Category Archives: Programme

Here we publish details of all our visiting speakers, plus a Quick Calendar, linking to a fuller look at each evening of the season.

Meetings will be held on Wednesdays at 7.30pm, at the AK Bell Library, unless noted otherwise. Bring your own mug for a hot drink in the break.

If you’re new, details on how to join are on our membership page.

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Visiting speakers:

David Gilliver

Miniature Photography

16 Oct 24
David graduated from the Fine Art Photography course at the Glasgow School of Art in 2001 and has been working as a professional photographer and artist ever since. He specialises in long-exposure photography (the art of ‘Light Painting’) and macro photography (‘Little People’) and has become one of the internet’s best known names in those fields. He will tell us about his approach to Miniatures photography 

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Espen Helland

Black Grouse Leks

23 Oct 24
Espen is a Norwegian ecologist working in Scotland. With a background in wildlife biology and conservation, he has a passion for the natural world, and believes it is our duty to keep as much wildlife and ecosystems alive for ourselves, for future generations, and for nature’s own sake. He is an expert on Black Grouse and leads photography workshops to leks in Perthshire. Espen is an OM System (Olympus) Ambassador.

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Peter Wilkinson

Wildlife on our doorstep

30 Oct 24
Peter is a local Perth photographer who documents the amazing wildlife to be found on our doorstep – from Ospreys and Otters in the Tay to the Quarrymill Kingfishers

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Richard Smith

Urban Documentary

20 Nov 24
Richard (a.k.a. Rich Fotografi) is an urban photographer from Glasgow. He says, “I have an unexplained and possibly disturbing interest in photographing cinematic alleyways, street art, abandoned buildings and the Duke of Wellington outside the Gallery of Modern Art especially if he has a new cone on his head.”

Not only that, “For more than three years I have been a volunteer photographer for Homeless Project Scotland and have made them more than 1,000 photos to use in their press releases, website, social media accounts and leaflets.”

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Debbie Wallace

Portraits of Childhood

22 Jan 25
Debbie has created a beautiful photographic record of her three girls, from babies to teenagers. Her pictures capture the dreamy, ethereal aesthetic of a perfect childhood

Chas Sievewright

Minimalism to Street

22 Jan 25
Chas is well known to many member of PPS. He will talk about how his photographic interests have evolved from B&W minimalism to gritty urban Street Photography.

Noel Clegg

Fine Art and Long Exposure Photography

26 Feb 25
Noel is one of the UK’s most accomplished Fine Art photographers. He has won numerous international competitions and has exhibited in London, Hong Kong and New York. Noel will show some of his best known pictures then demonstrate his processing technique. 

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Further information about speakers and topics will be posted here as details become known.

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Quick Calendar

One row per month, 4 (or 5) weeks

02 Oct 24 President’s Night	09 Oct 24 Member’s talk/ Workshop	16 Oct 24 Speaker: David Gilliver	23 Oct 24 Speaker: Espen Helland	30 Oct 24 Speaker: Peter Wilkinson
06 Nov 24 Member’s talk	13 Nov 24 Competition: Digital	20 Nov 24 Speaker: Richard Smith	27 Nov 24 Member’s talk/ Workshop
04 Dec 24 Competition: Prints	11 Dec 24 Holiday	18 Dec 24 Holiday	25 Dec 24 Holiday
01 Jan 25 Holiday	08 Jan 25 Competition: Digital	15 Jan 25 Member’s talk/ Workshop	22 Jan 25 Speakers: Debbie Wallace; Chas Sievewright	29 Jan 25 Competition:Prints
05 Feb 25 Competition:Digital	12 Feb 25 Member’s talk/ Workshop	19 Feb 25 Competition:Colour prints	26 Feb 25 Speaker: Noel Clegg
05 Mar 25 Competition:Digital, AV	12 Mar 25 Member’s talk/Workshop	19 Mar 25 AGM	26 Mar 25 End of season event

02 October 2024

President’s Night

PPS President Ian Mackay will welcome new and returning members as an introduction to the Society and to the forthcoming season.

09 October 2024

Member’s talk/ Workshop
In the former cafe; turn left as you enter from outside

Bring and Share

Bring some of your own images, as prints or on electronic devices, to share and discuss in small groups

16 October 2024

Speaker’s Night

David Gilliver: Miniature Photography

David graduated from the Fine Art Photography course at the Glasgow School of Art in 2001 and has been working as a professional photographer and artist ever since. He specialises in long-exposure photography (the art of ‘Light Painting’) and macro photography (‘Little People’) and has become one of the internet’s best known names in those fields. He will tell us about his approach to Miniatures photography 

Hand-in: 4-Way Battle

23 October 2024

Speaker’s Night

Espen Helland: Black Grouse Leks

Espen is a Norwegian ecologist working in Scotland. He is an expert on Black Grouse and leads photography workshops to leks in Perthshire. Espen is an Olympus Ambassador.

Hand-in: Main Cup

30 October 2024

Speaker’s Night

Peter Wilkinson: Wildlife on our Doorstep

Peter is a local Perth photographer who documents the amazing wildlife to be found on our doorstep – from Ospreys and Otters in the Tay to the Quarrymill Kingfishers

Hand-in: SPF Digital Championship

06 November 2024

Workshop
In the former cafe; turn left as you enter from outside.

The first part of the evening is aimed at helping you to understand what is required for each competition when entering our external competitions (optional background reading linked from here  https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/competitions):

• Alan Edwards – how all of our external competitions are judged and ranked. 
• David Hay – a long-time SPF judge’s comments on our PPS entry to the 4-Way Battle which will be held this year on Wed 20 Nov in St Andrews. 
• John Boyd – talking through the SPF’s advice, published on their website, on what their accredited judges should be looking for when judging club competitions.

After the break, Ian Mackay will talk about the techniques and equipment that he uses for his photography, in his presentation, ‘My Guide to Landscape Photography.’

13 November 2024

Competition: Main Cup
Judged by Bob Humphreys

Hand-in: PKM Trophy

20 November 2024

Speaker’s Night

Richard Smith: Urban Documentary

Richard (a.k.a. Rich Fotografi) is an urban photographer from Glasgow. He works with a charitable group supporting homeless people.

27 November 2024

Members’ Talks Night
In the former cafe; turn left as you enter the library from the west car park door and the room is along the corridor on your left.

For this evening, we have 4 presentations and a brief demonstration:  

• David Hay with ‘Soap Bubble images’ – adapting older lenses to modern cameras to create images with more ‘character.’
• Mike Gloistein with ‘Photography at 12mph’ – perhaps 12 knots would be more accurate! Mike is one of our new members and he will tell us about photos taken while on board a moving ship.
• Sam Dearlove has volunteered to help us with our photography by telling us a bit about various ‘Apps and Software.’
• Raymond Leinster with ‘The Best Place for Photography in Perth – Probably!’
• Finally, Wol Gilbraith will show us our new Print Stands – next week we’ll host the PKM Trophy monochrome print competition; the prints will be displayed on our new-look easy-build print stands. You will be helping to assemble them!

04 December 2024

Competition: PKM Trophy
Judged by Guy Phillips

01 January 2025

Christmas holidays

Hand-in: Grant Cup

08 January 2025

Competition: Grant Cup; click for
– Scoring Slip
– Online Voting Form – will be available on 08 Jan 25
– Test voting form – practise your online voting here

Hand-in: Nan Borthwick Salver
Hand-in: Peter Rourke Salver

15 January 2025

Workshop
In the former cafe; turn left as you enter from outside

Description

22 January 2025

Speaker’s Night

Debbie Wallace: Portraits of Childhood

Debbie has created a beautiful photographic record of her three girls, from babies to teenagers. Her pictures capture the dreamy, ethereal aesthetic of a perfect childhood. 

PLUS Chas Sievewright: Minimalism to Street

Chas is well known to many member of PPS. He will talk about how his photographic interests have evolved from B&W minimalism to gritty urban Street Photography.

Hand-in: SPF Print Championship

29 January 2025

Competition: Nan Borthwick Salver
Competition: Peter Rourke Salver
Judged by _____

Hand-in: Colour Rosebowl

05 February 2025

External Competition: SPF Portfolio

We’ll take a look at the high-scoring images entered by clubs around Scotland in last year’s Portfolio competition. The images have been provided by the Scottish Photographic Federation. David Hay has kindly agreed to provide a commentary to accompany the photos. Hopefully, this evening will give you a good idea of the types of photos that we will be looking for when we submit our entry for this year’s Portfolio competition.

12 February 2025

Members’ Talks Night
In the former cafe; turn left as you enter from outside

Description

19 February 2025

Competition: Colour Rosebowl
Judged by _____

26 February 2025

Speaker’s Night

Noel Clegg: Fine Art and Long Exposure Photography

Noel is one of the UK’s most accomplished Fine Art photographers. He has won numerous international competitions and has exhibited in London, Hong Kong and New York. Noel will show some of his best known pictures then demonstrate his processing technique.

Hand-in: Dall Cup
Hand-in: Simpson Cup

05 March 2025

Competition: Dall Cup; click for
– Scoring Slip
– Online Voting Form – will be available on 05 Mar 25
– Test voting form – practise your online voting here

Competition: Simpson Cup; click for
– Scoring Slip
– Online Voting Form – will be available on 05 Mar 25
– Test voting form – practise your online voting here

12 March 2025

Members’ Talks Night
In the former cafe; turn left as you enter from outside

Description

19 March 2025

AGM for 2024-25.

An agenda for the AGM will be sent to all members. After the AGM is complete, we plan on holding a ‘Bring and Share’ session. Please bring in some prints or digital images and we will split into small groups and talk about your images. There will be an experienced member in each group to lead the discusssions.

26 March 2025

End of season dinner and prize-giving. 7pm for 7.30pm. Details will be sent out via a newsletter.

Oct 10  President’s Night and Welcome. Soutar Theatre (downstairs). President Mike Bell will welcome you all to a new season at Perthshire Photographic Society. He will introduce himself, tell you a bit about the Society and will talk about his photographic interests. During the evening, various committee members will give you an overview of this year’s programme. They will cover several topics, including visiting speakers, workshops and competitions. Registration will also take place during these first few meetings and membership cards will be issued. Please bring a cheque or some cash with you! (Membership costs £45 for adults, and £25 if aged 18-25. The cost is £10 for students in full time education. Please see our Information Page

Oct 17  Workshop evening – Sandeman Room (upstairs). Photo Clinic. Malcolm Lind will coordinate the evening. We will divide into small groups and discuss a number of prints (provided by committee members), with particular emphasis on composition. The aim of the evening is to give us all a chance to meet each other and to learn about photography by discussing the merits (or otherwise!) of the photos provided. This is intended to be a relaxed and fun evening!

Oct 24 – Jo Cound. ‘Tenacious Trees and Silver Alchemy.’ We are delighted to welcome local artist Jo Cound this evening. Jo lives in Crieff and specialises in photographs of the natural world, in particular, photographs of flowers, trees, moss, fungi and insects. Her images are captured on film and digitally. Many of her images are hand printed in her darkroom. Jo’s talk this evening celebrates the magic of the silver print and the process involved in producing images traditionally (referred to as ‘analogue’ images these days.) Jo will show us the large format and pinhole cameras used to produce her images, and will tell us how they work. She will also talk about film and processing, and how she achieves the print quality that she desires. For Jo, the print is paramount, and she hopes to show us its versatility and magic. She will be bringing with her some hand printed images that she printed in her own darkroom. This promises to be a very entertaining evening! Jo has exhibited at many local exhibitions and craft fairs, and also in London, Edinburgh and at Kew Gardens. You can see some of her images here: http://www.jocound.co.uk/

Oct 31 – Dave Hunt. ‘Mobile Device Photography and Alternative Printing Methods.’ It’s a pleasure to welcome another local artist this week, Dave Hunt. Dave works from his studio near Killin and is a fine art photographer. He employs various techniques to produce fine art prints with subjects ranging from landscapes to portraiture and figures. This evening, Dave will use the first part of his presentation to share with us his methods for capture and editing using mobile phones and tablet devices. He will show us how he uses Snapseed and Procreate software to create images for high-end printing, and how this is integrated into a workflow incorporating Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. After the break, Dave will present an overview of his current work that he has prepared for exhibitions and for sale. He uses Victorian and vintage processes, including the Wet Plate Collodion capture, and alternative printing methods such as Cyanotype, Vandyke Brown and Platinum/Palladium. What a fascinating range of subjects! If you use a mobile phone or tablet for photography, you will find this presentation very interesting and useful! You can read more about Dave here: https://davehunt.eu/about/
• HAND IN for MAIN CUP (See details on Competitions Page)

Nov 7 – Helen Sloan. ‘Behind the Scenes on the Set of Game of Thrones.’ We are really excited to have Helen Sloan, principal stills photographer for the TV series Game of Thrones as our guest this evening. During her presentation, she will lift the lid on what it’s like to photograph one of the biggest TV productions in the world. Expect observations and anecdotes about her place in the crew, plus insight and advice. Helen will be talking about her job, the kit and techniques that she uses, and will share an exclusive slide show with us. That will include some fascinating behind the scenes photos. She has been involved with Game of Thrones since the first day of filming on the pilot episode. This will be a well attended evening, so make sure you arrive early if you want a front row seat! This is a ticketed event to allow non PPS members to attend (for a small charge of £5). There will be no charge for PPS members but they must get their free ticket in advance to guarantee their seat. One ticket will be given to you when you join or renew. Non-member tickets are also available on Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/helen-sloan-behind-the-scenes-on-the-set-of-game-of-thrones-tickets-50209704578 (please note there is a booking fee).  If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, here’s one event that you can’t afford to miss! Here’s a recent blog giving lots more information about Helen: https://nikoninframe.co.uk/behind-the-lens/helen-sloan-game-of-thrones-principal-stills-photographer?cookie=1

Nov 14  Workshop evening – Sandeman. Print workshop. The aim of this workshop is to show you how some committee members go about their printing and to give you a chance to learn how to submit photos for our print competitions. The workshop will cover the following: Mike Bell will look at some aspects of processing and printing from Lightroom; Ian Mackay will start the evening by talking about colour space, calibration, the use of Lightroom and Photoshop, soft proofing, and printing in PhotoShop. However, please note that it is the final product i.e. the print, that is important, not what software is used. We hope that you will learn a lot about printing during the evening, regardless of how experienced you are. You may find it useful to have a pen and notepaper if you wish to note down some of the recommended settings and workflow sequences used during this workshop but we are looking at the possibility of making this information available by other means.

Nov 21  Main Cup Competition – 3 digital files. Your choice of subject. (See Competitions Page)
• HAND IN for PKM TROPHY  (See details on Competitions Page)

Nov 28 – Ian Cameron. Landscape Photographer. ‘Transient Light.’ (Soutar Theatre, Perth) Making a welcome return to the Society this evening, is landscape photographer Ian Cameron. Ian is based up north, in Forres, Moray, and he believes that composition, timing and light are what make a good landscape photo. He runs landscape photography workshops in Norway, and in Central and Northern Scotland. This evening, the overall theme of Ian’s talk is the preparation and planning required for successful landscape photography. His presentation will be interspersed with short videos of the landscapes that he visits and will include a variety of landscape related themes. He will bring copies of his book ‘Transient Light’ with him and these will be available for sale during the evening. You can see some of Ian’s photos here: http://www.transientlight.co.uk/gallery/

   •   Nov 28 – Four-Way Battle – (at St Andrews Photographic Society) A competition between Perth, Glenrothes, St Andrews and Dundee, held in St Andrews. Contact external competitions secretary Graham Robb for details.

Dec 5  Workshop evening – Sandeman. Portrait workshop. Bring your camera! This meeting is a workshop on the use of flash and studio lighting for taking photographic portraits. Mike Bell will start the evening by demonstrating how to use translucent or reflective umbrellas to turn flash units into studio lights triggered wirelessly by your camera. He will demonstrate tethered shooting using Lightroom so that you can see the results immediately. Roben Antoniewicz and Jimmy Herd will have stations with studio lighting set up in the main upstairs library area. At each station you will be shown how to use your camera to trigger the lights. It would help if you know how to set your camera to manual exposure, or bring your camera manual with you, so that you can get involved. Please feel free to move between the three stations that will be set up. Bring some props e.g. hats, costumes etc if you wish. Hopefully, several of you will volunteer to act as models!

Dec 12  PKM Competition – Up to 3 monochrome prints. Your choice of subject. (For definition of ‘monochrome’ see Competitions Page)
• HAND IN for GRANT CUP  (See details on Competitions Page)

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR BREAK

Jan 9  Grant Cup Competition – Up to 3 digital files. Theme is ‘Simplicity’ this year. (See details on Competitions Page). We will be judging this competition ourselves and so you might find it useful to have a pen and paper with you to make notes as we show the images.
• HAND IN for NAN BORTHWICK SALVER and PETER ROURKE SALVER  (See details on Competitions Page)

Jan 16  Workshop evening – Sandeman. Member talk evening. Rather than have a workshop this evening, we are giving you the chance to show us some of your photos! This was a really successful evening last year and so we have decided to run two of them this year. We will be looking for 4 or 5 members to talk for 10 to 15 minutes each. The Sandeman Room provides a really informal setting for presentations. It’s meant to be an informal and enjoyable evening and no formal talk or script is required. Just put up some photos (preferably digital projected images, but prints are welcome if you prefer) and say as much, or as little, as you wish, about them. Carolyn Bell, Raymond Leinster, David Moran and Graham Robb will show us some of their photos before the tea break. After the break, Duncan McNab will give us a presentation about St Kilda, with an emphasis on photography, following his visit there during the summer. The programme for this evening is now complete. Please contact programme secretary Ian Mackay at ian@ianfindlay.me.uk for any further information.

Jan 23 – Des Ong. Wildlife Photographer. ‘Captivating Nature – Wildlife of Britain and Beyond.’ We are really fortunate to have world-class wildlife photographer Des Ong visiting us this evening. Des, who is based in England,  just happens to be in the Perth area running a workshop, and he has very kindly agreed to come and talk to us. Des carries out a lot of his photography in Indonesia, Madagascar, Uganda and Costa Rica. The result is that he captures beautiful photos of some unusual animals and birds and we very much look forward to seeing some of those. This evening, Des will showcase some of the projects that he typically tackles over a 12 months period, providing a glimpse into his life as a wildlife photographer. He will take us from the high mountains of Norway to the rainforests of tropical South-east Asia. He will share his ideas, approach and techniques with us. As well as still photos, Des will include short video clips to help bring the journeys to life. This is definitely an evening that you won’t want to miss! You can see some of his images here: http://www.desong.co.uk/

Jan 30 Nan Borthwick and Peter Rourke Competitions Judge: Jamie Grant. These are print competitions. (See details on Competitions Page)
• HAND IN for COLOUR ROSE BOWL  (See details on Competitions Page)

Feb 6 – Neil Barr. Landscape Photographer. ‘From There to Here.’ A number of us in the Society having been following Neil Barr on Facebook for some time. He has posted many beautiful photos of Scotland during the past couple of years. Quite incredibly, Neil only started taking photos 4 years ago, and now he is a professional photgrapher. This evening, he tells us how, and why, he turned to landscape photography. It’s a very interesting story and so we look forward to an entertaining evening. You can see some of Neil’s photos online: https://www.neilbarr.co.uk/

Feb 8 (Friday) PSNS. Soutar Theatre. 7.30pm. –  PPS will be making a photographic presentation to PSNS to replace the cancelled Paul Gallagher talk. The idea is for us to showcase a range of photographic genres, primarily themed around Perthshire, but with some content from further afield. Full details have been sent to all members by email. The  evening will include the following photos/presentations: landscapes, wild flowers, history of the old mills around Blairgowrie, urban photos, wildlife photos and a presentation about St Kilda. There is no charge for attending this evening and you are all welcome!

Feb 13  Workshop evening – Sandeman. Member talk evening. This is the second of our member talk evenings. You are encouraged to participate! Once again, we will be looking for 4 or 5 members to talk for 10 to 15 minutes each. It is aimed at being a relaxed and informal evening, with no script or formal talk required. Tim Haynes has agreed to demonstrate how you can make a video using an iPad and Annette Forsyth will tell us about her visit to Nepal last year. After the tea break, Tom Ryan will show us some of his ‘puddle’ photos and urban night photos. The programme for this evening is now complete. Please contact programme secretary Ian Mackay at ian@ianfindlay.me.uk for any further information.

Feb 20 Colour Rosebowl Competition – Up to 3 colour prints. Your choice of subject. (See details on Competitions Page)

Feb 27  Scottish Photographic Federation Portfolio 2018 evening. The SPF Annual Portfolios is a competition featuring Monochrome Prints, Colour Prints and Digital Images. The competition is open to clubs and individuals and takes place in May each year. The event is judged by three judges and the highest scoring entries form the ‘Annual Portfolio of Accepted Prints and Projected Images’ for the year. Portfolio shows of the accepted entries are then made up on a disc for clubs to show on a club night. So, this evening we will be showing you those projected images and prints that came top in the competition in 2018. Along with the images you will see the scores that they were awarded, the title of the photo, the name of the photographer and the name of the club that they represented. The photos will be accompanied by an authoritative and entertaining commentary from David Hay. If you want to see some great photos, and if you are looking to improve your own photography, then you need to be here this evening!

Mar 6 – Al Buntin. ‘The End Result.’ Once again, it is a pleasure to welcome a local photographer this evening, Al Buntin. Al is a member of the Dundee Photographic Society and has visited us in Perth in previous years. Al worked as an artist in the UK and in the USA, mostly in the Greeting Card Industry. He has also had several childrens books published. Currently, he paints in acrylics and watercolour. His main photographic interest is in photographing people. He also explores digital imagery and manipulation, and this leads to some quite unique and unusual photos. This evening, Al will be using prints for his talk, rather than digital projected images, and he will be handing out his prints to audience members so that you can see them close up. You may want to sit in the front rows for a better view. The majority of prints will be of people and will be composite images manipulated in Photoshop. Look forward to being entertained! You can see some of Al’s photography here: http://www.albuntin.com/gallery.html

–  HAND IN For DALL CUP (SELFIE COMPETITION) (For rules, see details on http://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/competitions/ page)

Mar 13  Workshop evening – Sandeman. Selfie Competition (Dall Cup) and Audiovisual Showcase. This evening will be split into two different activities. We start with a Selfie Competition! This is a new and light-hearted competition. A ‘selfie’ is a picture of yourself taken by yourself using a handheld camera/phone camera. Selfie sticks are allowed, but tripods and remote controls are not allowed. You can enter up to 3 photos, for digital projection, but please rate them in order of importance e.g. A, B, C etc, in case we have to restrict the number of photos that we show. More information is available here: Competitions Page. We hope to see some humorous and original selfies! The audience will be the judges and will vote for 1st, 2nd, 3rd places, Highly Commended and Commended. The Dall Cup will be awarded to the winner of this competiton. The second part of the evening will be an Audiovisual Showcase. We encourage you to make a video of up to a maximum of 6 minutes in length and to show it on the evening. The video can consist of still photos, video clips or a mixture of the two. Hopefully, it might tell a story and be accompanied by music and/or text. So far, 5 of us have volunteered to show AV presentations – Duncan, Tim, Wilma, Wol and Ian. For next season, we have booked Bernard Longley ARPS and Keith Fisher ARPS DPAGB to visit us in October 2019 to provide us with an evening on how to put together a successful AV presentation. They are recognised experts in this field.

Mar 20 AGM / Member talk. The first part of the evening will be devoted to our Annual General Meeting. After the break newly elected president Malcolm Lind will give an illustrated talk entitled “Wolf Tails – wolves in the landscape and history of Perthshire”.

Mar 27  End of Season Dinner with prize-giving. All PPS members and partners are welcome.

You can download a printable one page summary of the 2018-19 programme: PPS_Prog_2018_onepage

Click here for an archive of previous years’ programmes