AV News 201 - August 2015
R P S G re a t Y o rk s h ire A V D a y
John & Anne Harbron
It’s Sunday April 12th and the audience converges on Leeds Trinity University.
Attendees arrive from the North East and the North West, from Carluke near
Glasgow, from Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire and of course from
Yorkshire.
The minute you walk through the door,
whether you be stranger or long standing
acquaintance, you can always be sure of a
warm welcome which sets the tone for the
day. Then it is refreshments and a chat
before a prompt start is made and the jovial
MC wields his rod of iron (stopwatch, to you
and me) to ensure that all goes according to
plan. This year he had a challenging
number of attendees’ sequences to coordinate; fifteen, no less and others
waiting in the wings ‘just in case’. Nonetheless he still found time to remind the
audience cheerfully but firmly, that any criticism should be given constructively
and should be received gracefully.
The venue is superb; the tiered auditorium with its huge screen ensures a
good view for all, plus a comfortable seat into the bargain. The fifteen
attendees sequences, shown in the morning, covered a wealth of topics,
including landscape, documentaries, wildlife, humour, and finally an advert for
the next Great Northern Festival! The audience was, by turns, inspired,
informed, amused. Everyone stuck to the MC’s rules. All comments were
helpful and constructive. Such is the supportive atmosphere of the day, that no
less than four ‘first-timers’ had submitted work confident of receiving good
advice. Following an extremely interesting morning, an excellent lunch allowed
time for relaxation, general chat, and picking of brains.
The afternoon was led by Allan Green FRPS who treated us to a selection of
his superb sequences. We have heard it
said that the ultimate requirement for the
award of FRPS is to display ‘a touch of
stardust’ and that is exactly what we saw.
The varied programme of sequences, both
long and short, kept us on the edge of our
seats wondering what was going to happen
next. We were inspired by the quality and
detail of his work, amused by the quirky
twists and turns and educated by the
content of his longer sequences.
It was, as it said on the can, a ‘Great’ day
and underpinning it all of course was the usual superb organisation quietly and
capably run by Bryan Stubbs and his team.
The next Yorkshire AV Days will be on Sunday 15th November 2015 and
Sunday 10th April 2016. We hope to see you there.
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