Guest Speaker – Robert Harvey BA ARPS EFIAP CSci Cenv MCWEM

On 2nd October we had a talk from Robert Harvey titled “Photographing Wiltshire”.

Robert is a professional photographer with a passion for landscape, nature and the night sky. As the title of the talk indicates, this was all about the county of Wiltshire, where he has been based for a considerable number of years. His lecture is based on the book he authored of the same title, although in a more concise form. It was a well-structured talk where he led the audience through ten aspects of his photography.

At the start of the talk Robert covered the geology of Wiltshire, and the effects it had on the landscape and the buildings constructed using locally sourced materials, Further segments covered topics such as agriculture, architecture, gardens, historical elements and the climate.

The talk was illustrated with excellent examples of quality photography. Robert explained how the timing of a significant number of his images is crucial – how the sun appears in a particular place in the sky for only one or two evenings a year which enables a particular shot with particular lighting. How the variety of seasonal weather changes the impact of an image. How the choice of focal length was important to composition.

This talk seemed to appeal to most club members. In fact, several members from Bracknell Camera Club joined us for the evening – possibly influenced by the fact Robert had spoken at their club with his “Landscapes for all Seasons” talk earlier in the week.

More about Robert and his work can be found at Natural World Photography