Blog archive - November 2009
30 November, by Roger Dye. (Interclub competition results) (Meeting and event reports)
L&CPU Projected Digital Image Knock-Out Competition
Gallery of our selection;
photo by Jackie Robinson
The PDI KO competition, which has replaced the slide KO, took place on Saturday 28th November and was hosted by Rochdale & District CC in Rochdale. Joyce Streets, Jon Allanson and myself were part of the capacity audience.
Clubs had been invited to submit 8 images, 7 to be judged and the 8th to be used as a tie break if necessary. The event proved popular, with 37 clubs participating, so only the first 5 images from each club were in fact projected and judged. This still presented the judge, Brian Parkes FRPS EFIAP from the Yorkshire area, with 185 images to asses. In the first round, the judge talked about each image and eliminated around 80. Later rounds, the competition went to 8, were fast with the judge simply indicating “Keep” or “Reject”. We lost “Storm Warning Morcambe Bay” by Ian Bramham and “Spire in the Mist” by Jackie Robinson in the first round. Round 2 left us without further loss, but our remaining three images, “Street Surfer” by Dorothy Redford, “Nicola” and “Duplicity” by Geoff Robinson, all fell in round 3.
Wigan 10 won convincingly with 30 points, second was Western (IoM) PS with 21. NCPS with 11 points shared 16th position. The full results are posted on the L&CPU website. The trophy for the best image went to Steven Pepper who we were told has been a member of Crewe PS for less than a year.
The judging together with the introduction, sundry L&CPU business including presentation of three PAGB Awards, a refreshment break, drawing the raffle and a short presentation of the winning club’s images by Ed Roper with explanation of their origin, were completed in just under three hours.
More details and links at the full article . . .
28 November.
British Heart Foundation - "Red for Heart" Photography Competition
"We're pleased to launch our first annual digital photography competition, with the theme of Red for Heart!"
- Red for Heart Photography Competition (closing date 6 January 2010)
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- Prizes
- How to enter (typically £10 to enter 3 images)
- Competition rules (terms and conditions) - note what it says about copyright and their right to use images
27 November.
New gallery uploaded
There is a new gallery "Stone Sculptures" by Graham Johnston in our galleries page. |
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26 November, by Bill Chadband. (Meeting and event reports)
Science and Photography
On Tuesday 24 November John Ranson took the broad subject of Photography in Science as his theme. He noted that the pin-hole camera concept (an inverted image in a darkened room) was in use as far back as the 5th century BC in China. Canaletto is believed to have used this Camera Obscura method to produce images with perfect perspective. The largest pin-hole camera was produced in an aircraft hanger in California. Here the negative film was 107 feet long by 37 feet high and the pin-hole a quarter of an inch diameter. The pin-hole size is important. It determines the amount of light entering the system. A smaller diameter increases image sharpness until diffraction effects begin to dominate. A rule of thumb indication of the optimum diameter is given by 0.036 times the square root of the distance from the pinhole to the film plane. Thus for a 100mm gap the pinhole diameter should be about 0.36mm.
Zone plates, an alternative to the lens, make use of diffraction. John used several examples (water waves and sound waves in air) to illustrate waves constructively and destructively interfering with one another. This effect is the basis of the Zone Plate. Binary Zone Plates (alternate clear and opaque rings) have several points of apparent focus whereas the Sinusoidal plate (where the density of opaqueness varies with radius sinusoidally) has one clear focus point. Zone plates can be used at many frequencies outside the visible spectrum, where glass is not an option – X-Rays being a good example.
The Fresnel lens is an alternative; a flatter version of the usual glass lens, where the surface curvature is maintained, but the whole lens “flattened” by removing glass in the middle. However, using too many sectors leads again to diffraction problems. John gave several examples of the common use of the Fresnel lens; from the overhead projector to the “map reader” magnifier to the Lighthouse lens.
John discussed the importance of the anti-reflection coating of the camera lens and how, by gradually increasing the opaqueness at the edge of the lens diffraction effects can be reduced. Apodization was the name given to this process.
John reviewed the spectral response of the eye (effective over the range 400 to 700 nm wavelength) and compared it to the different response of the Cathode Ray Tube phosphors and the tri-colour filters used in colour film. He briefly discussed the Bayer matrix of RGB filters used with digital sensors. X-Ray photography has proved useful in recovering data hidden within documents and paintings, whilst infra-red photography has proved useful in detecting hidden features in the ground. Fibre optics have proved invaluable in medicine (the endoscope).
John discussed the advent of the liquid lens for camera phones, where the curvature of the oil/water interface can be altered to produce zooming effects, and considered how “autofocussing” was achieved by detecting an abrupt change of contrast at focus.
High Speed photography had been an important part of his job early on at Pilkington’s, where the strength of CRT glass, the shattering of car windscreens, and the growth of internal laser damage of optical glass were important problems to be solved.
John considered a range of early hoax photographs, and how the hoaxes had been uncovered before turning his attention to UFO’s and the Loch Ness Monster. He concluded with a famous shot of the largest cat in Canada, almost the size of its owner.
In his Vote of Thanks Graham Johnston said he had been interested, fascinated, and mesmerized, in turn, by the wealth of information presented. He felt the audience could all relate to parts of the talk. He himself had sat in the dentist’s chair, watching on a screen, as the dentist proceeded with his root filling (just one of John’s many examples). It had been good to sit back and take in the wider picture of scientific photography, and he called upon the audience to say thank you in the usual way.
25 November.
New download available
This is an update, with new techniques, of a tutorial previously supplied by Jon Allanson after his Digital Workshop of 6 January 2009.
- Photoshop Notes - Selective Enhancement and other Tips (PDF tutorial by Jon Allanson).
- Also available on the Downloads page.
23 November. (Awards and acceptances)
Awards at two internationals
42nd PSEA (Photographic Salon Exhibitors Association) International 2009
Phil Riley: |
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64th Hong Kong International Salon 2009
Phil Riley: |
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22 November, by Bill Chadband. (Meeting and event reports) (Members' competition results)
Second Print Competition
President Roger Dye welcomed David Platt of St Helens Camera Club as our judge for this competition. Roger commented on the room full of people saying “we must have over 40 people here tonight”. Jonathan Bawden was quick to tell him that he thought everyone was over 40!! This set the tone for the evening. Roger welcomed the judge as a newcomer to NCPS but David insisted he had been here before.
The Judge had 70+ prints to consider. They were all of high standard and he felt sorry that, in order to differentiate, some images were going to get lower marks than, in other competitions, they deserved. He would go down to 12 marks and also use half marks in this attempt. Judging was a personal thing in that inevitably the judge has certain preferences and certain dislikes. In attempting to be objective the judge commented on what attracted him to a picture, and what distracted him. In general, white objects drew the eye away from darker objects – Was this the author’s intention? Or was it bad composition. Some prints seemed to have a colour cast, usually Magenta. He assumed this was unintentional. A young bird occupied about 20% of an image. If the bird was the main object, was this sufficient? Could we be including too much background in attempting to illustrate its environment? As a judge he wasn’t sure he could face six backsides at once, even if they were all highly decorated.
Still, images needed impact, and he thought some excellent flower compositions lacked this impact. The three conker close-ups were well composed, but, he felt, the whole lot should have been in focus. In still life pictures he felt he could expect all of the image to be in sharp focus. In some cases a gloss paper would have brought out the colours better. He liked steam trains and required to see all the details in those presented.
In one landscape scene he detected three separate images; in another he thought the pale uniform sky let the image down, though in another landscape he complimented the author on how, at every level as one moved up (=back) through the landscape interest was retained. Inevitably Nicola 1 was in competition with Nicola 2, Nicola 3, and Nicola 4.
David retained ten pictures for further consideration. We thought they would all be in the 17 to 20 bracket, but competing trams pushed one such aspirant down to only 13 marks. Finally a Red Sunset by Jackie Robinson emerged as the winner.
In his vote of thanks Geoff Robinson noted that dealing equitably with 70+ prints in an evening was no mean feat. David had made his observations equally on all of the prints, and we had had a good and thoughtful evening. The judge was applauded.
Barry continued to use his binoculars at the back of the hall. Is he setting a new trend?
21 November.
New galleries uploaded
There are new galleries "Landscapes", "Mono Collection", and "Plants" by Jackie Robinson in our galleries page. |
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20 November, by Bill Chadband. (Meeting and event reports) (Interclub competition results)
Martin Avery Digital Print Competition
This is a subset of the full report.
Gallery of the NCPS entry
Eight North Cheshire members were amongst the thirty three members of the audience for this competition held on Wed 18th November 2009 at Southport. No doubt the dire warnings of extreme weather put off some intending attendees, though in the event there was no rain, just blustery winds.
The Chairman of the Southport Digital Imaging Group, Bernard Longley ARPS, welcomed the visitors and the judge for the evening, Christine Widdall DPAGB AFIAP. Digital images had been requested in advance and were projected on a screen as the judge considered each image. As is almost the norm nowadays, the judge commented on the high standard of the prints, which would be marked out of 20. Christine considered and commented on each print in turn, retaining ten of them for further consideration. The meeting started at 8.00pm with a refreshment break at a little before 9.00pm. Southport did the visitors proud, ascertaining if we would prefer tea or coffee as we signed in, and providing sandwiches and cakes in abundance.
Once the scores were in, we waited in nervous anticipation as the scorers attempted to get the software to reveal the totals. Several failed attempts only served to heighten the tension. Eventually, the computer made the following announcement:
Results
| 1st | Southport PS | 206 |
| 2nd | North Cheshire PS | 199 |
Christine presented the plaque to South Manchester's representative for the winning image, and the special trophy containing Martin Avery's Gold medals, to Southport.
Results in the full article . . .
18 November, by Barry Pearson. (Members' competition results)
Second Clubworker Print Competition results
These are the results of the Competition judged by David Platt on 17 November.
Entries 1 to 4 were judged, 76 prints in all. (Entries 5 are eligible to be entered in future competitions).
20 people entered the "Advanced" class. 1 person entered the "Intermediate" class.
Competition results
"Worker of the Year"
- Intermediate Worker
- Projected Image Worker (unchanged by this competition)
- Print Worker
- Club Worker
Best print in competitionJackie Robinson: Sunrise Over Chrome |
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Next hand-in on or before Tuesday 24 November
The hand-in for the 2nd Clubworker PDI Competition is no later than Tuesday 24 November.
If you can't hand-in on time, hand-in early; there is a lot of preparation needed before the competition.
See this notice for an Option to submit entries for PDI competitions by email.
17 November. (Notices and news)
Our selections for L&CPU 2009 and Great British Cup 2009
The lists of titles and authors have been published as a news article on this website.
15 November. (Awards and acceptances)
7th Virtual Imaging International Exhibition - Bienal SICAFI 2009
AwardsGeoff Robinson: |
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AcceptancesGeoff Robinson: |
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14 November, by Bill Chadband. (Meeting and event reports)
An Evening with John & Katie Garner
John confessed that he had only been a photographer for about four years- since he joined the Society following a talk by Tony Redford to a Probus group of which John was a member. His first meeting had been a Digital evening at the Folk Centre where Bill Chadband had tried to frighten him with technicalities about cameras. When this hadn’t succeeded, Joyce Streets had had a go, demanding to know if John was a photographer. Having passed both tests John had thought it safe to bring along his wife Katie.
In their introductory sequence John listed the various cameras he had owned, showing results obtained with each one. His first digital camera was a Nikon with 2Mpixels. He later acquired an 8Mpixel Minolta A200 with a 28-200mm equivalent zoom. In 2008 he advanced to a 10Mp Canon 40D. Katie’s first “real” camera was an 8Mp Ricoh Caplio also with 28-200mm zoom, but more recently she had acquired a 12Mp Canon 450D. We saw a variety of images taken with each camera, ranging from a Tatton Park Cockeral, Birds, Butterflies, Cars, Flower heads and more recent images from Victoria Baths, Tatton Park Car show and Poynton Shows.
They had acquired a Canon Pro 9000 printer, PhotoShop CS2, Pictures to Exe, and the Audacity Sound program and had produced for us a variety of P2Exe presentations. The first, based upon the Crich Museum 40’s weekend included opening images taken by John’s father, and a shot of a Daily Mirror front page dated May 4th 1945.
After the break John and Katie presented several P2E sequences, all with accompanying music, ranging from Pompei, Sorento, a classic car show at Tatton, to a trip to Venice, Verona and Lake Garda (a taster for the Club trip to Venice next year).
Martin Currie proposed a vote of thanks. He felt that the presentations had highlighted what he thought was best about camera clubs – the friendly atmosphere and the shared experiences from which we all benefitted . He had enjoyed the whole evening, perhaps singling out the Pompei sequence as his favourite. He thanked John and Katie for another good Club evening, and the audience responded with applause.
13 November.
New gallery uploaded
There is a new gallery "The 2009 Keswick Weekend" by several members of NCPS in our galleries page. |
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12 November, by Richard Scaife. (Meeting and event reports)
The Keswick Walk: 2009
Photo by Colin Pickles
Buttermere Village this time. It was fine when ten of us met at the National Trust car park after an "interesting" drive over the steep and narrow road over the Newlands pass.
If only I could stop there, but of course, being the Saturday of the trip it was not fine for long. Long enough for the group photo and to walk down through the woods to the beach at the south end of Crummock Water. A nice view up the lake and one or two photos, but the rain was then with us for the rest of the walk. A gentle stroll back to the road, then up the tumbling Mill Beck to the top of the wood and out onto the open moorside.
Photo by Jon Allanson
Here there was a choice. No-one fancied the climb to a possible view point over the lakes in the poor weather at the time. Some chose the short path directly down to car park, but most chose to continue slightly up and then a gentle descent across above the "Great Wood" to the corner of the lake. John decided to sit in a particularly wet patch of mud, but fortunately he had his full waterproofs on, so a stand-up bath in the nearby lake returned him to being just normally wet. The new concessionary path along the end of Crummock Water took us back to the beach where we started and avoided any need to walk on the road.
It had stopped raining at this point, and most people chose to return to the hotel to dry out, but we drove up Honister Pass to the Cafe at the slate mine. Here we found out where all the open topped cars that we had seen all day had been heading. They had gathered for a hill climb on the mine's dirt road up the mountain. The cafe was warm and full of steaming wet open-top car drivers and reminded me of an alpine hut on a wet lunchtime. Unfortunately the rain had started again by the time we came out and the extra altitude had reduced the temperature producing steaming breath, so photos were soon forgotten.
10 November, by Bill Chadband. (Meeting and event reports) (Interclub competition results)
The Anglo-Scottish Interclub Battle 2009
(This is an extract from the full report. There may soon be a gallery of images from some of those present).
We had a wet start to this annual competition on the weekend beginning Friday 6th November. Saturday was equally bad though Sunday 8th was much improved. Despite the weather the turnout, both from NCPS and other clubs was excellent, ensuring a full house at Portinscale Village Hall for the competition
Under new ownership, the Derwentwater Hotel continues to give us excellent service and serves as a good base for the weekend. The Conservatory/Lounge is a comfortable place to read a book whilst the more foolhardy are out walking. Richard Scaife again organized the Saturday walk, this time centred on Crummock Water. One such walker explained to me that walking in the rain was good for the soul. I had mixed explanations as to why Jon Allanson was up to his waist in Crummock Water - did he slip, or was he pushed? And was Richard trying to wash him down or hold him under subsequently? I guess now we shall never know the truth.
Several of us did car tours looking for that magic shot in the rain. The wet certainly brought out the autumn colours. But it was not always easy to stop when a stunning view suddenly appeared round a corner. We were entertained by the many old open-topped cars which kept passing us, occupants hidden in macs, hats and goggles; clearly an unfortunate weekend to choose for whatever vintage rally it represented.
The Hall was open from 3.00pm with coffee, tea & biscuits available soon after for the early arrivals. Jack Bamford, the organizer of the competition welcomed Karen Storr, our judge for the evening, promptly at 4.00pm. Karen was a breath of fresh air in her judging. She saw photography as an art in communication. The image spoke to the viewer; and in all the images she sought this inter-relationship - what was it trying to say to her? Having established this connection she occasionally commented on how changes to the image would have improved this communication. Having studied the 80 images at length in advance, she had ordered and marked them. As expected, all the images were of high standard, and she noted that no mark would be less than 20 out of 30. She, herself, used mostly film, and she had used a magnifier to examine, for example, faces in an image. She noted with interest the fact that some faces in an image were grainy, whilst neighbouring faces in the same image showed much less grain! With so many images she could only comment briefly on each one in the time available. Some of the audience seemed to be thrown by the fact that she offered suggestions on how she would have "improved" an image whilst still giving it excellent marks. However it was plain to most of us that she had already marked and ordered the images, and on the day was adding her honest comments on each one, and how it affected her. The prints were laid out on tables around the Hall, in club order, for the audience to examine them in more detail, after the judging, and whilst we were having more refreshments.
Initially, NCPS were doing well, with two opening marks of 24. Sadly this didn't last and the final scoring was:
| Position | Club | Total |
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| 4th equal | North Cheshire PS | 225 |
| West Cumbria PG |
The full report also gives:
- The positions of all clubs in the competition
- Identification of the top prints (not from NCPS!)
- Full details (title, author, score) for all 10 of the NCPS prints
- A comment from Barry Pearson about the successful use of binoculars for viewing prints during the judging
- List of NCPS people present at this Keswick event
8 November. (Awards and acceptances)
6th German Mega Circuit 2009
There were 6 salons in this international:
6th Laupheim International; 6th Swabian International; 1st Hannover International Photo Salon;
5th Main Spessart International; 5th Bayer International Imaging Salon; 4th Filderstadt Photo Competition
AwardsAlan Saunders: |
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AcceptancesAlan Saunders: |
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6 November. (Awards and acceptances)
Bromsgrove Photographic Society 2009 National Exhibition
AwardsGeoff Robinson: |
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AcceptancesGeoff Robinson: |
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5 November, by Barry Pearson.
Some freebies from onOne Software
onOne Software gave a demonstration of their Photoshop plug-ins at the Digital Workshop of 3 November. There are a few freebies at their website (scroll down):
- 140 free presets for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (Lightroom 2, Mac/Win)
- 140 free presets for Adobe Camera Raw (ACR for CS2, CS3, and CS4, Mac/Win)
- PhotoTools 2 Lite - 15 Free Effects for Adobe Photoshop (CS2, CS3, and CS4, Mac/Win); it includes the "Model Skin" tool which they demonstrated
(For users of CS4 on Windows: there is a known problem that often (always?) prevents the onOne menu showing on the Photoshop CS4 menu bar. Mask Pro can be invoked from the "Filter" menu. PhotoTools Lite can be invoked from the "File > Automate ..." menu.)
4 November, by Lynda Hockin. (Meeting and event reports)
Digital evening report - The onOne Plug-in Suite
Brothers Andy and Doug Campbell from onOne arrived slightly flustered due to severe hold-ups on the M6 but they soon setup and with Doug manning the PC, Andy presented an overview of the various applications that make up the onOne Plug-in Suite.
Starting with MaskPro, Andy explained how easy it is to create selections from tricky images, such as those that contain hair or shear fabrics, by using a combination of 'Keep' and 'Drop' colours. He then demonstrated that the selection can be viewed in a number of ways, such as against the standard Photoshop 'chequer-board' or as a mask. The audience was particularly impressed by the ease with which the selection of a near transparent ballerina dress was made.
Andy then moved on to show how FocalPoint can be used to control blur within a photo, with different degrees of feather, or to add grain or vignette effects. Andy pointed out that these changes are non-destructive as when the change is applied a new Photoshop layer is automatically created.
Print enlargement was then demonstrated via GenuineFractals, as part of this a file size was increased 1000% whilst still retaining detail. A tiling option was shown that would allow such a large file to be printed on a standard-sized printer, with user-specified overlaps between each element. A sharpen option is also available if required.
Andy then had fun showing some of the effects available from within PhotoTools, in the process demonstrating the various search options available. Multiple effects can be applied to the same image and each one can be tailored with fade and masking options. A combination of effects could then be saved as a 'pre-set' for later use. Further pre-sets can also be down-loaded from the onOne website.
Finally, Andy showed the multiple framing and adornment options available via PhotoFrame. Again, multiple frames can be applied to the same image.
After tea, Andy reviewed the pricing structure of the various plug-ins and which versions of Photoshop etc. they work with. He then demonstrated that using the Plug-ins via Lightroom (currently) requires Photoshop CS whereas Aperture does not. For Elements users there is a cut-down version of the Plug-ins known as 'Essentials'.
Following requests, Andy demonstrated some selection 'tricks' that he uses. When selecting from a complicated image he suggested concentrating on those areas that are difficult to select using standard Photoshop selection techniques and to consider using multiple Keep/Drop palettes, as this will reduce over-all processing time (as defining large numbers of colours can significantly impact response times). He also suggested reviewing the Help files within the various Plug-ins as these contain useful tips. The onOne web site also has Tutorials that maybe worth viewing.
Proposing the vote of thanks, Roger Dye thanked Andy and Doug for an engrossing presentation and praised the way the two brothers had worked so well together. He felt that even Barry had learnt something from the evenings event.
3 November. (Awards and acceptances)
Detroit International Salon of Photography 2009
AcceptancesMartin Currie Sadhu with Trident |
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2 November. (Awards and acceptances)
20th International Salon of Colour Photography 2009 - Singapore
AcceptancesGeoff Robinson: |
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1 November. (Awards and acceptances)
UPDATE: RPS International Projected Images Exhibition
In addition to Jon Allanson's digital image, already published here, Phil Riley was successful with slides:
AcceptancesPhil Riley (open slides): |
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| News and blog archives | October 2009 | ||