Southgate Photographic Society was founded in 1938 with the aims of promoting knowledge of the art and science of photography and encouraging the fellowship and recreation of its members. Today there are some 40 full and country members who enjoy producing images both by traditional photographic means and (more usually nowadays) with digital equipment. There are also associate members who enjoy what the more active members produce. The Society is administered by an executive committee; chaired by the President. Meetings are held weekly for 10 months of the year in the Howley Hall at St. Paul's Church in Winchmore Hill. The programme includes regular competitions for prints and "projected images" (i.e. slides and digital images), illustrated talks by visiting lecturers, which may be travelogues, groups of themed images or explanations of techniques, and a number of in-house workshops/discussion evenings. Visiting lecturers and judges are mainly selected from the lists of those approved by the Federations forming the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain and others come from our neighbouring societies. The Society has a digital projector that was purchased during 2007 with moneys granted by the Awards for All scheme from the National Lottery. We regularly participate in a number of inter-club competitions , particularly with our friends in Barnet & Finchley Photographic Society, Enfield Camera Club, Muswell Hill Photographic Society, and Potters Bar & District Photographic Society, and we submit entries to the North London Exhibition of Pictorial Photography and to the annual exhibition held by the East Anglian Federation. Also, there are purely social events, in which members' families and friends are encouraged to participate, and these are most frequent during the summer. The high point of the year is an annual exhibition , held for 4 days in early August at the Bourne Methodist Church Hall near Southgate Underground Station. There are some 110 prints on panels around the hall and each evening there is a "projected image" show. This may be a travelogue by one member or a selection of images by a number of members chosen as being representative of the Society as a whole. Some years, the programme features a lecture by a distinguished visiting photographer. In addition we normally project a group of slides selected from the work of all interested members. In 2008 this will include digital images as well as conventional slides. There are a number of Trophies that are awarded annually. Points gained in the regular print and projected image competitions are totalled to ascertain the winners and runners-up. The Championship Trophy is awarded to the member achieving the highest number of points for both prints and "projected images". Trophies are presented during the course of the annual dinner held in March. It is our aim that all our meetings should above all be friendly, whether they are competitive, instructive or social. THE DIGITAL ERA With the dawning of the 'Digital Era' there is an even wider range of equipment available to today's photographer. Apart from a few purists, who may claim that a photograph is only such if it has been recorded on film and processed in a dark room, the majority use digital cameras. These come in a wide variety, ranging from mobile phone cameras, through compacts of differing sizes, facilities and quality. There has been a natural progression from the SLR (Single Lens Reflex camera) to the Digital SLR (DSLR). Some compacts and bridge cameras provide image quality comparable with DSLRs (Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras) without having all the technical facilities. As its name suggests, the 'bridge camera' has some of the advanced features available on a DSLR, but with a fixed lens boasting a large optical zoom range. DSLRs have the advantage of interchangeable lenses with a much wider aperture range than is possible on a compact camera, but not all have a pop-up flash. Many of our members carry both a DSLR and a compact which is small enough to slip in to the pocket and have a built in flash. Digital images may be viewed in a variety of ways. Some people may be happy with viewing their pictures on a TV screen or having them printed at a local supermarket for showing to family and friends. However, those who wish to see their efforts projected on to a large screen, or perhaps printed larger than usual, may wish to use or acquire the necessary computer editing skills to manipulate the image. This can be accomplished at home on a computer using software programmes such as Adobe's Photoshop Elements (or the more advanced/ professional version CS4). There are a variety of software programmes available but the Adobe programs are probably the most widely used by amateurs and professionals. Some of our member's evenings cover instruction on the techniques referred to above, as well as more basic skills such as the use of lenses, tripods and lighting. The club's digital projector is of great benefit on digital image instruction and competition evenings, as well as AV (audio visual) lectures and presentations.