John Clare ARPS, EFIAP, CPAGB, BPE2*, PPSA - Chairman
Contact John
I first picked up a camera, an Instamatic, on a school trip to Paris aged 15. At 20 I got my first film camera, a Praktica, and converted the cupboard under the stairs into a darkroom in my London flat. More than 40 years later I have travelled widely and I love my Leica. My photography embraces many genres, including landscape, street, portraits and architecture. I also have a drone with a great camera.
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Andy Roberts - Outings Co-ordinator
Contact Andy
I first joined the club in 2004 and joined the committee a few years ago. I enjoy all aspects of photography, particularly street photography and have learned a lot since I joined the club after living in London many years. One role I have at present on the committee is Outings co-ordinator and if any member has any suggestions for outing venues please feel free to suggest them.
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Peter does a great job as secretary for the committee, hosting and organising meetings. Judging by the hundreds of travel guides he owns his main interest in photography involves travelling around the world.
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John Wood - Treasurer
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Photography is an infinite game of creativity. It has the power to capture simple pleasures, create awe-inspiring artworks, and immortalise the world around us.. All photographs tell a story. While I’m not a great photographer, I aspire to improve. Cheltenham Camera Club facilitates the enjoyment of photography. And that is quite special.
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I have enjoyed photography since getting my first camera at the age of 12, a Brownie 127. I still have this camera and owned many others before buying my first digital camera in 2009, the year I joined Cheltenham Camera Club.
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After many years of photographing mostly landscapes, travel and the family for my own enjoyment, since joining CCC as a camera club novice several years ago I have thoroughly enjoyed the resulting stimulus to expand into other genres and to share my work with others and the opportunity to learn from them. Much of my photography is done in conjunction with walking and cross-country skiing, and so over the years I have enjoyed the move from heavy medium format film gear to much lighter digital kit as well as from darkroom to Lightroom. I became a Licentiate of The Royal Photographic Society in 2019. I’m looking forward to retirement next year offering more photographic opportunities.
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My interest in photography started with the birth of my daughter and wanting to capture every moment of her growing up. I then found myself starting to experiment a bit more, which ended up with me joining CCC. The wealth of knowledge in the club helped me to develop my interests further and I became a licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society in 2020. My main interest is people/street photography, with a bit of sport thrown in for good measure. I joined the committee a few years ago and look after all the equipment, setting up and our various social media accounts.
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Martin Fry FRPS FBPE EFIAP/d3 AV-EFIAP/b APAGB - Committee Member
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I have been photo’ing for decades as part of my passion for pictures – trips to London see me in the Tate not Camera Shops. So I don’t obsess over grain, pixels or lenses, although a techie background propped up my meagre picture making skills when I was asked, way back, to take over an ailing photo class, coaching to ‘O’ level & GCSE, devising ways of conveying the aesthetic & technical stuff along the way. After a decade’s forced break I emerged into a digital world – and got stuck in, deciding, after all these years, it might be good to join a club. Then quickly took the Chairman’s shilling onto the committee, a not unfamiliar situation for me, as well as using a bit of previous to help re-instate the studio group. I photo all sorts of objects and subjects trying, but usually failing, to draw out an essence or find a fresh perspective.
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I have always enjoyed photography since being given a camera at an early age, learning the basic skills by experimenting and developing my own prints (initial black and white, and then colour through the use of my school’s purpose-built dark room). Subsequent to this I only took holiday snaps, until around 10 years ago I bought my first DSLR which inspired me to re-engage in capturing images. Family and friends have always encourage me to ‘do more’ with my images, hence why I recently joined CCC so that I can update my skills and hopefully become a better photographer. Landscape and nature are my specific interests but will hopefully broaden out to other genres going forward.
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Mark Wardle LRPS, CPAGB - Membership Secretary
Contact Mark
After a very long gap between film photography and digital, I dabbled in various 'travel' cameras until joining the club in 2011 and buying my first DSLR. CCC transformed my view of photography and inspired me to 'have a go'. Today I am fortunate to travel a lot and particularly enjoy nature and landscape photography as well as maintaining an NGS garden with my wife, and the occasional trout fishing trip.
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Jimmy Fletcher - Programme Secretary
Contact Jimmy
My photography journey started in 2019 when I began using a DSLR and small telephoto as a tool for birdwatching (telescopes gave me bad motion sickness). I initially started out using my camera to take record shots of wildlife but quickly learned how to control the camera settings manually and began to experiment with my work.
My newfound photography skills and love for experimentation led me to take a leap and enrol at the University of Gloucestershire on their Photography: Editorial and Advertising Course where I learned further technical skills which included both film development and editing software. I also spent time experimenting with different genres of photography as well as filmmaking, whilst learning about the creative industries. I graduated from the course earlier this year with a 1st Class Bachelor Degree.
Since then, I have been a photographer for The Kennel Club covering some of Crufts 2022, had work exhibited in London and Cheltenham and most notably my Short Film, Bempton was awarded Best in Show at the Association of Photographers Student Awards 2023. This award has led to my most recent project to be funded and supported by Fujifilm UK.
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Jim Sharrock LRPS - Studio Group
I have been interested in photography for many years and in the good old days I developed and printed my photos. I had a holiday from photography for about 40 years, then when I retired I purchased my first digital camera. I joined the Cheltenham Camera Club over 10 years ago to improve my photography and with the help and advice of members I recently obtained my LRPS.
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Gary Norris - Committee Member
I joined the club around 2020. I have always been a keen photographer though my interest and knowledge has developed since joining the club, which I am grateful for. I don’t have a particular genre. I just enjoy photography. I still have a lot to learn and feel the club is the right place to develop my skills as a photographer. I have just joined the committee so as yet do not have a specific roll, just happy to help out where ever.
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James Wilkinson - Internal Competition Secretary
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Saul Scott - Assistant Programme Secretary.
I am a keen photography enthusiast who started off primarily photographing nature, but I have since begun to explore other photographic genres such as street, landscape and architecture.
As a current art student, I also approach photography from an artistic perspective, and like to explore the boundaries between art and photography.
I prefer to create naturally processed digital images that document beauty, interest, and history - often that which is overlooked and which I wish to draw attention to. My subjects tend to be found within environments, rather than being pre-planned compositions. I am excited by the process of finding and capturing images and enjoy experimenting.
Cheltenham Camera Club has been an important part of my photographic development, helping to improve my skills and opening my eyes to the extensive possibilities and techniques of photography.
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