Blog archive - February 2010
27 February, by Bill Chadband. (Meeting and event reports & Interclub competition results)
Competition with Chapel Camera Club
On Tuesday 23 February we welcomed members of Chapel Club to Poynton for a Print and DPI battle. Our Judge was Graham Shaw, a member of Sale Photography Club, who informed us that Landscape photography had been an early passion of his. He noted that with only 40 images to consider he could spend more time than usual on each image. This gave us a better than usual insight into a judge’s thinking. Inevitably, faced with an array of good images, a judge is led to comment on the small aspects of an image which detract, in the judge’s view, from perfection. Was the girl in the picture a real girl, or a mannequin? Would the image of the bridge, extending in an arc into the distance, have been improved with a lorry in the foreground? Does the man in another image look too dis-interested? Did the landscape image appear a bit too flat and monotone? It was revealing that images that have done well in other competitions, became average in this one – giving hope to us all!
The Chapel President proposed the vote of thanks. He was always keen to discover how a judge’s mind worked – it was a shame that this was always a retrospective discovery. Nevertheless, it had been a good competition, with Chapel winning for a change. He made the confession that the “Tree Godess” image which had received high praise from the judge was really two separate images! He only hoped their good luck held as they attempted to get home to Buxton in the snow.
26 February, by Barry Pearson.
New "downloadable tutorials" page, with summaries
There is a new "Downloadable tutorials with summaries" page. It is linked to from the Downloads page and the A-Z & Search page. It identifies the same tutorials that are already listed in the Downloads page, but also provides a summary and (where relevant) a link to the report of the session (for example, Digital Workshop) they related to.
It had become obvious that members with problems that were covered by available downloads were often unaware of the fact. The titles of the tutorials were a bit cryptic, and typically only by reading the tutorial could anyone spot whether they were relevant. Not only was this inconvenient for the person with the problem, it was probably discouraging for the authors of these tutorials. I hope the summaries are sufficient to enable people to identify relevant tutorials. If not, please let me know.
If any of the authors wants to revise the information on the new page, please let me know, and where relevant supply replacement material. Thank you.
24 February, by Roger Dye and Barry Pearson. (Interclub competition results)
Results of interclub competition with Chapel CC, 23 February
This is a summary. Detailed results are in the full article.
Venue: Poynton Civic Hall, hosted by NCPS.
Judge: Graham Shaw.
Gallery of the NCPS selection
Prints: North Cheshire PS: 162; Chapel CC: 169.
PDIs: North Cheshire PS: 160; Chapel CC: 159.
Best Print: Feeding the Birds, Martin Currie
Best PDI: Cold and Frosty Morning, Joyce Streets
Chapel CC won by 6 points, with each club scoring over 320 points.
Detailed results are in the full article.
23 February, by Bill Chadband. (Notices and news)
Gordon Does it Again
A year or so ago Gordon Robson entered a picture of Chrome hill into a competition in a Walking magazine and won £500 worth of Anquet Mapping (1;25000 OS). So he bought an Etrex GPS system which allowed him to plan/record walks in Derbyshire and beyond.
More recently he was shown an advert in Walk Magazine inviting the public to send in images of Snow and Ice with the prospect of winning a Nikon D5000 digital SLR camera so he decided to try again. His entry this time “3 Men and a Dog” was the one we saw in the Exhibition this year. He explained that the photograph was taken from the summit of Mam Tor in Derbyshire looking down the road from Mam Nick into Edale. He had been waiting for this winter`s opportunity for several years and finally was lucky with the right combination of snow, lighting and composition, which was enhanced by the 3 walkers and their dog (taken as seen). He decided that a monochrome image simplified, and emphasised, the composition avoiding distracting colour casts.
He was surprised and of course delighted to discover that his image had won the competition. His only problem is that he is a Canon man with all-Canon lenses. I have explained to Gordon that the D5000 would make an excellent first prize in the next Exhibition Raffle. He has it in mind the sell the camera, at a discount, to any interested party.
I urge you all to refuse all tempting offers (on Gordon’s part) so that the camera can really be a Raffle prize.
22 February.
What topics would you like for the next Digital Workshop?
The next Digital Workshop, on Tuesday 2 March at the H/G Bowling & Tennis Club, is a "Members' choice evening". That means we will try to cover topics suggested by members. But we need to know what the topics are beforehand, and not find out on the night!
Please tell Roger Dye or Tony Redford as soon as possible what topics you would like to see. There will be about 90 minutes or so available, and it is desirable to handle a number of topics, so it is probably better to have well-focused rather than open-ended topics.
It is also worth having a look at the Downloads page to see if there are tutorials covering what you are interested in.
20 February, by Bill Chadband, etc.(Meeting and event reports & Members' exhibition results)
The Exhibition Judge Returns
This is a summary. Photographs and details of awards are in the full article.
Tony Pioli returned on Tuesday 16 February to present the Trophies won by members and comment upon images chosen by the members present (two of their own images, prints or PDIs).
Bill had arranged members’ prints around the room in competition number order to facilitate this process, and was amused to discover that several members apparently could not recognize their own labeling. The prints were considered first. After the refreshment interval President Roger Dye projected the thumbnails of the PDIs (in author folders) for members to choose an image for the judge to comment on. The system worked efficiently and our judge concluded promptly at 10.00pm.
Bill proposed the vote of thanks. He had enjoyed the evening. Tony had been consistent and convincing in his comments. Bill noted that Tony had been working hard for the Society over the past few weeks. He had finished his judging in record time, allowing us to bring forward by a week the consideration of how the prints should be displayed on the stands; which in turn had given more time for the production of the catalogue. The Sunday lunch, at the Beijing restaurant, had been enhanced by the presence of Tony with his wife Pat. However no-one was perfect and Bill had to report that Tony had failed to give Bill even one Commendation in the Exhibition. The audience clapped wildly on hearing this news.
Photographs and details of awards are in the full article.
19 February, by Bill Chadband.
The February 2010 Focus is available as a PDF file, for viewing online or downloading.
18 February, by Barry Pearson. (Notices and news)
Entering PDIs into Clubworker competitions
This is a summary. The full notice with guidelines, checklists, screenshots is here . . . .
This notice describes how to enter PDIs in Clubworker projected image competitions. The timing of this notice is to cater for the 3rd Clubworker competition, but it is intended to apply to future competitions unless otherwise stated at the time.
The Guidelines for digital images in member's events continue to apply. Additional guidelines and checklists are provided in this notice to help reduce the number of non-conforming entries. We will be using the DiCentra software.
For PDIs in Clubworker projected image competitions, there are 3 methods of entry:
- Entry form on paper and images on physical medium (USB Drive); the traditional method.
- Entry form by email (see below) and images on physical medium; this avoids the need to copy-type the entry forms into a computer for various purposes.
- Entry form and images by email (see below).
Here is the full notice, with guidelines, checklists, screenshots, etc . . . .
17 February, by Barry Pearson.
See what the L&CPU website says about our Exhibition
Ian Bramham's winning image "The Dying of the Light" in last Thursday's interclub competition is quite rightly the L&CPU Picture of the Week.
There is a positive news report with results and presentation photos of our interclub competitions of last Wednesday and Thursday.
(These items will not be on their website for ever. See them soon! Thanks to John Royle for putting them there).
16 February, by Bill Chadband, etc. (Meeting and event reports & Interclub competition results)
Report on 2010 Annual Exhibition
This is a summary. Full report with photographs is here . . . .
Another annual exhibition has come and gone, and again we can claim considerable success. Both of our inter-club judges, John Cartlidge on the Wednesday and Tony Dudley on the Thursday, were impressed with the attendance and the general running of the two competitions; as was Norman Thompson the L&CPU President who formally opened the exhibition.
We had 24 competing clubs on the Wednesday and 27 on the Thursday. Unsurprisingly Wigan 10 won both club competitions and the prize of £25 for the best individual print. We were pleased that Ian Bramham of NCPS won the individual prize for the best projected digital image on the Thursday.
Our internal competition judge, Tony Pioli came with his wife Pat on the Thursday, and joined us on the Sunday for our post–exhibition lunch at the Beijing Restaurant.
The Friday “Music night” featured Offerton Methodist Choir for the first half of the evening and Werneth Swing Band for the second half. Both were well received by the audience, many of whom were attracted by the combination Music and Pictures.
Attendances on the first two nights approached our expectations of a full house, with discerning photographers from most participating clubs realizing these were unmissable events. The size of the Friday audience was about the same as last year.
The organisation and running of the Exhibition is a collective club affair. It works so well because many individuals undertake specific duties and the general membership joins in whenever it can. It would be invidious to start naming club individuals who have undertaken specific duties or to try and name the helpers who assisted them in their tasks. A large proportion of the club participated in some way or another. However we should again thank Peter Redford who comes each year with his equipment and computer skills to assist in making our event the envy of many, and Sheila Edwards, a past member of the club, who helps us take the door money and sell raffle tickets
The rest of the report is here . . . .
13 February, by Colin Pickles, etc.
Lunch at the Beijing, Sunday 14 February
Timing is 12.30 for 1.00pm. 30 members, together with the judge and his wife, have pre-booked and are expected to attend.
Postcode for Sat Nav: SK12 1JG. It is at 47-49 Queensway, Poynton, but the number is irrelevant as neither it nor any other unit in the Queensway Parade displays their number. The restaurant is the first unit in the parade from the London Road end (which most people will use). The Beijing is visually very obvious anyway once you are near that end of Queensway which is a short road anyway.
There is parking opposite. It is not true that there is room for 9 million bicycles in the Beijing.
12 February, by Barry Pearson. (Interclub competition results)
Results of the Interclub Competitions in the 2010 Exhibition
- Record of holders: Alan Adshead Trophy - Digital Prints Competition
- Record of holders: North Cheshire Challenge Trophy - Slides then Projected Digital Images Knock-Out
Wednesday 10 February - Alan Adshead Trophy (digital prints competition)
- Judge: John Cartlidge
- Results: 2010 Digital Prints Competition for the Alan Adshead Memorial Trophy
- Winning club: Wigan 10
- Best print: "Windswept" by Gwen Charnock of Wigan 10
| North Cheshire Photographic Society entry (4th equal out of 24 clubs) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gordon Robson: |
Alan Saunders: |
Martin Currie: |
Joyce Streets: |
Geoff Robinson: |
Thursday 11 February - North Cheshire Challenge Trophy (projected digital images KO)
- Judge: Tony Dudley
- Results: 2010 Projected Digital Images Knock-Out for the North Cheshire Challenge Trophy
- Winning club: Wigan 10
- Best image: "The Dying of the Light" by our own Ian Bramham - see below!
| North Cheshire Photographic Society entry (2nd out of 27 clubs) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dorothy Redford: |
Ian Bramham: |
Alan Saunders: |
Geoff Robinson: |
Paula Martin: |
9 February, Barry Pearson. (Awards and acceptances & Members' exhibition results)
Members' work at the 2010 Exhibition - lists and awards
Our Annual Exhibition provides a showcase of members' work. More than 160 PDIs and more than 150 prints will be on display this year, and more than a quarter of them can be seen on this website. Here are the full lists of work on display at the Exhibition:
The prints on display | The PDIs on display
All submitted work was judged by Tony Pioli ARPS ABPE and he awarded various certificates and trophies. Tony will return to explain his judging on Tuesday 16 February. Here are lists of work with awards containing links to their images, and the new galleries of all award-winning work:
The prints with awards | The PDIs with awards
Gallery of award-winning prints | Gallery of award-winning PDIs
Here is ongoing material on this website about members' work in our exhibitions:
- Results for members' entries in Exhibitions (the "master index" of members' work from 2000 to 2010)
- Awards & trophies for members' work in exhibitions (images of the trophies, and records of their holders)
Best prints |
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Geoff RobinsonRust-ic Charm: |
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Barclay MarshallRed Cloisters: |
Gordon RobsonCurber Edge Robin: |
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Tony RedfordContractor's Break: |
Martin CurrieImages of Nepal: |
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Katie GarnerHercules slaying the Centaur, Florence: |
Best PDIs (Projected Digital Images) |
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Dorothy RedfordWinter Freeze-up: |
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Mariusz NurkiewiczRush Hours: |
Jonathan BawdenHoverfly on Hawkbit: |
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John AdeNeck and Neck: |
Geoff RobinsonNicola: |
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Brian TurnbullDrinking Fountain: |
8 February.
Reminder of help needed setting up and removing the Exhibition
(Bill has already sent out an email covering this and lots more.
This item is purely about handling of stands, screens, seating, etc, before and after the Exhibition.
There are lots of other activities which are being dealt with separately).
Wednesday, 12:30: Lots of work to do setting up the stands, screens, chairs, and mounting the prints onto the stands. "Many hands make light work". (And there has been no evidence in previous years of "too many cooks spoiling the broth"!) Think of it also as a social event (no kidding)!
Thursday, 9:30; Friday, 9:30: It is important to have a few people, but not in the numbers needed on Wednesday. Check with Bill, Roger, or Tony beforehand.
Saturday, 9:00: (Sometimes stated as "9:30", but typically by then lots has been done). Work needed taking everything down again. This typically happens amazingly quickly!
7 February, by Bill Chadband. (Meeting and event reports)
4th Digital Workshop – 2nd February 2010
Geoff Robinson opened this two part evening with Hints and Tips for producing a competition winning image - in this case Rust-ic Charm, the Best Print in the 2010 Exhibition. The image was of the head and shoulders of a lady superimposed onto a rust background. Geoff took us through the steps and decisions involved in the process. Rusty metal was an interesting image providing a variety of random shapes and colours, which could be augmented in Photoshop. He further illustrated the technique by showing a variety of other such combined images, many of which had produced successful results in open competitions. The basic technique involved use of various blending modes together with varying opacities. He continued by showing how to get various Sepia effects, and how to lighten parts of a picture with the various Photoshop tools. Geoff agreed to put notes about his presentation onto the WEB for members.
Martin Currie took as his subject the Publishing of one’s books of images using the software provided by BLURB on www.blurb.com. He started using this system about a year ago and was pleased to find that the software had been considerably improved over the year. He took us through the various stages involved and considered the costs. He thought these costs were quite reasonable compared with trying to do it all oneself. Apparently one can have a private book or a public book: in the latter case others can order your book, but you are allowed to state the commission you want. If no book was ordered within 15 days the book is removed from the WEB. Martin had brought along book samples for people to judge the quality. and it transpired that others (eg Tony Redford ) had also used this service to good effect.
Bill Chadband proposed a vote of thanks to the two presenters.. He thought he had mastered Photoshop six years ago, but Adobe kept adding bits, so he was still trying to catch up. Geoff’s presentation was part of Bill’s continuing to catch up. He observed that Geoff had been using the Rust background as an alternative to the blurred (or out of focus background). It was just another example of the fact that knowing the rules was not sufficient – one needed the artist’s vision to succeed, as Geoff’s continued competition success demonstrated.
The book publishing was new to Bill, but he could see the great merit in having such a coffee table book, instead of inviting friends to look at the computer screen. Bill had that very morning discovered that Jon Allanson had been producing his own books for some time, but could see the great advantage of using the Blurb.com approach to simplify the process. The audience applauded both presenters for another enjoyable and informative evening.
3 February, by Bill Chadband. (Meeting and event reports)
Exotic Wildlife Photography
Sheila Davies DPAGB gave a fascinating evening about Wildlife Photography on Tuesday 26 January. She went into considerable detail about the initial preparation. which, she felt, was the secret of a successful trip. This preparation included techniques for keeping your camera dry (Suitable see-through plastic bags – and Silica Gel sachets), a lightweight polystyrene (home-made) bean bag (Tripods are rarely an advantage when they have to be carried along with other gear in difficult terrain), a mini laptop for storing and viewing images, and several 2Gb cards. She also carried a xenon torch and a head torch for nightwork. In some places dirty money could transmit diseases and so Wet Wipes were useful. A self-supporting mosquito net was also very handy; and she noted that clothing should be dark and capable of covering the whole body. Booking the right trip was an obvious starter. She preferred small groups with a properly trained leader, and the use of two trekking poles assisted moving about in rough country
In a series of AV’s she took us to Uganda to see Hippos and great Apes. On an Island it was the people who stayed in the cages with Chimps posing outside to have their pictures taken. Although one should keep at least twenty yards from the Mountain Gorilla in order not to pass our germs onto them, on occasion they came closer out of curiosity. After refreshments, we were shown a green Africa; Zambia in the wet season, visiting the South Luonga National Park. Then South America (A Long Way Up) up to 16,000 feet in Argentina, where there were huge grasshoppers along with cattle and their drivers. A 12 minute AV of Alaska North, was followed by a 321 entitled Out Of the Blue. The 321 referred to 3mins 21 secs maximum length and was entered into an international competition where it did well. Since it was to be passed around an international panel of judges there was no spoken commentary; just Bears fishing, Whales, and the crunching sounds (and sight) of Icebergs
A 15 minute AV about Madagascar was entitled “A World of their Own". Sheila enthused about this Island, with its unique fauna and flora and noted that it should be the first on the list for anyone seeking an exotic holiday. Her final AV had won many awards and was entitled “Arthur’s Secret” In 1942 Arthur had married Barbara quickly before leaving for overseas during the War. He became a Prisoner of War. In the prison camp, although it was forbidden, a fellow prisoner made sketches of the life there, and distributed the results (on scraps of paper) to several of the prisoners, to hide from the Japanese. Arthur returned home (though one in three died in the camps) and lived to be 75 years before dying in 1990. leaving his wife and a son. Twelve years after his death Barbara discovered his Log and some of the drawings. These were the basis of this final AV. Sheila had married the Son!
Joyce Street proposed the Vote of Thanks. It had been a marvelous evening, and Joyce felt quite envious of Sheila’s travels and of the resulting images. There were so many images of creature we had never seen before. Spontaneous applause from the audience echoed these sentiments.
2 February, by Barry Pearson. (Meeting and event reports)
A visit to Alan Saunder's Exhibition (and Martin Mere)
Tony and Dorothy Redford and I met Alan at Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve on Saturday 30 January to view his exhibition. It is a large and professional-looking display of many of his wildlife prints, some familiar to us, many not.
Although the Nature Reserve itself is of interest, after coffee we all departed for Martin Mere, just minutes away. Martin Mere is partly a birding-site and partly a zoo for birds (and otters, but we didn't see them this time). Rather a lot of swans are wintering there! Together with Alan's exhibition, this is a super combined trip for photographers.
Is it cruel to be amused at the site of ducks trying to land on part-frozen ponds? Perhaps - but that doesn't stop it be amusing!
Alan is exhibitioning between 20 and 30 of his prints at Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve from January 29th to February 22nd 2010. This is about 50 miles from Hazel Grove, about an hour or so away. Martin Mere is less than 6 miles away from the Reserve.
- Details on Alan's website
- Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve website (Post Code for SatNav: L40 1TG)
- Martin Mere Wetland Centre (Post Code for SatNav: L40 0TA)
1 February, by Tony Redford.
Library Display until after the Exhibition
A small working party arranged a print display in the Poynton library on 25 January.
Prior to this, print panels for the Exhibition had been arranged, under Bill’s direction. We ran out of space with just two prints left over. These two, together with a selection kindly loaned by members, are therefore included in the library display.
We hope it will attract attention to the small poster, also displayed, advertising the exhibition events.
| News and blog archives | January 2010 | ||