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Subcribe to comment rss feed21st - 23rd November, Rheged Centre, Penrith
Tim Parkin
Amateur Photographer who plays with big cameras and film when in between digital photographs.
As you might have noticed in our email newsletter or in the editors comments at the start of last issues PDF, we have been planning a landscape photography conference for November of this year and we started selling tickets to subscribers a couple of weeks ago. A few people have mentioned that they had missed this news and others had asked for more information about the event and what we hoped to get out of it. To this end we thought an short description of our own goals for the event and what we expect to be able to include wouldn’t go amiss.
The idea of a landscape photography conference has been in the back of our minds for a while now. Every time any of us ends up at a ‘physical world’ event we all comment about how nice it is to catch up with old friends, meet new ones and talk about landscape photography. But it was a couple of events last year that made us realise how a properly organised event could make a great catalyst to bring together landscape photographers of all sorts.
Event Location
Working out a location for the event wasn’t easy. There are many conference facilities throughout the country but quite often they are either a long way from the centre of the country or they are in large (dull) urban conurbations.
In the end the Rheged Centre was suggested by a few people and it ticked nearly all of our boxes. Location wise it was a little bit further North than we had wanted but it is next to one of the main motorways (the M6) it has good train access (3hr direct train journey from London, 4 hours from Bristol with one change, 2 hours from Edinburgh) and more importantly it sits on the doorstep of some of the most beautiful landscapes in the country (we were hoping people could combine the conference with a 'last days of autumn with snow peaked mountains' photography trip).
Rheged also has brilliant facilities - an IMAX Digital screen with great audio presentation facilities, space for sit down dinner, an open area in which we can include an exhibition of prints and space for retail exhibitors to show their offerings and for individuals to give presentations and potentially to run critique sessions.
What will be Happening?
Well, we’re still working out some of the details but the main events will be the talks on the Saturday and Sunday. Unlike many conferences that pack talks back to back, we have separated each talk by half an hour to ensure everyone has a chance to chat and to spend some time looking around the exhibitors booths and the exhibition of prints. We will also be starting the conference a little later than is probably usual so that we can give you a chance to go out and get a sunrise session and still be back in time for the start - or if you’re not the sunrise sort then you can sleep in a bit :-)
We’ll have nine talks in total, five on the Saturday and four on the Sunday. This allows us to start the first talk at 9:30am and have the day finished at 5pm with each talk taking an hour. This gives us a half an hour between each talk and an hour for lunch.
The Exhibitors
These are to be confirmed but we’re expecting a mix of retailer, workshops and tours, publishers and others.
The Friday Night
We don’t have any organised events for the Friday evening but we will have an informal gathering at the Rheged for people to take a first look at the exhibition and say hello. This will kick off around 6pm. We’ll have more details in a few more weeks, and will ask you to confirm whether you can make it or not (so we know for numbers!).
The Exhibition
With such a great space outside the auditorium we couldn't ignore the chance for an exhibition. We decided to include some of the best landscape photography from contributors to the magazine over the last few years (permission allowing) and they will be on display just outside the auditorium and just below the cafe and exhibitor stands - a great place to mingle and chat.
Saturday Evening Meal
On the Saturday we are putting on a three course sit down meal in one of the large rooms at the Rheged Centre. This will be a chance to socialise properly and we’ll also be including a photography pub quiz after the meal is over (we have another couple of ideas we’re working on too). We are limited to 130 tickets for this so please do book early!
The Talks
We’re currently working out topics for the talks with our speakers and want to make sure we cover a range of topics that includes some inspirational imagery. There will be time for a short question and answer session after each talk. There’s list of who we’ve got lined up on the conference information page. Let us know if there are specific topics are areas you’d like to see covered.
Informal Sunrise Photography Opportunities
We’re not organising any formal trips out with delegates and the speakers but we’re sure that there will be some informal trips out for a sunrise or sunset on some of the days! We’ll keep you posted as we get closer to the dates
Summary
The conference isn't just an excuse to get a bunch of people to give some talks - one of our main goals was to create a focal point for landscape photographers to discuss their passions and be inspired by great photography and presentations.
We really hope you can join us and please let us know if there is anything you would like to see that we haven't mentioned.