Dave Butcher Black and White Photographs - News December 2020
What a year 2020 has been so far and we hope you are all keeping well despite the virus risk and all of the restrictions.
The year started as normal when we went skiing to Schladming, Austria in January, then followed a week in the Lake District walking the hills and taking photos in February, then from early March the world became a different place. Covid-19 arrived and we had to cancel and make refunds for all of the photography courses and darkroom workshops booked through the year. I also cancelled all of my lectures through to April 2021.
Buxton Gallery in the Gardens, where I exhibit and sell my work year round, closed at the end of March and didn't open until August and then it was just for 3 months and it is still shut.
I have chronic asthma so Jan and I have stayed at home in Tunstead Milton since early March. We walk the local hills and Goyt Valley most days but it's been a very quiet time for us. I guess we are all waiting for the vaccines to come through so that we can return to whatever the new normal will be.
Landscape Photography Courses:
We are hoping that we can return to running courses and workshops from sometime in April and have a waiting list to work my way through once it is safe to do so. All courses remain at £300 per day but the cost can of course be shared with 1 or 2 other people and I can do just one day or 2 consecutive days if you prefer.
Darkroom Workshops:
I have a lot more people waiting for darkroom workshops than photography courses which follows the trend of recent years. Hopefully we can start in April 2021 if not before. The workshops are £300 per day for 1 or 2 people and I can do 1 or 2 days. The price includes all materials and a buffet lunch.
Experience Black and White Film Photography:
Experience Black and White Film Photography This 2 day course will resume when everything else starts. Clients use 35mm or medium format film cameras to take photographs in the Peak District, then into the darkroom to process the films, make contact prints and finally make large prints for your wall. The cost is £600 and is for 1 or 2 people. All materials and 35mm camera loan included (I have 2 Nikon FM manual cameras for you to use). You are welcome to use medium format but will need to provide your own camera equipment.
New Photos and Website Changes:
I have added about 80 new photographs to my website since the last newsletter, that's similar to last year. A few of them are displayed below. If you need something for Christmas you still have a bit over a couple of weeks to order Prints, Gift Vouchers and Books through my website.
Most of the new shots are landscapes and include Mallorca, Peak District, Lake District, Shropshire (including Shrewsbury), Cambridge Churchill College, Berwick on Tweed, Northumberland, Yorkshire Dales, Bowmore on Islay, Jura, Arran, Schladming, Swiss Alps, St Andrews, Crail, Pittenweem and Anstruther.
As usual, all of them were taken on Mamiya 7 cameras using Ilford 120 film (10 shots on a roll). From these negatives I can make high quality large prints.
If you want to browse my website each of the four Galleries are arranged by Country, then City or Region. Most images are now available in 2 formats, some in a third. The formats available also make it more likely that prints ordered will be in stock as they are the most popular print sizes. Other sizes are available by special order, just let me know what you want.
I have also added quite a few Trip Logs to the About Me web page. To make these I have taken the daily blog posts for each and combined them into one webpage with the colour mobile phone photos taken at the time. I have also added in the black and white photographs taken on my Mamiya 7 camera for each trip to tie everything together. Trips include Pennine Way, Wainwright's Coast to Coast, Swiss Alpine Pass Route, several treks around the Lake District, some Peak District treks, 3 Peaks Dales Way trek, Mallorca and Norway.
Lecture Bookings:
No fixed dates until 'normal life' resumes after Covid-19. I'm not taking bookings until there is some certainty regarding the future.
If you are interested, I give lectures to clubs across the UK illustrated with my hand-printed darkroom prints. They are both travelogues and contain hints and tips on how I take my photographs. They last about 90 minutes, 2 hours with the usual half-time break for refreshments. If you're interested in coming to any of them most clubs welcome visitors. All of my lectures are about the pictures not the technology or techniques used, although I can answer questions on these if asked. I talk about what makes for good composition in black and white, from my point of view. Hopefully there are a good few tips that anyone could find useful. I charge a fee and travel expenses.
Coming Soon: Photos
This section is usually to let you know what pictures to expect from me in the coming months. However, we have no trips planned until the Covid-19 pandemic is past, whenever that is.