Monthly Archives: October 2014

2014 Spring Salon & Development Group Meeting

28 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by in Gallery, News, Reminder, Salon Results

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All 22 images which received either Honours or Highly Commended in the 2014 Spring Salon from judge Lance Lawson can be viewed online.  Click on GALLERY in the main menu, or directly here.  Thanks to Lance for his helpful judging last night, and for showing some of his recent commercial work.

It’s really pleasing to see how well new(ish) members in the Novice grade are doing.  Gill Mackersy picked up an Honours for her print “Imperfect Beauty”, and Brian Holden had two Highly Commended digital images, once of which (“Intruder”) is shown below.

Congratulations to both Gill Mackersy and Rhonda Billington who will be promoted to the Intermediate grade in 2015, after submitting portfolios.  (See the rules for the 2014 competition and promotion here.) The points have yet to be counted for promotion from Intermediate to Advanced. We’ll announce any changes at the end of year function.

"Imperfect Beauty" - Honours, Novice Print - ©Gill Mackersy

“Imperfect Beauty” – Honours, Novice Print – ©Gill Mackersy

"Intruder" - Highly Commended, Novice Digital Image - ©Brian Holden

“Intruder” – Highly Commended, Novice Digital Image – ©Brian Holden

Development Group Monday – “Lightroom Workflow”

The final Development Group for the year will be at 7:30 pm on 3 November. The topic will be “Lightroom Workflow”.  Bring along some images (preferably RAW) on a thumb drive, for Neil Gordon to demonstrate how they can be improved using the tools available in Lightroom.

Flying Cameras – Meeting Report

14 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by in Meeting Report, Useful Links

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What a great meeting we had last night.  Paul Wolffram came along to demonstrate and then talk about “Flying Cameras” (sometimes called drones, UAVs, quadcopters, Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, etc.). Paul is a filmmaker, ethnomusicologist, and photographer currently working at Victoria University of Wellington Film Programme. He teaches production and specializes in documentary production and ethnographic film. It was cloudy, a bit gloomy at dusk, with a bit of wind, but the wind was no problem for Paul and his DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus.

Paul Setting Up

Paul Setting Up

It was an impressive demonstration. The gimbal system on the Phantom keeps it incredibly stable. The included camera can take 1080p video, or switch to taking 16 megapixel still images in Adobe DNG RAW. The remote control connects to the Phantom via radio, while a separate wifi link can be used to show a live view of what the camera is seeing on an iPhone or Android phone. Here’s a short video (taken with an iPhone 6) showing the initial takeoff and hovering around the Otaihanga Boating Club, before rapidly taking off over the Waikanae River. So long as it stays in line of sight, it can be controlled as far away as 3 km. But it must keep under an altitude of 400 ft.

Piloting The Phantom

Piloting The Phantom

After the demonstration, we went inside for a presentation by Paul all about “Flying Cameras” and his own experiences at learning to use the Phantom.  He showed us a beautiful short film “Free As A Bird” he made using it at Great Barrier Island.

Paul is about to return to Papua New Guinea to work on a documentary feature on sorcery practices, where he will use the Phantom for taking video (and no doubt impressing the locals with his own skills). A big thank-you to Paul for taking the time to demonstrate and talk about Flying Cameras.  Great stuff – there’s an exciting future and lots of opportunities for using these for photography and film-making.

Related Links

Drone Talk on Monday 13 October

11 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by in Reminder, Useful Links

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Hawk Attaching DroneThis Monday’s meeting is not to be missed. Paul Wolffram will give a presentation on drone photography and some of his experiences. The weather is looking good, so we plan to have an outside demonstration to start with (sunset is 7:38 pm).  Let’s hope we don’t have any interference like this hawk taking out a drone!

Entries for the Spring Salon are also due on Monday. Online entries close off at 5 pm; bring any prints with an included printout of your online entry.

Peg Griffin Funeral

A reminder that Peg Griffin will be farewelled and her long life celebrated at 2 pm on Monday at St Paul’s Church, on the corner of Kapiti Road and Langdale Avenue.

 Interesting Online Stuff

Some recent-ish online links that may be of interest:

 

 

RIP Peg Griffin, 1904 – 2014

06 Monday Oct 2014

Posted by in News

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I’m sad to inform members of the Kapiti Coast Photographic Society, and the wider photographic community, that our much respected and loved member Peg Griffin passed away peacefully this morning, surrounded by family. Heartfelt condolences to her daughter Meg, sister Betty, and all her other family and friends.

Peg celebrated her 110th birthday in May, and was the oldest person in New Zealand.

There will be a funeral service for her at 2 pm next Monday 13 October, at St Paul’s Church, on the corner of Kapiti Road and Langdale Avenue, Paraparaumu.