Putting Pudsey Camera Club in the spotlight

A mixture of colour and monochrome prints are being displayed above the book cases in the library on Church Lane.

All of the pictures have been taken by members of Pudsey Camera Club.

The exhibition has been organised by club member Anne Handley who applied to Pudsey Borough Charity for a grant to help stage the exhibition.

Community hub users are now being urged to vote for their favourite picture.

Club spokesman Rodney Tordoff, 76, said the club also hoped to use the show as a springboard to get new members.

The club has often taken steps to make itself more accessible to a wider group.

The camera club started life as Pudsey Photographic Society in 1962. But Mr Tordoff said: “The name was changed some time in the mid 1980s because certain club members at the time felt calling it a photographic society was a bit elitist.”

He also said the club is friendly and welcoming, with a good number of women members.

The veteran wedding photographer said: “Photography has changed like a lot of things. In the olden days it was predominantly men that took photographs. If you went to a wedding the photographer was inevitably a man. But it has changed generally.”

He believes the upsurge of digital photography had also helped make the hobby more accessible to women.

Mr Tordoff said: “I started when it was film but I do think digital photography has helped lady photographers. Now you can get ladies who are taking wedding photographs. I do think women can be a bit more creative generally than a man, not everybody, but I think generally women can create photographs probably as good, if not better than men.”

This year the club’s ultimate prize, the challenge cup, has been won by Kirsty McLeod. She pipped fellow award-winner Larry Walker by just two points and Mr Tordoff by eight points following a series of competitions held through the year.

Mr Tordoff also feels digital photography has helped widen the appeal of the hobby to everyone as a huge number of people now have access to a camera phone.

Looking back at his old film photography notes, Mr Tordoff recalls how different it was back then. He could make a small roll of film last over a number of events like sports matches, a wedding and a birthday.

He added: “I was amazed I had been to five different events with just 36 exposures. My main thing is sports photography. I’ll go to a hockey match now and might take 300 pictures. In that respect your hit rate has increased with digital photography. You have got a better chance of getting good shots.”

Mr Tordoff said the skills he learnt at the club helped him tremendously when he was setting up a wedding photography business, and that nurturing element is very much still in existence. He said: “I would say that it is a most friendly club and the existing members are very helpful to new members in trying to get them to advance their photography. We are not even bothered if they have a camera or not. They might just have a phone camera.”

He urged people to come along to a meeting to see what they do or to take a look at the galleries on the club’s website.

See pudseycameraclub.co.uk for more.

FACT FILE

The Camera Club meets on Thursdays at Pudsey Community Hub on Church Lane, LS28 7TY.

The club has 33 members with ages spanning from early teens to beyond pensionable age. It also has a good number of women members.

Its chairman is Brian Richardson, whose deputy is Phil Jackson.

Three of its photographers, who often feature prominently in its closely fought competitions, also hold administrative roles. Larry Walker, who recently won the Michael P Diffley memorial trophy is its general secretary. While Kirsty McLeod, who is to be presented with the challenge cup later this month, is the treasurer.

Craig Wilkinson, who recently won best of the year for projected digital images competition, is also the club’s webmaster and one of the competition secretaries along with Paul Murphy.

Meetings start at 7.30pm and run from September to the end of April. The club next meets on Thursday. April 4 when Peter Mudd will talk about ‘streetlife’.

Ray Bramall is scheduled to give the talk the week after.

The club will also stage its annual general meeting on April 18 where members can have their say on the running of the club. The club will sign off its year with its annual presentation event on April 25.

The current costs of joining are £30 for a full member and £20 for the over 65s. There is a weekly entrance fee of £1.