Ely Photographic Club began 50 years ago, in 1974. They are a friendly local club with
almost 50 members, all of whom have a passion for photography and varying levels of
experience.

The group have held several exhibitions of their prints over the years, including one at Babylon Gallery in 2022. Now they are returning to this riverside venue for the group’s anniversary.

The exhibition will feature work from several members of the group, spanning a range of
genres including abstract, architecture, landscapes, portraits and wildlife. These
photographic prints will be available to purchase, either framed or just mounted. In support of the exhibition, Ely Photographic Club have received sponsorship from Muse Fine ArtPrinting.

“We are delighted to be able to put on this exhibition to give members the chance to
showcase their work, and I hope that people will take the opportunity to visit us there to
help us celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary,” said Phil Lenney, Secretary of Ely
Photographic Club,

“This exhibition is the start of an exciting and varied season of events that we have
planned. We always looking for new members, and anyone interested can contact us via our website or please come along and chat to us at the exhibition.”

Ely Photographic Club’s 50th Anniversary Print Exhibition is on from Tuesday 3rd
September at Babylon Gallery until Sunday 29th September 2024. Babylon Gallery is
open Tuesday to Friday 12pm to 4pm, Weekends 10am to 4pm, with free entry.

Press release from Babylon ARTS

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What does Ely mean to you?

The aim of the competition is to ask the young photographers to tell us what they see when they think of Ely.

We have 4 age group categories

4-7 yrs

8-10 yrs

11-15 yrs

16 -19 yrs

Chair of the City of Ely youth working group Cllr Christine Whelan said, ‘As a keen photographer myself, I wanted to give the opportunity for young people to think about how they see Ely and thought this would be a great way of showing it through the eye of a lens.

Members of the Ely Photographic Club have kindly agreed to judge the competition and a prize will be given to the winner. The winning photos will be published.

We would welcome any leaders of any of the Ely Youth groups to get in touch with us as we would like to expand the Working group as part of our engagement with every youth organisation in the city. Please email the clerk or chair of the Youth working group to express your interest in being involved and for details of the meetings.

The photographs can be taken on any device. All images need to be in jpeg format and max size of 2.5 mb. They will need to be  emailed to christine.whelan@cityofelycouncil.org.uk with the entry form which is on the council website.

Permission must be obtained by parents or guardians for anyone under 18 to enter the competition.

The terms and conditions and entry form can be obtained via the City of Ely Council website or by emailing: christine.whelan@cityofelycouncil.org.uk

The competition will run until the end of November with details of the terms and conditions and entry form on the Council’s website.  https://www.cityofelycouncil.org.uk/news/

Press release from The City of Ely Council

The post City of Ely Young Peoples’ Photography Competition appeared first on Spotted in Ely.

Ely Photographic Club “punched above their weight” on Saturday night in the 38th St Ives Interprint competition.

Competing against 28 other clubs across East Anglia – including many larger clubs – Ely came “runner-up” with their entry of 8 Prints.

Their entry of 8 Prints are as follows:

Sea Defences, Felixstowe by Martin Smith

Great Crested Grebe with Ruff by Richard Whitmore

Ely Cathedral Reflection by Phil Lenney

Hare with Wild Flowers by Kevin Pigney

Watching the World Go By by Bruce Liggitt

Early Morning Harvest by Gary Mills

Sheltering by Viv Houghton

Northern Gannet Flypass by Nick Bowman

Press release from Ely Photographic Club

The post Ely Photographic Club Punches above its Weight appeared first on Spotted in Ely.

Ely Photographic Club members excelled in their 3rd Print competition of the season with members travelling the globe to capture some great images.

The external Judge Clive Harward was particularly impressed with the diverse selection of high-quality prints and very much enjoyed critiquing each one of the 72 entries.

Colour Prints

• 1st Crested Tit by John Harvey
• 2nd Otertinden by James Billings
• 3rd Short Eared Owl by Kevin Pigney

Monochrome Prints

• 1st Rainforest Grandmother by Bruce Liggitt
• 2nd The Race is On by Nick Bowman
• 3rd Mountain Hare Descent by Kevin Pigney

Ely Photographic Club meets every Wednesday from 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm at Ely College from September to May.

Come along as a guest one Wednesday evening to see if you would be interested in joining the friendly group of members.

See website for more information: Elyphotographicclub.co.uk

Press release from Ely Photographic Club

The post Ely Photographic Club Members Print Competition appeared first on Spotted in Ely.

Highly talented Judge and photographer Sarah Kelman was on hand to provide valuable feedback to help members develop their photographic skills.

There were some fabulous images on display that made it hard for the Judge to choose the best images on the night.

These 5 images were selected:

• 1st Head on Hare by Kevin Pigney
• 2nd Bumble Bee by Bruce Liggitt
• 3rd Around the Buoy by Gary Mills

Highly Commended Cygnet by Richard Whitmore; and Commended Challenging Roar by John Harvey.

The Club meets on a Wednesday evening at Ely College from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

If you are interested in joining the club please see our website: www.elyphotographicclub.co.uk

From Ely Photographic Club

The post Ely Photographic Club November Competition appeared first on Spotted in Ely.

Ely Photographic Club held their 1st Print Competition of the season on Wednesday 16th October at Ely College.

We had 60 entries including several from some of our new members following the Printing and Mounting training session we held a few weeks ago.

Colour section:

1st Richard Whitmore – Arctic Hare
2nd Nick Bowman – Wet and Wild Fox
3rd Bruce Liggitt – Soaring Gannet
H/C Phil Lenney – Port of Felixstowe
H/C Viv Houghton – Candid Canine
H/C Phil Lenney – Mist on the Lake
H/C Nick Bowman – Gannet Fly Pass
H/C James Billings – Stairway to Heaven

Monochrome section:

1st Kevin Pigney – The Three Bassets
2nd Nick Bowman – Just Jane Avro Lancaster
3rd Viv Houghton – Arum Leaves
H/C Bruce Liggitt – Watching the World Go By

If you are interested in coming along to a meeting as a guest to our club please have a look at our website: www.elyphotographicclub.co.uk

From Ely Photographic Club

The post Ely Photographic Club Print Competition appeared first on Spotted in Ely.

I have always been good at taking photos (or at least I think so as do friends and family) but only ever used the camera on my phone. Then for Christmas just gone I asked Father Christmas if I promised to be a good girl could I maybe get a camera and so I got my very first DSLR camera.

At the end of January I enrolled on to a six week beginners photography course at Ely College where I had a great teacher Laura Galbraith. I thoroughly enjoyed my course and have not stopped clicking away with my camera ever since. On one of our course nights we went with Laura and sat in on a club night at Ely Photographic Club where they were having guest speakers in to show and talk about their work. It was very interesting and everyone we met that night made all of us beginners feel very welcome. I knew then that I would be joining the club at the end of my course.

The beginners course finished at the end of March and for one reason or another I was not able to make it to a club night until Wednesday the 24th of April. That night I walked in the door on my own which can sometimes be a bit daunting as a lot of people have these preconceived ideas that clubs can be quite clicky and this makes it hard for people to take that initial step of joining.

Well, I can assure anyone who might be thinking of joining Ely Photographic Club that with us (listen to me – I have only been two nights and already I am part of the “us”) this is most certainly not the case. On the 24th of April there was a PDI Panel Competition being held and although I myself did not have any images entered oh my goodness as a person relatively new to this photography malarky I found it so so interesting just listening to the judge give her feedback on all the individual images as well as the panels as a whole.

I came away that night with four pages of notes and I was buzzing with ideas I myself wanted to try having seen the club members photographs.

On Wednesday night (the 8th of May) I then went along to the Members Choice evening. This is where all members are welcome to and in fact encouraged to (whether they be longstanding members or people like me who have literally just walked in the door) to enter their images. We had three different categories – PDI, Colour Print  and Mono Print. I submitted an image for all three categories.

Each member then got a voting card and we got to vote for our three favourite PDI images, our three favourite Colour Print images and our three favourite Mono Print images. We just wondered around the room enjoying a cup of tea or coffee looking at all the images being displayed and chatting to each other as we did this.

Votes were cast and counted and the winners were announced. I know people always say “it’s not the winning that counts, it’s the taking part” (when really they don’t believe a word of it as it’s coming out of their mouths ) I however really do mean it when I say that this is how I felt about Wednesday night. I left home telling my son that I was just happy to have images I felt to be good enough to even enter into the competition – I never thought for one minute I’d be telling him the following morning that I actually won anything.

So on Wednesday night I sat there and the results of the PDI category were called out first. The 3rd place winner was announced, then the 2nd place winner and then the title of the winner was called out and when Kevin said the winning title is “A Time for Reflection” my first thought was “oh that’s funny someone else entered a photo and gave it the same title as I gave mine”. It never dawned on me for one second that the image Kevin was referring to WAS mine. I was so absolutely delighted. There was no doubt in the mind of a single person sat in that room as to how over the moon I was and how happy.

My first EVER photography competition that I entered and not only did I get a placing (which in itself would have been amazing) but to actually win it well I just cannot convey to people how it has made me feel. I will be the big 40 over the bank holiday weekend at the end of this month and this is now up there with one of my best achievements to have reached before the big day. On Wednesday night I was given a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates to take home and at the AGM meeting next week I will be awarded with a trophy. Can you believe it? I can’t.

On Wednesday night as we all chatted to each other I met a lady who I got on particularly well with. She and I swapped phone numbers and we are arranging a day out together to take photos and learn from each other.

As a club we organise hands on workshop trips out to suit club members, we have guest speakers in to talk through many different and varied topics, we have the competitions which as I have just proven are not just for the longstanding members all members get equal opportunity to take part.

The club are very open to new ideas from members (new and old). I am hoping to join the club’s committee next week at the AGM this is how welcomed I have been made to feel.
We have a Facebook page which will be getting lots of updates after next week.

For more information please go to www.elyphotographicclub.co.uk

From Helena Mueller of Ely Photographic Club

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Martin Claydon, 61, and Philip Hubbard, 59, were presented with a framed certificate and glass flame award, in front of the whole crew, by Chief Fire Officer Chris Strickland at their station in Burwell.

Both Martin and Philip joined in 1976 when Burwell Fire Station first opened. They, along with ten other on-call firefighters, were recruited at the same time from a local factory that manufactured cardboard boxes.
Martin said: “It has been great to be celebrated for serving as a firefighter. What has made it extra special is being able to celebrate with the whole crew.
“Twelve of us started at the same time but Philip and I are the only two of the original twelve left.”
As well as working together, Martin, from Burwell, and Philip, from Swaffham Prior, also went to the same school.
Philip added: “Martin and I did knock about together at school and also worked together, so I know him very well and he has been a good ally over the years.”
Father-of-two Martin, who owns his own car hire company, wanted to join the Service because it was different.
He said: “I worked in an office at the time and was looking for a bit of adrenaline. I also liked the fact it was quite random as sometimes they’d be nothing, other times you’d be really busy.
“One of the funniest memories I recall was a job when I didn’t have time to put on work overalls under my uniform as the crew needed to leave immediately. The uniform included a pair of yellow plastic trousers with a hole cut in the pocket. It was really snowy that day so by the time I had finished that particular job, I had snow in my boots and my feet were freezing. When we returned to the station, some of the tiles had come off the roof, creating a vortex in the building, so my trousers were swirling about inside the station.”
Another funny memory was when the crew helped round up some horses that were running loose in Cambridge.
Martin added: “It wasn’t until we called control and gave them our location by the Hoofers pub that we realised how funny it was. The girls in control were killing themselves laughing.”
Philip, who also has two children, said he has some very special memories of the fire service because of how supportive it was when his youngest daughter was ill seven years ago. Then aged 11, she had a condition called Aplasia, which meant she needed a bone marrow transplant.
He said: “The Service found out and there were firefighters turning up all over the county to take a blood test to see if they were compatible. I was allowed three months off so I could visit my daughter in hospital after her transplant. Everyone was really supportive.”
Chief Fire Officer Chris Strickland said: “Serving for 40 years is such a unique achievement and to have two members of staff from the same station is extra special.
“Being an on-call firefighter requires a lot of commitment, from both staff and their families. I want to thank both Martin and Philip, and their families for their amazing support over the years.”

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