Please would clubs be aware of the problems facing photographers of children.  There has been much about this in the AP.  There have been problems in this Federation.
I know it seems absurd that the police try to stop innocent family pictures.  It saves a great deal of upset and stress if club members are made aware, that police have been arresting photographers taking even family pictures.
It also means that it is probably wise not to display them in public.  One could argue that a club is a private organization but out side competitions are not.

We are coming up to the most hectic time in our SPF year with the exhibition, Slide Championship and League getting to an interesting time. So Please check the calendar so not to miss any deadline or interesting event.  I have printed in bold letters the main events coming up to help.

The exhibition at Salisbury Library Gallery starts at the beginning of January which is always a splendid showcase of club photography.  Many visitors are surprised by the standard of work.  It is well worth club members visiting it to see what other clubs produce , so why not make it a club outing and take a turn in Stewarding.  We must steward the market days, Tuesdays and Saturdays, so help is needed.  The Sales will be on in town so take a turn stewarding and bargain hunting.
Please let Bill Flood know when you wish to come so he can plan his rota.  

Please do not forget the On Line competition will be starting in the NEW Year, as was decided last September. It will be in the same format as last year and Peter Read will be pleased to receive your offerings.  Who will win the bottle of wine next May!

2005 On Line Competition
The SPF announce the 2005 "On line" competition.
The idea is that SPF members send  jpeg image by e-mail to our  SPF webmaster,  who will put it on the website and then a well known Judge will look through them all and decide a winner, second, third places and may be some highly commended mentions.
The winners will be announced at the May SPF AGM.

So please send your images to Peter Read at peterjread@ ntlworld.com from the beginning of January to April 2005.  In the message give the image title your name and club. The picture will be given a number for the web.

Condense your image to 400 pixels on the longest side and less than  50 kilo bytes .

Check the SPF website to see the number of images grow!
  http://www.southphotographic fed.org.uk

Merry Christmas  and a Happy Snappy New Year to all
Anne