About Us

Ivybridge & District Camera Club was formed in 1982 as a place for people interested in photography to meet and discuss their interest. Since then it has developed into a friendly and social photographic club.

Our meeting place is Bittaford Village Hall which is wheelchair friendly and has reserved disabled parking.

Our current members vary widely in age, ability and experience. Interests cover most photographic genre including Landscape, Portraiture, Sport and Street photography. Whether we use a mobile phone, tablet or a state of the art DSLR Camera, we are all enthusiasts striving to improve our skill set or just enjoy meeting and chatting with like-minded people.

We hold regular competitions within the Club and also against others. We hold an annual exhibition in South Brent and a bi-annual one at the Watermark in Ivybridge.

We can be contacted by using the "Contact Us" section on this web-site.


THE LEARNING ZONE

Several Special Interest Groups are being formed to help with the varied interests of members, a result of feedback we’ve received this summer. Please join in to help either with your expertise - or giving feedback, to help us to know what your needs are?

Groups will be flexible to match members interests, those proposed are:-

Capture to Creation: First Steps - is intended to help, not only with taking photographs, but with processing them for best results.

Camera Skills - how to get the best result straight from your camera.

Audio Visual - for those members wishing to create “stories” from all the images taken and stored on their computer.

Mobile Phone Photography - exploring new techniques and how to get the best from your phone.

They will be driven by members, with regular challenges offered to practice ideas - aided with links to tutorials where more help would be available. To begin with, this may seem a little basic, as assessment is needed to understand levels of knowledge - or where more help is wanted. As the groups gain in confidence, it is hoped a “stepping stones” progression will evolve to enable more innovative techniques, hardware and software to be explored.

The emphasis will be strictly non-competitive. “Mistakes” or “difficulties” will positively be welcomed, as this is probably the best way to learn!

Let the fun begin!




MEET SOME OF OUR MEMBERS



Elaine Brown

elaine
I took up photography when reduced working hours permitted. Enjoy phone photography and pleased with some results but know quality can be improved with different equipment. Being a member of a club enables me to observe skills of others and opportunities to ask for guidance/advice. I like landscape and animals, not too keen on still life or portrait. Dabbling with minimalist and wanting to attempt sport.








Keith Miller

Keith
First SLR, OM10 when my 1st son was born 1982, joined this club the same year. Currently treasurer but in the past have been Chairman, for 16 years, and competition Sec. Went Digital with Canon, currently 5D MK 3. Have a great interest in Motocross that being my main subject but over the last year because of lockdown, getting into taking more landscape & flowers. Also in the AV group within the club which is a great way of using images from an extensive library that would normally just sit there. Will be retiring soon so looking forward to more photography time.


David Rayner

daveR
First camera at around 7 years old. But we were poor, so rarely any film! Contact printing (using sunlight) at around 10 years old. Up until my mid 50's photography was mainly holiday slides. Then digital came along about the same time as I found Ivybridge Camera Club - and never looked back! Enjoy all genres but don't really do sport or portraiture. Have judged many local camera club competitions, raised Lottery funding for our club and shared responsibilities on our committee over the years. Given many club tuition talks. Have achieved distinctions at CPAGB, EFIAP, LRPS and latterly ARPS. Been a committed mirror-less camera user for 20 years.

Currently using a Panasonic GX8.




Frank Prowse

frank
I have been taking photographs for over 45 years, but I am not a photographer’s “photographer”. I love the outdoors and am a keen walker and most of the time I have a camera with me. If I see something beautiful, I take a picture, sometimes these are record shots and just occasionally they are a little better. My main interest is the natural world around us, but I also enjoy portrait photography.






Sue Joselyn

sue
I bought my first film SLR in 1980 and snapped just about anything that caught my eye while out walking. I learnt from my mistakes, read Amateur Photographer, moved onto a digital SLR in 2007 and joined this club a few years later, which increased my knowledge no end. I have held various posts on the committee, and for my sins, I am currently Secretary! I enjoy taking pictures of landscapes, flowers, people/events and trying out new techniques and processing. I can’t say I’ve found ‘my genre’ yet…. Maybe now that I’m retired it will find me!






Ross Marven

ross
I started taking photos in the 1970s with my Dad’s Zenith film SLR, bought my own Pentax SLR in 1979, first digital camera in 2000 and first DSLR in 2006. My photos are usually taken outdoors during a walk or a visit to a park or garden. Recently I have been trying to photograph dragonflies and damselflies but I also look out for details and shapes in the landscape.






Robin Empsall

robin
My 1st camera was a Box Brownie 70 years ago. I enjoy taking photos and producing prints, mostly landscapes. Being a club member I enjoy the opportunity to show images and see other members work, and hear from outside speakers.












Ann Owens

ann
KNOWING YOU - KNOWING ME! I suppose you could say I’m a “refugee” as I have returned to this very friendly, helpful club after an absence of a few years? I’m not quite sure what you would like to know about me? My interest in photography started a l-o-n-g time ago! Probably before you were born! My father had an interest in the genre - but he was more technically minded. I have a love of art and after starting with traditional black and white darkroom work - I’m now digital and love how a computer helps the camera to lie! I’m a bit of a “butterfly” in that I tend to flit between different techniques and subjects as they grab my attention. Probably, my bias is more towards Visual Art rather than the more traditional “record” shots! Not that there’s anything wrong with that! I guess I just can’t use a paintbrush too well - so this helps me address the problem! Currently, I’m learning to use a mico-four-thirds camera - and its menu based system. However, I started with Canon film cameras, progressed to Canon digitals and now use a Canon EOSr as well with a variety of ‘L’ lenses and a couple of Lensbaby lenses. In my experience, you never stop learning!

So why not join the Learning Zone in this club, and see if what’s on offer entices you? YouTube offers endless tutorials on all aspects of photography - be it how to use your particular set-up - or how to get to grips with a new technique! Keep looking at good photographs and wondering “how, why, where”!

But most of all - have fun and enjoy our super hobby!