A Night Out

The weekly routine continues. But perhaps I shouldn't have gone, as I couldn't get comfortable in the chair I sat in all evening. It's just that this was a particular item in the programme that I wanted to attend.

The club welcomed Valerie Dalling who has a highly impressive array of work showing landscapes of the Peak District in all their variety.

Her talk had been billed as a 'Thinking Outside the Box' exercise. Each club member was encouraged to provide a dpi on which they wanted comment and feedback. Valerie has set up three clubs throughout the Peak District which are non-competitive. Members gather to view photos and to provide commentary.

In my view, that part of the evening didn't work very well. Everyone 'liked' everyone else's photos, and Valerie herself didn't comment so much at all. I'd submitted a photo on which I wanted some expert feedback on why it didn't work as I had expected, and if there was anything I could do to improve it.

I was left feeling as if I would have to continue working things out for myself.

During the second  half of the evening, we whizzed through the different projects that Valerie had done for her photography degree. I didn't learn what she had learned from the exercises. But I did like the panels of photos.

Finally a slideshow of her work, which was truly inspiring. She takes great pains with setting up her compositions. It really shows.

The leg was really hurting by bedtime and I ended up sleeping on the settee which I could raise into a position rather like that in the bed on the ward.