AV News 180 - May 2010
David - For me the same three also really stood out: “Blackburn Diva” a first
person account, of the life of Kathleen Ferrier, who died tragically at the age of
41. I was struck by the soundtrack; Ferrier’s distinctive and haunting voice
making it particularly effective. I also was impressed with “Migrant Mother”.
Telling the story of the photographer Dorothea Lange and of her brief encounter
with Florence Owens Thompson, at the end of a month long trip photographing
migratory farm labourers, which resulted in photographs which became iconic
images of the era. It also revealed the truth behind these images.
In complete contrast to these was “Discovery”, an amusing tale of the pitfalls
of making AV presentations, showing comic situations that we can all relate to.
Frank - I am personally glad, that on the whole, sequences have returned to the
fairly traditional style, without the abundance of gimmicks, flashes and bangs we
saw with the advent of digital AV, although many of the 'gizmos' can add a lot if
used judiciously. I now leave David, to add his final thoughts, to what was a very
enjoyable evening, where everyone who‘s sequences were shown, are to be
commended on the standard of their work.
David - All in all an excellent and inspiring evenings entertainment. I look
forward to 'Fiesta' 2011 (March 4-5) and seeing if my choice of “best in show”
won. Inspired by the evening and on Frank’s advice, I am now the proud owner
of PicturesToExe v6.0 and am currently exploring its mysteries. Whether I can
ever achieve the standard of the evening’s program is another matter entirely.
35th Colour & Music Spectacular
M a rjo rie F u rm s to n FRPS
My husband Tony and I, were members of the Leeds AV Group for many years.
We have seen most of the shows and seen many changes, from the original two
projector slide shows, to the present digital presentations. The standards seem
to go up every year and we look forward to seeing these presentations and
renewing old friendships.
On arrival in the car park at St. Chad's in Headingley, on Saturday 6th March,
Ralph Smith ARPS and his wife Evelyn pulled alongside us and I was reminded
that it was Ralph, who instigated this annual event 35 years ago and indeed has
had a sequence in every show since. This year it was "Winter Walk". Over the
three nights, around 600 people came to see the show and over £16,000 has
been donated to local hospices over the years.
It was an excellent presentation with sequences from 17 of the Group's
members, on varied subjects that kept the audience entertained. The official
judge was local MP Greg Mulholland, who gave "The Inheritance" by Mary
Stubbs 1st place. This told the story of a tin of photographs going back many
generations in her family history and was a worthy winner. "Waters Edge" by Dr.
Laurie Ramsay was 2nd, containing some wonderful Natural History
photography. 3rd went to "One Helluva Trip" by Keith Scott FRPS. This was a
balloon flight over York and told in Keith's inimitable style. He even poked fun at
MPs in the sequence and still managed to gain 3rd!!!
The audience are also asked to vote for their favourite three sequences at the
end of each show and the winner over the three nights was David Firth LRPS with
"Leeds, My Home City".
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