Expedition to Strathdearn
On 25th May the first of the summer expeditions took place. The aim was to find wildlife and in particular Birds of Prey in the Upper Findhorn valley known as Strathdearn and nicknamed Raptor Alley
Five members took up the challenge on a damp and overcast day. The 'promise' of birds of prey was heightened as soon as we arrived. A Red Kite showed briefly over the Cairn Coire Dhealanaich to the north of the car park. Unfortunately that was the first and the last bird of prey we saw. Red Deer could also be seen high up on the mountain ridges but some were in the valley bottom.
With the exception of a few small birds and feral goats no other wildlife was seen.
But the expedition was not fruitless. Members spent their honing their landscape and close up photography skills. Not forgetting the group photo!
Presentation Night
Presentation night was held on 9th Mat at the Fraserburgh Lesure Centre. After a meal members and guests were given a show of all the images that had been entered into the various competitions throughout the year.. This was followed by Andrew Weat, past president and honory life president handing out the honors for the 2018/9 season.
'Photorapher of the Year' is given to the member with the hightest tolat score accross the four Open Digital image competitions held during the season. Mike Chandler was in first place, John McRobbie was second and Stanley Partridge was third.
'Photorapher of the Year' is given to the member with the hightest tolat score accross the four Open Digital image competitions held during the season. Mike Chandler was in first place, John McRobbie was second and Stanley Partridge was third.
The Stanley Partridge Cup is given to the member receiving the highest total poins in the two themed competitions and the two print competitions. Mike Chandler was the winner on the Stanley Partridge Cup. John McRobbie was in second place and three members, Elodie Wagener, Stanley Partridge and Lewis Duthie tied for third place.
Club President then anounced that there was a special presentation to be made. Members had all chipped in to get a momento to give to Andrew West to mark his sixty years as a member of Fraserburgh Photographic Society and fourty three years as the Society's President.
Mike Chandler Presents Andrew West with a canvas print of Andrew's photograph 'Three Bridges'
18th April Discussion on the 2019/20 Programme
Here is a brief summery of the decisions made about the 2019/20 programme
1) The structure of the competitions should remain the same - Four Open Digital Images Comps, Two Digital themed Comps and Two Print Comps
2) There would be three members presentations - Presidents Night, Photographer of the Year Night and a Stanley Cup Holder Night
3) The first meeting on 5th September would be a welcome to new members and an introduction to the programme, the second meeting would be 'get to know your camera' a similar session would be held after Christmas.
4) Digital Imaging Tutorials would be held
5) There would be a Learning Theme before Christmas (Night Photography) and on in the New Year. (HDR Photography). Each Learning theme would be introduced by a guest lecturer to show some techniques and show what can be done. There would be a practical night on the theme members binging there camera to take shots on the theme. and a theme Appraisal Evening to which members would bring theme images for appraisal and discussion.
6) At the first meeting in September a challenge would be set and members would bring in challenge images for discussion and appraisal before the Christmas break. A different challenge would be set at the first meeting in January for Challenge Show to be held in April.
7) A Photo quiz would be held in December which would be open to the public
8) Photo Fun nights would be held in addition to the Thursday Club nights for a practical session on a fun theme
9) Photo outings of a couple of hours or so would be organised for daytime at weekends and during the week for members to get out and take photos.
10) Photo Expeditions lasting the whole day would be held during the summer months.
11) The subjects for the Theme Competitions are to be - before Christmas 'Birds in Flight' and after Christmas 'Night' - note this ties in with the pre Christmas Learning Theme.
1) The structure of the competitions should remain the same - Four Open Digital Images Comps, Two Digital themed Comps and Two Print Comps
2) There would be three members presentations - Presidents Night, Photographer of the Year Night and a Stanley Cup Holder Night
3) The first meeting on 5th September would be a welcome to new members and an introduction to the programme, the second meeting would be 'get to know your camera' a similar session would be held after Christmas.
4) Digital Imaging Tutorials would be held
5) There would be a Learning Theme before Christmas (Night Photography) and on in the New Year. (HDR Photography). Each Learning theme would be introduced by a guest lecturer to show some techniques and show what can be done. There would be a practical night on the theme members binging there camera to take shots on the theme. and a theme Appraisal Evening to which members would bring theme images for appraisal and discussion.
6) At the first meeting in September a challenge would be set and members would bring in challenge images for discussion and appraisal before the Christmas break. A different challenge would be set at the first meeting in January for Challenge Show to be held in April.
7) A Photo quiz would be held in December which would be open to the public
8) Photo Fun nights would be held in addition to the Thursday Club nights for a practical session on a fun theme
9) Photo outings of a couple of hours or so would be organised for daytime at weekends and during the week for members to get out and take photos.
10) Photo Expeditions lasting the whole day would be held during the summer months.
11) The subjects for the Theme Competitions are to be - before Christmas 'Birds in Flight' and after Christmas 'Night' - note this ties in with the pre Christmas Learning Theme.
11th April AGM
At the Fraserburgh Photographic Society AGM held on 11th April Andrew West announced that he was standing down as President after serving in that position for 43 years. To say that he has, through his tireless work as President, Secretary and Treasurer kept Fraserburgh Photographic Society going would be no exaggeration. To say that he will be a hard act to follow, well, 'goes without saying'. The members unanimously agree that Andrew should be given the position of Honorary Life President. Andrew will be staying on as an active member of the club and will continue as Treasurer.
The following members were elected as office bearers:
Honorary Life President Andrew West
President Mike Chandler
Vice President John McRobbie
Secretary Elode Wagener
Treasurer Andrew West
Competitions Sec. Lewis Duthie
Committee Member Ally Henderson
Press Agent Mike Chandler
Members agreed to keep the annual subscription at £30 but not to apply the discount of £5 for members over 65.
The meeting on 18th April has been set aside to discuss the 2019/20 programme.
The following members were elected as office bearers:
Honorary Life President Andrew West
President Mike Chandler
Vice President John McRobbie
Secretary Elode Wagener
Treasurer Andrew West
Competitions Sec. Lewis Duthie
Committee Member Ally Henderson
Press Agent Mike Chandler
Members agreed to keep the annual subscription at £30 but not to apply the discount of £5 for members over 65.
The meeting on 18th April has been set aside to discuss the 2019/20 programme.
4th April 4th Open Digital Image Competition
The results of fourth and final digital image competition of the season were given at this meeting. 27 member put in photos to be judged by Gordon Scott CPAGB of the Mid Calder Camera Club. Here is a link to his gallery on the club web site. He gave a lot of useful adivices and tips in his comments on each of the photos. 'Shoot on a tripod next time' ' 'When an image has is composed of predominately dark edges I like to see a small white stroke border around it to help contain it when viewing it' 'I would have liked some eye contact with the photographer.' 'You can do a lot of things in Photoshop with flowers, pastel effects, experiments with different backgrounds, vases etc. It is well worth playing about with.' 'A good image to consider for a mono conversion'. Positive feedback and suggestions from judges are always welcomed by members and tonight was no execption. The judges are asked to mark images out of 20 and to give 20 marks to the top image. It is a good indication of the high standards in the club that five photos scored 18 , two scored 19 you will have seen which one received 20 marks on the facebook page of this web sites home page! Below are all the images put into the competition. To see which one got the 18, 19 and 20 points go to the Monthly Competitions page.
After the competition results the images taken on the FPS outing to Troup Head were shown. Unfortunately due to the weather only one member braved the element to get to this RSPB reserve. Some of the images are shown after the competition images.
Troup Head Photos
28th March Competition with Ellon Photographic Group
Follow this link to the 'Other Competiions' page for details
21st March 2019
In a change to the published programme instead of doing the final couple of sessions of the 'How to Win Tutorial' we went through the photos taken on the Pitfour Estate Photo shoot. We then, as a precureser to the final session of the season, looked at some images that told a story. One was from the 1970's and showed a large craking towers being transported from Fraserburgh harbour to the St Fergus terminal. Here are just three of the images of the huge load being manouvered through the strets of the town. It was such an event that it drew large crowds. The whole exercise just to get it a couple of miles took nearly all day!.
Another collection of photos told the story of the Montrose Air Station from World War 1 to the present day.
Two other stories were told with photos. One odf a trip to the Huntly Falconry Centre another of a Cow giving birth by caesarean section! This one was from Stanley Partridge and had a music and comentary built in to the presentation. The other three from Andrew West who talked to the images as they were shown. .
At the meeting on 25th April members have been asked to bring in either an Audio-Visual Presentation or a 'Storyboard' of images that tell a story. These short presentation were to show members the kind of thing that they are expected to do.
At the meeting on 25th April members have been asked to bring in either an Audio-Visual Presentation or a 'Storyboard' of images that tell a story. These short presentation were to show members the kind of thing that they are expected to do.
17th March Pitfour Photo Shoot
The Pitfour Estate is just outside Mintlaw abour 12 miles south of Fraesrburgh. Here is a link to the Wikipedia Page for more information.
Five hardy souls braved the weather for the Fraserburgh Pitfour Photoshoot. We more or less had the whole estate to ourselves, no dog walkers and only two couples heading back to their cars., and two gents sitting on the fishing hut bench. Everyone else had the sense to stay at home.
The weather forecast was for high winds, sunshine and light showers. We certainly had the wind and occasionally the sun. But light showere, no they were heavy and sometimes even solid.
Here are some of the images taken on the day.
These were taken by John McRobbie
Five hardy souls braved the weather for the Fraserburgh Pitfour Photoshoot. We more or less had the whole estate to ourselves, no dog walkers and only two couples heading back to their cars., and two gents sitting on the fishing hut bench. Everyone else had the sense to stay at home.
The weather forecast was for high winds, sunshine and light showers. We certainly had the wind and occasionally the sun. But light showere, no they were heavy and sometimes even solid.
Here are some of the images taken on the day.
These were taken by John McRobbie
This one was taken by Elodie Wagener on her mobile phone. She didn't want to risk taking her camera in the rain
Here are Mark Grants photos
And Mike Chandlers images
The fifth member on the trip was Jim Gray. Here are some of his images
14th March Members Challenge
This was a new addition to the programme. Each member drew a 'theme' earlier in the year from a hat and their challenge was to show three images on that theme at tonights meeting. Here are the photos! Not everyone kept to the three images.
Lewis Duthie - Dawn
These three image were taken on Broch Beach.
These three image were taken on Broch Beach.
Andrew West - Figure in Landscape
The first two images are of Broch Beach. Andrew decided that as he was being treated to a trip to Rome he would get a photo of a figure in an internationaly famoue townscape. First he tried the Trevi Fountain, it was crowded, Then early in the morning he went to the Spanish Steps, there were even more people so in the evening he went out again and the crowds were ever larger!
The first two images are of Broch Beach. Andrew decided that as he was being treated to a trip to Rome he would get a photo of a figure in an internationaly famoue townscape. First he tried the Trevi Fountain, it was crowded, Then early in the morning he went to the Spanish Steps, there were even more people so in the evening he went out again and the crowds were ever larger!
Margaret Cran - Still Life
Three very different images
Three very different images
Jim Gray - Architecture
Jims' images are of the Sagrada Familia a large unfinished Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. Construction started in 1882 and it is hoped to be finished in the next decade.
Jims' images are of the Sagrada Familia a large unfinished Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. Construction started in 1882 and it is hoped to be finished in the next decade.
Alfe Cran - Daylight. Three images 'Daylight at sea' ' Daylight through the Keyhole' and 'Daylight in Rio'
Mike Chandler - Detail
Mike presented images to be seen in pairs. One a veiw of St Columba's a house in Lonmay toether with detail og the weather vane using a telephoto lens. The second of some old farm machinary with a photo showing the detail of a new bolt both taken with a 50mm lens and the third pair of a Peacock feather with the detailed shot taken with a macro lens.
Mike presented images to be seen in pairs. One a veiw of St Columba's a house in Lonmay toether with detail og the weather vane using a telephoto lens. The second of some old farm machinary with a photo showing the detail of a new bolt both taken with a 50mm lens and the third pair of a Peacock feather with the detailed shot taken with a macro lens.
John MRobbie - Candid
John took these images on a recent trip ti Autralasia and the Far East. The woman with the fruit stall was not that pleased to be photographed. The Maori's proformimng the Haka wanted to be photographed. The lady doing Tai Chi probable knew she would be photographed but not so the onlooker in the red shorts. The Busker in Sydney no doubt wanted to be photographed.
John took these images on a recent trip ti Autralasia and the Far East. The woman with the fruit stall was not that pleased to be photographed. The Maori's proformimng the Haka wanted to be photographed. The lady doing Tai Chi probable knew she would be photographed but not so the onlooker in the red shorts. The Busker in Sydney no doubt wanted to be photographed.
Eldie Wanener - Solitude
Here is one of the three images that Elodie prsented, it was taken at Aberdour Beach. She said that because of the high winds it wasn't easy to kep the tripod from being blown over.
Here is one of the three images that Elodie prsented, it was taken at Aberdour Beach. She said that because of the high winds it wasn't easy to kep the tripod from being blown over.
Finaly James Ritchies three photos on the theme 'At Home'. One of James images shoown on the night has been withdrawn and another put in its place. It showed too much of the house!
7th March
Graeme Buchan of Elite Photographics in the Broch was the judge for the 'Black and White' themed competition. Thirtythree images were put into the competition and represented a wide varriety of approachs to the theme. The images are shown below. To see which images Graeme judged to be the winner go to the competitions page
21st February
Michèle Emslie was the judge of the 2nd Print Competition. She has here own Facebook page and Instagram site and is a member of both Ellon Photographic Group and Visions Photography Club.
She saw photography competitions as a way of showing your personal best and of progressing as a photorapher rather than being against the others. As well as 'judging the photographs Michèle said she also looked at presentation Her aim was to give a possitive critique in order to help the photographer improve.
Twentyseven prints were entered into the copmetition. Michèle admired the fact that so many members had submitted prints as they were more difficult to prepare than a digital image. She also commented that there was little evidence of dust spots on the camera lenses and that the standard of presentation in mounts was high. One comment she made that was common to namy of the prints was that the photographer has been too 'heavy' with the processing. A number of the photographs were, in her view, over sharpened or the colour over saturated. Part of her written comment on one print was:-
However this image has been heavily saturated creating very unnatural colours. Also it has been over sharpened creating a halo around the subjects. The classic "Ready Brek" look
Tips: Take great care in how much you use your tools in post production, especially the clarity and saturation sliders.
In first place was John McRobbies' 'Sunset' Michèle has provided written comments about each print which has been shared with the photographer. Here is what she wrote about 'Sunset' Nicely presented print front and back. Nice choice of mount colour that holds the image together. A lovely capture of the sun going down behind these low clouds creating these beautiful crepuscular rays, or God's rays as otherwise known. Not always an easy event to capture well. A very well exposed shot that hasn't been tinkered with too much in post production.. Lovely colours, lovely highlight around the clouds. The sun is well positioned between the islands creating beautiful light and giving depth and layers to the islands.
Very well done!!!
Tip: I would love to see the location in the title
Two prints were placed second - 'Moorings at Port Rae Sunset' by Lewis Duthie
A very nicely presented print with a tidy mount front & back.
A very nice image with a gentle sunset giving nice moody tones and a relaxing feel. Nicely placed in the frame. A nice straight horizon that roughly on the thirds but has been nicely broken by part of the harbour wall adding some interest and preventing the image being cut in half. A nice clean image, no visable dust spots. A nice leading line from the seaweed on the bottom left. A big thumbs up for not over sharpening in post....
And 'Its Bloody Cold' by Mike Chandler
Nice presentation. Nice mount, nice backing
A lovely robin all puffed up on what is presumably a very cold day, or that's what the title says...
Nicely positioned in the frame. Could possibly have been positioned a little more to the left to give more space for the robin to look into.
The image does soften around the lower part of the robin but that's ok by me as it is sharp where it needs to be. Probably a wider aperture has been used.
Lovely soft background giving separation for the subject to stand out.
Three prints shared third place
'Boulder Beach Sunrise' by James Ritchie, 'On the River' by Margaret Cran and 'Wintery Adventure' by Elodie Wanener
She saw photography competitions as a way of showing your personal best and of progressing as a photorapher rather than being against the others. As well as 'judging the photographs Michèle said she also looked at presentation Her aim was to give a possitive critique in order to help the photographer improve.
Twentyseven prints were entered into the copmetition. Michèle admired the fact that so many members had submitted prints as they were more difficult to prepare than a digital image. She also commented that there was little evidence of dust spots on the camera lenses and that the standard of presentation in mounts was high. One comment she made that was common to namy of the prints was that the photographer has been too 'heavy' with the processing. A number of the photographs were, in her view, over sharpened or the colour over saturated. Part of her written comment on one print was:-
However this image has been heavily saturated creating very unnatural colours. Also it has been over sharpened creating a halo around the subjects. The classic "Ready Brek" look
Tips: Take great care in how much you use your tools in post production, especially the clarity and saturation sliders.
In first place was John McRobbies' 'Sunset' Michèle has provided written comments about each print which has been shared with the photographer. Here is what she wrote about 'Sunset' Nicely presented print front and back. Nice choice of mount colour that holds the image together. A lovely capture of the sun going down behind these low clouds creating these beautiful crepuscular rays, or God's rays as otherwise known. Not always an easy event to capture well. A very well exposed shot that hasn't been tinkered with too much in post production.. Lovely colours, lovely highlight around the clouds. The sun is well positioned between the islands creating beautiful light and giving depth and layers to the islands.
Very well done!!!
Tip: I would love to see the location in the title
Two prints were placed second - 'Moorings at Port Rae Sunset' by Lewis Duthie
A very nicely presented print with a tidy mount front & back.
A very nice image with a gentle sunset giving nice moody tones and a relaxing feel. Nicely placed in the frame. A nice straight horizon that roughly on the thirds but has been nicely broken by part of the harbour wall adding some interest and preventing the image being cut in half. A nice clean image, no visable dust spots. A nice leading line from the seaweed on the bottom left. A big thumbs up for not over sharpening in post....
And 'Its Bloody Cold' by Mike Chandler
Nice presentation. Nice mount, nice backing
A lovely robin all puffed up on what is presumably a very cold day, or that's what the title says...
Nicely positioned in the frame. Could possibly have been positioned a little more to the left to give more space for the robin to look into.
The image does soften around the lower part of the robin but that's ok by me as it is sharp where it needs to be. Probably a wider aperture has been used.
Lovely soft background giving separation for the subject to stand out.
Three prints shared third place
'Boulder Beach Sunrise' by James Ritchie, 'On the River' by Margaret Cran and 'Wintery Adventure' by Elodie Wanener
14th February
This night was Champions Night. Photographer of the Year Brian Sandison presented images that he had taken in North Wales over a period of 26 years. He was always trying to get unusual views of well known landmarks and was drawn time and again to the old slate quarries. Here are some of the images members were shown.
7th February
Tonight we recieved the results of the Open Digital Image competition number 3. The judge was David Stout an award winning freelance landscape photographer based in the North East of England being the recipient of the 'Excellence Distinction of the Federation Internationale l’Art Photographique' (EFIAP) for having over 300 of his photographs acepted into exhibitions world wide. David is an advocate of cropping out parts of a photograph that add no value to the image. On one occasion, quoting the renowned photographer and member of the Photographic Society of America Eric Kissa, whose motto was “Crop ‘til it hurts”, he said that if some elements of a photograph do not enhance the scene, crop them out, adding that he would use this criteria in judging. David is a member of Whickham Camera Club. He has his own website where you can see his work.
Here are the images that were subbmitted to the competition. To see which one came on top click this link.
Here are the images that were subbmitted to the competition. To see which one came on top click this link.
31st January
This was Tutorial Night and we continued with the series in 'How to Win Competitions'
Topics covered were 'How to deal with sloping horizons and converging verticals', 'Oversharpening' and 'Presenting the Image'
At the end of the session Mr Beckham gave a check list of things to do before submitting an image into a competition
Topics covered were 'How to deal with sloping horizons and converging verticals', 'Oversharpening' and 'Presenting the Image'
At the end of the session Mr Beckham gave a check list of things to do before submitting an image into a competition
24th January
John McRobbie gave a series of presentations about a journey he and his wife had made to the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. He had tried to take on board the lessons from the tutorials 'The Art of Travel Photography' that were given during the 2017/8 season. You can find a summery of the tutorials by going to 'Meeting Reports 2017/8'. So John tried to take on board getting photos of iconic landmarks in the places he visited from a different angle or point of view or by honing in on detail rather than the whole thing. He also said he encountered the problems that the tutorials warned us about. There were nearly always people in the way of getting a good clean image, and of course he had to negotiate the 'time off' to concentrate on photography. In this regard he was successful as he said that he had taken over 4,000 photos on the trip ! John was looking for and using leading lines in his composition. Here are just a few just a few of Johns images
Just for the record Johns presentations were - 'Singapore', 'Sydney', 'Australian Coast', 'New Zealand Cruise' and 'Hong Kong'
17th January
With lots of programme changes this meeing ended up as the 'show' by mike Chandler, winner of the Stanley Partridge Cup in 2017/8. Rather than give a traditional slde presentation Mike had organised a photo themed quiz. Nine rounds with ten questions in each round posed for the members. They were allowed to work in teams of individualy. The winner with 56 out of 90 was the team of Kenny Buchan and Eugene Rutter, second was Lewie Duthie and third the team of Ron Peat and Ally Henderson. In order to save blushes the winners of the wooden spoon will remain a secret among the members who were there on the night.
Below are ten of the questions that were put on the night. See how well you do. Send your answers, by noon on 2nd February by clicking on the contact button at the bottom of the screen. There are no prizes but the answers and the top three who have sent in answers will be published on 3rd February. Good luck.
Below are ten of the questions that were put on the night. See how well you do. Send your answers, by noon on 2nd February by clicking on the contact button at the bottom of the screen. There are no prizes but the answers and the top three who have sent in answers will be published on 3rd February. Good luck.
1) Name this burns poem
2) In 2015 Walt Disney World announced a ban on what photographic equipment
a) GroPros
b) Tripods
c) Selfie Sticks
3) When is it best to use a pop up flash?
a) In a dark room
b) To fill in shadows
c) As a last resort
a) GroPros
b) Tripods
c) Selfie Sticks
3) When is it best to use a pop up flash?
a) In a dark room
b) To fill in shadows
c) As a last resort
4) Woes Logo is this?
5) Marie Helvin was one of the most glamorous models of her, or any other, age. She was captured on film in a book called "Trouble And Strife" by her then photographer husband. Who was he?
6) Where on the Moray Firth Coast is this?
7) Name the photographer from their portrait and two of their photos . A clue not given to club members on the night - he is Scottish
8) What is this bird?
9) What is this abbreviation
APS-C
10) Where is this local (to Fraserburgh) Ruin?
APS-C
10) Where is this local (to Fraserburgh) Ruin?
10th January
Comimg back after the Christmas and New Years break is always one of mixed feelings. On the one hand it clearly marks the end of the festivities but on the other its a chance to catch up with who got what from Santa. Someone always has a new piece of photography or computing kit to boast about. As the last day of the feast season the camera club always has new year social event. Members can bring along guest and of course bring food and drinks to share. Without any organisation of 'you bring the ham/turky sandwiches' 'can you provide the cake' and 'can you make sure there is cola' there is always a good variety and plenty to go round. The entertainmant for the evening, apart from the gossip, is Andrew West's show of old photographs of Fraserburgh. Now many of the members have seen these before but there are new members and new guests who find them fascinating and those that have seen them before always find something new. It is a chance to reminisce about days gone by whether fifty years ago or just about the 1990's. Trying to identify the year in which the photos were taken, often by recognising the make of care parked in the street or the owner of the shop on the corner always leads to a 'bit of debate'. Of course no no could remember the stagecoach to Aberdeen but it is amazing to know that there were people then around to take the photographs.
13th December
There was a change to
the event shown in the programme. A joint RNLI, Fire Service
and Ambulance Service exercise took place in the harbour and members
were invited to photograph the event. Here are some of the
images that were captured. There were fire appliances from
Fraserburgh, Peterhead and Ellon, the Broch Lifeboat and the Broch
Ambulance. The scenario was that a fishing boat had caught fire
and although it was extinguished the Life boat was on standby with a
hose. There were casualties (they were dummies not real people) on
board that were brought above deck by Fire-fighters wearing breathing
apparatus and transferred to the Lifeboat which then retured to its
berth and got the casualties ashore and into the waiting ambulance.
From a photography point of view conditions were not ideal. It was cold, windy and there were frequent rain showers. It was also dark so the ISO settings had to be high which does not provide the highest quality photos. The way to overcome this is to have a slow shutter speed but of course we were taking shots of people and boats on the move so the it couldn't be too slow. In addition there was a confusion of action and a confusion of light sources which made finding clean compositions difficult.
From a photography point of view conditions were not ideal. It was cold, windy and there were frequent rain showers. It was also dark so the ISO settings had to be high which does not provide the highest quality photos. The way to overcome this is to have a slow shutter speed but of course we were taking shots of people and boats on the move so the it couldn't be too slow. In addition there was a confusion of action and a confusion of light sources which made finding clean compositions difficult.
6th December
Competition Night. The results of the second digital image open competition were revealed.
The Judge was Guy Philips of the Paisley Colour Photographic Club. You can see some of his images on the clubs gallery pages You can also se some more and read a short biography on his ePHOTOzine page.
Thirty six images were entered into the competition.
In first place was a photo by Ron Peat 'Rattray Head'. Guy said 'Good technique adds value to this image. Choice of shutter speed well considered with clouds and waves softened but still recognisable. Muted colour palette and I love the way the perched birds have been rendered sharp despite the length of the exposure. Strong picorial and well executed'
Second lace went to 'Waxwing Rowenberry Raide' by Brian Sandison. The judge said that it was a will lit and beautifully pictorial shot of a Waxwing feeding on rowen berries. 'Dead on exposure and focus. Icing on the cake is the bery in the beak.'
Mike Chandlers 'Grounded Falcon took the third place slot. Guy said 'Fine portrait of the falcon that is bitingly sharp with excellent feather dtail and sharpness in the eye. Pose of the bird is strong and augmented by the photographers low viewpoint combined with the portrait format. Strongish lighting has resulted in a touch of burn out on the breast and the leading edges og the wings - it appears there is sufficient info on the original file to recover this. Strong natural history'
Six images shared the fourth place with a score of 17 out of 20. 'Ynys Lladdwen' by Brian Sandison, 'The Web Master' by Mike Chandler, 'The Ayes Have It' by Ron Peat, 'Sitting Pretty' by Alfie Cran, Janets Foss' by John McRobbie which was give 'Highly Commended' and 'Carnation' by Stanley Partridge
All the competition enteries are shown below. Click on the thumbnail to see the full image
The Judge was Guy Philips of the Paisley Colour Photographic Club. You can see some of his images on the clubs gallery pages You can also se some more and read a short biography on his ePHOTOzine page.
Thirty six images were entered into the competition.
In first place was a photo by Ron Peat 'Rattray Head'. Guy said 'Good technique adds value to this image. Choice of shutter speed well considered with clouds and waves softened but still recognisable. Muted colour palette and I love the way the perched birds have been rendered sharp despite the length of the exposure. Strong picorial and well executed'
Second lace went to 'Waxwing Rowenberry Raide' by Brian Sandison. The judge said that it was a will lit and beautifully pictorial shot of a Waxwing feeding on rowen berries. 'Dead on exposure and focus. Icing on the cake is the bery in the beak.'
Mike Chandlers 'Grounded Falcon took the third place slot. Guy said 'Fine portrait of the falcon that is bitingly sharp with excellent feather dtail and sharpness in the eye. Pose of the bird is strong and augmented by the photographers low viewpoint combined with the portrait format. Strongish lighting has resulted in a touch of burn out on the breast and the leading edges og the wings - it appears there is sufficient info on the original file to recover this. Strong natural history'
Six images shared the fourth place with a score of 17 out of 20. 'Ynys Lladdwen' by Brian Sandison, 'The Web Master' by Mike Chandler, 'The Ayes Have It' by Ron Peat, 'Sitting Pretty' by Alfie Cran, Janets Foss' by John McRobbie which was give 'Highly Commended' and 'Carnation' by Stanley Partridge
All the competition enteries are shown below. Click on the thumbnail to see the full image
29th November
This was a tutorial night. We continued with the 'How to Win Photo Competitions' disc by Barry Beckham.
22nd November
This night was billed as a 'Ramble with a difference - no Cameras Required' in the club programme. This was because the ramble was vertual and conducted by a past member of the club, Jack Presley who has since passed away. The photos were Jacks and he gave the comentary. Andrew West 'rescued' the digital show from a film!!. Unfortunately the quality was not that good however it was good enough to follow the slide show with little problem It was a look at Fraserburgh in the 1950's and 60's with Jack adding his local knowledge about the town in his commentary. He seemed to know all the back history of the towns shops, not just who ran them at the time but about previous owners as well. Interstingly many of the shopkeepers sold more than just what it said on the shop front. In one of the Fish and Chip shops you could also buy magic tricks because Bill the owner was into magic . An grocers shop also took in tailoring work as that was the owners past trade. For those members who were born and brought up in the Broch the 'ramble' brought back many memories. For incomers it was a facinating look at bygone Fraserburgh.
15th November
This was the Presidents night. Andrew West showed us some of the images he captures on a helicopter ride from Ingleston round the three bridges across the Forth. We were also shown some older photos of his spin round Knockhill in an 'E' type Jag.
8th November
There was a change of plan for this evenings activities. Instead od the Studio night members walked down to the Old Kirk Parish Hall to see the exhibition on WW1 that was on display. In addition to artifacts from the war there were dispays by school children. Our visit coincided with a visit from the Sea Cadets. Members of the Old Kirk were on hand to explain the displays. Of course we took photos some of which are below. No captions the photos will speak for themselves.
1st November
The results of the digital image themed competition 'Colour' were given. Graeme Buchan of Elite Photogaraphy on Findlayson Street was the judge. Graeme is a former member of FPS and if you scoll down to the meeting report for 27th September you will find a photo of him receiving an award from Lady Aberdien. (also in the photo is Peter Clark the judge for the print competition) Thirty three images were put into the competition. and the theme was interprted in many different ways. In first place was Alan Smith's image 'Bike Flash' scoring 19 out of a possible 20. Graeme said 'Vivid colours stand out against the deep lack background. I like the dramatic effect created by the light trails. Alan explained that he had taken the images at a meeting of Faithlie Camera Club last year when the bike and lights were set up.
'Bike Flash' by Alan Smith
In second place was Brian Sandison's photo 'Abstract Ol : Light and Bubbles' this was another photo taken at a Faithlie Camers Club meeting. Graemes comments were 'Punchy image with excellent colour saturation. Very crisp
'Abstract Oil : Light and Bubbles' by Brian Sandison
Seven images ties for third place each with 17 points.
Aurora at Crovie' by Alan Smith,
'Watercolours' by Mike Chandler
'Amarylis' by Stanley Partridge
'Autumn Falls' by John McRobbie
'On Reflection' by Andrew West
'Lighthouse against a Blue Sky' by Brian Sandison
and 'Splash of Pink' by John McRobbie
These images and the others in the copmetition are shown below
Aurora at Crovie' by Alan Smith,
'Watercolours' by Mike Chandler
'Amarylis' by Stanley Partridge
'Autumn Falls' by John McRobbie
'On Reflection' by Andrew West
'Lighthouse against a Blue Sky' by Brian Sandison
and 'Splash of Pink' by John McRobbie
These images and the others in the copmetition are shown below
There was time after the results an comments were made for members to talk to Graeme in more detail about their images and to have a tea and piece.
25th October
The first of a series of video tutorials on 'How to Win Photography Competitions' was shown. The tutor was Barry Beckham. Here is a link to his website
Yhis was an intrduction that covered the importance of competition in photography in imropving standards and as a learning exersise. It covered some basic composition issues such as 'The Rule of Thirds' and went into detail about how to plan work and catalogue images for easy reference.
Yhis was an intrduction that covered the importance of competition in photography in imropving standards and as a learning exersise. It covered some basic composition issues such as 'The Rule of Thirds' and went into detail about how to plan work and catalogue images for easy reference.
18th October
The results of the first print competition were given on 18th October. The judge was Peter Clark a former prize winning member of Fraserburgh Photographic Society and now a weddingphotographer based in the Broch. Here is a link to his website
Thirtytwo prints were put into the competition. In first place with 20 0out of 20 was 'Feeding time' by Stanley Partridge. Three images tied for second place. 'Tour 500' a fantastic panprama by Alan Smith, 'Rattray Head' by Brian Sandison and 'Falcon' by Mike Chandler.
As is the nature of a print competition not all the images can be shown here. But here is Stanley's winning image and Mike's second place one
Thirtytwo prints were put into the competition. In first place with 20 0out of 20 was 'Feeding time' by Stanley Partridge. Three images tied for second place. 'Tour 500' a fantastic panprama by Alan Smith, 'Rattray Head' by Brian Sandison and 'Falcon' by Mike Chandler.
As is the nature of a print competition not all the images can be shown here. But here is Stanley's winning image and Mike's second place one
And here are some more.
11th October
This was a 'Photo Ramble Night. However the weather was somewhat agsinst us as the rain, albeit not heavy , started not long after we set off. The most interesting photos ogf the night were taken by Brian and Alan who came across the fire brigade doing some practice on using salt water from the harbour. The talked the firecrew into putting on the blue flashing lights to make some memorable photos. They also took advantage of a plile of logs and reflections on the quayside waiting to be loaded into a boat.
...and a final panarama image from Alan of the harbour
4th October
The results of the first competition of the 2018/9 season were announced. It was an open competition in which members could submit up to three images on anything they liked. The judge was Allan Gawthorpe from the Bon Accord Camera Club and Mearns Camera Club. Allan is a very experienced judge and award winning photographer. He recently won Best Overall Mono Print Eyes of Pain' in a Scottish Photographic Federation national competition.
'Eyes of Pain' by Allan Gawthorpe
Forty five images were entered into the competition and Allan gave constructive comments on them all. The over-arching advice that Allan gave to all the photographers was that 'less is more'. Stronger images are the ones that are more simple and that to achieve that the first tool to use is the crop tool. It is often easy, he said to take out the clutter from a photograph that distract from the subject by simple cropping. Before commenting on the images he showed, with the first one how cropping could improve the image.
The image above is 'Whole and Broken' (You have to click on the image to see it in full!). On the left is the image submitted into the competition. On the right is the same image but cropped by Allan to take out the distraction elements so the the image concentrates on the subjects, the two boats. the light toned sky has been removed, the small clump of grass in the bottom left corner is cropped out as is the bit of rock on the top of the right hand edge. It also made the subject bigger in the frame. Allan said that he always takes his eye on a journey round the edge of an image to see if there are things there that don't add to the images and which could be taken out. Other distractions that took a viewers eyes away from the photos subject should, he said be taken out as well using a cloning or spot removal tool.
Other useful advice he gave was:-
Try to get leading lines going from left to right because that is the way most of us read and it is therefore easier to follow. Sometime flipping and image horizontally will get a good result and
Move around the subject to get the best view point and get the subject in front of the best possible background. This may mean getting to higher ground or shooting from a low angle.
Below are the images that were put into the competition. (click on the thumbnail to see the full photo)
Other useful advice he gave was:-
Try to get leading lines going from left to right because that is the way most of us read and it is therefore easier to follow. Sometime flipping and image horizontally will get a good result and
Move around the subject to get the best view point and get the subject in front of the best possible background. This may mean getting to higher ground or shooting from a low angle.
Below are the images that were put into the competition. (click on the thumbnail to see the full photo)
The photos were marked out of twenty. Allan gave four of them full marks and picked one overall winner follow this link to see which they were.
27th September
At the meeting of Fraserburgh Photographic Society on 27th September there was a cahnge to the program. Instead of a tutorial Andrew West showed slides that gave a bit of the history of the club from 1950 to 2000.
The club was started in 1949 or 1950. Andrew is not sure of the date because some years ago the first minute book was lost. So if anyone knows when Fraserburgh Photographic Society started we will know whether to have our 70th anniversary celebrations next year or the year after. If it helps here is a picture of the first members from 1950.
The club was started in 1949 or 1950. Andrew is not sure of the date because some years ago the first minute book was lost. So if anyone knows when Fraserburgh Photographic Society started we will know whether to have our 70th anniversary celebrations next year or the year after. If it helps here is a picture of the first members from 1950.
We do know that the first meeting place was Anderson House on the corner of Frithside Street and Broad Street. They met in the basement of what was then a bank where a darkroom was established that could be hired for one shilling (that's ten pence in today's money) an hour, a charge that included all the equipment and chemicals. They then moved to premises above the corner shop on Mid Street. Here they had set up a studio the back drop was painted by members of the Fraserburgh Junior Arts Society. There was also a darkroom here as well. One of the drawbacks of thes rooms was that it has a wooden floor and when someone was taking a photograph everyone else had to stand still to prevent the floor from shaking and ruining the exposure.
Many of the traditions that are still kept today include the annual dinner and presentation evening. Some familiar names crop up on the roll of honour, including Peter Clarke, Graeme Buchan of Elite Photography fame and of course Andrew West himself. In the early days such occasions were more formal than they are now
Many of the traditions that are still kept today include the annual dinner and presentation evening. Some familiar names crop up on the roll of honour, including Peter Clarke, Graeme Buchan of Elite Photography fame and of course Andrew West himself. In the early days such occasions were more formal than they are now
The Society organised photography trips. These were initially bus trips but when that became too expensive members went in their own cars. Members also took their families with them. One trip was the Cairn o' Mount and the Clattering Brig. Andrew remembers this because at the brig then a foot bridge) was a ford and they took photographs of cars going through the burn at greater and greater speeds to get a bigger and better splash. It went so far that one car got its engine flooded and they had to take of their shoes and socks to push it out.
Fraserburgh Photographic Society was a successful club on a regional level with members getting best photograph awards. This tradition has remained, in 2016 Billy Watson's image 'Heavy Seas ' was the best photo in the Grampian Eye competition. Here is Andrew West (photo on the left) receiving the prize for the best image in a Scottish National Trust competition in 1994, as you can see he won three prizes in that year. Graeme Buchan got the same prize in 1986 and Fraserburgh Photographic Society won the best overall club prize (in the right hand image with other members of the club.
Over the year Fraserburgh Photographic Society has seen many changes. Members strted out in Black and White then progessed to colour and have noe embraced the age of the digital camera and the computer based 'darkroom'. But the aim of members has always been the same - to produce the best possible images and to share a love of photography.
20th September
Everyone gathered in Room 3 of the JIC building at 7.30 kept on their hats and coats and went out with their camera equipment into the Broch twilight. Tonight was a 'Photo Ramble' . Most members made their way to Broadsea., others went to the Kinnaird Head. The harbour was another chosen venue
There are plenty of photographic subjects in the area. The lights reflecting over the bay, close ups of the detail to be found, the sky and clouds in the fading light.
There were choices to be made not just about subject matter but about lenes to use shutter speeds and aperture. Very early on the light was so scarce that long exposures were the order of the day and tripods were an essential. Interstingly I don't think anyone used flash to comensate for the lack of light.
The results were varied, each member taking a different approach. Below are some of the images that were produced.
There are plenty of photographic subjects in the area. The lights reflecting over the bay, close ups of the detail to be found, the sky and clouds in the fading light.
There were choices to be made not just about subject matter but about lenes to use shutter speeds and aperture. Very early on the light was so scarce that long exposures were the order of the day and tripods were an essential. Interstingly I don't think anyone used flash to comensate for the lack of light.
The results were varied, each member taking a different approach. Below are some of the images that were produced.
13th September
Here At the second meeting of the season members were asked to biring in 10 images of what they did in the summer.
Dublin, France, London Holland, members are a well travelled bunch. Helicopter rides, epic bike journeys and battling the Pentland Firth they are pretty adventurous as well. All that said the majority of the photos indicated that 2018 was generally the summer of the 'Staycation' with images from many parts of Scotland and most from the North East and the Fraserburgh area. Here are some of them
Dublin, France, London Holland, members are a well travelled bunch. Helicopter rides, epic bike journeys and battling the Pentland Firth they are pretty adventurous as well. All that said the majority of the photos indicated that 2018 was generally the summer of the 'Staycation' with images from many parts of Scotland and most from the North East and the Fraserburgh area. Here are some of them
The photos also showed a wide variety of techniques being used by members. From 'fill-in flash' for portraits to long exposures to smooth out the waves. Black and White, fast shutter speeds for wildlife and using the 'golden light at the begining and end of the day. I composition both landscape and prortrait orientations were used, lead in lines and the use of frames were also evident. It shows that there will be lote of good photos in the weeks to come and the distict possibility that there will be some great ones as well. Here are a few more of the evenings images
The final image for this report needs a bit more explanation. It shows Mark (Scratch) Cameron on his way to becoming the first man to swim the Pentland Firth. On the boat is Hamish Mowatt, an expert on tides who guided through the treacherous waters. Mark is not a member of the Photographic Society but Billy Watson, who is was there to take the photographs of this great achievment. Mark, from Fraserburgh set out on the challenge from Burwick in South Ronaldsay and, accompanied by a local fisherman, reached the shore at Duncansby Head after four hours and 15 minutes. He is seven-time Scottish amateur surfing champion and the seven-mile swim is aiming to raise £4,000 for the maternity ward at the Balfour Hospital in Kirkwall. It was there that his girlfriend, Ena Brown, had worked as a midwife nurse before she died suddenly earlier this year at the age of 41.
'Pentland Firth Swim' by Billy Watson
6th September 2018
There were lots of new faces at this the first meeting of the 2018/9 season. There were more women than we have had before, more young people then we have had for along time and the newcomers brought with them a range of expertise. Some are old hands at the photography lark, others wanted to learn more about how to use their camera. The one thing they all had in common with the existing members was enthusiasm. I am sure that Fraserburgh Camera Club will be able to meet all the variety of expectations.
Biplane at Dusk by Photographer of the Year Brian Sandison
The President Andrew West gave an outline of how FPS worked and fitted into the Scottish Photographic Federation and the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain. He went through the programme click here for details and how the comptitions both internal and with other clubs works. He explaned the club fees and gave a brief insight into the Councils room booking system and charges cautioning that it may be necessary to have another look at the fees.
'One Good Tern' by Mike Chandler holder of the Stanley Partridge Cup 1017/8
Lewie Duthie, competitions secretary gave some more details about the competition work and Mike Chandler, press agent explained about the web site, Facebook activity and contacts with the Fraserburgh Herald.
There was plenty of time after the business for people to introduce themselves and have a chat about everything (including photography) over a cup of tea and a fancy piece.
The next meeting is on the 13th September and members are asked to bring up to ten photos of what they did in the summer. Entries for the first monthly competition must also be handed in.
There was plenty of time after the business for people to introduce themselves and have a chat about everything (including photography) over a cup of tea and a fancy piece.
The next meeting is on the 13th September and members are asked to bring up to ten photos of what they did in the summer. Entries for the first monthly competition must also be handed in.
