Ely Photographic Club

St Ives Interprint Competition 2026
2026-02-28 10:00 - 16:30 (Europe/London) | St Ives Free Church, Market Hill, St Ives, PE27 5AL, United Kingdom
This year’s competition will once again be held at St. Ives Free Church.
Each of the clubs competing in this inter-club competition will be submitting 6 prints, and up to 30 clubs will be entering. The exhibition part of the event will be open for viewing from 10am until 4.30pm. Judging will then commence at 6pm (doors open from 5.45pm), finishing around 9-9.30pm with a half-time break. EPC members are welcome to go along and view the prints – please note that the exhibition will be located on the upper floor of the Free Church (disabled access via a lift). The exhibition is free to view, and tickets for the evening judging will not be sold in advance of the competition day, but will be available to purchase at £8.50 during the exhibition, and on the door if there is space available. As a participant EPC get two free tickets, one of which is still available from Bruce. All tickets include light refreshments, and you should be able to pay by cash or card. Refreshments will not be available between 4.30pm and 6pm, but there are many cafes pubs and restaurants within easy reach of the venue.

Print competition 3 of 3, 2025/26
2026-03-04 19:30 - 21:30 | Common Room, Bishop Laney building, Ely College, Ely College, Downham Road,Ely, Cambs, CB6 2SH, United Kingdom
In our final print competition this season, Naomi Saul will be judging the entries this evening.

Presentation by Roger Hance
2026-03-11 19:30 - 21:30 | ONLINE ZOOM MEETING, United Kingdom
Roger is well known to the club for his excellent presentations, and his talk this evening will be “The Secret Life of a Wood”(Part 1).
Roger says that “we do not always see the breadth and diversity of the wildlife that lives there. This talk shows some of the birds and mammals insects, wildflowers, fungi, and sometimes unusual objects that can be found there, which although present are not always visible until we look more closely”

In this talk Roger will show a range of ‘People Pictures’. The images will cover candid’s, photojournalism, as well as studio and available light portraits. Roger explains, as well as giving examples, why some subjects can work in colour, while others can be considerably improved by converting to monochrome.
Roger will show some of the best places in the UK to go for ‘people pictures’: Speakers Corner, Brick Lane, Tate Modern, Blist Hill Victorian Village, The Black Country Museum, The Beamish Museum, 1940’s weekends, Tough Guy event, and the Victory Show. He will also cover working in a studio with flash and show how to take pictures at Live Rock events and explain how to take candid pictures without people noticing you.
More info on Rogers website at Roger Hance FRPS – Award Winning Photographer – People, Portraits and Photojournalism

Digital Techniques member-led session
2026-03-18 19:30 - 21:30 | The Adelaide Hall, Ely College
Once again we will be running a member-led evening at the College, with a Digital Techniques session run by John Harvey. To help beginners, we will have group sessions in the Adelaide Hall run by club members who are familiar with different makes and models of camera, who will help new members and beginners get to grips with how their cameras work and how to use the settings, as well as explaining some photography terms and techniques.
In the first half John will be using the projector and talking about technical side of your camera controls and understanding depth of field, and in and the second half there will be a practical demonstration by various members of the different camera models to the beginners of how the controls work. We will use props to demonstrate depth of field at different f-stops and distances from the subject.
If you have any specific requests for areas that you need help with, please let us know in advance.

Presentation - " Composition and Catastrophe"
2026-03-25 19:30 - 21:30 | ONLINE ZOOM MEETING, United Kingdom
Our presenter is Chris Shepherd this evening, who will talk about getting the composition of our images right, and how to crop to reduce the image to its essentials.
Two separate half evening technical talks, making for an evening where beginners and experts alike can learn (or be reminded) of something:
· Considering Composition – we often hear talk of “The rules of composition”, but what are those rules and should we ignore them ? In this talk we explore the compositional tools we have available to us to make our pictures just a bit more interesting.
· If you do one thing today – its a new digital world and yet not many of us stop to think how easily we could lose all our information. In this talk we scare ourselves with tales of what could happen to our computers, photographs and information then look at ways to mitigate those risks. www.shepherdpics.com
His website is here Shepherdpics – Photography by Chris Shepherd

New Members - information and help session
2026-04-01 19:30 - 21:30 | ONLINE ZOOM MEETING, United Kingdom
This evening I will be joined by some fellow committee members to answer any questions that new members may have about the club, its competition rules, how to enter any competitions or get your images critiqued, where to find information, and so on. If you have recently joined the club and are at a loss as to how to proceed, hopefully we can help you with some answers!
The meeting is suitable for any new members to the club, and a Zoom link will be sent out, just to those people, nearer the time.

No meeting
2026-04-08 19:30 - 21:30 | No meeting
No meeting this evening.
However, you will need to submit your entries via PhotoEntry by midnight tonight for next weeks PDI competition.

PDI competition 2 of 3, 2025/26
2026-04-15 19:30 - 21:30 | Common Room, Bishop Laney building, Ely College, Ely College, Downham Road,Ely, Cambs, CB6 2SH, United Kingdom
Clive Harward will be our judge for this evening’s PDI competition.

A45 Competition 2026
2026-04-16 19:30 - 21:30 | Fornham All Saints Community Centre, Bury Road, Fornham All Saints, Bury St Eds, IP28 6JZ, United Kingdom
The A45 Competition is run by Bury St Edmunds Photographic Society, and up to 10 clubs will be competing, with each club submitting 7 prints. (Please note the new venue for this event.)

Presentation - "Astrophotography"
2026-04-22 19:30 - 21:30 | ONLINE ZOOM MEETING, United Kingdom
This evening we will be having a presentation online by Essex-based astrophotographer Nik Szymanek showing some of his images from deep space. Nik is a musician and author as well, and he has taken photographs of the skies all around the world, including in Hawaii and La Palma.
Nik is an astrophotographer based in North Essex and has been using CCD cameras to image the deep sky since they were first introduced in the early 1990’s from a back garden observatory and more recently from a remote observatory in south-eastern Spain. He has written a monthly ‘Masterclass’ astro-imaging column in Astronomy Now magazine for the last ten years as well as three books on astronomical imaging, the latest of which is ‘Shooting Stars II’, In 2004 he travelled to Berkley, California, to receive the Astronomical Society of the Pacific’s Amateur Achievement Award for outreach and image-processing techniques, some of which have been used in collaborations with professional astronomers. Nik is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a member of the British Astronomical Association and is a regular speaker to astronomy and photographic societies. Other interests include meteorological photography and playing drums in heavy rock bands. He is also an ‘ambassador’ for the Telescope Live remote imaging platform and provides them with astro-imaging video tutorials. Nik is an honorary member of Clacton AS as well as a member of the North Essex Astronomy Society.
Nik’s website can be viewed at Portfolio | Astronomy
PLEASE NOTE: This presentation is now back on Zoom
Don’t forget to submit your entries to PhotoEntry by midnight tonight for the final PDI competition of the year next week.

PDI Competition 3 of 3, 2025/26
2026-04-29 19:30 - 21:30 | Common Room, Bishop Laney building, Ely College, Ely College, Downham Road,Ely, Cambs, CB6 2SH, United Kingdom
Our final PDI competition of this season, for which the judge will be Jim Bennett.
The winner of the PDI League will be announced as soon as possible after this evening’s competition.

EAF Exhibition 2026
2026-05-02 14:00 - 2026-05-17 17:00 | The Apex,, 1 Charter Square, Bury St. Edmunds, IP33 3FD, United Kingdom
The EAF are holding their 2026 exhibition in the Apex Centre at Bury St. Edmunds starting with the opening on 2 May at 2pm by the EAF President. That will be followed by the presentation of awards. The exhibition then runs every day until Sunday 17 May 2026, and all are welcome to attend to view.
A poster for the event is available here

Digital Techniques member-led evening
2026-05-06 19:00 - 21:30 | Ely Cathedral, The Gallery, Ely, Cambs, United Kingdom
The last member-led event this season, which will be a Digital Techniques evening again run by John Harvey, and although the College is booked (in case of inclement weather), the forecast is currently good, so we are planning a practical session out in the field aimed at newer members and people at beginner level. Help for those people by our more experienced members will be available, and if the weather stays fine we will meet outside the Cathedral’s main doors at 7pm.
If you can’t make it for 7pm, please come along and give Phil a ring for our current location.
Bring your cameras along and let us help you with your technique and settings!

Presentation - "Movement in Photography"
2026-05-13 07:30 - 21:30 | ONLINE ZOOM MEETING, United Kingdom
This evenings presenter, Derek Gale will be talking about the techniques to use when photographing subjects with movement.
This talk covers all aspects of movement such as stopping it, showing it, use of ICM, and making traffic vanish! Something a little different to stretch your imagination. Dereks website can be viewed here.
Don’t forget to submit your entries by midnight for the Members Choice competition that will follow next weeks AGM.

Annual General Meeting and Members Choice competition
2026-05-20 19:30 - 21:30 | Common Room, Bishop Laney building, Ely College, Ely College, Downham Road,Ely, Cambs, CB6 2SH, United Kingdom
This evening our Annual General Meeting will be followed by the Members Choice competition with both print and PDI sections. This is the last event of the season.

Club Outing to Cambridge
2026-07-15 11:00 - 17:00
Chris has arranged a club outing to Cambridge for street, architecture and landscape photography, meeting outside Boots in Sidney Street at 11am. Park and Ride is recommended as parking in the city centre is very expensive. If you will be later than 11.20am, please call Chris to let him know. His number and details of this will be circulated by email to members.

EAF Advisory Day for Awards for Photographic Merit
2026-07-18 10:00 - 17:00 | Foxton Village Hall, Hardman Road, Foxton, Cambs, CB226RN
The EAF are holding an Advisory Day at Foxton Village Hall on Saturday 18 July 2026 for anyone interested in applying for an Award for Photographic Merit. A poster with information about the day is available here

Club Outing to Snetterton
2026-07-26 | Snetterton Circuit, A11, Norwich, Norfolk, NR16 2JU, United Kingdom
Chris has organised a club outing for members to Snetterton’s USA 300 Day. A range of American race cars with plenty of high capacity V8’s will be on the track. Gates open at 8:00, £24 before online or £27 on the gate. For more information look on the MSV.com website and follow the site to the event.

Ely Photographic Club Print Exhibition 2026
2026-09-14 - 2026-09-27 | Ely Cathedral, The Gallery, Ely, Cambs, United Kingdom
Ely Photographic Club are delighted to have been given permission to hold an exhibition of our prints in Ely Cathedral’s South-West transept, just inside the main west entrance door of the cathedral. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to view this exhibition without having to pay for entry to the cathedral, although a visit to this magnificent building with its mixture of gothic and romanesque styles of architecture s always a memorable event and is highly recommended.
Our 2026 exhibition will feature many prints covering all types of photographic genre, taken by many of our members, and printed and mounted works will be available to purchase at sensible prices. The event will run for a period of two weeks during normal cathedral opening hours, and will be set up on the morning of 14th September 2026, running until the end of Sunday afternoon on 27th.
We hope to see as many visitors as possible, and some of our club members will be in attendance during peak times for you to chat to about our work. Details of club membership will also be available for you, should you be interested in finding out more about us.
We would like to thank our sponsors, Ian Abrams Architect, without whom this exhibition would not be possible.

Welcome Meeting for 2026-27
2026-09-16 19:30 - 21:30 | The Adelaide Hall, Ely College
The first meeting of each season is traditionally a “Meet and Greet” session for potential new members to the club. We will be running through information about the club and introducing key members, as well as answering any questions that you may have before breaking for a tea/coffee. After the break we will be having a critique session to look at some images submitted by members so that we can have a chat about what makes a great image and what makes it stand out from a regular snapshot.
If you are thinking of trying out membership of the club you are very welcome to come along to up to three meetings on a trial basis to see what you think. For this season will be be back meeting in the Adelaide Hall at Ely College (directions are on the Help Page of this website).There will be no pressure to join, it will be your decision, but we are sure you will find us a friendly, helpful and interesting group. The club membership fee will remain at £65 for the whole season of events, and we will also explain that membership of the club gives you access to some local farms if you are interested in taking wildlife images there. For trial meetings there is a fee of £3 per evening if we are at the College, refundable if you subsequently join the club, (online Zoom events are free of charge for trial members) and there are various types of meeting that we run, including online and in-person presentations on a variety of topics, as well as both print and digital image competitions and many other events. For full details, please see the Events page of this website, which is currently being updated with those events.
We will also just have started our 2026 Print Exhibition which we are delighted to be holding back in the South-West Transept of Ely Cathedral, which has recently had upgraded lighting installed. Do come along to that and have a look at our work – the prints will be available to buy ready mounted, (or if a club member is present we can also frame them for you for an additional cost). The exhibition will run from 14th to 27th September 2026 during cathedral opening hours.
For any further information about the club and its activities, please get in touch with us by completing the Contact Form on this website.

Presentation - "The Power of Sport"
2026-09-23 19:30 - 21:30 | The Adelaide Hall, Ely College
The first regular meeting of this season’s programme of events will be a presentation in person at the College by Peter Milsom on “The Power of Sport”, talking about his photography journey and showcasing some of his amazing sports images.
Peter takes many of his stunning shots at various big Athletics meetings and a selection of these can be seen on his website at Peter Milsom Photography – Home
NB: Please note that we will be meeting at the Adelaide Hall for this presentation rather than on Zoom.

Presentation - "Odd Things part 2"
2026-09-30 19:30 - 21:30 | ONLINE ZOOM MEETING, United Kingdom
Diane Seddon will be presenting the second part of her talk called “Odd Things”. Diane’s work covers a wide range of photographic genres including fine art, drone photography, ICM, light painting, and much more. Her work can be seen on her website at Zenfolio | Diane Seddon Photography | Louth | Lincolnshire
NB: This will be an online Zoom presentation.
Midnight tonight is the closing date for our first Print Competition that will be held on 14 October.

Critique Evening
2026-10-07 19:30 - 21:30 | The Adelaide Hall, Ely College
This evening we will be looking at some images submitted by members and discussing what people like or otherwise and ways in which they might be improved. This will be informal and designed to help people develop their skills in composition and processing of their work.

Print Competition 1 of 3, 2026/27
2026-10-14 19:30 - 21:30 | The Adelaide Hall, Ely College
The first print competition counting towards the season’s league, which will be judged by Paul Radden. Two colour and /or one mono print may be entered, and the closing date for entries will be midnight on 30 September. Please ensure your prints are brought along by 7.15pm at the latest on the night.

Presentation - "My Studio Work" by Salli Gainsford
2026-10-21 19:30 - 21:30 | The Adelaide Hall, Ely College
Salli will be talking to the club tonight about the work she does at her studio in order to produce her beautiful portrait images. Salli specialises in portraiture, with many of her works in an ‘Old Masters’ style, and blends traditional techniques with modern innovations. Salli will cover lighting and makeup, posing and styling, and works with birds of prey, equine and wolf dogs as well as professional models.
Salli’s website can be seen at Home | Salli Gainsford Photography
NB: Midnight tonight is the closing date for submitting entries for our second print competition to be held on 4 November.

No meeting
2026-10-28 19:30 - 21:30 | No meeting
There is no meeting tonight.

Print Competition 2 of 3, 2026/27
2026-11-04 19:30 - 21:30 | The Adelaide Hall, Ely College
The second of our league print competitions, which will be judged by Penny Reeve. Closing date is midnight on 21 October.

Ely Photographic Club Invitation Shield Competition 2026
2026-11-11 19:00 - 21:30 | The Adelaide Hall, Ely College
The second time that the club have run this event, where eight local clubs (including EPC) will compete for the Shield. Each club will submit four pdi’s and four prints, and the judge this year will be Colin Mill. The competition will start at the earlier time of 7pm in the Adelaide Hall so that can finish on time.
There will be a raffle, and we would appeal to members to donate any raffle prizes by bringing those along to the competition meeting the previous week, please – all donations would be gratefully received, many thanks.

Member-led evening
2026-11-18 19:30 - 21:30 | The Adelaide Hall, Ely College
The topics for this meeting have yet to be decided – if you are a new member and would like us to cover a specific aspect of photography or post-processing, please let us know. More details will follow nearer the time.

Presentation - "An Insight into Judging" by Paul Radden
2026-11-25 19:30 - 21:30 | The Adelaide Hall, Ely College
Experienced local judge Paul Radden will be telling us about his experienced of judging competitions over the years, and the second part of the evening will be interactive with members experiencing judging situations for themselves! Hopefully this will give us all an insight into how difficult judging can be, and lead to a greater appreciation of the work they do for us.
