On Friday 6th September, Ilkley Camera Club kicked off its new season with an agenda setting talk by professional photographer Martin Patten. Martin is a multi-award winning photographer with many distinctions including with the Royal Photographic Society.
The theme of Martin’s presentation was ‘critiquing your own photos’. He began by pointing out that we are all precious about our own photos and, rather like our own babies, we can have a lot of emotional attachment. And so his first recommendation was to detach ourselves from our own emotions and try to think of who the photograph is for and how they will feel about the work. “Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder”, he said.
Learning the language to talk about photography in a helpful and critical way is important if we are to get beyond, “that’s a nice picture”.
“We are all on a journey and want to get better at our photography, we are all at different stages. It’s easy to compare our work with other people and get despondent, but the important thing is to enjoy the fact that we are improving”.
Martin said it was always important to remember why we do photography, “never lose sight of the fun, do what nourishes your soul, are you letting your soul into your art?”, he said.
He made the point that in order to improve we need to keep practicing like in golf or any other sport or activity. Effort in equals results out. “If you can’t be objective about your own work then get someone else to look at it for you. The great thing about camera clubs is that we can look at each other’s work and talk about it”.
An important aspect of photography for Martin is the planning. He said that we always need to make good choices and to be able to say why we made those choices. “Good images include things like a good story, pleasing composition, great lighting, and a clear subject. You’ve got to ask yourself if it has some magic, does it make you feel something?”
Ilkley Camera Club is currently meeting on Friday evenings at 7.30pm. Some meetings are held at St Peter’s Church Hall in Addingham and others on Zoom. For more information visit the Club website at ilkleycameraclub.co.uk or its Facebook page, facebook.com/ilkleycameraclub. Visitors and new members are welcome.