12th April AGM
This was a special AGM because it was finished in the one meeting! In most years the AGM takes place over two meetings. It was also special because Andrew West got someone, after many years, to take over his role as club secretary. He still keeps his jobs as President and as Treasurer. The new Secretary is Elodie Wagener and she will be working closely with Andrew to take up the duties. For the last twelve months the job of Vice President has been vacant. At this meeting Mike Chandler was persuaded to take on the role (solely on the basis that he was told that there was very little to do. All the other posts post holders stayed in their jobs.
The officers gave their reports and it would appear that all has gone smoothly in 2017/8. The Competitions Secretary, Lewis Duthie, said that more and more images were being sent to judges and returned by them over the internet rather than on disc or memory stick through the post. One judge, Lewis said sent back image both by internet and by post!. The treasurers report was well received as despite a fall in income and an increase in expenditure he was able to report a small increase on the balance sheet so the membership fee and cost of teas remained unaltered
There was a discussion about the programme for the 2018/9 season. This is usually the bit of the meeting that spills into the second week. On this occasion it went very quickly. It was agreed that the first half of the season would start on 6th September and end on 13th December and the second half would start on 7th January and run through to the annual dinner on 9th May. The number of competitions are to stay as four Open Digital Image Competitions, two Open Print Compeitions and two Themed Competitions. The themes will be 'Colour' and 'Black and White'.
Two other elements of the programme were also agreed. It was decided to ask Lenny Smith who judged the friendly competition with Craigewan C G to give a talk/tutorial on 'Preparing Your Image for Competition' enabling him to expand on comments he made in the judging process. It was also agreed to have a 'Lucky Dip' bit of fun. At the beginning of the season members would draw from a hat the title of a theme. On a night later on in the year they would then present three images on the theme they 'won' in the draw.
The officers gave their reports and it would appear that all has gone smoothly in 2017/8. The Competitions Secretary, Lewis Duthie, said that more and more images were being sent to judges and returned by them over the internet rather than on disc or memory stick through the post. One judge, Lewis said sent back image both by internet and by post!. The treasurers report was well received as despite a fall in income and an increase in expenditure he was able to report a small increase on the balance sheet so the membership fee and cost of teas remained unaltered
There was a discussion about the programme for the 2018/9 season. This is usually the bit of the meeting that spills into the second week. On this occasion it went very quickly. It was agreed that the first half of the season would start on 6th September and end on 13th December and the second half would start on 7th January and run through to the annual dinner on 9th May. The number of competitions are to stay as four Open Digital Image Competitions, two Open Print Compeitions and two Themed Competitions. The themes will be 'Colour' and 'Black and White'.
Two other elements of the programme were also agreed. It was decided to ask Lenny Smith who judged the friendly competition with Craigewan C G to give a talk/tutorial on 'Preparing Your Image for Competition' enabling him to expand on comments he made in the judging process. It was also agreed to have a 'Lucky Dip' bit of fun. At the beginning of the season members would draw from a hat the title of a theme. On a night later on in the year they would then present three images on the theme they 'won' in the draw.
5th April - Results of the 4th Open Digital Image Competition
The judge for the competition was Margaret Elliot DPAGB EFIAP from the Dumfries Camera Club which is one of the most successful clubs in Scotland. Margaret has her own web page where you can see some of her images and here is a link to the Dumfries Camera Club site. You will see that Margaret knows the NE Scotland as there are images of Rattray Lighthouse and Bow Fiddle Rock!
Here are the images put into the competition.
Here are the images put into the competition.
To see which were the winning images and what Margaret had to say about them go to the Open Competitions page
29th March- Lightroom Tutorial
The meeting on 29th March was scheduled to to a Photo Ramble around Fraserburgh. The weather put a stop to that. So Mike Chandler gave members a 'whistle stop tour' of Adobe Lightroom. Looking first at loading in the images then cataloguing them in the Library Mode and on to the Develop Mode to see how the program can enhance photos. Here are a couple of the before and after images that we looked at.
With this shot of Mount Sibayak a volcano in Sumatra there was a press of the 'Auto' tone button to get an initial alteration then a little 'clarity' was added as was a little 'dehaze' after the camera calibrations was set to 'Camera Faithful' and the Lens corrections boxes were ticked. Finally he Sky was selected using the adjustment brush and the exposure reduced to darken the clouds.
This is a photo of the Aurora seen from Lonmay on 18th March this year. A wide angle 14mm lens was used and as you can see that has distorted the foreground element of the image. However after the camera calibration and lens correction adjustments the first task was to look to the white balance. The shot was taken with a 'Cloudy' in camera setting. (It would have been better on 'Tungsten'). The white balance temperature was reduced to 2600k. which has taken away the orange tones created by the Fraserburgh street lights. As before the 'Auto' tone was used to get an initial adjustment and in this images to major change to the Auto settings was to reduce the exposure. Clarity was added and this brought out more of the stars. The image was noisy, it was a 25sec exposure, so the luminance slider was used to remove noise but not so much as to lose some of the start. The contrast was set to 'strong' in the 'Tone Curve'. The last change was to straighten up the electricity pole. This was done in the 'Transform section of the Develop Mode using the vertical slider. Doing this does mean that some of the image is lost and the crop tool has to be
Stanley Partridges comment at the end also needs to be taken on board 'Of course you wouldn't need to do all that if you got it right in the camera when you pressed the shutter button'
Stanley Partridges comment at the end also needs to be taken on board 'Of course you wouldn't need to do all that if you got it right in the camera when you pressed the shutter button'
15th March - Final Tutorial on 'The Art of Travel Photography'
The last two parts of the video tutorial The Art of Travel Photography by Joel Sartore were shown tonight'
'Interiors and Exteriors High and Low'
His first stop was at the Cape Henry Lighthouse in Virginia. What was evident first was that he was taking lots of shots as his assist and climbed the steps up to the Lighthouse. By taking lots of frames he can chose the one he likes best. He also pointed out that she was wearing colourful clothes. This is a useful tip. Colourful clothing makes the subject stand out from a background. At the top of the steps he asked her to jump (lots of frames again) . Here is the one he chose.
'Interiors and Exteriors High and Low'
His first stop was at the Cape Henry Lighthouse in Virginia. What was evident first was that he was taking lots of shots as his assist and climbed the steps up to the Lighthouse. By taking lots of frames he can chose the one he likes best. He also pointed out that she was wearing colourful clothes. This is a useful tip. Colourful clothing makes the subject stand out from a background. At the top of the steps he asked her to jump (lots of frames again) . Here is the one he chose.
He was using a 28 -300mm zoom lens so that he hasn't too much to carry but can get wide angle and telephoto shots. I terms of composition with the shape of the Lighthouse he is shooting a portrait format (but will take some landscape) and looking for leading lines and framing.
At the top of the old lighthouse he found lots of frames and placed subjects in them. Always look for height if you can he said because that give a great view of the landscape. So going beyond the obvious he got this shot at the top of the old lighthouse using the shadows to tone down the harsh light. Joel had put in minus exposure compensation to make sure highlights were not blown out.
At the top of the old lighthouse he found lots of frames and placed subjects in them. Always look for height if you can he said because that give a great view of the landscape. So going beyond the obvious he got this shot at the top of the old lighthouse using the shadows to tone down the harsh light. Joel had put in minus exposure compensation to make sure highlights were not blown out.
Looking at the out side of Buildings Joel got an opertunity to climb scaffolding on the Nebraska Stats Building to photograph the statue on top. Something that he had wanted to photograph for a long time. This is not new. Our club President, Andrew West did the same when the weather vane at the top of Fraserburgh Old Kirk had to be mended. Not so much some for a traveller but something to look out for. Rather than take photos of the building Joe l took photos of the work being done and the builders yard. It true National Geographic style to 'tell a story'. Inside and out he looks for people in the shot to give a sense of scale.
Another place he visited was the National Cathedral. He showed the shot that everyone takes of the front of the building with some people to show just how big the building is then he brought in some friends with as dog to take a different image, one that no one else will have done. OK it is a picture of a dog but the cathedral is in the background and it not a picture you can get on a postcard.
Inside he went up high to get an 'establishing' shot showing the scale of the interior. He looked for patterns in the tiled floor but as with the outside brought in people, a family and took portraits in various parts of the cathedral.
8th March John McRobbie's Night Part 2
In May last year John went on a caravan holiday to Skye. At least that is what he told his wife! John went of a photography trip. Knowing that the themed competition for 2017/8 were on 'People at Work' and 'Movement and Motion' he went to capture images that would fit into these themes and to enter into the open competitions as well. In his first presentation John concentrated on 'People at Work' (scroll down to the 8th Feb meeting report). This time he looked at 'Motion and Movement' and using images from the trip showed us how he went about getting his images. Although he said that if he had seen the 'Art of Travel Photography' tutorials before he went he would have done better. Even so he had clearly worked out several of the key points.
Do the Research
He had done his research and knew where he wanted to go for his photos. It was clear he had gone into more detail that just looking at the map of Skye that he showed us.
Do the Research
He had done his research and knew where he wanted to go for his photos. It was clear he had gone into more detail that just looking at the map of Skye that he showed us.
'Work the Scene'
This is about finding the best spot or spots to shoot from and taking lots of photos using different camera settings and different view points. Here are just some of the images he took of Ness Point, the most westerly part of the island, with different levels of exposure and including more or less foreground.
This is about finding the best spot or spots to shoot from and taking lots of photos using different camera settings and different view points. Here are just some of the images he took of Ness Point, the most westerly part of the island, with different levels of exposure and including more or less foreground.
'Make sure you are photographing 'Something Interesting'
There is a wealth of interesting things on Skye so taking on board this message wasn't too difficult. Again John didn't take just one snap and move on to the next point of interest. One of the places he had found out about was Boreraig, a settlement abandoned as a result of the Highland Clearances. Photographers always seem to find ruins interesting and not without reason. John showed that he had explored the settlement looking for different shots and view points not only of the ruins but the surrounding area.
There is a wealth of interesting things on Skye so taking on board this message wasn't too difficult. Again John didn't take just one snap and move on to the next point of interest. One of the places he had found out about was Boreraig, a settlement abandoned as a result of the Highland Clearances. Photographers always seem to find ruins interesting and not without reason. John showed that he had explored the settlement looking for different shots and view points not only of the ruins but the surrounding area.
'Layering'
This is getting something in the foreground, something in the middle distance and something far away in the photo. John was doing this with many of the photos.
This is getting something in the foreground, something in the middle distance and something far away in the photo. John was doing this with many of the photos.
'Motion and Movement'
John took a lot of images of water using different shutter speeds to get the impression of movement into the images. There were a series from the Fairy Pools where he had some difficulty getting shots without people, in particular other photographers in the scene. In the end as you can see in the report for 1st March John did not put any of these into the Motion/Movement themed competition.
John took a lot of images of water using different shutter speeds to get the impression of movement into the images. There were a series from the Fairy Pools where he had some difficulty getting shots without people, in particular other photographers in the scene. In the end as you can see in the report for 1st March John did not put any of these into the Motion/Movement themed competition.
Finally from Skye two images of the Old Man of Storr. John told us he did quite a bit of hiking to find vantage points, he used different exposures, different focal lengths, got some layering going on and, if you look closely you can see people giving the whole thing a sense of scale. This is working the scene and shooting something interesting.
There was a bit of time left after the presentation so John showed a few photos from a cruise he took from Los Angeles to Forth Lauderdale through the Panama Canal. Here is a selection of them.
1st March - Results of the Motion/Movement Themed Competition
Graeme Buchan of Elite Photography judged the twenty one entries in this competition. Graeme is well known to the club and recently has judged at least one of the competition every year. Older members also know him from when he was a club member and won 'Photographer of the Year' on several occasions.
1st March was the day of all the snow so not many members were able to gat to this meeting. Graeme's comments on each of the entries is in this report together with all the images.
1st March was the day of all the snow so not many members were able to gat to this meeting. Graeme's comments on each of the entries is in this report together with all the images.
10 l got it. Nicely saturated colours in this picture. A bit soft on the face but well exposed. 15
12 The Wheelie. Good action shot captured well. Slightly distraction on left of bike which would have been easily removed. 16
17 Shake it all about. Well separated from background but there is not enough of the bird which is still sharp. Fence and feet are only sharp parts. 13
20 Happy Half-marathoner. Rich saturated colours enhanced by darkened sky and radial blur. 15
23 The Butterfly Effect. Vivid colours but unfortunately the butterfly is too well camouflaged against the greenery and doesn't have as much impact as it could, had it been more on the pink petals. 14
26 Travelling Light. An intriguing image. Nice idea. I like the contrasting colours of blue and yellow. Set against the black it adds to the mystery. 15
28 Fox. Nicely captured and composed. Slight distraction at hind leg. 15
40 Falling Water. I like the warm autumn colours and the dreamy effect created by the movement in the water 17
42 Too Fast to Capture. Nice time exposure. Starburst effect on street lamps adds sparkle. Horizon is slightly tilted.15
47 Quackers. Nicely executed wildlife shot. Vibrant colours in the plumage stand out against the background. I like the that the body is caught still and only the wings are inmotion. 17
50 Great Wave. High impact shot. I get the sense of power in the water. Eye is drawn directly in to the face of the surfer. The darkening of the Foreground and background is slightly overdone but does concentrate the attention on the surfer. 18
53 Fountain of Faith. The fountain is balanced by the building. Not easy to expose for both building and sky. Square crop works. 14
56 Splash. Nicely balanced composition. Rich colour saturation. The darkened sky concentrates attention to foreground. 16
58 Swallows I like the contrast between the soft fluffy birds on the harsh barbed wire. The faces of the birds are a bit lost and would benefit from a bit more exposure. 15
70 Gotta Get Going. Lots of bright colours but not many happy faces. Slightly overexposed on my monitor. 14
72 Sparks will fly. Good time exposure with good depth of focus. Wet foreground adds to the effect. Balanced composition. 16
77 Green Storm. Power of nature excellently captured in this dramatic composition. Backlit waves adds to the effect. 16
80 Concentration and Effort. I like the bright primary colours. The blur concentrates attention on of the cyclists but l'm not sure that it has improved the original image.15
83 On Final Approach Good exposure with well saturated colours. Nicely separated from the background. Slightly soft. 16
86 Passing Pylons Very dramatic sky. Well exposed silhouetting the pylons. ! like the sense of movement in the clouds. 16
88 Kite Surfer Nicely captured action shot. Reds are vibrant against the blue green water. Slightly soft on face. 15
12 The Wheelie. Good action shot captured well. Slightly distraction on left of bike which would have been easily removed. 16
17 Shake it all about. Well separated from background but there is not enough of the bird which is still sharp. Fence and feet are only sharp parts. 13
20 Happy Half-marathoner. Rich saturated colours enhanced by darkened sky and radial blur. 15
23 The Butterfly Effect. Vivid colours but unfortunately the butterfly is too well camouflaged against the greenery and doesn't have as much impact as it could, had it been more on the pink petals. 14
26 Travelling Light. An intriguing image. Nice idea. I like the contrasting colours of blue and yellow. Set against the black it adds to the mystery. 15
28 Fox. Nicely captured and composed. Slight distraction at hind leg. 15
40 Falling Water. I like the warm autumn colours and the dreamy effect created by the movement in the water 17
42 Too Fast to Capture. Nice time exposure. Starburst effect on street lamps adds sparkle. Horizon is slightly tilted.15
47 Quackers. Nicely executed wildlife shot. Vibrant colours in the plumage stand out against the background. I like the that the body is caught still and only the wings are inmotion. 17
50 Great Wave. High impact shot. I get the sense of power in the water. Eye is drawn directly in to the face of the surfer. The darkening of the Foreground and background is slightly overdone but does concentrate the attention on the surfer. 18
53 Fountain of Faith. The fountain is balanced by the building. Not easy to expose for both building and sky. Square crop works. 14
56 Splash. Nicely balanced composition. Rich colour saturation. The darkened sky concentrates attention to foreground. 16
58 Swallows I like the contrast between the soft fluffy birds on the harsh barbed wire. The faces of the birds are a bit lost and would benefit from a bit more exposure. 15
70 Gotta Get Going. Lots of bright colours but not many happy faces. Slightly overexposed on my monitor. 14
72 Sparks will fly. Good time exposure with good depth of focus. Wet foreground adds to the effect. Balanced composition. 16
77 Green Storm. Power of nature excellently captured in this dramatic composition. Backlit waves adds to the effect. 16
80 Concentration and Effort. I like the bright primary colours. The blur concentrates attention on of the cyclists but l'm not sure that it has improved the original image.15
83 On Final Approach Good exposure with well saturated colours. Nicely separated from the background. Slightly soft. 16
86 Passing Pylons Very dramatic sky. Well exposed silhouetting the pylons. ! like the sense of movement in the clouds. 16
88 Kite Surfer Nicely captured action shot. Reds are vibrant against the blue green water. Slightly soft on face. 15
22nd February - 2nd Print Competition Results
There were 21 entries in this competition that was judged by Peter Clark. Peter is a photographer based in Fraserburgh. Here is a link to his web site. He said he was very impressed by the quality of the work submitted and that unusually the lowest mark he gave was 15 and, again unusually he gave one of the prints top marks of 20.
In his comments on the photographs several themes were developed.
In the wildlife, and particularly the birds Peter wanted to see a catchlight in the eye, he wanted a clean background with no distraction and he preferred the bird to be doing more than just perching.
Generally he was a little critical of the subjects being too central. In some he wanted to see a focal point in the foreground. It was also clear he enjoyed great colours in the images.
In first place was Mike Chandlers 'Nesting Material' He said it was a great natural history shot. Well composed. The seaweed just makes it, lovely lighting and the eye of the bird is fantastic.
Five of the prints tied for second place with 19 marks.
'Pheasant' by Mike Chandler
'Orchid' by Lewis Duthie
'Not Board' by Mark Grant
'Teas Ready' by Mike Chandler
Walking the Dog' by James Ritchie
The entries are in the gallery below
In his comments on the photographs several themes were developed.
In the wildlife, and particularly the birds Peter wanted to see a catchlight in the eye, he wanted a clean background with no distraction and he preferred the bird to be doing more than just perching.
Generally he was a little critical of the subjects being too central. In some he wanted to see a focal point in the foreground. It was also clear he enjoyed great colours in the images.
In first place was Mike Chandlers 'Nesting Material' He said it was a great natural history shot. Well composed. The seaweed just makes it, lovely lighting and the eye of the bird is fantastic.
Five of the prints tied for second place with 19 marks.
'Pheasant' by Mike Chandler
'Orchid' by Lewis Duthie
'Not Board' by Mark Grant
'Teas Ready' by Mike Chandler
Walking the Dog' by James Ritchie
The entries are in the gallery below
15th February -The Art of Travel Photography 2
This evening we saw lessons 3 and 4 of Joel Sartores' video tutorial. (Scroll down to 25th January to read the report on lessons 1 and 2). Joel Sartore is a photographer and National Geographic Fellow and a regular contributor to National Geographic magazine.
Lesson 3 Faces and Places
Travel photography is not just about getting a record of where you have been. It is about the life that it there, animals as well as people, the people you are with as well as the local people. Most photographs of someone's travels, if they include these elements just line people up in a row and take the shot.
Lesson 3 Faces and Places
Travel photography is not just about getting a record of where you have been. It is about the life that it there, animals as well as people, the people you are with as well as the local people. Most photographs of someone's travels, if they include these elements just line people up in a row and take the shot.
Move people around. Use Near/Far perspective. Get someone in the foreground, others in the background and experiment with different poses, different positions, give everyone a staring role in the foreground and have fun while you look for the right shots
If it is too bright and sunny, and why not you are on holiday after all, just get your people under a sun shade, under expose the beach and use fill-in flash to light your mates. You can use the same technique indoors as well. Under expose the windows and fill in flash for the inside subjects. That way you get to see what is outside. If it was done without the flash and an ordinary exposure what's outside the windows would be burnt out.
Joel never uses the flash on top of the camera. That sort of flash, he says can ruins photos.
As always Joel wants the subject matter of a photo to be interesting. It is, he says the faces of the people that provide the interest.
There are always exceptions. You don't have to show the faces. Hands, doing, or in the photo below, holding something interesting. Showing isolation or using silhouettes to tell a story and/or give a photo some mystery.
Joel is constantly looking for - a background that does not 'fight' the foreground - a frame to shoot through - soft light - an intimate shot - and above all......
something interesting
'You have to ask yourself', Joel said '"Should I take a picture now?" So many times the answer is "No", please make it interesting.'
He then went on to talk about portraits and showed us some 'ordinary' shots that he said were fine (it's interesting to note that he doesn't take one picture and leaves it at that he takes several each one a little different) but he wanted to take it one stage further and add some layering. He brought another person into the background. He then concentrated on the background.
He then went on to talk about portraits and showed us some 'ordinary' shots that he said were fine (it's interesting to note that he doesn't take one picture and leaves it at that he takes several each one a little different) but he wanted to take it one stage further and add some layering. He brought another person into the background. He then concentrated on the background.
We were then told about how to using a long lens not just to bring a subject closer but also to blur the background and make the subject stand out. And that lens choice is critical. All the time Joel stressed the point - MAKE THE PICTURE INTERESTNG. Using silhouettes, using near far perspectives, getting low, using a slow shutter speed
And of course we were given an assignment
Lesson 4 Local Attractions and Unexpected Delights
There were two 'new' things to learn form this lesson
1) When you are on holiday find time to take photos. This may mean bargaining with the family to get more time. And
2) Do your homework. Find out what is worth going to for photos in the places you visit, what events are worth photographing. Being in the right place at the right time is important. Find out what photos have been taken of that place so that when you are taking your photos they will be something different. Spend about an hour at the site scouting out the best locations for your shots and the best place to shoot them from. Joel said that his pictures are only as good as his research before he travels.
We also got lots of information and ideas about shooting in low light. Joel went into some caves in Virginia, scouted for the best place to take photos and experimented using the lighting in the cave, using flash even using the light from a mobile phone. Joel is not a fan of on camera flash to provide all the lighting in a shot. 'Flash ruins a lot of pictures it ruins more than it gets'. In any case using the mobile phone lights makes the image 'More Interesting'
1) When you are on holiday find time to take photos. This may mean bargaining with the family to get more time. And
2) Do your homework. Find out what is worth going to for photos in the places you visit, what events are worth photographing. Being in the right place at the right time is important. Find out what photos have been taken of that place so that when you are taking your photos they will be something different. Spend about an hour at the site scouting out the best locations for your shots and the best place to shoot them from. Joel said that his pictures are only as good as his research before he travels.
We also got lots of information and ideas about shooting in low light. Joel went into some caves in Virginia, scouted for the best place to take photos and experimented using the lighting in the cave, using flash even using the light from a mobile phone. Joel is not a fan of on camera flash to provide all the lighting in a shot. 'Flash ruins a lot of pictures it ruins more than it gets'. In any case using the mobile phone lights makes the image 'More Interesting'
Joel took the camera off the tripod in one sequence of shots inside the cave, which is 'very freeing'. The first thing he did was put the camera strap round his neck. 'Cameras work when you drop them right up to the point they hit the ground!'. He could do this because putting the ISO up to 10,000 and higher enabled him to take shots at 1/60 and 1/125th of a second shutter speed so there was no camera shake.
Always after something interesting and not obvious it can be abandoned instruments in the middle of the road that he just stumbled upon or a crafted shot taken on the 4th July where he has gone away from the crowds and taken a shot that no one else will have.
In one of the locations he was shooting in overcast, light drizzle and stressed that this produces good light with no harsh shadows so the colours show well. Obviously he made sure there was something interesting happening. But if you are on holiday then getting your travel companions to do 'something interesting' for your camera just adds to the fun of the holiday.
In one of the locations he was shooting in overcast, light drizzle and stressed that this produces good light with no harsh shadows so the colours show well. Obviously he made sure there was something interesting happening. But if you are on holiday then getting your travel companions to do 'something interesting' for your camera just adds to the fun of the holiday.
Here is the assignment for lesson 4
But the lesson did not stop there. Joel went on the emphasise a point he made earlier. Be discriminating, ask yourself 'Should I take this picture' more often than not the answer is 'No'. The lights not right, the background is wrong and there is no work around, it is not interesting. Be harsh, be critical and think about what you are seeing.
8th February - John McRobbie's Night
John was the winner of the Stanley Partridge Cup and so gets a club night to do what ever he wants. The Cup goes to the person with the most points in the Print and Themed competitions so he chose for his presentation one of this seasons themes 'People at Work'. John has recently retired from work with Shell and he spent several year working off shore in the Brent Field. So 'People at Work' was also about 'People at Work - Off Shore'
The insight he gave into work and life on the rigs was fascinating. He first gave an idea in image of the sheer size of an oil rig. In the left hand image below is one of the supply boats and to give that some scale there is at the bottom left a family car. In the right hand image you can see the supply vessel is now dwarfed by the rig.
John said that the two big jobs during his time on the rigs were:-
1) The removal of the fenders from the rigs legs. These were not little squiggy tyre like things by huge double decker bus sized metal structures. John had to shut down production while the biggest floating crane capable of lifting 14,200 tonnes did the job...and
2) Turning round the safety record on the rig to gain a five star award from the British Safety Institute. One of only a handful awarded throughout the UK. As rig manager he worked closely with the safety staff and safety reps to reach this acheivment.
1) The removal of the fenders from the rigs legs. These were not little squiggy tyre like things by huge double decker bus sized metal structures. John had to shut down production while the biggest floating crane capable of lifting 14,200 tonnes did the job...and
2) Turning round the safety record on the rig to gain a five star award from the British Safety Institute. One of only a handful awarded throughout the UK. As rig manager he worked closely with the safety staff and safety reps to reach this acheivment.
We got a good insight into the work on board the rig. I didn't know there were 'Abseiler' who had to swing down the side of the rig to carry out inspections and do necessary work. I also didn't know that the whole rig structure moved on a deck so that it could acess different wells. I didn't know about most of the work that goes on on the rig. I did know that it was hard work and Johns' images showed how hard it was.
John gave us a look at the social side of the rig and at the work of the catering staff. The images below are not the normal fare on the rig but is what the catering staff can prepare for special occasions. The one on the right is the cake they made to mark John leaving the rig to work on shore.
And finally who remembers this on its way from Fraserburgh Harbour to St Fergus. John said that the sight of it is what set him off of the road to becoming part of the NE Scotland energy industry.
1st February - The Results of the Third Open Digital Image Competition
The Judge for this competition was Bob Humphries from the Donside Camera Club. Bob has been judging photographic competitions for about six years. He said that his initial approach to the task was to look at the initial impact of an image, its colour, composition and subject matter. If the image stands out and that impression stays with you it will be up in the top end of the marking. Bob then looks at the detail at those points often overlooked by the photographer when then are concentration on the subject matter. This can be the background or the camera settings. He said that it was important to isolate the image from the background ant to have no distractions. He particularly mentioned areas of white on the edges of the photo.
In first place was Brian Sandisons image 'Wild and Wet'.
'When judging in the Grampian Region you come across a lot of this type of image. and this is a good example.', Bob said. The timing has to be good and here the photographer has caught the right moment showing the power of the swell and the sun catching the tops of the waves. Bob thought th composition was good with the lighthouse well placed. Bob thought that the photographer had a good job in conveying the scene to the viewer and was well worthy of top place.
In second place was 'Lily' by Stanley Partridge
This style of photography reminded Bob of the work of Niall Benvie who used card in the background to isolate flowers. 'Here' bob said, 'it works really well'. The exposure and sharpness are spot on and the background colour works well with the flowers. Bob wiondered whether the petals at the top were necessary.
Joint third place went to:-
'Whitelink Sunrise' by James Ritchie. Bob said that this had high impact with wonderful colours in the sky and reflections. The good composition with leading lines from left to right and areas of water moving into the frame from the right could be improved if the sun were positioned on the right of the image where the lead in lines take the eye. Bob said that the sun was not blown out (over exposed) as is often the case in these sorts of image.
'Garden of Plenty' by Brian Sandison. This was a lovely shot of a Roe Deer in a field of flower, Bob said. 'And the deer obviously thinks the flowers are lovely as well as it is munching away with its mouth full of flowers.' Bob liked the composition the deer has good body position and is looking straight at the camera its ears are alert. The Exposure of the flowers could be brought down and tha exposure of the deer’s face could be brought up.
In first place was Brian Sandisons image 'Wild and Wet'.
'When judging in the Grampian Region you come across a lot of this type of image. and this is a good example.', Bob said. The timing has to be good and here the photographer has caught the right moment showing the power of the swell and the sun catching the tops of the waves. Bob thought th composition was good with the lighthouse well placed. Bob thought that the photographer had a good job in conveying the scene to the viewer and was well worthy of top place.
In second place was 'Lily' by Stanley Partridge
This style of photography reminded Bob of the work of Niall Benvie who used card in the background to isolate flowers. 'Here' bob said, 'it works really well'. The exposure and sharpness are spot on and the background colour works well with the flowers. Bob wiondered whether the petals at the top were necessary.
Joint third place went to:-
'Whitelink Sunrise' by James Ritchie. Bob said that this had high impact with wonderful colours in the sky and reflections. The good composition with leading lines from left to right and areas of water moving into the frame from the right could be improved if the sun were positioned on the right of the image where the lead in lines take the eye. Bob said that the sun was not blown out (over exposed) as is often the case in these sorts of image.
'Garden of Plenty' by Brian Sandison. This was a lovely shot of a Roe Deer in a field of flower, Bob said. 'And the deer obviously thinks the flowers are lovely as well as it is munching away with its mouth full of flowers.' Bob liked the composition the deer has good body position and is looking straight at the camera its ears are alert. The Exposure of the flowers could be brought down and tha exposure of the deer’s face could be brought up.
25th January The Art of Travel Photography
Joel Sartore presents this video tutorial that is in six lessons. At the meeting of the Society on 25th January we went through the first two. The other four will be presented later in the year. Go to the programme of events to find out when.
Joel is a National Geographic Fellow and a regular contributor to the magazine. He has produced several of these tutorial videos. Last year we went though a course ‘Fundamentals of Photography.
Joel is a National Geographic Fellow and a regular contributor to the magazine. He has produced several of these tutorial videos. Last year we went though a course ‘Fundamentals of Photography.
Joel introduced the tutorials by saying that the lessons learnt in Fundamentals of Photography were important for travel photography and the three key factors that make a good photograph are paramount - 'Great Light', 'Good Composition' and above all 'Something Interesting'. He said that there are times and places where these don’t come together and it is not worth taking a photograph at all. He illustrated this by trying to photograph the Jefferson memorial in Washington USA at mid day when the contrast in light between the white building and the dark and tall statues presented insurmountable difficulties.
Lesson 1 Beyond the Post Card
You can buy a post card as a record of where you have been on your travels. Most people get out of their cars or the tour bus and take photos that are little more than a record. Often of places that have been photographed in the same way thousands of time, the internet is full of them.
You can buy a post card as a record of where you have been on your travels. Most people get out of their cars or the tour bus and take photos that are little more than a record. Often of places that have been photographed in the same way thousands of time, the internet is full of them.
Joel demonstrated strategies to make the photo a personal one, one with your own stamp on it, and took us to Rome, Rio, Moscow. Utah and Paris on the way.
1) Put in people or animals. Travel companions are always willing subjects but so too are local people who are often keen to help. But don’t pose to awkwardly make it natural. People do interesting things and they can give a place a sense of scale
1) Put in people or animals. Travel companions are always willing subjects but so too are local people who are often keen to help. But don’t pose to awkwardly make it natural. People do interesting things and they can give a place a sense of scale
2) Get out of harsh light that creates deep shadows. Go indoors
3) Get an angle that is different and to get an uncluttered background
4) Move away from a large landmark and use it as a background with a strong maybe colourful foreground.
4) Move away from a large landmark and use it as a background with a strong maybe colourful foreground.
5) Work at it. Take lots of photos at different focal lengths and different apertures.
6) Seek out good light. This is often in the early morning or late afternoon around sunrise and sunset. So be prepared to miss breakfast or dinner to get a good photograph. No one said it would be easy or without hardship!
7) Don't forget the composition guidlines such as the 'Rule of Thirds, 'Leading Lines' and Layering'.
6) Seek out good light. This is often in the early morning or late afternoon around sunrise and sunset. So be prepared to miss breakfast or dinner to get a good photograph. No one said it would be easy or without hardship!
7) Don't forget the composition guidlines such as the 'Rule of Thirds, 'Leading Lines' and Layering'.
We were given a task, homework, an assignment. 'Visit a local landmark and make a picture that goes beyond the postcard'.
Lesson 2 Light – Early, Late and In Between
One of the main points that Joel put across in this lesson was referred to in lesson one. Be prepared to miss a breakfast, to miss dinner in order to take advantage of the early and late light.
At these times of the day the sun is low and you are often shooting towards it. This creates the problem of people and other foreground objects being in silhouettes You can either go with it and use them in the composition or use fill in flash to get detail and colour. Another problem when the sun is above the horizon is the brightness of it. It can be blocked out using one of your foreground subjects.
Another way, he said of overcoming the problems of shooting into the sun is to turn round and have the sun behind you. Skies are often full of colour, but do be careful to check the background and change your position or angle to avoid clutter and unsightly objects. To get the second image below he has gone to a low angle and zoomed in so the sky, not the clutter of the buildings in the background
basic composition elementsHe again stressed the need to always consider
For Joel the ends of the day, and inclement weather provide the best light. But he did say if you come acress something interesting shoot it even if the light is 'bad'
He showed one way of taking a good photo in harsh mid day sun. Get up high and shoot down the ground becomes the background and the shadows are no longer a problem. Of course you have to have something interesting to photograph.
In one section of this lesson he reflected on the properties of water. Its reflective qualities that not only provide a compositional element but because it reflects light it means you can take photos later in the day. Using a tripod and cable release with slow shutter speed you can get great images. Both towards the sun and looking away when you don't get silhouettes
In the final section Joel was back at the beach with the horses but this time in the evening and there was no sun it was overcast. He went through a series of panned shots of the horses. Changing his shutter speed all the time. Panning blurs the background and can show the movement of the subject. The key is to take lots and lots of photos to pick out the best.
On 8th February members are submitting images for the Themed Competition. The theme is Motion/Movement. Maybe this part of the tutorial has given member ideas.
On 8th February members are submitting images for the Themed Competition. The theme is Motion/Movement. Maybe this part of the tutorial has given member ideas.
I was down at the beach the day after this tutorial. There were no horses so I took photos of the shore birds. The light was bright so I couldn't use a very low shutter speed. Here is one of the images I got. With a bit of practice and goinf prepared and in better light conditions I might just get a competition entry!
Of course there was an assignment set at the end of the lesson. 'Photograph the same subject at different times of the day.'
18th January Champions Night
18th January was the second champions night of the season. Last year there was a tie for the title ‘Photographer of the Year, between Stuart Fenty and Billy Watson. Is it a coincidence that they both have a press officer role with the local RNLI station?. Stuart had his champions night on 30th November so this was Billys’ night. He showed a range of photos that he had taken between November last year and January this year and it showed the time and effort he put in to photography. As he spoke to the photos we got an insight into the how he plans his photo shoots, what he thinks is going to be a good photo and what he thinks would not work. We also saw some stunning images, some dramatic some peaceful some that told a story.
I suspect most people confronted with a jaw dropping sun rise over the Broch beach would be content to photograph the colours. The reflections and the ‘wide view’. Billy did that and more, we got the patterns in the sand and of the waves and ripples in the sea, even black and white. We also saw the sunrise from different angles and even different places. These changes in his point of view are one of the lessons we can all learn from Billy. He took loads of shots of the super moon but travelled around the area looking for the right shot, the right foreground to emphasise the main subject or to use the moon to add interest to a well known subject. On one of these super moon sessions he said that he had not been able to take an image that he was satisfied with.
Billy had worked out the December was the best time to take the sun as it rose behind Rattray Lighthouse. During the month he went to St. Combs on several occasions to get the shot he wanted. A case of seeing the shot in your mind and persevering until you get it
Another side to Billys’ photography is photo journalism. There were many days when he had documented the activities of the Lifeboat, when they were on exercise, on a shout or doing a bit of public engagement. He did the same for Fraserburgh Tourism Group, documenting their activities and photographing members tourism facilities. Some of the photo journalism was done ‘off his own bat’ and we were shown images of the Fraserburgh Half Marathon. In all of this area of work Billy has not just taken a record shot but has tried, to good effect to inject some of the atmosphere of the occasion be it the stormy seas when he lifeboat is called out or the fun of the half marathon and its serious gritty side.
Yet another aspect of his work was briefly shown, travel photography. The one lesson we can learn here is that Billy talks to people he meets and wants to photograph. So not only does he get the shot of a paddle surfer dressed as the Grinch while he was on a family holiday in California but he got the Grinch to show of his best tricks on the board.
Billy also takes video and time lapse images. He admitted that he had to delete some of his stills in order to get enough memory for processing a video. To his amazement, and ours, he had half a million images on his hard drives. That shows another aspect of Billys’ work, he takes a lot of photos, all different in pursuit of the one he wants. However he hasn’t mastered the discipline of deleting as you go along! In discussion after the show he said that he was only just getting to grips with Lightroom cataloguing as a way of bing able to find the photo among the thousands he has.
But is the photos that count at the end of the day and there is no doubt that we can all learn from the way in which Billy approaches his work and so improve our own images.
But is the photos that count at the end of the day and there is no doubt that we can all learn from the way in which Billy approaches his work and so improve our own images.
11th January - Tutorial about Photo Stacking
In a last minute change to the published programme Mike Chandler presented a set of video tutorials about 'Photo Stacking'. Two were on Focus Stacking a techique for getting all of a photo in focus when it would be impossible to do so with one photo. The first was about macro photography. Because of the very narrow depth of field of a macro lens only a small part of the picture is in focus but by combining lots of images of the same subject but all focused on different elements the whole can be brought together to have all the subject in focus. The subject was a tableau of Game of Thrones Characters. Here is a link to that tutorial. The second was about doing the same but for landscapes.
Another two turorials were about Exposure Photo Stacking. One was an HDR tutorial and the other about using Photo stacking to simulate a long exposure. A final tutorial on a simlar theme was about creating Star Trails. Here is the link to the Star Trails tutorial
4th January - Social Night
It is the tradition of the Society that on the first Thursday of January members bring in some food and drink to share and have a good natter about the Christmas and New Year holiday. At this social Andrew West showed some of his photos of Old Fraserburgh. So much of the talk was about recognising the people in the photos, about what had happened to this or that building, about generally reminiscing. about the Broch in days gone by.
14th December - Photo Ramble
The meeting on 14th December was a Photo Ramble to find 'Christmas in the Broch. Photo rambles have recently become in regular feature of the Societies programme. The next one is on 29th March - a 'Twilight Photo Ramble'. Below are some of the images that members took on the night. To be honest we didn't find much Christmas in the Broch.
7th December = Results of Open Competition No 2
The judge for the evening was Allan Gawthorpe EFIAP/S,DPAGB,PSA5*. Allan is a member of the Bon Accord Camera Club in Aberdeen and a much sort after judge for photographic competitions and assessments at club and national level. Allan was the guest photographer at the FASE 4 Exhibition in October at Dalrymple Hall and his image 'Stroll in the Lavender' was awarded the best photograph in the 1017 Grampian Eye regional competition earlier in the year
In giving constructive criticism on all the competition images several theme emerged from which all photographer could learn. Allan was ken to point out the value of cropping photographs to obtain the best composition and to get rid of distractions in them. He advised members to go round the edges of their photos to spot distractions, bright spots and where the subject was going into the edge of the picture and to either crop or clone to correct the image.
He wanted to see clean an unobtrusive backgrounds and suggested either changing the point of view or moving the subject to achieve this. With several of the images he said that he would have liked to have seen a connection between the subject and the photographer.
On the technical side Allan generally didn't worry too much about grain in an image but he was hard on images that were not sharp in the right places.
He said that burnt out highlights should be avoided and that the photographs should br looked at in detail so that dust spots could be removed.
In first place was Brian Sandisons 'Fun at the Fair', a photo of a fair ground ride at the Lonarch Gathering. Allans first word was 'Wonderful' He really like all the people enjoying the ride, their faces and poses telling their stories. Allan made up a story for just about everyone in the photo. It scored top marks of 20 out of 20.
Two images shared second place with 19 points.
'Red Grouse' by Mike Chandler he said got better the more he looked at it. He thought that the background let it down as there are too many distracting elements and an area where it was too bright but the bird was sharp, had good colours and was strong i the frame. He likes the birds pose, looking back at the photographer.
'Cheeky Monkey' another of Brian Sandisons images. Allan said he liked the picture which was sharp but felt it would have been improve with a square crop that took out much of the left hand side of the image.
Four photos tied for third place. 'Orchids' by Stanley Partridge, 'Seen It All' by Billy Watson, 'Frog' by Mike Chandler and 'Table Guest' by Andrew West.
He wanted to see clean an unobtrusive backgrounds and suggested either changing the point of view or moving the subject to achieve this. With several of the images he said that he would have liked to have seen a connection between the subject and the photographer.
On the technical side Allan generally didn't worry too much about grain in an image but he was hard on images that were not sharp in the right places.
He said that burnt out highlights should be avoided and that the photographs should br looked at in detail so that dust spots could be removed.
In first place was Brian Sandisons 'Fun at the Fair', a photo of a fair ground ride at the Lonarch Gathering. Allans first word was 'Wonderful' He really like all the people enjoying the ride, their faces and poses telling their stories. Allan made up a story for just about everyone in the photo. It scored top marks of 20 out of 20.
Two images shared second place with 19 points.
'Red Grouse' by Mike Chandler he said got better the more he looked at it. He thought that the background let it down as there are too many distracting elements and an area where it was too bright but the bird was sharp, had good colours and was strong i the frame. He likes the birds pose, looking back at the photographer.
'Cheeky Monkey' another of Brian Sandisons images. Allan said he liked the picture which was sharp but felt it would have been improve with a square crop that took out much of the left hand side of the image.
Four photos tied for third place. 'Orchids' by Stanley Partridge, 'Seen It All' by Billy Watson, 'Frog' by Mike Chandler and 'Table Guest' by Andrew West.
30th November - Champions Night
One evening a year is given over to the 'Photographer of the Year' to do what ever they want. This season there will be two such nights as two members tied for the 'Photographer of the Year' title. On this night it was Stuart Fenty's night. Billy Watson will have his 'Champions Night' on 11th January.
Stuart gave two presentations of photographs taken on a Lifeboat theme.
The first was an account of the trip he made with Fraserburgh Lifeboat to Girvan thought the Calidonian Canal. As well as showing the sights, Stuart also put across the flavour of the trip. From rough seas between Fraserburgh and Inverness, to the fantastic welcomes from people that they met on canal and the little difficulties encountered in using the shore based toilet facilities. Here are some of the images from that trip
Stuart gave two presentations of photographs taken on a Lifeboat theme.
The first was an account of the trip he made with Fraserburgh Lifeboat to Girvan thought the Calidonian Canal. As well as showing the sights, Stuart also put across the flavour of the trip. From rough seas between Fraserburgh and Inverness, to the fantastic welcomes from people that they met on canal and the little difficulties encountered in using the shore based toilet facilities. Here are some of the images from that trip
The second presentation was of a training session that involved the Fraserburgh Lifeboat and a rescue helecopter. Sturat took the photos from his RIB which was part of the exercise. The last photo was taken by Billy Watson who was on the lifeboat.
Throughout the presentations Stuart gave details about how he had taken the photos and how he had done post processing on the computer so members were not only entertained but were educated as well.
23rd November- Studio Session
At this practical night members were asked to bring in suitable subjects for still life photos. There was a good range of things brought in and some good photos taken. The ones below are by Mike Chandler
2nd November Results of the 1st Themed Competition 'People at Work'
Peter Clark was the judge for this competition. Peter is a wedding and portrait photographer in Fraserburgh. You can see his work by following this link. Here are the competition entries. To see which one got the top places go to the 'Other Competitions' page.
19th October - Results of the 1st Print Competition of the Season
Bill Buchan was the judge of the firs print competition of 2017/8. To see some o Bill's work go to his website.
First Bill looked at the technical merits of the photos. This he said was the easy part. 'Blurry is blurry, squint is squint nothing to argue about there.' 'Beyond the technical part is the personal aspect which is the hardest thing to judge.' Bill said that he had tried where possible to include helpful suggestions. If some element of the photograph could be improved he has offered suggestions as to how that might be done. He asked member to consider them. 'Agree or dis agree with them' he said, 'Use them or don't use them, its up to you'
Bill said there was a range in the quality of the images submitted. In his opinion his top four selections stood well ahead of the others. 'So' he said, 'there is plenty of opportunities for improvement for all. But don't forget to just go out and enjoy your photography as well. If you are enjoying something you improve much faster than if it is a chore.'
In first place was Stanley Partridges 'Blackbird'. Bill said 'This is an excellent wildlife photograph of the blackbird. Colours are very natural. The bird fills the frame and you can see that the plumage is quite detailed. The eye is sharp and that is really important in this kind of shot. The really good touch for me is the super sharp dew on the grass. It just disappears into the distance like mist. Really good shot. Well done'
Second place went to Mike Chandlers 'One Good Tern'. 'Or "A Tern for the Better".' Bill said, 'Very good image here. Lots of detail in the bird's plumage if you look for it. Very sharp. The colours are lovely and natural and complimented by that soft green background. Composition is very good with the tail being a natural lead in line. The catchlight in the eye just brings the bird to life. The shape of the mount works really well for this image. Very good'
Two images tied for third place. Brian Sandison's 'Grouse' and John McRobbie's 'High and Dry'.
Bills comments on 'High and Dry' were 'Nice image well prepared for competition. This old boat certainly looks to have seen a hard life. The lines of the keel and mooring ropes are good leading in lines. It is completely sharp and in focus on the subject and he foreground. There is so much texture in that shot. From the peeling paint to the seaweed and old ropes. The colour looks natural and considering that you were shooting into the sun you have managed to retain a lot of detail in the shadow areas. The foreground is not the prettiest but it does add that the feeling of decay. Realy difficult to find anything to moan about with this shot.'
Bill commented on 'Red Grouse', 'This is the first time I've seen a grouse close up other than with water in a glass. Those colours in the feathers are beautiful. It blends in so well with the landscape. Technically this photograph is pretty near spot on from exposure through sharpness to the composition. I don't know how long you waited to get this shot but it was worth it in my opinion. Excellent shot'
One of the issues he raised with many of the entries was that the subjects were often too close to the edge of the frame. On the other hand with other shots he said that the composition had left too much background/sky that added nothing to the image.
First Bill looked at the technical merits of the photos. This he said was the easy part. 'Blurry is blurry, squint is squint nothing to argue about there.' 'Beyond the technical part is the personal aspect which is the hardest thing to judge.' Bill said that he had tried where possible to include helpful suggestions. If some element of the photograph could be improved he has offered suggestions as to how that might be done. He asked member to consider them. 'Agree or dis agree with them' he said, 'Use them or don't use them, its up to you'
Bill said there was a range in the quality of the images submitted. In his opinion his top four selections stood well ahead of the others. 'So' he said, 'there is plenty of opportunities for improvement for all. But don't forget to just go out and enjoy your photography as well. If you are enjoying something you improve much faster than if it is a chore.'
In first place was Stanley Partridges 'Blackbird'. Bill said 'This is an excellent wildlife photograph of the blackbird. Colours are very natural. The bird fills the frame and you can see that the plumage is quite detailed. The eye is sharp and that is really important in this kind of shot. The really good touch for me is the super sharp dew on the grass. It just disappears into the distance like mist. Really good shot. Well done'
Second place went to Mike Chandlers 'One Good Tern'. 'Or "A Tern for the Better".' Bill said, 'Very good image here. Lots of detail in the bird's plumage if you look for it. Very sharp. The colours are lovely and natural and complimented by that soft green background. Composition is very good with the tail being a natural lead in line. The catchlight in the eye just brings the bird to life. The shape of the mount works really well for this image. Very good'
Two images tied for third place. Brian Sandison's 'Grouse' and John McRobbie's 'High and Dry'.
Bills comments on 'High and Dry' were 'Nice image well prepared for competition. This old boat certainly looks to have seen a hard life. The lines of the keel and mooring ropes are good leading in lines. It is completely sharp and in focus on the subject and he foreground. There is so much texture in that shot. From the peeling paint to the seaweed and old ropes. The colour looks natural and considering that you were shooting into the sun you have managed to retain a lot of detail in the shadow areas. The foreground is not the prettiest but it does add that the feeling of decay. Realy difficult to find anything to moan about with this shot.'
Bill commented on 'Red Grouse', 'This is the first time I've seen a grouse close up other than with water in a glass. Those colours in the feathers are beautiful. It blends in so well with the landscape. Technically this photograph is pretty near spot on from exposure through sharpness to the composition. I don't know how long you waited to get this shot but it was worth it in my opinion. Excellent shot'
One of the issues he raised with many of the entries was that the subjects were often too close to the edge of the frame. On the other hand with other shots he said that the composition had left too much background/sky that added nothing to the image.
Below are two versions of 'From the Front Door' by Stanley Partridge. The one on the left is the one put into the print competition The one on the right has been altered to take account of Bill Buchan's comments. The cow on the right has gone. No prizes for guessing why. And more space has been given on the right hand side of the image, this has the added effect of moving the wishing well further off centre. Bill said 'Nice view......Work out what you want to leave in and what needs to be lft out and what composition works best for you'
Here is another pair of photos where the photographer, Lewie Duthie, had taken on board some of Bill Buchans suggestions. On the left is the image Lewie put into the competition. (It is portrait format so you will have to open it to see the full picture.) You have to bear in mind that this image was printed and put into a mount. One result of that is that a little bit of the edge is under the mount. Bill said 'The composition needs the most work here. The horizon in the middle and the tower in the centre of the scene isn't the best. With that composition the boat then becomes too squashed on the right. This could have been better in landscape format and worth trying both ways in future. The rule of thirds doesn't need to be applied in every situation but it is a good starting point'.
On the left is the same image in landscape format.
On the left is the same image in landscape format.
20 prints were submitted into the competition. As they were prints not all are shown in the gallery below.
12th October - Another Photo Ramble to the Old Kirk
On 12th October club members went to the Old Kirk at Saltoun Square for a photo shoot. This was another exercise in low light photography. Some members returned on the afternoon of the 15th to take photos in the same venue but with afternoon light conditions. Here are some of the images taken.
5th October - First Open Digital Image Competition
The judge for the competition was John Ashford of Nairn Camera Club. You can find some of Johns photos on the Nairn CC website. Although the spread of marks was narrow (the lowest mark was 14 and the highest 19) John considered the images that gained over 15 points to be excellent pieces of work and worthy of the scores that he gave them. What he would never do is to artificially drop some of the scores to give the impression that the quality of the images was more variable. On the technical side one of John's helpful comments was that if an image is saved as a JPEG file it reduces the quality of the photo. He thought that some of the entries appeared to suffer from this and may have been saved as JPEGS several times, each time reducing the quality a bit more. He also commented about over sharpening of images. He said ' Some digital exponents will fiercely maintain that any image must be sharpened as the final step in the editing, whereas others might see that as spoiling the mood of the shot. All of us should be free to make up our own mind as to the effect we want to achieve. For example, I am one of those who is not bowled over by the over-use of high dynamic range in the final version of a shot; but I absolutely defend those who subscribe to it, and I simply view the image as other-worldly, as opposed to representing of what was there when the shot was taken.'
In terms of composition John favoured having a good focal point and preferred the simple, less cluttered images and liked the background to be 'nicely out of focus' to emphasise the subject. He also referred to the good balance of a composition.
In first place with 19 points was 'Surfer' by Billy Watson. He said 'This is the moment, frozen in time, of such tumultuous activity that it seems to be moving, even though every drop of spray is as sharp as a tack! The surfer is well placed, in front of a white area of exploding spray, his face is clearly visible, as are his arms and legs, and of course his board, all well outlined and sharply defined. Exposure is good - no blown-out whites and only a few dark shadows. The breaking wave provides a perfect backdrop, emphasising the mayhem and the skills of the surfer'
Seven photos tied for 2nd place. To see which ones go the the Monthly Compeitions page
In terms of composition John favoured having a good focal point and preferred the simple, less cluttered images and liked the background to be 'nicely out of focus' to emphasise the subject. He also referred to the good balance of a composition.
In first place with 19 points was 'Surfer' by Billy Watson. He said 'This is the moment, frozen in time, of such tumultuous activity that it seems to be moving, even though every drop of spray is as sharp as a tack! The surfer is well placed, in front of a white area of exploding spray, his face is clearly visible, as are his arms and legs, and of course his board, all well outlined and sharply defined. Exposure is good - no blown-out whites and only a few dark shadows. The breaking wave provides a perfect backdrop, emphasising the mayhem and the skills of the surfer'
Seven photos tied for 2nd place. To see which ones go the the Monthly Compeitions page
28th September 2017 - Photo Ramble at the Harbour
Members brought their camera to the club on 28th September. There was a photo ramble at the harbour, a chance to take night shots. Members soon learned that to take night shots you need a fairly slow shutter speed even with all the harbour lights blazing away. So the answer to that is either have a very good camera/lens combination that will cope with camera shake. [the rule of thumb is that if the shutter speed you are using is less than the inverse of the focal length of the camera then you want be able to hold the camera as steady enough to avoid camera shake that bill blur the photo. That is where a stabiliser system on the camera or the lens helps and allows you to use a slower shutter speed than the rule of thumb would dictate. Some cameras/lenses are better than others. I think the modern Olympus and Sony cameras beat Nikon and Canon at this. The other solution is to use a tripod and this is the direction that most of the members went down. With a tripod you are not holding the camera so you can't shake it. There are other techniques that you can deploy like using a remote shutter release or the timer shutter release so you don't even touch the camera to press the shutter button.
However these approaches deal with camera shake they don't deal with movement of the subject. We were at the harbour, there are boats to photograph but even in the harbour the boats are moving as the water moves. Taking photos of boats at night is not easy. Many members, myself included took the 'easy route and targeted land based subjects for their shots. Below is a gallery of some of the photos taken that night.
You will see that in some of the shots there are star burst in the lights. This is achieved by having a high number aperture which means the hole that the light goes through to get to the cameras sensor is small. That mean less light gets in so to get a good exposure you need an even longer shutter speed. One effect of that are that ripples in the water tend to look smoother than they really are.Another is that you get a trail of car lights as they go past the camera.
However these approaches deal with camera shake they don't deal with movement of the subject. We were at the harbour, there are boats to photograph but even in the harbour the boats are moving as the water moves. Taking photos of boats at night is not easy. Many members, myself included took the 'easy route and targeted land based subjects for their shots. Below is a gallery of some of the photos taken that night.
You will see that in some of the shots there are star burst in the lights. This is achieved by having a high number aperture which means the hole that the light goes through to get to the cameras sensor is small. That mean less light gets in so to get a good exposure you need an even longer shutter speed. One effect of that are that ripples in the water tend to look smoother than they really are.Another is that you get a trail of car lights as they go past the camera.
14th September 2017 - 10 images of the Summer
As a fun second meeting of the session members were asked bring along 10 images that showed what they had been up to during the summer break. As you would expect there was a wide variety of photographs shown and some interesting and on occasions amusing stories to go with them. Most of the members had just put their photos on a memory stick and they were show through a lap top and projector. Some members had put captions on their work by one member, John McRobbie presented his images as a slide show with a music accompaniment. As a bonus Allan Wade who is a regular guest from Rochdale showed some of the images he will be entering into international exhibitions. Below is a gallery of just some of the images from the night.