The ever popular Nigel McCall

TENBY AND DISTRICT CAMERA CLUB The guest speaker at the club meeting held on Thursday 7th November was the ever popular Nigel McCall from Carmarthen. The chairman introduced the evening by telling members that Nigel had recently won the urban view Category of the annual, ‘Take a View’ photographer of the year award. His winning image was a hypnotising cloud of starlings captured above Carmarthen at dusk. Nigel’s talk on this his third visit to the club was on the Falkland Islands, Wildlife and Landscape. The talk began, explaining the logistics of the journey, leaving Brize Norton R.A.F base, flying to the Ascension Island and then on to the Falkland Islands, a journey time of 18 hours. With over 700 islands making up the Falkland’s which equates to approximately two thirds of the land mass of Wales. The main mode of transport is small light aircraft and boats, while on the islands a 4 x 4 vehicle is essential. Nigel’s journey started in Darwin before moving on to San Carlos where there is a cemetery for British Forces and also the Argentines he visited Goose Green, Carcass Island where Nigel showed us the abundance of bird life such as, the Crested Caracara, Austral Thrush, Flightless Steamer Duck, Kelp Geese, Cobbs Wren. He then transported us to West Point Island by boat where once again the bird life was a photographer’s dream, the Black Browed Albatross, the bird most people visit this location to see. Pebble Island was the next island to visit, a twenty minute flight where sheep farming is the main employer, farming at fifty two degrees south of the equator is never easy, but nevertheless there is approximately eighty eight family farms on the Falkland Islands. We were also shown images of Southern Rock Hopper Penguins and King Penguins at Volunteer Point before a 40 minute flight to Seal Lion Island. The island is a relatively flat plateau with perpendicular cliff’s, Nigel showed images of Killer Whales hunting for Penguins, Elephant Seals, Gentoo and Magellanic Penguins. Nigel’s talk ended back at Stanley with images of some of the interesting buildings such as Jubilee Villas built in 1887 for Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee, Government House built in 1840 and the Whale Bone Arch made from the jaw bones of two Blue Whales, built in 1933 to commemorate the centenary of British rule in the islands. Nigel answered many questions following his most interesting and informative talk. 14th November – Judging black and white images 21st November – Judging of panels