Cairns Photographic Society Inc Newsletter September 2017 Hello CPS members and friends, I understand that Alex Pirez did an outstanding job chairing our last meeting, in my absence. Thanks very much, Alex. Family duties necessitated a trip to Canberra for a week but rather than fly straight home I took a road trip from Canberra to Cowra, Orange, Katoomba, Sydney and Newcastle, visiting some relatives along the way and a sentimental journey to some of the places where I worked back in the olden days. I couldn’t resist a short detour to Cootamundra, site of my first ever posting during Uni vacation. I was accommodated at the Globe Hotel a short walk from the Lands Department office where I worked. The Globe Hotel has stuck in my memory because, of the hundreds of hotels I have stayed in during my career, it was the first and possibly the worst. It has changed little over the years so took a couple of photos to remind me of the incessant drunks bashing on my door in the middle of the night and the noxious cigarette fumes from the misnamed beer garden. Come to think of it, the Dingo Hotel in Central Queensland, with its U-shaped beds and clouds of mosquitoes would have to be a close second. I did manage to get some nice photos, Canola fields around Cowra, snow on Mt Canobolas at Orange, the usual chocolate box Blue Mountains scenes, etc. Perhaps some will turn up in future competitions.

CPS Inc Group Facebook Page The CPS Inc Group Facebook Page continues to attract some beautiful photos from members. There are many recent member postings as well as useful advice and photographic tips. This is a great venue to display your photos and receive comments and feedback so take the time to visit and join. We currently have 104 members on this page and receive daily requests from people who want to join so it is a growing community.

Outings I have had a sneak preview of Larry Russell’s slideshow of our recent Granite Gorge outing. Thanks Larry for another brilliant job – very entertaining. This will be featured at our next meeting. These slideshows are always a source of inspiration and frustration for me. Frustration, because I can’t understand how I missed that great image that another one of our members spotted and captured. We don’t all see the same thing and coming to outings is one way to expand your powers of observation.

We had quite a decent turnout to our last outing to Munro Martin Park. The flowering vines there are quite spectacular and there are a number of images from that outing posted on our Group Page. Thanks Alex Pirez, Terry Starkey and Hans Schmidt. Coffee and lunch was at the RSL club followed by a walk down the Esplanade where some steel bands were playing. Brian Roach has posted some great action shots of the bands.

September 23rd & 24th - Cooktown As there are a number of members who cannot take the time to go to Cooktown for the weekend outing an alternate local outing will be arranged for those who will be staying in Cairns. Details will be announced at the next meeting and advised by email.

I have covered all the details of the Cooktown trip in the August newsletter, however, I have recently discovered that quite a few members were left off my mailing list, so, if you are going to Cooktown and have not received the August newsletter, please let me know. At last count there were 14 members who have nominated for the Cooktown weekend and most are travelling up on the Friday and returning on Sunday. Weather permitting we will try for some night sky shots on the Saturday night up at the Grassy Hill lighthouse. I am booked to do David Magro’s astro-photography course this Wednesday so, hopefully, I will be able to pass on some of my new-found knowledge. As we are going to Cooktown it would be a good opportunity to reflect on that great explorer, sailor, navigator, hydrographic surveyor, humanitarian and enlightenment man, Captain James Cook. A man who rose from humble beginnings to become what many have described as the greatest explorer of all time. We need to reflect on the fact that if it wasn’t for his outstanding seamanship and the complete confidence that his shipmates and crew had in his ability, the Endeavour would have floundered when it ran onto the reef at Cape Tribulation, just north of Cairns, and the history of Australia would have been complete different. “Merde!” – perhaps we would be speaking French, a close call, I say. There are many books written on the life and times of Cook. Geoffrey Blainey’s “Sea of Dangers” and Alan Villier’s “Captain Cook” are a couple of outstanding ones if anyone is interested. But for an excellent short history, Trent Dalton’s five piece article recently run in the Australian newspaper, “Cook Rediscovered”, is magnificent reading. This has been made available as an e-book and if you click on the link COOK REDISCOVERED it will open this outstanding e-book. If you read nothing else, read Chapter 5, “Miracle on the Reef”. It is the story of Cook’s exploration of our part of the world, the near miss when Endeavour ran aground, the first British settlement in Australia (Cooktown) and the first magnanimous act of reconciliation between Cook and the Aboriginal people represented by a “little old man” of the Guugu Yimithirr people. To quote Cook: “After some little unintelligible conversation had pass’d they lay down their darts and came to us in a friendly manner. We now returned the darts we had taken from them which reconciled every thing”.

October 29th Herberton and Irvinebank The Jacarandas will be in bloom at Herberton and later in the morning we will drive to the historical mining village of Irvinebank. Lunch will be taken at the Irvinebank Tavern. Guided tours of Loudon House, museum and Tramway Station can be arranged if there is sufficient interest. I will post some maps and points of photographic interest in the next newsletter. For those unfamiliar with Irvingbank, it is an historic mining town (a ghost town some would say) with an interesting museum and many colonial-era buildings and mining relics.

November 26th Mossman & Port Douglas Visit to some of the more interesting buildings in Mossman. Afterwards lunch and photography at the marina, Port Douglas

Workshops 14/09/17 Photographic accessories and gadgets Venue - Cominos House Start 7pm. No charge Someone uncharitably described this as a “gadget night” but that is probably correct.

Members are invited to bring their various photographic accessories and gadgets for display and discussion and these will include:

Light tents,

Multi-angled tripod mount,

Pulse Bluetooth camera controller,

Focussing rack,

Spyder monitor calibrator,

Magic Lantern firmware,

Various software and phone apps such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris, Depth of Field

calculators, etc.

Light painting gadgets and many more.

If you have something of interest, bring it along or just come to the meeting to learn what other members are using. 12/10/17 Zoom Blur Venue - Cominos House Start 7pm. No charge One of our future competition topics is - Zoom Blur. For those wanting to master this interesting technique this is your chance to learn how it is done.

9/11/17 Critique – Your Best Shot Venue - Cominos House Start 7pm. No charge Bring along your best shot for critique by one of our experts. Suggested changes will be carried out in Lightroom and projected onto the TV monitor so we can all see the results and, hopefully, the improvements.

Competitions North Queensland/Central Queensland inter-club competition (ICC). Ten images from our members have been submitted to the North Queensland/Central Queensland ICC November competition. The subject was Monochrome and the winner will be announced in November. I will show all selected entries at our next meeting. Future Competitions Themes have been selected for all future competitions to give everyone as much preparation time as possible to prepare. The themes have been kept purposefully broad so we are not restricted to a narrow interpretation. Hopefully this will encourage greater participation in competitions. October 2017 – Digital – Monochrome November 2017 – Digital – Humour/Funny December2017 – Print – Open January 2018 – No Competition February 2018 – Digital – Song and Dance March 2018 – Print – Signs and Billboards April 2018 – Digital – The Letter “C” May 2018 – Print – Symmetry June 2018 – Digital – Zoom Blur Portfolio Competition – A reminder Don’t forget to bring your fifth portfolio entry to the August meeting.

Club Shirts and Logos Larry Russell has arranged for the club logo to be embroidered on your club tee shirt. This can be done at Cardzilla at 163 Anderson Street, Manoora. The cost is $9.50 per shirt.

September Meeting Our guest speaker for September will be our very own, Tim Warnock. Last year Tim went on a cruise to PNG and managed to capture some beautiful images of the local children. This is a chance to get a glimpse of that wonderful and exotic country right on our own doorstep. Hope you can all attend at the Stratford Meeting Room at 7pm on Thursday 21st September.

Grant Phillips President, Cairns Photographic Society