2012 Winter Salon Results

30 Thursday Aug 2012

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We sure had a bumper crop of entries! 26 members entered the Winter Salon, with all but four using the online system.

There were 40 digital entries – a record, as can be seen from the graph below showing entries since the start of 2010. It’s also very pleasing to see the number of entries from the Novice Grade this year.

KCPS Digital Entries since 2010

40 digital images plus 33 prints gave our hard-working judge Murry Cave 73 images to carefully consider. Many thanks Murry, for all the effort you put in.

There were around 30 members at the meeting last Monday night to see all the images and hear Murry’s comments on them – this took quite a long time, so unfortunately we didn’t get the chance to see any of Murry’s work – particularly his nature photography. That will have to wait for another day ….

The gallery of most of the 17 images awarded either honours or highly commended is now available on our website (see GALLERIES in the top menu for all of them).

Of particular note is the appearance in this gallery for the first time by new members David Blyth (a Highly Commended for his first entered image), and Barry Culling (an Honours and two Highly Commended for his first Salon), as well as an Honours in Novice Print for Gavin Klee’s image – well done!

A Year of Blogging

24 Friday Aug 2012

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Just to note that today is exactly one year since this blog and web site started up. Thanks all for your support and for following along.

A few statistics:

This is the 105th post on the blog
The site has had 10,650 page views in the first year
The busiest day was 31 May with 182 views
There are 53 people who “follow” the blog and get emailed for every post
The blog postings are also tweeted by @KCPhotoSoc which has nine twitter followers
We get visitors from all over the world, but of course the majority are from New Zealand

Below is a graph showing monthly page views for the site for the last year, and a map and list of the top countries (there’s another 36 countries with less than 5 page views) for the last six months.

Wellington Interclub Print Battle Result

24 Friday Aug 2012

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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

20 Monday Aug 2012

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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

18 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by KCPS in Meeting Report, PSNZ Notices

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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

12 Sunday Aug 2012

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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

08 Wednesday Aug 2012

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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

07 Tuesday Aug 2012

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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

05 Sunday Aug 2012

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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

28 Saturday Jul 2012

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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!