Following many years at the Farnham House Hotel, changes in the catering arrangements prompted a move of venue to the Cranleigh Golf & Country Club for the 2022 Photosub Annual Meal. The club is set in the Surrey Hills and offers a superb barn restaurant with top quality food and a separate room “The Snug” ideal for presenting the competition images. The club staff were excellent and the food was greatly enjoyed by all with many very positive comments from club members on the suitability and quality of venue.  

The event was attended by 25 club members plus our guest judge Trevor Rees and his wife Caroline. The three course meal was preceded by socialising, a novel experience following the many months of zoom meetings during the Covid pandemic.

Following the meal the Annual Competition images were projected. The competition comprised the usual 4 categories with a total of 109 images submitted by 14 members. Due to a lack of diving in 2021, images from up to 5 years previous were eligible.

1. Green Water Macro/Close Up (22 entries)
2. Green Water Wide (24 entries)
3. Blue Water Macro/Close Up (35 entries)
4. Blue Water Wide (28 entries)

The Print Competition category was cancelled due to logistical issues. 

Our competition judge was Trevor Rees who is well known to many club members particularly through BSOUP. Trevor is a highly accomplished and well respected underwater photographer with many competition wins to his name. Images were provided to Trevor ahead of the event to allow him to review at his leisure and by attending the meal Trevor was able to provide feedback on his choice of images.

The competition results were as follows (C=Commended, HC = Highly Commended):

Green Water Macro/Closeup

1st Gill Marsh	2nd Rob White	3rd Martyn Guess
HC Joss Woolf
C Keith Lyall	C Chris McTernan

Green Water Wide Angle

1st Pash Baker	2nd Rob White	3rd Nur Tucker
HC Nur Tucker
C Nur Tucker

Blue Water Macro/Closeup

1st Martyn Guess	2nd Keith Lyall	3rd Roger Eve
HC Nur Tucker
C Mike Davidge

Blue Water Wide Angle

1st Martyn Guess	2nd Nur Tucker	3rd Martyn Guess
HC Pash Baker
C Martyn Guess	C Pash Baker

Len Deeley Trophy

Following the death 6 years ago of club founder and driving force Len Deeley, a new trophy was created by Pash Baker and Jo Horrocks in memory of Len. This trophy is presented on a yearly basis at the club annual dinner. It has been classed as a “floating trophy” and while on some occasions it will be presented based on a competitive basis defined by the committee, on others it will be presented to a club member or couple who have supported the club and promoted its aims and goals.

Club Chair Joss Woolf introduced this years recipients, Keith Lyall & Jo Horrocks. Keith & Jo have been members of the club for over 17 years and are regular attendees at club events, often hosting meetings at their home in Cranleigh and particularly helped Martyn and Sue Guess to host the 2021 BBQ Meal. Keith is a previous chairperson of the club and has been the Club Competition Secretary and web master for the past 6 years. The Len Deeley award recognises their support and contribution to the successful running of the club.

Thanks

These events do not run successfully without the help of a number of club members and thanks go to:

• Trevor & Caroline Rees for attending the evening and for Trevor’s judging and comments during the results presentation.
• Keith Lyall for organising the venue and engaging with the club event & restaurant staff to plan the evening.
• Pat Deeley for providing the place cards.
• Pat Deeley & Ann El Mahjoub for bringing the projection screen. 
• Martha for managing the meeting finances and collection of payment.
• Roger for providing all event communication.
• Keith for organising and running the club competition.
• Joss for providing the evening introductions, thanks and collection of the flowers
• The Photosub Committee (Joss, Martha, Roger & Keith) for the numerous emails and occasion call to organise the event.

Finally thanks to all who who entered and congratulations to all winners.

Date: Sat 15th Jan 2022, 20:00 – 21:30

Location: Zoom Call

Attendees: Martyn/Sue Guess, Keith Lyall, Jo Horrocks, Roger/Wendy Eve, Joss Woolf, Linda Pitkin, Peter Tatton, Martha Tressler, Anthony, Jane Burnett, Anne Andic, Pat Deeley, Mario/Caroline Vitalini, Gill Marsh  

Apologies: Pash Baker, Rob White

Approval of 2021 Minutes

Minutes were approved

Chairmans Report

Well, another difficult year for us all although slightly better than 2020. The pandemic continued during the year interspersed with lock downs and freedom and then the new wave of Omicron.  Travel restrictions continued for most of the year, meaning UK based diving for most diving members and a few lucky ones who managed to get into blue water towards the end of the year. I for one dived more in the UK than I have ever done and thoroughly enjoyable it was. Hopefully all our members have either escaped the dreaded virus or if afflicted not too seriously. 

The Lockdown’s during 2020 and into 2021 have played havoc with our social diaries in our day to day lives and from the perspective of all getting together to meet socially and share stories and discuss our passion of underwater photography. We are not alone and many, many, clubs, and societies have had to adapt, and many are continuing to run successfully through online meetings. BSOUP being a case in point. This is the 2nd online AGM meeting for Photosub. Online meetings take a fair bit of organising and my thanks to all of the Committee for sticking with it and enabling us to at least meet online to have a chat and see some photographs. We were lucky during a brief respite in the Pandemic to have been able to all get together for the first time in nearly 18 months at the beginning of August and in November.

Hopefully at some point this year we will all be able to get together again socially and for some of us to dive together. Speaking for myself I cannot wait to get back in some nice warm blue water and am hopeful that the workshops I run will start again later in the summer. A few of us have been able to meet and dive in the UK, and Maria, Daniel, Keith, Jo, Pash, Rob, Gill and myself were able to join our annual trip to Lundy and a very enjoyable time was had. A few of us also met at Swanage several times and went on a road trip to Porthkerris and all enjoyed what British Diving can offer. I spent some time at St Abbs and dived the Farnes and also with sea birds in cold April water with Alex Mustard and Nur Tucker. I suspect that summer 2022 will bring more of the same and it would be great to dive with other members.

If you count the last AGM, we had 2 online meetings during 2021 and managed two physical meetings. The 2021 Photosub AGM was very different due to the COVID19 lockdown. Using video/Zoom technology a virtual AGM was held from club members various houses. 22 club members attended the meeting held on Saturday 6^th February.  After the formal proceedings various collections of images were shown and we attempted quite well to chat and socialise.

We held a further online meeting on the 21^st May attended by 18 members. A number of images were shown and my thanks to Mike Davidge, Gill Marsh, Dario Navarro, Jo Horrocks (video) and Roger Eve (video) and also to Gill for her longer presentations on South Georgia and Antarctica including the Falklands, and to Keith for a talk on diving in Bonaire. I showed a few images of castles and Seals of Northumberland.

On the 2^{nd of} August we held the first physical meeting for over 18 months – the annual meal and annual competition. Normally held at the Farnham House hotel and having missed in 2020 we all decided to push the boat out a bit and celebrate and organise a catered BBQ at Sue and my house in Farley Green. It had been impossible to organise anything at the hotel or any other venue due to the restrictions and then non-existent availability. It took a lot of organising and the club committed a lot of funds but happily 29 members finally met together in my garden and under canvass gazebos dodging the incessant rain. There were a few late cry-offs due to potential Covid infections and Anthony and Martha finally arrived despite adversity and a pesky puncture. I believe everyone enjoyed themselves despite the weather and the ambience and food were excellent. Thanks to all who helped but especially Keith and Jo for a huge amount of their time, erecting marquees, the competition and slide show and for coming back the following day to take everything down and help clear up along with Ian and Bev.

The annual competition was held and 126 images in 4 categories were screened. These had been prejudged by our guest Simon Rogerson who attended along with his wife Anna. The Len Deeley Trophy this year was awarded to Roger and Wendy Eve for their continued support and help to Photosub.

The Photosub Open Competition 2021 was held on the 20^{th of} November at Keith and Jo’s house in Cranleigh attended by 20 members. We welcomed back Linda Pitkin whom it was lovely to see after Brian’s sad passing (more later) and, Nur Tucker our newest member who judged the competition. Thanks to Jo and Keith for hosting and for organising the meal and to Keith for the competition organisation and slide show.

In concluding my report for the year, I must mention the sad passing of 2 members in 2021. Brian Pitkin who hadn’t been very well for a while died on the 31st of August and Ken Sullivan on the 23^rd of August after a short illness. Both obituaries are on the club’s website but needless to say they were great friends of Photosub and many of the members and will be sadly missed. Our condolences go to Linda and their families and friends.

My thanks go out to all who participated during the last year under difficult circumstances, for attending meetings, entering competitions and for taking some great photographs. My special thanks as always go to your committee for their hard work behind the scenes, Roger for his work as secretary and for keeping all the members informed, for Martha for her advice and work on the club’s finances and for Keith for keeping the competitions going during Lockdown, and social distancing. A thankless task sometimes chasing members for entries and then sorting them out and putting slide show presentations together. Most of all my thanks to all of you for being members and supporting Photosub.

This is my final report as Chairman. I have enjoyed the last 3 years despite the difficult circumstances, and I now welcome and thank Joss for taking up the baton. I am sure she will make an excellent Chairman and bring her organisational skills, enthusiasm and smiles to all that we do.

Martyn Guess (outgoing Chair)

Keith thanked Martyn and Sue for their support for Photosub over the past 3 years.

Treasurers Report 

Treasurer’s report was approved.

Election of Officers

As Martyn has completed his statutory three years he stood down. Joss Wolfe had agreed to take on the Chair. The remaining officers were willing to be re-elected and as no others came forward the meeting unanimously agreed to the following:

• Chair: Joss Woolf has agreed to replace Martyn Guess
• Treasurer: Martha Tressler
• Hon Secretary: Roger Eve
• Comp Secretary & Webmaster: Keith Lyall
• Committee Member: Bert Lee

Photosub Bank Account

Calendar (2022)

• Annual Dinner: Sat March 19th 2022
• May: Joss Woolf
• August (BBQ): Martha/Anthony
• November: Pat Deeley

Show and Tell

A number of members presented images and videos:

• Peter Tatton: Video of guillemots
• Joss Woolf: Images from 2021 Red Sea trip
• Martyn Guess: Images from UK diving (Lundy, Swanage & Porthkerris)
• Keith Lyall: Images from UK diving (Lundy, Swanage & Porthkerris)
• Jo Horrocks: Landscape images from West Wittering, Worthing and Brighton

Any Other Business

Meeting closed at 21:30

Club members met on Saturday 20th November 2021 for the annual Open Competition. This competition pits blue water against green water, macro against wide angle. The evening was hosted at Keith & Jo’s house in Cranleigh and was attended by 20 club members.

After the usual socialising and pasta themed meal, 32 images from 11 members were projected. The winners had been pre-judged by Nur Tucker, avid underwater photographer and Competition Secretary for BSOUP. Nur attended the meeting with husband Paul and provided detailed feedback on her choice of images.

Our thanks go to:

• Nur for judging the competition, and to Nur & Paul for joining us at the meeting
• Keith & Jo for hosting the evening and providing the meal
• Roger & Wendy, Carole & Tim, Martyn & Sue and Ann & Pat for providing desserts
• Keith for organising  and running the competition
• All entrants who submitted images to the competition

The winning images are as follows with judges comments in italics:

1st Place – Martyn Guess

I love the creativity here. I think this is an image overlay of two different lenses. Not only it is a creative idea but also a good execution. Needs a little crop from top right corner.

2nd Place – Martyn Guess

What a cutie, what a character. Amazing shot and taken very well. Looks like it is snooted. I like the way the author achieved separation here to draw the attention to the intricate details of this beautiful animal. If there was more space on its top or if it was a portrait shot, it could have done better.

3rd Place – Mike Davidge

Clearly a master photographer was in action here. Beautifully executed shot of a symbiotic relationship between the Commensal Emperor shrimp and Ceratasoma Nudibranch.

Highly Commended – Mike Davidge

I love this shot. Beautiful peak of the action or turning point of the anthia. Eyes are sharp and looking into the photographer. Beautiful colours are in sharp contrast to the black background. A little bit less DOF and more exposure would have been even better

Highly Commended – Martha Tressler

I like this cuttlefish portrait. The colours look very striking, but would have benefitted from a tighter crop. The top right corner does not do much for me. Redundant space, little tweaks like this can move this shot up in ranking.

Highly Commended – Jo Horrocks

John Dory, a very nice image, good lighting and great detail. Would have been better to change the orientation a bit and also show the beauty of the dorsal and pectoral  fins of this beautiful fish.

Commended – Martyn Guess

This was one of my favourites and it could have done better if it was not for the photoshop brush strokes being so visible on the final layer. Very  good use of natural light. Great proximity and  eye contact.

Commended – Martha Tressler

Lovely image. Anemones are creating a great negative space here. I love the way yellow and purple creating contasting colours. Lighting is good and good use of rule of thirds and diagonals. 

Commended – Keith Lyall

The photographer is on to a great image here. A very nice portrait of a cuckoo wrasse. Great proximity, good eye contact, even the mouth is open a little as if wanting to communicate with the photographer. Good solid black bacground. But this kind of image needs a great scale of symmetry. I can see one side of the fins, and also the right side of its face is in the dark. Shot looks lopsided.

Commended – Keith Lyall

I like this shot. Good angle, good use of diagonals. Looks like it has been taken with magic filters? It could have done better in this competition if the author increased the contrast a bit. B&W photos are all about drama and the way to achieve that is to reduce the middle grey tones and increase the end values of black and white as in the name

Brian Pitkin

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Brian Pitkin who died peacefully on Tuesday 31st August 2021 after a short illness. Brian had been ill for some time and was taken into hospital on Tuesday morning as an emergency admission. Linda was at his side when he died and said “he had a gentle and peaceful death, with no apparent distress”.

Brian was widely known throughout the underwater photography community. As a member of Photosub he and Linda went on dive trips across the world accompanied by many of our members. 

Brian was a former BSoUP Chair, created the first BSoUP website, was webmaster for many years and also BSoUP President until his death. He was awarded honorary Life Membership many years ago.

Brian always made new members feel welcome and was often one of the first club members to speak to new joiners. Brian had definite opinions on what he liked and did not like and took the view “Would I want that hanging on my wall?”. He would provide encouragement and advice to both new and experienced photographers. He will be missed by all who knew him.

Our sincere condolences to Linda and all of Brian’s family.

Ken Sullivan

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Ken Sullivan who died peacefully on Monday 23rd August 2021 after a short illness.

Ken was a friend to so many club members and frequently organised dive trips attended by many within Photosub. He was a wonderful photographer, always keen to help and advise new and experienced photographers alike. He was also a skilled engineer designing and making equipment long before it was available on the retail market. Many of us will have asked him for help in producing and repairing our kit over the years.

Our condolences and thoughts are with his friends and family at this time.

Following 18 months of Covid where all club contact was via email and Zoom meetings, the Photosub Annual Meal 2021 was the first opportunity for club members to meet and socialise face to face. Normally the annual meal is held at the Farnham House Hotel; however due to a lack of availability a catered “posh BBQ” was planned instead.

Sue and Martyn Guess very kindly provided the use of their garden into which 2 large marquees and 2 smaller gazebos were pitched. The 2 large marquees were joined using good old duct tape to create a very usable 6m x 9m “room” so that it felt like a single event. This included running repairs on one of the marquees that had been damaged by wind and flipped onto it’s back breaking a number of joints … yet again duct tape proved to be the solution. Tables, chairs, plates, cutlery, glasses and lighting were hired and an external caterer was engaged to prepare and cook the main meal and provide desserts.  

A very broken marquee!	The marquees fixed and erected …
… and tables all set	Hoping for a dry evening

The event was attended by 29 club members plus our guest judge Simon Rogerson and his wife Anna. The evening was not without incident as further members had planned to attend but one couple had a gas leak while another had cold symptoms and did not attend as a precaution. A puncture resulted in an irritating delay for Martha and Anthony but they were able to attend the event before all of the food had been devoured. 

Despite heavy rain showers the meal was a huge success and many members later commented about how good it was to catchup face to face.

Pre dinner drinks … Georgette & Bev	Joss & Ian
Sue, Martyn, Wendy, Jo & Roger
Dinner is served

Photos courtesy of Keith Lyall, Pat Deeley & Gillian Marsh

Following the meal the Annual Competition images were projected. The competition comprised the usual 4 categories with a total of 126 images submitted by 17 members. Due to a lack of diving in 2020, images from up to 5 years were eligible.

1. Green Water Macro/Close Up (18 entries)
2. Green Water Wide (27 entries)
3. Blue Water Macro/Close Up (42 entries)
4. Blue Water Wide (39 entries)

The Print Competition category was cancelled due to limited interest. Given the weather conditions and limited space this worked out for the best.

Our competition judge was Simon Rogerson, Editor of Scuba magazine who is well known to many club members, particularly through the annual trip to dive with the seals at Lundy. Images were provided to Simon ahead of the event to allow him to review at his leisure  and Simon also attended the meal as our guest providing feedback on his choice of images.

The competition results are as follows (C=Commended, HC = Highly Commended):

Green Water Macro/Closeup

1st Keith Lyall	2nd Joss Woolf	3rd Keith Lyall
HC Pash Baker	HC George Mitchell

Green Water Wide Angle

1st Martyn Guess	2nd Peter Ladell	3rd Nick Blake
HC Daniel Taylor	HC Pash Baker
C Nick Blake	C Pash Baker

Blue Water Macro/Closeup

1st Jo Horrocks	2nd Martyn Guess	3rd Pash Baker
HC Sue Guess	HC Martyn Guess
C Mario Vitalini	C Georgette Douwma	C Pash Baker

Blue Water Wide Angle

1st Martyn Guess	2nd Martyn Guess	3rd Gill Marsh
HC Jo Horrocks
C Martyn Guess	C Georgette Douwma	C Keith Lyall

Len Deeley Trophy

Following the death 5 years ago of club founder and driving force Len Deeley, a new trophy was created by Pash Baker and Jo Horrocks in memory of Len. This trophy is presented on a yearly basis at the club annual dinner. It has been classed as a “floating trophy” and while on some occasions it will be presented based on a competitive basis defined by the committee, on others it will be presented to a club member who has supported the club and promoted its aims and goals.

Club Chair Martyn Guess introduced this years recipients, Roger & Wendy Eve. Roger & Wendy have been long time members of the club having met Len at a dive resort many years ago. This is the beauty of diving where a shared passion results in life long friendships. Roger & Wendy are regular attendees at club events, with Wendy renowned as the Queen of the Pavlova. Roger has been the club secretary for the past 3 years and just gets things done in a quiet but efficient manner. A well deserved award and thanks to Roger & Wendy for their unwavering support for the club.

Thanks

These events do not run successfully without the help of a number of club members. This event in particular required significant input from a number of people:

• Simon & Anna Rogerson for attending the evening and for Simon’s judging and comments during the results presentation.
• Martyn & Sue for opening up their house and allowing the use of their garden.
• Martyn for organising the caterers and facilities hire.
• Godfrey Bevan for the use of his marquee and gazebo.
• Martyn, Sue, Keith & Jo for pitching the marquees/gazebos and arranging/setting the tables.
• Sue for providing pre dinner nibbles. 
• Martha for providing napkins and nibbles.
• Ian Mills, Bev, Keith, Jo, Martyn & Sue for tidying up on the Sunday.
• Keith for driving many miles around the South East to pick up the tents, Len Deeley Trophy and projector screen.
• Roger for providing all event communication.
• Keith for organising and running the competition.
• The Photosub Committee (Martyn, Martha, Roger & Keith) for the many calls and emails to organise this event.

Thanks to all who who entered and congratulations to all winners.

In light of the ongoing Covid-19 social distancing measures, the Photosub Club members continue to keep in contact through video conferencing. On the evening of Saturday 16th May, 18 members attended a virtual meeting for a general catch-up and to present a series of images and talks, covering both underwater and topside subjects.

2021 Annual Meal & Competition Proposal

Chairman Martyn Guess opened the meeting and presented an alternate proposal to replace the annual Farnham Hotel meal which has become too expensive due to changes in the way in which the hotel operates. It is proposed to hold the meal in tents/gazebos at Martyn and Sue’s home on Saturday 31st July. Martyn has contacted a local caterer who will provide a complete meal service including table, plates and cutlery. Costings and a final proposal will be made to club members.

The annual competition will be held at this event. However as this evening replaces the club BBQ, it is proposed that the Green Water images (both macro and wide) will be images normally taken as part of the splash-in. Keith will provide more details in the near future, but as a heads up it is proposed that ANY green water images taken in 2021 will be eligible to increase the scope for entries.  

The remainder of the evening consisted of a number of presentations:

Show’n’Tell

• Mike Davidge – Kenyan Safari
• Gill Marsh – Humming Birds
• Dario Navaro – Snorkelling Images from Bodrum, Turkey
• Jo Horrocks – Garden birds drinking and bathing 
• Roger Eve – Woodpecker feeding young

Mini Talks

• Gill Marsh – South Georgia & Antarctica
  • A great presentation on a trip to the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica, specifically for the wildlife and immense scenery.
• Keith Lyall – Diving Bonaire
  • An overview of diving in Bonaire, Caribbean and how the dive setup is conducive to ‘socially isolated” diving
• Martyn Guess – Seals and Castles of Northumberland
  • Diving will the seals of the Farnes and photographing the many castles of the Northumberland coastline.

Thanks to:

• Martyn Guess for running the evening
• Martha Tressler for setting up the video call
• Roger Eve for providing meeting arrangement details
• Keith Lyall for creating the slideshow
• Gill Marsh, Jo Horrocks, Martyn Guess, Roger Eve, Keith Lyall, Dario Navaro & Mike Davidge for providing images/presenting

With the ongoing UK COVID19 lockdown, the Photosub 2021 AGM was held as a virtual meeting. 22 club members attended the meeting held on Sat 6th Feb 2021. 

Key points from the AGM were:

Chairmans Report (Martyn Guess)

Well  – what a difficult year we have all had! Hopefully all our members have escaped the dreaded virus and are keeping well and safe. The Lockdown’s  during 2020 and into 2021 have played havoc with our day to day lives and also from the perspective of us all  at Photosub getting together to meet socially and share stories and discuss our passion  for underwater photography. We are not alone and many, many clubs and societies have had to adapt, and many are continuing to run  successfully through online meetings. This is the fourth online meeting for Photosub. They take a fair bit of organising and my thanks to all of the Committee for sticking with it and enabling us to at least meet online to have a chat and see some photographs

Hopefully at some point this year we will all be able to get together again socially and for some of us to dive together. Speaking for myself I can’t’ wait to get back in some nice warm blue water and am hopeful that the workshops I run will  start again later in the summer. A few of us have been able to meet and dive in the UK, Joss and I and Maria and Daniel were able to join a trip to Lundy that Peter Tatton organised for his dive club and a very enjoyable time was had. A few of us also met at Swanage and at Selsey ( where I saw my first UK Seahorse!) and all enjoyed what British Diving can offer. Sue and I spent some time at St Abbs and dived the Farnes with Alex Mustard and Nick More and had a very enjoyable few days taking landscapes images along the Northumberland coast last autumn. I suspect that summer 2021 will bring more of the same and it would be great to dive with other members.

If you count the last AGM, we had 3 online meetings during 2020.

The 2020 Photosub AGM was very different due to the COVID19 lockdown. Using video -technology, a virtual AGM was held from club members various houses. 20 club members attended the meeting held on Wed 15th April. This meeting had already been delayed from earlier in the year due to winter storms. 

In light of the 2020 Covid-19 social distancing measures, the Photosub Club members continued to  keep in contact  throughout  2020 via video conferencing. On Saturday 18th July, 24 members attended a virtual meeting for a general catch-up and to present a series of images, both underwater and topside.

12 members provided images which were presented during the meeting. As Chairperson  I  led the meeting with each photographer presenting their images and answering questions from other club members.

There were a varied collection of images including underwater images from the film days. In addition, Anthony Holley provided a short video of trout taken by putting his iPhone into the river at Mottisfont! I made  a short presentation on my use of a trioplan lens to create interesting bokeh backgrounds.

Under normal circumstances, the Photosub Annual Competition entries would have been projected at the club annual meal in March, the results announced, and the trophies presented during the evening. However, given the unique and unprecedented events of 2020, both the original dinner date in March and the revised date in September were cancelled in line with government guidelines. 

Consequently, an online virtual meeting was held on Sat 21st November attended by 22 club members. This competition comprised 4 categories:

• Green Water Macro/Close Up
• Green Water Wide
• Blue Water Macro/Close Up
• Blue Water Wide

The print competition category which is judged on the evening based on members prints was removed as not being practical. A total of 132 images were submitted from 16 members.

Our honoured judge was JP Trenque, who is well known to many members as a past Chairperson of BSOUP and a previous Photosub Competition secretary. JP is an award-winning underwater photographer, although has not been able to dive recently due to family and work commitments. However, judging the images has rekindled JP’s urge to get wet again and hopefully we will see more of him and his images in the future. Our thanks to JP for judging the competition, and for attending the virtual meeting to present his judging comments.

Results can be viewed at Photosub Annual Competition 2020 – Results. 

These events do not run successfully without the help of a number of club members. Thanks to Roger Eve for providing all event communication, Keith Lyall for organising and running the competition, and Martha for setting up and hosting the virtual meeting.

Thanks to all who entered and congratulations to all winners.

My thanks go out to all who participated during the last year under very difficult circumstances, for attending meetings, entering competitions and also for taking some great photographs. My special thanks as always go to your committee for their hard work behind the scenes, Roger for his work as secretary and for keeping all the members informed, for Martha for her advice and work on the club’s finances and for Keith for keeping the competitions going during Lockdown, and Social distancing. A thankless task sometimes chasing members for entries and then sorting them out and putting slide show presentations together. Most of all my thanks to all of you for being members and supporting Photosub.

Treasurer’s Report (Martha Tressler)

Subscriptions are down slightly as a couple members left and a couple more joined right at the end of 2019 (those subs recorded in 2019 but carried through 2020). It was a very low cost year with only costs for the website, a cancelled meeting in January and some engraving costs. We have a surplus for the year of almost £300. This coming year will also be low cost and it is proposed (and was agreed) that no subs be paid in 2021. Two members had already paid subs by standing order and they will be contacted by the Treasurer.

Election of Officers

The current officers were willing to be re-elected and as no others came forward the meeting agreed to the following:

• Chair – Martyn Guess
• Treasurer – Martha Tressler
• Hon Secretary – Roger Eve
• Competition Secretary and Webmaster – Keith Lyall
• Committee Member – Bert Lee

2021 Activities

Tentative plans for 2021 will include:

• Club Mid Year meeting – probably May and likely to be online
• Club BBQ (and Splash-in Results) – Martyn/Sue Guess have offered to host, probably in Aug/Sept
• Club Annual Meal – Martyn to contact the Farnham House Hotel to determine possible dates.
• Open Competition – typically November

Given the current COVID situation the organising of face to face events will require assessing in line with the situation and guidelines nearer the time and will be communicated to club members when known.

AOB

There being no other Business the AGM part of the meeting was closed at 20:30.

Thanks to all who joined the meeting, to Martyn for use of his Zoom and chairing the meeting, Roger for the numerous email communications, Martha for the Treasurer’s report and Keith for coordinating the follow on show and tell session.

Show and Tell

Following the AGM, a Show and Tell session was organised where a number of members offered to present some of their memorable images. There was a varied agenda including still images and videos with Q&A by the members. This made for a different a varied evening.

Show’n’Tell

• Mike Davidge – Mike presented a variety of memorable images.
• Dario Navaro – Dario presented some shots from his lockdown in Bodrum, Turkey
• Joss Woolf – Joss used lockdown to extract a few images from previous trips to Komodo and Raja Ampat.
• Anthony Holley – Anthony presented a few shots from his 70th Birthday present which was a flight in a Spitfire from Biggin Hill heading South to Beachy Head.
• Martyn Guess – Martyn presented some shots from UK dive trips between UK lockdowns including a B&W shot of a Blue Shark which was recognised in the 2020 UPY competition. 

Short Presentations

• Lundy & UK Diving – Peter Tatton
  • Peter presented a mixture of still and video from various UK trips in 2020, including Kimmeridge, Lundy and Norfolk Weybourne
• UK Garden Visitors – Jo Horrocks
  • Jo ran a video of various birds and squirrel visitors to the garden during lockdown. The video was taken using a Bushnell camera trap which was adapted using lenses to allow closer focus. 
• Overview of Landscape Photography – Keith Lyall
  • Keith presented an overview of the equipment and techniques for landscape photography.

The meeting ended at 22:15. Thanks to all who attended and contributed to the meeting.

Under normal circumstances, the Photosub Annual Competition entries would have been projected at the club annual meal in March, the results announced and the trophies presented during the evening. However given the unique and unprecedented events of 2020, both the original meal date in March and the revised date in September were cancelled in line with government guidelines. 

Consequently an online virtual meeting was held on Sat 21st November attended by 22 club members. This competition comprised 4 categories:

• Green Water Macro/Close Up
• Green Water Wide
• Blue Water Macro/Close Up
• Blue Water Wide

The print competition category which is judged on the evening based on members prints was removed as not being practical. A total of 132 images were submitted from 16 members.

Our honoured judge was JP Trenque, who is well known to many members as a past Chairperson of BSOUP and a previous Photosub Competition secretary. JP is an award winning underwater photographer, although has not been able to dive recently due to family and work commitments. However judging the images has rekindled JP’s urge to get wet again and hopefully we will see more of him and his images in the future.

The competition results are as follows accompanied by judges comments:

Green Water Macro/Closeup

1st Place – Martyn Guess

Green Water Wide Angle

Blue Water Macro/Closeup

Blue Water Wide Angle

Thanks

Our thanks to JP Trenque for judging the competition, and for attending the virtual meeting to present his judging comments. 

These events do not run successfully without the help of a number of club members. Thanks to Martyn Guess for managing the organisation of the albeit aborted evenings, Roger Eve for providing all event communication, Keith Lyall for organising and running the competition, and Martha for setting up and hosting the virtual meeting.

Thanks to all who who entered and congratulations to all winners.

In light of the 2020 Covid-19 social distancing measures, the Photosub Club members have been keeping in contact through video conferencing. On Saturday 18th July, 24 members attended a virtual meeting for a general catch-up and to present a series of images, both underwater and topside.

12 members provided images which were presented during the meeting. Club Chairperson Martyn Guess led the meeting with each photographer presenting their images and answering questions from other club members.

There were a varied collection of images including underwater images from the film days. In addition Anthony Holley provided a short video of trout taken by putting his iPhone into the river at Mottisfont. Martyn presented a short presentation on his use of a trioplan lens to create interesting bokeh backgrounds.

Thanks to:

• Martyn Guess for running the evening
• Martha Tressler for setting up the video call
• Roger Eve for providing meeting arrangement details
• Keith Lyall for creating the slideshow
• Jo Horrocks, Martyn Guess, Roger Eve, Wendy Eve, Joss Woolf, Peter Tatton, Keith Lyall, George Mitchell, Dario Navaro, Martha Tressler, Anthony Holley & Mike Davidge for providing images