Author Archives: stevenmbeard

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About stevenmbeard

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

25 January 2024 (Sets of Six and Macro Presentation)

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This week we had a “Sets of Six” evening, where members bring along images or give interesting demonstrations. I started the evening by giving a macro photography demonstration. I brought along a small (25cm x 25cm) lightbox into which I placed a “Musselburgh mussel” on a stand.

An image of a mussel inside a light box.

Macro photography is extreme close-up photography where the original idea is was to make the image on the camera’s sensor at least the same size as the subject itself. To achieve this you need a lens which can focus very close. A macro lens is one designed to have a close focus distance for macro photography, but if you don’t have a macro lens (or want to try macro photography at a different focal length than your macro lens) the following gadgets can also help:

  • Extension tubes will reduce the focal distance when fitted between your camera and lens. These are the best option because they contain no glass and won’t affect the performance of your lens. But make sure you buy ones compatible with your camera.
  • Close-up lenses can be screwed to the front of your lens, just like a filter. These have the advantage of being cheap and easy to fit, but because they contain glass they affect the performance of your lens.

One of the most difficult things in macro photography is getting the focus right. Macro photos tend to have a very narrow depth of field, especially if you choose a longer focal length to keep clear of your subject. One way to correct the narrow focal length is to use a narrow aperture (such as f/16 or f/22) but that leads to a longer exposure time and motion blur. Good lighting is very important in macro photography. For still subjects you can use a light box. Click here to see a review of the one I demonstrated, but there are other makes and sizes available. For moving subjects you can use a ring flash which fits on the front of the lens, which won’t cast shadows like a flash attached to the camera body. If you are lucky enough to have bright natural light available, a small reflector or diffuser can be used to soften the lighting and brighten the shadows. A gadget, such as a Wimberley Plamp, can be attached to your tripod to hold subjects like flowers that might be blown by the wind.

Another way to achieve a better depth of field in macro photography is using a focus stacking. Here is a YouTube video which explains how to do it.

You can change the focus by using the focus ring on your lens, but some photographers find a focus rail (which moves the camera back and forth on a rail) is easier to control. This site shows you how use a focus rail: https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-macro-focusing-rail-for-a-focus-stacked-close-up.

Finally, I demonstrated a USB microscope, which can produce extreme macro close-ups. The depth of field for these devices is extremely narrow and they work best with two-dimensional subjects. But they can detect tiny objects invisible to the naked eye, such as dirt on the front of your lens you didn’t know was there. Here is a review: https://gadgets-reviews.com/uk/review/1388-best-usb-microscopes.html. These range from cheap to very expensive. I demonstrated a mid-range Jiusion microscope which saves HD images.

Several members then showed a selection of interesting images: Kevin Johnson showed how classic album cover art can inspire photography; Mike Clark showed some “before and after” results in underwater photography; John West showed how you can use ICM to transform an image of the interior of a cathedral; Malcolm Roberts described his visit to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition; There were also some unique views of The Kelpies. George Smith showed his first attempts at astrophotography; Elaine Gilroy showed her photographs of birds; George Todd showed a selection of holiday images; and Derek Muller showed a rig he had set up to capture water splashes. Derek also showed some of his favourite images of acorn people created by David M Bird. More of these images can be found on David’s YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@davidmbird

Finally, Joe Fowler showed us how images can be improved by removing the distractions and using the clone tool to add more interest. Thank you to everyone who showed their images. It was a long but very entertaining evening.

Next week we have a digital knock-out competition. Please bring up to 3 images on the subject a “water” and then vote for your favourites.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition

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Musselburgh Camera Club members may be interested to know that the National Museum of Scotland are showing the “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” exhibition again this year. The exhibition runs from 20th January until 6th May 2024. More information can be found on the museum’s web site:

https://www.nms.ac.uk/exhibitions-events/exhibitions/national-museum-of-scotland/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year/

11 January 2024 (Set Subject Competition A – Macro)

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Happy New Year to Musselburgh Camera Club members! Our first meeting after the Christmas Break was the first of our 3 set subject competitions, on the theme of “Macro”. Unfortunately, I was at home with Covid and missed the competition, but I look forward to the top images appearing on our Facebook page. Thank you to Ed for taking the following notes:

There were 42 entries from 14 members for this competition. Most of the subject matter included flora and fauna, but there were a couple of unusual items from imaginative photographers. George started out by talking about the various definitions for Macro
Photography, but settled on the subject being photographed at Life size
or greater magnification. While George was going through the images he pointed out a couple of recurring issues. The first was that removing distractions should absolutely be done, but that it should be done carefully. There were a couple of instances of less than perfect cloning that spoiled otherwise strong images. Distractions around the edges should also be taken removed. The other recurring comment was about cropping choices, where
the photographer had cropped ends of insect legs off, or otherwise chopped bits of the subject and that can look awkward. On the other extreme, there were a few images that had a subject that was quite a small part of the whole image and these could perhaps have been cropped harder. Artificial light sources are often used for Macro shots to provide enough light, but that can give rise to other issues on wet or very reflective surfaces – consider diffusing the light source or, perhaps use a polarizing filter. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (50 points)
    • Joe Fowler
    • John West
    • Jim Innes
  • 4th place (51 points)
    • Mike Clark
    • Elaine Gilroy
    • Derek Muller
  • 3rd place (52 points)
    • Malcolm Roberts
  • 2nd place (53 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
  • 1st place (54 points)
    • Gordon Davidson

The top images were:

  • Fly on a leaf (Palpada) Hover Fly (Gordon Davidson) – 20 points
  • Shield Beetle Laying Her Eggs (Jennifer Davidson) – 19 points
  • Jumping Spider (Malcolm Roberts) – 19 points
  • Nigella Seed Head (Elaine Gilroy) – 19 points
  • Busy Bee Collecting pollen (Gordon Davidson) – 18 points
  • X-rated (common red soldier beetles) (John West) – 18 points
  • Fly (Common Green Bottle Fly) (Jim Innes) – 18 points
  • Honey Bee Side On (Derek Muller) – 18 points

Well done to Gordon Davidson, who wins the right to judge another competition next year. This is the first of a 3-part competition, with the final result depending on the total score from the best 2 competitions. With only 4 points separating the first 5 places, anything could happen. Part B of the competition takes place on 29th February 2024.

  • George Todd is still collecting prints for the “Human Portrait” competition. If you can produce 3 mounted prints please let George know and bring them along next Thursday.
  • Next week we will be discussing mobile phone photography.

14 December 2023 (Quiz Night)

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This week the club had its annual quiz night. 80 questions were devised by Ed Robertson, the winner of last year’s quiz. We began with questions about photography, followed by questions on history, geography, travel, culture, chemistry and biology. Do you know how many Hawaiian islands there are in total, the name of the river flowing through Lisbon, the name of the lead singer of The Who, or the heaviest organ in the human body? Well, neither did we. :) Club members competed in 3 teams of 4 lead by a scribe who compiled the answers and added the scores. The final result was:

  • 3rd place (51 points) – Team Jim.
  • 2nd place (55 points) – Team Liz.
  • 1st place (68 points) – Team Gavin.

Well done to Team Gavin! There will now be some negotiations to decide which member of the team (Gavin, Steven, Mike or Marian) will set next year’s quiz questions.

Don’t forget to submit your 3 JPEG images for our first set subject competition (on the subject of “Macro”) to George Todd.

Next week, Thursday 21st December, we have our Christmas social. We will meet in the bar at the Ravelston House in Musselburgh from 7pm and dinner will start at 7:30pm. It would be helpful if you could bring the exact money to pay your bill (£22, or £19 for OAPs). Directions can be found on the hotel’s web site. Don’t forget to register your number plate if you park in the car park.

Contact Us
How to get to the Ravelston House

I wish all Musselburgh Camera Club members a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

07 December 2023 (Black and White Print Competition)

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Our Black and White print competition took place on 7th December 2023, judged by Fiona Brims, who travelled to us from Central Scotland. Fiona’s work can be found on her web site, where her work on creative portraiture stands out in particular.

https://www.fionabrimsphotography.co.uk/

28 prints had been entered by 10 members, which was fewer than usual, so Fiona had time to comment on each print in detail. She gave some useful, amusing and considered feedback explaining how each of the prints could be improved. Fiona introduced us to three tongue-in-cheek terms. Oomph! A print needs to have an impact. Increasing the contrast and making sure the background gets darker towards the edge all help to keep the eye on the subject. Smidgeon. Lightening some of the shadows by just a smidgeon could help improve the visual impact. Meh! Some of the blank skies, areas of empty grass or open water made boring areas in between areas of interest. Try to minimise the boring areas by changing your viewpoint to reduce their size or by boosting their contrast. Fiona found there was something to like in each of the prints. There were some nice compositions with a good tonal range, some striking and atmospheric landscapes and some studies with an emotional impact. There were some prints which gave a fantastic first impression but Fiona was disappointed to find were not sharp when viewed closely, or they had smudges or cloning faults in the background. Fiona recommended that when photographing an object it is important to have an anchor point to put that object in context. So, for example, a photograph of a typewriter could be improved by showing some of the desk it is sitting on, or a photograph of lights dangling from a tree needs to show where the lights are attached. There were also a few black and white portraits. Fiona explained that she liked to see a catchlight in the eyes, which improves the empathy with the viewer. At the end we had plenty of time to chat and review the prints over tea and sandwiches. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 4th place (46 points)
    • Jim Innes
  • 3rd place (48 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
    • Mike Clark
    • Carol Edmund
  • 2nd place (50 points)
    • Derek Muller
  • 1st place (55 points)
    • George Todd

The top images were:

  • Man on a Tram (George Todd) – 20 points
  • Suffering for your art (Derek Muller) – 19 points
  • Patiently waiting for prayer to finish (George Todd) – 18 points
  • Exhausted (Carol Edmund) – 18 points

Well done to George Todd, who wins the competition, and to Derek, Jennifer, Mike and Carol, who came close.  Fiona will return next year to give us a talk.

There is now only one meeting left at Fisherrow before Christmas. Come along next Thursday (14th December) at 7pm for our annual quiz night.

 

16 November 2023 (Match An Image Competition)

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This week club members visited North Berwick Photographic Society for the “Match an Image” competition. The competition took place at the St. Andrew Blackadder Church in North Berwick, where we were treated to tea and cakes.

The competition was judged by Gordon Rae. North Berwick began the competition with an image of a tap, and Musselburgh replied with Jim Innes’ image of a kite surfer. We were astonished that Gordon declared our image a match. This first round set the scene for the competition, where every single pair of images in the first half was declared a match! John West’s domed bowl of pears and light bulbs successfully matched North Berwick’s photo of the inside of a domed cathedral roof. We played John West’s image of a feeding hoverfly to discover that North Berwick had an image of a feeding giraffe weevil, which was declared the better image as it was a harder subject photographed in Madagascar. We tried to exhaust their images of insects by following up with Malcolm Robert’s beautiful blue dragonfly, only to find they matched it with a photograph of a crocodile with butterflies on its head, also photographed in Madagascar. At the tea break North Berwick were leading 20 points to Musselburgh’s 18 points.

In the second half it became harder to match the images; but we successfully matched their image of baobab trees in Madagascar with Steven Beard’s image of Butterdean Wood. Then they matched Jennifer Davidson’s Woodland Nymph portrait with a very different lady whose tattoos matched the nymph’s dress. The matches became more tenuous as the evening wore on. Karen Woodcock’s Winter Sky image and Joe Fowler’s Old Mill image both successfully matched North Berwick’s pictures from Arizona because all the images contained rocks and stones. But the matches became harder and harder, and Steve William’s interior of the Sagrada Familia couldn’t quite match their abstract image. Then we pulled off a lucky match late in the competition when North Berwick presented us with an image of an upturned boat on the beach at sunset and we replied with Mike Clark’s image of the X Craft submarine. The competition finished as a well-deserved draw, with Musselburgh and North Berwick both achieving a total of 36 points.

Thank you to everyone who travelled to North Berwick to support the club, and to everyone who submitted images. And thank you to Gordon Rae for judging the competition and putting up with the heckling. Next year the competition returns to Musselburgh.

Next week we are hosting the 4-way interclub competition at Musselburgh. Come and support your club as we host Stirling and District Camera Club, Edinburgh Photographic Society and Kirkcaldy Photographic Society. We will be meeting at Fisherrow in the larger room G6 (not our usual room) at 7pm on Thursday, 23rd November.

09 November 2023 (Colour Print Competition)

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This week the club welcomed Kenneth Goodfellow CPAGB LRPS, of Dunfermline Photographic Association, to judge our colour print competition. Ken described how he had transitioned from film photography to digital photography back in 1999, when he bought his first digital camera and started using an early version of Photoshop. You can see a gallery of Ken’s images in Dunfermline’s members gallery:

https://www.dunfermlinephoto.org/members

32 prints had been entered by 11 members. Ken showed that several of the prints had issues with their mounting. There were some ragged edges that could have been trimmed, some mounts were still tacky with glue, and some prints had glue stains on the front. Ken recommended that members check their mounts for excess glue before submitting them. Some prints had air bubbles or ripples, and Ken recommended covering prints with tissue paper and pressing them from the middle outwards to expel air bubbles. He also warned us of “A3 syndrome”: If you have a nice A3 printer and are feeding it with expensive A3 paper there’s a temptation to make sure none of the paper is wasted, so all your prints end up A3-sized. Ken felt that some of the prints would have looked better cropped to a different aspect ratio. Also be careful how you label the mount, as it determines which way up an image will be judged. One of the images was judged upside down as a result of its label. “Why is this image labelled St .Peter’s Square and it shows a lamp, and is Shankar heading to the brickworks or from the brickworks?” Ken also gave us the usual advice about cutting out distractions, watching for lost detail in the highlights and shadows, and making sure the subject of each print is sharp. Despite all the criticism about mounting, many of the prints were of a high quality and achieved high marks. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (52 points)
    • Joe Fowler
    • Gordon Davidson
  • 4th place (53 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
    • Carol Edmond
  • 3rd place (54 points)
    • George Todd
  • 2nd place (55 points)
    • Derek Muller
  • 1st place (59 points)
    • John West

The top images were:

  • Pear Shaped (John West) – 20 points
  • Melon-Cauli (John West) – 20 points
  • Knee to the Ground (Jennifer Davidson) – 19 points
  • Shankar Heading to the Brickworks (George Todd) – 19 points
  • Dutch Style Still Life (John West) – 19 points
  • Formidable (Carol Edmond) – 19 points
  • Helenium (Elaine Gilroy) – 18 points
  • Monkey Sanctuary Success Story (Derek Muller) – 19 points
  • Eyes Wide Open (Joe Fowler) – 18 points
  • Three Sisters (George Todd) – 18 points
  • Pettico Wick Jetty Surf (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • Vulnerable (Carol Edmond) – 18 points
  • Lady of Venice (Jim Innes) – 18 points
  • Eyes on Lunch (Derek Muller) – 18 points
  • Coming in to Land (Derek Muller) – 18 points

John West blew away the competition and earned a fantastic 59/60 points for his expertly-created set of still life prints! Well done also to Derek Muller’s and George Todd.

Our next meeting will be taking place at North Berwick, where we are joining them for our annual “Match an Image” competition. North Berwick Photographic Society will be hosting us at 7:30pm on Thursday, 16th November in the St Andrew Blackadder Church Chapel, St Andrew Street, North Berwick.

12 October 2023 (Digital Projected Images Competition)

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Our Digital Projected Images competition took place on 12th October 2023. Eddie Telford had travelled over from Ayr to judge the competition for us. Eddie began by telling us that he evaluates three Cs when judging the quality of photographic images: Colour, Context and Composition. Some of Eddie’s work can be seen on his Flikr page:

https://www.flickr.com/people/buddy2010/

There were 66 images altogether, entered by 22 members, and Eddie managed to get through them all exactly on time, giving us plenty of time to discuss the results over tea. Landscape, wildlife and macro shots were popular this year, including many sunsets. There were many high quality images submitted this year, resulting in a lot of high marks. Eddie commented on the composition of each image, pointing out how leading lines and shapes create pleasing triangles. The best landscape images were the ones which included a focal point to draw your eye into the scene. The best wildlife shots were the ones that captured their subject in the act: such as hunting prey or feeding.

The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (52 points)
    • Steve Williams
  • 4th place (53 points)
    • Jim Innes
  • 3rd place (54 points)
    • Malcolm Roberts
    • George Todd
    • Mike Clark
  • 2nd place (55 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
    • Derek Muller
  • 1st place (58 points)
    • Joe Fowler

There were many top images:

  • Hunting Sparrowhark (Jennifer Davidson) – 20 points
  • Woodpecker Feeding (Joe Fowler) – 20 points
  • Going to School (Joe Fowler) – 19 points
  • Forrest Princess (Joe Fowler) – 19 points
  • Hummingbird (Malcolm Roberts) – 19 points
  • Brahmana Priest (George Todd) – 19 points
  • Happiness looks like THIS (David Muller) – 19 points
  • Woodland Nymph Queen (Jennifer Davidson) – 18 points
  • Blue Dragonfly (Malcom Roberts) – 18 points
  • Fighting for the Lead (George Todd) – 18 points
  • European Brown Bear Shaking It (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • X Craft Submarine Last Light (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • White Mountain Hare in the Heather (Mike Clark) – 18 points
  • Interior – Sagrada Familia (Steve Williams) – 18 points
  • Dawn on the Tron (Jim Innes) – 18 points
  • Kite Surfer (Jim Innes) – 18 points
  • When Colour Doesn’t Matter (Derek Muller) – 18 points
  • Ready to Take On Fuel (Derek Muller) – 18 points

Well done to Joe Fowler for winning with only 2 points short of maximum points. Thank you to Eddie for judging for us. Eddie will be returning to Musselburgh Camera Club on 22nd February 2024 to tell us about “Remember Photography is Fun” and “Around the World in 80 Images“.

On 19th October (this evening!) we have our “Introduction to Photography” session. Don’t forget to bring your 3 mounted prints for the Colour Print Competition.

21 September 2023 (Minimalism My Way)

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Neil Scott FRPS of Edinburgh Photographic Society visited the club to give us our first talk of the season, describing his adventures into minimalism in photography. Neil is a skilled portrait and still life photographer and likes to introduce a degree of surrealism or minimalism into his work, often creating a series of photographs with a common theme. The recent pandemic had given Neil the opportunity to experiment with minimalism in household objects. We were were introduced to four of Neil’s still life themes:

  • Metallographs, where Neil had cleverly photographed small metal objects from an angle that made them look like something else. One example of a metal clip that looked like a rower.
  • The red series, where small, familiar red objects were photographed inside a plain shape against a stark white background. One particularly striking example was a red chilli pepper on a white plate against a which background.
  • Household geometry, where Neil had spotted contrasting shapes when two or more household objects were juxtaposed. The images lose the identity of the household objects and take on a life of their own when cropped. One example was the edge of a table photographed next to a radiator.
  • Frames, which consisted of brain-teasing pictures of intersecting wooden frames in impossible positions, rather like the false perspective creations of M.C. Escher.

Neil explained that lighting a minimalist scene is harder than it looks, as there is very little contrast between the (often white) subjects and (often white) background. Neil prefers to use soft natural light coming from the side so it casts soft shadows, and he will sometimes deliberately block the light with a book or similar object to control the shadow in the background. Each scene is placed in front of an “infinity curve”, which can be made by curving a piece of plain card from horizontal to vertical against a wall. The infinity curve creates a background with no boundaries that fools the viewer into thinking the scene goes on forever. Some of Neil’s images were photographed against black velvet to create a black background.

Neil finished by showing us more of his minimalist and surreal creations, showing how he can turn what at first seems like a boring image (e.g. one person standing on an empty beach) into an artistic creation by blurring the image and manipulating the colours. An image of a solitary horse rider on the beach was particularly striking. Thank you Neil for once again fascinating us with your fantastic creations. You can see more of Neil’s photograph on his web site:

https://www.neilscottphotos.co.uk/

Our next meeting (Thursday, 28th September) will be a “Sets of Six” evening. Please bring along any set of 6 images (or a few short videos) that you think will be of interest to club members. If there is time, we can also use part of the evening for a technical presentation, for example if you need help with the “editing challenge” or any other project.

I look forward to seeing you on Thursday,

Steven

07 September 2023 (Opening Night)

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Welcome to the 2023-2024 Season!

It was lovely to see so many familiar faces back at the club after our summer break, and even better to see so many potential new members joining us. The club was featured on Radio Saltire on 26th July, and there was an extra exhibition of our work at the radio station during that week. A recording of the show may be posted online, so check out their web pages:

https://www.radiosaltire.com/

https://www.facebook.com/RadioSaltire/

This year we will be concentrating on face to face meetings and hoping to bring back more of the informal chat that we lost during Covid. We will still use Zoom occasionally to connect with other clubs and our friends overseas. We began the meeting with a few announcements:

The following events provide some opportunities for sports photography over the next few weeks:

You can find a summary of Musselburgh Camera Club’s 2023-2024 programme here on the web site:

Programme 2023 – 2024
The 2023-2024 club programme

Information on how to enter the club competitions can be found here (or you can just ask George, our competition secretary):

Competition Information
An introduction to the club competitions

Joe Fowler gave us an introduction to the national competitions which are open to all club members. He showed us a selection of his entries and described his experiences. He emphasised that most photographers who enter these competitions don’t win anything. But everyone who enters a competition gets feedback which helps them improve. Don’t be put off by one judge’s comments, because we all have different tastes, and don’t try to bend your style to match what you think the judges will want. Your own style will develop as you learn.

We finished the evening with a chat over tea and biscuits. Next week there will be a digital image feedback session. Either bring along 2 JPEG images, or email your images to George at georgetodd1957@me.com.