A BIT OF EVERYTHING
03rd November 2025
Erica Oram was giving nothing away with her title ‘A Bit of This, That and The Other’. Despite our ignorance of what we had come for, we were not disappointed. The talk covered a great deal and was enlivened by Erica’s down to earth commentary.
We began with street photography Erica style. She described holding her camera at her hip activating the shutter with her thumb. She decides on a field of view to work with and does not make eye contact with her subjects, which delivers very many more bad shots than good ones. Single shot mode is quieter than burst mode and, not checking her viewfinder, she has to accept that occasionally she will miss a key moment. A wide-angle lens gives a good range of view and results need to be studied and cropped for the best results.
Erica photographs unplanned shots of the real world and never enters competitions. Her approach, taking pictures first and foremost for herself, was music to some ears. It was rather a shock, then, to learn that she is a judge. Erica frequently critiqued her images as a judge. When asked if she ever marked up shots of the type she takes, she said that when judging, she tries to avoid second guessing at the time of the shot and judges what she sees.
Erica began with monochrome shots of Sheffield’s storm drains, converted from colour originals. She described photographing the light and the shapes she sees and trying to fill the frame with it. Her shots, taken during a tour of the drains. The light falling on the cobbles, arches and water was very atmospheric. By exposing so that she didn’t overexpose the light, she inevitably underexposed the dark areas to a point the ever-present judge would have been unhappy.
Erica introduced a distinction between neglected and messy in shots of dereliction. She showed various shots in both parts of the talk which homed in on attractive washed-out colours and shapes nicely lit in the midst of serious neglect.
Sometimes one shot is not enough to capture a scene and Erica uses ‘mini projects’ where she collects the impression she has of the place in several shots.
A recurring theme was shared spaces – how people behave when forced to be in the same space. To this end, she likes public seating, queues, bus stops and pedestrian crossings. Erica clearly has a good eye for an interesting human reaction to a situation they would prefer not to be in. This was beautifully portrayed in shots of the British seaside, which made us see that what we treat as normal in that situation, most certainly would not be in any other. Her shots of crabbing were a treat.
After the break, Erica turned her attention to the rest of photography, starting with some impressive shots of motorcycle scrambling in deep mud. While capturing the riders, she did not miss the reactions of spectators and the actions of other riders trying to rescue their competitors from the quagmire.
Landscapes took us to derelict houses viewed both inside and out. They were a fertile source of shapes and colours. Captured on the Outer Hebrides, these shots preceded a section of landscapes. Erica described how she played with shutter speed and intentional camera movement (ICM) as well as fast speeds to capture the beauty of the colours in big waves. Erica described learning about ICM and using it differently for different effects. She finds moving the camera quickly hand held suits her style, and has discovered that ti can also be effective with a telephoto lens. This can give an effect similar to multiple exposure.
We saw some photos of genuine multiple exposure, which looked like sketches and saw how mist transforms a scene. Erica’s final advice was that when confronted with an iconic scene, we should look around and see what else is there and generally ignored.
Next week members will be showing a selection of their own work in a Show & tell evening.
You can find us in St Joseph’s Hall, Babworth Road, Retford at 7.30pm On Monday nights until 8th December 2025 when we break for Christmas. Our web site: www.retford-photographic.co.uk is the place to look for more information about the club. Feel free to drop us a line if you would like us to look out for you when you arrive.
We began with street photography Erica style. She described holding her camera at her hip activating the shutter with her thumb. She decides on a field of view to work with and does not make eye contact with her subjects, which delivers very many more bad shots than good ones. Single shot mode is quieter than burst mode and, not checking her viewfinder, she has to accept that occasionally she will miss a key moment. A wide-angle lens gives a good range of view and results need to be studied and cropped for the best results.
Erica photographs unplanned shots of the real world and never enters competitions. Her approach, taking pictures first and foremost for herself, was music to some ears. It was rather a shock, then, to learn that she is a judge. Erica frequently critiqued her images as a judge. When asked if she ever marked up shots of the type she takes, she said that when judging, she tries to avoid second guessing at the time of the shot and judges what she sees.
Erica began with monochrome shots of Sheffield’s storm drains, converted from colour originals. She described photographing the light and the shapes she sees and trying to fill the frame with it. Her shots, taken during a tour of the drains. The light falling on the cobbles, arches and water was very atmospheric. By exposing so that she didn’t overexpose the light, she inevitably underexposed the dark areas to a point the ever-present judge would have been unhappy.
Erica introduced a distinction between neglected and messy in shots of dereliction. She showed various shots in both parts of the talk which homed in on attractive washed-out colours and shapes nicely lit in the midst of serious neglect.
Sometimes one shot is not enough to capture a scene and Erica uses ‘mini projects’ where she collects the impression she has of the place in several shots.
A recurring theme was shared spaces – how people behave when forced to be in the same space. To this end, she likes public seating, queues, bus stops and pedestrian crossings. Erica clearly has a good eye for an interesting human reaction to a situation they would prefer not to be in. This was beautifully portrayed in shots of the British seaside, which made us see that what we treat as normal in that situation, most certainly would not be in any other. Her shots of crabbing were a treat.
After the break, Erica turned her attention to the rest of photography, starting with some impressive shots of motorcycle scrambling in deep mud. While capturing the riders, she did not miss the reactions of spectators and the actions of other riders trying to rescue their competitors from the quagmire.
Landscapes took us to derelict houses viewed both inside and out. They were a fertile source of shapes and colours. Captured on the Outer Hebrides, these shots preceded a section of landscapes. Erica described how she played with shutter speed and intentional camera movement (ICM) as well as fast speeds to capture the beauty of the colours in big waves. Erica described learning about ICM and using it differently for different effects. She finds moving the camera quickly hand held suits her style, and has discovered that ti can also be effective with a telephoto lens. This can give an effect similar to multiple exposure.
We saw some photos of genuine multiple exposure, which looked like sketches and saw how mist transforms a scene. Erica’s final advice was that when confronted with an iconic scene, we should look around and see what else is there and generally ignored.
Next week members will be showing a selection of their own work in a Show & tell evening.
You can find us in St Joseph’s Hall, Babworth Road, Retford at 7.30pm On Monday nights until 8th December 2025 when we break for Christmas. Our web site: www.retford-photographic.co.uk is the place to look for more information about the club. Feel free to drop us a line if you would like us to look out for you when you arrive.