thru the lens - moreland camera clubmorelandcameraclub.org.au/news/2019/may2019.pdf · thru the...

Thru The Lens Welcome!

Welcome to the May edition of the Moreland newsletter.

Caterina Fizzano judged the WATER competition, and this theme sparked many excellent and creative entries, which made it difficult for Caterina to decide between all the placings; consequently there are multiple first and second placed images.

Unfortunately, we still didn’t have Novice print images entered; hopefully there will be some in the next competition.

Congratulations to those who placed in the WATER competition, you will find the winning images later in this newsletter.

Charlie has written a presentation on Understanding Depth of Field (DoF) in Photography, which is very useful information with the ‘Shallow Depth of Field’ competition coming up!

In the Member’s Exhibition section, Lynne shares some of her experiences and photography from a recent trip to Vietnam and Laos where she volunteered with Free The Bears.

You will also find ideas of events around town and surrounds.

Enjoy your month !

May 2019

IN THIS ISSUE

A word from the President…………2

Charlie on Photography……………3

2019 Competition and Workshop details……………..…...….………....5

Comp winners Novice – WATER………………….............….7

Comp winners Exp. – WATER………………..…….………8

Moreland Community……..……....10

What’s On……………………….….13

And finally!............….……………..14

MORELAND CAMERA CLUB | May

2 | P a g e

Congratulations to all those who put their images into the Water competion, and especially to those of you whose images were successful – there were many excellent and imaginative images, and I am glad I did not have to do the judging.

Caterina Fizzano, our jude told us about the exhibition she had on on the Saturday night after the competition. I was going to send around details but Caterina let me know on Friday morning that the tickets sold out while she was judging for us! Maybe next time.

Thanks to Gina and her contributors to the newsletter – especially Charlie and Lynne.

Gina has given you a comprehensive guide to the rest of the year in the newsletter, but I should mention a couple of things.

First, we are still finalising details of the workshop on 27 June and will let you know what is happening asap.

Second, as I mentioned last Thursday night, Gail and I will be away from 17 June to 8 October. Peter Mollison will take on the role of president in that period, and Nerissa will look after the print entries as well as the digitals. Thanks to Peter and Nerissa for stepping in.

So, this will be my last note for a while. All the best to you for the next few months, and keep the great images coming.

Phil Crennan

23 May workshop – Black & White Photography From Capture to Printing

In July, we have our annual black and white print only competition. So, I have offered to lead a workshop in May to delve into some interesting (I hope) aspects of black and white photography.

We will begin by looking at some of the past and present masters of black and white photography, including names like Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier Bresson, Elliott Erwhitt, Edward Weston, Sebastao Salgado, and some younger photographers.

Most of these photographers worked in film, but some also work with digital cameras.

The aim will be to think about what makes for a good black and white image as opposed to a good colour image, and to see how these photographers used such elements as shapes and composition, contrast and tone, dodging and burning, and film grain in their images. With these techniques in mind, we will also look at some digital techniques for processing black and white images.

Bring along your thoughts and ideas about black and white photography. If you have favourite black and white photographers which we can learn from, send me a couple of their images at [email protected] and we will look at them in the workshop. Phil

A word from the President Phil Crennan


3 | P a g e

Understanding Depth of Field (DOF) in photography With our upcoming “Shallow Depth of Field” competition, I thought I would prepare a quick presentation to help those who might not have a handle on what depth of field is and how we can control it.

Firstly, DOF simple refers to how much of our scene in a photograph is relatively sharp in front of and behind our actual focus point.

When we take a photo, generally we pick something in the scene to focus on. It might be a tree in a landscape or a person’s eyes in a portrait or part of an insect in a macro shot. Whatever it is we have picked to make our focus point, the dof is how much in front of and behind that point appears relatively sharp.

Depth of field has a huge impact on our photos and in many cases is one of the factors that can make your image a great one or not.

Generally speaking in landscapes photography a greater depth of field, where more of your scene is sharp is more appealing, particularly when there is no specific point of interest but the whole scene is the subject.

Or, in a macro photo where you want every part of your subject, for example a spider, to be sharp.

Conversely, for a portrait, where you want your subject to stand out from any unwanted and distracting detail in the background, a shallow dof is the way to go.

So we agree that Depth of Field is important, right? And that is why I tell budding photographers that the first thing they need to do is to GET OFF AUTO!

I will revisit this point at the end of this presentation after you have a better understanding of dof.

So now we know what Depth of Field in photography means and when a shallow depth of field might be preferred over greater depth of field and visa versa.

But how do we control it.

1. Aperture or F-stop Most of us know that our camera’s aperture setting influences the depth of field of our photograph. The larger the aperture setting, e.g. f/2.0, f/2.8, f/4.0, the shallower the depth of field. The smaller the aperture, e.g. f11.0, f14.0, f16.0, etc. the greater the depth of field.

But aperture is not the only factor which influences the dof.

2. Distance from camera to subject The distance between the camera and your subject also has a bearing on the resulting depth of field achieved in your photo. The closer you are to your subject, the shallower the depth of field, the further away from your subject, the greater the depth of field.

This explains why with macro photography, dof can be challenging and often difficult to get all of your subject in focus. There are other ways to manage this such as focus stacking but that is for another presentation.

This would also explain why when taking portraits out in a park or garden and you set yourself some distance away from your subject, you might not have been able to achieve the shallow depth of field you were after.

CHARLIE ON PHOTOGRAPHY


4 | P a g e

3. Focal length The focal length of the lens you are using also impacts on the resulting dof in your image. A shorter focal length or wide angle lens e.g. 14mm, 16mm, 24mm, will give you a greater dof whereas a longer focal length or telephoto lens e.g. 200mm, 300mm, 500mm, will give you a shallower dof.

So going back to that scenario I mentioned earlier where you couldn’t achieve the shallow dof for your portrait shots in a park when shooting from a distance away from your subject, using a longer focal would have given you a shallower dof.

And also why shorter focal lengths or wide angle lenses can be more suited to landscape photography if you are trying to achieve a greater dof.

Summary There are other factors which can affect dof such as camera sensor but the 3 I spoke about are the ones easiest to control and to be honest, you still might not always be able to control these but at least if you have an understanding of them, you are better equipped to get the result you are after. Going back to my point about getting off auto mode in your camera, in auto mode, your camera makes the decisions on what settings you are using therefore you have no control on creative elements of your photography such as dof.

Below are a couple of links which I think you might find useful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O3scWoSuhs

https://photographylife.com/what-is-depth-of-field

MELBOURNE CUP WEEKEND TRIP – MACEDON RANGES 2 to 5 November 2019

This year the club weekend trip will be in the Macedon Ranges area. There are many opportunities around the area, including Mt Macedon, Trentham Falls, Forest Glade Open Gardens, the old townships and what they have offer… and more. An itinerary will be planned closer to the weekend.

If you are interested in attending, please advise Phil on [email protected] so that accommodation can be arranged.


5 | P a g e

13 JUNE: Shallow Depth of Field – Judge: Greg Earl (Photographer and VAPS Judge) Create an image which emphasises shallow depth of field. The shallow depth of field can be used to make the primary subject stand out prominently, or the out-of-focus blur can be the primary compositional device. This YouTube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7jEWLoU14E – will give you some ideas on how to get shallow depth of field in your pictures.

Images due: Digital entries to be lodged by 10pm on 30 May, and prints to be delivered to Gail by the same time. Gail will also accept print entries at the workshop on 23 May.

27 June – workshop – to be advised

11 JULY: Black and White - PRINT ONLY Judge: Mario Mirabile (Photographer and VAPS Judge)

Images due: Prints to Nerissa at or before the workshop on 27 June.

25 July workshop – Lighting on a budget (how to improve lighting with low cost light sources and modifiers)

8 AUGUST: Open – Judge: Sam Mariani - (Photographer and VAPS Judge)

Images due: Digital entries to be lodged by 10pm on 25 July, and prints to be delivered to Nerissa by the same time. Nerissa will also accept print entries at the workshop on 25 July.

23 August (Friday) workshop – Fireworks at Docklands

12 SEPTEMBER: Still Life – Judge: Mary Mullane - (Photographer and VAPS Judge)

An arrangement of objects in an artificial or natural setting where they must no longer be living or growing. The objects can be natural or man-made. The essence of still life is the artistic arrangement of the objects and their lighting which accentuates those artistic qualities.

Images due: Digital entries to be lodged by 10pm on 29 August, and prints to be delivered to Nerissa by the same time. Nerissa will also accept print entries at the workshop on 22 August.

26 September – Interclub Competition with Preston Photographic Club

2019 COMPETITION AND WORKSHOP DETAILS


6 | P a g e

Some interesting ariticles …

The stories behind 10 of the world's earliest known photographs https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/louvre-album-of-the-world/index.html 21 Places Every Photographer Should Visit Before They Die https://iso.500px.com/21-places-every-photographer-should-visit-before-they-die/ A Guide to Basic Camera Straps: Are You Using Yours Wrong? https://petapixel.com/2019/05/03/a-guide-to-basics-camera-straps-are-you-using-yours-wrong/

Just for laughs … http://www.australianphotography.com/news/comedy-wildlife-photography-awards-2019-best-entries-so-far?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%20Thu%2016%20May%202019&utm_content=Newsletter%20Thu%2016%20May%202019+CID_d245eb853c04610d63cebe168329da84&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=Comedy%20Wildlife%20Photography%20Awards%202019%20Best%20entries%20so%20far

2019 COMPETITION AND WORKSHOP DETAILS

10 OCTOBER: Music – Judge: Bill Millar (Photographer and VAPS Judge) Create an image where the story is all about music. It could be anything from a still life of an instrument to a performance image. Let the viewer “hear” the music through the story you are telling Images due: Digital entries to be lodged by 10pm on 26 September, and prints to be delivered to Nerissa by the same time. Nerissa will also accept print entries at the workshop on 26 September.

24 October – AGM

7 NOVEMBER: Frame within a Frame – DIGITAL ONLY Judge: Sheryl Griffiths (Photographer and VAPS Judge)

Use windows, doors, trees, rocks, your hands - in fact anything – to frame your subject within the camera frame. Make sure you include something interesting inside the frame! Images due: Entries due by 10pm on 24 October.

14 NOVEMBER: Image of the Year – (Janusz Mollinski) Digital and print entries due by 24 October (can also include Frame within a Frame entries). Gail will also accept print entries at the AGM on 24 October.

Friday 22 November – end of year dinner


7 | P a g e

WATER: Novice winners (May)

2nd place digital: Leaves on a pool reflected rotated

Steven Lankshear

3rd place digital: Fast water

Sharon Williams

1st place digital: Holy waters

Kathy Reilly


8 | P a g e

WATER: Experienced winners (May)

1st place print: Splash! Nerissa Turner

1st place digital: Thumbs up Kath Kelly

1st place digital: Werribee River Peter Mollison

2nd place print: Late afternoon ski Mathew La Sala

2nd place digital: Spill Charles Scicluna

2nd place digital: Beneath the surface Charles Scicluna


9 | P a g e

WATER: Experienced winners (May)

3rd place print: Aquaman Gina Auciello

3rd place digital: Hubble bubble Peter Mollison

HC print: Liquid circles Fiona Woods

HC print: Water into wine Nerissa Turner

HC digital: Precipitation Charles Scicluna

HC digital: Snorkelers Fiona Woods


10 | P a g e

Members

EXHIBITION

Lynne Yeaman

I recently volunteered on a trip to Vietnam and Laos with Free The Bears. As it was going to be dirty hard work I almost didn't take my camera however thankfully at the last minute decided to throw in my old Olympus along with my Samsung phone. Free The Bears is a charity set up by Perth based Mary Hutton a bit over 20 years ago. Over these years from humble beginnings they have rescued many bears that had been living terrible lives on bile farms or poached bears destined to be victims of the restaurant and pet trade amongst other sad fates. Typically none of these rescued bears are able to be freed into the wild however thanks to FTB they are able to live the remainder of their lives in the sun and safety. During the trip there was a special moon bear that stole my heart - one of their very recent rescues in Vietnam. She was with a number of bears in an old sanctuary awaiting completion of a new facility being built so while it looks horrible she seemed happy, relaxed and curious when we were working near her. She was quite old and had spent approx. 20 years in a small cage. The keepers were trying to encourage her to leave the safety of the raceway to venture out to the big grass outdoors with treats. In time she will feel safe to explore her new freedom.

MORELAND CLUB COMMUNITY

Enjoying the good life

Moonbear who stole my heart


11 | P a g e

Here are a few stories behind my images. I found the best way to get decent photos was to put the camera/phone lens through the cage wire however that was a tad dangerous and mostly not appropriate as you had to be very much on your guard. Refer to the good advice sign! And those bears have extremely big claws.

I managed a comical image of one moon bear who was licking his lips using the Samsung. It was very difficult to catch the right moment so just held my finger on the shutter button and took a burst - one of which I was happy with.

For my Samsung I use an editing app called Snapseed. I took an image of some interesting shaped trees at the Vietnam sanctuary and it just looked a bit messy however converting to B&W and putting a bit of a frame around the image created a totally different feel.

At another enclosure in Laos it was very difficult to get good images as the bears kept coming very close to us humans outside the cage - they had been rescued as cubs from poachers in the jungle.

Good advice

Bear lick

Snapseed and Too Close


12 | P a g e

I was so fortunate to see a gibbon family. The mum was with her new born and 4 year old son. Nearby was dad. The interesting back story is that mum was rescued from the pet trade and found love with a wild living male gibbon through the cage of her new large enclosure she shared with many other rescued gibbons! As gibbons mate for life with the birth of her first son the keepers decided to release her and 4 years later the family are still doing very well however mum regularly visits her old enclosure as she knows where the long hanging fruit is! So I got those photos of a wild gibbon family hanging onto the outside the cage!

A bonus was staying in Luang Prabang in Loas - it is definitely a town worthy of a visit. Every morning the monks start their day with morning alms.

Living free gibbons

Morning alms


13 | P a g e

Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality NGV International Until 13 October For more than 2,000 years an army of 8,000 life-sized terracotta warriors have stood guard at the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, in the Shaanxi province. The army was entirely unknown until it was discovered by farmers digging a well in 1974. It's not every day you stumble across one of the wonders of the world.

In winter a delegation of eight warriors will visit Melbourne as part of an exhibition at the NGV called Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality. True, eight warriors out of 8,000 feels a little bit measly, but they'll be presented alongside more than 150 treasures from ancient China. https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/terracotta-warriors-cai-guo-qiang/

Shot in the Heart of Melbourne 30 May to 10 June Victorian Artist Society, 430 Albert Street East Melbourne

Shot in the Heart of Melbourne is a street photography exhibition by the members of the Australian Association of Street Photographers, exploring the decisive and often indecisive moments that occur in our gritty yet beautiful city. Those who love this genre of photography know the feeling of elation when they capture something truly unique, fleeting, decisive and graceful.

https://whatson.melbourne.vic.gov.au/Whatson/Exhibitions/Art/Pages/09360610-2d9e-4e20-8da0-041c1ea47e57.aspx

Pakenham National Photographic Exhibition 2019 The Club holds a National Photographic Exhibition which is a competition open to all residents of Australia. The Club has so far held 14 hugely successful Nationals, and hopes that the 15th National will be just as successful. The 15th Exhibition is being held on the 7th and 8th September 2019 at Cardinia Cultural Centre, Lakeside Boulevard, Pakenham.

Featuring over 400 images from 80 local and national exhibitors in 12 categories!

Saturday 7th September 10:00am to 5:00pm Sunday 8th September 10:00am to 3:00pm

Entry by Gold Coin donation or purchase of Exhibition Catalogue

Exhibition Calendar

ENTRIES CLOSE................................................................................. Friday 12th July JUDGING DAY................................................................................... Saturday 27th July EXHIBITION WEEKEND................................................................. Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th September http://pakenhamcameraclub.org/pakenham-nationals.html

WHAT’S ON AROUND TOWN AND SURROUNDS


14 | P a g e

Moreland Camera

Club

We are a vibrant, welcoming camera club based in the Moreland area and meet twice a month in the McCrae Blackburn meeting room at the Coburg library for photo competitions and workshops. One of our aims is to welcome, encourage and nurture new members, especially novice photographers.

Moreland Camera Club is a member of the Victorian Association of Photographic Societies Inc and participates in VAPS’ activities including its annual competition and exhibition.

Details of our meetings and activities, and examples of members’ work and recent newsletters can be accessed on our website and Facebook page (Moreland Camera Club). You can contact the Club at [email protected], or, even better, come to a club night and meet us.

Member’s contributions to Thru The Lens newsletter are very welcome and a great opportunity to share with the Moreland Camera Club community. Please send any details, photographs and articles to Gina at: [email protected]

AND FINALLY….

Keep smiling….

and happy snapping!

thru the lens - moreland camera clubmorelandcameraclub.org.au/news/2019/may2019.pdf · thru the...

Documents