Fun, friendship. President s Report. Buy, Swap, Sell Presidents monthly report

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1 October Fun, friendship and Learning President s Report Buy, Swap, Sell Presidents monthly report Hi Everyone, This Friday is the opening/presentation night for the Cherry Festival Exhibition at the Millard Centre starting at 7.30pm. Supper is provided and there is a special guest to present the awards. Our judge this year did a sterling job and her critique afterwards was very honest and interesting. My thanks to the members, who in my absence, stepped up to the plate and got the show on the road. As in previous years we will be open every day until the Sunday following the Cherry Festival and we do need help to oversee the exhibition. If you can help please let us know. An extra session has been added on Friday 30th 6-8pm in conjunction with the evening market. I look forward to seeing everyone on Friday Night Cheers Trevor President: Trevor Faulkes Vice President: Gail Douglas Secretary: John Van Rijswijk Treasurer: John Van Rijswijk Publicity: Narelle Howard Events Organiser: Narelle Howard Shutterbug: Gail Douglas Public Officer: John Van Rijswijk Supper: Moya Van Rijswijk OFFICE BEARERS

2 Results Camera Club Comp A GRADE Open 1st Gail Douglas 2nd Gail Douglas HC Jean Faulkes C Jean Faulkes A GRADE Subject Textures 1st Gail Douglas 2nd Gail Douglas HC Narelle Howard C Narelle Howard JUNIORS Open 1st Miranda Howard 2nd Miranda Howard HC Liam Howard Next meeting is the 12th December. Subject/challenge is Brian Hargraves Memorial One print only. 6 x8 that has not been exhibited/ judged anywhere previously. It will also be awards night. Just a note. Can members please bring a prize for the club night raffle (under $10.00). UPCOMING EVENTS Cherry Festival Opening night is Friday 23rd November Closing date is Sunday 2nd December JUNIORS Subject Textures Miranda Howard Miranda Howard HC Liam Howard LARGE PRINT 1st Narelle Howard 2nd Gail Douglas Please note the change in the club competition: B Grade will be suspended. A Grade only subject/challenge and open class. Meta Data to written on back of photo. Junior and large print remain unchanged. Subject/challenge to be announced at previous meeting and included in Shutterbug. All photos must be taken within one month of comp. Photos must be sole work of entrant. Member must present photo in person or via a sibling only. Monthly comp to be judged/critiqued by guest presenter. Print sizes and presentation to remain unchanged.

3 Photographing Still Life Can Teach You These 3 Things A Post By: Kevin Landwer-Johan Composition Lighting The importance of taking your time Photographing still life, more than most genres, gives you more control. You can control your subject, location, lighting, composition etc. when you make still life pictures. Photographing just about anything else gives you have far less control, or it s much more difficult to control the photo session. Landscape photographers must rely on external factors like the weather and vantage point. Sports photographers are restricted by how close they can get to their subjects. Wildlife photographers are often hampered by their subject s movements. Portrait photographers have to deal with all manner of moods and emotions from their clients. Photographing inanimate objects can happen just about anywhere. A studio space is not necessary. You can use your kitchen and set up on the table. Backyards and public parks can be great locations for outdoor still life photography. Subject matter options are wide open. What do you like looking at? Find something you like it will be more engaging. Small (but not too small) objects are easier to manage. Still life with large items like refrigerators or park benches will be more challenging to work with. You are not restricted to fruit and bunches of flowers. Whatever and where ever you chose, you can improve upon three essential skills by photographing still life.

4 Photographing Still Life Can Teach You These 3 Things (Cont) Composition You have unlimited freedom to place and move your subject material about. This can help you gain a better understanding of composition. Moving your objects around you will see how they relate differently to each other. You can overlap them or choose to position each one so it s independent. Camera position can view your set up from any angle you imagine. Experiment with high and low angles. Watch how this can dramatically affect your composition. Doing this in a situation where you have control and freedom to move about will help you learn to do so other times you are taking photos. Backgrounds can be varied. You can use just the natural surroundings or add in your own backdrop. If the room ambiance is conducive to the images you want to make, use it well. However, if there are distracting elements behind your set up, insert a backdrop of your own. This can be a piece of card or cloth or something else to help enhance your composition. Hopefully, photographing still life will stimulate your imagination. Having the freedom to manipulate your compositions will enhance your photography in general. Lighting Working with inanimate objects is a great opportunity to learn more about lighting. With people, animals and other things that move about, being consistent with lighting can be challenging. Landscapes and architectural photography can have more complex lighting demands. Starting with a simple light set up is good if you are new to photography. The kitchen window if your objects are on the kitchen table. Start making your series of photos and then open the kitchen door to let light in from another direction. Compare your photos and see the changes adding more light makes.

5 Photographing Still Life Can Teach You These 3 Things (Cont) Switching on an artificial light source allows you more control. Use a lamp or flashlight. These allow you to see the effect of the light, unlike using a camera flash. Vary the position of the lights. Lift them higher or drop them down lower. Moving them further away will lessen the amount of light on your objects. Reflectors can be made good use of in still life photography. Even a sheet of white A4 printer paper can be an effective reflector. Try different reflective surfaces of varying sizes and study the difference they have on your scene. Look at the direction of light and shadows. How do they interact when you have more than one light source? By trying different light sources and setups you will develop a better eye to discern light in other situations where you are taking photos. It can help you to know when to add another light source or reflector. Taking Your Time Setting up for a still life photo session somewhere you can leave it a few days or weeks has its benefits. So often people are in too much of a rush to get a photo and move on. Take your time, and work slowly as a painter does. There s no rush. Being able to go away and come back to your arrangement of inanimate objects allows you to see it with fresh eyes the next day or next week. Maybe you will see the relationship between elements differently. The lighting will have changed from morning till afternoon if you are using natural light. You might think of another object you want to add to the scene that will really make the photo. Ideas will come that you had not thought of initially.

6 Photographing Still Life Can Teach You These 3 Things (Cont) Changing lens focal lengths is also good to experiment with. Compare how the objects interact with each other and the background as you view them with different lenses. Setting up outdoors, you can photograph at different times of day and night to see the effects of different light. Does moonlight provide the most interesting lighting for your composition? Or is it best first thing in the morning? Conclusion Find yourself some space. Gather together a few of your most aesthetic things. Take your time to move them around and change the lighting. Think about how the objects relate to each other. Think about the different results you achieve when you change the lighting. If you don t like what you photographed one day, come back another and make some more photos.

7 How to Take Great Nature Photos We cannot command nature except by obeying her. Francis Bacon Whether you re taking a picture of a geranium in your backyard garden or a grizzly bear in the Rocky Mountains, capturing a great photo outdoors means working with Mother Nature, and not trying to impose your photographic will upon her. Photo by Ray Morris. So many factors come into play when taking a nature photograph sun, clouds, wind, rain, sleet or snow and if you re photographing animals in their native habitat, you ve got noise, odours, and movement to deal with. It can get complex, but the enjoyment you ll get by taking nature photography seriously will far outweigh the extra time and effort you put into it. Rather than just clicking a snapshot of your sugar maple in all its fall glory, you ll have a photo you d be proud to hang on your wall as a piece of art. Or, you might even become so good that you ll find yourself selling some of your better photos. After all, everyone loves a great nature photo. It s easy for viewers to put themselves into the picture. Even if they ve never been to the mountains, people enjoy looking at pictures of mountains because it transports them, at least for a brief moment, to a peaceful place. So in order to help you get the most out of the time you spend outdoors with your camera, here are five fundamental tips for taking better nature photos. As a photographer, I ve learned that if you approach your outdoor photography with the right mindset, you re certain to succeed, oftentimes in ways you never expected. Understand the nature of nature. There s an old saying, You can t fight Mother Nature. Plan on working with the elements of the natural environment you photograph. A backyard squirrel might not blink at the sound of your shutter. But a rarely seen black squirrel sitting in the woods 50 miles from the nearest road might run upon hearing the same click. Animals, trees, bushes, grass everything associated with nature functions uniquely in different weather conditions. If you re looking for a money shot, you need to understand the conditions you re working in, and the subject matter you are photographing. I recall walking along a large pond in a forest clearing many years ago. I was looking up for a shot, but saw nothing remarkable. Then I looked down and realized there was a fantastic shot right at my feet. It was of some green algae that had formed in the corner of the pond. It was a beautiful color, and it contrasted nicely with the water. It ended up being one of my most popular shots. Loop Unrolling captured by Samuel John.

8 How to Take Great Nature Photos Be prepared. Study the area you plan on photographing, even if it s your own backyard. Watch how the light plays on your flowers at different times of the day, and under different cloud conditions. Pay attention to the patterns of birds. Animals are creatures of habit, and weather and light is somewhat predictable. The same goes if you plan on venturing out into the wilderness. Get familiar with the local surroundings by talking to locals, watching weather reports on the Internet or TV, and by just taking some time to familiarize yourself with your surroundings. Know your equipment. If you re trying to get a close up shot of a deer in the wild, even if you re using a telephoto lens, turn off your autofocus, auto flash, and motor drive. Get to know your camera settings, from the f-stop and shutter speed to the ISO settings. Experiment at home and in the field. After buying a new camera, I like to take a number of shots just around the house, in a variety of conditions. Spend about an hour or so walking around your home and yard, instruction manual in hand, and try out all the features. Use different exposures and settings. Do this as a refresher from time to time as well. It s worth the effort. Be patient. Natural events happen when they happen. You re not going to rush that beaver out of his watery den any faster. The perfect glint of sunlight playing off your prize rose bushes will not happen any sooner or later than you want it to. Keep your camera at the ready, and don t force the shot. You may arrive five minutes too late for a great shot, but you may be five minutes early for the perfect shot. Spring Skies captured by maf04. Have an outcome in mind, but be ready for the unexpected. If you go out looking for cardinals in the forest, you re likely to find some. So be ready by having a telephoto lens, a tripod if necessary, perhaps a birding book to help with recognition, and something comfortable to sit on. Take food for yourself don t feed the animals! and water. Picture the shot you want in your mind s eye. You ll often get something close. But don t close your mind to other possibilities. The sun may be absolutely perfect at that time of day, and you could get a stunning picture of rays of sunlight piercing the forest canopy. Ansel Adams famous Moonrise over Hernandez was taken while he was driving down a highway. He stopped the car, jumped out, grabbed his camera, took one shot and nailed it because he was ready for the unexpected. Bee Awesome captured by Scott Swigart; ISO 400, f/6.3, 1/400-second exposure.

9 How to Use Exposure Settings Creatively Before pressing the shutter on your camera, you have to make many choices regarding exposure (i.e. aperture, shutter speed, and ISO). Photo by Peter Miller; ISO 1250, f/10.0, 1/250-second exposure. In theory, there are various technically correct exposure settings, but which is the best creative exposure? Have you thought of the validity of your subject before setting the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO? If not then you haven t been taking creative photos. Mathematically there are many correct ways of choosing exposure settings. For instance, let s say your camera s meter reading is telling you that a particular scene has a correct exposure of aperture f/4 and 1/100 shutter speed. Let s assume ISO is set to 200). While a combination of f/4 and 1/100 is one way of getting a correct exposure, so is f/5.6 and 1/50, f/8 and 1/25, f/11 and 1/13, etc. Whenever the aperture stops down (increases in number), the shutter speed gets longer. Knowing that there are many different ways to get a correct exposure is the key to understanding how to take creative photos. Let s say you are in a meadow of flowers. We will discuss two different types of photos and the creative settings to use. The intention of the first photo is to single out one red rose and blur the background. The camera meter is telling you that at f/4, the correct shutter speed to use is 1/200. Like discussed, you could use any combination of aperture and shutter that gives a correct exposure, but for this exercise we want to think creatively and produce a photo based on our intention. Since our goal is to creatively blur the background, we want to choose a low aperture setting (wide opening). By selecting any aperture between f/2.8 and f/5.6, generally speaking we should be able to blur the background. To simplify, let s choose f/2.8. By selecting f/2.8 the correct shutter to use is 1/400. By using the combination of f/2.8 and 1/400, not only did we get a correct exposure but we achieved our creative insight by blurring the background, yet keeping the single rose in focus. Our second example uses a large depth of field. The intention for the second photo is to include the red rose in the foreground as well as the mountain in the background. For this photo we want everything sharply in focus. The camera meter reading is f/4 and 1/200. Although the exposure is mathematically correct, this will not achieve our creative goal. At f/4, the entire background will be blurry.

10 How to Use Exposure Settings Creatively Photo by Highlights6. Therefore, by thinking creatively we know we need to achieve depth of field. We know we need to stop down our camera to an aperture around f/16 to f/22. To simplify, lets choose f/22. At f/22 our shutter speed increases to 1/6. The combination of aperture f/22 and shutter speed 1/6 produced a correct exposure and also achieved our creative goals. Photography is not about creating technically perfect photographs. Technically perfect photographs can be very mundane and are usually boring. By utilizing creativity, we can achieve technically correct photos, and at the same time produce stunning, compelling pictures with our creative vision.