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This Liverpool-based club has a strong focus on camaraderie and improving skills
Maghull Photography Club in Merseyside
When was the club founded? Maghull is a suburb of Merseyside with a population of about 20,000. Its photography club was founded as Maghull Camera Club in 1964 by a group of keen amateur photographers, and became part of the Lancashire and Cheshire Photographic Union. Over the past 50 years or so, it has grown in stature, and is now recognised for its high standards of photography and the friendly welcome offered to new members and visitors. In 2003, the name was changed to Maghull Photography Club in order to reflect the changing emphasis from equipment to the finished article. There is a great sense of camaraderie among the members, who readily share their various areas of expertise with one another, with the aim of improving the photographic skills of all members. What does the club offer to new members? Our programme consists mostly of talks/ lectures, workshops, model shoots and monthly internal competitions where only constructive criticism is given by experienced judges. Describe a typical club meeting. Meetings are held weekly on Mondays, between September and May. The annual syllabus is wide and varied to include guest speakers, workshops and portraiture sessions. Every month there is a club competition for which we invite external judges to give positive critiques and award placings to members’ prints. Do you invite guest speakers? The presentations from guest speakers are generally motivational, occasionally interactive and often inspiring. Subjects vary from the art of digital manipulation using software programmes, to photographing nature, architecture and landscape, black & white, portraiture, street and candid photography. In fact, every genre of photography is covered. Less frequently held workshop sessions are led in-house by club members who have special skills in areas such as lighting, Photoshop/ Lightroom software- editing programmes, or making best use of camera accessories.
Portraiture sessions, where a studio is set up in the clubroom, are organised three times a year. Professional models are not hired, but rather recruited by members from their circles of relatives and friends. We have been fortunate over the past few years to have had some local celebrities to pose for the club. Two of the most notable have been personal friends of one of our members. We were graced with the presence of The Royle Family star Ricky Tomlinson and the late Sir Ken Dodd. Do members compete in regional or national competitions? During the year, the club enjoys a modicum of success in local and Federation photography competitions, and occasionally we stage a local exhibition. How many members do you have? The club’s membership, which is fairly evenly divided between male and female, varies between 20-25, of which about 15 are active. It is a small club but is nevertheless highly respected, not only for the quality of its photographers but for the encouragement it offers to its visitors. Members belong to the mature end of the age spectrum, and one of the main strategic aims of the club is to lower the age profile by attracting younger people from the community. Are any residential trips or outings planned? There are no trips planned at the moment, but during the summer months nature reserves, garden centres, coastal dunes and city centres are but a few of the places visited and photographed, and sometimes, such outings conclude at a local hostelry. Do you have any funny stories about the club? The Doddy [Ken Dodd] night was one to remember in that when the photography session was over, he entertained us for over 1.5 hours with anecdotes interspersed with well-rehearsed routines. Those who had enjoyed his theatre performances were not a bit surprised that our session overran, and we were into the next day before we got home! What are the club’s goals for the future? The club would like to increase membership numbers and raise our profile locally, and would like members to continue to enjoy photography and improve their skills. Want to see your club featured on these pages? Drop us a line for more information at ap@ti-media.com.