which can only help to improve your photography. A pack will arrive at your address about once a month where you insert your latest masterpiece and check out other members entries.

There is a circle notebook in each pack that you receive where all members can air their views about anything they feel other members may be interested in, the main topic, of course, being photography.

So come and join us, we are here to encourage each other and help improve our personal photographic expertise. Each entry has the potential to win either a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place sticker which allows that image to go forward to higher competitions.

Colour Print Circle 1Secretary: Barry Roberts ARPS

We are a colour print circle and currently have eleven Members with a collective photographic experience of over three hundred years.

Although digital cameras are the order of the day within the Circle we still like to follow the traditional approach to photography. Our pictures are true to life and recognisable for what they are, we leave serious manipulation to members of the Digital Imaging Circle; however restrained manipulation is encouraged to extract the best from our images.

We believe photography is about visual communication and photographers need a reason to take pictures, whether to record a growing family, a holiday or to show others our vision of our world. Membership of CP2 helps provide a reason to use the camera and allows us to obtain feedback on our efforts.

Looking at a print gives an extra dimension to the image which looking at a screen does not give, namely the texture and colour of the paper. Prints are the ultimate goal for your best images. Prints are a lasting legacy. Printing for the circle folio gives a permanent record to make the best of your images. Join our circle to begin your journey to printing success.

Be assured that whether you are new to photography or an experienced photographer you will be made very welcome in Colour Print Circle 2.

Colour Print Circle 2Secretary: Keith Hughes

3-horse race© Win Miller

Arctic Terns, Inner Farne. © Richard Bown

We are dedicated to photographers who produce monochrome prints either by traditional film or digital capture. The members of Circle One have brought many years of experience in film photography and those moving on to digital have developed new skills and techniques.

Most members capture images using digital cameras although we have one member using film, which is scanned and outputted via the printer. Our members have a broad range of abilities and skills and are able to offer helpful advice on circulating images. Our notebook, which accompanies the images, is entertaining and lively. In annual competitions run by the Postal Photographic Club, Circle One always puts in a full team effort to try and win the coveted trophies.

Each month the top three images are awarded stickers - 1st, 2nd and 3rd - and these images are then submitted for the Founder’s Cup competition where they go up against other circles' images. We also have our own trophy for the highest aggregate marks within a 12 month period: this is the Pop Weatherall Cup.

Circle 1Secretary: Graham Harvey

Our circle was formed in 1944 our earliest record is of folio 26 dated March 1946.

Prints coming 1st, 2nd and 3rd are awarded labels and are eligible for the Founder's Cup competition and also for Circle Eight's own competition for the Denis Wright Plaque for the best pictorial print over the year.

A notebook containing the Postal Rota with members' voting indexes & names and addresses and previous folio results, together with Members' previous notebook entries is included. There are also sets of voting slips, address labels and red plastic seals in the pouch. Members write all sorts of things in the notebook, besides on photography.

Circle 8 has three internal trophies:

• the Centenary Challenge Cup, awarded for the highest aggregate score in the monthly folios for the Club year June to May

• the Denis Wright Plaque, awarded for the best pictorial print selected by an independent judge from the Circle entries to the Founders Cup Competition

• the Vivienne White Cup awarded for the highest aggregate of points scored in the Founders Cup Competition and Travelling Exhibition.

At present the ratio of Digital to Darkroom workers is about 60% to 40%.

Circle 8Secretary: Bill Hughes

Icelandic Coast © Alan Edwards

Towards Keswick. © Dave Whenham

Islands in the Mist© Peter Henry

We are a Digital Slide Circle and we circulate our images on a USB flash drive, the word slide is because we used to be a slide circle. We include a lightweight version of the print folders to allow critiques to be written. Also in the folder is a print, one for each member, about 3ins by 3ins which I stick in the folder all of which keeps the weight and hence the postage to a minimum.

I circulate a Folio once a month, new members are always welcome so come and join us.

Circle DP (Digital Printing) was originally formed as Circle Digital Imaging in 1998 to encourage members who wished to get involved in digital photography.

There have now been over 150 folios circulated and 2 of the original members are still active in the circle. Currently there are 9 members and folios are circulated approximately every month.

The circle has only 2 rules - you must print the images yourself and you must have an open and appreciative mind to all forms of modern digital photography.

This allows us to view a very diverse range of images from ‘traditional’ type monochromes through natural history images, portraiture, record, creative still life’s to composite images in the form of Hockney type joiners and the circular images of the late John Nicholson FRPS.

We are the only print circle, which accepts composite images and both monochrome and colour images

Circle DPSecretary: David James

Circle DSSecretary: John Maule

Cloisters, Gloucester Cathedral © Eric Ladbury

The Postal Photographic Club website can be found at:

http://www.postalphotoclub.org.ukNew Saucery and Mixed peppers© Graham Dean

Internet Circle One was the Postal Photographic Club's first internet-based circle running its first folio in January 2012 and going from strength to strength ever since.

IC1 is an open circle meaning that members can submit images on any subject, within any genre and in colour or otherwise.

A selection of members images are shown on the club’s website from which you will see that subject matter and styles range considerably. It really is a wide-ranging circle which leads to some interesting discussions in the Notebook which is open at all times for members to make observations or share information. As with all PPC Circles the emphasis is on making friends, enjoying our photography and learning from the combined knowledge of the group.

We are a print based monochrome circle with both conventional darkroom and digital workers; we currently have eleven members but would welcome more.

At present there are no beginners in the circle with all members being photographers of long standing. An open invitation is extended to all monochrome photographers, of whatever level of experience, to join our circle where they will be made most welcome. Circle 19 members are always willing to help other photographers with any problems that they may have and, in the circle, we have members with sufficient experience of both darkroom and digital working methods to be able to answer most queries.

In 2007 the circle won the Ellis Martin trophy, in the annual T. E. competition, for the best circle, after having come second for the previous three years. Unfortunately we have not been able to reach such dizzy heights since although the standard of work produced by the circle members remains very high and hopefully we shall return to the top spot in the not too distant future.

Circle 19Secretary: Roger Edwardes

Internet Circle 1 (IC1)Secretary: Dave Whenham

Portmerion Beach © Iain Fairgreave

IC2 Secretary: Sally AndersonIC2 is an open circle, so any images can be submitted – colour, black and white, infra-red, manipulated or straight from the camera. We currently have 12 members of mixed age and a wide range of photographic experience. The images our members submit are varied in subject matter and represent a wide diversity of photographic opportunities that different people have.

Each month, we strive to give positive, fair and constructive comments of each other’s images. From this we can all learn and improve our photography and get ideas for our own work.

Our notebook page has raised some interesting debates and is a means of having discussion about images beyond the comments and critiques made on individual images in each round. Several people have commented that they have learnt and gained ideas from the comments and suggestions made in both the folio each month and the notebook. Queries on equipment, books and techniques can be discussed, particularly if looking to buy or have problems with photographic subjects.

Although many of us rarely, if ever, meet except perhaps at the annual rally, we do get to know each other and each other’s preferences and interests.

IC5 is an open circle, so any images can be submitted.

We have introduced ourselves on the notebook page and although relatively newly formed, we are getting to know each other’s styles and photographic genres. The group is mixed ability and we can all learn from the images that others put forward each month. Positive critiques are made about the images in each round and these can be further explored through the circle notebook. Whilst we might not all agree with comments made, helpful critiques get us all thinking and considering ideas from different points of view.

We try to keep a bank of about 3 images and from those I will select the images for each round. In the future we may introduce the occasional broadly themed round, but everyone is free to submit images of their own choice.

IC5 Secretary: Sally Anderson

IC6 Secretary: Dave Whenham

IC6 is the Postal Photographic Club's only circle dedicated to infrared photography, and at present the Club’s smallest Circle although we are keen to change that.

Film or digital, monochrome, false or hand coloured, tinted or toned, whatever style of your photography we aim to build a community of open minded photographers willing to experiment, learn and to share their experiences.

We believe that these criteria give plenty of scope for creativity, so the only stipulation is that all images are "true infrared" either taken on infrared film, a digital camera fitted with an IR filter or

with an infrared converted digital camera but not pseudo IR created by processing a "straight" image in your favourite software package.

Our circle is dedicated to sharing monochrome images.

Most of our images result from the use of digital cameras as one would expect but some of us have produced our images from film or print scans however the emphasis remains firmly centered on the quality and content of the images displayed rather than their production methods.

As a general rule we like to avoid excessive manipulation and after-work when preparing our images for display to enhance clarity and preserve the appearance of the original subject as far as possible.

We encompass a range of abilities and enjoy lively correspondence within our folio notebooks. Helpful critique is offered and received via our monthly folios, the club forum and the Circle notebook. Many friendships have been made and maintained through circle activities; several circle members regularly team up for photographic excursions.

IC3 Secretary: Eric Ladbury

IC4 Secretary: Jon Allanson

Welcome to Internet Circle 4 (IC4) the PPC's first online Circle dedicated to natural history photography.  We have broadly adopted the PAGB definition for natural history:

“Nature photography depicts living, untamed animals and uncultivated plants in a natural habitat, geology and the wide diversity of natural phenomena." 

Photographs of animals, which are domesticated, and photographs of cultivated or hybrid plants are ineligible for this Circle (although more than welcome in one of our Open Circles).  Any manipulation or modification is limited to minor retouching and must not alter the truth of the original scene.

As many nature photographers tend to only photograph one type of subject i.e. birds or insects, paricipating in this Circle will encourage them to widen their range of nature subjects.

IC4 launched in March 2014 and the standard of work displayed already has been very high so why not come along and join us - share your work, your opinions and make some good friends too.

Dungeness Boat On Shingle Bank © Graham Snowden

Venus and Cupid© Graham Dean