From the President s Desk Editor s Notes Themed May is Anger. June it is Lens Flare.

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1 Cable Release Macarthur Photographic Society, INC May 2017 Issue 283 From the President s Desk President Brett Atkins The year is flying by so quick, and this time of year is one of my favourite seasons for Photography. The autumn leaves are spectacular, the air is crisp with beautiful blue skies and the sunrises and sunsets can be very vivid in colour. Also some mornings we are treated to a layer of fog so you can see why I love this time of year for photography. I would like to thank Heather who recently lead a photo walk to a beautiful nature reserve walk at Hilltop. As we move into the colder months we will have more photo walk on offer and if anyone has a special place they would like to take the club, please let myself or the committee know. Some good news, our club will be holding an exhibition in August this year at the new Narellan Town Centre, the title of the exhibition will be "Close to Home" so I encourage all MPS members to start thinking about being part of this exhibition, more details to come shortly. Last month we had Macarthur Camera House and Canon join us for a night of flash photography. It was a great night with MPS members learning more about high speed sync flash with some fun movement activities to capture. This month to follow on from this we have an exciting lighting Workshop being conducted by Photographer Mr Ian Clark and will cover almost everything you need to know about studio lighting. It will be hands on night so bring your camera as we will also have models for you to shoot. Our presentation night this month will be a very interesting night with various club members showing and talking about images from some of their amazing world travels. Anyway enough from me, I look forward to seeing everyone and your images at our competition night on Wednesday. Oh one last thing, Vivid Sydney starts on the 26th May, for a couple of weeks so some more great photo opportunities and also checkout the Canon workshops held during the festival bookings can be made online, anyway keep clicking away. Regards Brett. Make sure you keep up to date with the Calendar as it has all the upcoming event information. The URL is Editor s Notes The best images are the ones that retain their strength and impact over the years, regardless of the number of times they are viewed. Anne Geddes *This months newsletter has Dennis Parker as our Member Profile. A lot of you will not know Dennis, but he is one of our Life Members. He is in fact our longest serving member that is still alive, he also started our club history book. He has a very interesting profile. The profile is on page 7. *I have a review on Pro Show Gold on page 9. *Photo walk page 3. *The Themed subject for our competition in May is Anger. For June it is Lens Flare. All of our Themed subjects this year are digital/projected images. All of our themed subjects for the year are on page 10. So remember, if you want something published in the newsletter and you think it would be of interest to our members, please send it to me at the address below. Bruce Wallace bruwal52@hotmail.com YouTube Channel Page 1 May 2017

2 Competition Secretary s Report April Photo Competition April 12th 2017 Monthly Competition, Judge-Bob Cook 28 members entered a total of 109 images, 27 Distinctions & 35 Credits were awarded as follows: Colour Prints 34 images 8 Distinctions 8 Credits Monochrome Prints 24 images 7 Distinctions 12 Credits Projected Images 23 images 5 Distinctions 12 Credits Minimalist (Projected) 28 images 7 Distinctions 7 Credits Image Of The Month Tony Naumovski s Monochrome Print Snow Trees R Rosee Image of the night Snow Trees Here is Tony talking about his image. The image was taken in February this year on my recent skiing holidays in Japan. Camera: Canon 5d mark iii Lens: mm 2.8 EF mark ii F/stop 10 at 16 mm focal length Shutter speed 1/320 sec Post processing in LightRooM and Silver Efex pro 2. Minor adjustments in contrast, desaturation, exposure and clarity. Some more images from the night. Page 2 May 2017

3 Photo Walk April 2017 On Satuday 29th April we had our Photowalk. A group of 9 members and guests ( Margaret, Heather, Cyril, David, Brooke, Tony, Chris, Heather and Brian) met on the chilly morning of Saturday April 30th, Where we set off on the well worn trail down the caves creek in hilltop,southern highlands. The walk was approximately 1.4km down hill. Surrounded by beautiful Aussie bush. Down at the cave entrance we were treated to a light water fall and trickling creeks with a sprinkling of sunshine hitting all the right places. Dave managed to climb in to the cave entrance to grab photos with a difference ( while we aimed our cameras to catch him if he fell) while Brooke engaged in a bit of rock climbing to grab a new angle. So much to photograph from mossy rocks, wooden bridges fallen trees and so much more. It was great to see everyone sharing knowledge and swapping photography tips on lighting, angle and f-stops. Everyone had a great morning and I look forward to Jenny's photo walk this month. Heather. Page 3 May 2017

4 April Presentation Night For our presentation night on Wednesday 26th April we had Campbelltown Camera House do a presentation on flash photography. Plus pizza and drinks beforehand. Canon exhibited their new Canon EOS M5 & M6. These two models are Mirrorless, 24Mp each, same sensor, Wi Fi, Bluetooth. The M5 is slightly larger with a built in electronic viewfinder. The M6 has an add on electronic viewfinder. There are other slight differences, a comparison of each camera can be seen at The price difference between the two models is around $440. If you want a viewfinder for the M6 you would need to add probably $300+, so the M5 may be better value for money (Editors opinion). The Camera House presentation started with a slide presentation on the basics of flash photography. As you can see from the images the presentation touched on the basics plus the features of most camera/flash setups. This was a good informative talk. Page 4 May 2017

5 April Presentation Night contd. The evening then split up into an outside practical workshop and an indoor practical workshop. Both featured high speed flash photography, with the outside featuring, the bursting of water filled ballons, and the inside, high speed head and hair flaying - flinging against a dark background. We have another Camera house presentation in September. On Wednesday 27th September. Don t miss it. Page 5 May 2017

6 May Competition Night Our May competition night will be on Wednesday 10th May. Our guest judge is Gary Riley. Like many photographers, one of my earliest memories is experiencing the thrill of using my mother s Box Brownie camera. In high school I developed an interest in aircraft and spent hours riding my pushbike to Mascot (then known as Kingsford Smith) Airport to photograph the many silver birds there and wishing I could fly, before my interests changed to girls, scuba diving and singing in rock bands. Later in life my photography involved recording our family growing up, holidays, a renewed interest in aircraft and then recording construction projects for which I was responsible. On retirement in 2004 I enquired about photographic courses and was directed to local camera clubs. This led to me joining Port Hacking Camera Club, Cronulla Sharks CC and St George LCPS, where I was bitten by the bug and spent hours reading every photo magazine I could get, talking to other members and grilling the visiting judges in order to improve my skills. Now I love the challenge of using the camera as well as the freedom to work in my digital darkroom (computer) and seeing the final result emerge from the printer, but I still recall the thrill of seeing a contact print magically appearing in my bathroom darkroom all those years ago. I have entered a number of national competitions and was pleased to achieve acceptances each time. In 2006/7 I served on the committee of the FCC, leading a sub-committee to review their Objects and Rules and completed the FCC judging course in Since that time I have judged many club competitions, both in person, via mail or the internet including End of Year as well as The Northern Zone and Sutherland Shire National. Currently I am a member of Port Hacking Camera Club and have recently joined a Street Photography Walking Group which has broadened my interests. I appreciate and enjoy all forms of photography however my personal favourites are Macro/Close Up, Nature and Sports/Action Photography. Acting as a photography judge is a wonderful experience as it not only allows me to interact with others with similar interests and share our knowledge, but has caused me to learn by looking at my own work more critically. As a judge, I try to educate by pointing out ways I think a photo might be improved as well as explaining why a particular image appeals to me. I also learn from this process myself and see it as a way of giving back to a system which has taught me so well and given me so much pleasure. Gary Riley. Competition Entry Rules Only current members can submit images. There are 4 categories - Monochrome Prints, Colour Prints, Digitally Projected Images and Theme images. Members can submit a maximum of 2 images in each of the categories and no more than 5 over the four categories For themed images, we will ask you to provide your interpretation of a specific theme. There is a fee of $1 per print to be provided to the Competition Secretary (Robert) on the night Entries in the monochrome and colour categories: Rectangular images must not exceed 41cm x 51cm (16 x 20 ) including any mount or border Square images must not exceed 46cm x 46cm (18 x 18 ) including any mount or border Digitally projected images shall have: Maximum dimensions of 1900 pixels (wide) x 1080 pixels (high) with a suggested resolution of 72dpi, and The image (and file name) saved as a greyscale JPEG or RGB JPEG file with a maximum file size of 2.0 MB The cut-off time to bring your images is 7:35pm on the night. If you are unable to get your images submitted by 7:35pm, you will need to enter them in the next competition instead. There will be no exceptions to this rule. The title and author s name should be recorded on its reverse side. Printed entries need to be mounted and/or over-matted. If mounted, it must be on cardboard or foam core only. Framed prints will not be accepted. For digitally projected images, you must submit them to the Competition Secretary on the Sunday night before - i.e. for this month it's Sunday 10 July They should be submitted by (preferred), or on a USB or compact disc. If submitted by USB or disc, it should be submitted to Robert at the meeting on the 4th Wednesday of the month. They can be submitted via or on a USB or compact disc. The Competition Secretary s address is competitionsecretarymps@gmail.com. Page 6 May 2017

7 May Member Profile The May member profile is one of our life members in Dennis Parker. Dennis will not be known to many of our members at all because he left Campbelltown in But reading his profile you will see that he is a very worthy life member. He was recommended by one of our other life members and our first Member Profile Charlie Cowell. Thanks Charlie for a good choice. Dennis Parker: profile Profile of Life Member Dennis Parker Macarthur Photographic Society Inc (Formerly Campbelltown Camera Club Inc) When first asked if I would like to put something together for the Member Profile in the Cable Release, I asked myself Do I really have a member profile now? As a past and now inactive member, my profile with the club is really just history. So my profile will be more of a summary of the history of my time as an active member, and a little of what I am doing now. Towards the end of 1981 I responded to a notice in the local Campbelltown papers, advertising for members to a newly formed Camera Club. The three guys that were starting it are now all deceased, so I guess that makes me, by virtue of my Life Membership, the longest serving member. I remember the meeting well. It took place in a class room at Sarah Redfern High School at Minto. It was a while before members were accepting of some of my progressive ideas. Consequently, it was the Annual General Meeting of 1982 before they were willing to accept me as a committee member. My progressive ideas (based on previous experiences) involved setting up a proper constitution and competition rules which eventually led to me becoming club Vice President. I was elected Secretary in 1986, a position I held until I left Campbelltown in 1993 for the Far North Coast of NSW, namely Ocean Shores, a small town just north of Brunswick Heads. I have some very proud moments as a member of the Camera Club (now called a Photographic Society). Bear in mind that this was pre digital days. Most, including myself, were using 35mm film, my specialty being slide photography. Among my achievements were: First member to get a Bronze Medal (25 merits) First member to get a Silver Medal (50 Merits) First member to get a Gold Medal (75 merits) First member to get a Platinum Medal (100 merits) I continued to enter competitions even from the Far North Coast for a while, and was surprised when I received a special plaque in the mail stating that I had become the first member to achieve 200 merits. Other proud moments included becoming the clubs first Public Officer after Incorporation; winning the Slide of the Year and Best Outright Image in 1987; and Slide Photographer of the Year in I have included two slides with this profile. The first is the one that won Best Outright Image called Red Bull Dog Ant. One thing that I always remember about that slide is what the judge said. I quote - "The thing I like about this slide is that you can tell that the ant was alive because you can see that its antennae were moving". Page 7 May 2017

8 May Member Profile And the other is an image of a Pelican, an image that became synonymous with my nickname of Pelican Parker as pelicans were my favourite subject. Unfortunately, digitising the slides did not do them justice. By far my proudest moment was in March of I was told that there would be a special guest at our March meeting, but I was coming with a surprise of my own. As I was soon to leave Campbelltown I wanted to do something special, so my plan was to nominate Enid Duncan to become our first Life Member. Little did I know that it was I that was to be the Special Guest. Consequently, Enid and I became the clubs first Life Members together. However, I did manage another surprise in 2001 when I turned up to the clubs 20 th Anniversary Dinner. So what am I doing now? Not very much photography I m afraid, but I did move into the digital age parting with my much loved Nikon FE2 for a Sony DSC-F828 in 2005, then a Sony SLT-A33 DSLR in Currently I own a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000. I now live in an over 50s village at Hope Island called Halcyon Waters (you can google that). I am one of the administrators of the village website, a position I was invited to take on after experienced gained from 12 years as the Webmaster for Garden Clubs of Australia (you can google that too). With my wife Kathy, we run the Village Gardening Group. I also form part of the entertainment within our village by singing and playing the guitar. So you can see there is little time left to do photography. However, I have included a couple of images showing that I can do digital photography, especially with a little help from Photoshop and although my competitive days are over, the things I learned from being competitive remain (I hope). I ll finish up by saying that to be part of starting the Macarthur Photographic Society and seeing how it has grown and changed gives me a thrill. Most, if not all of the current members (with the exception of Charlie Cowell) would not even know me, but I feel an affinity with all of you. Dennis Parker Page 8 May 2017

9 Photography Tips, Reviews And News Bruce Wallace Newsletter Editor This month I will be looking at a software program that has been around for many years. This program is Pro Show Gold, from Photodex. It is currently up to version 8. Here is a link to the company website. It is a slide and video presentation maker. I will be using this program to make my image presentation for the presentation night in May. I have just started using this program and have one slide presentation on YouTube at my YouTube channel The presentation is called Mystical India. From this you can see how a basic Pro Show Gold presentation looks. This is a YouTube demo from Photodex. The program does take a little learning, but I was making a presentation a few hours after I downloaded a trial version. With the trial you cannot publish it because it has a trial plastered across your slides. The trial lasts for 15 days. Price of full version is $69.95US, around $90ish Australian dollars, upgrade is $44.95, Windows users only. Apple Macintosh users have limited usability. They can only subscribe annually at $48US dollars/year, plus many other limitations. Windows users can also subscribe, but why would you? The program features, slideshows from your own slides, your own music or use their music from their music library. Combine photos, video and music in one presentation. It has a Wizard that will make a presentation automatically, just pick a theme. You can change elements in that theme later for individual slides. There are numerous transitional effects between slides. There are numerous special effects for individual slides. Fit the sound track to your presentation, fade in, fade out, start and finish at your control. I am still coming to grips with this feature. You can set the time for each slide individually including the transition, or you can select all slides or a select number of slides to have different presentation times. You can have text and captions on slides or on blank slides with different effects for each if desired. Changing your slides and music is easy at any time. You could output your presentation then decide after looking at it to make a few small changes then it is easy to go back to your original Raw show and edit it, then republish it. You can publish your video, or slide presentation in many different qualities and formats for all sorts of output areas. For TV, presentations as we do at our club, Facebook and many more. This overall is a great program to use. Makes great presentations, has numerous YouTube video tutorials on using the program. I would only buy it if you think you will be making many presentations. The time and money in buying the program then learning how to use it would not be worth it for a few slideshows. (editors opinion). Page 9 May 2017

10 Club Calendar 2017 Date Wednesday 8 th February Wednesday 22 nd February Wednesday 8 th March Wednesday 22 nd March Wednesday 12 th April Wednesday 26 th April Wednesday 10 th May Wednesday 24 th May Wednesday 14 th June Wednesday 28 th June Wednesday 12 th July Wednesday 26 th July Wednesday 9 th August Wednesday 23 rd August Wednesday 13 th September Wednesday 27 th September Wednesday 11 th October Wednesday 25 th October Wednesday 8 th November Wednesday 22 nd November Wednesday December Activity Competition -- Judge Ray Atkinson Presentation Brian Bird, Basics of HDR Photography Competition Alan Hitchens Presentation Lufti Hady, Setting up a Photography Business.. Competition Bob Cook Presentation Macarthur Camera House Competition Gary Riley Presentation Eddie, Evi, Marie, Bruce, Overseas Adventures. Competition -- Russell Field Presentation TBA Competition TBA AGM Competition -- Luciano Vranich Presentation TBA Competition Denis Cale Presentation Macarthur Camera House Competition TBA Presentation -- Len Brown, Sydney International Competition Competition TBA Presentation TBA Top Shot Themed subjects for 2017 MPS program Feb 8 New Years eve/day. March 8 Soft curves. April 12 Minimalist. May 10 Anger. June 14 Lens flare. July 12 Shadows. August 9 Patterns. Sept 13 Street. October 11 Abstract. Nov 8 Rust. All Themed subjects are digital/projected images this year. Page 10 May 2017

11 Committee President Brett Atkins Vice President Peter Sherlock Secretary Heather Marstaeller Treasurer Eddie Lim Office Bearers-Committee Positions Competition Points Secretary Robert Rosee Assistant Points secretary Member Liasion Publicity Officer Assistant Secretary David Williams Vacant Vacant Diane Mulley Social Secretary Jennifer Delaporte Cable Release Editor Bruce Wallace Page 11 May 2017

12 Weblinks MPS Website MPS Flicker page MPS Facebook Page Nik Collection px South Skye Camera Club The Complete Pixel Page 12 May 2017