Wellington Interclub Print Battle Result

It was a tough competition last night – with 60 fabulous images.

We didn’t win, but were in good company.  Four out of six of the clubs, including KCPS, ended up on the higher end (low is good) with a total of 37 or 38 points.  The results table was:

Congratulations to WPS who won the competition, and Aotearoa Philippines Photographic Society who came in second.

The judge, Jordyn O’Keefe, did a great job on speedily assessing and providing useful comments on every image.

We did manage to score top marks (1) in two categories – “Animals”, where it turned out she was a big fan of cows, and “Abstract”, with Hugh Scott’s image “From a Fantasy Forest“. Here’s Jordyn reviewing the abstract entries, with Hugh’s at bottom left:

Special congratulations to Hugh. With the top abstract image, he was the winner of the “Stella Daniell Award”, in honour of the late Stella Daniell, and will retain a framed image of hers until next year’s competition – when it’s our turn again to host it up here on the Kapiti Coast.

Wellington Interclub Print Battle Thursday

Come and join the contingent to support KCPS and enjoy the fun at the Wellington Interclub Print Battle, this Thursday 23 August. Details of the competition and event are at http://wic.org.nz.  It’s on at 7:30 pm in the Loaves and Fishes Hall, corner of Hill & Molesworth Streets, Thorndon.

You can either meet us there, or carpool down. To carpool, meet in the carpark near Domino’s Pizza on the corner of State Highway One and Ihakara Street (see map below) – we’ll be leaving from there at 6:15 pm.

Portrait Workshop Notes

Notes prepared by Colin McKenzie for the Development Group Portrait Workshop on 6 August are now available from the KCPS Resources page.

Here’s a couple of posts on the Digital Photography School site about portraits that may also be helpful:

Trimember and Triptych

It was another great meeting last Monday with the Members’ exhibition.  More than 30 of us saw some great images from three of our members Stu, Gavin and Des, and heard about their unique styles and interests in photography.

For those who were able to be there, here’s an image from each as a memento;  for those who weren’t, this is just some of what you missed!

Australian Scene – (c)Stuart Ayres

“Shag versus Eel” – (c)Gavin Klee

“Anglican Perspective” – a photo of one of the black and white prints – (c) Des Johnston

From three members to three panels – a reminder from PSNZ about the Nelson National Triptych Salon, which closes at the end of August.

Members’ Exhibition Tomorrow – 13 August

The KCPS meeting at 7:30 pm on Monday evening will be a members’ exhibition.  This a regular feature during the year – an opportunity to hear from them how they got interested in photography, what images they like to make, and to see some representative images they have brought along.

The three members we will be hearing from tomorrow are Stuart Ayres, Gavin Klee and Des Johnston.  Below is an image from each that I’ve picked as an appetiser for what they will be showing us. Stuart’s is from this year’s Summer Salon, Gavin’s from our KCPS club entry for the Trenna Packer Salon this year, and Des’s from his blog at http://desmondjohnston.wordpress.com.

Come along, and see and hear lots more …

And don’t forget to get your entries in for the Winter Salon – also due tomorrow.

“Pick Me” – Highly Commended, Novice Digital Image – ©Stuart Ayres

Kotare (Halcyon Sancta) with crab – (c) Gavin Klee

Glencolumbcille in West Donegal – (c) Des Johnston

Photography from Space – Mt Tongariro Ash Cloud

As photography enthusiasts  we concentrate on our efforts on ground-based photography, or sometimes from the air. Photographic imagery is also a valuable tool from space – to assist weather forecasting (of course), and also to monitor ash plumes from volcanoes.  The ash can be very dangerous for airline operations, but isn’t always easy to detect when there is lots of cloud around.

A new polar-orbiting satellite was recently launched (Suomi NPP) and NASA has just posted an image from it, showing the ash cloud from Mount Tongariro, around an hour after it erupted late Monday evening.  You can see the impressive  full image at the NASA site, but below I’ve cropped in to show the central North Island with the ash heading east towards Hawke’s Bay.  This image was from around 12:55 am NZ time – note the lights from major population centres as well.

Report on Portrait Workshop

Some of the attendees trying out and discussing various lighting gear for portraits

Around 14 of us had a great workshop last evening. Unfortunately Colin wasn’t well enough to be there, but the workshop was well led by Ian and Hugh, assisted by notes from Colin. It was very hands-on, as the photo shows – with lots of trials of lighting techniques and use of fancy gear such as wireless flash triggering.

A homework “Challenge” was set for those who were there – and others are of course welcome to join in:   Make an Environmental Portrait where the photographer is in control of posing the subject, and telling a story about the person.  This could be someone proud of their garden gnome, someone reading a story to a child, etc. If you can, do this with someone you don’t already know – ask if you can take their photo for a KCPS project.

WINTER SALON ENTRIES DUE

These are due by next Monday 13 August.  Please use the online entry system, and bring along any prints to the meeting that evening, together with a printout of your online entry form from the response email.

Workshop on Portrait Photography

Monday evening’s Development Group meeting will be a Workshop on Portrait Photography.

Participants are invited to bring cameras & tripods, and also flash units or other lighting sources. Please also bring props, such as hats and scarves, and questions and tips to share.

Learn about lighting like this.

Ian Linning will have studio flashes arranged in one corner and Hugh Scott is organising a fixed lighting set up in a separate area. It will be an excellent opportunity to practice your posing techniques and capture images using different light sources.

At the end of the workshop there will be a small photographic challenge for you, and at September’s Development Group meeting there will be a session on post production of your portrait images.

We look forward to seeing you at the Otaihanga Boating Club 7.30pm Monday 6 August for a “hands on” imaginative learning experience.

Trenna Packer Nature Competition Results

This year, for the first time I am aware off, the Kapiti Coast Photographic Society entered the annual Trenna Packer Nature competition.

The results are now out, with the first three places being taken by the Nature Photographic Society, the Pukekohe Franklin Camera Club, and the Greymouth Photography Club. Check out their sets.

We were aware that our entry probably had too many birds, and needed to be more diverse. But I think it was a good effort for a first try, with some excellent images (see below).  Thanks to all who submitted images to be considered, and to Carol for helping with the selection. Onwards and upwards for another KCPS entry next year!

Platalea Regia – (c) Carol Molineux

Hygrophorus sp – (c) Carol Molineux

Morus Serrator with Nest Material – (c) Neil Gordon

Kotare (Halcyon Sancta) with crab – (c) Gavin Klee

Wind formed patterns on sand dune – (c) Hugh Scott

Kahu (Harrier Hawk) – (c) Gavin Klee

Dominion Post Worldpress Photo Competition

In association with the World Press Photo Exhibition 2012 in Wellington from now until 29 August, the Dominion Post has an exhibition called “Wide Angle: Celebrating a decade of The Dominion Post” that provides a retrospective on the occasion of the newspaper’s 10-year anniversary.

The Dominion Post also ran a competition for readers’ photos and announced the results on 23 July. Besides the winner, fifteen photographers had their images highly commended. One of those was KCPS member Johanna Goudsblom, with her image “Cormorant Fisherman, Li River, China”. Well done, Jo!

“Cormorant Fisherman, Li River, China” – (c)Johanna Goudsblom

International Film Festival and World Press Photo in Wellington

The NZ International Film Festival is on in Wellington from 27 July to 12 August 2012.

Colin has alerted us to some photography oriented movies that may interest KCPS members – in particular:

Chasing Ice – “Science and art confront awesome nature in this stunning giant screen account of National Geographic photographer James Balog’s painstaking (and dangerous) Extreme Ice Survey project. Capturing time-lapse photographs of numerous glaciers over several years, Balog assembles all the evidence anyone should ever need of the radical worldwide impact of climate change. — BG”

as well as Bert Stern, Original Madman¡Vivan las Antipodas! and Journal de France.

And of course the annual World Press Photo Exhibition 2012 will also be on in Wellington, from 26 July to 29 August 2012 – always worth viewing.