mps newsletter - july 2017mpsociety.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017-07.pdf · elcome to the mps july...

www.mpsociety.org.au

CAPTURE your passion with

Maroondah Photographic Society

Cover image by Neil Roberts Miroir D’eau, Bordeaux

July 2017 Issue No 164


Welcome to the MPS July 2017 newsletter

Ringwood Black and White Camera Club

It was with much sadness that MPS learned of the decision by the Ringwood Black and White Camera Club to disband after more than 60 years of active community service.

On the flip side, though, we are delighted to welcome the former Ringwood Black and White members to MPS, and feel immensely privileged to bestow MPS life membership upon their life mem-bers. Welcome, Chris Hoare, to life membership of Maroondah Photographic Society. And we must acknowledge John Tuckett who was a life member of RBWCC and is already a life member of MPS. John has a long and distinguished history of service to photography in the community, and was recognised for this in the 2016 Deakin Community Awards.

This is the beginning of an exciting chapter for both MPS and RBWCC.

RBWCC used to meet on the second and fourth Friday nights of the month at the Heathmont Uniting Church, 89 Canterbury Road Heathmont, and MPS will continue to hold dedicated black and white meetings at the Church on the fourth Friday of the month. We will use the second Fri-day nights for the other Special Interest Groups, and for other activities that promote quality pho-tography in the Maroondah area.

The first joint meeting of MPS and RBWCC members will be held on Friday 14 July at 8:00 pm at the Heathmont Uniting Church. Members of both clubs, their partners and friends are invited.

This meeting will be a casual get together for both groups to meet. It will give MPS members an opportunity to have a look at the premises, and learn a little about the past history of the original Ringwood Black & White Camera Club.

There will be no photography programme for the night but members are invited to bring along two printed black and white images for critique at the meeting on Friday 28 July. Details are in the MPS calendar on the website, and we will populate the calendar for the second and fourth Friday nights as the programme progresses.

But in the meantime, put this in your calendar:

8:00 pm, Friday 14 July

Heathmont Uniting Church, 89 Canterbury Road Heathmont

VAPS Newsbrief

Click here to read the latest VAPS Newsbrief.

Newsle er

If you have any suggestions for articles, for this newsletter, please email [email protected].

Click here to access past editions.


Upcoming calendar see also http://mpsociety.org.au/events/


Out and about with MPS

What’s on in July and August

Saturday 15 July

Gird yourself for a fast-paced gridiron game at Croydon Park. MPS member and experienced gridiron photogra-pher Barned van den Hoek has arranged for exclusive ac-cess to the sidelines for a limited number of MPS mem-bers. Talk to Barend or email [email protected].

Tuesday 25 July

Ross will lead a visit to the College of Surgeons on Tuesday 25 July. Meet at the College of Surgeons at 10:30 am, followed by St Patrick’s Cathedral at 2:00 pm.

If you wish to join the group for this outing email Ross Taylor [email protected]

Final arrangements for this outing will be advised shortly.

Sunday 30 July

Sunday 30 July is National Tree Day. The First Friends of Dan-denong Creek is planting 3,000 trees, shrubs and grasses in JW Manson Reserve in Wantirna on this day. “This will also mark our 10,000th indigenous plant going back into our area in three years,” says the Friends’ Anthony Bigelow.

The Friends have invited MPS members to record and mark the day by photographing the event. Nalini Scarfe is liaising between MPS and the Friends.

When? Sunday 30 July, 10:00 am till noon. Where? JW Manson Reserve, Selkirk Avenue, Wantirna (off Wantirna Road, just up from the Boronia Road/Mountain Highway intersection).

The leader for this outing is Nalini Scarfe.

Gridiron photo © Barend van den Hoek


Out and about ...

Sunday 13 August

On Sunday 13 August, the First Friends of Dandenong Creek is running a ‘Native Bee Rescue’. This is a replanting session aimed at expanding the food sources for our native bees,

which are disappearing in numbers across Melbourne.

The Friends are planting 400+ bee-specific plants on this day, a combination of dona-tions from Croydon Conservation Society and Maroondah City Council.

MPS members have been invited to record and mark the day by photographing the event. Nalini Scarfe is liaising between MPS and the Friends.

When? Sunday 13 August, 10:00 am to noon. Where? JW Manson Reserve, Selkirk Avenue, Wantirna (off Wantirna Road, just up from the Boronia Road/Mountain Highway intersection).

The leader for this outing is Nalini Scarfe.

Saturday 26 August

Join us as the Doncaster Hockey Club takes on Waverley in Game 22 of the Premier League. The action is fast and furious so you will need a fast shutter speed, your longest lens and good reflexes!

The Men’s Premier League game starts at 2:00 pm, the Women’s at 3:30 pm. The venue is at the Mullum Mullum Reserve, corner of Reynolds and Springvale Roads, East Doncaster (Melway map 34 H7).

The leader for this outing is Mike Scully.

And later in the year ...

13-15 October

A weekend away in beautiful Maldon at Jarro Ma Homestead. Click here for more details.

Sunday 22 October

Join Nalini Scarfe at Woodlands Historic Park to get a fascinating glimpse of the landscapes and wildlife seen by European settlers in the 1840s. The park has a 150-year old homestead, indigenous canoe trees, native woodland and grassland.

TBA: University of Melbourne

TBA: Panton Hill Winery

TBA: Heronswood, Dromana

To see what you missed, head to the MPS website to see a selection of photos from the day (click on Photos and then 2017 Outings and Trips).


Posing your portrait subjects

Just a quick heads-up about our mid-July workshop on Wednesday 19 July. Barry will lead this workshop on posing your portrait subjects, which is something that most of us could learn a thing or two about.

He has recommended this book, so if you are serious about portrait photography, do your-self a favour and pick up a copy.

And if you’re even more serious about portrait photography, come along to North Ringwood Community House on Wednesday 19 July, and see how many light-bulb moments you have.

Judging courses The Australian Photographic Judges Association offers many excellent training courses and workshops.

Its mission is to aid in the education and up-skilling of pho-tography judges and to facilitate in the organisation and com-munication of judges across Australia.

If you’re interested, have a look through its website, and if you have any queries, please contact Alfred Zommers, APJA [email protected]


July comp winners Congratulations to the following members, who achieved first place in the July task “Reflections”, and black and white competitions.

See these and our other competition images at http://mpsociety.org.au/photos/

I’m wai ng to get Kevin’s image from Helen—this is obvi-

ously not a man in a canoe!

A-grade prints

Fed Square poster 1 by Barry Kearney

B-grade prints

Waterdrop reflections by Vanessa Bluett


July comp winners ...

A-grade EDIs

Evening light by Nalini Scarfe

B-grade EDIs

Long jetty by Lois Saleeba



A-grade B&W prints

Nigretta Falls by Neil Roberts

B-grade B&W prints

Redgum in the smoke by Vanessa Bluett



A-grade B&W EDIs

Irish farmhouse by Shane Montaperto

B-grade B&W EDIs

Fright by Elaine van Dyk


Urban Landscapes

On 14 June, fourteen intrepid, enthusiastic and positively motivated Urban Landscapers ar-rived outside David Jones at 6:00 pm. After a brief meeting we set out to photograph the inner artistic landscapes of Eastland Shopping Centre. It was certainly challenging, and the opportunities were enormous with textures, lines and roofing design features.

It was inspiring to see so many photographers chatting, talking exposures and slow shutter speeds plus ISOs. Gradually we shifted from the architecture to reflections, floor patterns and outside light designs. Eastland is truly a photographer’s paradise.

The greatest feature of the night was watching Geoff with his intricate engineering equip-ment doing panoramic and vertical shots. Look forward to seeing the results.

It was a fun night and everyone was pleased with their images.

Future events include:

Sunday 6 August - Old Melbourne Gaol

2 September - Urban Landscape meeting at Bendigo Bank where Urban Landscapers can bring along their latest images, and plus discuss possibilities for 2018

September/October- Visit to Montsalvat

November - Southbank Shootout 3:00 -5:00 pm. The only equipment allowed is one camera with a fixed lens.

And welcome to our group to John and Cathy from Wandin.

Trevor Smithson

Macro

The macro group has been quiet this month, but we are looking forward to meeting at the Heathmont Uniting Church soon to work on post-production.

Joy Rollason

Portraits

This group is going absolutely gangbusters at the moment with a total of seventeen people in attendance, including our three lovely models, Sarah Menegol, Amy and Alex.

This workshop boldly departed from our two previous sessions, firstly, by offering high-key instead of low-key studio set-ups; secondly, by having two separate studios to choose from and finally, but most im-portantly, having three lovely young mod-els to pose for us.

After an initial 20 minutes recapping, essentially, some of the technical aspects previously described, Neil then issued everyone with workshop notes before leading them out to loca-tion. He then suggested that the confined area would be more suitable for three-quarter portraits, leaving the outside area for full-length shots. The idea was that, with a model in

Special Interest Groups reports


each studio, the group could split into two to minimize congestion. In practice, it didn’t actu-ally work that way because greater interest lay with the model with the most interesting costume and general photographic appeal. This, of course, led to an unequal distribution, which meant some members found it difficult to shoot from behind or over the top of others.

For headshots that wouldn’t have been so bad, but full-length posed a problem. I’m only mentioning this now so that we can all be aware of the need to consider our fellow members at future workshops.

As was the case at previous sessions, Ron, Barry and Neil offered assistance on technical and lighting matters to any who required it. The most noticeable challenge confronting eve-ryone was getting the white balance right, because of the difference between artificial and natural light. This was also more important with the white backdrops, where previously we had the more forgiving black.

Despite these challenges, and judging from the amount of merriment and feedback re-ceived, I do believe everyone enjoyed themselves and gained a better understanding of static and natural lighting for live portraiture. I certainly trust this was the case.

Our young models have requested photographs for their CVs, so I would ask those members of the group who haven’t yet done so, to email me some of their better images for forward-ing onto the girls. Low resolution (1920 x 1200; max file size of 1.5 Mb) would be preferred, but if any are required, I will refer back to the creator for higher resolution images to be printed and matted.

I expect future Portraits SIG workshops will be conducted in larger alternative premises with different facilitators. More to follow on this. In the meantime, it has been a pleasure to con-duct these at my home, however, we are clearly outgrowing the facility.

Special thanks to Jill, my Director of Hospitality, without whom the sessions would not have been as successful as they were.

Neil Roberts

SIG reports ...

Full-size render by Mark Stevens

Trio by Neil Roberts


SIG reports ...

Aimee

by Neil Roberts

by Neil Roberts

by Gavin Haberfield

by Ron Berger

by Neil Roberts

by Ron Berger


SIG reports ...

Sarah

by Stephen Mather

by Lois Saleeba

by Neil Roberts

by Neil Roberts by Mark Stevens


SIG reports ...

Alex

by Barry Kearney by Barry Kearney

Sarah and Alex by Neil Roberts

by Ron Berger


Stripped to the bone by Stephen Bode

Hello MPS Members

Here we have another image from a talented MPS member, that just has that WOW factor. It is Ste-phen Bode’s image of “Stripped to the Bone”. When I first approached Stephen to share his secrets on how he got the shot, he very modestly told me it was “point and shoot”. I replied, “I don’t think so!”

Thank you, Stephen, for your time and sharing how you made your beautiful image. It truly is amazing.

Behind the scenes – exact set up

These particular caterpillars appear at the same time each year on certain callistemon bushes. I had taken some shots on the same bush last year but this year when I was notified by my spotter that they were back I allocated plenty of time for shooting in the full sun. The bush was only two metres high and was well infested, so there were a variety of subjects at all stages of development at eye level to choose from. I used a remote trigger release to prevent camera shake.

Lighting

The location was generally north facing so there was plenty of light. Some of the subjects, however, were in the shade of the bush itself. So I used clothes pegs to hold back any branches and put any tar-


get leaf at a convenient angle. Although not in this particular shot, I had used tweezers on the day to relocate some subjects to sunnier positions or snipped some leaves to avoid shadows.

Thought process – why was it done this way?

I had noticed that the caterpillars were working on both sides of the leaves at the same time and the shot I was trying for was a head-on shot capturing both sides of a vertical leaf at the same time. It was difficult to establish a specific focus point for those shots and they did not prove to be as dra-matic as this one showing the group of caterpillars with the skeleton of the leaf left behind. This shot also brought out their dramatic colouring.

On the day I probably took about 120 shots at various angles. I also detected a more mature caterpil-lar commencing to shed its skin so managed to take a video of the process.

Post-processing

For this shot I used FastStone software as the image taken required little adjustment. In the series of this group of caterpillars, this shot was selected as it had the sharpest capture of the leaf skeleton. I would have preferred that more of the skeleton up to the tip was in focus, but this is difficult due to the nature of the lens. There were only minor adjustments to increase colour, contrast and a little sharpening. Cropping was not required as I already had the lens as close as possible.

Final image


Who photographs birds in Africa?

In the last decade, I’ve been lucky enough to travel to southern Africa three times to observe and photograph wildlife. Each day was filled with early starts, long drives and an eager anticipation of what I might observe from the car or back of a 4-wheel truck. I deliberately visited different envi-ronments and habitats from the semi-desert of Etosha National Park in Namibia to the swampy-grassland of the Okavango Delta in Botswana, to increase the chance of seeing a range of spe-cies.

Like most people, I was initially happy to get any glimpse of the ‘Big Five’ – African lion, African ele-phant, Cape buffalo, African leopard, and rhinoceros. Some of the other large animals, such as giraffe, hippopotamus, zebra, spotted hyena, kudu and gemsbok, were also favourites to photograph. I then got fussy and wanted to observe lions taking down a kill, elephants bathing in a river or giraffes doing that awkwardly-delightful stance when they drink. While chasing these big game fantasies, you can spend hours passing by small interesting mammals, reptiles and birds. Hence, on the most recent trip, I also gave more time to the other animals, especially the birds.

I’ve always been fascinated by birds in flight but had little experience in capturing decent photographs. I had reasonable gear for the job, a Canon 7d Mark I fitted with a Canon 100-400 mm lens (EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM), but needed to explore camera settings and shooting technique. I read arti-cles on line and picked the brains of experts at the Club before I left.

I started with the following camera settings

1. Manual exposure with 1/1000th shutter speed, f/7.1 aperture and auto ISO

2. Spot light metering

3. Continuous shooting drive mode

4. Single-spot auto-focus in centre

5. ‘AI servo’ autofocus operation.

On the lens, I had the image stabilizer mode to ‘on’, stabilizer mode on ‘2’ and the focussing distance range at 3m-infinity. Once I found my quarry, I took a test image or two and would usually adjust the shutter speed up if the light was good or the species was a fast-flier, and the ISO up or down according to the look on the screen and the histogram.

What did I learn?

Birds in flight were often against a bright sky (Fig. 1 African Fish Eagle; 1/2000th sec, f/7.1 and ISO 320). Without spot metering and fixing the appropriate ISO reading, the subject would be grossly underexposed.

Shooting at speeds above 1/1000th sec were often required to freeze wings and get a sharp image.

Birds in Africa

Mar

k Sm

ith

Figure 1—African Fish Eagle


Don’t be afraid to use relatively high ISO readings to get sharp images as in this shot of an Open-Billed Stork (Fig 2; 1/1250th sec, f/7.1 and ISO 800). I like this shot because it shows the bird in its natural envi-ronment.

Patience is required waiting for a bird to fly over or take off from a perch. It helps to observe and under-stand the flight behaviour of the target species beforehand. For example, large birds like the Saddle-beaked Stork (Fig 3; 1/1250th sec, f/5.6 and ISO 100) often crouch before taking off and ascend relatively slowly in the direction they are facing. This Lilac-breasted Roller (Fig 4; 1/2000th sec, f/8 and ISO 800) was fast off its perch and backed off quickly after a few wing beats.

If you decide to observe and photograph birds in Africa be prepared for questions from travellers that pull alongside. It’s a common thing to share sightings on safari but a puzzled or exasperated look is guaran-teed if your reply is ‘that amazing little bird in the tree over there’. Not one of the Big Five!

Birds in Africa ...

Figure 2 Open-billed Stork Figure 3 Saddle-beaked Stork

Figure 4 Lilac-breasted Roller


Meeting held on Monday 10 July

Internal judging We spent quite some time discussing the inter-nal judging session we held last week, and unanimously agreed that we would stick with it for our October meeting. The Committee was very impressed with the quality of the comments made by the judging panel. We know it was a lot of hard work for the panel, but Ron, Barend, Gary and Neil did a great job, and have set a very high standard for future internal judging panels. Thank you, Gents!

For the October judging session we will broaden the panel so that more members can use the experience to improve their own skills. If you are approached about being on the judging panel, please give it serious consideration. You have been invited not necessarily on your photographic skills, but on your ability to be articulate, objective, clear-thinking, observant and honest.

Ringwood Black and White Camera Club Planning is well under way for the first formal meeting between MPS and the former RBWCC on Friday 14 July—see page 2 of this newsletter for more details.

Interclub competitions We have, or will, enter images in the following interclub competitions: Knox B&W - to be judged on 26 July Four-club interclub - to be held on 9 August (details in the web Calendar) 27th Eastern Interclub - hosted by MPS, to be held on 20 September

Outings The Committee noted the excellent program of outings that is underway under Mike Scully’s leadership.

Survey of members We will hold a survey of members in the next month or so to gauge everyone’s thoughts about the types of outings our members want, what tasks they would like, workshop topics etc.

Meeting held on Monday 19 June

B&W aggregate scoring The committee agreed to amend the rule regarding B&W scoring for the end-of-year aggregates so that it aligns with the rule for task end-of year aggregates. For each competition category, we will aggregate the top six scores of the nine monthly competitions. This will be effective immediately, and will be used to calculate the 2017 end-of-year B&W aggregate competitions. The rules on the website have not been updated yet, but all members will be informed when they are.

Ringwood Black and White Camera Club The committee agreed that if RBWCC goes ahead with disbanding and encourages its members to join MPS, MPS will bestow MPS life membership on the RBWCC life members. In reality this only affects Chris Hoare, who is a life member of RBWCC. John Tuckett is a life member of RBWCC, but he is al-ready a life member of MPS.

Portraits Special Interest Group Neil Roberts has advised that he will step down as coordinator of the Portraits SIG. The committee rec-orded a vote of sincere thanks to Neil, and will seek a replacement as soon as possible.

The entire committee can be emailed on [email protected]

Committee update


Invitations to events in the photographic world

Lal Lal Photo Group Competition Hello All

Entries are open until end of July. For those interested the group is holding a matting and colour theory day on Sat 22nd July, where you can print and mat your photos at discount prices. there is a $10 fee for non members, member-ship is available on the day. please contact Kristina Secretary on 53417535 for more details.

Exhibition day is Sunday August 20th.

We have Country Baked Potatoes and Crank Coffee available to warm you up.

Come and see some amazing works and Support our Sponsors.

Thank you and see you all soon.

www.lallalmooraboolphotographicgroup.org

Croydon Camera House

Our latest photographic competition is here. This month's theme is: COLD Interpret the theme you as wish and let it guide you to some fantastic photos. This competition is open to all photographers of any skill level or type of camera. To enter all you need to do is upload 1 to 3 of your own photos on this event page, a brief description to each image and include equipment used plus exposure settings. This competition will be judged by three staff at Croydon & Ringwood Camera House who have backgrounds in photography and one judge from Manfrotto. Make sure to hit attending on this event to stay up to date with the competition. Three winners will be selected by a judging criteria (see below) with prizes ...See more

https://www.facebook.com/events/1931064600509830?_bta_tid=35138856451401962331198062304805738294814825690776039409191143561113446817777241253010684031379741032183306

Croydon Camera House photo tours Click here for the list of excellent photo tours arranged by Croydon Camera House

http://www.croydoncamerahouse.com.au/photo-tours-2/


www.facebook.com/mpsociety

24th Annual Melbourne Orchid Spectacular 25—27 August

http://www.oscov.asn.au/oscovshw.htm

Our mission is to contribute to the health and vibrancy of the Maroondah community by providing an outlet for the people of Maroondah to enhance and develop their photographic skills, and to participate in the advance-ment of photography as both an art and a science. Our aims are to encourage meeting of members and to facilitate the exchange of ideas for the mutual improvement of our

photography and allied processes encourage the advancement of photography as an art and a science hold exhibitions, conduct competitions and award trophies arrange photographic and social functions

MPS weekend in historic Maldon

• Check in Friday 13 October

• Check out either Sunday

• Jarro Ma Homestead (sleeps 10-12)

• Whole house

• 10 minute walk to town centre

• 2 hours from Ringwood via Calder Highway

Remnants of Maldon’s golden past

Carman’s Tunnel (open Saturday and Sunday)

Tourist train to Castlemaine (Sunday only)

Centenary of Mt Tarrengower Historic Hillclimb (Saturday & Sunday)

Guest speaker: Dr David Oldfield • Definitive photographer of high country huts • Co-author: The Australian Photographic Society:

the first fifty years • IR photography & printing specialist • Advice on local photographic interest

• King bedroom

• Queen bedroom

• Front bedroom with double bed

• Lounge/back room with 1 double bed

• Upstairs 1 double bed with 2 singles

• Spillover bedroom with 2 double beds

• Two bathrooms

Bottom line? Assuming 10 guests: $145 per person

Numbers are limited! Contact: [email protected]

mps newsletter - july 2017mpsociety.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017-07.pdf · elcome to the mps july...

Documents