Crayford Camera Club

10/06/2026

Howdy doo fans, and welcome to another thrilling installment of 'Crayford Camera Club on Summer break'.
We did actually have our first Tuesday evening social this week and headed in to London. We did a bit of a loop from London Bridge, through Borough Market, a bit along the Thames near HMS Belfast and More London before heading back to the station to await our delayed train home.
There was only a handful of us, including a friend from another club that works nearby so was able to join us for the wander. The light was good, the oppurtunites were plentiful and the chit chat was more than pleasent and jovial. All in all, a succesful first Summer social of the season.
Our next one is a couple of weeks away, so we will post something nearer the time, so untill then we will bid you adieu.
BUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuut let's not forget the linky... As it is summer, and people are talking about holidays, past, present and still to be enjoyed, I decided to find a travel photography video. As happens quite often, I ended up clicking various links and descriptions, went off on tangent and ended up with this, which I suppose is still (tenuously) linked to the travel genre...

Here are all the photos flying through interstellar space on Voyage...

03/06/2026

03/06/2026

Good evening clubbers. Well, as you are aware, we are now on our Summer break from clubbing... If you weren't, you were probably sitting in our car park last night wondering where everyone was.
Do not despair though, becausse not only am I here to entertain and inform, but the club members will be hosting our usual Summer socials. These are not official meetings, so the only cost is your own expenses. All are welcome to join usfor our meetups and walkabouts, so feel free to share and invite others along.
I will create events on this here bookface tingy, and also have hte info up on the club website, so keep 'em peeled for info.
We have planned one Tuesday evening annd one Sunday daytime meet up for the next three months. There may also be ad-hoc outings and gatherings, so we will try to notify of those too where possible (but sometimes they are quite last minute).

Anyway, let's not bring more dissapointment to the 'no clubbing' period and keep some form of sanity going... kind of. It's linky time, and I can feel your excitement already. There was a bit of macro chit chat and pictures flying about on the club whats'app, so as is traditional... check this out...

In this video, I go out on my first early morning macro walk of 202...

27/05/2026

A sad hello chaps and chapettes this week... for we have ended this club year, the trophies have been presented, the buffet has been consumed and we will not reconvene for a fair few weeks.
Well, kind of... we will be hosting our usual Tuesday and Sunday social slash photo gatherings. These will be posted here and on the website. We will also do our best to get something up here weekly still and will aim for it to be at least mildly entertaining.

Anyway, that's that bit done, and now back to normal but with a bit of va va voom.
Well done to all our trophy winners and all those that also got certificates for the runner up images/sets. There was a nice spread of accolades this year including some of the old guard, but also newer members too, including our most recent member Chris, who didn't even have a 'proper' camera a year ago. Now he has a trophy and a couple of runner up certificates.
Well done and thanks to all that entered digital and printed images this year. Without all the entries (and there was a lot) we wuldn't really have a club, so big thanks to everyone for joining in with vigour and making the club the fun and interesting place that it is.

Thanks to Peter (Chairman), Andy (Vice Chair and print comp co-ordinater) and all other officers and members of the committee. Without that mob, there would be no structure, programme or even meeting place. There will be a couple of new members joining the committee after our recent AGM, so we hope that the club will continue moving forwards with fresh views and ideas on board.

Well, seeing as there is no 'next week we will be doing' section this week, let's jump straight to the linky.
As a few of us were chatting about the cost of buying second hand older cameras that were class leaders 'in their day' and how affordable they are now, I have ended up online video surfing, andended up with some cheaper new cameras. Obviously, they are no where near as desireable as the old giants... unless you really really want some no frills plastic fantastic (which can be fun sometimes).

The ultimate showdown between the Campsnap Pro, Flashback ONE35 V2 and Rewindpix cameras. Now time to rip them apart :)Campsnap Pro: https://www.campsnapphot...

20/05/2026

Good evening people of t'interwebs,
I'm actually on itme this week.
First off, big thanks to Peter and Andy for representing the club at our current home, as our 'landlord' (St Martins Church) was celebrating its 90th anniversary with various hall users 'displaying their wares'. We had sme images up and garnered some interest, so that's pretty cool, and nice to get some attention on our members photos.. and we also sold a couple more of the mounted prints.

Secondly, we had our very own Andy Smith hosting his annual CItyscape Trophy competiton. This was it's tenth year, and actually had it's highest entry list with 33 images submitted. All images were to be presented in Mono, which was well done and good to see everyone embrace a different approach to the aomp this year.
The overall collection of images was very good, and close so instead of the sual trophy and couple of highly comended, we actually got a top three and a couple of highly commended.
Really good to see, and always insightful to hear the comments and critique from the KCPA 'head judge' and previous Landscape photogrpaher of the year, Cityscape category winner.
This years keeper of the Cityscapes Trophy, presented by Andy, is Stuart G with his 'Bound To The City' image.

Finally (almost) , our next meeting is the last one of the current club year, before we head off into the sunset for our summer break. We will be hosting our usual social photography weighted outings...
BUT, before that, we have our presentation night. Trophy winners (and runners up) will be announced and celebrated, a buffet will be layed out, bring some liquid refreshment for yourselves as there won't be a tea break, but most of all.... bring your clapping hands, speeches, and other halves (if they want to come along). get your glad rags on and get ready to share the joy of trophy night.

Aaaannnnnnd now, after that onslaught, a spectacular linky... seeing as we are talking trophies and awards... have a look at this little gem.

Join Joel Meyerowitz on 21 April for a talk and book signing at Logan Hall, London.Meyerowitz was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to Photography d...

14/05/2026

Howdy folks,
Sorry for the late one again, I've only just recovered from the AGM last Tuesday. Well, we covered a bit of stuff, with discussions around different ways of judging some of our competitions and how AI can and can't be used in various scenarios.
We had one of our comittee members decide to stand down after many years service to the club, so we salute you Stan, and thank you for your input over the years. You can now enjoy the club purely as an enthusiastic member instead.
We did, however, gain two new comittee members, so we welcome Tim and Mark to the fray.

Our next meeting is the penultimate session before our summer break. We will be enjoying one of our long-standing member led comps, which does come with a snazzy trophy for the winner, albeit not part of our official competition roster.
It is of, course, the world championship trophy contest for the Andy Smith Cityscape challenge. This year we have a restriction by way of submitting mono images only, but have had the 'no Canary Wharf' rule repealed seeing as it has been in place for a few years, and the place has changed a bit over that time.

Yes fans, you've made it this far so as a reward you can have a lovely linky. After a few recent conversations at the club, I thought that this one could seem a bit relevant.

If your best photos still feel like accidents you can't repeat, this free primer is where to start. It's called 'Learning to See'. Download it free here: h...

08/05/2026

Good evening fans,
Sorry for t he late one. I have been procrastinating and searching (getting sucked in to) youtube videos for this weeks linky. ANyway, more on that later.
We had a good sesh on Tuesday just gone. A look and chat about some of the competiton images that have been in the fray this (club) year in the first half.
After our customary tea break we had a presentation from Peter, utilizing enhanced historical photographs taken primarily using the Kodachrome process. These colour images spanned over 100 years of photography and included many several subjects and genres, but all looked fresh as a daisy.

Our next meeting is the adrenaline filled AGM. In all seriousness, it is an important meeting as it is the members chance to the club and comittee to account. A forum to discuss new and old ideas, changes to the club constitution as well as just genearal club business etc. Please do come along and be involved in keeping the club doing what it needs to to keep it a good place to enjoy photography.

AAAAAAaaand now, the extra long awaited linky. I was trrying to find something ultra futuristic to go up against the historical images that we saw at the club. Anyway, I ended up with this, which isn't super futuristic at all, but very iinteresting, surreal and modern enough to satisfy the 'opposite end of the timeline' vibe that I was going for.

Join us as we explore the extraordinary work of Trent Parke, the first Australian photographer to become a full member of Magnum Photos. Renowned for his poe...

29/04/2026

What ho gentlefolk,

What can I say, we had a bumper sesh on Tuesday. We got through our images from teh recent spring rally. This comp is judged by the members so always feels a bit extra good if you do well... although we don't find out the results until the upcoming presentation night.
We also managed to have a hive mind vote on the shortlist for an impending interclub friendly (yeah, right) competition between ourselves and a cople of other local clubs.

Our next session is a review of this (club) years competitions and the images entered. Any of the toggers with us on the night should be open for some brief Q&A on their shots. We might not get through all the comps, but we will enjoy what we do get to see.

This weeks linky is inspired by the soon to be seen 'Andys citiscape' competition. This year, all images must be presented in mono. Although colour is off hte table, Canary Wharf is back in the mix after being banned for the past few years.
Anyway, linky incoming in 5.... 4.... 3.... 2..... 1..... WE HAVE LINK OFF

791 likes, 59 comments. "Why Everyone Is Shooting Black And White Again"

23/04/2026

Wassup toggers,
Sorry for the late one, it's been a bit busy.

Thaks to Stuart for bringing Marks suggestion to life and sorting the U.K. wildlife comp. We didn't go for scores, just a crowd vote for 1st 2nd and 3rd. This was followed by a it of info from all entrants regarding their photos... and then after tea break we unleashed Irys for the first time. Seeing as this was a just for fun comp, a plan was concocted and we sprung an extra element on the club. All the images were also judged by an A.I. agent, in a friendly manner and then a more direct critique for it's chosen top three.
As you can imagine, this led to further discussion (pros and cons) and overall I think we had a good night.

Our next meeting is going to be our time to view and score the images taken on our reecent Sunday outing to Sheerness, where we were garnished with a list of ten subjects to shoot for. These have been submitted with the bare minimum tweaking allowed.

Now, ladles and jellyspoons, it is time for the linky. As we are nearing the sub date for the Andy Smith Cityscape trophy, I was trying to find a shortish and engaging video for BnW cityscapes, but I failed... so I am chucking this at you instead.

612 likes, 42 comments. "Black and White Photography | "Jason Peterson" | Featured Artist"

15/04/2026

Good evevning all, and welcome back to your weekly dose of 'What's going on at Crayford Camera Club'. Buckle in, we've had a busy week.

First off, thanks to Peter for arranging our Spring rally, and formulating some subjects for us to capture over a single Sunday in a predetermined location (announced at the latest feasable moemnt). Thanks also for coralling us for a bit of pub grub and casual chit chat. We headed of down to Sheerness, list in hand, and had a thoroughly enjoyable, and occasionally frustrating day of 'getting the shots'.

Monday saw the annual running of the Concorde competiton, between ourselves, Bexleyheath Photographic Society and Dartford & District Photographic Society. This year it was critiqued and judged by David Silk. Dartford had a fair lead in the points to take the trophy, while we were second, beating Dartford by a single point.

Also, big thanks to Alan Lomakin for his critique and judging of our round 2 prints (colour and mono) this week. It is always apreciated to have an outside view on what we do... and occasionally that includes slipping a curve ball in to make people wonder what we had ingested before getting to work.

Our next meeting is a 'just for fun' comp, and this time around it is (hopefully) U.K. wildlife.. that's the brief we set anyway, so fingers crossed. We will be crowd judging the images and should hopefully have time after the main event to do a bit of Q&A wih the photographers on the night.

AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaand her it is folks. This weeks linky... and it seems quite apt after our latest print round.
Phew, I think that we made it out alive... well done if you're still reading this.

Man Ray began making photographs in the 1920s, in the midst of the Dada movement. Through an accident in the darkroom, he soon discovered a new means of crea...