Perthshire Photographic Society

Occasionally at Acharn, one may encounter local circle repairers, summoned to conduct vital clearance of the stones when the late medieval dry-stane dyke starts intruding on the circle again. As you can see, it is tiring work. This circle used to be in policy plantation of the Breadalbane’s estate. The dry-stane dyke came before the planting, and is a perfect example of megalithic monuments being used as surveyors line of sight landscape markers. Many such monuments are disrupted by walling, roads and forestry. This one has had much care and attention to re-establish its place in the local landscape around Loch Tay. These images were taken for the Perth800 project undertaken by the club a few years ago.

A quick reminder about the expedition to Acharn tomorrow. I propose we meet at the car park nearest the footpath. I am posting a map with the routes shown in red dots. As for time, is 12:00 noon okay fo everyone? The routes are not strenuous on the lower path, and the one that leads to the circle from the top of the waterfall is a farm track, but owing to the recent rain, could be a wee bit soggy. The path to the cup and ring marked stone is less certain, and having not found... it in the past, this part may be a magical mystery tour. Of course, feel free at any time to head off in your own direction, there is much to see and discover. The wildflower populations have proved abundant in the past, the bird life likewise. Given the location, there may even be red or roe deer groups out and about. Can you leave a comment if you are intending to come along, as I hope we can set off shortly after 12:15? The crannog on this part of the map is not the the Crannog Centre, you will have passed it 2km before you reach Acharn Burn. The parking is on the left after the burn. The weather is looking good, warm and dry, ideal for midges.
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Greeting PPS members, I thought I should give you a swift update on matters arising from the recent Committee meeting.
GRANT CUP (08/ 01 / 20) First, a reminder that the theme for this years Grant Cup (January the 8th, 2020) is “Isolation”. It may seem a long way off, however just like with Birnam Exhibition, it is surprising how quickly time flies. As a committee, we will have the theme for the Birnam Exhibition published in due course.
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Greetings to all club members. It was recommended that I write an entry here to mark the beginning of my new role as President of the club. This is now my 21st year in the PPS, and I have enjoyed every minute of it. I feel very honoured to be entrusted with this position, in the county which saw some the most profound pioneering work of the early days of photography in the 1840s - the experimental work of D.O. Hill and Robert Adamson at Kinfauns Castle.
UPCOMING EVENTS: Tomo...rrow night sees the club going to The Bothy, in Perth, for the annual awards and “farewell for summer” meal. There seems to be 29 people signed up for the event this year, and it will be good to see everyone before the summer break.
TOURS OF COREY ARNOLD EXHIBITION: Starting tomorrow , at 11:30am, some members of the club will be giving guided tours of Corey Arnold’s exhibition in the Perth Theatre Threshold art space. This is in conjunction with our collaborations with the Horse Cross and Iliyana Nedkova. More information can be found on the other PPS Fb page.
As for my own photographic achievements this week... At Monday’s dusk, I was running up on Hatton Hill, just returning down the way, when against the purpling sunset sky, I heard a flight of whooper swans flying northwest up Strathmore. Unfortunately, by the time my overexcited fingers had come to terms with the phones buttons, they had disappeared around a finger of forest. Hey-ho. Running and alert photography don’t seem to mix with some folk. There was a host of other lively wildlife on the move, a few roe deer, hares, and a fox diving for cover as I approached. Walking next time.
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Final Meeting of our season next week. On Wed 20th March we hold our AGM followed by a talk by newly elected PPS president Malcolm Lind entitled "Wolf Tails - wolves in the landscape and history of Perthshire".

Ross Hogg has won several BAFTA Scotland awards for his innovative filmmaking. PPS members and friends are invited to this preview next Tuesday evening.

Wednesday March 6th 7.30pm - 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 pe...ople. 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 Mike Bell President
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On Friday night the PPS presented to the PSNS on the subject of "Every photo tells a story, and behind every photo there is a story" - stories from around Perthshire. Ian introduced works from Katherine, Mike, Carolyn, Sandie and of his own views from the pilots' cockpit. Raymond spoke about wildlife. Dave gave a guided tour of decaying mills along the River Ericht around Blairgowrie. Tom presented Perth from puddle height. After the tea-break, Duncan relayed photos and stories from his summer on St Kilda and the history of the islands.
Many thanks to all who spoke and contributed photos for making such an entertaining evening!

Last night's Members Night was a great success. Graham Robb kicked off with some action-filled cycle and motorsport images. Carolyn Bell told us about the influence of Dutch modernist painter Piet Mondrian on her photography of abstract and semi-abstract patterns. David Moran illustrated some of the old mills of Blairgowrie with his evocative photographs. Raymond Leinster combined his trademark superb wildlife images with a fascinating insight into how he approaches photographing extreme sportsmen and sportswomen within the context of Scotland's landscape. Finally Duncan McNab used stills and video to illustrate the story of his summer on St Kilda.

Jan 16th - members night presentations (Sandeman Room) Tonight we hold an evening of presentations by club members. The Sandeman Room is a smaller, more intimate venue better suited to these informal presentations than the lecture theatre. We use the large wall-mounted TV screen to display images, rather than projection, and there is no sound system. You are advised to sit at the front if you have visual or hearing difficulties. 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.

This week we had our Portrait Photography Workshop with studio lighting setups provided by Mike Bell, Roben Antoniewicz and Jimmy Herd.

Last week at PPS we were privileged to see the work of one of Scotland's finest landscape photographers Ian Cameron. Ian's dedication to his craft shines through all his work. Photos by Roben Antoniewicz.

Fantastic feedback from our talk last week from Helen Sloan, principal stills photographer on 'Game of Thrones'. Here are some of Roben Antoniewicz's photos of the event.

The whole world is going mirrorless (well almost)! Find out about Nikon's new full frame mirrorless a week today in JRS on Scott Street, Perth.

Our meeting next week, Wednesday 7th November featuring Helen Sloan, principal stills photographer on 'Game of Thrones' is almost sold out. See the Event page for details.

Last Wednesday, Dave Hunt fascinated us with his range of photographic interests and expertise. We heard about how he uses the Snapseed and Procreate apps on an iPad to try out ideas for his fine art photographs, many of which start life as iPhone captures. He compared this to his Photoshop workflows which he finds more powerful but sometimes less creative. Finally he revealed his passion for the wet plate process which he uses to create uniquely timeless portraits of local people. What shone through was the haunting emotive messages he manages to convey through his prints, whatever photographic method he employs. Photos by Roben Antoniewicz.