October Meeting Notes

October 2011

Before I start I just wanted to point out that on Monday 10^th October it's 3 years since our first meeting, and I am so impressed with where we have gone in that time, I am very proud of your images.......

Welcome to this months meeting where I wanted to demonstrate a couple of software tweaks to have fun with,

The first is Tilt Shift (and actually the last, my HDR effort failed, the free software was absolutely rubbish!! So what is Tilt Shift?

Its a way of faking miniatures, ie making something that’s large in real life seem tiny,

So how does it work? It works by fooling our minds into think something must be small, which in some cases the fooling part is very easy. No but really the way it works is a very small area in focus, with the other areas front and, maybe back, out of focus.

It's very easy to do using the free software listed on this sheet, so have a bit of fun and maybe next year we could maybe include in a competition?

If you have any suggestions or ideas for meetings let me or Paul know, also if anybody wants to host an evening, talking about your favourite images or anything please let us know, it would be more fun than listening to my dulsed tones.

We also have our processing test I see some of you have already said about where you want to process, if you can upload any images that you think may be suitable to flickr and add to our group with the TAG ptest then we can get this going.

Can you please start thinking about ideas for next years competitions.

Lastly if you couldn't hear the video, I have stupidly uploaded it to youtube link below.

Oh and you can get all this info from our Blog, once again link below.

Tilt Shift Links

My Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsF4NGIbWg4

Tilt Shift Generator Software

http://www.pcworld.com/article/171047/use_a_tiltshift_image_editor_to_simulate_miniatures.html

This article has links to the web version, Adobe Air and the downloadable version as used in demo.

Picasa

http://picasa.google.com/

Photoshop Tutorial

http://www.tiltshiftphotography.net/photoshop-tutorial.php

Processing Test

Guys,

As you may be aware we have been discussing about doing a test to see the difference in quality between different processors.

So now's the time to get involved, What we'd like you to do is upload an image you think would be suitable, we want lots of different 

styles, shades colours etc.

Just upload to flickr with the tag ptask and add to our group.

Me and Paul will then select a few of them (5 i think should do)

Then on the arts flickr page just add a comment to the Processing Test discussion and tell us where you will get the images developed (7 by 5),

please don't duplicate, we want as many different companies to compare.

I'll chat more about at the meeting,

Oh and remember the cutoff for images for this months landscape comp is a week today, 30th October, that's also the date for the flickr comp,,,

Good Luck

--
Cheers

Dean 

Meeting Notes September 2011

Welcome to this months notes,

To start I would like to invite you to join me a the Worldwide Photowalk,
It takes place on 1st October from around 12 till 2 or 3 we shall see.


You can sign up here
Photo walk Norwich

Next up the web has some great sites for learning and getting inspiration from here's a few of my fav,,

Mentioned Links
Photoshop Express

National Geographic

Duck Duck Go Search Engine

Others Links

Chase Jarvis - A Very Cool Self Taught Photographer

Digital pro talk David Ziser wedding

Photo answers - a UK site from a magazine

Links end

Videos
Some of these sites also do great tutorials here's a couple to get you going,
An easy way to find videos about photography is YouTube and Vimeo.

Demo'd Video links

Rick Salmons Top Ten Tips

Photo walk with Thomas hawk

Other Places/Links

Twit.tv - my fav tech shows, this is there photography show

Kelby TV shows
You may not realize but these online shows are extremely professionally produced. From Kelby a good general one is DTown about general photography.

But to be honest there are loads of videos online to help with your photography, oh and if you find one why not let the other guys know.

Lastly here's the links for the picassa one click uploader,

First download the uploader software

Flickr uploader

Once complete install and run,

Then sign in with you flickr account and allow the app to access your account.

Next download the picassa2flickr button,

Picassa2flickr

Follow the instructions and you are done,

Oh and lastly here's the dates for the open comp

Sunday 27th November lunchtime Images to be put up. Volunteers required, if you can't come and help out please have you images in by Friday 25th

Saturday 3rd December lunchtime images moved for party (tbc might have to be the firday?)

Sunday 4th December lunchtime images back up again (volunteers please won't need to many hopefully)

Thursday 8th December Voting closes (Volunteers for voting count please)

Friday 9th December final meeting and presentation of open winner and photographer of the year.

Cheers
Dean

Get Creative

Guys,

Yes I been a bit on the quiet side, but here's a little update and some info from last months meeting,,,,,

If you were at the meeting you will know that I feel you really have grasped the rules and idea of the comp's

and now i want you to start thinking about breaking some, not all the time but, be creative,

Also if you see an image entered into the comp's that maybe break the rules decide first is it creatively breaking the rules?

Oh and me and Paul will be giving out prizes for images we feel are pushing boundaries, even if you don't win the monthly comp

Here's a couple of links to give some ideas,

First up is photographer Chase Jarvis, he is one of my favorite photographers self taught and not afraid to experiment,

http://www.chasejarvis.com/#s=2&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&p=15&a=0&at=0

This really breaks the rules of thirds but, It works!

http://www.chasejarvis.com/#s=9&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&p=14&a=0&at=0

This one so out of focus but it has something so creative about it.

http://andreaandmike.federerphotography.com/Engagement/slides/AndreaAndMike_Engagement-027.jpg

This one chop of the gents head but he's not the subject and once again it works,

Have a search on the web and you find loads of info on breaking the rules, so once you've captured the perfect image of you subject trying a few creative ones,

They won't all work but have fun....

Now onto our photographer of the year comp, the current positions are below and trust me it's so so close :-)

Name	Position
Roy Hubbard	= 1st
Martin Jones	= 1st
Mike Nevard	2nd
Paul Macro	=3rd
Pauline Nevard	=3rd
Jeremy Smith	4th
Patrick Baxter	5th
Pete Boddy	6th
Sandy	7th
Helen Watkins	=8th
Bethany Macro	=8th
Martin Laurie	=8th
N Hunt	=9th
Clive Hember	=9th
Amanda Gabrielsen	=9th
Bob O’Hara	=9th
N Gooch	=10th
John Rushmer	=10th

Some lovely late Spring colour for you all

June 2011 Looking Up Images

Here's my view on this months very good set of images,

If you have any comments or views please feel free to post your comments.

at the end i will post this months winners,

Image 1- P Boddy
Nicely framed by trees but just something missing

Image 2- M Laurie
Nice image good leading lines

Image 3- M Jones
Nice well framed image but roof line a bit on the slant, but still well done.

Image 4- Amanda
Good image with the flowers in foreground gives a real feeling of depth,
but where's the happy couple?

Image 5- Clive Hember
Just a bit plain no real feeling to the image.

Image 6- Bob Young
Another tree image but this time with the shadows seems a bit more powerful.

Image 7- Bethany Macro
Good image well framed lovely shadows making a nice image.

Image 8- P Baxter
Not sure about being in truth a looking up, it seems you are already up there.

Image 9- M Nevard
Once again you seem on the same level as the seagull but its well framed and nice shadows.

Image 10- J Smith
Very good interpretation of the subject, simple but very effective.

Image 11- P Macro
Nice poppy image well framed.

Image 12- R Hubbard
Nice image, very nice but White balance!! Seems all a bit to blue.

Image 13- S Barber
Good image just a shame about the right hand mans back just being cut of but the mystery about what the are seeing just out of frame makes it good.

Image 14- H Watkins
Nice and powerful image, with strong lines, very good. A Fav of mine.

Image 15- R Hubbard
A out of the box image well thought out but not exactly the subject.

Image 16- P Nevard
Not a bad image, but a bit plain.

Image 17- B O'hara
Good image but seems like there's something missing.

Image 18- P Nevard
Cleaver little image simple but with some lovely charm, great tones.

Image 19- B O'Hara
Good image, but the bottom of lights just cut off.

Image 20- P Baxter
Nice image, not really looking up, and also no sense of scale, is the shell big.

Image 21- J Smith
Powerful image and the man in the yellow tee shirt i feel really makes this image. Well Done

Image 22- Clive Hember
Now i am really confused looking up but surely its looking down or maybe its
cleaver, not sure.

Image 23- N Eaton
Good image well framed with some nice lights and darks, Well Done

Image 24- M Jones
Good image with lots of lines, good shades and tones.

Image 25- Amanda
good sky but needs something more.

Image 26- H Watkins
Not really looking up, bit plain.

Image 27- M Nevard
Nicely framed powerful image.

Image 28- S Baxter
Not exactly looking up and top of one of the towers cut off

Image 29- Pete Boddy
Nice image with a little bit of wonder, good use of DOF.

Image 30- B Young
Nice image with some nice lines framing the image, drawing you in and around the image.

Image 31- N Eaton
One of my fav's the cold grey makes this seem like "1984" and big brother is watching and listening, Very well done.

Image 32- M Laurie
Good images with lots of lines and some nice tones, Good Image.

So to this months winners
1st 12 Roy Hubbard & 21 Jerry Smith
2nd 10 Jerry Smith
3rd 18 Pauline Nevard
4th 4 Amanda Gabrielsen & 15 Roy Hubbard
5th 24 Martin Jones

Well Done
Dean

Mini comp winners

Well done to all for the images of our models, but I hope you agree the 3 winners were very good, you can view all the entries at next months meeting if you wish, but here are the winners, well done to Patrick, Paul and Martin L.....

Sunset Photography

Sunsets

Now lets split this guide into 3 sections, for easy reading, the first is for both compact & SLR users, the second for compact cameras and lastly for bridge/SLR users.

1
So to start a warning, do not look directly at the sun with your camera, a strong sun can damage your eyes and possibly break your camera. Also don’t bring your camera from a warm environment to a cold one do it slowly.

Composition- Guys you should try and compose your shot with the sun on one side of your image, you can try a central shot but i advise keeping to one side. Now this is where a tripod can come in handy, with a tripod you can get you shot composed in advance and it also allows us to use long exposures as the sun dips.

White Balance- Now for each of you guys there is different advice you can set the white balance to auto (of course it doesn’t really matter if you shoot in RAW). But why not try different settings, a flash white balance will make you image a warm red, experiment.

Exposure- This can be tricky as you camera can over expose to balance the picture, for SLR user try using spot metering and take a reading of the sky (not the sun). Or for you compact players try point your camera up at the sky, press and hold the shutter button and recompose. Or why not try telling you camera you are taking a sunset image, using one of your program modes. If you are still struggling use exposure compensation to bring it down a stop or 2.

Focus- Focus in low light can confuse cameras my advice is set you focus to manual if possible and use infinity. And once again setting your mode to sunset will probably depending on camera do that.

Aperture- My advice is to use a large aperture (a small F-stop) this will help in a number of ways, first it will let more light in so you will have faster shutter speeds, secondly it can make the sun look like a star. Compact user try the sunset mode, it should do the same.

Focal Length- Or if you like zoom, A short focal length will give a wide angle and make the sun seem small, you will get more of the scene and capture a nice gradient from sunset to night. Or you can zoom in to great more emphasis on the sun and it will appear as a big disk, but you will have less of the sky involved.

Please be aware of what shutter speeds you can hand hold to-
The focal length you choose gives you the min hand hold speeds, so if at 50mm min shutter speed would be 1/50sec, 200mm would be 1/200 sec. Compact users it not so easy, start with the wide focal length which should be on the front of your camera, then for each 1x zoom add 50mm, or easier if you know the equivalent you camera has ie 28-300mm you can judge where you are in steps.

But most of all experiment and have fun!!!





2
Compact User Tips
Use part of the sky for metering, press and hold shutter button and recompose.
White Balance- Try auto to start, but maybe try daylight or flash.
Try to take different images zoom right in and out wide.
And of course make use of the camera’s scene modes, they do help!!

3
SLR/Bridge Users
White Balance- Ideally shoot in raw you can then convert and experiment post shoot, but even in raw why not try daylight, auto or flash. Not shooting in raw you need to get it right in camera.
Exposure- Use spot metering if available if not try using the compact method.
Focal Length- My advice is to decide before what you want to achieve, you don’t want to be frantically changing lenses at the last minute. A good zoom lens could be a good option say 70-300mm, or a nice 28mm wide angle lens.
Aperture- Large aperture.
Focus- Focus manually to infinity, then you won’t miss that shot as you camera search for focus, remember cameras use contrast find find focus and in low light the ain’t much.

Last Point- I think from the last meeting it was evident that people are not sure of how to change settings on your camera. My advice is to practice changing settings in the comfort and light of your own home, so when your out in the field you can basically do it with you eyes shut.

Taking photos should be fun, not confusing.

Below are a few things I think are important.

Using and changing aperture priority/shutter priority.
Changing ISO
Changing White Balance
Changing from one scene mode to another (compacts)
Exposure compensation
Exposure lock
Metering Mode
Focal Point Selection

Oh and just to let you know there will be a fun practical quiz later in the season, so the quicker you can change the settings the better. There will be prizes!!! Not big ones though :-)

Cheers
Dean

Photoshoot

Well Done to all who entered images from our model shoot.

I still have people asking about our nude session, he he he.

With 89 images entered and some very good ones,, Update We now have 90 Martin L late again :-)

Hope you all enjoyed cu next Friday hopefully

Cheers
Dean

How To Upload Flickr Images

Some of you have been struggling to get images onto Flickr so here's a quick guide.

First log on to Flickr on the home page you will see a box titled "Upload Photos and Videos"

From There Select "Choose Photos and videos", Locate the images on your computer (Use the Shift key + Click to select images that are together OR hold the Ctrl key and click on the images you want and click)
Once done Click Open.

Then Click Upload Photos & Videos Box.

Once uploaded go to County Arts Group and Click Add Photos and that you done...

Hope this helps any problems just email me.

Cheers
Dean

DSCF0271this looks like an old tug boat

DSCF0271this looks like an old tug boat, a photo by helen sex kitten on Flickr.

County Arts Photo Club: Welcome

County Arts Photo Club: Welcome: "Hey Guys, Welcome to our blog, don't be afraid to post something give it a go. If you mess up your post let me know and I can Fix it. As ..."

hazy photo's

Hi Dean Have joined the blog but don't know if I am doing right. I told you most of my photo's were blurred, well I found a use for one of them. Ask Pat to see his birthday card!!

Welcome

Hey Guys,

Welcome to our blog, don't be afraid to post something give it a go.

If you mess up your post let me know and I can Fix it.

As I said you can also add photos and the first image of the blog is last month egg winner Martin Jones well done mate


I'm sure you will all agree that it's a lovely clean image with some excellent lighting.

So get posting your images, ideas, events or well anything to do with photography,

Cheers
Dean