Category Archives: Meeting Blog

25 April 2024 (AGM and Presentation of Trophies)

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The 2023/24 Musselburgh Camera Club season ended on 25th April 2024 with the AGM and the presentation of trophies. We discussed the upcoming programme for 2024-25, which John West has packed with more speakers and special events. We are planning a series of monthly photoshoots through the year, so watch out for notifications or check our activities page. The club now has a private Facebook page which members can join to be notified about events and to chat during the summer while we are not meeting at Fisherrow. Click the link below to request to join (you’ll need a Facebook account):

https://m.facebook.com/groups/25703565185901411

Members had an opportunity during the evening to suggest and vote for the topics for next year’s set subject competitions. The top results were:

  1. Buildings
  2. Distorted
  3. Cycling

which become the themes for set subjects 1, 2 and 3. We decided that the knockout will be open to all images next year.

The AGM finished with a presentation of trophies and medals and with a selection of snacks and refreshments provided by Jennifer Davidson and Liz Sowler, who received the club’s “Golden Teapot” award. The full list of trophy and medal winners can be found on the following page:

Trophy Winners – 2023/2024

Although the 2023/24 season has come to an end, the club’s exhibition will be touring local libraries during the summer. This year we also have an exhibition at Cockenzie House. Here is the timetable and list of volunteers.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered. Our first meeting of the 2023/24 season will be on Thursday, 5th September 2024. But in the meantime I hope to see you at some of our summer photoshoots.

All the best,

Steven Beard

11 April 2024 (International ZOOM Speakers)

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On 11th April we were delighted to have 3 international speakers who joined us from Sweden and the Netherlands.

First up was Denise van der Boom who provided a bird’s eye view using drones to capture images from the sky. Denise has a very practical reason for favouring drone photography due to mobility issues. The drones do provide a great tool for getting compositions and locations that just would not work on foot. Members might recall Eddie Telford telling us back in February than he often waded into a river to get best shots. Denise gets similar shots without getting wet by hovering her drone over the water. The legalities of drone flight were mentioned (similar to UK rules) along with a brief comparison of a few different models. The small size and low weight of the DJI mini 4 meant that it could be taken on holidays as well as providing that unusual bird’s eye view of her homeland. While the novelty of the different views afforded by drones is interesting, there is still the need for a good composition. Abstract images of tulip fields full of coloured strips of flowers to the astonishing aqueduct that confused the senses, rainbows in agricultural watering systems and fine historic buildings all benefitted from the unusual viewpoint. Denise’s work can be seen at https://www.flickr.com/photos/denisevanderboom/

Hans van der Boom followed with a great 10 tips for “Photographing flowers in soft focus” using his own shots to illustrate his points (some of which may be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/hansvanderboom/).

  • Use a Macro lens or adapters
  • Accessorise – mat to lie on, lights, plamps, clothes pegs, crinkled tin foil and, surprisingly, dog poo bags – the packs with various colours!
  • Use a BIG aperture, you don’t want all of the detail of a pin sharp image.
  • Make use of “out of focus” areas, to simplify your image.
  • Know your subject – go out with certain “in season” flowers in mind. An online Flowering Calendar could give an idea about what flowers might be currently available.
  • Pay attention to composition and space within the image. Using a low viewpoint (using a bean bag, or even a polystyrene bean bag for weight reduction) can keep the image simpler. The space around the subject is out of focus and this minimises clutter. Less is more!
  • Use of Light, avoiding harsh light and dark shadows. The use of a white umbrella can be used to diffuse light
  • Experiment – Christmas lights (battery operated LEDs) in front of or behind the subject. Use crinkled aluminium foil or glitter boards. Use a plant mister for a few dew drops. Place anything in the out of focus areas to simplify them. Reflectors can also be useful.
  • Bokeh and light bubbles are easier to achieve when shooting low to high.
  • Post Processing – add a little brightness and saturation, combine techniques. Moderation makes the master.

Hans also suggested shooting in raw and keeping ISO low to minimise digital noise. He also suggested that double or multiple exposure could be useful. Attaching the coloured dog poo bags, or sandwich bags etc to the lens hood with a clothes peg is a good way to fill the out of focus areas. Hans suggested that folks should look at the work of Bob Daalder for some inspiration.
https://www.instagram.com/bobdaalder/
https://4tinyhands.com/macro-photography-with-bob-daalder/

The evening was brought to a close by Helen Lunden, who many know from her time in Scotland and who is now a member of Mölnlycke Fotoklubb, Gothenburg, Sweden. Helen presented her work on images produced using Intentional Camera Movement (ICM). This was sparked by her attendance at a course in Dumfries and Galloway run by Morag Paterson and Ted Leeming. Helen covered the Why and How of ICM along with what equipment was needed along with examples and inspiration. The equipment used does not have to be special, in fact because the finished result is rarely pin sharp, older or less sophisticated kit can work out fine. Helen often uses an older Olympus EM10 and a mixture of lenses and ND filters.

How? Move the camera during the (long) exposure. An exposure of 1/8th of a second is often enough, and Neutral Density filters can help here. The camera is moved horizontally, vertically, spun, etc. You won’t know what you will get until the photo is taken. Multiple exposure can add to the finished result with perhaps multiple ICM images or 1 ICM image and a sharp image combined. Helen prefers to achieve the result in-camera with only subtle increase in contrast and saturation carried out afterwards. Her method is to “take lots of shots and delete what you don’t like”. While vertical movements are often used for trees and horizontal for landscapes, you can always add in other movements or shapes. An advantage of the technique is that it can work indoors or out, in pretty much any lighting conditions and even macro can be effective. People photos can provide a ghostly effect.

Helen’s recent projects include The Swedish West Coast (ghostly images), Dark & Light (quite moody) and Light & Harmony (quite fresh). It is very interesting to see things in the final images that have been introduced by the working method, the results can be striking. Helen was keen to encourage more photographers to have a go at ICM to see what they could produce. Helen Lunden’s images are on show at…
https://helunhelun7.wixsite.com/helensfoto
and she talked about the work of several other photographers who champion ICM images including…

along with the ICM PhotoMag Network run by

The ICM PhotoMag can be found on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ICMPhotoMag/

An interesting international evening highlighting aspects of photography that are not often discussed at Fisherrow.

  • This Thursday (18th April 2024) we will be having a “Studio Lighting Fun Workshop” at the Fisherrow Centre at our usual time of 7pm. Bring your camera or phone and come along to experiment and have fun.

21 March 2024 (Set Subject Competition C – Flowers)

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Thursday saw the conclusion of our 3-part set subject competition. The third part on the theme of “Flowers” was judged by Gordon Davidson, who had won last year’s competition. 11 members had entered 33 images altogether, with a wide selection of floral images ranging from wide shots of entire flower beds to portraits of a single specimen, including a Karen Woodcock’s “Happy Wee Poppy” that looked like it was smiling. Gordon commented on the detail and composition of each image. Some images had lost detail through a slightly offset focus or too little resolution. It is easy to over-exposed a flower when brightly lit, and some images had lost detail in their highlights. Gordon also pointed out some blobs and halos that he found distracting in the background. Nevertheless, Gordon liked most of the images, which meant there were a lot of high marks. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (50 points)
    • Joe Fowler
  • 4th place (51 points)
    • Gavin Marshall
    • Jim Innes
  • 3rd place (54 points)
    • Steven Beard
    • Derek Muller
  • 2nd place (56 points)
    • John West
  • 1st place (57 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson

The top images were:

  • Red Roses (John West) – 20 points
  • Let us out! (Jennifer Davidson) – 19 points
  • Blue Lily Head (Jennifer Davidson) – 19 points
  • Pink Daisy (Jennifer Davidson) – 19 points
  • Dandelion (Steven Beard) – 19 points
  • Yellow Lily (John West) – 19 points
  • Pink Rose (Carol Edmond) – 19 points
  • Backlit Sunflower (Derek Muller) – 19 points
  • Purple Plant (Joe Fowler) – 18 points
  • Frosty Rose (Joe Fowler) – 18 points
  • Red Dahlia (Steven Beard) – 18 points
  • Turkscap Lily (Elaine Gilroy) – 18 points
  • Tulip Fields (Jim Innes) – 18 points
  • Thistle From Above (Derek Muller) – 18 points

Well done to Jennifer Davidson, who wins the right to judge next year’s competition. Also well done to John West, whose image of red roses achieved the highest mark. The latest scores have evened up the league table, making the final result close, but after consulting the final spreadsheet I can reveal that the final result from all three competitions is:

  • 1st place
    • Jennifer Davidson (53 + 57 = 110)
  • 2nd place
    • John West (50 + 56 = 106)
  • 3rd place
    • Steven Beard (51 + 54 = 105)
    • Elaine Gilroy (51 + 54 = 105)
    • Derek Muller (51 + 54 = 105)
  • 4th place
    • Carol Edmond (54 + 50 = 104)
  • 5th place
    • Joe Fowler (52 + 50 = 102)

Well done to Jennifer for winning the trophy, and thank you to all the members who entered some beautiful images this year.

  • This is the last competition of the season, and George needs to engrave the trophies for the AGM. If you won a trophy last year please return it to George as soon as possible.
  • This coming Thursday we will be hosting Musselburgh Art Club and will be meeting in the upstairs room F1 in the Fisherrow Centre.
  • The season is drawing to close, and we need to decide where to go for our end of season photoshoot on 18th April 2024. Please think of ideas for where we could go and let me have your ideas. I have already had the following suggestions:
    • Meet in Edinburgh for sunset and street lighting pictures.
    • Meet at a local nature reserve, such as Aberlady Bay.
    • Switch the date to Saturday, 20th April 2024, so we can meet earlier when there is more daylight. That would also open up local sites which close before 7pm, such as Dalkeith Country Park and the Gosford House Estate.

 

19 March 2024 (3-Way Inter-club Competition)

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There was an extra club meeting this week. On Tuesday, 19th March Musselburgh Camera Club visited Haddington Camera Club to take part in the annual 3-way competition, along with Beeslack Penicuik Camera Club. The meeting took place at the Poldrate Mill, Haddington, where we were treated to a lavish spread of sandwiches and cakes.

The competition was judged by Gordon Scott of Mid Calder Camera Club. Each club submitted 15 images each, making a total of 45 images. Musselburgh got off onto a good start and were 1 point ahead after the first round. We maintained that narrow lead and by the break had 134 points to Beeslack’s 133 and Haddington’s 130. We kept our lead through the second half. In the final round Haddington sneaked ahead of Beeslack, but Mike Clark’s “White Mountain Hare in the Heather” secured top marks and guaranteed a good win for Musselburgh. The final scores were:

  • First place (252 points) Musselburgh Camera Club
  • Second place (244 points) Haddington Camera Club
  • Third place (243 points) Beeslack Penicuik Camera Club

The top Musselburgh images were:

  • White Mountain Hare in the Heather (Mike Clark)  – 20 points
  • Woodpecker feeding (Joe Fowler) – 19 points
  • Harvest Queen (Joe Fowler) – 19 points
  • Sea Eagle with Catch (Mike Clark) – 19 points
  • Hunting Sparrowhawk (Jennifer Davidson)  – 18 points

Well done to Musselburgh Camera Club for a great win, and thank you to Mike, Joe and Jennifer for helping us to achieve that win.

  • This Thursday, 28th March, we have our joint meeting with Musselburgh Art Club. We will be meeting in room F1 in the Fisherrow Centre, not our usual room. To reach that room you need to go upstairs and follow the signs to F1. Come along and see what the art club members have created this year.

14 March 2024 (Charles Everitt: Project Driven Photography)

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This week we were delighted to welcome Charles Everitt back to the Musselburgh. Charles gave us a talk 2 years ago featuring photographs from his book “Water of Leith: Nature’s Course”. This year he returned to tell us how project-driven photography had restored his motivation in photography. When Charles began photography 30 years ago he toured popular sites around Scotland and came home with a selection of reasonable good photos showing the same subjects captured by everyone else. But then he decided to try some long exposure shots of the Water of Leith, right in his backyard, and realised the beautiful shot of a rapid he created could have come from anywhere in Scotland. He decided to start a project to tell the story of this hidden gem of a river running right through Edinburgh. He realised that by spending time getting to know one subject you can spot the ever-changing details that are easily missed by other photographers: the pattern of light on the water; the small flowers at your feet; and the changing colour in the reflections as the evening progresses, the sun sets and people switch on lights and close coloured curtains. The result was “Water of Leith: A Nature’s Course” mentioned earlier. The result inspired more projects, such as “Forthshore: East Lothian’s Coastline”, “Mull: Moments and Memories”, and his latest work, “Off Course: Nature Around A Golf Green”. Charles explained that the photographs he creates could be used to create a book, a calendar, a portfolio of prints, a magazine article or a presentation.

Charles now works as a part-time ranger on the Dundas Castle Estate, which gives him a plenty of opportunities to photograph the woodland throughout the year. He likes to create abstract photos from the shapes and textures around him, including some imaginative shots made using Intentional Camera Movement. When an old tree needed to be cut down, Charles took the opportunity to photograph the textures and shapes in the wooden disks before they faded. Charles played us a selection of audio visual presentations created from his project photographs. The first presentation showed us the Water of Leith as it flowed through Dean Village and included some beautiful “leaf, stone and water” compositions. Further presentations explored Charles’ macro images of flowers and fungi. Charles explained that he takes his flower shots from ground level at f/4 with his camera perched on a kneeling pad, and he uses a torch (not a flash) to light up the flower against its natural background. Sometimes he uses two torches: one to light the foreground and another to back-light the subject. He will sometimes shine a light through a coloured leaf to produce a natural colour but never uses coloured filters. Charles also showed us some of the red kite photos he had taken at Argaty Red Kites and some shots he had taken on trips to Bass Rock and Inchkeith Island (including some abstract shots of the water he took during the boat trips). Charles finished with a presentation showing how low-key shots of the Gormley statue on the Water of Leith can, when taken from the right angle, make it looks like a sinister figure rising from the depths.

Thank you Charles for another fascinating and enlightening presentation. I am sure we will all be trying your idea of using a torch to light our flower photographs, although it will be too late for next week’s set subject competition. Please note we have TWO meetings coming up in the next week:

  • On Tuesday, 19th March 2024 at 7:30pm we will be meeting Haddington Camera Club at Poldrate Mill, Haddington for the annual 3-way competition.
  • On Thursday, 21st March 2024 at 7:00pm we will meet as usual at the Fisherrow Centre in Musselburgh for our final set subject competition (Flowers), judged by Gordon Davidson.

29 February 2024 (Set Subject Competition B – Contrasting Textures)

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Part two of our three-part set subject competition took place this week. Members were challenged to find some memorable images on the theme of “Contrasting Textures”. The competition was judged by Malcolm Roberts, the winner of last year’s competition. Malcolm began by saying how he had enjoyed seeing all the different interpretations of this year’s theme. He had looked at the impact, lighting, sharpness and depth of field of each image and rewarded images that had an emotional impact or showed some thinking outside the box. Malcolm commented that some images were a little soft, and he recommended sharpening them to show off the texture. He didn’t mind images that contained both sharp and soft parts when that highlighted the difference between the textures.

15 members had entered 45 images, covering a huge range of subjects. Some images showed contrasts within natural subjects, such as between the parts of a flower, between sand and grass, fungi and log or duck and water. There were man-made contrasts involving stone, rust, whitewash, rope, wood and metal. John West’s entry called “Two plumbing systems” combined both natural and man-made and showed a tree mirroring the bends and twists of a downpipe. Some members had responded to the “contrasting textures” challenge with some truly innovative or humorous entries. Carol Edmond’s “War Time Textures” showed a collection of wartime memorabilia and Jim Innes’ “Chalk and Cheese in Blue” showed some blue snooker chalk next to some cheese. Derek Muller had cleverly combined “JUST Cotton, Stone and Paper” to make a convincing artificial landscape with fluffy cotton-wool clouds, and Liz Sowler had crafted some humorous still life images out of household objects.
The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 5th place (49 points)
    • Derek Muller
    • Ed Robertson
  • 4th place (50 points)
    • Jim Innes
  • 3rd place (51 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
    • Steven Beard
    • George Todd
  • 2nd place (52 points)
    • Joe Fowler
    • Liz Sowler
  • 1st place (54 points)
    • Elaine Gilroy
    • Carol Edmond

The top images were:

  • Poppy (Elaine Gilroy) – 20 points
  • Autumn Textures (Carol Edmond) – 19 points
  • Mandarin Duck (Joe Fowler) – 18 points
  • Bud and Petals (Steven Beard) – 18 points
  • Ice & Black Sand (George Todd) – 18 points
  • Anemone (Elaine Gilroy) – 18 points
  • War Time Textures (Carol Edmond) – 18 points
  • Housework (Liz Sowler) – 18 points
  • Fruit and Veg (Liz Sowler) – 18 points

We done to Elaine and Carol who both earn the right to judge next year’s competition. And thank you to everyone for your creative and entertaining entries. After two competitions, the “league table” now looks like this:

Elaine Gilroy (51 + 54 = 105)
Jennifer Davidson (53 + 51= 104)
Malcolm Roberts (52 + — = ??)
Carol Edmond (49 + 64 = 103)
Joe Fowler (50 + 52 = 102)
George Todd (— + 51 = ??)
Gordon Davidson (54 + 47 = 101)
Steven Beard (49 + 51 = 100)
Jim Innes (50 + 50 = 100)
Derek Muller (51 + 49 = 100)
John West (50 + 48 = 98)

Elaine’s win has taken her to the top of the table, but with only 4 points separating the top half of this table there is still everything to play for. Don’t forget to send your 3 JPEG entries for the final part of this competition (“Flowers”) to George Todd.

This Thursday we will be hosting Mölnlycke Fotoclubb, who will be joining us from Gothenburg, Sweden for our annual interclub meeting.

22 February 2024 (Eddie Telford: Around the World in 80 Images)

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This week Eddie Telford returned to Musselburgh to give us a custom talk based around two themes: “Remember Photography is Fun” and “Around the World in 80 Images”. Eddie began by showing us a short comedy video showing the antics of the “Nessie” toy that he takes with him on his travels. A Loch Ness monster who likes his whisky. 🙂 He then showed us a selection of humorous photos with silly poses, odd juxtapositions and unfortunate angles of view which showed the funny side of photography. Eddie showed that photography can be fun and entertaining, and is more than just entering competitions.

The second half of Eddie’s talk showed a varied selection of photographs taken on his travels around the world, covering at least 4 continents. I lost count of the number of countries he mentioned. His presentation was peppered with fun anecdotes and good advice about presentation and choosing the right title. He showed us some “before and after” images showing the edits he had made in response to judges’ comments. Eddie was not averse to viewing a scene from the best angle, sometimes donning waders to get the shot from the middle of a river. We finished the night with a chat with Eddie over tea and biscuits. Thank you Eddie for a great presentation and an entertaining evening.

Next week, 29th February, Malcolm Roberts will reveal the results of the “Contrasting Textures” set subject competition; and the week after, on 7th March, we will be saying “hello” again to our friends from Mölnlycke Fotoclubb, in Gothenburg.

15 February 2024 (Audio Visual Evening)

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This week we hosted our annual audio visual evening with Beeslack Penicuik Camera Club. Two years ago we had hosted this meeting by Zoom in room G3, but this year we were fully back to normal. Members of both clubs met in room G6 of the Fisherrow Centre and were treated to tea, sandwiches and cakes by Liz Sowler, Ed Robertson and Carol Edmond.

Beeslack began the evening with a beautiful presentation created by Brian Nicolson, made from photographs of woodland scenes in Midlothian paired with inspirational music. Musselburgh then resurrected a presentation made by Steven Beard in 2012 describing his 2008-2009 trip to the Cerro Paranal Observatory Chile to commission the VISTA Infrared Camera. The place had also been used as the secret lair of the villain in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace. The VISTA Infrared Camera was decommissioned in 2023, bringing the story to an end. Beeslack then showed their club presentation which celebrated the “Environs of Penicuik”. It featured a selection photographs from historical monuments and scenic places to visit around Penicuik taken by their club members.

The meeting then changed tack and showed a YouTube video created by Musselburgh member Derek Muller entitled “Getting Started in Screen Printing”. The video showed us how to use a MiSCREEN silk screen printer to transfer an artwork or black and white photograph onto paper, or a T-Shirt, etc… Derek creates his videos with a camera or iPhone and edits them using iMovie. Beeslack then showed a supplement to their club presentation which demonstrated the artistic filters applied by Bill Baird. Photographs of the Midlothian countryside were transformed into artworks before our eyes. This was followed by a short video showing a visit to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe by Musselburgh member Kevin Johnston and then a presentation showing a visit to Alicante, Spain in 2019 by Beeslack member Mike Walby.

The evening finished with three short presentations. Derek Muller showed a video of the waves crashing onto the shore at Portobello beach, which featured some lovely slow motion effects and a passer by who looked like they were going to get soaked but escaped. Then we watched a Beeslack video showing the Fells, Becks and Lakes of the Lake District. Beeslack also chose the perfect presentation on which to close the evening: a celebration of Valentine’s Day created by Gordon Peerless. We finished with a discussion over tea and cakes.

Thank you to Beeslack for visiting and showing their presentations, and thanks again to Liz, Ed and Carol for the catering. Next week Eddie Telford will be returning to give a talk on “Around the World in 80 Images”. See you there.

08 February 2024 (Human Portrait Print Competition)

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Gordon Rae kindly agreed to judge our human portrait print competition at short notice and had travelled to Musselburgh from South West Scotland. Gordon is an award-winning wildlife photographer whose work can seen on his web site:

https://www.gordonraephotography.co.uk

Gordon said he was impressed with the quality of the entries and had judged and scored them to a high standard, so he hoped nobody (especially beginners) would be disappointed with their score. Gordon had identified one winning portrait, plus some second and third placed runners up.

23 prints had been entered by 9 members. The subjects included sports competitors, street artists, musicians, wise men, soldiers, and pictures of other club members. John West had entered a unique, double-exposed, self-portrait called “Doppelganger” which was popular during the tea break. Gordon commented on the composition of the portraits and suggested some crops that would tighten up the subject in the frame. He explained that the “rule of thirds” guideline that is useful for landscape photography is not so important for portraits. Male subjects can be shown looking straight into the camera but female subjects often look better with their head turned at an angle. In some of the portraits there were dark shadows on the face that could have been prevented by using softer lighting (or by balancing the light with a reflector). He also warned photographers to watch out for colour casts in their prints and make sure that the skin colour looks natural. Watch out also for places where the subject could merge with the background (for example a dark coat shown against a dark background of a similar colour) and make sure there is a distinct boundary. The highest scores went to the prints that Gordon judged had captured a moment, showed a great expression, had a good balance of tones and had good backgrounds. The top scorers were (in reverse order):

  • 4th place (46 points)
    • John West
  • 3rd place (51 points)
    • Jennifer Davidson
    • Joe Fowler
    • Carol Edmond
  • 2nd place (53 points)
    • Derek Muller
  • 1st place (54 points)
    • George Todd

The top images were:

  • Kalon (George Todd) – 20 points (and the overall winning print)
  • 96 Years Young (Carol Edmond) – 19 points (and overall 2nd equal print)
  • Beguiling (Derek Muller) – 19 points (and overall 2nd equal print)
  • Katrine (John West) – 18 points (and overall 3rd equal print)
  • He Gets The Joke (Derek Muller) – 18 points  (and overall 3rd equal print)
  • I Love my Purple hat  (Jennifer Davidson) – 18 points
  • Downhill Racer (Joe Fowler) – 18 points

Well done to George for winning the competition and achieving best print with a fabulous portrait of a tattooed boxer, and well done also to Derek, Jennifer, Joe and Carol. Thank you to everyone who entered and thank you to Gordon Rae for judging the competition for us at short notice.

We had some spare time after the competition, so Gordon gave us a short presentation entitled “Birds of Iceland”, which showed the wildlife photographs he had collected on a tour of Iceland (see Gordon’s Iceland gallery for a couple of examples). Gordon explained that he most often used a Nikon 200-400mm lens with a 1.4X teleconverter. Most of his photos are taken at f/5.6, but at low angles he finds f/10 a better choice because the water appears more out of focus at those angles. We enjoyed the talk so much we booked Gordon to give us a full-length talk next year. Watch out for next year’s programme.

  • On Thursday, 15th February we will be joined by Beeslack Penicuik Camera Club for our annual audio visual night. We will be meeting in the larger room in the far corner, G6, not our usual room, G3.
  • If you would like to enter the “contrasting textures” set subject competition, please send your three JPEG files to George Todd this weekend.

See you this Thursday for some AV entertainment.

01 February 2024 (Digital Knockout Competition)

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Our first club meeting of February 2024 was our annual digital knockout competition, where members bring in digital images on a chosen theme and vote to choose their favourites. This year’s theme was “water”, chosen at last year’s AGM.

8 members entered a total of 23 digital images with some creative interpretations of the “water” theme. There were a lot of photographs of rivers, waterfalls and beaches, some lakes with reflections, some underwater scenes and some snow scenes. There were also some impressive abstract images created from droplets and waves at the water surface. One particularly inventive image was “Water Music”, showing a water splash superimposed on some sheet music. Another simple but effective image showed the rain on the window of an Edinburgh bus at night. The images were voted off in a series of head-to-head rounds until only 3 images remained. Members then voted for their favourite to determine the final placings, and the result was:

  • 3rd place
    • An image of a splashing wave in front of Arthur’s Seat (Steven Beard)
  • 2nd place
    • An image of a Tough Mudder contestant emerging from water (Jennifer Davidson)
  • 1st Place
    • Waves crashing over rocks at North Berwick (Joe Fowler)

Well done to Joe Fowler, who won a packet of water biscuits! Well done also to Jennifer and Steven, who’s images survived the head-to-head rounds despite some very close counts.

  • Next Thursday Colin Joyce will be judging our human portrait print competition. George Todd will also be collecting entries for our second set subject competition. Please send your 3 JPEGs on the subject of “contrasting textures” to George.

See you on Thursday,

Steven