IN conjunction with Thurrock Camera Club Thurrock News is pleased to bring you its latest series of helpful tips with camera work and examples of the artistry of its members.

Later this year the club will celebrate its centenary and to mark the year we will not only be sharing advice but featuring the work of members.

Hopefully, when Covid is licked, the club will be able to open doors to members of the public to attend meetings once again.

For the moment, we live in a virtual camera world though and photography is becoming an increasingly popular pastime for people looking for things to do.

Most of the tips the club gives are equally applicable to mobile phone cameras as well as more sophisticated devices.

The latest tips are:

• Consider low level positions for photos to help blur backgrounds which will help your main subject stand out and concentrate the viewer's attention on that element of you photograph
• Change your perspective to identify the best view of the subject. Look at the subject from different angles to capture different images of the same subject.
• When composing your picture with your camera, consider the best way to portray image e.g. landscape v portrait format and for landscape images, try to capture the lie of the land;
• Capturing colours is also worth consideration as mixing different shades of the same colour can be an effective way to portray a subject.
• Using filters to supplement you basic camera equipment may be worthwhile if you can. For example, consider using a polarising filter if you have one to reduce light entering the camera which will reduce glare from reflections
• Whenever possible, try to capture some detail in your photo to provide interest to the viewer.

In our featured images, the first called 'Reaching Up' by Chas Tagg shows how he captured the buildings from a low angle and emphasised the height. This helps to demonstrate the size of the structures and makes them look more imposing.

The fact that the image is in black and white also removes any distractions that might arise from bright colours and also helps to emphasis the patterns contained in the building's structure to focus the viewer's attention on this feature.

Sadly Chas passed away recently, prompting this tribute from club stalwart David Whyman who said: "Chas is a great loss to Thurrock Camera Club club, not only as an excellent photographer and for his diligent committee work, but also for his kind and friendly manner which saw him provide assistance and advice to new and older members alike in the production and presentation of their competition images as well as affording a warm and friendly welcome to all newcomers to the club."

In the second image - Shaggy Inkcap - The low level capture of the fungi has allowed the background to be blurred removing any distractions from the main subject.

The image also captures the detail of the Fungi and shows off its texture to the viewer.

We will bring you more tips next month. Meanwhile if you would like to learn more about the club and/or membership, there is a Facebook Group, entitled Thurrock Camera Club which presents details of upcoming events and other photography related articles and the club also operates a website with a contact page here.