February saw the Chinese New Year Celebrations in Liverpool, which was the year of the Dragon. Some members went off to photograph the event, while others gave it a miss, not everyone's cup of tea. On the Saturday, there was a large dance with a dragon from Bold Street, through Liverpool One and finishing at the Albert Dock. It was a colourful display of dance, music and fire crackers, which was fast moving and hard to keep up with at times, as they moved there way through the crowds and streets. During the week, in and around the Albert Dock, there was a chance to see a 27ft dragon on the water of the docks, all lit up, moving around and shooting fireworks. There was also fire dancers and other entertainers.
We also went back to basics with a studio night, showing the members how a studio is set up, from lights to backdrop. From there, we allowed the members to have a go at settings it up themselves. One of our young members, decided to model for us and it's fair to say, it wasn't his first rodeo. Ian, our master lighting expert, showed members how how one or two lights can really change the effect of the model and the different styles you can achieve from them. The members enjoyed the night and all learn how to get a different look or style from the lights and more importantly, how to set up a studio. At the end of the night, members got to pack everything away, again, learning curve.
The week after, we had the wonderful Pip at the club. A fantastic male model, who can only be described as having one of those faces that is full of character. Pip brought his gentleman attire with him, which was very proper and dandy and all the members got 3 mins each with him. This was a great night with 13 members turning up! With 3 mins each, 2 costume changes, the 2 hours went very quick indeed and one members will not forget and have already asked "when's Pip coming back?". These studio nights are for members only, at it's these type of nights our members benefit and love.
The last week in February saw us trying something we've never done before at the camera club and something I've not seen any other camera club do before (but thats not to say that haven't), Ultra Violet Photography. This was an interesting night, with a model, a MUA (Make Up Artist), all the special paint, the lights, backdrop etc and one we'd been looking forward to since we organised it last year. This had been under wraps for a long time, as we wanted to make sure we could pull it off and make sure everything was in place. It took some organising, but it was so worth it. As with anything you've never done before, there were some teething problems, first was the timing with putting the make-up on the model, we had no idea just how long that would take and the second was the camera settings, once that was sorted, we were off and running. This was another night our members loved and can't wait to do again! We have a lot more planned for with this for the future and the possibilities are endless.
Images from from members from our past events.
