The latest meeting of the Isle of Man Photographic Society proved to be a most enjoyable and very relaxing evening.

The first half of the evening comprised a presentation by Charles Guard - an eloquent and accomplished speaker, and as became very evident during the evening, a man of many talents - music composer, film producer, editor and presenter, for example, and all done with apparent effortless ease.

The second half saw our club president, Tony Curtis, showing a range of images taken over the past several years and displaying his talent as a photographer.

Charles’s presentation was essentially though not exclusively around ’Filming of the Isle of Man’ - and he has a wealth of experience of his subject, having been involved since the late 1960s in producing and presenting films and videos for both the government and for the private sector, many of which are available to this day.

But the presentation wasn’t just about the films, interesting and fascinating as they are.

The story was often more about the background to the films, usually delivered with some amusing anecdotes - of the actors and their quirks, the shooting of the scenes, the difficulties and costs in making the films, equipment or features on the island now disappeared, the ’happenings’ which did not (and often could not) appear in the subsequent film.

Meantime, as technology has developed, the equipment used has changed dramatically - from the heavyweight film cameras to the lightweight OSMO 4K quality videos camera today, and to the drones now being used for aerial shots and a very different viewpoint - but again all demonstrated with real technical expertise and knowledge. Tony Curtis gave a well-deserved vote of thanks for a very polished performance!

A difficult act to follow, but Tony then finished a most enjoyable evening with a display of digital images to demonstrate his photo skills, together with his commentary explaining the reasons for taking the shot. These covered a wide range, but highlights included shots of the Ramsey Lifeboat, a superb shot of a full crescent rainbow over Douglas Bay, some TT motorbike images, the moon, storm waves over the Fenella beach in Peel, and an entrancing shot of the tree reflections in the Injebreck reservoir. All in all, an excellent evening greatly enjoyed by our audience.

Our next meeting, on March 15 will be a print competition for the Isle of Man Bank Cup - one black and white image and one colour image per competitor - on the set subject of ’Something Manx’. Details of the programme can be found on the website www.iomps.com.

Meetings are held at Thie Ellyn (the Art Society building) in Withington Road, Douglas, every Wednesday during the season starting at 7:30 pm, with all meetings open to the public (with a modest charge) and all - whether photography beginners or more experienced - will be made very welcome.

Chris Blyth