News
2025
13rd March
The members of Motherwell Photographic Society viewed the print sections of the Scottish Photographic Federation’s annual portfolio at the latest meeting. Three judges from the Northern Counties Photographic Federation awarded each print entered into the annual competition a score of between 2 and 5. There were 378 entries submitted in the monochrome section with the 108 highest scoring prints making it into the portfolio. There were 552 entries submitted in the colour section with the 182 highest scoring prints making it into the portfolio. The club had one print accepted in the monochrome section and one print accepted in the colour section. In the monochrome section “Lost in the Moment” by Linda Greenhill scored 13 points. In the colour section “Leaning into the Bend” also by Linda Greenhill scored 13 points.
At the next meeting, on Thursday 20th March, our guest will be Libby Smith from Carluke Camera Club. Libby will be giving a Photoshop tutorial.
3rd March
The judging of the third print competition of the season took place at the latest meeting. The judge for the competition was Libby Smith from Carluke Camera Club. Libby is an award-winning photographer who is well known in the photography community and we are always honoured to welcome her to the club.Libby provided constructive and helpful feedback on each print commenting on composition, lighting, depth of field, colour and contrast, and explained how she felt the images could be improved at the taking, editing and printing stages. Libby enjoyed seeing the variety of subjects submitted and after awarding each print a score out of 20 she announced the highest scoring prints of the evening. In the landscape and general section “Freestyle BMX” by Linda Greenhill scored 20, “Blue Tit in the Tree” by Douglas McEwen and “Rolling Clouds at Loch Ard” by Dominic Smith both scored 19, and “On Your Marks, Get Ready” by Douglas McEwen and “Sea Stacks and Clifftops” by Rodger Shearer scored 18. In the portrait section “Land Girl” by Linda Greenhill scored 20, “Auld Jim” by Dominic Smith scored 19 and “A Rare Smile, Almost” by Douglas McEwen scored 18.
At the next meeting on Thursday 13th March the members will be viewing the Scottish Photographic Federation annual portfolio.
20th January
The members of Motherwell Photographic Society welcomed a group of members from Alba Photographic Society to their latest meeting for a Glasgow District Photographic Union Image League battle. The judge for the evening was Gordon McMann from Queens Park Camera Club. The clubs had submitted twenty images each with Gordon giving each image a score out of twenty. Gordon enjoys image battles and always looks forward to seeing clubs’ best images. He commented on the composition, subject matter, colours and details of each image and mentioned how he felt they could be improved by cropping, removing distractions or toning down highlights.
After counting the scores, the final result was Motherwell Photographic Society 340 points, Alba Photographic Society 351 points. Gordon awarded four images a maximum twenty points. Motherwell’s highest scoring images were “Intensity” by Linda Greenhill scoring 20, “Catch of the Day” by Margaret Dewar, “The Birks of Aberfeldy” by Rodger Shearer and “Into the Unknown” by Linda Greenhill all scoring 19, and “Wave Skimming” by Dominic Smith and “Radiant in Purple” by Margaret Dewar both scoring 18.
Club Vice President Rodger Shearer thanked Gordon for his comments and constructive feedback. He also thanked the members of Alba Photographic Society for their attendance and congratulated them on their victory.
There will be no club meeting in Holytown Community Centre next week (Thursday 27th February). Instead, the members will be visiting Hamilton Camera Club for a 4-way print battle between Carluke Camera Club,
13th January
The guest at the latest meeting of Motherwell Photographic Society was Glasgow based photographer Euan Ross. Euan has been interested in photography for eleven years. He likes to photograph cityscapes, landscapes and seascapes. In recent years Euan has stated to concentrate on producing monochrome images in a square format.
Over the course of the evening the club members were treated to a fabulous collection of images taken in various countries including Scotland, England, Iceland, Norway and Japan. Euan displayed long exposure images, misty woodland images and stark snow filled images. Rather than focussing on a single image, Euan likes to capture photographs that work well as a series of images and contribute to a larger body of work.
Euan produces handmade photobooks of his photographs and also hosts regular podcasts where he talks with artists, photographers, publishers and book designers.
6th January
In a change to the syllabus, Club Vice President Rodger Shearer gave a tutorial on his Lightroom workflow. Rodger showed how he processes his images after he imports them into Lightroom. There was ample opportunity for the club members to ask questions and Rodger passed on lots of useful tips and techniques. Following a tea break, Competition Secretary Wilson Murray displayed a DVD on lowlight and interior photography.
Next week, Thursday 13th February, our guest speaker will be Euan Ross. Euan is a Glasgow based photographer whose main interest is photographing the landscape that he lives in.
30th January
A small contingent of Motherwell members joined Falkirk Camera Club for a GDPU battle, which unfortunately we lost 346 to Falkirk's 364.
Tracy Ross from Irvine scored five images with 20, two of them from Motherwell, "Mummy's Fur Coat by Rodger Shearer and "Permission to Land" by Linda Greenhill.
Bill Robison's "Lone Tree", Margaret Dewar's "Catch of the Day" and "Jersey Pullers" by Dominic Smith scored a very respectible 19 each.
16th January
The judging of the final digital image competition of the season took place at the latest meeting of Motherwell Photographic Society. The judge for the competition was George Robertson from Milngavie and Bearsden Camera Club. There was a wide range of photography genres in the competition. George took his time to give feedback on each image, commenting on how he felt they could be improved both at the taking and processing stages. George gave each image a score out of twenty before announcing his top three images of the night. In first place, scoring a maximum twenty points, was “Three-Legged Race” by Dominic Smith. In second place was “Battle Scars” by Rodger Shearer. In third place was “The Hug” by Dominic Smith.
Club Vice-President Rodger Shearer thanked George for judging the competition and for providing the authors critique without criticism. The club members appreciated the positive feedback and helpful advice offered by George and gave him well deserved round of applause.
There will be no club meeting in Holytown Community Centre next Thursday 30th January. Instead, the members will be visiting Falkirk Camera Club for our first Glasgow District Photographic Union Image League Battle of the season.
9th January
Campbell Skinner from Greenock Camera Club was the guest speaker at the latest meeting of Motherwell Photographic Society. Campbell, who is an award-winning photographer, gave a presentation on event photography. We were shown images taken at top sporting events including hockey, football, rugby, swimming and tennis. Campbell showed images taken at music festivals and concerts taken all over the UK. Campbell has close relationships with several bands, which result in photographs that are unique to him. We were also treated to a variety of images taken around Scotland. Campbell set up a print display of some of his photographs for the members to view. He passed on helpful tips for anyone interested in trying sport or concert photography.
Club Vice-President Rodger Shearer thanked Campbell for entertaining us with the variety and quality of the images that he shared with us. The club members thoroughly enjoyed the evening and appreciated Campbell making the trip from Greenock on such a cold evening.
12th December
At the Members’ Night we were shown audio/visual and image presentations by Brian Saberton, Dominic Smith, Linda Greenhill, Rodger Shearer and Tom McGinn. The presentations included images of the Bears of Finland and Birds by Rodger. Tom shared images taken at a local wedding. Brian, Dominic and Linda showed images featuring the towns and cities of France, Italy and Spain
The next meeting on Thursday 19th December will be the Christmas social evening. Members are reminded to bring along a lucky dip present on the night.
05th December
The second print competition of the season took place and was judged by Campbell Skinner from Greenock Camera Club. Campbell gave advice on printing and mounting photographs and choosing the appropriate photo paper to enhance an image. He commented on the composition, lighting, sharpness and background distractions in the photographs and how he felt they could be improved.
After awarding a score out of twenty for each print Campbell announced his top photographs of the evening. In the Landscape and General section first place was awarded to "Trio" by Linda Greenhill and "The Leap" by Rodger Shearer was placed second. "Stormy Waters" by Rodger Shearer, "Do I Look Like I'm Having Fun?" by Douglas McEwen and "Great Spotted Woodpecker" by Linda Greenhill all shared third place. In the portrait section "The Chesterfield" was first, "Officer Rob" was second and "Land Girl" was third. The top scoring prints in the portrait section were by Linda Greenhill.
Club Vice President Rodger Shearer thanked Campbell for taking the time to judge our prints and for providing helpful, constructive feedback.
28th November
The guest speaker was George Robertson who is a member of Milngavie and Bearsden Camera Club and the Scottish Photographic Circle. George is a multi award winning photographer who just this week was the winner of Mountain Photo of the Year 2024 for an image taken on the Isle of Skye.
George, who is an international mountain leader, gave a presentation called "The Snows of Kilimanjaro – Trekking on Africa's Highest Mountain". George has led eighteen treks to the top of the 5895m mountain in Tanzania, which typically take between 6 and 7 days to complete. The first part of his presentation contained images of the villages and people who live in the area at the base of the mountain. The club members were then treated to a series of fantastic images taken at various stages of the climb. We were shown photographs taken in the rainforest, moorland vegetation zone, the alpine desert and finally the summit zone. George gave a fascinating insight into the logistics of leading a large group of people to the top of Kilimanjaro and also getting them back down safely.
Club Vice President Rodger Shearer thanked George for giving us an entertaining and informative presentation full of high-quality images.
21st November
The guest speaker at the latest meeting of Motherwell Photographic Society was David Anderson RSPB Warden at the Baron’s Haugh Nature Reserve in Motherwell. David’s presentation “RSPB Baron's Haugh: Creating a Better, Wetter Future” told us the history of Baron’s Haugh and what makes it a special place. The 107 hectare nature reserve has 40,000 visitors every year who enjoy the wildlife and walks in the woodland. David talked about the wildlife and their habitats and the challenges faced by the nature reserve due to the impact of climate change. In recent years the reserve has created new wetland and 3 hectares of wildflower meadow. We were shown a series of videos showing the work done by the team at Baron’s Haugh and their group of volunteers and photographs of some of the wildlife that the reserve attracts.
After a question-and-answer session Club Vice President Rodger Shearer thanked David for giving his presentation and passed on his appreciation for the work that David undertakes at Baron’s Haugh.
14th November
In a change to the syllabus, the club viewed two sections of the GDPU Digital Portfolio. The club had an image in each section, “Hoverfly on White Rose” by Margaret Dewar in the Nature Section and “Unloved” by Dominic Smith in the Mono Section.
The proposed speaker Allan Bovill will visit the club at a later date.
07th November
The second digital image competition of the season took place and it was judged by Gavin Forrest from Carluke Camera Club. Gavin gave his feedback on each image before awarding them a score out of twenty. Gavin was impressed by the quality of the images and gave several of them high marks.
In first place, scoring twenty out twenty, was "Into the Unknown" by Linda Greenhill. In joint second place was "Intensity" by Linda Greenhill, "Mummy's Fur Coat" by Rodger Shearer and "Jersey Pullers" by Dominic Smith. In joint third place was "End of the Shift" by Dominic Smith, "Catch of the Day" by Margaret Dewar and "The Birks of Aberfeldy" by Rodger Shearer.
Club Vice President Rodger Shearer thanked Gavin for taking the time to judge the images and for providing constructive feedback on them.
13rd March
The members of Motherwell Photographic Society viewed the print sections of the Scottish Photographic Federation’s annual portfolio at the latest meeting. Three judges from the Northern Counties Photographic Federation awarded each print entered into the annual competition a score of between 2 and 5. There were 378 entries submitted in the monochrome section with the 108 highest scoring prints making it into the portfolio. There were 552 entries submitted in the colour section with the 182 highest scoring prints making it into the portfolio. The club had one print accepted in the monochrome section and one print accepted in the colour section. In the monochrome section “Lost in the Moment” by Linda Greenhill scored 13 points. In the colour section “Leaning into the Bend” also by Linda Greenhill scored 13 points.
At the next meeting, on Thursday 20th March, our guest will be Libby Smith from Carluke Camera Club. Libby will be giving a Photoshop tutorial.
3rd March
The judging of the third print competition of the season took place at the latest meeting. The judge for the competition was Libby Smith from Carluke Camera Club. Libby is an award-winning photographer who is well known in the photography community and we are always honoured to welcome her to the club.Libby provided constructive and helpful feedback on each print commenting on composition, lighting, depth of field, colour and contrast, and explained how she felt the images could be improved at the taking, editing and printing stages. Libby enjoyed seeing the variety of subjects submitted and after awarding each print a score out of 20 she announced the highest scoring prints of the evening. In the landscape and general section “Freestyle BMX” by Linda Greenhill scored 20, “Blue Tit in the Tree” by Douglas McEwen and “Rolling Clouds at Loch Ard” by Dominic Smith both scored 19, and “On Your Marks, Get Ready” by Douglas McEwen and “Sea Stacks and Clifftops” by Rodger Shearer scored 18. In the portrait section “Land Girl” by Linda Greenhill scored 20, “Auld Jim” by Dominic Smith scored 19 and “A Rare Smile, Almost” by Douglas McEwen scored 18.
At the next meeting on Thursday 13th March the members will be viewing the Scottish Photographic Federation annual portfolio.
20th January
The members of Motherwell Photographic Society welcomed a group of members from Alba Photographic Society to their latest meeting for a Glasgow District Photographic Union Image League battle. The judge for the evening was Gordon McMann from Queens Park Camera Club. The clubs had submitted twenty images each with Gordon giving each image a score out of twenty. Gordon enjoys image battles and always looks forward to seeing clubs’ best images. He commented on the composition, subject matter, colours and details of each image and mentioned how he felt they could be improved by cropping, removing distractions or toning down highlights.
After counting the scores, the final result was Motherwell Photographic Society 340 points, Alba Photographic Society 351 points. Gordon awarded four images a maximum twenty points. Motherwell’s highest scoring images were “Intensity” by Linda Greenhill scoring 20, “Catch of the Day” by Margaret Dewar, “The Birks of Aberfeldy” by Rodger Shearer and “Into the Unknown” by Linda Greenhill all scoring 19, and “Wave Skimming” by Dominic Smith and “Radiant in Purple” by Margaret Dewar both scoring 18.
Club Vice President Rodger Shearer thanked Gordon for his comments and constructive feedback. He also thanked the members of Alba Photographic Society for their attendance and congratulated them on their victory.
There will be no club meeting in Holytown Community Centre next week (Thursday 27th February). Instead, the members will be visiting Hamilton Camera Club for a 4-way print battle between Carluke Camera Club,
13th January
The guest at the latest meeting of Motherwell Photographic Society was Glasgow based photographer Euan Ross. Euan has been interested in photography for eleven years. He likes to photograph cityscapes, landscapes and seascapes. In recent years Euan has stated to concentrate on producing monochrome images in a square format.
Over the course of the evening the club members were treated to a fabulous collection of images taken in various countries including Scotland, England, Iceland, Norway and Japan. Euan displayed long exposure images, misty woodland images and stark snow filled images. Rather than focussing on a single image, Euan likes to capture photographs that work well as a series of images and contribute to a larger body of work.
Euan produces handmade photobooks of his photographs and also hosts regular podcasts where he talks with artists, photographers, publishers and book designers.
6th January
In a change to the syllabus, Club Vice President Rodger Shearer gave a tutorial on his Lightroom workflow. Rodger showed how he processes his images after he imports them into Lightroom. There was ample opportunity for the club members to ask questions and Rodger passed on lots of useful tips and techniques. Following a tea break, Competition Secretary Wilson Murray displayed a DVD on lowlight and interior photography.
Next week, Thursday 13th February, our guest speaker will be Euan Ross. Euan is a Glasgow based photographer whose main interest is photographing the landscape that he lives in.
30th January
A small contingent of Motherwell members joined Falkirk Camera Club for a GDPU battle, which unfortunately we lost 346 to Falkirk's 364.
Tracy Ross from Irvine scored five images with 20, two of them from Motherwell, "Mummy's Fur Coat by Rodger Shearer and "Permission to Land" by Linda Greenhill.
Bill Robison's "Lone Tree", Margaret Dewar's "Catch of the Day" and "Jersey Pullers" by Dominic Smith scored a very respectible 19 each.
16th January
The judging of the final digital image competition of the season took place at the latest meeting of Motherwell Photographic Society. The judge for the competition was George Robertson from Milngavie and Bearsden Camera Club. There was a wide range of photography genres in the competition. George took his time to give feedback on each image, commenting on how he felt they could be improved both at the taking and processing stages. George gave each image a score out of twenty before announcing his top three images of the night. In first place, scoring a maximum twenty points, was “Three-Legged Race” by Dominic Smith. In second place was “Battle Scars” by Rodger Shearer. In third place was “The Hug” by Dominic Smith.
Club Vice-President Rodger Shearer thanked George for judging the competition and for providing the authors critique without criticism. The club members appreciated the positive feedback and helpful advice offered by George and gave him well deserved round of applause.
There will be no club meeting in Holytown Community Centre next Thursday 30th January. Instead, the members will be visiting Falkirk Camera Club for our first Glasgow District Photographic Union Image League Battle of the season.
9th January
Campbell Skinner from Greenock Camera Club was the guest speaker at the latest meeting of Motherwell Photographic Society. Campbell, who is an award-winning photographer, gave a presentation on event photography. We were shown images taken at top sporting events including hockey, football, rugby, swimming and tennis. Campbell showed images taken at music festivals and concerts taken all over the UK. Campbell has close relationships with several bands, which result in photographs that are unique to him. We were also treated to a variety of images taken around Scotland. Campbell set up a print display of some of his photographs for the members to view. He passed on helpful tips for anyone interested in trying sport or concert photography.
Club Vice-President Rodger Shearer thanked Campbell for entertaining us with the variety and quality of the images that he shared with us. The club members thoroughly enjoyed the evening and appreciated Campbell making the trip from Greenock on such a cold evening.
12th December
At the Members’ Night we were shown audio/visual and image presentations by Brian Saberton, Dominic Smith, Linda Greenhill, Rodger Shearer and Tom McGinn. The presentations included images of the Bears of Finland and Birds by Rodger. Tom shared images taken at a local wedding. Brian, Dominic and Linda showed images featuring the towns and cities of France, Italy and Spain
The next meeting on Thursday 19th December will be the Christmas social evening. Members are reminded to bring along a lucky dip present on the night.
05th December
The second print competition of the season took place and was judged by Campbell Skinner from Greenock Camera Club. Campbell gave advice on printing and mounting photographs and choosing the appropriate photo paper to enhance an image. He commented on the composition, lighting, sharpness and background distractions in the photographs and how he felt they could be improved.
After awarding a score out of twenty for each print Campbell announced his top photographs of the evening. In the Landscape and General section first place was awarded to "Trio" by Linda Greenhill and "The Leap" by Rodger Shearer was placed second. "Stormy Waters" by Rodger Shearer, "Do I Look Like I'm Having Fun?" by Douglas McEwen and "Great Spotted Woodpecker" by Linda Greenhill all shared third place. In the portrait section "The Chesterfield" was first, "Officer Rob" was second and "Land Girl" was third. The top scoring prints in the portrait section were by Linda Greenhill.
Club Vice President Rodger Shearer thanked Campbell for taking the time to judge our prints and for providing helpful, constructive feedback.
28th November
The guest speaker was George Robertson who is a member of Milngavie and Bearsden Camera Club and the Scottish Photographic Circle. George is a multi award winning photographer who just this week was the winner of Mountain Photo of the Year 2024 for an image taken on the Isle of Skye.
George, who is an international mountain leader, gave a presentation called "The Snows of Kilimanjaro – Trekking on Africa's Highest Mountain". George has led eighteen treks to the top of the 5895m mountain in Tanzania, which typically take between 6 and 7 days to complete. The first part of his presentation contained images of the villages and people who live in the area at the base of the mountain. The club members were then treated to a series of fantastic images taken at various stages of the climb. We were shown photographs taken in the rainforest, moorland vegetation zone, the alpine desert and finally the summit zone. George gave a fascinating insight into the logistics of leading a large group of people to the top of Kilimanjaro and also getting them back down safely.
Club Vice President Rodger Shearer thanked George for giving us an entertaining and informative presentation full of high-quality images.
21st November
The guest speaker at the latest meeting of Motherwell Photographic Society was David Anderson RSPB Warden at the Baron’s Haugh Nature Reserve in Motherwell. David’s presentation “RSPB Baron's Haugh: Creating a Better, Wetter Future” told us the history of Baron’s Haugh and what makes it a special place. The 107 hectare nature reserve has 40,000 visitors every year who enjoy the wildlife and walks in the woodland. David talked about the wildlife and their habitats and the challenges faced by the nature reserve due to the impact of climate change. In recent years the reserve has created new wetland and 3 hectares of wildflower meadow. We were shown a series of videos showing the work done by the team at Baron’s Haugh and their group of volunteers and photographs of some of the wildlife that the reserve attracts.
After a question-and-answer session Club Vice President Rodger Shearer thanked David for giving his presentation and passed on his appreciation for the work that David undertakes at Baron’s Haugh.
14th November
In a change to the syllabus, the club viewed two sections of the GDPU Digital Portfolio. The club had an image in each section, “Hoverfly on White Rose” by Margaret Dewar in the Nature Section and “Unloved” by Dominic Smith in the Mono Section.
The proposed speaker Allan Bovill will visit the club at a later date.
07th November
The second digital image competition of the season took place and it was judged by Gavin Forrest from Carluke Camera Club. Gavin gave his feedback on each image before awarding them a score out of twenty. Gavin was impressed by the quality of the images and gave several of them high marks.
In first place, scoring twenty out twenty, was "Into the Unknown" by Linda Greenhill. In joint second place was "Intensity" by Linda Greenhill, "Mummy's Fur Coat" by Rodger Shearer and "Jersey Pullers" by Dominic Smith. In joint third place was "End of the Shift" by Dominic Smith, "Catch of the Day" by Margaret Dewar and "The Birks of Aberfeldy" by Rodger Shearer.
Club Vice President Rodger Shearer thanked Gavin for taking the time to judge the images and for providing constructive feedback on them.