ME AND MR. GRUMPY!

Husband and wife team Louise and Gary Langley were the second speakers to visit the club this season. Both have been before in their role as judges, this time came to entertain and show their own images.
Louise got into photography by being Gary’s porter. In 2009 he was upgrading his kit and she took on the old kit, working with film.
Louise spoke before the refreshment break and Gary followed. Having said that both took a wide range of subjects. Louise began with a monochrome portrait from a club night. It was her only portrait she likes.
It was refreshing to hear a judge say that she would show images she likes, irrespective of their appeal to judges. She drew attention to aspects which would not do well in a club competition. This sent a good message to aspiring competitors. Individuals’ response to their own work does not translate to a judge, who can only base an opinion on what they see.
Louise began with images of flowers in fields and spoke of getting down low to fill the foreground while looking for a harmonious and distant background. This can be hard to achieve. Louise said she does little on Photoshop and never changes the skies in her shots. Gary later said he does both.
‘Gardening’ is the term photographers use for clearing up distractions which would otherwise be in a natural scene, e.g. dead grasses or other extraneous material. As Louise pointed out, flowers are not going anywhere and there is time to improve the shot before taking it.
Hoar frost near Aberdeen made a memorable shot and a fence and stile on a frosty day started a discussion. It a lively session and both speakers welcomed input from the audience. Some judges disliked for being a bright distraction, but the feeling in the room was that it was in context and belonged there.
Gary and Louise work from hides and have the tenacity to stay in one all day hoping for a good shot. We saw kingfishers and Gary suggested prefocussing on a stick the birds use and hoping the will come. In Mull, white tailed eagles were photographed at relatively close quarters from a boat.
Sport featured among their interests and the couple had been to Rotherham photographing jet skiers. They both showed examples and mentioned how the huge spray these small craft generate can be used very effectively to screen out the uninspiring background by shooting form the right angle.
Louise concluded with more landscapes and seascapes as well as some modern architecture.
Gary’s shots included a mono portrait of his nephew, with the eyes in sharp focus. He had captured some shots of gospel singers while in America and said he uses whatever camera is to hand. The couple are recent converts to Olympus. Gary responded when asked that he rarely uses flash outside, but restricts it to the studio.
In a humorous moment he referred to the sound of an eider duck as just like Frankie Howard saying ‘Ooooh’ in the ‘Carry On’ films. Most of us knew what he meant!
It was an interesting evening taking us from America to Australia via many species of bird, the south of England to the Hebrides and even Lesbos, seemingly the place to go for birds.