Our new 2024-25 season is under way, for anyone with an interest in Photography, and living within Perth, Perthshire, Perth and Kinross, and surrounding areas in Scotland.
For our second week, we’re having a Bring and Share – bring some of your own images, as prints or on electronic devices, to share and discuss in small groups. Finished work, work in progress, rejects from the cutting room floor, howlers from the blooper reel, whatever. https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/2024/08/programme-2024-25/#week02
Newcomers are very welcome to register online, and come along to meet us for a couple of weeks, with no commitment. That gives you the chance to decide if you like what you see. Or you can jump straight in with new or renewed membership. Either way, go to the online form at How do I join? to register.
The first night of each PPS season is traditionally President’s Night, and incumbent Ian Mackay welcomed more than fifty of us, of whom maybe a quarter were along for their first visit. Welcome indeed!
The lengthy tea break spilled out of the foyer and back into the theatre, and provided an opportunity for making newcomers feel welcome, and for old friends to catch up.
In the second half of the evening, Ian introduced some themes in his own interests, both in photography and in life, and talked us through some of his landscape images, explaining how a sometimes-plain scene can be brought alive as a striking image.
To round off the evening, a handful of dedicated researchers investigated the possibilities of the bar at the Grampian Hotel, just over the road. Their lounge looks big enough to hold most of us, and stays open until 22:30, so not dangerously late. Let’s see if that can become a regular thing.
One exciting feature of the upcoming PPS season is our novice development programme. Now in its third year, we’re offering a more structured support to members who identify as novice photographers. Check out our Novices page and see some more Before and After images from our recent ‘novices’. How will your photography have changed, this time next year? https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/membership/novices/
Here at Perthshire Photographic Society we start back for our weekly meetings at the beginning of October, and our membership form for the coming season is now open.
If you’ve been part of us in previous years, now’s a good time to get this year’s membership in place.
If you’re new and would like to get to know us, you’re welcome to have two trial weeks before you commit; or you can jump straight in with membership – either way, see our Membership page for details ….
Are you interested in photography, and living in and around Perthshire? Come and join with Perthshire Photographic Society – we meet at 7:30pm, on Wednesday evenings between October and March, in the Soutar Lecture Theatre at the AK Bell Library in Perth.
We’re on the up! Perthshire Photographic Society enjoyed success over the summer, with our best-ever results in the Scottish Photographic Federation’s annual Portfolio competition. This one’s very egalitarian, in that, if any club member puts in images for the club entry, they go in to the competition, with no selection by the club.
The Portfolio attracted over 1,700 entries from some 34 clubs around Scotland, some of whom are among the strongest in the UK. In this illustrious company, PPS came 8th= in colour prints, 8th= in mono prints, and 11th= in digital images. It’s something we can be proud of.
Of particular note is John Boyd’s winter landscape, Morning Calm, shown here, which won an SPF Bronze Medal in the Colour Print, as John Tillotson’s Judge’s Choice
Perthshire Photographic Society’s exhibition as part of Perth Festival of the Arts opens in less than two days time. Over the weekend, a small number of PPS volunteers gathered all the framed prints in their homes. On Monday and Tuesday, a slightly larger team will take care of the hanging, to show each print at its best. And on Wednesday we’ll open our doors, in the middle of the St John’s Centre, and hope to welcome you there.
Over thirty of us gathered for the annual end-of-season dinner, this time at the Royal George hotel in George Street, where we enjoyed a three-course meal in a comfortable private room with sociable round tables. The projector and screen allowed us to run the Birnam Exhibition slideshow during the meal, and show the winning images during the prizegiving. And the bright and spacious room made the event photography that wee bit easier.
President Ian Mackay awarded forty certificates and eight trophies for our internal competitions, plus the Millennium Quaich for distinguished achievement. Congratulations to all the winners, the highly placed, the less-highly-placed, and everyone who supported all our activities through the season in all sorts of ways. This includes a great number of Significant Others, some of whom joined us for the evening – lovely to see you all.
Big thanks, too, to Lizzie and Vicky for looking after the tea table every week through our season.
We’ll meet back again in October. In the meantime, our Facebook Group at Perth Photo Forum will continue over the summer as ‘an online place to learn from discussion of photography, by and for the people of Perth, Perthshire, Perth and Kinross, and surroundings’. So, not just for PPS members. And not just online – we also arrange a series of sociable photo walks. We’ll hope to see you out with your camera over the summer. Bon Vacances!
The season draws to a close already, and we meet at the library for the last time until October. It’s also the last chance for the News Team’s photographers to look for new compositions, new images, in the familiar environment of the Soutar Theatre.
AGM first, with a number of office-bearers summarising the season (minor issues with powerpoint notwithstanding), the appointment of the new committee, and an outline of next years programme of speakers (looks great – details will be on our Programme page before long).
To follow – a critique night, for which several members brought in images to discuss, and we gathered in small groups to do just that. Some prints, some digitals; on laptops, tablets and phones. For some groups, it was a chance for the photographer author to talk about their image and what it means to them; for others, it’s chance to put the image up and let the viewers talk about what it means to them. Either way, there’s lots of good learning to be had.
Next week we’ll be dining out and doing prizegiving, so we’ll take a break from accepting new members, and will re-open our membership form in time for the start of next season.
In the meantime, our Facebook Group at Perth Photo Forum will continue over the summer as ‘an online place to learn from discussion of photography, by and for the people of Perth, Perthshire, Perth and Kinross, and surroundings’. So, not just for PPS members. And not just online – we also arrange a series of sociable photo walks. We’ll hope to see you out with your camera over the summer. Bon Voyages!
It’s our last meet of the year at the AK Bell Library, and it’s time for our AGM. This is an important formality in the calendar, as we get to hear something of the work that goes on to keep the club functioning smoothly. And it doesn’t take all night – we’re planning to complement this with a ‘critique evening’, where we can all bring in images we’ve taken (digital or prints), and can gather in small groups to discuss them. What works, what could we do better. It’s a great opportunity for some feedback on images we’re thinking of for the SPF Portfolio competition, and for the Festival of the Arts exhibition, over the coming months. https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/2023/07/programme-2023-24/#week25
