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FOCUS March 2002 |
N.C.D.S During the past twelve months or so photographic clubs have seen the rapid arrival of digital electronic imaging with its unlimited manipulation in the hands of artistic computer experts. The goalposts have been moved and the playing fields are no longer level. Photography as we have known it for many years is being eroded with almost indecent haste; it is already being called traditional and the end product, classic. Gone is the darkroom and its equipment. No more the often lengthy enlarger procedures to dodge or burn to modify and hopefully improve the image. The contents of many magical bottles marked Developer, Fixer, Intensifier, Reducer, Toner etc. have been emptied down the drain. That was Photography that was! Some will say, indeed have said, that the digital worker has no special advantage over the wet and chemical silver process when it comes to image manipulation. What bunkum! We have only to watch television for a little while to realise that the original image can be falsified in various ways; positive to negative; negative to positive; double or multiple images; colour to black and white, or vice-versa, in any part of the picture. Again removal from, or addition to any part of the picture with no visible sign that it has been altered. Apparent sharpness or grain can be created at the touch of a button and the help of a computer program. It used to be said that the camera does not lie. With digital almost every image will finish up having been altered and perhaps improved. In a recent magazine article John Nettles, alias Bergerac stated that in making "Midsommer Murders" during atrocious December weather conditions in the idyllic mythical village of Badgers Drift, technical trickery produced a brilliant summer day and juggling a few computer controls turned a grey winter sky into a beautiful summer blue sky and also enhanced the colours of what was a drab landscape. All of this was to create a place that does not exist, a composite of several Home Counties villages which folk are led to think is a throwback to the kind of life we had fifty years ago, or more. Such villages are now only part of history, as I fear will soon also be "old fashioned" photography. Meanwhile it might be fairer to judge such photography as a separate section and not include it with the digitally manipulated sections which are taking over the title of "photography". The wet process is rapidly being relegated to a quaint process in which people used to indulge. Graham MacIntosh |
Next Year's Syllabus Hi Folks! I have now almost completed next year's syllabus, which has been based entirely on the many suggestions and feedback I have had from you, as members, following the super response to my questionnaire (almost 100% response!). I hope therefore that I will have pleased the majority of you - I have included a full cross-section of your suggestions. It's now up to all of you to attend and make my efforts worth while. If the next year proves to be as good as (but hopefully even better than!!) the present one I shall be happy. This is your club, geared up for what you want out of it, and I could still do with some volunteers to demonstrate practical skills such as print mounting, using a digital camera, and so forth - - - - Are you out there somewhere? Please contact me on 01663 751 229. P.S. - This retirement lark is a bit of a joke - I seem to be busier than ever! Sheila Edwards |
Notes from a New Boy The 'State of the Union' article by Joyce Streets in the last Focus has inspired me to write. I came to NCPS on the second week of the session (having misread the announcement in the local press, and attending on the wrong day in the first week) and have continued to attend as often as work allows ( Come, come, - surely some of you remember that quaint old past-time?). I am enjoying the meetings but time is always pressing and I have not got to know many of you yet, in the tea break. I have been interested in photography since my early twenties but I put the camera away whilst my children were growing up (apart from the usual holiday snaps and festive occasions); I have now started again with renewed vigour. I have a medical condition in my right eye, which entails me using my left as my camera eye. Wearing glasses I have missed some good shots ( was it light ingression through the eye-piece that messed up the exposure; and surely he was in focus when I pressed the shutter!!) I relegated my OM1 to the broom cupboard and bought an all-singing & dancing Pentax MZ5 which I have used for five years. But I dropped my 100-300mm zoom just after Christmas and resurrected Mr Olympus. Recent bargain purchases of 28mm and 200mm lens means that the OM1 now has 6 lens plus a x2 converter; the Pentax only having one plus a shared mirror lens. I was pleased that the selection committee included my "Hot Spot" print in the recent 20-20 competition. I know the mount was 'rot' and I have now found a new mount card source where the black card is black all the way through (I felt the subject required such a card). How many people noticed that the new 'Poynton's Headless Rider' in the annual exhibition was different to 'Hot Spot'? Overheard were comments on the said photographs that I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time, but I like to think that pre-planning and getting the right viewpoint were more important. If the advertised fps of the Pentax is correct, the two shots were 0.5 secs apart. I was inspired by Brian Bower's presentation although, not being a slide worker, some of it was lost on me. However I found his book "Lens,Light, and Landscape" in the library and am determined to use the OM1n, 28mm lens, new eye cup, and correction lens to good use by using the depth of field markings more rigourously in the future. And so to the State of the Union! You lot are a good, friendly bunch; mentoring may work but only if the parties get on. A more informal 'listening ear' approach may be a better bet. What I mean is knowing who to go to for advice on a particular subject. There is clearly a wealth of talent and experience in the club. We all come because we enjoy photography and want to be at the meetings, so I feel that a 'forum' may be a good way to pass information and expertise around. I could be that I brought a few prints in, for example, for evaluation and hints on improving them; a bit like Gardeners Question Time! The 'young photographers group' could work well, particularly now that much can be done digitally; but how about a relaxed 'you try it' type of evening by some of the more 'computer enabled' to help some of us 'computer challenged' to get a feel for products on the market. We have all enjoyed the 'demos' we have had but some may now feel that they would like a 'test drive'. It wouldn't necessarily have to be on a club night; we might instead invite some-one to our own home. Photography is a great hobby, full of wonderful characters. It should not be taken too seriously. If we as a club all pull together; enjoy our evenings; use our knowledge base to its full potential we might one day be called NCPS110!! Best wishes to all John David Coles |
The Annual Exhibition 2002
The doors opened at 7.00pm and by 8.00pm a large audience had gathered. John Dougherty, current L&CPU President, officially opened the exhibition and presented the exhibition awards to club members.
In welcoming Barrie Thomas to judge the inter-club Digital Print Competition the NCPS president was reminded of the joke about being on holiday with his wife in Rome, and going to see the Pope in Vatican city, addressing the crowds in the square. He was amazed to see Barrie Thomas emerge on the balcony next to the Pope. Excited, he turned to his wife to explain that that was Barrie Thomas, the great exponent of digital photography and of Adobe Photoshop; the same Barrie Thomas FRPS etc who gave lectures, and produced teaching CD's and Tapes on the subject. But he was interrupted in his flow by a man tugging at his sleeve; a Pole, or Hungarian, he thought. " " Pleese, who ees that man?" asked the stranger pointing at the balcony. That's my friend, Barrie Thomas, the well-known…. "Yes, we all know who Barrie Thomas is" responded the man, "But who is the old man in the robes beside him?"
17 clubs had entered the digital competition, each allowed 5 prints from at least two workers. As we had expected, Barrie did a masterly job in commenting on each print, explaining why he marked as he did, and if the mark was low, explaining how, in his opinion, the author could improve his image. The full results are given below. We were thrilled to discover that North Cheshire had won the competition by a clear margin, and that Tony Redford was awarded (by John Dougherty) the prize (donated by Jessops) for the best image in the competition (Contrasts - Place de Gaulle). Results of the Digital Print Competition. Twenty Clubs entered the interclub slide knockout competition on the Thursday. Peter Gennard from the Midlands ( Stourbridge) had agreed to judge the competition and caused general merriment by referring to all birds as Ducks and animals as Zebras. His alliteration "Dump the Pump" had a disappointing response the first time round, so he repeated it and received round of applause. Peter noted that all judging has an element of personal preference in it and that this is particularly evident when one gets to the final rounds, in this case with four slides from three clubs (Leek, Wigan 10, and Crewe) remaining. After much heart-searching he awarded the accolade of Best Slide to Mr D White of Leek Camera Club for "Kingfisher entering nest burrow". After thanking Peter for his hard work in the usual Poynton fashion ("Thank you, Ducks!") the President announced that Leek CC had won the North Cheshire Challenge Cup. A good-natured evening ended on a high note when the President won a raffle prize for the 2 nd night running. The individual Club performances are here. Despite heavy rain all afternoon and early evening an audience of 200 or so gathered to hear Geoff Simpson give his presentation "Wild Britain" on Friday 8 th. Every one of his 160 odd slides was a winner, and it was particularly pleasing to the audience that many of the slides were taken locally. Lyme Park and Etherow Country Park featured as often as the Cairngorms. As Geoff re-iterated that "good pictures are all around you waiting to be taken." "If you don't press the shutter release you won't get a picture". Geoff noted that he only took up serious photography seven years ago. His presentation was an inspiration to all budding photographers. Geoff also drew the raffle for us helping Dorothy to achieve the record of a prize every evening. Altogether, a most satisfactory evening. Volunteers were requested to attend the Saturday morning at 9.30am to help dismantle the exhibition. The President arrived at 9.45 to find that it had already been mostly dismantled; all the pictures were down, and most of the stands; the big screen was being dismantled by Tony and Peter, Gerald and Ted were sweeping the floor; Gordon, with Gerald Davey's help, was sorting and labelling the prints. John Ade and Frank Hutchinson gave the (late) President a smile; the Treasurer was smiling; and all was well with the world. By 10.30 am the Hall was bare and we departed well satisfied. Bill Chadband |
Gordon Writes: Thanks Bill, for giving an overview of the highlights of the Annual Exhibition, but it would be remiss of me if I did not show my appreciation to all those who made this special event possible and I apologise for any repetition. I was especially pleased that Barrie Thomas so enthusiastically agreed to judge the Digital Print Competition, despite his many other commitments. Being an acknowledged leader in the field of digital photography Barrie added great weight to the competition. I felt Peter Gennard was a popular judge for the knockout slide competition, though perhaps not so popular with Wigan 10 who had previously won the trophy so many times. My congratulations to Leek CC, the new winners. Not only did Geoff Simpson give us a splendid Wild Life evening but we must thank him also for his help in publicising the event and designing (and providing the artwork) for the illustrated colour poster. It was one of the best attended and well received evenings of its type that I have witnessed for many a year. Geoff has offered to run a club evening for NCPS. We were honoured that the L&CPU President opened the Exhibition, and even more honoured that John Dougherty and his two previous Presidents, Ian Stuart and Bob Dennis together had agreed to judge the Exhibition. It is fitting that they will be our guests at our 50 th Anniversary Luncheon. Finally thanks to all those who helped to set up, and take down the Exhibition; served the refreshments, sold tickets, programs, provided raffle prizes, and ran the inter-club competitions. An especial thank-you to Peter Redford who once again used his holidays to organise and provide technical expertise in the running of the two competitions, and programmed the automatic Slide monitor. Alan Bromage's newly built Back Projection Screen worked a treat. Thank you Alan; viewing the slide entries was much more enjoyable. George Beaumont and Rod Hargreaves provided photo-copying facilities and Rodney Simpson designed and printed the tickets and the Exhibition information labels. Thank You gentlemen! A great effort from everyone and much appreciated. Gordon Robson |
Rosalind Bramley Trophy competition Note that on Tuesday April 16 th 2002 Pictorial Monochrome prints will be judged by all those present for the prize of the Rosalind Bramley Trophy. We are hoping that most members will be able to enter at least one print for this occasion. The committee have agreed that individual members should be allowed a maximum of 3 such prints in the competition. The Competition Secretary will receive the prints at the start of the evening, and number them. They will then be displayed for the duration of the meeting. Marking forms will be produced to facilitate members' adjudication on the night. The forms will be collected by the Competition Secretary and the result will be announced at a later date. Bill Chadband Committee meeting Wednesday 20 th February At the meeting, the review of the annual exhibition and the arrangements for the 50 th Anniversary Luncheon were main topics on the agenda. Tony reported that, including our three guests, 71 people had responded positively. Others had sent regrets that they were unable to attend. Since we had a choice of menus, necessitating different cutlery, the Caterers required a seating plan. Such a plan was discussed and agreed. The Annual Exhibition had gone well: Gordon gave a resumee. Thanks all round; especially to Gordon who had put in much effort over the months and finally had sent thank you letters to others. Agreed that we should continue to charge for programmes on the night. Sheila reported on progress towards next year's syllabus. She was running out of slots to put things in !! From her questionnaire response she was trying to get more "hands on" or "tutorial type" evenings. Agreed we should start on Tuesday 10 th September (in Council Chamber). Exhibition 2003 would be Wed to Fri 5 to 7 th February. Agreed that we should attempt to negotiate free use of the Civic Hall on Sat 8 th and give public free entrance. We would then provide covering man-power for the day. Next meeting Wednesday 10 th April 2002. Bill Chadband |