’Tis the end of the season of regular weekly meetings for the Isle of Man Photographic Society, and time perhaps to reflect on both the events of the past few months and the way forward for the society as identified in our recent annual general meeting.

The past season can be considered another successful one for the society - an increase in membership, lots of excellent speakers and presentations on photography, several practical sessions (for example, on macro close-up work and on table-top imaging plus a number of social outings to places such as the Gaiety, Tynwald and the Steam Railway Workshops), and with the balance provided by competitions both internal and external with other clubs where the helpful advice provided by our judges is intended to encourage and assist members to improve their skills.

On a slightly different tack, photography is a universal feature of all our lives - we all read newspapers and magazines with a heavy photographic content, we all watch television, most of us own mobile phones and use them to take photos - and yes, those images of our landscape, of our holidays, family and friends, give pleasure and hopefully happy memories.

But could those images be improved?

What skills are required to turn a "snapshot" or a "selfie" into something more artistic, making better use of the light, in focus, with a better composition and with better use of colour and line?

Yet at the same time, our lives seem to be getting ever busier - putting pressure on the opportunity to take time out, to relax and think about the things which are or should be important to us (particularly our family and friends), and perhaps to record those experiences with some great photographs.

To build on the success of the past season and to encourage anyone with an interest in photography to join the society, the emphasis of our next season would be on "photo fun and enjoyment" - to reduce a perceived slant on competitions and to give more emphasis to social activities, developing skills with more practical applications such as workshops, and sharing our mutual enthusiasm for photography with themed evenings and more photographic presentations.

In the mean time, we will, of course, be arranging a variety of summer outings to places of interest where members will have opportunity to take their cameras and get some shots.

Full details of our programme and activities can be found on the website www.iomps.com and on Facebook at Isle of Man Photographic Society. Our meetings are open to non-members and all will be given a very warm welcome.

Chris Blyth