2015 Winter Salon Results

25 Tuesday Aug 2015

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Our judge for the KCPS 2015 Winter Salon last night was Cliff Threadgold FPSNZ ARPS. His judging was very thoughtful, thorough and well explained, with many useful comments about what was good and what could be improved in the images.

After the judging, Cliff kindly showed some of his own photos – first about all the opportunities which present themselves (which is why it is always useful to have a camera with you), and second a presentation of people shots from Nepal.

We had around than 30 members present for a great evening. The images which received either Highly Commended or Honours can be seen in the 2015 Winter Salon Gallery which is now online.

Special congratulations to Brian Holden and Chrissy Garlick for their Honours in the Novice Section, for the images below.

“My Fate Is Sealed” – Honours, Novice Digital Image (Set) – ©Brian Holden

“Rage against the dying of the light take 2” – Honours, Novice Print (Open) – ©Chrissy Garlick

Frank Hinchcliff 2015

26 Sunday Jul 2015

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Frank Hinchcliff

I’ve been away a bit lately – hence the lack of posts (apologies). I was sorry to miss the judging of the Frank Hinchcliff Competition by Bruce Girdwood on 13 July.

Congratulations to Carol Molineux who was this year’s winner of the prestigious trophy, with her print “Facing the Storm”.

“Facing the Storm” – Winner ©Carol Molineux

Runner up was Barry Culling, with “Fast and Low”.

“Fast and Low” – Runner Up – ©Barry Culling

Here’s Carol receiving her trophy from Bruce (thanks to Gavin Klee for the photo):

This year, we asked Bruce to award “Honours” or “Highly Commended” ratings to the images he liked best. A full gallery of those images is available under the GALLERIES section of the KCPS website here.

Meeting 27 July – PSNZ Honours

Shona Jaray will be the speaker on Monday night’s meeting at 7:30 pm. She’ll talk about going for PSNZ Honours. In particular, she will show examples of unsuccessful and successful sets. This should be a very worthwhile session for those who are considering going for honours next year.

Meetup and Development Group Reports

02 Tuesday Jun 2015

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National Geographic 50 Greatest Photographs

Around 15 people from the KCPS Meetup Group got together to view this Exhibition at Expressions Gallery in Upper Hutt last Saturday morning. Most stayed for a tea or coffee and chat afterwards. The Exhibition is highly recommended – it was great to be able to see all the images as prints – particularly this very large tree photo by Michael Nicholls.

I was personally also very taken with this photo by Sam Abell. It’s a brilliant example of composition, with many layers – maybe as many as nine. From the back there is the sky, the prairie, some cattle on the right, a single cowboy, two more cowboys grabbing another calf, the guy with the bucket for the Rocky Mountain Oysters, the cowboy with bloody scalpel in this mouth, the calf, and then the young guy on the left helping.

Montana cowboys brand and castrate their livestock. (c) Sam Abell.

Whether or not you make it to the Exhibition (which closes on 26 July) I recommend getting this iPad app (NZ$6.49) which allows you to view all the images, read the back stories, watch some videos, and see other photos taken around the same time.

Thanks again to Rachel Stevens for all she does to organise such outings.

DEVELOPMENT GROUP – ADVANCED SESSION

There are around ten of us at the session last night, where amongst other things I discussed the Sam Abell image above. I also talked about some of the key principles which are common for time-lapse photography and my “Painted Skies” images. These are:

Set everything manual (ISO, White Balance, Aperture, Shutter, Focus)
Turn off image stabilisation
Use either RAW OR JPG depending …..
Solid tripod
Intervalometer
ND filter? (can be useful for motion blur)

FIXING HALOES

At the end of the evening I shared a very useful Photoshop technique I’ve recently worked out for getting rid of haloes in images. They can occur at sharp edges with large changes in brightness, such as where the land meets the sky. I’m sure I’m not the first to do this, but I don’t think the technique is widely known.

What you do is open the image up in Photoshop, then create a new layer, and set its blending mode to darken. Then, working on that layer, use the clone stamp tool with a small brush, and set the origin of the clone stamp (Alt-Click in Windows, or Option-Click on a Mac ) to some of the lighter area just near the halo edge. Brush along the light halo and it will be replaced by darker sky from above and near it (the clone stamp origin will move along with the brush), while not affecting the land because that is already darker than the sky. You can do this without using another layer, and just set the blending mode of the clone stamp brush to darken, but I prefer to have a separate layer.

Below is an example for a portion of an image of mine, where the halo has been fixed in the central part, while it is still clearly visible to the left and right.

2015 Autumn Salon Results

26 Tuesday May 2015

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Our judge for the KCPS 2015 Autumn Salon last night was Stephen Rowe from the local Photo School. It was really good of Stephen to judge our salon – his first time. Unfortunately we were not able to see his presentation after the judging – we’ll have to have him back for that. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Stephen here.

We had more than 30 members present for the salon judging. While the print set subject of “Backlit” was relatively easy, there was lots of innovation applied to the digital set subject of “10 Square Yards”.

The images which received either Highly Commended or Honours can be seen in the 2015 Autumn Salon Gallery which is now online.

Special congratulations to new members Craig Burleigh and Helena Fierlinger, for their first appearance in the Gallery for their awarded images below.

“Light Pollution” – Honours, Novice Digital Image (Open) – ©Craig Burleigh

“Autumn colour in back and white” – Highly Commended, Novice Digital Image (Open) – ©Helena Fierlinger

2015 Summer Salon Results – Glen Howey

26 Thursday Mar 2015

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Our judge for the KCPS 2015 Summer Salon on Monday was Glen Howey. We had an excellent turnout of some forty members to hear his views on a record high for the number of digital entries – 41, together with 33 prints. So the total number of entries was likely a record as well.

It was interesting to see the different interpretations on the set subjects of “Intimate Moments” for prints, and “Let’s Make Music” for digital. Glen awarded Honours to five images, and Highly Commended to 24. Congratulations to all those awarded, but especially to the newer members Susie Whelan, Jan Meese, Chrissy Garlick, Gary Key and Joy Svendsen.

The images can be viewed in the 2015 Summer Salon Gallery which is now online.

Following the judging, Glen showed around 90 photos from his current project “Please Demolish With a Kind Heart”. This was a fascinating, slightly scary, very sad, look around many wrecked homes and buildings in Christchurch. One example is seen below – there are more via Glen’s website and in recent news stories such as “Man risks death to capture quake memories“.

We are so lucky to have such talented local photographers who not only provide constructive thoughts on our Salon images, but also share their recent work like this. Thanks Glen!

"OPEN AIR: A chair and table remain untouched in the rubble of this High St building." (c) Glen Howey

“OPEN AIR: A chair and table remain untouched in the rubble of this High St building.” ©Glen Howey

Report on Tabletop Photography Workshop, etc.

13 Friday Mar 2015

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Monday 9 March 2015 saw the whole meeting given over to a Tabletop Workshop. Jo Goudsbloom, Hugh Scott, Gill Mackersy, Gavin Klee and Alison Viskovic set up tables where they demonstrated ways of arranging different backgrounds and subject matter, and using various sorts of lighting.

Lighting included hobby lamps used with a light tent, ordinary table lamps, a more professional Bowens light setup, daylight bulbs from a copy stand, and an LED torch. Props included fruit and veg, driftwood, ornaments and glassware, Alison’s illusions materials, and some eggs and plastic netting.

People circulated round the tables through the evening, helped each other with ideas and techniques, and there was lots of photographic conversation. 22 people had a very enjoyable evening. Thanks to Alison for the report on the meeting, and to Alison, Jo and Bob for the photos below showing some of the action.

Photo courtesy Alison Viskovic.

Photo courtesy Jo Goudsblom.

Photo courtesy Bob Kessler.

Op Shopping

KCPS member Chrissy Garlick featured in an article in this week’s Kapiti News, explaining what she found out about the background to three local Op Shops – Opportunity for Animals, Birthright Kapiti, and the Waikanae Baptist Church.

The Salt of the Earth

KCPS member Karyn Crocker recently saw this movie at local cinema the Shoreline, about the life and work of photojournalist Sebastião Salgado, and thoroughly recommends it.

Report on First Development Session for 2015

04 Wednesday Mar 2015

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CAPTION CONTEST – feel free to suggest a caption by commenting on this blog post.

I was sorry I had to miss the first session, which by all accounts was a great night.

Gary Moncrieff kindly provided this photo. Feel free to suggest a caption by commenting on this blog post. 🙂

Alison Viskovic reports: “21 people attended the first Development Session for the year, for novice and intermediate members of the club. Several more advanced members (Hugh, Gavin, Carol and I) were also there to offer help and ideas.

The evening started with a general round to find out what cameras people had and what sorts of things they wanted to know or to be able to do.

Then we divided into two groups, one for Canon users, one for Nikon and “others” (e.g., Fujifilm, Panasonic). In those groups various things were discussed or demonstrated, some to the whole group, some in pairs and subgroups.

We will follow up by finding mentors for those people who want someone to help them between meetings, and with a questionnaire to all members about their needs and interests for planning future Development Sessions.”

First Development Session Meeting Tonight

02 Monday Mar 2015

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The first Monday in the month from March to November is the time for the KCPS Development Session. This first one is aimed at assisting Novices and Intermediates, but Advanced Grade members are also most welcome to attend. It’s a chance to meet up with other members in a more informal setting. The focus (hehe) for tonight is on the basics of using your camera – so please bring your camera along.

Report on Members Exhibition

Teresa Angell showing her photo book.

We had another good turnout of more than 30 people for last Monday’s meeting. We heard from Teresa Angell and Hugh Scott. (Unfortunately Michael Martin wasn’t able to make it.) Teresa’s talk on her journey in photography was fascinating. Hugh’s interesting presentation was oriented to his use of spot colour in imagery – today’s software and digital techniques has made that a lot easier than the old darkroom days.

Summer Salon Entries Due by 9 March

Don’t forget that entries for the first Salon for the year are due by 9 March. Online entries close at 5 pm. Bring any prints (along with a printout of your entry form) along to the meeting that night.

Please note that the Committee has decided to change the format this year, so that the first three salons will include set themes as well as open images. The updated rules for the 2015 competition can be downloaded here.

For the Summer Salon, you can enter one open digital image, and one on the theme of “Let’s Make Music“. For prints, you can enter one open print and one on the theme of “Intimate Moments“. These themes correspond to two of the topics for the Wellington Interclub print battle later in the year.

End of Year Awards Function 2014

25 Tuesday Nov 2014

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It was a warm, convivial night to round off the year for 2014.

Thanks to Alison Viskovic, Gill Mackersy, Karyn Crocker, Gavin Klee and others for the arrangements at the Kapiti Club, to John Boyd for judging the Best of Year digital image and print competitions, and to Ian Linning for all the photos.

Socialising at the Kapiti Club

And the envelopes please – the results were:

Overall Results for the Four Salons in 2014

INTERMEDIATE GRADE – PRINTS

Winner: Barry Culling; Runner Up: Bernie Fraser

Barry Culling

Bernie Fraser

INTERMEDIATE GRADE – DIGITAL IMAGES

Winner: Rachel Stevens; Runner Up: Teresa Angell

Rachel Stevens

Teresa Angell

ADVANCED GRADE – PRINTS

Winner: Neil Gordon; Runners Up: Carol Molineux and Alison Viskovic

Neil Gordon

Carol Molineux and Alison Viskovic

ADVANCED GRADE – DIGITAL IMAGES

Winner: Carol Molineux; Runner Up: Gavin Klee

Carol Molineux

Gavin Klee

BEST OF YEAR COMPETITION

BEST OF YEAR PRINT

Winner of the Peg Griffin Cup: Jo Goudsblom (“Remembering the Fallen”)

Jo Goudsblom

“Remembering The Fallen” (c) Jo Goudsblom

Runner Up: Rachel Stevens (“The Soprano”)

“The Soprano” (c) Rachel Stevens

BEST OF YEAR DIGITAL IMAGE

Winner of the Waikanae Cup: Alison Viskovic (“Communication”)

Alison Viskovic

“Communication” (c) Alison Viskovic

Runner Up: Gavin Klee (“Stormy Monday”)

“Stormy Monday” (c) Gavin Klee

Frank Hinchcliff Trophy

The Cup and a Medal were presented to Neil Gordon for his print “Edge Effect” which had been selected in the competition held last July.

Neil Gordon

“Edge Effect” (c) Neil Gordon

New Life Member – Karyn Crocker

Karyn Crocker was congratulated for having been made an honorary life member at the recent AGM.

Promotions

As a result of their successes in KCPS Salons as well as in external competitions, Jo Goudsblom and Rachel Stevens will be promoted from the Intermediate Grade to the Advanced Grade next year.

Based on portfolio submissions, Gill Mackersy and Rhonda Billington have also been promoted from Novice to Intermediate from 2015.

Well done all.

Flying Cameras – Meeting Report

14 Tuesday Oct 2014

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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

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

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.

Kapiti Coast Photographic Society

Category Archives: Meeting Report

2015 Winter Salon Results

Frank Hinchcliff 2015