The
Club owes a lot to Brian for taking on the Secretary’s job when we were
at a low ebb, and helping us to survive. For three or four years now Brian
has worked as secretary in a ‘very competent way, and I feel my first
job must be to thank him for what he has done.
Oar
membership numbers are at the present fairly low, and the Central
Committee are very concerned over this., At the recent meeting at
Worcester, the members present elected Les Cook of Area 3, Publicity
Officer. Les, is bursting with ideas and .1 sin sure that our numbers will
soon rise again.
When
I joined the club in it’s CR50 days, it was because of a paragraph in
the Amature Photographer. Alas the photo press nowadays although more
prolific in its publications, seems to know little about us. There have
been three times recently when we could have got a mention but got nothing
at all. The first was in Camera Weekly, when someone wanted to know how to
mix his own chemicals- the answer “There is not much being done in that
field nowadays.” The next we have a two page spread on Camera clubs
available, in the S.L.R. Photography magazines, local, city manufacturers
clubs all got a mention.
Amature
Photographer was the latest, when someone wanted to know how to process
CR50 - the answer would have given some of our older members a good excuse
for throwing a fit. The columnist would contact Derek Watkins who used, to
run the CR5O Club for the formulae. That statement is little short of an
insult to some of the people who really did run the Club at that time. We
will try to answer the last one, and in
future,
try to cover the press and make ourselves better known.
To
get the Club back on its feet needs a lot of thought and effort. We have a
Committee who are as keen as mustard, and with the present climate of
costly materials and equipment, the atmosphere should be right to pull in
new members who want to cut their costs. After all we do save 50% or so on
film, and even more if we are weighers & mixers. So how about all of
you trying to get a new members.
Sometimes
I wonder whether we have the balance of our activities right. Do we for
instance spend more on our recourses on technical matters than we should;
or would the membership like information on photographic techniques. There
are a lot of subjects that may be unknown to new members or to beginners,
such as composition; slide mounting; filing ‘systems or storage;
masking. Come to that they would probably be of benefit some of our older
members, after all we can all learn something new at some time or other.
There
must be some of you that could put together a short article for the
magazine, for which I am sure the Editor would be only too pleased to
accept. Don’t be shy, someone will be glad of the knowledge you are
passing on.
Best
wishes with your Spring Photography.
Ron
Croad.