One way to escape a cold wet March evening would be to visit some exotic and far flung places, and that is exactly what Dawlish and Teignmouth Photographic club did on Wednesday, albeit virtually.
Four members present some stunning images of their favoured locations.
Sally Landberger travelled around Bulgaria in autumn, starting in the Pirin mountains, an area of few people, impressive rock formations monasteries and tiny villages, the houses little more than wooden shacks, where donkeys are still used as beasts of burden.
Travelling as far as the Turkish border, she photographed majestic mountains, misty valleys at sunrise, waterfalls and limestone caves.
Rob Landberger stayed closer to home, beautiful remote Northumberland, with its imposing castles, Alnwick, Dunstanburgh, Bamburgh and Lindisfarne. Spittal beach is home to some wonderful sandstone rocks, time and tide sculpting them and creating colourful patterns and curves. Not to be missed, Newcastle and Gateshead sports many bridges, the most notable ,The Tyne bridge, built in the 1920s to cope with the ever increasing motorised vehicles wishing to cross the Tyne. At the time of construction it boasted the worlds longest span. In contrast is the millenium footbrige which opened in 2021, at a cost of £22 million.
After reading a poem, epitomising Africa, Tejas Earp chose Namibia, Her beautiful, imaginative photos capturing the vast desert, ancient fossilised trees, some 200-300 years old superimposed against backdrops of massive sand dunes, starry skies untouched by light pollution, and abandoned mining villages slowly being repossessed by the ever creeping sand.
She then visited Ethiopia, and her evocative images highlighted the hard lives of the women in particular, working tirelessly and carrying huge burdens on their backs and heads.
Her camera captured the cultures, traditions festivals and colourful costumes.
Marc Dunlop's presentation was Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
This ultra modern city of skyscrapers and huge shopping malls provided scope for interesting architectural images, patterns in glass, steel and concrete.
The Grand Mosque with its capacity for 41,000 worshippers is topped by white marble domes and the palace is a stunning visual display of opulence, its ornate interior, chandeliers and amazing ceilings reflecting the wealth derived from the oil industry.
