This week the Isle of Man Photographic Society had the pleasure of an evening of diversity, with all images originating from our members.

First-up was Tony Curtis, long-standing member of the club.

He showed us an eclectic selection of his photographs.

Not to be outdone by other nature photographers in the club, he started with some lovely wildlife shots, including the wallabies in the Curraghs, difficult to photograph. Then we had a trip to Cornwall, a favourite haunt of his.

While there, he photographed the annual triathlon at Perranporth. This is named the ’Surf, Swim, Cycle, and Painful Run’ with good reason, as the last leg involves a very steep hill overlooking the bay.

We were treated to a good selection of photos of his other passion, the work undertaken by the Laxey Mines Research Group, with a very interesting explanation of the amazing amount of underground mine workings that the group are surveying and making safe and secure, with the authorisation of the Isle of Man Government.

Next we were taken round the TT course with a few excellent bike shots, and finally Tony showed us some of his accomplished portrait work, which he was kind enough to give guidance as to how we could achieve similar results.

After the break we enjoyed seeing the club members’ ingenuity in sourcing unusual ’outside the box’ images of two fun, non-competitive challenges - ’Churches’, set by Geoff Atkinson and ’Wheels and Circles’, the choice of Lawrence McMullen.

The challenges were the brain-child of member Barry Murphy and has proved very popular with members. The church images came from all over the island, from cathedral to ruin, and inside and out.

The other challenge was more varied, from seen items to objects set up indoors to fulfill the brief.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the evening, and President Jeremy Broome-Smith gave a very appreciative and enthusiastic vote of thanks.

Our next meeting is on Wednesday, March 25, when we will have a competition where all images will be the popular subject ’Nature’. There is a trophy for the best image, and we expect a good set of pictures from our members.

The society meets at the Arts Society Building (Thie Ellyn) in Withington Road, Douglas, on Wednesday evenings at 7.30pm, and all open to the public (with a modest fee for non-members). More details and the programme are on our website at www.iomps.com, as well as many more images from our various meetings.

Ruth Nicholls