developments July 2016

Transcription

1 developments July 2016 Volume 05 Issue 07 PHOTOGRAPHING LIGHTNING By Lisa Mandelkern Every year starting around July, the summer thunderstorms roll in, bringing welcome rain and a chance to photograph lightning. The desert around Las Cruces provides a big sky that translates into a big canvas. There are virtually no trees obstructing the sky. Needless to say there are risks - above all lightning s potential for destruction. However, it is hard not to be fascinated by the beauty of lightning, and as such it begs to be photographed. With the frequent thunderstorms in the Las Cruces area during the summer of 2015, I embarked on creating a photo series of lightning. I photographed lightning after dark on about 14 different occasions. First and foremost, I learned that lightning storms are often local, random and fairly unpredictable. Some storms did not net any usable photographs because of intense rain and gusty winds or the briefness of the storm. On one occasion a storm was so intense and frightening that I did not get out of the car to photograph. Better safe than sorry! In This Issue Lightning... 1 Flashes... 2 Retrospective... 2 Favorites... 3 July Theme... 4 June Theme Highlights... 4 DAPC Contacts... 4 DAPC on Facebook... 4 Booher Exhibit... 5 Suggs Exhibit... 5 Tuesday, DAPC 1st Tuesday Meeting - Lightning and Flashes - 7:00pm, Southwest Environmental Center. See page 1 and 2. Saturday, Deadline for Photo Theme. See page 4. Mark Your Calendar Tuesday, July DAPC Meeting - Retrospective and July Themes - 7:00pm, Southwest Environmental Center. See page 2 and 4. Sunday, Deadline for Photos for Favorites Presentation. See page 3. Dense, ISO 200, 7 stacked exposures, each about sec at f/8 by Lisa Mandelkern For starters in the presentation on July 5th, the audience will look at some stunning lightning photo examples, both historic and contemporary from around the world. Lightning photos by DAPC members Anne Chase, Debbie Hands, Catherine Lucas, Dave Brown, Emmitt Booher, Jim Rodgers, Wayne Suggs and Arlee Green will follow this. They all went out on a limb to catch some lightning. The prevailing consensus among Tuesday, DAPC 1st Tuesday Meeting - 7:00pm, Southwest Environmental Center. Tuesday, DAPC August Meeting - 7:00pm, Southwest Environmental Center.

2 6. Select manual shooting mode: M 7. Shutter speed: depends. Bulb, to 1 to 2 minutes, maybe shorter 8. Aperture: depends. Anywhere from f/5.6 to f/8, at the most f/11 9. Exposure compensation: NONE 10. Steady shot/vibration reduction: OFF (Camera is on tripod) 11. Long exposure noise reduction: OFF Lightning Collection, ISO 400, 10 stacked exposures, each about 60 sec at f/7.1.by Lisa Mandelkern the photographers was twofold. There was relief that nobody got hurt and triumph, Got it! While the audience looks at my resulting lightning series, the requirements and gear for successful lightning photography will be explained. Cable releases, interval meters, and even lightning triggers enhance the quality of such images. I ll describe my preferred method for photographing lightning after dark. Beginning night photographers will appreciate a recap of techniques suitable for any type of night such as how to focus in the dark and how to frame in the dark. There will be a brief mention of post processing. Since there might be long intervals between lightning photography opportunities, I might forget a crucial camera setting. Consequently, I always carry the following checklist in my camera bag. Check list of camera settings for lightning photography after dark. 1. RAW mode 2. Manual focus to infinity. If your lens has a marked infinity stop on the focus ring, use that (check the exact spot, preferably ahead in the daytime) 3. ISO often 400, if ambient light is present: ISO WB: Auto 5. Drive Mode: Continuous shooting Farewell Lightning, ISO 50, 13 sec at f/10 by Lisa Mandelkern 2 One last thing: Let s assume that you photographed a sequence of photos where the lightning bolts traveled across the frame along a predictable path. Why not combine this sequence into one image? Often lightning photos just beg to be stacked. The goal is to have many lightning bolts, nicely distributed in one final image. As far as lightning is concerned, stacking multiple Impermanent and Everlasting, ISO 200, exposures yields 30 sec at f/5.6 by Lisa Mandelkern identical results to that of a single long exposure, a technique that has been used throughout the history of photography. The process is fairly easy and straightforward. The talk will conclude by explaining how to combine digital images with either Adobe Photoshop or StarStaX. Lightning is a wonderful natural phenomenon. Get ready for monsoon season and the gifts from the clouds! FLASHES Following Lisa s Presentation on July 5th, Erik Winter and Rob Peinert will present a 30 minutes program about the use of flashes. RETROSPECTIVE By David Shaw In this presentation, David will look back over his development as a photographer, sharing photos from a variety of themes including La Charreada (Mexican horse game); skulls of buffalo, Oryx, and steers, portraits, and the female form. As a photographer for 30 years, David Shaw has been most influenced by Edward Weston and his Day Books. After

3 years of being self-taught, David sought more professional training through Ansel Adams Workshops and the Large Format Workshops at Carmel, California. His work is found in private collections and a permanent collection in the U.S. District Court of New Mexico. For examples of David s work go to his Website: Shaw.html Event: balloon rally - Hot!Hot!Hot! by Arlee Green FAVORITES... by Lisa Mandelkern On Tuesday, August 2nd we will be presenting a program from you, the members. This is the Feature presentation for the meeting and this is your opportunity to showcase the kind of photography you enjoy. We know every one of you has something special to share. The entire evening of August 2nd will be member photos. Start thinking about what you can share see ideas below. General: DAPC paid members are eligible to submit photos. We would like to see a series of 5 photographs that share a common theme. Photos can be from any time period. Some ideas are (just to name a few): Photos that illustrate a trip (travel/ holiday/vacation photography). Photos that cover an event; such as a balloon rally, fiesta, rodeo, wedding. Subject: zoo animals Baby Elephant Nandi by Dave Brown Place: NM Vietnam Veterans Memorial-Milky Way by Will Keener Photos that are limited to a specific subject matter (portraits, pets, zoos, insects, flowers, landscapes, sports, abstracts, still life). Photos that illustrate an idea: Time, color, space, movement, or feelings. Photos that show a specific and technical photographic technique that you have explored, for example: HDR night experimental photography (collage/ filters/plugins), stacked Technique: vertical panning: The Path by Kristi Dixon B/W macro photography. Include a brief statement about you images (optional). The audience should be able to read your statement in approximately 20 seconds or less. Limit the file size of your images to 2MB per image, same guidelines as themes submissions. Any questions, Kristi. Send all photos to Kristi Dixon and clearly state photos are for Favorites program: themes@daphotoclub.org Photos DUE BY JULY 24 midnight. We expect to see a great variety of subjects and look forward to getting to know our members better through their photography. Here are some examples from 2015 Favorites program. 3

4 4 JULY THEME HISTORY By Eileen Vanwie History is a story as told by the victor. I agree in part with this definition of history attributed to Napoleon in a historical fiction book about Josephine Bonaparte (Gulland, Sandra The last dance on earth.) Some history textbooks are written from the victor s perspective, but that seems to assume a theme of conflict. History may describe many other themes as well. The idea of history as a story suggests that we think of ourselves as photojournalists with this project. The first definition of history in the online Oxford Dictionaries is, The study of past events, particularly in human affairs. Photojournalism shapes our memory and history through candid or posed visual records of events. (History defined. Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved June 11, 2016 from english/history) With the technical aspect of photojournalism, consider both full frame and cropped photos. Full frame will show the environment of the story. Cropped photos will focus on the subject. Composition can be tricky because timing is everything. Have fun trying to anticipate what will happen next in the event/story you want to illustrate. Whether your history photos are intended for a family memoir or are to record a public event, keep in mind the Code of Ethics of the National Press Photographers Association ( Images can reveal important truths and understanding, but can also cause great harm if they are callously intrusive or manipulated. Some of the key points in the Code of Ethics include: Be complete and provide context; avoid stereotyping; recognize and avoid presenting one s own biases. If editing, maintain the integrity of the images content and context. DAPC Contacts President, Erik Winter president@daphotoclub.org Vice-President, Rob Peinert vicepresident@daphotoclub.org Secretary, Catherine Lucas secretary@daphotoclub.org Treasurer, Debbie Hands treasurer@daphotoclub.org PR, Julie Schmitt publicrelations@daphotoclub.org Programs Chair, Lisa Mandelkern programs@daphotoclub.org Member Services, Fred Moore membership@daphotoclub.org Photo Theme, Kristi Dixon themes@daphotoclub.org Newsletter, Eileen K. VanWie - newsletter@daphotoclub.org Newsletter, Robert Williams - newsletter@daphotoclub.org Exhibits, Open- exhibits@daphotoclub.org Website, Arlee Green - webmaster@daphotoclub.org Member-at-Large, Dave Brown - memberatlarge@daphotoclub.org You may want to review photos by various photojournalists to get ideas for your own history photos. Here s a list of a few: Vivian Maier, Marion Carpenter, Dorothea Lange, Frances Benjamin Johnston, Lisette Model, Margaret Bourke- White, Sara Naomi Lewkowicz, Daniel Berehulak, Joseph McKeown, André Kertész, Moneta Sleet Jr., David Gilkey, John Tlumacki, and Joseph Costa. Another place to look at photojournalism is at the National Geographic Website: photo-of-the-day/history/ Send up to three history photos (high-quality JPEG image files and try to keep their size below 2 MB; additionally, maximum size should be 1920 x 1080 pixels) to themes@ daphotoclub.org by Saturday, July 16th. A slideshow with the theme of history photos will be shown at the DA Photography Club meeting on July 19, JUNE THEME STILL LIFE by Julie Schmitt Lighting, setup and composition were three points most evident in the June Theme submissions by 14 photographers. Some lighting was quite complex with very good results. It was difficult picking just one of Dale s because they were all like still life paintings in their perfect compositions. This Blown Glass Pig in a Pig by John Adamek DAPC is on Facebook DACC has also set up a Facebook page and we are encouraging everyone to like the page and to submit your photos for quick review and comments from other members. Go to groups/ / to sign up or visit our website (daphotoclub.org) and connect from there. DAPC is a proud member of the PSA and we encourage you to consider becoming an individual member of PSA for more information please visit their website at www. psa-photo.org and see what they have to offer.

5 month Marcia Corl, Dale Taylor, Erik and Rob gave input on some of their favorites. uniquely different, American landscapes, Yellowstone National Park and Big Bend National Park, stylistically represented in his gritty, hyper-real and sometimes oddly romantic landscapes. Bydy by Jim Rodgers High Desert, Low Country by Dale Taylor JULY 1ST OPENING EXHIBIT DAPC member Emmitt Booher During July, the El Paso Electric Gallery in the historic Rio Grande Theatre will feature Centennial Celebration ; The 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service. The exhibit will feature Mesilla photographer Emmitt Booher s black and white photographs of two iconic, yet El Capitan through the Window by Emmitt Booher Lodge Pole Reflections by Emmitt Booher The exhibit opens with a reception from 5-7pm on Friday, July 1 during the First Friday Art Ramble and runs through the end of July. Regular hours are Monday-Friday 9am- 5pm. For details call the Dona Ana Arts Council at Artist details available at www. ZoneVIII.com. WAYNE SUGGS PHOTO EXHIBIT The Light Never Lies: Landscape & Astrophotography of Wayne Suggs is on display at the Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road. The exhibit, which features 30 of his photographs, will be on display through July Living in the Southwest is a paradise for a landscape photographer like Las Crucen Wayne Suggs. He was introduced to the wonders of nature at an early age by parents who knew the importance of having a relationship with the great outdoors. Wayne has been an inspiration to DAPC members through his night photography and his generosity in sharing his techniques. Be sure to catch his exhibit. Santa Elena Canyon by Emmitt Booher Hedgehog at Sunset in Spring by Wayne Suggs 5