Author Archives: stevenmbeard

Unknown's avatar

About stevenmbeard

I am the chair of Musselburgh Camera Club, and also a software engineer at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh.

11 Dec 2025 (Eddie Telford: Remember Photography is Fun – Part 2)

Posted on by
Reply

This week Eddie Telford returned to Musselburgh Camera Club to give us another custom talk. When he last spoke to us back in April 2024 the custom themes were “Remember Photography is Fun” and “Around the World in 80 Images”. This time he resumed the “Remember Photography is Fun” theme and added some advice on the theme of “From Beginner to Advanced”. Eddie began by telling us not to worry about competitions and scores. The main reason to take up photography is to have fun. Eddie showed us some examples of the joke photographs he had made: for example a photograph of someone slumped over a chair mimicking a yoga āsana, or showing the mischief at home that children got up to during the Covid pandemic. The “Nessie” toy (who likes whisky and now has his own passport) features in many of Eddie’s fun travel photographs.

Eddie described his recent experience photographing the Women’s Open Golf Championship at Dundonald Links. He sets his camera to silent mode and takes his photos from a distance with a long lens (to avoid disturbing the players) and tries to take one shot just at the moment the ball is struck. If he is lucky, the ball will still be in the shot. Eddie also likes bunker shots because the sand can fly into some dramatic shapes. Besides the action shots, Eddie also captures portraits of the players, first when they are concentrating on their shot or posing with their trophy, and then a few minutes later when they have relaxed. The relaxed portraits looks more natural. Eddie also showed us some images he captured at a youth competition organised by Bowls Scotland. The story begins with drone images showing the initial setup, followed by some action shots, this time captured at the moment when the player releases the ball.

Eddie is a member of Ayr Photographic Society and often supplies images to Ayrshire Magazine. Eddie was keen to point out that Ayr Photographic Society won the SPF Digital Championship this year for the first time in 35 years! He described two fashion photoshoots he made for the magazine: one was with the 2024 Miss Scotland, shot on the Ayrshire sea front, and the other was a shoot with the winner of Miss Great Britain at Turnberry. There was also a photoshoot covering the 50th anniversary of the Women’s Institute. Eddie was surprised at the images chosen by the magazine, but they wanted images that emphasised the characteristics (such as the jewellery or a particular look) featured in their articles. Eddie prefers natural-looking shots where the model looks relaxed. Magazines also like images that have a lot of empty space where they can add titles. Eddie also showed us how photographers and artists can help each other. He has collaborated with local artist, Rona Mcseveny, who converted Eddie’s photograph of Ayr Town Hall into an artwork which became the Lord Provost’s official Christmas Card.

Eddie showed us an audio-visual he made to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day in Ayr, including the “Field of Heroes” art exhibition. Eddie finished with an audio-visual advertising the spectacular scenery of Dunure, which was used to raise money for Dynamic Dunure, a local charity. We finished the night with a chat with Eddie over tea and biscuits. Thank you Eddie for a another great presentation. We look forward to your next visit.

Next week we have our Christmas night out at the Lido restaurant in Musselburgh. Our table is booked from 7pm on Thursday, 19th December 2025. See you there.

04 December 2025 (Black and White Print Competition)

Posted on by
Reply

Our Black and White print competition was judged on 4th December 2025 by Malcolm Lind from Blairgowrie. Malcolm, a former school teacher with an interest in photography, history and archaeology, explained that he has been taking photographs since he was 3 years old. His first photograph was of his father looming over him trying to explain how to hold the camera steady. He joined Perth Photographic Society in 1999 and spent some time as the club president. Malcolm explained that he is not going to tell us how to take photographs. Each print will be judged on how well it makes an impression and tells a story.

42 prints had been entered by 14 members. Unfortunately, a folder containing 21 of the prints had been missed, so only the first 21 prints were presented on the night. However, presenting only 21 prints allowed Malcolm to go into great detail. Malcolm felt that the title of a print was very important, as it revealed what the photographer was trying to achieve. Being a historian, Malcolm recognised some of the scenes and told the story of the subjects being photographed. For example, the cross at North Berwick is a memorial to Catherine Watson, who lost her life while rescuing children in a storm; and Durham Cathedral is placed at a strategic bend on the River Wear. John Fowler’s “Last Look” brought back memories of the demolition of Cockenzie Power Station. Malcolm enjoyed the historical photographs from Beamish Museum, as the trams and steam engines gave him a feeling of nostalgia. There were a number of costumed portraits that were judged on the consistency of their story. Mike Clark’s portrait of a soldier demonstrated the classic “1000 yard stare” of someone who was traumatised and exhausted. Some of the other portraits contained anachronisms. Why was this soldier in an 18th century costume also wearing trainers and a watch chain, for example? You could get away with these inconsistencies if the title and composition reveals that the intended effect is cosplay, steam punk, or a joke. Carol Edmond’s Beetlejuice portrait had an iWatch, but the facial expression and and pose showed that this was unabashed cosplay. Malcolm liked prints where the photographer had gone the extra mile to show something unusual, and this was reflected in the scores. A few days later, Malcolm sent us the scores for the remaining 21 images, and when the final scores were added the final result was (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (49 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
  • 4th place (50 points)
    • John Fowler
    • Derek Muller
    • Melanie Gallacher
  • 3rd place (52 points)
    • Steven Beard
  • 2nd place (53 points)
    • Mike Clark
  • 1st place (54 points)
    • George Todd

The top images were:

  • Finger Tree (Steven Beard) – 20 points
  • Breaking the Rapids (George Todd) – 19 points
  • Exmoor Pony (Mike Clark) – 19 points
  • Last Look (John Fowler) – 18 points
  • Storm Riders (George Todd) – 18 points

But that short list doesn’t reflect the overall quality of the images submitted. 11 images were good enough to score 17 points. Well done to George for winning, and to Mike and Steven for achieving 2nd and 3rd places by just 1 point behind. Thank you to Malcolm Lind for judging the competition and for entertaining us with his critique. Malcolm has sent us his critique for the 21 images that we didn’t see, which I’ll bring along this Thursday.

  • If you have 3 mounted prints to enter for our Human Portrait Print competition, please bring them along on Thursday and give them to George Todd. Please also email a JPEG version of your 3 images to georgetodd1957@me.com.

27 November 2025 (Jean Manson: Realm of the Tiger)

Posted on by
Reply

This week we welcomed back Jean Manson to the club to tell us more about her passion for wildlife conservation through the medium of photography. You can see some of Jean’s work in her gallery site and her Zoological Photographic Club page:

https://www.jeanmanson.gallery/browse/

https://zpc-naturefolio.weebly.com/jean-manson.html

Last time, Jean spoke to us about the wildlife in Alaska in “A Fragile Wilderness”, where she had remarked on the sparseness of the human population. This time, we learned about her recent visits to India, where the human population is much denser but there are still national parks devoted to preserving the natural wildlife. In 1973 the Indian government initiated Project Tiger, which set up wildlife reserves to protect the endangered Bengal tiger. Due to the success of that project, India now has the largest tiger population in the world. Jean visited two of those wildlife reserves:

Jean explained how her guides would track the tigers by looking for pugmarks, scratches and tell-tale alarm calls from other animals. She explained how tigers and leopards are in competition with each other, so you tend not to see both at the same time. During her visits she had seen more leopards in Satpura and more tigers in Bandhavgarh. She showed us photographs not only of the majestic tiger and leopard, but of birds, elephants, chital deer, monkeys, giant squirrel and a very rare grey wolf. Jean brought some of the prints and display boards from her recent exhibition at the Biggar Little Festival, and we finished the evening chatting and browsing through the prints. Thank you Jean for a very entertaining and enlightening evening.

  • This Thursday, 4th December, we have our Black and White print competition, judged by Malcolm Lind.
  • It’s also time to prepare entries for the Human Portrait print competition. The hand-in date is 11th December.

24 November 2025 (4 Way Inter-Club Competition)

Posted on by
Reply

Our annual 4-way interclub competition took place on Monday, 24th November 2025. Musselburgh Camera Club members joined members from Kirkcaldy Photographic Society and Stirling and District Camera Club to visit Edinburgh Photographic Society at their premises in Great King Street in Edinburgh. Edinburgh had laid on a feast of drinks, sandwiches and cakes. The competition was judged by Ricki O’Niell, an internationally acclaimed artist and photographer from Dundee. Ricki had a train to catch, so the competition whizzed by at a faster pace than usual.

Each club had submitted 15 digital images, making a grand total of 60 images. This year we were up against several images that had scored highly in the 2025 SPF Digital Championship, so the competition was tough. Edinburgh’s first image called “Apotheosis” got them onto a good start by getting 19 points. Kirkcaldy followed with a lovely landscape called “Break in the Rain at Tiumpan Head” which scored 17. Musselburgh’s first image was “Barn Own” by Derek Muller, which was awarded 16 points. The disappointing trend continued when of our most dramatic image, George Todd’s “Quad Launch”, only scored 15 because it didn’t look realistic. Most of our images achieved reasonable average scores, but we had fewer top images than the other clubs, and that made a difference. We ended up in last place for the second successive year with the final scores:

  • 1st place equal: Edinburgh Photographic Society, 257 points.
  • 1st place equal: Kirkcaldy Photographic Society, 257 points.
  • 3rd place: Stirling and District Camera Club, 254 points.
  • 4th place: Musselburgh Camera Club, 246 points.

The top scoring images in the competition were:

  • Root Cellar Delights (Stirling) – 20 points.
  • Well-timed Duck (Kirkcaldy) – 20 points.

Our top images were:

  • Frosted Whiskers (George Todd) – 19 points.
  • Proud Woodpecker (Malcolm Roberts) – 18 points.
  • Strength Against the Current (George Todd) – 18 points.
  • Dave, Going His Own Way (Derek Muller) – 18 points.

The early finish gave us more time to chat in Edinburgh’s lovely premises. Well done to George, Malcolm and Derek for holding up against such tough competition. It looks like we need to try harder next year.

20 November 2025 (Soft Focus and Double Exposure Workshop)

Posted on by
Reply

We spent the club meeting on 20th November learning some techniques that we could try on our Saturday photoshoot at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh. We tried two different techniques:

1) Double Exposures

This technique combines two or more exposures together to create a surprising result. Try “double exposure photography examples” as a Google search to see some example images. Common examples include portraits blended with natural or architectural silhouettes, or multiple poses blended together. Exposures can be combined in-camera, or they can be captured separately and blended later using software such as Adobe Photoshop. The following YouTube videos show how to set up a Canon camera:

Ask David Bergman: A Step-by-Step Guide for In-Camera Multiple Exposures

Eric Floberg: How to Shoot a DOUBLE EXPOSURE In-Camera [2023]

If you explore the “shooting menu”, you’ll find Nikon cameras have a similar setup. We discovered that all our cameras had slightly different ways of setting up double exposures, and the newer cameras had more options. If your camera doesn’t have a multiple exposure option, you can still take single exposures and blend them in Photoshop. We tried a few experiments inspired by Leonardo de Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.

2) Soft Focus Techniques

Hans van der Boom had given the club a talk on improving flower photograph using soft focus techniques back in April 2024. Bob Daalder also describes how he uses soft focus techniques in macro photography in the following blog:

Macro Photography: Discover the Little World with Bob Daalder

We explored the following soft focus techniques:

  • Using a wide aperture to blur the background.
  • Making a double exposure (as described above) but combining an in-focus image of a flower with an out of focus image.
  • Using coloured cellophane to mask off an area you want to be out of focus.
  • Using an out of focus image of a crinkled piece of Aluminium foil to create some foreground bokeh.

We discovered that both techniques need a lot of practice to get right, but it is fun to experiment. We came away from our Botanics photoshoot with lots of weird and wonderful images.

06 November 2025 (Colour Print Competition)

Posted on by
Reply

This week we welcomed Dougie Allan, secretary and webmaster for Penicuik Photography Club, to judge our Colour Print competition. On his last visit Dougie had given us a talk on drone photography, and he is now experimenting with astrophotography. You can see some of Dougie’s work in his Penicuik Photography Club gallery. Fortunately, he managed to avoid the traffic jam outside Musselburgh that had held up some members.

56 prints had been entered by 19 members. Dougie said that it was tricky to judge a competition where there was one category for both beginners and advanced photographers. A few mounts had been spoiled by blobs of glue, but this didn’t affect their marks. He commented on the lighting, sharpness and composition of each print. Some lovely portrait prints were a little dark and could be improved with extra lighting, especially a light to separate the model’s dark hair from a dark background. Dougie preferred candid shots where the people shown appear to be unaware of the photographer. There were also a few wildlife shots that were a little too dark to show detail in dark areas. It isn’t possible to use a flash with these shots, but Dougie suggested a slightly longer exposure and some dodging and burning to make the final corrections. Some of the prints were a little too tight in the frame and others had areas of blank space that could have been cropped out. Dougie recommended shooting a slightly wider angle than you need, which gives you the opportunity to crop the image before printing and include enough space around the edges. Dougie liked several of the prints, but it was small differences in sharpness and depth of field that separated the top marks. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (50 points)
    • Carol Edmond.
  • 4th place (51 points)
    • Joe Fowler
    • Elaine Gilroy
  • 3rd place (52 points)
    • Mike Clark
    • Edward Robertson
    • Jennifer Davidson
    • Nicola Cawthorne
  • 2nd place (55 points)
    • Derek Muller
  • 1st place (58 points)
    • George Todd

The top images were:

  • Quad Launch (George Todd) – 20 points
  • Between the Poles (George Todd) – 20 points
  • No 1 Out the Bend  (Derek Muller) – 19 points
  • Running Against the Clock (Derek Muller) – 19 points
  • Dockland (Joe Fowler) – 18 points
  • Mountain Hare Close-Up (George Todd) – 18 points
  • Autumn at the Hermitage (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • Exotic Frog (Edward Robertson) – 18 points
  • Me and my Sax (Elaine Gilroy) – 18 points
  • Brown Hare Boxing (Jennifer Davidson) – 18 points
  • Sanderling in Flight (Jennifer Davidson) – 18 points
  • Young Sight Impaired Eagle (Nicola Cawthorne) – 18 points

Well done to George Todd, winning with 58/60, to Derek Muller for coming a close second, and to Mike, Ed, Jennifer and new member Nicola for achieving a bronze medal. Thank you also to Dougie for judging our prints.

  • Next week is the hand-in date for our Black and White Print competition. Please bring along up to 3 mounted prints and email your JPEG versions to George. Click here for a guide on how to mount your prints.
  • Next week we also have a “Live Shooting Workshop”, which will be similar to the “Creative Lighting Workshop” we had in September, except this time we will concentrate on still life and macro photography. Please bring along your camera and a flashgun (if you have one). A macro lens will help, but if you don’t have one you’ll still be able to use a standard lens. If you have any lighting equipment (torches, flash, LED lights, soft boxes, etc…) or interesting things to photograph (e.g. toys, flowers, jewellery, crockery, seashells, etc…) please bring them along as well. I look forward to a fun evening of photography.

Steven

 

30 Oct 2025 (Carrie Southerton: A Fun Insight Into Dog Photography)

Posted on by
Reply

This week we really did have a fun insight into dog photography. Carrie Southerton (aka Carolyn Cowan) visited the club with her husband Alasdair and took us through the story of their dog photography business. Carolyn has always had a relationship with photographic arts. She owned her first camera at the age of 3 and spent most of her life either in front of the camera as a model or behind the camera as a photographer. She has always loved dogs, and her German shepherds, Beagles and Jack Russell terriers have won several awards at the Crufts dog show. Carolyn became a press photographer covering dog shows; and a gig photographer and covering events with bands such as Heaven 17, Human League, the Sex Pistols and Adam Ant, etc… A few years ago, Carolyn realised she could combine her love of dogs and photography by setting up a dog photography business, and “Carrie Southerton Dog Photography” was born. You can find out more on the business web site and Instagram page:

https://www.carriesoutherton.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/carriesouthertondogphotography/

Carolyn and Alasdair’s studio covers a 7 acre estate in Slamannan, Near Falkirk. The estate is landscaped with features that provide a range of dog photography environments, including two log jumps for dynamic shots, a selection of mounds and rocks for posed shots, a flower meadow, some marshland, a ridge that simulates being on the edge of lake, plus walls, doors and fences that can be used as props. Carolyn uses three Canon EOS 1D bodies and two Canon EOS 3 bodies. These are paired with a selection of lenses: 16-35mm f2.8, 28-300mm f3.5-5.6, 105mm f1.4 and 70-200mm f2.8. Carrie uses multiple camera bodies so she can switch lenses quickly without having to remove them from the camera. This also keeps the cameras and lenses clean. The dogs are lit with a selection of Newer and Godox lights and soft boxes. Most of the photographs are taken using a wide aperture and very fast shutter speed, although Carolyn might stop down the aperture in very bright conditions. She aims to underexpose each shot slightly to preserve detail in dogs that have white patches, but also tries to overexpose a plain sky background to make it easier to replace.

Carolyn explained the story behind some example photoshoots. The best photos are taken when lying on the ground to get down to dog level, and she uses her clients to get the dog’s attention and encourage it to pose or jump as needed. Quite often the dog will do something unexpected, but these “out takes” sometimes turn out to be more interesting than the original plan! The photoshoots are just the start of the process. Each client is given the opportunity to choose a situation and a colour pallet for their dog portrait. Group shots are made by photographing each dog individually. Carolyn has a collection of photographs of different skies, backgrounds, and photographs or drawings of extra things (such as a bird, flower or butterfly) that can be included. Every portrait is carefully crafted with hours of tedious editing, which Carolyn demonstrated by showing us some mesmerising high-speed videos. Carolyn uses Corel Paintshop Pro, which she prefers to Adobe Photoshop. The dogs were placed together, leads and harnesses removed, a new background added, extras placed, boundaries cloned and healed, areas brightened or darkened, colours adjusted, eyes brightened and sharpened, special effects added, tones adjusted, textures applied, etc… The process turned each photograph into an artwork.

Carolyn ended her talk by showing us some “catch the cheese” shots which had recently raised several thousand pounds for charity, as reported by the Daily Mail, the Falkirk Herald and the Daily Record. We finished with tea and biscuits and a general chat.

Next week we have our Colour Print competition, judged by Dougie Allan of Penicuik Camera Club. Members will have the opportunity to choose a print for our exhibition at Cockenzie House in November.

09 October 2025 (Digital Projected Images Competition)

Posted on by
Reply

We were delighted to welcome Campbell Skinner to the club to judge our Digital Projected Images competition. Campbell is president of Greenock Camera Club and is internationally recognised for his stunning sport photography. You can see some of Campbell’s work on his web site:

https://www.campbellskinnerphoto.com/

Campbell began by telling us not to give too much weight to the marks he was about to give out. Feedback is more important than marks, and understanding why your image didn’t get a higher mark will help you improve. 33 members had entered 66 images covering a wide range of subjects, including sport, wildlife, landscape, portrait and abstract art. Campbell recommended that we look carefully to make sure that the title of an image is relevant and doesn’t clash with what we are seeing. Does it matter if the train is going to Aviemore when that isn’t apparent from the picture, or if the reflection of the red door was taken at Gosford? In another example, a canoeing shot entitled “Tight Turn” didn’t show what they were turning around. Campbell recommended that when attending a sporting event (such as the Grandtully slalom) that you recky the place first. Look where the light is coming from, look where the players might get involved, decide on the best place to stand to capture those players, and check what is visible behind them in the background. If there are distractions in the background, try to remove them by moving or using a wide aperture to blur them out. He also recommended that portrait, sport and wildlife shots be taken at eye level. If the players are on the ground, get down to their level. Try to avoid portraits where the subject’s eyes are turned instead of their head. A lot of shots had been taken in dull or over-harsh lighting conditions. If the lighting is dull, Campbell recommended using the dodge and burn tools to highlight your subjects, lighten eyes, reveal details and darken the background. Wildlife shots should stand out as if you could “touch” the subject. If your shot is taken in poor lighting, you could also try again at a different time of day. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (50 points)
    • Jim Innes
  • 4th place (51 points)
    • Steven Beard
    • Mike Clark
  • 3rd place (52 points)
    • Amber Morris
  • 2nd place (56 points)
    • George Todd
  • 1st place (57 points)
    • Derek Muller

The top images were:

  • Frosted Whiskers (George Todd) – 20 points
  • Dave Going His Own Way (Derek Muller) – 20 points
  • National Museum (Steven Beard) – 19 points
  • Strength Against the Current (George Todd) – 19 points
  • She Dances With Fire (Derek Muller) – 19 points
  • Proud Woodpecker (Malcolm Roberts) – 18 points
  • Rapid Run (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • Hurricane and Spitfire (Steve Williams) – 18 points
  • Sold Out (Elaine Gilroy) – 18 points
  • Going for a Win (Jim Innes) – 18 points
  • Barn Own (Derek Muller) – 18 points
  • Beach Day (Amber Morris) – 18 points

Well done to Derek Muller for winning with 57/60 points, to George for coming a very close second and to Amber for achieving her first medal. Thank you Campbell for judging our competition and giving us a lot to think about.

We will be reviewing this competition on 23th October. In the meantime, have a go at making some of the changes recommended by Campbell. We can also use that evening to give our own feedback. Which were your favourite images?

Next week, 16th October, Derek will be collecting entries for the Colour Print Competition. We will be having a club night based on a technique, rule of composition or theme; so please bring in an image (or a small collection of images) on a technique, rule or theme that interests you. Here are some examples to help you find inspiration:

  • Telling a story about a subject in 6 images (as suggested by Charles Everitt).
  • Making a triptych out of 3 related images.
  • Still life photography (with or without John West’s paperclip figures).
  • ICM photography.
  • Time lapse photography.
  • Street Photography (as inspired by Graeme Barclay).
  • Combining images to make a composite.
  • Using depth of field creatively.
  • Using art tools to improve photographs.
  • Etc…

I look forward to seeing what you bring along. I’ll be showing you some of my attempts at 3-D photography.

 

02 October 2025 (Editing Challenge)

Posted on by
Reply

This week members revealed what they had done with the four images that were circulated 3 weeks ago. The four images were:

  • A gyrocopter superimposed on a dark, cloudy sky with an artefact in the background.
  • A Chinese performer in a bright blue costume against a tilted background with distractions.
  • A back-lit lady standing in front of a church.
  • A man in Viking costume with a shield holding a ferret against a building with brightly coloured distractions.

15 members had accepted the challenge. The brief had been to edit any two of the four images, but some members had tried all four. All the images were too dark, so a common correction was the brighten the images and adjust the contrast. The back-lighting had lost some of the detail in the lady’s hair, which could be recovered with a highlights correction. Dodging and burning tools could be used to lighten the eyes and faces of the people or to darken bright blobs in the background.

Members revealed the different ways they had dealt with the distractions in the background. The easiest option was the crop the image to remove the distractions altogether, even if this meant losing most of the Viking man’s shield, for example. Some had used the clone and healing tools to replace distractions, and others had kept them in but made them less distracting by desaturating and darkening the background. There were mixed feelings about the hairs on the Viking man’s costume, which some members had removed as a distraction and others had emphasised as part of his character. The work on the Chinese man showed how you could spent ages removing two really obvious distractions but miss a smaller one that could be eventually pointed out by a judge. It’s worth taking a second look at your images after you have corrected them. However, the most creative way to remove distractions from a background is to replace it altogether. Kevin and Stephen had both replaced the boring grey sky behind the gyrocopter with a much more interesting sky, and Stephen and Jim had placed the Viking man in front of a much more attractive landscape.

Some members had combined the images in creative ways. Elaine combined the Chinese man and the lady into a single portrait, and Steven added the gyrocopter as a hair fascinator for the lady. Marian had converted the images into bold works of art, with a Pointillist rendering of the gyrocopter and a recreation of the Viking man in flowing brush strokes. But the comedy images were the highlight of the evening. Derek had converted the lady into a clown, Joe had given her a scary mask and Kevin had placed her inside a blossoming tree. Elaine had added the gyrocopter to the selfie taken at the Ayr air show. But the most entertaining images on the night came from Jim Innes, who not only managed to add the Viking man to some dramatic landscapes, had also shown him posing in front of an Iceland supermarket. The evening ended with Jim’s image of the gyrocopter being sprayed by fly killer! Thanks a lot to everyone who responded to the challenge.

  • Next Thursday, 9th October, we will be inviting Campbell Skinner to judge our Digital Projected Images competition.

18 September 2025 (Graeme Barclay: Street Photography)

Posted on by
Reply

This week we were delighted to welcome our first speaker of the season. Graeme Barclay has a background in hydraulic engineering and started photography in 2017. He is currently a member of Midlothian Camera Club, but also has links to Falkirk Camera Club. Graeme has interests in creative street photography, astrophotography, themed portraits, sports photography and nature photography. You can follow Graeme’s work on social media:

In tonight’s talk, Graeme introduced us to his creative style of street photography. When he first started, he found street photography a challenge. You need to overcome your fear, learn to blend in and remember to press the shutter at the right moment. But once you get started you’ll find yourself a member of an awesome community and feel a special connection with people. It is legal to take photographs on public land, but you need to be careful not to include private spaces (such as the inside of a house or pub through a window). London and Edinburgh are both very good locations for street photography. Graeme finds that Princes Street is a better place for street photography than the Royal Mile because the lighting is better.

Graeme showed us some great shots where street performers had posed for him. However, he prefers candid portraiture, where you catch an expression without someone being aware of the camera. Graeme has several tricks for hiding his camera. He cut a slot in an old credit card and uses it as an adaptor which lets him take level shots while his camera is around his neck with a flip-out screen. He also sets his camera to silent mode and uses a remote shutter release from his pocket. He has mastered some misdirection techniques, such as pretending to look at his phone or picking up his keys. He showed us a series of great candid shots, mostly taken using a 135mm lens with a f/1.8 aperture. The wide aperture blurs the background and reduces distractions, although he found that the side of a passing bus can sometimes make a great background! He also explained how using a hashtag, such as #camden, is a good way of connecting on social media with the people and places you have photographed.

Graeme revealed some dramatic shots he created with an 8-15mm fish-eye lens, especially shots angled upwards from a low angle. You need to get the camera angle just right so that the lens distortion exaggerates the right part of the image, for example showing a huge foot and a leg stretching into the distance. You also need to get within a few inches of your subject to ensure they stand out from the background. Graeme uses centre-point auto-focus to capture his standard portraits, but for these special effects he uses a narrow aperture with the focus set manually to the hyperfocal distance (i.e. the one that produces the maximum depth of field). He uses the Photopills app to calculate the right focus setting for each shot:

https://www.photopills.com/

The evening finished with an audio-visual presentation that showcased Graeme’s street photography collection. We then broke for tea and biscuits. Thank you Graeme for showing us how to take some fantastic and dramatic street photography shots.

Next week we have an informal club night. Please choose 6 images that you’d like to share with other members. You can email them to George Todd or bring them along on a USB data stick. A club night is also a good opportunity to ask questions or to demonstrate something, such as a useful skill or a new gadget.