Focal Points...........
Focal Points - July 2008
Edited by Peter Flower



The following items are brief reports on events that took place during the summer season.
31 May 2008 - Treasure Hunt (organised by May Savage )
May reports that about a dozen members met at Reigate Town Hall car park to be handed details of the 8 locations to photograph in a loop out to Newlands Corner (the furthest point) and back. She had also, previously, given copies of the list to other members who were unable to attend on the day. These members will be able to undertake the 'Hunt' at a time of their own choosing, so there should be a good total entry when the judging happens in the next season. The weather was a mixture of sun and cloud. May had provided details of a variety of places for refreshments, although it seemed that many finished up at the Newlands Corner cafe.


2 June 2008 – Pub Walk (organised by Jill and Peter Flower)
Unfortunately the weather prospects were not good when a small band of members met in the car park of St. Michael's Church, Betchworth, at 7:30pm, and shortly after setting off the rain did in fact start. This rather spoilt the enjoyment of some of the pleasant countryside vistas as the skies darkened, but members were given a commentary on the many historic houses during their circular tour of the village. These included More Place (15th Century) where the parents of of Thomas Morsted, surgeon to King Henry V (and in that capacity present at Agincourt) lived. Another famous surgeon, Sir Benjamin Brodie, lived at Broome Park during the 19th Century. He was surgeon to Queen Victoria – another royal connection.
In all, within a brief walk of about three quarters of an hour, at least 16 different buildings of significant historic interest were seen, including the church, tithe barn, forge and school (where in olden times pupils walked from Brockham, Betchworth, Buckland, Headley and Walton, and paid 8d per week for tuition). The final historic building was, of course, the Dolphin Inn ! (This appears to date from the late 1700s, and until 1926 the innkeeper brewed his own ale – one of the last Surrey inns to do so) Here, the slightly soggy members were able to relax in the snug and enjoy a well-earned drink !
8 June 2008 – Summer Garden Party (organised by Jill and Peter Flower)
The weather was rather kinder on this occasion, and members who gathered in Jill & Peter's garden were able to bask in the sunshine under cloudless blue skies. Appropriately, for this summer event, they were greeted with a cool Pimms or a non-alcoholic iced drink (referred to as 'not Pimms'!). The two daughters, Lesley and Jo, had been busy during the morning preparing a wide range of finger buffet items, ranging from smoked salmon sandwiches to savoury snacks, more-ish chocolate cakes and home-made scones to be served with strawberry jam and clotted cream. Befitting a summer event, there were also fresh and delicious Kent strawberries with cream to finish off the meal.
In addition to the members it was good to see some familiar faces amongst the guests who also attended. Renate and Margaret were amongst these, and anyone who had attended the frequent summer parties at Reg Seale's in Lower Kingswood will recall the sterling work that they performed in preparing the lavish spreads at those events. It was good to see them again, to be able to serve them for a change, and give them a chance to relax. May Savage's husband, Les, has not enjoyed the best of health in recent times, but he looked on good form as he relaxed in the shade of the apple trees. Lester Hicks (normally acting as sherpa for camera equipment !) had come along with his wife Carol, and Steve Lawrenson's brother, Martin, had journeyed up from Kent to be with us. Overall, it was a pleasant and relaxing event, with superb warm and sunny weather that we always hope for in an ideal British summer.
6 July 2008 - Chatham Challenge (organised by Bob Boden)
This event was held at the Brooklands Museum (promoted as the Birthplace of British Motorsport and Aviation). There was a good attendance of prospective competitors (together with family and friends), most of whom were already assembled in the coffee shop (enjoying a late breakfast or early 'elevenses' !) by the time Bob and Jude arrived at 10.30am with the 'challenge' lists. In addition to the regular attendees it was good to see that several of the new members had also come along. There was a mixture of people who had visited Brooklands before, and some who were seeing it for the first time. I had been there previously, but that was before the construction of the Mercedes-Benz Experience complex and the new roadworks into the site. Additionally, there had obviously been updates and changes to the Brooklands exhibits.
The weather was not ideal for photography, being rather dull and overcast, but for those who stayed around long enough it did brighten up considerably in the afternoon. Bob had set some subjects that were open to interpretation – such as 'characters'. Did this mean people as characters, or text characters? It was reported that several members had photographed the Arabic text notices inside the VC 10 aircraft, once the private aircraft of a wealthy sultan. It will be interesting to hear Bob's judgment in December!
There was a potentially minor crisis late morning when a member of Brooklands staff asked whether our members had permits to photograph on-site. He had assumed that the presence of photographers with 'professional' camera equipment required authority. Fortunately, this potential problem was sorted out when it was pointed out that we were amateur members of a society involved in a friendly (non-commercial) competition. This apart, it has to be said that the co-operation of staff mirrored that which we experienced last year at the Bluebell Railway. When they knew what we were up to they more than fully assisted with helpful comments and suggestions for suitable subject matter. In addition, they were able to explain the fascinating historic details that the exhibit notices can often only outline in brief. The diversity of motoring activity at Brooklands since the race track opened in 1907, together with aircraft construction until relatively modern times, provides a wealth of interest. It is difficult to visualise the sheer variety and volume of, for example, the aircraft production that has taken place on what is a relatively small site.
I wasn't able to canvass the opinions of the female members, who have been known to grumble about the choice of venues that include too much emphasis on things mechanical – like steam engines (Bluebell Railway last year), cars and planes. However, I hope they enjoyed looking at the Barbara Cartland room and the photographs of the lady racing drivers of the Twenties and Thirties ! The solution is in their hands. We need a female winner of the 'Challenge' this year! Personally, I enjoyed it, and Bob is to be congratulated on the organisation.

And now for the other news . . . .

Don Morley – Amateur or Professional ?
As part of an on-going series about classic cameras of the past in Amateur Photographer magazine, Ivor Matenle recently wrote about the Olympus XA series of cameras. (These were very compact 35mm cameras with black plastic bodies, and a sliding 'shell' body that opened to reveal the lens) This article prompted a letter from a reader in Tyne & Wear who recalled 'a column by sports photographer Don Morley in the now defunct Camera magazine back in 1980'. The story continued -
'Don had just bought an XA and, totally smitten, took it with him to take some shots at a motorcycle event. Don ventured into the caravan of one of the riders to take a few portraits with his new toy. He got his pictures, but a little later someone mentioned to him that the rider had been less than impressed with with Don's new acquisition and had indeed referred to it as a 'toy camera'. Apparently the guy had questioned whether it had even been Don Morley, the pro sports photographer, who had been taking his pictures, as he was using what appeared to be a snapshot camera.'
At the end of the letter the reader asked – 'Incidentally, does anyone know what became of Don Morley? Is he still out there taking pictures, or did he finally succumb to his other passionate pursuit of smoking Woodbines?'.
I telephoned Don, who had already received numerous 'phone calls and e-mails from other people who had read this item. He said that he would be contacting AP to assure them that he was no longer addicted to the 'evil weed' and was still taking photographs!
As a final point, it should be said that Don had used Olympus SLRs professionally for some years, and been featured in that company's publicity, much the same as David Bailey. Olympus lenses for their SLR range were highly regarded, and the same quality standards applied to the fixed lenses fitted to the compact cameras.
Mega-pixels and mega price!
Following the success of its H3DII-39 model Hasselblad has announced the launch of the Hasselblad H3DII-50, featuring a new Kodak 50 megapixel sensor, which is twice the size of the largest 35mm DSLR sensors. A new 645 sensor will also be launched in 2009.
Members who have experience of high specification cameras will be aware that image detail can be limited by lens quality rather than the pixel count. Hasselblad states that they are proud of the fact that the unique resolution and optical quality of the H-system lens line, combined with digital lens correction and UltraFocus accuracy, has made it possible to obtain highly accurate capture and recording of image detail.
Kodak are supplying the new image sensor, which measures 36x48 mm. This is optimised to work with Hasselblad’s new HTS 1.5 tilt/shift adapter (patent pending), which enlarges the image circle by 50% to bring the benefits of tilt/shift photography into medium format DSLR cameras. The sensor is also designed to provide even better, richer colours, and lower power consumption, resulting in longer battery life.
Good news - the H3DII-50 camera will be available from October 2008. Bad news – the price is $39,995.
Bad news on the High Street
We have reported before on the problems of the Jessops group of camera stores. An announcement in mid-July reported further falls in underlying sales, and this resulted in the share price dropping 2.27 pence, to 5.68 pence in a single day. (Shares were floated at 155 pence in November 2004)
Fortunately, for those of us living in this area the Photo Optix stores were available in Redhill, Dorking and Guildford. I found their pricing much more competitive than that of Jessops, and the staff (especially in the Dorking and Guildford branches) were generally very knowledgeable and helpful. I had also made use of the DigiStor online order facility (owned by Photo Optix). I first became aware of their problems when I found the Dorking shop closed with a 'Stock-taking' notice in the window on a Saturday. This was rapidly followed by the press reports of the group going into administration.
This is bad news for for any of us who like to get the feel of possible equipment options before making a decision on purchase. To handle the equipment, and potentially still obtain a competitive price, it seems that the options are to head south (to the likes of Park Cameras) or up to London.
Images of Afghanistan
If you are in London, and would like to spend some time looking at a collection of outstanding black and white images, a visit to Asia House is recommended. An exhibition entitled 'A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan' contains a selection of images from the book of the same name by photographer Seamus Murphy. Seamus visited the country on numerous occasions from 1994 to 2007 photographing the effects of the Taliban regime, the tumultuous years of civil war and the historical elections. These are not images of war; rather a study of this country's people living through this troubled era.
Asia House is located at 63 New Cavendish Street, and the exhibition (open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm) runs until 13 September 2008.


Peter Flower July 2008