Wednesday 22nd February 2012 – Clubnight

One of my objectives tonight was to show Angus and others how to clean the camera sensor.   Some of Angus’ photos displayed a large dust bunny in the frame.

Whilst doing the cleaning I explained the process with those present.

The extent of dust spotting can be determined by setting the camera to F16 or above and focus to manual.  Now take a photo of clear blue sky or a plain white surface.   Zooming in all the way on the finished image on the LCD screen and methodically inspecting the whole surface will reveal the extent of spotting.   Remember that dust spots at the top of the frame are actually at the bottom of the sensor.

Firstly, I explained that whilst most modern DSLRs have a special sensor vibration system built in which operates at either startup and/or shutdown, this doesn’t always remove persistent dust.

Friday 17th February 2012 – Tuscany Travellers

Gerry, Peter, Trevor, Hugh and John

For a few hours on Friday night stormy rain-soaked County Down was transformed into the rolling hills and cypress-clad valleys of Tuscany as four members of the Bangor and North Down Camera Club relived their photographic odyssey to their favourite region of Italy. And whilst they travelled as part of a larger group and visited the same locations they each brought back a different recollection of the beauty of the countryside .

Hugh Rooney, who enjoys architectural challenges displayed some dramatic monochrome prints of the historic cities of Pisa, Sienna and Florence; his finely executed tonal variations complementing the angular beauty of centuries old cathedrals and towers. The hillside town of Montepulciano, set amid the encircling vineyards featured strongly in Hugh’s lens as did isolated Tuscan farmhouses nestling in halos of sunflowers and hay bales.

Gerry Coe adopted a completely different approach to his picture gathering; leaving aside his professional quality gear he opted instead for the comparatively simple hardware of the camera in his Iphone. Using various applications downloaded for the purpose he enhanced and manipulated the images of country lanes and lone trees and so successful was the enterprise he exhibited the end product in the recent Royal Ulster Academy of Art Exhibition – to much acclaim!

Wednesday 15th February 2012 – Clubnight

We had a new virtual visitor at the clubroom tonight in the form of a (P)rofessional Photographer “Missy” all the way from USA.

Missy entertained us for a few minutes on a YouTube video explaining just how easy it was to become a professional photographer. With big dark eyes and cherry red lipstick and an American drawl, she was convinced that you only had to set the dial on your camera to P, the Professional Mode and let the camera look after everything for itself.  We also viewed another episode about entering print competitions.  Very educational!

Try this link to watch Missy.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S3NFW2c7hA&feature=player_embedded.

Once again we view photos brought in on memory sticks.  Angus, Julie and Kevin showed us their work.  Kevin’s photos were quite unique.  They were taken from the top of the Goliath crane at Harland and Wolf shipyard.   From there we saw the building dock with partially assembled wind turbines ready for transport by barge.

Helen brought in her Canon EOS film camera to seek advice about types of film.   I was able to give her a little list of Fuji and Kodak Negative films to try.   Maybe we will see the results of her shots.

 

 

Friday 10th February – Clubnight – Susan Abraham

Amateur photographers spend a lot of time searching for suitable subjects for their lenses; whether it is a landscape, a portrait or a still life the subject matter  is usually the starting point and everything else follows from that. The guest speaker at Bangor and North Down Camera Club raised a few eyebrows when she suggested that from an artistic point of view the subject should be secondary in importance to the structure and composition of an image. Susan Abraham introduced a thought-provoking perspective to picture making when she displayed a range of artwork based on photography and offered her analysis of what photographers should be striving to encapsulate in their images.

Wednesday 8th February 2012 – Clubnight – Studio

On the second Wednesday night of the month we try to hold a studio night to give club members experience of working in a studio environment and understanding the use of their camera  on Manual settings.

From the experience of the previous studio night when a crowd turned up expecting a ‘model’, expectations were moderated a bit for tonight.  However it was decided to split the room into two sessions.  One session using full studio lighting and backdrops and the other using a Light Tent (Light Cube) which can be purchased on eBay for around £12 or with lights for around £24.   I also set up a shoot through umbrella on a stand with a Canon 580EXII Speedlight with a wireless trigger.   Umbrellas, stands, brackets and triggers can also found on eBay at reasonable prices.

Friday 3rd February 2012 – Competition Night Round 4 Club/NIPA

Only a minor club rule prevented May Carvill notching up a hat trick in the Bangor and North Down Camera Club’s Open competition on Friday. May’s images merited first, second and third places in the Foundation Projected Digital Image section but the rules prevent anyone from achieving a clean sweep so Julie Campbell’s picture was promoted to third spot. Nevertheless it was a remarkable achievement by May whose daughter Deborah took the runner-up honours in the Advanced section. This was won by Bill Cardwell with Alan McMorris providing both entries for joint third.

The guest judge, Stephen McWilliams (Christian Brothers Past Pupils Union Camera Club) stressed that he generally judged the Advanced and Foundation entries by differing standards. While the more experienced photographers warranted close and critical surveys of their work the Foundation members should be judged in a more constructive manner – affording them comments which could offer advice on how to improve their efforts.

Nevertheless he was impressed by the standard of many of the beginners’ images – Leanne Kerr’s “A girl who sees beauty” caught his eye for first place in the Colour section with Edward McCavana claiming second and third spots.

Wednesday 1st February 2012 – Clubnight

Good turnout as usual tonight.  My first session was with Paul who brought along his Compaq Pressario laptop to get some guidance on the use of Photoshop.

After a few minutes, it became obvious that this laptop didn’t have the horsepower to drive a resource hungry application such as Photoshop.  Upon reflection with Paul, we agreed that Faststone Image viewer was more than adequate for his current needs and far less demanding on his PC.

To get things started, Alan McMorris supplied a hard disk with current and past NIPA photo entries, including beginners group.

Whilst there were a substantial number of excellent images on view, there were a number of HDR effect images which in my opinion and some others had been over manipulated.  I think this is probably one of the reasons that some judges in competitions treat HDR with distain.  HDR is great, where its is needed and not ‘over-cooked’.     Also there was quite a bit of evidence of considerable manipulation in Photoshop, particularly in images of models, to make them look unreal or commercial art type.  There again, this is only my personal opinion.    Part of the object of showing the images was to give our members a view of what other clubs were submitting and what we might have to do to raise our game.

Friday 27th January 2012 – Ralph Bennett – My Photography

Although Ralph Bennett is a regular attender at the weekly meetings of the Bangor and North Down Camera club it has been quite a while since he has exhibited any of his pictures. In fact the last time was in 1997 when the club met at the premises of the Royal Naval Club. That was also the year when Ralph was awarded a Distinction by the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain, one of the most prestigious  bodies in amateur photography.

Quite a few members, especially those who have joined in recent years, have never seen his work but they were treated to an eye-opening presentation of Ralph’s talent on Friday evening. Dividing the night into two halves he displayed both colour and monochrome prints, most of which had won or been placed in club competitions and many of which had gone on to achieve commendations in the Northern Ireland Photographic Association contests. His black and white prints, in particular drew admiring comments as they demonstrated Ralph’s prowess with the infra-red technique  – a process very rarely seen these days due to the digital advent and the expensive nature of the film.

His subjects ranged from a Donegal farmhouse to the Palm House at Botanic Gardens but it was the depiction of everyday objects seen in a different light which attracted the highest interest. A twisted metal fence, a lone tree in a meadow or the menace of approaching storm clouds – given the Bennett touch with a polarising filter they each told their story in emotive shades and hues. He also explained the painstaking procedures involved in  the infra-red process, demonstrating how the film required to be loaded in complete darkness inside the confines of a black coverall body bag. He admitted that this was one manoeuvre he didn’t miss!

Wednesday 25th January 2012 – Clubnight

Mark kindly opened the evening by reviewing some photographs from memory sticks.  As well as some of my own, we had an excellent selection from Angus.

Last Wednesday eveningTrevor Reid asked me to show him how to cut mounts for his photos, so I set up the mount cutting table early in the evening.  Somehow the steel ruler which is hung on the side of the table was missing.  Noel kindly went home and brought in a tape rul and plastic school type ruler.  Bill Nesbitt also suggested that mounts can be ordered from a company pre-cut at reasonable prices.  I heard some debate in the background as to whether these prices quoted included postage.   From my observations of the company website, postage was extra.

All about NIPA

If you are a new member to your club and have heard the phrase “Nipah” being mentioned, but haven’t a clue what it means – you are not alone!

Many club members, especially beginners, have asked me to explain more about “NIPA” and their competitions. So; here is a brief summary of what it is all about.

* ‘NIPA’ stands for the ‘Northern Ireland Photographic Association’. All camera clubs in Northern Ireland are members of NIPA.
* ‘NIPA’ is a member of the UK wide organisation called ‘PAGB’ (Photo Alliance of Great Britain),
* ‘PAGB’ is a member of a ‘FIAP’ a European wide organisation called ‘La Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique’,
* ‘FIAP’ is a world wide organisation to which over forty countries belong.

Therefore our wee club, is part of a world wide network. But it all starts with NIPA. In the past we had club competitions and NIPA competitions. But this was very confusing, so we now have club competitions and images are selected to go forward to NIPA.