Our Members
Insights - Helen Gibson, 27 May 2020
Insights - occasional articles about our club members - Helen Gibson, 27 May 2020
'Insights' is a series of occasional articles about our club members. We see each other, we chat and we even sit next to each other on Club Nights (or we did until ‘lockdown’) but do we know about their path to photography. Each month or so we will chat to two of our club members to find out. This is Helen Gibson’s story.
Helen became interested in photography from a young age, watching her grandfather and uncle busy in their dark rooms and looking at their slides (those were the days!). At eight years old her parents gave her their late Coronet box camera and she saved her pocket money to buy film and then for the processing. Later years with work and family, time took over; but watching her husband with his camera, she became inspired again and with digital, took up her hobby again.
She dappled with all genres, but her favourite became Street photography, closely followed by Travel. She says ‘there is nothing better than when it all comes together, great location, good atmosphere and capturing that one-off unique moment in time’. With her love of travel, both home and abroad, this has brought her to cities and bustling towns and the chance to ‘people watch’ with interesting backdrops and if lucky, good light! One such trip to London with her daughter produced one of her favourite images taken along the cobbled streets of the Butlers Wharf area, showing her daughter silhouetted among the old buildings – a memory of a lovely day spent together.
On one of Helen’s travels to Florence, she and her husband came across a colourful parade with people dressed in historic costumes. Of course, they followed – to find themselves escorting two football teams to play a 16th century game called - Calcio Storico – on a sand pitch, where anything goes from kicking to wrestling, a bit of a brawl really – not quite today’s style! Seize the opportunity you never know where it may take you.
What will you find in Helen’s kit bag – a Canon EOS 77D, a good-sized camera, easy and quick to change settings in a hurry and a selection of lenses. In addition, she has a Fuji XT20, great for Street photography, but not quite as quick as her Canon!
What of her future photography – Helen is trying long exposure using natural low light, but has now bought a new Lee filter and is experimenting with some pleasing results – we look forward to seeing your images in a future club night.
~ by “Camera Shy"
Helen became interested in photography from a young age, watching her grandfather and uncle busy in their dark rooms and looking at their slides (those were the days!). At eight years old her parents gave her their late Coronet box camera and she saved her pocket money to buy film and then for the processing. Later years with work and family, time took over; but watching her husband with his camera, she became inspired again and with digital, took up her hobby again.
She dappled with all genres, but her favourite became Street photography, closely followed by Travel. She says ‘there is nothing better than when it all comes together, great location, good atmosphere and capturing that one-off unique moment in time’. With her love of travel, both home and abroad, this has brought her to cities and bustling towns and the chance to ‘people watch’ with interesting backdrops and if lucky, good light! One such trip to London with her daughter produced one of her favourite images taken along the cobbled streets of the Butlers Wharf area, showing her daughter silhouetted among the old buildings – a memory of a lovely day spent together.
On one of Helen’s travels to Florence, she and her husband came across a colourful parade with people dressed in historic costumes. Of course, they followed – to find themselves escorting two football teams to play a 16th century game called - Calcio Storico – on a sand pitch, where anything goes from kicking to wrestling, a bit of a brawl really – not quite today’s style! Seize the opportunity you never know where it may take you.
What will you find in Helen’s kit bag – a Canon EOS 77D, a good-sized camera, easy and quick to change settings in a hurry and a selection of lenses. In addition, she has a Fuji XT20, great for Street photography, but not quite as quick as her Canon!
What of her future photography – Helen is trying long exposure using natural low light, but has now bought a new Lee filter and is experimenting with some pleasing results – we look forward to seeing your images in a future club night.
~ by “Camera Shy"
One of Helen's favourite street photographs
