It is surprising how much better one feels after a brisk walk on a cold night, and it is good for one’s personal health too! Fortunately, it was at least clear, calm and dry, in a rare break from the ravages of what has been an unusually stormy and wet winter! So it was that the members of the IOMPS met in front of the Sefton Hotel on Harris Promenade on 1st April, to spend an evening on foot among friends under the Villa Marina Colonnade and in a few of the nearby streets.
Another of the advantages of joining a local photographic club, is the ability to arrange to be escorted by someone of the calibre of photographer Jason Kinrade to take photographs, with an experienced model, in the person of an established friend of the Society, Will Holden, who proved to be something of an unexpected celebrity, with passers-by enquiring if he was someone famous! Perhaps the sight of our group was a little unusual, but it did attract some attention during the evening with various people stopping to enquire what was going on!
There was a good turnout of members on the night too, reflecting the increasing popularity of outdoor events for the hardier souls. The Society was most grateful once more to Jason Kinrade for giving up his precious time to help members by sharing his expertise with them.
Unfortunately, we discovered that the Villa Arcade was locked, so there had to be a last-minute change of plan as we had intended to photograph there. Undeterred, we began instead with our first shots being re-directed under the Villa Colonnade and outside renowned theatre designer, Frank Matcham’s masterpiece, the Victorian Gaiety Theatre.
We then took a few pictures outside the Sefton before moving around to the rear of the Theatre and the Stage Door, there were further images available to the group in and around the green doors and the fire escape. The group then moved across the road to use the old doors opposite the back of the Sefton as the peeling paint and old brickwork gave us different background textures and created a more "grunge" look to the images. We also used the small lane beside the Sefton, which created a very urban street photography style of images.
From there the group moved to the Chester Street Car Park for more Urban style images and, seeing the full Moon, it was suggested we move to the top level of the car park to include the Moon in the pictures.
As the early evening light began to fade, the next venue for the group featured the car park entrance ramp and with the group using the lighting there before finishing up with some pictures in and around Castle Street, utilising the various illuminated windows as a backdrop for our model.
Members are reminded that the Annual Photographic Competition will now be held at 7.00 pm on Wednesday 15th April, 2026, when our esteemed judge will be none other than Patricia Tutt, a well-respected and experienced architect and assessor of photographic work, having been the principal photographer for the publication ‘Churches of Mann’. iomps.com
By Antony Hamilton
