Tag Archives: flowers

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.

 

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.