Photography by Gerald Ponting

From the early 1970s until recently, I have used the Minolta MD (manual focus) system with slide film, mostly Fuji. Many of my photographs are used in slide presentations to societies around my home area.

In May 2006, I purchased an Olympus E500 digital SLR and I am gradually coming to terms with digital capture. At some point in the future I will need to purchase a digital projector for use in new presentations.

I have been a member of Viewfinders of Romsey Camera Club for the past thirteen years and have won a number of trophies in that time. Some of my pictures have been published in magazines and have won prizes in national competitions.

In addition to my single-topic slide shows on the history and natural history of Hampshire, on stone circles, on the Scottish Islands and on my foreign travels, I have one presentation which is centred more on the photography than on the content of the talk :

MIX AND MATCH

This presentation, rather than sticking to a single theme, presents a number of short topics, chosen for the interests of the particular audience. For a horticultural society – garden visits; for a travel club – a recent holiday; for a natural history group– local (or exotic) flora and fauna; and so on. This approach also enables me to include topical material when appropriate.

I usually start with a short ‘photographic autobiography’ and end with some of my best slides which have won competitions, locally or nationally.

For photographic societies and camera clubs, I always include a selection of high scoring and trophy-winning slides. A selection of James Coventry’s superb black-and-white photographs from the 1890s forms one section – as does an account of the “Photographers’ Sundial” which I designed for PhotoPlus magazine.

THE PHOTOGRAPHERS’ SUNDIAL

This is a device, made of clear acetate, a little like a protractor, which I designed for ‘PhotoPlus’ magazine in 1992. Although Photoplus is long defunct, I still have a stock of ‘sundials’ available.

The purpose of the sundial (or sun position compass) is to determine, in conjunction with an accurate map, the time of day and the time of year when the direction of natural sunlight will be suitable for a particular architectural (or landscape) shot. For instance, the north facade of Southampton’s medieval gateway, the Bargate, although normally in shade, is lit by the sun at around seven o’clock on a June evening.

In use, the transparent disc is placed over the map, with the building to be photographed placed at the intersection in the centre of the disc; and with the North arrow aligned with True North on the map. Using the outer circles on the disc, it is possible to match dates throughout the year with the appropriate times of sunrise and sunset. These times are correct for the latitude of Southern England but an accompanying table gives adjustments for other latitudes between 50 and 59 degrees north.

Detailed notes cover other allowances which need to be made, such as the altitude of the horizon, location within Britain, and so on.

To order, see my Contacts Page