Waverley Camera Club

It’s been a while but we are pleased to debut another WCC Member biography on Dennis Creasy.  Stay tunned for another Member Spotlight in the coming months.

Dennis Eric Creasy, 1931 – 201ish or so

Born in London, Dennis was one of a very rare vintage: 1931 was the year of the lowest birth rate ever recorded in both Britain and Australia. Surviving 250kg aliquots of HE, V1s and V2s he was finally bequeathed his mother’s Box Brownie during his last years of schooling. Hard economics set in: two rolls of “120” film = 16 exposures of 2¼ x 3¼ = One week’s pocket money. Fortunately his father was an amateur photographer so he learnt early to do his own processing (in open dishes) with the cost of chemicals “on the firm”. Developing tanks were unheard of in his household.

With his second roll of film he cycled down to his old haunt where he had been a war time evacuee for a while and photographed the old Saxon church near Didling, W. Sussex, at the foot of the South Downs.

This was a church noted for having kept its head down and hence was overlooked during Henry VIII’s gold grab of 1536 to finance his many girlfriends. This effectively destroyed any vague interest Dennis may have had for bricks and mortar but not for girlfriends.

Ten years later his father bequeathed to him his “620” Kodak folding camera. Frustrated by this continued “large” format being wished on him while “everyone” else had 35mm he opened it up and glued a mask inside to give 16 half size negatives. Consequently he then had to build an enlarger.

Another decade rolled by and, in spite of the cold war, Russian cameras were in the shops. Now he had a wife, a mortgage and money in the bank! Gentlemen, he advised, should always marry a rich woman. So he splashed out on a “Zenith E”: 35mm and colour prints at last!

The “E” saw him through the next 1½ decades and into Australia. But by now Anno Domini had caught up with him and his arms had grown too short for him to be able to read his slide-rule (Slide-rule? What the hell’s that?) let alone focus his camera.

Fortunately for his coronary and blood pressure, autofocus widgets were appearing in the shops and in 1986 a quick trip back to Britain facilitated the duty free acquisition of an autofocus Minolta 7000 and extra lenses. Right up until the death of film, the 7000 never gave him the slightest trouble.

Being an old fashioned “see the wheels go round” engineer, Dennis did not welcome the advent of the digital age. So much so that he retired early to avoid having to use the ghastly electronic widget with which his employer insisted on decorating his desk. Rumour has it that he was latterly in possession of some form of digital Sony gadget which enabled him to use his 7000 lenses. However, he professed to the very end that until he had confined the progeny of his 1469 rolls of film safely into albums he had no intention of getting involved with “all this new fangled digitry”.

In order to preserve a level of insanity he took up playing cards and also became a rowing coach.

In mid 1992 a portrait of WCC then President, Marcia Brown, appeared in the local rag and he immediately applied to join the club. By 1996 he had graduated to Club secretary and also succeeded Christine Anfried as Newsletter editor for several years (with the able assistance of Prue McColl) In 2005 the WCC held an exhibition at the Highway Gallery and beside his two offerings was Epitaph 1:

“Dennis Creasy is a retiring retired engineer. He is very selfish and takes snaps purely for his own personal erotic pleasure with no interest whatever in what others may think. Those who view his images must be prepared to put their own brains into gear if they wish to get anything out of them”.

Eventually he joined that noble band of A Graders. Not, he would hasten to point out, because he was a good photographer but because, like any devious student, he read the (then) rules and then religiously applied them. His mental state declined as he lamented the mutation of the Newsletter to the Blog and he appeared not to have had a remission. He had always hoped that one day he would have had his own private studio in his home and taken pictures of women which they would one day have been proud to show to their grand-daughters.

“The report of his death was an exaggeration” (with apologies to M. Twain) but he will leave a wife, four children and ten grandchildren.

Epitaph 2: “Come back hard copy; all is forgiven!”

My apologies for the lack of the Member of the Month article, moving house made this quite difficult. This month the article focusses on a long standing member and current Secretary, Ron Weatherhead.

Q. What sort of equipment you use and what you would like to own in an ideal world?

My first SLR was a Praktica, a good affordable camera made in the (former) East Germany. I got a Nikon F601 when I joined the club, then moved on to a Nikon D80. I use the 18-135mm kit lens, which does not have good reviews, but gets reasonable images with the help of Photoshop. I don’t really crave any fancy equipment, but would have liked the VR Nikon 18-200mm lens, but it was not available at the time.

Q. What sort of photography you like and where do you like to take pictures?

I like “found” images, not so keen on set-up shots. A camera is often with me when out and about, and most of my shots are taken quickly when I see something interesting. They tend to be of buildings, flowers, birds, etc, not many of people.

Heart of a Harley Eucalyptus

Q. How has the WCC changed since you joined?

The format of meetings is much the same as it always was, but the members are now a lot younger and there are more activities outside of the two main monthly meetings. Skills have also changed, mainly due to digital cameras and computers. We used to have members who specialised in B&W processing, cibachrome, slides, hand colouring etc, but now we rely on the computer. Digital photography is great, giving easy access to creativity, much better than spending hours in the darkroom!

Q. Who is your favourite photographer, why, and what is your favourite image?

I am a regular at the MGA, so get to see the works of Australian photographers and really like the B&W images of people like Olive Cotton, Max Dupain and David Moore.

Teacup Ballet – Olive Cotton


Meat Queue – Max Dupain


St Paul’s Cathedral – David Moore

One of my own favourite photos is this one of St Kilda Pier, taken not long before the building was burnt down and replaced by a similar one,

St Kilda Pier – before the fire

This is the second in the series of the member of the month articles. After the huge success of the first article I thought that asking some of the newer members might be a good idea this time. So without further ado, here’s the August 09 version of the article focussing on new members to the club, Rosie & Andy Armitage.
Next month I intend to have a more seasoned member’s bio here, watch this space.

This is a new idea that I had for the BLOG, a member of the month. At one of the club judging nights, someone said to me who is Warren Knower and it got me thinking about whether we all actually know each other well enough. This article is for those of us who can’t attend every meeting, it is difficult enough with our ever changing membership to keep up with who is who so if we have a member of the month article it will help identify these elusive people and tell us more about who they are, what they do and where they are going. I hope you enjoy the new article and I would ask that you will provide feedback regarding this either by comments at the bottom of the post or an email to me at the editors address.

Hi everyone,

When Dave asked me to write something for the blog I was more than happy to agree as I think the blog is a fantastic resource and something we should all support! But before I start telling you about myself I would just like to say how much I enjoyed last Tuesday nights (7/7) club competition. After the stress of finalising and handing in my folio last month (see below) I have had camera fatigue (is that possible?) and have not pressed the shutter for over three weeks. However after being inspired by the work I saw on Tuesday night, especially in the B grade category, I was out and about the next day doing what I love…..taking photos. So thank you!

I also did a second folio this year, a photojournalistic piece, documenting the lives of commercial fisherman. I had quite an adventure spending many long nights on the ocean coming back after dawn. Here is an image taken at dawn of the crew cleaning themselves after a nights work.

Q: What equipment do you use/prefer?

I use Canon. I can’t stand it when people go on and on about the make of camera they use; that whole Canon vs Nikon saga. We’ve all seen amazing images taken with pinhole cameras and even 2 mega pixel phone cameras. A great image is first seen before it is ever captured.

Q: How has WCC had an effect, if any on your photography?
Also see my introductory comments (above).

I joined WCC in early 2008 because I wanted to meet and learn from like minded people. It has been a great experience. It has allowed me for the first time to submit a photo for judging. I also get to listen to valuable feedback and critiques on images given by some fantastic judges. I really enjoy listening to the invited guest speakers (for instance Jeremy Daadler).

Q: What direction do you think the club should go in the future?

It is fantastic to see the club expanding so rapidly. The proposed move to a larger venue would be welcomed. I think the club is doing a great job in catering for everyone’s need and has to be commended. I remember at the start of the year a lot of changes were invoked and these have been a great success: the blog (all three of them!), beginners classes, more outings, competition format and grading systems etc After such a successful year I think we should not rest on our laurels but try to keep coming up with new ideas to make WCC a great place to be and learn.

Being a lover of all things Adobe (Photoshop, Lightroom and Bridge) it would be great to see all members get a better understanding of these tools to better their photography. I am not sure how much is done in the beginner classes but more tutorials to understand the basics and beyond should be a priority.

(NOTE: If anyone needs help in Photoshop etc please don’t hesitate to send me an email)

Q: Where do you see your photography in 5 years time?
The next 2-3 years will be aimed at finishing off my photography course and trying to absorb as much information as I can. I would then like to go on and do a final year at RMIT to complete a Bachelor of Arts in photography (that all depends if by then they start offering it part time). A scientists doing an arts degree, who would’ve thought!!!

I also have plans of starting up my own blog in the near future tailored at beginners to teach them the basic fundamentals such as composition and image design.