December Meeting

Remember that our next Camera Club meeting with be held on Friday December 2nd at 9:15 AM.

Our meeting will include:

  • slide show of member images from November “Black & White” assignment
  • critique of selected images from the above submissions
  • Marg’s photography hint and joke
  • announcements

The highlight of the meeting will be a presentation by the folks from Henry’s Kanata who will show us some of the latest gear and gadgets – just in time for Christmas 😉

The Mentors will be available before the meeting to help you with any technical or creative questions you have about photography.

Your images from the November assignment must be emailed by noon on Friday November 25th to be included in the slide shows. For details on how to submit photos including formats and titles go to our Galleries page.

The assignment for December is “Best of 2016” and will be displayed at the January 6th meeting.

After the main meeting, we’ll have a get together across the hall to talk photography. Why not grab a coffee and join us.

Photo Swirls

swirl

Ron Pierce submitted this great image of swirled flowers in response to the summer garden assignment. He’s prepared a note for us explaining how it’s done. Inside his note are links to even more detailed instructions. Thanks for sharing Ron.

Out of Africa

leopardAs you may know Catherine Easton (camera club slide show creator) and Jack Coutts are currently wandering around Africa. Catherine sent this update on what they’ve been seeing and doing. Sounds like they’re having a great time!

hippo

 

Julieanne Kost

At the recent Camera Club executive meeting, Brenda Smith mentioned Julieanne Kost as a good source of tips about Lightroom and Photoshop.

She has many free tutorials on her web site where she also lists several courses she has on Lynda.com. See this post for information on how to access the Lynda.com courses for free.

Thanks for sharing the great tip Brenda.

Mario Cerroni

At the latest camera club executive meeting, Sue Carey told us about Carp photographer Mario Cerroni and how he combines photography and poetry.

You can see lots of his excellent images on both his web site and his Facebook page.

If you want to meet Mario and discuss his work, he’ll be at Studio 4 during the Red Trillium Studio tour November 26th and 27th.

Hopefully we’ll be able to persuade him to present at a future meeting.

Dan Jones – How To Evaluate a Photograph

SONY DSC

Thanks again to Dan Jones for his really excellent presentation at our November 4th meeting where he explained the criteria used to judge a “good” photograph and showed us many of his own images illustrating these criteria.Thanks too for the excellent feedback he gave members on their submitted photos from the Autumn assignment.

To see more of Dan’s images take a look at his flickr account.

Here are Dan’s notes:

HOW TO EVALUATE A PHOTOGRAPH

Four Criteria to Use

  1. Technical Excellence.
    Sharpness, exposure, use of depth of field, contrast, use of light.
  2. Composition.
    Use of graphic elements ( colour, line, pattern, texture, shape & form) and many other factors to be reviewed later.
  3. Creativity & Originality.
    Use of “ in camera” and “post processing” techniques to create a unique & original image.
  4. Impact ( the WOW factor).
    This factor gives an image a powerful grip on the viewer’s attention. It can involve the use of special lighting, unusual angle of view, a rare & difficult subject matter to capture, perfect timing of an event, an extreme close up of the subject, high level of technical proficiency etc.

Photography, like other art forms, is very subjective, so judges often evaluate images differently based on their own knowledge, experiences and personal preferences. Hence, as photographers, we need to develop our own style and make images that satisfy our own personal preferences and interests.

Two Major Components of Photo graphy.

As its name suggests, Photography is all about the use of “light” and the “graphic elements” that create a composition.
To evaluate a photo, is to consider how these components interrelate with each other and affect the eye of the viewer.

Light, the Magic Ingredient

The quality of light is determined by its intensity (harsh & direct vs. soft & diffused), direction (frontal, side, & back lighting), colour (temperatures degrees k that vary with time of day & weather for natural light & the source of artificial light).

Different types of light favour particular subject matter.

Factors that Create Strong Compositions

  1. Use of 6 graphic Elements.
  2. Simplicity, “less is more”.
  3. Centre of Interest.
  4. Use of recommended rules of photography.
  5. The Emotional Factor.
  6. Use of juxtaposition.
  7. Use of available elements to frame the subject matter.
  8. Use of strong geometric shapes.
  9. Use of odd numbers, especially #3.
  10. Use off leading lines.
  11. Treatment of backgrounds.
  12. Use of elements to create mood & atmosphere.
  13. Use of known objects to give a sense of scale where needed.
  14. Keeping horizons straight when necessary.
  15. Pleasing arrangement of elements in the frame.
  16. Giving the image a sense of balance.
  17. Leaving enough space around the main subject so it doesn’t feel too constrained.
  18. Avoid “mergence” where unwanted elements enter around the frame of the image.
  19. Create a sense of depth and perspective, so the normally two dimensional image looks three dimensional.
  20. For moving subjects, try to capture the action at the best time.

Hopefully, these tips will help you make better photos and improve your ability to evaluate them afterward.

HAPPY SHOOTING!

SONY DSC

Marg’s Tip for November

Winter Photography Tips

No matter if your traversing glaciers, skiing the slopes, sledding with the kids, or just trying to capture the first snowfall of the season, there are some winter photography basics to keep in mind in order to get some great winter pictures with your digital camera.

winterBefore leaving the house, check your batteries are charged, you have a backpack with you to protect your camera gear, are wearing warm boots and gloves with removable fingers that give you control, while keeping your hands warm.

Baby It’s Cold Outside.

The first thing to consider in the temperature.  Sure you’re all bundled up, but what about your camera?  The batteries in your digital camera do not read well in cold, it reduces their output.  Keep your camera warm by carrying it under your coat, as close to your body’s warmth as possible, and carry extra batteries in a warm place too.  Rotate the batteries to give them a chance to warm up again. NASA recommends Lithium and Nickel metal Hybrid batteries as they operate best in cold.  Compact flash cards function well down to – 20C.  Putting a heat pack inside your gloves helps keep hands warm as does wrapping pipe insulation around the legs of your tripod.

Don’t Be Snow Blind.

Once you get past dealing with the cold, taking winter photographs is a piece of cake.  Right?  Nope, you’ve got all that shiny white stuff to deal with.  If you just “meter the scene”, your camera’s built-in light meter will read all that snow as an 18% grey tone.  The snow will look grey and everything else in the picture darker than the snow will look black.  A general rule of thumb is to compensate for the brightness by opening up one or two stops or overexposing to let in more light.  If your camera has exposure compensation you could try that also. Check your monitor to see what works for you.  NOTE: After checking various photographer’s preferences, this guide can range from increasing 1/3 stop to 2 full stops.

Of course if you are trying to photograph the people in that snow scene and use the above method, you run the risk of overexposing them as well. You’ve got to choose which is the most important part of the subject, the people or the snow.  If it’s people you’re after, then the trick is to get right in their face and take a reading off the light that’s hitting it.  Set your camera accordingly and no matter where you shoot from, you should have the proper exposure. If you can’t get an up close reading,for example, someone zooming by on skis, then take a reading off your hand.

Timing is Everything.

Good lighting is the key and the best time is often early morning or late afternoon That’s especially true in snow.  At a low angle, the sun casts long shadows and adds contrast to your subject that otherwise might not be there.  Keep the sun at a right angle to your shot early or late in the day,and behind you when it’s high in the sky.

While the idea of capturing the pristine field of snow might sound appealing, it might lead to a boring photo.  Look for objects that add colour and contrast to your scene.  Colourful ski clothes and dark  contrasty shadows abound in winter.

Because of the glare it is often difficult to see the image in your LCD display. Attaching a hood to shade the scene helps or fashioning one out of duct tape can also work in a pinch.

The biggest risk to operating your camera equipment in winter is condensation that forms when you bring cold camera or lens into a warm moist room.  If you then take the camera back into the cold the condensed water can freeze. preventing your camera from operating or worse (it can cause permanent damage).  To reduce the possibility of condensation, place your camera equipment into a plastic bag, push out most of the air and seal the bag before bringing in into a warm room.   Let the camera gear acclimate to room temperature slowly over several hours before opening the bag.  NOTE: Another photographer pops out the memory card and puts a clean white towel over everything, as all the condensation will form on the towel, and leaves the camera gear to return to room temperature.   When he is in and out of his vehicle he keeps the towel on the gear when it is out of the bag, in the vehicle.

Winter is a time when shape and tone in a landscape is often exaggerated and this can make for some graphic looking photos. In winter, nature provides us with a gift of hoar frost which can cover fences, grass and trees in ice crystals.  Other places to look for ice formations are around the edge of creeks, waterfalls, ponds and lakes.

Marg Jackman