Personal Profile _ Sheila Richardson

      Sheila says that she always seems to have had some kind of interest in photography, initially taking "happy snaps" with a Kodak vest pocket camera. Then in 1962 she was persuaded to go to Workington CC by a teaching colleague and became hooked. The initial attraction to photography was that it gave her a means to have a record of people and events to look back on in the years ahead. She was not seriously interested at first. However inspiration came from a Police Superintendent, Robert Walker, from Kendal. He gave a lecture to Workington CC about a visit to the far north of Scotland to photograph Black Throated Divers. His enthusiasm for the means of producing the pictures allied to his obvious love of the subject matter and the dedication with which he carried out his objective, provided the stimulation for Sheila to take up photography more seriously.

      Workington has been Sheila's only club. When she joined in 1962 they had some great photographers, especially in black and white, the likes of Reg Evans, Arthur White, Jack Bates, Bert Sanderson and Graeme Hayton. The latter is now the only one still practising photography and he is Chairman of Maryport CC. Sheila has been a committee member at Workington almost continuously since 1966. She has held the posts of Social Secretary, Vice Chairman, Competition Secretary and Chairman all on numerous occasions. Chairman is the current task.

      When asked about the how her photographic "career" has developed over the years she replied "Start, stop, start, stop - I suppose in much the same way as most folk". Her enthusiasm now rises and wanes as time allows. Since her husband Ben died in 1996 she has not done as much photography. He was as interested as she, probably more so on the technical side. They used to go out together and photograph in the same locations but come back with completely different sets of pictures.

      Sheila became a member of the NCPF Executive firstly through the post of Area Representative. She moved on to become Portfolio Secretary and that made her aware that the success of photography at club level is very dependent on the parent body. She says "I had not realised, till I became part of the team, the amount of work that goes on on YOUR behalf".

      Sheila is not an equipment freak. She moved from an Exa 35mm to Edixa, flirted with a Yashica, but for the last 20 years has Nikon, firstly an FM which was stolen and replaced with an FM2N. She can't get away with the all singing and dancing programme types. Give her 3 little red dots and a Weston exposure meter for backup and she is happy. Her main interest is in slides. However she used to do black and white printing with Ben when they had a dark room. She liked playing about and never tired of seeing a picture emerge - even if it was rubbish! it was still magic.

      When Sheila was deeply involved with ornithological field work she enjoyed natural history photography. She now finds it too time consuming. Candid portraiture is an interest and also landscape photography. She is quite happy to sit and wait for good light and sometimes finds it so beautiful that she forgets to press the shutter. She does not really have any dislikes in photography, but is bewildered by some of the fuzzy out of focus images that seem to be highly rated. Hers go into the waste basket and she wonders if they are the ones she should have entered in the competitions.

      Competitions are not so important to her now, but she learned the basics through entering club competitions. She wonders how many people remember Leo Chapman's (Carlisle) colour circle or the wise and generous comments of Fred Harrison and so many more of those NCPF stalwarts. Her most satisfying competition result was winning a FIAP Gold Medal at the Smethwick International, with the Bates Trophy (NCPF) for landscape a close second.

      Her most satisfying moment was photographing Alfred Wainwright (the famous fell walker) for an article for Cumbria magazine. This led to meeting Derry Brabbs who was taking photographs for the Wainwright Calendar. She could not believe the amount of film that a pro gets through! The photograph she took is still Betty Wainwrights favourite and has pride of place in her room.

      Sheila has compiled a series of talks, illustrated of course, that go the rounds of WI, MU, TWG, Rotary and Probus etc. to raise funds for charity. She has also written scripts and co-ordinated slide selection for two club projects "Portrait of a River" and "The Cumbrian Coast". Regular features that she writes for Cumbria magazine are usually illustrated by her slides/prints. When she ran a wild bird hospital with Ben, photography was important to record the casualties and their injuries. She is still interested in natural history, though not as intensely as when she was active in rehabilitating injured birds. She is Chairman of the charity Animal Rescue Cumbria, to which Wainwright donated the bulk of his book proceeds. She is also quite involved in writing books about the Lake District and the people. Judging by the information leaflet for six books currently available, they would all make good reading for anyone with an interest in the Lakeland area. Lack of space prevents reproduction of the leaflet, but if anyone would like a copy contact Sheila (or I could supply a photocopy - Editor).

      One objective that Sheila still has is to see Workington CC win the NCPF Club Championship. They were not too far away in 1997!.

      Sheila remembers the day when she went with Ben and a friend to Castlerigg Druids Circle to photograph the sunrise. They took sleeping bags to keep warm till the sun came up. There was a thick ground mist, about 18" thick, so that when they lay down nothing could be seen of them. They heard voices, stayed still till the approaching figures came within the circle, then sat up. Three disembodied heads were too much for that photographic party. They fled - nearly tripping up over tripods. Sheila wonders, was it the NCPF on a mid summer Lakes Weekend!?.