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.
Starting Noveber 17th, Time Magazine is publishing what they feel are the 100 Most Influential Images of All Time. While this may turn out to be more of an American history lesson than examples of great photography, it certainly should be interesting.
This video hints at what we’ll be seeing.
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:
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.
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.
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.
Hopefully, these tips will help you make better photos and improve your ability to evaluate them afterward.
HAPPY SHOOTING!
The galleries of member photos are now online and can be found on the Galleries page of the web site or by clicking on the images below:
Boy and Butterfly by Ron Pierce
Winning Team by Anne Jones
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.
Before 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.
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.
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.
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
If you’re looking for software to process and display your images, this article from Petapixel lists 148 Photo Editing Tools and Apps for mac, Windows, iOS, Android and the web in the following categories:
Some are free; some must be purchased.
Our November Camera Club meeting with be held next Friday November 4th at 9:15 AM.
Our meeting will include:
Our feature speaker will be Dan Jones. For more details, please see this earlier blog post.
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 September shootouts and assignment should have been emailed by noon on Friday September 28th 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 November is “Black and White” and will be displayed at the December 4th 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.
At the monthly meeting to be held on November 4th, Frank Knor will introduce Dan Jones, our featured speaker.
Dan has been a member of the Camera Club of Ottawa for 19 years. During this time he has become a master of photography, and won many awards for both prints and slides. Over the past several years he has had the opportunity to serve as a judge in many photo competitions, and has done critiquing for the club’s members to help them improve the quality of their images.
Over the past 22 years, Dan has been photographing as a hobby and as a part-time profession. He has sold his images to stock agencies and publishers, one of which chose him as their photographer for the Ottawa calendar. Dan’s latest photography endeavour has been to produce his own giclée prints (It is a process that uses a 12 colour ink jet printer, acid free papers, and pigment based archival inks. This process insures that your prints will never degrade or yellow over time and allows a better longevity. Giclée printing allows the artist to provide a quality product for their customers that will never fade.) Dan’s work has been on display in many art galleries in Ottawa and southern Ontario.
Dan is passionate about his photography and enjoys sharing his work with others who share his passion.
Join us on the 4th for what will be a very interesting presentation.
Don’t miss this 10 minute interview with Ansel Adams’ son Michael about his father’s technique and work schedule, discipline and education.
Pay particular attention when, at 2:49, Michael explains how Ansel Adams retouched one of his most famous images (Winter Sunrise Sierra Nevada) to get the look he wanted, not what he actually photographed.
Kanata Seniors' Centre Camera Club 