Double Bill

Jayne Bond

For the first part of our evening, we were treated to an interesting talk by Jayne Bond who is a member of the Guild of Photographers. This is an organisation not familiar to many of us, and she helpfully explained about the Guild generally and in particular about the three qualification levels, Qualified, Craftsman and Master Craftsman which are similar to those awarded by the RPS and other photographic associations.

Jayne told us how she had wanted a new project to challenge her and decided to take the Guild course on judging which took a year to complete. To be awarded her Diploma in Judging however, it was also necessary for her to achieve Master Craftsman status (equivalent to an RPS Fellowship) and Jayne went on to explain what was involved. She needed a panel of 20 images which worked together and showed a variety of skills, together with a Statement of Intent. After lots of procrastination about what could be her theme, she realised she had lots of images of red foxes, red squirrels, red deer and red kites so decided on the theme of ‘Red’. She had advice from a Guild mentor and selected her final 20 images which were then printed and mounted. Her panel comprised two rows of 10 images which were carefully arranged to complement each other, not only in in terms of subject but also by colour tone, horizons, etc. The assessment day last December was particularly stressful, but she ended up with a literal ‘thumbs up’ from all 5 of the assessors and achieved her Master Craftsmen award as well as her Judging Diploma.

It was a fascinating talk, and I know we all enjoyed seeing not only the prints that made up Jayne’s panel, but also many of her other stunning images, as well as gaining an understanding of the Guild of Photographers. I’m sure Jayne would be happy to talk in more detail to anyone who may be interested in joining the Guild.

Jane Lee

Phil Whiffing

For the second part of the evening, Phil Whiffing presented a fascinating talk about his Trans-Atlantic yacht sailing in November/December 2014. This was a trip to raise funds for St Margaret’s Hospice Care Trust and Phil was part of the crew sailing the Canaries to West Indies section. His yacht was a Challenger cutter one of a fleet of steel yachts commissioned by Sir Chay Blyth for his ‘Challenge Business’ to sail around the world against prevailing winds and currents. Phil described the yacht as very seaworthy but somewhat basic in accommodation. Phil showed us photos of the galley, and his ‘comfortable’ sleeping quarters

in a hammock. The diet on the voyage seemed to be based on a lot of fruit and fish, some of the latter caught from the yacht. Judging by the size of the fish in Phil’s photos, they would have provided good meals for a number of days!

Life on the voyage seemed to exist of different watches, day and night, including ‘Mother Watch’ during which the crew member looked after the needs of those on watch, including providing them with food and gallons of coffee as well as cleaning duties! There was also a daily cake baking competition and fresh bread. Phil’s favourite place was Bequia, a beautiful small island in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Some of the crew took back gold trinkets and other souvenirs from the islands but Phil chose to take back locally grown nutmegs for his wife and daughters!

Phil’s voyage was 3,000 miles over two weeks and his photographs covered everything from the day-to-day activity on the yacht to some of the beautiful as well as stormy weather on the voyage. His images were quite unique and showed an experience that very few of us would have the opportunity to enjoy, although ‘enjoy’ may be a somewhat relative term!

He managed to raise £5,000 for the St Margaret’s Hospice Care Trust, a very good cause.

Stephen Lee