Members enjoyed a just for fun portrait competition which was judged by chairman, Mark Walker.

Mark started by giving a presentation about portrait photography and highlighted the importance of successfully engaging the subject with the viewer. He showed a number of portraits to demonstrate different techniques, ie the use of arms to create lines that bring the eye of the viewer to the subject's face and cropping the subject's head which forces the viewer to focus on the eyes.

Many members entered the competition and we saw portraits of all ages, some taken outdoors in natural light, in front of windows, or under skylights and others with studio lights.

In some the subject was posed, in others they were caught unawares and some included props, such as a family playing brass instruments.

From the many entries Mark gave fourth place, highly commended to Mike Halsey for his portrait of a dog, third place to Radnour Acton-Page for his image of a man wearing a trombone as a hat, second place to Jean Holbrook for a beautiful photo of a child and first place to Teudor Radnor-Page for his portrait of a granddad holding his baby granddaughter, which successfully engaged the subject with the viewer, as Mark had told us earlier.

Next meetings are: Thursday, February 13, a tutorial evening for members to bring their cameras and practice taking still life photographs from table top set ups and portraits with a model. Wednesday, February 19 (not Thursday as shown in our current programme) - we are visiting Carnkie Camera Club for a critique evening, where each club will show a selection of images for comment.

Meetings take place each Thursday at 7.30pm at The Space, Penryn RFC, Kernick Road, Penryn TR10 9LF. It is a friendly and welcoming club that aims to help people improve their photography skills. If you would like further information on the club, you can telephone the chairman Mark Walker on 07518 299379, visit the club website at www.penryncameraclub.org.uk or find us on Facebook.