Text by Fiona Wallace
This week we are looking at the work of our international club-mate, Juan Peñlaver Llabrės.
Juan joined the club a couple of seasons ago, bringing with him an international dimension. Dividing his time between Kilwinning and Mallorca allows Juan to share images from both areas with us.
And there are some remarkable similarities; for example, Juan has beautifully captured sunsets on the Clyde coast as well as in the Ballearics. Indeed, Juan often jokes that it’s not that we don’t get sunshine in Ayrshire; it’s just a different sort of sun.
He started his photography journey when a group of friends gave him an old DSLR camera and took him on several of their outings. “Since then,” Juan says, “I haven’t stopped.”
His current camera is a Sony A7 RII and his passion is for landscape - especially nighttime - photography, for which he is certainly ideally placed.
He adds: “ I don't follow any particular rule; I see a landscape and try to reflect it in my photographs. I try to follow some photography rules, like the rule of thirds and horizon, although I believe these rules can broken when you think it's necessary.”
” I prefer colour photography, although I practice monochrome photography from time to time. My approach is that that the photo should be taken in monochrome rather than converted with software.”
Juan is a great believer in always learning something new. Of camera clubs, he says: “You learn a lot in a photography club where all styles and approaches come together and you see things from different perspectives. It's a fun way to get to know yourself as an amateur photographer.”
Juan sees photography first and foremost as a hobby to be enjoyed. He states: “My biggest achievement in photography is falling in love with it, seeing the results displayed on the screen or printed, and being able to say this photo is mine, I took it.”
When asked if he ever worried about going out at night to take images, Juan replied: “Not usually, but I had a scary incident one night when out with a friend at an ancient necropolis taking photos of the Perseid meteor shower. Suddenly, a very large and very weird tourist appeared from nowhere and started violently accusing us of stealing from the Necropolis dead. To avoid things escalating further, we quickly packed up and went home without having taken a single photo.”
Juan is currently back in Mallorca and we look forward to seeing his latest batch of images when he posts on our Facebook group.
We meet on Tuesdays, starting at 7.30 at Irvine Community Sports Club, Waterside, Marress Roundabout, Irvine KA12 8DL
Please check our website for information and to get in touch. https://irvinecc.co.uk/programme
