Phantasmogoria Audio Visual for Fun Jeff explained that the term Phantasmogoria was from a real word going back a few hundred years before the advent of the cinema. The Cambridge dictionary (online) lists it as: "a confused group of real or imagined images which change quickly, one following the other as in a dream", which Jeff elaborated on in more detail. The evening was filled with various audio visual sequences each with an introduction by Jeff explaining the background behind each one, some of which was a history lesson in itself.  All images were produced by Jeff and Sylvia Wagner. The sequences ranged from the Venetian Mask Carnival, and an audio visual produced by Jeff when he first joined IOTPS and was coerced into producing at very little notice a slide show with music for Thanet Council depicting areas of Thanet. Also shown were the Balloon event at Leeds castle, Kent Life and "Gardeners Whirrld!" for which Jeff picked up awards for Best Soundtrack and other accolades in Kent and in neighbouring counties' AV competitions. The fact that Jeff explained the background to each contributed to understanding and enjoying the sequences especially those without a dialogue. (John Couzins) Beginners Competition The week was the Beginners Competition for both Print and Digital Images. A beginner is a member who has not yet qualified for the Silver Award. To see your position in the Awards Table follow the link near the top of the Blog  page. There was In House judging with a selected Golden Panel. Trevor Youé was our commentator giving enthusiastic praise and tips that should help the competition entrants when entering competitions. The scoring system was using cards with each scorer giving 1 - 5. Therefore the scoring range was between 4 - 20. Join the IOTPS discussion on the scoring on Flickr. Results: Print and Digital. Kruger National Park Don Wilks gave us a fascinating talk about the South African Kruger National Park. World-renowned for a wildlife experience that ranks with the best in Africa. Don Wilks, who lives in Minister (Thanet) is well known for his very enthusiastic richly photographed talks. Dons experience and knowledge along with wonderful pictures of African wildlife made the evening one not to miss. Monochrome Competition This week we welcomed Malcolm Hardie from the AG Mono Group to judge both Prints and Digital Images. The competition was entitled Monochrome. This means that images will only have one colour or shades of one colour. It was a well supported competition and the print entries were particularly strong. Congratulations go to Trevor Youé  and Dave Silk for winning 1st place in Prints and Digital respectively. Results: Prints and Digital. Talking Pictures An evening with Trevor Youé and Dave Silk talking about their love of photography accompanied by some examples of unknown, famous and members photographs. From Dave’s Quirky Edwardian pictures to Trevor’s famous photographers the evening was full of enthusiasm and great pictures. Studio Night This was an excellent night of practical lessons on how to use our Studio Equipment. Frank Barraclough from Folkestone Camera Club gave us the benefit of his experience, aided with two of Vanessa’s colleagues who agreed to be our models for the evening. The members would like to thank Frank and the ladies for the organisation and easy to understand advice. I’m sure we will see many pictures later in a competition. The webmaster postings  Reports, Competition results and information from weekly meetings are posted here. Click on any photograph below to enlarge and start a slide show using the controls at the bottom of each enlarged image. © Isle of Thanet Photographic Society Stereoscopes Part 2 John Robinson and Oli Steel gave a very interesting and detailed talk about Stereo Photography. Stereoscopy creates the illusion of three-dimensional depth from images on a two-dimensional plane. The different techniques were explained and  there was plenty of equipment on display to handle and experience the quality of the 3D images. We were also able to view many images on the screen using 3D glasses that were handed out to the whole audience to use during the talk.   Welcome Back A big welcome back to our existing and new members joining our society. This was our first evening of the new season and we got off to a good start. We welcomed all the new members and we hope that they find the evenings interesting. The first half was show us your images from the summer and there were some good shots to be seen. The second half was a demo of the features and information found on our revamped web site and a look at our new Flickr site. Travelling Exhibition Glyn Bareham (LRPS CPAGB) gave a lecture on his Travelling Exhibition by Kent Digital Photographers, comprising a collection of about 70 prints. All were 50cm by 40cm and is work by members of the group. On the back of most of the photographs was a before picture with notes on what was done to give the final picture. All of the pictures were placed on two very large print stands which were on loan from Herne Bay Club, Each stand hold 20 pictures. We were invited to view each picture and look at the backs to read the information about each one. It was a very enjoyable evening and the standard of work was extremely high. Panoramic Local Landscapes Malcolm Hide was born 1971 in Kendal, an associate of The Royal Photographic Society since 2008. He has become well known for his work in 180' panoramic landscapes. Now living in Thanet with his own studio, Malcolm talked about his work with Panoramic Landscapes and how they are constructed in Photoshop CS3 or 5. During the second half Malcolm gave us a tutorial lesson on how he uses Photoshop to manually merge images to form a seamless Panoramic. Art4 is Malcolm’s trading name, click here for the Art4 web site.   "I try not to look at other artist work as I want my own look without being obscured by others" - Malcolm Hide ARPS 1st Quarterly Macro Competition The first competition of the season started with the 1st Quarterly Macro Competition. Open to both Prints and Digital Images, the subject is limited to just Macro shots. At the start of the meeting Tony Catt from Deal Camera Club explained that Macro was 1:1 Macro. Of course that ruled out Macro Zoom found on many cameras which was considered to be Close-up images and this was taken account of in the scoring. Results: Prints and Digital. 2nd Quarterly Open Competition The second quarterly open competition was for both Prints and Digital Images. Richard Walton LRPS ARPS FRPS DPAGB EFIAP from Invicta Photographic Club judged a very good compeition, with many very strong images. In the Print competition monochrome photographs had caught his eye but the winning picture was Kelvin’s colour photograph of a Robin (see top of this page). The digital competition was won by Lee Crosbie, a monochrome entitled Costa Time (see left) and both are well worth clicking on to see a larger image. Results: Prints and Digital. Wild Life in Kent Brett Lewis BSc (Hons), MSc, MIEEM works in and around the county of Kent and is a widely respected Consultant Ecologist. He is also a member of Herne Bay Camera Club It is a combination of his chosen career path, coupled with his passion for photography that has led Brett to become a highly regarded photographer. It’s Brett’s work in and around Kent that allows his encounters with wild life. These included birds, reptiles and local animals, Brett’s photographs were of very high quality and detail. Hoping to see more next year. Set Subject Digital Competition This year the set subject is entitled Promoting Tourism in Thanet. The idea is to enter images that could be used to advertise Thanet as a tourist destination. Such as what people can see and do on their day trip or holiday. Scoring was in House, again using cards with a range of 1-5. Congratulations goes to Dave Harris with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Also joining Dave on 2nd was Mike Kersting. Farne Islands and Northumberland Heather Willis gave a talk about the Farne Islands and Northumberland Coast. A rocky set of islands and full of sea birds Farne Islands is an adventure for the photographer. With her trusty film camera and protective bin bags, Heather is patient and very precise with her nature photography. Heather’s talk was full of information and sprinkled with wit to a  very full and appreciative audience. The Way I See It  Trevor Youé gave us a talk entitled The Way I See It. Trevor is member of the Isle of Thanet Photographic Society and is the highest scoring photographer of the recent seasons winning the annual awards. You can therefore appreciate that Trevor’s work is of the highest standard and tonight was no exception. Trevor walked through all aspects of his photography showing original shots transformed into winning images. You could clearly see Trevor is both an exceptional photographer and equally a modern day artist. Set Subject Print Competition This year the set subject is entitled Promoting Tourism in Thanet. The idea is to enter images that could be used to advertise Thanet as a tourist destination. Such as what people can see and do on their day trip or holiday. Scoring was in House, again using cards with a range of 1-5. Congratulations goes to Dave Harris with a 1st and 3rd. With Jenny Bowden and Dave Berger joint 2nd place. Critique Evening Due to illness the 3rd Quarterly Competition was postponed, instead we had a really good evening of photographs, photo books and digital images for a critique evening. The committee would like to thank all those who rallied to put on such a fine show. 3 of A Kind Competition This year we welcomed Tony Catt from Deal Camera Club to judge this year’s 3 of a Kind competition. The competition required a set of three separately mounted images with a common recognisable theme including Triptychs. See Rules and Definitions for more information. The winner was Trevor Youé with Revived 45 a monochrome theme using The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour 45 vinyl record (see Welcome Page for all three images. In 2nd place was Mike Albury with St. Peter’s Church and 3rd place was Dave Silk with Costa Rica Day. 3rd Quarterly Open Competition The third quarterly open competition was for both Prints and Digital Images. Glyn Bareham LRPS from Invicta Photographic Club judged a very good competition, with many very strong images. Again monochrome photographs had caught the judges eye with the winning Print from Dave Berger and the winning Digital Image from Trevor Youé  Results: Prints and Digital.