Monthly Archives: Nov 2015

Printing information

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At the Club meeting on 26th November one or two excellent images were marked down by the judge because of printing problems. Most Musselburgh Camera Club members print their images at home. A lot of them have been doing this for many years. We have new members and others (me included) who have lots of images on file but just can’t get round to setting up their home printer to produce top quality photographic images. We collected the information below at a recent Club meeting. If anyone spots any errors or has any extra information to share please add a comment. Remember to bring along a digital version of your best prints and give to George Todd, our Competition Secretary, for the Club image collection.

Basic information:

Local printers process images saved in the form of .jpeg or .tiff files on some sort of file storage e.g.CD/DVD/memory stick,  or a memory card from your camera. If you’re wanting to print direct from camera don’t forget to take connecting lead to USB port. Some equipment e.g. smartphones can transfer images by Bluetooth. For competitions most Club members print their images in A4 or A3 size. You can also make square, or letterbox  prints but similar scale. See below for size tables.

 

                             International paper sizes
Size mm × mm in × in
A0 841 × 1189 33.1 × 46.8
A1 594 × 841 23.4 × 33.1
A2 420 × 594 16.5 × 23.4
A3 297 × 420 11.7 × 16.5
A4 210 × 297 8.27 × 11.7
A5 148 × 210 5.83 × 8.27

To help the printer, label your CD/DVD/flash drive with your name, make sure you clearly identify the images you want to print, how many copies of each you want and whether you want matt or gloss paper. You should ask to see samples of prints on different sorts of paper as it can make a huge difference to the final result. If you’re not happy with the result of the printing e.g. red or green tinge to colour not apparent on the screen, discuss with the printer and ask their advice. If it’s a processing problem they should redo it for free.  Over time, you will find a source of printing that you like and trust, and which best shows off your work.

Local printers listed by geographical area :

Edinburgh

www.trumpslab.co.uk

Trumps Photolab, 29 South Clerk Street, EH8 9JD (07827 589 527)  (within Newington Stationers) Near to University. Experts on site. Turnaround depends on workload but usually within I day. Trumps have gone out of business ( as at Dec 2015 ).

** UPDATE      I have some updates about printing in Edinburgh:
Trumps Photolab has gone out of business but the guys in Newington Stationers can do inkjet prints which are a bit more expensive.
 I tried www.amimage.co.uk for the  PHOTO ADVICE NIGHT and they did prints with a Fuji frontier which is cheaper. You can send in files to their web page and it was possible to get delivery the same day. I think the quality was OK but I have not calibrated our screens properly so the prints were slightly darker than I had hoped for.
Martin Lunden

www.amimage.co.uk

A+M Imaging, Unit 3, Stewartfield, Newhaven Road EH6 5RQ (0131 553 3548) Bonnington area with free parking.  No personal experience of service but good prices on website and v helpful on phone.

Musselburgh

www.eastern-info.co.uk

Eastern Exhibition and Display, 108 Market Street, Musselburgh EH21 6QA   (0131 653 5700) Next to LIDL, Fisherrow. Mostly do large scale commercial work.

Eskbank

www.southfield-stationers.com

Southfield Stationers, 25 Hardengreen Industrial Estate, Dalkeith EH22 3NX (0131 654 4300)  Commercial printers. Will do small orders. Good price but can be variable quality depending on other workload.

Near to IKEA

www.warehouses.costco.co.uk

Upload images online and collect next day at Costco Edinburgh, Costkea Way, Loanhead EH20 9BY (0131 440 7075) Have to join Costco as individual member. Mike Clark club member recommends. Very helpful on phone.

Online only

www.photobox.co.uk

Very good reviews from customers and recommended by Jennifer Davidson. Prints sent rolled by first class post 1 – 5 working days or can do special or courier delivery.

Don’t forget to give us feedback on your experiences !!

Liz Sowler     liz.sowler@virgin.net

Secretary Musselburgh Camera Club

28/11/15

 

CHANGE OF VENUE

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The Camera Club meeting, due to be held at 7:30pm on Thursday 3rd December  at the Fisherrow Centre, has been moved to Beeslack Camera Club at Beeslack Community High School, Edinburgh Road, Penicuik EH26 0QF   If anyone needs a lift, transport will be available leaving the Fisherrow Centre at 7pm.

Club Meeting 26 November 2015 (Human Portrait Competition)

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This week Steve McGonnell of the Edinburgh Photographic Society judged the MCC Human Portrait print competition. Steve had written a detailed set of notes for each image, and gave each one a comprehensive critique. Distracting backgrounds were a common theme (watch out for background lines which cut through the subject’s head). Plain backgrounds or backgrounds which compliment the subject were preferred. Steve felt that eyes were an important part of a portrait, and the position of the eyes in the frame, the direction of the gaze, the expression in the eyes or the brightness of the eyes were often mentioned. There were some otherwise good images which, unfortunately, suffered from printing faults or had distracting colours. The top image was a beautifully-presented, silky-textured portrait with a great contrasting background called “Jasmine”. The top three images were:

  • Jasmine (Charlie Briggs)
  • Cheeky Face (Jennifer Davidson)
  • Tuyet (“Snow White”) (George Todd)

When the scores were added up, the placings were:

  • 1st Place – Charlie Briggs
  • 2nd Place – Jennifer Davidson
  • 3rd Place – George Todd, Steve Williams, Alan Fitchie, Steven Beard

Thank you to everyone who entered, and well done to Charlie, Jennifer and the other winners.

Our next competition will be the “Coast” set subject competition, which will be judged by Jennifer Davidson on 14th January 2016. The syllabus says that images must be submitted by 10th December, but Jennifer is happy for members to submit their images by 7th January 2016. So we all have the Christmas holidays to capture some more images.

Next week we have a presentation on wildlife photography by Ron McCombe. Ron gave us a presentation last year that was so good that we decided to ask him back. This time his presentation is being held at Beeslack Camera Club in Penicuik. Meet at the Fisherrow Centre at 7pm if you would like a lift. If you have your own transport, go to Beeslack High School, Edinburgh Road, Penicuik, EH26 0QF and aim to be there for 7:30pm. Come along and be inspired.

Day Out Cockenzie Port Seton

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A bitterly cold but sunny November Saturday when 8 club members ( 6 girls + 2 ) met up at 10:30 at Port Seton. After a coffee at the Cafe opposite the Co-op, everyone went out to explore the harbour area. The light was very bright but the sun occasionally clouded over giving better exposures. Lots of opportunities for coastal and abstract images for later competitions.  After about an hour, fingers were frozen so all moved off to the other end of the town and a look round Cockenzie Harbour. Then lunch at 12:30 at the Secret Garden Cafe in Cockenzie House.  Delicious soup and tea/coffee with strudel.  Cockenzie House is a 16th Century building with a large and beautiful garden. It is now a community centre with rooms for hire.  There was a beautiful display of art works on sale in the rooms at the front of the house. Next outing, between Christmas and New Year, will be to see Edinburgh Christmas lights. Watch this space.

Club meeting 19 November 2015 (Before and After)

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In Before and After, Club member Joe Fowler gave a very interesting and helpful talk on how he approaches landscape and sports photography; and buildings and bison. He described how the camera struggles to record light and dark areas accurately and can be helped by the use of an ND (neutral density) grey graduated filter to reduce light from the sky. He showed landscapes of Scotland and talked us through the choices he made when taking the photographs and the Photoshop tools he used to improve them. As a well known cycle nut the next section covered how to get good images of bike racers including shots of the Tour of Britain as it climbed up the the Lammermuir Hills. Motor cycling and extreme sports were next with demonstrations of the use of relatively simple Photoshop techniques to combine elements of several images. The use of brush tools to dodge and burn ( lighten and darken ) areas was a key technique using very low opacity < 10% and a soft brush of varying diameters depending on the area under treatment. A loose Lasso tool with a feathered edge, to select areas for editing, avoids fiddly tedious cutting out of selections. The important point he made was that you learn to use Photoshop by experimenting and finding out why works for you.

 

 

Nature photograph definitions

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Club members enjoy photographing fishes, animals and birds.  If we want to enter these images in important competitions, there are international criteria and definitions of “Nature” and “Wildlife” which are used in Scottish and UK competitions.  Basically they aim to exclude photographs of stuffed animals, and major Photoshop reconstruction of the subject ! A copy of this info will be on the Club notice board too.

 

FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE L’ART PHOTOGRAPHIQUE (FIAP)

Nature Photography Definition

Nature photography is restricted to the use of the photographic process to depict all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archeology, in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and certify its honest presentation. The story telling value of a photograph must be weighed more than the pictorial quality while maintaining high technical quality. Human elements shall not be present, except where those human elements are integral parts of the nature story such as nature subjects, like barn owls or storks, adapted to an environment modified by humans, or where those human elements are in situations depicting natural forces, like hurricanes or tidal waves. Scientific bands, scientific tags or radio collars on wild animals are permissible. Photographs of human created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domestic animals, or mounted specimens are ineligible, as is any form of manipulation that alters the truth of the photographic statement.

No techniques that add, relocate, replace, or remove pictorial elements except by cropping are permitted. Techniques that enhance the presentation of the photograph without changing the nature story or the pictorial content, or without altering the content of the original scene, are permitted including HDR, focus stacking and dodging/burning. Techniques that remove elements added by the camera, such as dust spots, digital noise, and film scratches, are allowed. Stitched images are not permitted. All allowed adjustments must appear natural. Color images can be converted to greyscale monochrome. Infrared images, either direct-captures or derivations, are not allowed.

Images used in Nature Photography competitions may be divided in two classes: Nature and Wildlife.

Images entered in Nature sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above can have landscapes, geologic formations, weather phenomena, and extant organisms as the primary subject matter. This includes images taken with the subjects in controlled conditions, such as zoos, game farms, botanical gardens, aquariums and any enclosure where the subjects are totally dependent on man for food.

Images entered in Wildlife sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above are further defined as one or more extant zoological or botanical organisms free and unrestrained in a natural or adopted habitat. Landscapes, geologic formations, photographs of zoo or game farm animals, or of any extant zoological or botanical species taken under controlled conditions are not eligible in Wildlife sections. Wildlife is not limited to animals, birds and insects. Marine subjects and botanical subjects (including fungi and algae) taken in the wild are suitable wildlife subjects, as are carcasses of extant species.

Wildlife images may be entered in Nature sections of Exhibitions.

 

Night Sky Photography Workshop Royal Observatory Edinburgh 24 November 7PM

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This is for everyone who put their name down for the above. Alistair Peacock from Galashiels Camera Club has organised this and it looks like there will be quite a large and wide ranging attendance – 28 people from 6 different camera clubs throughout Southern Scotland!

Please note the details below and let me know whether or not you are still ok to attend by return email (ken19ud@blueyonder.co.uk). I will liaise with Alistair to confirm our numbers.

Although there is a fair bit of parking at the Observatory, it may be worthwhile organising car sharing. I have listed the people from Musselburgh but I do not guarantee I have not missed anyone. If so drop me an email. Arrange car sharing between yourselves but if anyone is stuck and is coming from the east side of Edinburgh, let me know.

Ken Sharp

Robert Stewart

Steven Beard

Derek Mack

Malcolm and Lorraine Roberts

Mike Clark

Gavin Marshall

Steve Williams

Alan Fitchie

Please see the below from Dr Eric Tittley (our host on the evening). It details how to get there, what to expect and what to bring.

Regards Ken

Hey Alistair!

There is a minor amount of confusion at our end to determine if the venue we will be using is actually available.  All indications are that it is, but those in the know aren’t sure.  I’m still awaiting confirmation but you need a reply sooner. Like, today.

I’m going to go with the venue being available and everything a go from our end for next Tuesday, November 24 at 7pm.  In the worst situation, we move from the rooftop gallery to the lecture theatre which makes no difference to your club.

The plan is to have a brief overview of astrophotography with some compulsory pretty pictures.  Then there will be a brief overview of camera terminology and what it means to astrophotography.  Then we’ll have a “get to know your camera in the dark” session, which will be done indoors.   If weather is agreeable, we will take our cameras outdoors and try what we’ve learned.  If it is just cloudy, we can take photos of the skyline.  If it is raining, we can try some things indoors.

Everyone should bring:

* warm clothes

* a camera

* a lens or two (wide to mid range. Nothing with a focal length longer than 100mm. Faster is better.)

* a tripod. (Small is good for training and reduces folks tripping over it, even though a massive tripod is best in practice).

Stuff that will make life easier:
* a *small* flashlight, preferably with a red filter.
* the manual for their camera

Cheers,
Eric

OH!  I forgot to add what to do on arriving:

The ROE is located:
http://www.roe.ac.uk/ifa/about/location.html

Put EH9 3HJ in your GoogleMaps to get yourselves here.

There is plenty of parking outside the gates.  Enter through the gates and stick to the right, coming through the door that says “Visitors Centre”, up a wee incline. 

We can collect in the Visitor’s Centre before I take you too the venue.  Please have everyone here for 18:45 or so.

Cheers,

Eric

 

 

Club Meeting 12 Nov 2015 (Photography and Creative Retouching)

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What a great evening we had yesterday. Lee Howell enthralled us with video-based presentations showing how he creates the most amazing digital art using Photoshop. Art that is sufficiently innovative that Adobe chose his work to advertise their Creative Cloud! Anyone who missed the evening can see his work on his web site (www.leehowellphotography.com). The videos he showed us are available here (and on YouTube). Lee describes himself as an “image maker” as well as a professional photographer. He uses his photography to build a collection of shots with which he assembles his digital images. Lee uses photographs and Photoshop in the same way an artist uses paint and a paint brush. Models are given elaborate hair pieces made from feathers copied from photographs of birds! Stark African scenes are conjured from plain-looking portraits taken in Edinburgh. The most impressive part of Lee’s work for me was seeing how he made a consistent lighting pattern by carefully dodging and burning, paying careful attention to tiny details.

Lee is inspired by the work of Annie Leibovitz, Romain Laurent and Irwin Olaf. He took up digital image creation as a way of recovering “the one that got away”. If you see the perfect shot in front of you but miss it, remember the moment and digitally recreate the elements that made that shot work. Lee revealed some of the Photoshop techniques that he uses in his work:

  • Photograph a light subject against a black background. If you add this shot as a Photoshop layer and use “screen” blending mode, the black background disappears and only your subject remains. This technique works especially well for smoke.
  • Non destructive dodging and burning: If you add a mid-grey layer above the layer you want to modify and change the blend mode to “soft light”, you can then paint the layer with white to lighten the underlying image or with black to darken the underlying image. (Note: “overlay” and “hard light” blend modes also work but give a harsher effect.)
  • To add a shadow, select your subject and convert the selection into a black shape. Add the shape to a new layer and distort into the shape of a shadow. Change the blend mode to “soft light” and the shape makes the image look darker where the shadow falls. Lee blurs the shape and feathers the edge to make the shadow look more realistic. He builds a better effect by adding several shadow layers.
  • Add a texture to a surface (such as a model’s skin) by applying a new layer in “overlay” mode. This is how a lot of the feathery head-dresses were created.

Photoshop Workshop?

I will be giving a Photoshop presentation on 31st March 2016. If anyone has been inspired by Lee’s work and would like to learn more about Photoshop earlier than then, I would be happy to start a Photoshop workshop on a mutually convenient evening. If you are interested, please let me know.

Musselburgh Riding of the Marches

The Club has been invited to participate in the exhibition of “Musselburgh Life” at Loretto Primary School as part of the 2016 Musselburgh Riding Of The Marches. We need to collect about 40 images connected with Musselburgh or Fisherrow. The display is scheduled for July 2016, but we need to tell the RoM commitee what we intend to display by the end of January. Please look into your image collections, digital or prints, or perhaps be inspired to take some new photographs in and around Musselburgh or Fisherrow. We may display some pictures of Club members in action !

Diary Dates

  • Saturday, 21st November 2016: There will be another “Girls’ Day Out” (open to any member of the club, not just girls) to explore Cockenzie/Port Seton. Tell Liz if you would like to go, or otherwise meet at 10:30am in the lounge of the Wemyss Hotel, opposite the Co-op store in Port Seton.
  • Sunday, 22nd November 2015 around 10am. SPF Digital Image Championship at the Stirling Court Hotel, Stirling.

NEXT WEEK

Joe Fowler has the unenviable task of following on from Lee Howell. Joe will show us how to turn dull and unexciting shots into good images. Joe’s presentations are a must-see for newcomers, or anyone wanting to improve their photography skills.

Competition for Scottish landscape photographer of the year

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Just received this email 6/11/15 !  Some of you might like to enter.

Dear Sir/Madam,

The 2015 Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year Competition is open for entries and I would be grateful if you would please inform your members.

The competition was set up with the aim of promoting and raising the profiles of photographers and showcasing their work in a hard back book as well as displaying their images in exhibitions that tour across Scotland.

Last year, the competition was hailed as a great success with the book selling out in 5 months and many of the exhibitions being extended for much longer than originally planned. Proceeds from the competition go towards prizes and funding exhibitions.The exhibitions were highly praised and have already been booked by the galleries for this years competition.

This year, the competition prize fund has been increased to £14,000 and we have several new awards and sponsors. The competition has secured the backing of major organisations such as Historic Scotland, National Trust for Scotland, Caledonian MacBrayne, VisitScotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and The John Muir Trust.

The competition is open to everyone.

Entry is via the competition website at www.slpoty.co.uk

Closing date for entries is 16th November 2015.

I would be grateful if you would pass this information on to your members.

Kind regards

Stuart Low

Competition Founder

Club Meeting 05 November 2015 (From Amateur to Pro)

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This evening we were entertained by Nadin Dunnigan, who described her journey from from photography student and interested amateur to successful professional, specialising in wedding photography, portraits and advertising shots, while maintaining her interest in photographing landscapes and nature.  Nadin has been inspired by and compared with Michael Kenner, Jill Greenberg and Ray Collins. She prefers to photograph in natural light and uses a technique known as “top shade”, where subjects are photographed just inside a doorway. (I found this video introducing the technique.) She also prefers a shallow depth of field, and normally uses aperture priority mode with the camera set to f2.8 or f4, applying exposure compensation to adjust the exposure. Nadin is an inspiration to those amongst us who don’t like photographing people, and she showed us it is possible to make money from a hobby that you love.

HUMAN PORTRAIT ENTRIES

We have had a disappointing number of entries for the human portrait print competition. Our judge, Steve McGonnell, has said he can accept our prints later than he originally planned, which means we have more time to enter. If you have any portrait prints you would like to enter please let George Todd know, and you can bring them along next week. Any print where the main subject is a person or a group of people is eligible for the human portrait competition. It isn’t restricted to one-on-one portraits.

DIARY DATES

NEXT WEEK

Next week we have a talk on Photography and Creative Retouching by Lee Howell. (Check his web site for some amazing creations.)