3-april BMPG news · enthusiasm and experience, so check out his website (), perhaps join one of his courses, and join him on facebook. Our president, Greg, has lots of useful information

The Blue Mountains Photography Group aims to support our shared love of photography, by providing a forum in which to learn, develop skills, discuss images and encourage each other. Meetings are held on the second and fourth Monday nights each

month at the Presbyterian Church hall, Macquarie Road, Springwood, 7.30 for 8pm. Visitors welcome.

APRIL 2012

Members Choice: Camerally Capers

More images inside!

Monday 2nd April: Exhibition night – open + theme COLOUR Monday 9th April: Committee meeting Wednesday 11th April: Short Workshop 1 of 2 – Adobe Lightroom. A short introductory course on the basics by Shirley Steel Monday 16th April: Short Workshop 2 of 2 – Adobe Lightroom. Monday 23rd April: What makes a good image, how are our images appraised? Workshop to explain and train us ready for the 4 Corners event Wednesday 25th April: Anzac Day outing to city.

What’s on this month:

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Congratu lat ions: Judy Thistleton-Martin

Judy took this photo at an organized photo-shoot at the recent

Camerally at Yarramundi. While everyone else was looking at

the models, Judy found the whole scene of greater interest.

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short workshops – getting the best from your camera Ben Halcomb (7 Chairs Photography) – using your camera Ben very generously gave us a workshop on the basics that we should all know, understand and use in our photography. He runs 7 Chairs Photography, as a photographer and teacher running short courses for all levels.

Ben discussed getting the best from your camera – the basic setup, ISO, aperture & shutter speed, some useful settings and post production. Here are some of his tips:

Memory cards: erase after every download. Use the erase all in your camera, and every 4 or 5 times, format the card. Have a few high quality cards, and cycle through them.

Focusing: use manual for macro. For other shots, autofocus can be good. To tell the camera what to focus on, though, turn off the multipoint autofocus and use the single point. If shooting moving children, use continuous autofocus.

White Balance: is a measurement of the colour temperature. Cameras over 2 years old can have difficulty when shooting in RAW, but it is easy to fix post-production. Auto (AWB) does a good job, but if you are doing a shoot outdoors, set to daylight so results are consistent.

ISO: is the light sensitivity of the sensor (or previously, the film used). Ben gave a few hints as to when to use what ISO, and reminded us that it was better to have noise at high ISO than unwanted blur.

Aperture and shutter speed: depth of field is affected by the aperture, blur of motion by the shutter speed.

Ben shared lots more about camera sensors, good general settings and post production. He exudes enthusiasm and experience, so check out his website (www.7chairs.com.au), perhaps join one of his courses, and join him on facebook.

Our president, Greg, has lots of useful information to share about looking after our expensive equipment.

Non-contact methods of fixing problems are best (don’t touch sensors), stay calm & focused, and be confident – if you don’t know what you are doing, don’t do it – pay someone who knows!

Look after your camera body by blowing dirt off, wiping with a dry cloth & cleaning the display. When using live view, the shutter opens and dust is attracted to the hot sensor. Check for dust, and if a problem, shoot at f8 or lower as it will be less visible.

Keep your lens clean & dry, use a multicoat filter to avoid flare, and keep in a bag with silicon crystals to remove moisture.

Tripods need to be kept clean. Wash and dry if used in dirty areas, & do not use WD40!

Take batteries out when storing for a while. Li ion batteries don’t like being left empty, NiMH don’t hold their charge for long periods, and NiCd should be run flat before charging. Label them and cycle through, and keep them in a plastic bag to protect the contacts.

Memory cards: don’t touch the contacts, keep them in containers, cycle through them, and delete / format them in the camera, not on the computer.

April 2012 Blue Mountains Photography Group

Greg Farmer – looking after your gear

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Guest speaker: Ian Brown Ian Brown exhibited at Braemar last year with Len Metcalf and Mike Stacey (who spoke at club last month). He is a keen adventurer, bush walker, and rock climber, and combines this with his love of photography, so his main genre is nature. After earlier working with 35mm transparencies, he now uses medium and large format digital cameras as well as a compact camera that is easier to carry when trecking. Ian spoke on “Seeing the Wild – the Blue Mountains and Beyond”, shared his beautiful images from trips to New Zealand, Tasmania and the Blue Mountains. Look out for his annual calendar and his book of images. Some of the hints Ian suggested were to get up high for great sights and that the best light is just before sunrise and after sunset. This light is wonderful for rocks, bark, forests, waterfalls, …. Thanks Ian for your wonderful images and sharing your passion.

visited on the w. w. web This is our own club website, and well worth the bookmark. Want to check out members choice images before the next newsletter? It’s there. Want to see what’s on? The club program is there so you can plan ahead. Lost your newsletter on the e-mail? It’s there, along with all the back copies. Want to check the definition of the exhibition theme, or rules for exhibiting? …. Yep, it’s there! Check it out regularly, and tell your friends to have a look as well.

April 2012 Blue Mountains Photography Group

Congratulations to David Glazebrook.

Dave has just been shortlisted in the National Photographic Portrait Prize for 2012. Out of about 1300 entries, only 46 finalists were hung in this prestigious exhibition, so this is an indication of his level of quality and expertise. Currently hanging in the National Portrait Gallery next to the National Gallery and the High Court in Canberra, it is well worth the trip to see. Check out David’s portrait of Olive as well as the other finalists at http://www.portrait.gov.au/site/exhibition_subsite_NPPP2012_photos.php#start Click on a small image to see the full image and information from the artist.

at the Joan …. News has just come through of a special exhibition of images by one of Australia’s pre-eminent photographers, Max Dupain. From 14th to 29th April, on display in the Atrium Foyer of The Joan in Penrith …. free …. and close to home. In 1937, Max created one of Australia’s most iconic images of “The Sunbather”, as well a cityscapes, landscapes, portraits and images of life in the 20th century.

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out and about – exhibitions & events April 2012 Blue Mountains Photography Group

EXHIBITION REVIEWED ……. eight x eight: eight photographers, eight journeys, one exhibition. Glenbrook Community Hall, Glenbrook NSW. Saturday & Sunday 24-25 March 2012. A terrific exhibition from eight photographers who participated in Len Metcalf’s Masterclass (better known as Len’s School) in the Blue Mountains during 2011. The exhibition was a logical extension of the masterclass and to showcase the work they produced but it was apparently initiated and organised by the group. Five of the photographers are members of the BMPG (Matt Clarke, Sue Lightfoot, Jeannie McInnes, Shirley Steel and Judy Thistleton-Martin). The others are Kay Gordon, Marie McLaurin and Thea Tulich. All the photograpers produced quite different work but the success of the masterclass is evident in how closely their work matched their artist statements. In particular the five BMPG members (and with whom I am most familiar) have shown a remarkable level of improvement, creativeness and high standards since undertaking the masterclass. Certainly everyone’s work has moved to a higher level now. It is obvious the photographer’s hard work has been worth it judging by the response from everyone at the opening. The last words go to Len who looked quite pleased with the exhibition at the opening and accurately observed that the Glenbrook Community Hall had never looked so good! Congratulations to all. COMING …… Head On Photo Festival 2012. Australian Centre for Photography (acp), 257 Oxford Street, Paddington NSW. Tue-Fri 12noon-7pm; Sat&Sun 10am-6pm. 5May – 17 June. Free entry. (Look out for festival events around Sydney and galleries during the festival.) SHOWING …… Home Front: Wartime Sydney. Museum of Sydney, Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney. From 31 March to 9 September 2012. Daily 9am-5pm. General entry fee to museum. Making Sense: contemporary LA photo artists. Lower level 2, Art Gallery of NSW, Domain, Sydney. Mon-Sun 10am-5pm. Until 13 May. Free entry. (Contemporary Californian photgraphy from the Gal lery’s collection.) The Green Desert [Peter Elfes]. Landscape photography of the last few years of Australia’s wet interior. Customs House, Level 1, 31 Alfred Street, Circular Quay. Mon-Fri 10am-7pm; Sat&Sun 11am-4pm. Until 27 May. Free entry. OUT OF TOWN ….… Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration. Art Gallery of Ballarat, 40 Lydiard Street North, Ballarat Victoria. Daily 9am-5pm. Until 15 April. Fee $8-$12. GOING …… Maitland International Salon of Photography [2012]. Maitland Regional Art Gallery (MRAG), 230 High Street Maitland NSW. T: (02) 4934 Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. Until 8 April. Free entry. (The salon is a venerable institution and a good chance to see the standards required for international competition; also check out the café and new additions to the gallery.) Parallex: The Performance Paradigm in Photography [Heidrun Löhr]. Gallery 1, 2&4, australian centre for photography (acp), 257 Oxford Street, Paddington, NSW. Tue-Fri 12noon-7pm; Sat&Sun 10am-6pm. Until 15 April. Free entry. Compiled by Ted Szafraniec

Gardens in Focus Photography Competition Exhibition: Lion Gate Lodge, Royal Botanical Garden, Friday 4 May – Sunday 13 May, 10am-4pm daily. Enjoy the wonders of botanic gardens from Australia & New Zealand and around the world, captured by professional, amateur and student photographers in the second year of this competition. On display will be the winners and a selection of the best entrants from the categories: Plant Portraiture, Garden Views, Garden Creatures, Youth and International Botanic Gardens.

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eight x eight exhibition As a participant in the recent eight x eight exhibition, far be it for me to write a review of the photographs displayed. However, I can happily and honestly share some of the experience of selecting and exhibiting works in a public showing. Eight of the students from Len Metcalf’s Master Class of 2011 held a joint exhibition at Glenbrook Community Hall over one weekend in March, five of them coming from BMPG – Matt Clarke, Sue Lightfoot, Jeannie McInnes, Shirley Steel and Judy Thistleton-Martin. The object of the exhibition was to display our learning journey, and as a culmination of that part of the lifelong challenge to express ourselves photographically. After spending hours, days, months … pouring over our own work, trying to make decisions about what we like to point our cameras at, how and why we create our images, what to do to improve their impact, and what our personal style, genre, purpose may be, we had to then face the daunting task of deciding what to frame and display. We felt so involved in the images, that it was easier to see their flaws more than their positives, but decisions still needed to be made! Hanging day arrived, and the challenge of placing them on the wall so that they “talked” positively to each other. What price to put on them just in case someone was kind enough to purchase one? Have I got some small works to give family or friends a cheaper option to be kind? Do they need catchy titles or just their location? What if they look incompetent? All these things to consider. But then it happens … everyone’s work is up, all rubbish is removed, the space looks professional and there is a positive gallery vibe … and wow! the images look so different to on my small screen, so different to the bare un-matted images from the table at home, so different from the crowded collection at club nights. By allowing them to be contained in a professional frame, on a wall with other framed images, all labeled with gallery style tickets and noted in a printed catalogue … suddenly they were afforded merit by the effort invested in getting them to this point. But wait, there’s more. All these people who walked in the doors to see our work. Wow. Then the opening (every exhibition needs an opening!). Len spoke of the classes journey. Then Dot Radley spoke in personal and positive terms about each of our contributions, and in public - what a boost to the confidence. (Thanks Dot – it was much appreciated) As if that wasn’t enough, lots of visitors wanted to discuss what we had done, and some people even paid money to purchase images to hang on their own walls. Boy, does that validate the journey. I’m writing this while still in the immediate post exhibition high, but want to share this with you because it has been such a valuable experience in the whole process of developing my image making, and quite different to putting images up on club competition nights. Just saying to strangers that our images are worth the time, please come on through the doors and have a look at them, give a whole different slant on what we have done. I recommend the effort and experience to everyone, no matter if you are experienced or a beginner. And for that reason, we as a club are giving that opportunity to all our members this year. We have booked the Springwood professional gallery, Braemar, for three weekends in November this year. As a club we have developed our skills to a very high standard, and we feel it is time to extend ourselves through this really positive experience. So … think about what you can display, talk about it with friends and others at the club, and stay tuned over the coming months as we develop our plan and share information. It is really worth taking the opportunity of being part of this event. Jeannie McInnes

April 2012 Blue Mountains Photography Group

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Extreme Photography by Terry Hope

As we have been told many times, photography is about much more than holding the camera to the eye and pressing the shutter. Our previous exhibition night theme, “Devices”, encouraged us to think beyond the traditional and explore photography by using means other than our DSLRs or compact cameras. You’ve heard of extreme sports well now there is Extreme Photography by Terry Hope. Extreme Photography takes the medium to the limits of possibility and beyond. Focusing on cutting-edge technology, it is a unique survey of photography in the most extreme environments and farthest reaches of human experience by the most creative, some would say weirdest, of imaginations. This is a showcase of what is photographically possible, from the invention of tiny spy cameras and those that can take photographs of our internal organs and the human aura to space photography, x-rays, time-lapse, temperature-resistant and night vision cameras. This is book has been described as “the definitive guide to alternative image making”. Through stunning photographs and informative, easy to read text, it reveals to the viewer environments usually concealed from the naked eye, including endoscopic images of an unborn child, CAT scans of the workings of the brain through to infrared imaging and the Near/Multi-Object Spectrometer installed on the Hubble Space Telescope. Although Extreme Photography explores genres of photography that most of us will probably never attempt, it does offer mere mortals the inspiration to adapt techniques such as high-speed photography, Polaroid cameras, thermal imaging and microscopes (some of our club members have already developed expertise in the latter two). Terry Hope is an award-winning English journalist and prolific author. He has written for numerous photographic magazines and is a regular contributor to The Times and The Guardian. His other publications include Spacecam: In Co-Operation with NASA Photographing the Final Frontier From Apollo to Hubble, The World’s Top Photographers and the stories behind their Greatest Images: Wildlife and Landscapes: Developing Style in Creative Photography, to name but a few. As the book’s subtitle suggests, borrow the book and take a journey through the extremes of photography ... “The hottest, coldest, fastest, slowest, nearest, farthest, brightest, darkest, largest, smallest, weirdest images in the Universe... and how they were taken.” Judy Thistleton-Martin Books in our club library are available for you to borrow. See Judy at club night.

from our club library shelves …..

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More top images this month Anne Baker “Just a Drop” was awarded

the only full marks of the

exhibition evening –

congratulations Anne, for this

beautiful image.

Mark Cocks

Dot Radley Ian Watson

April 2012 Blue Mountains Photography Group

“Cave Entrance” creates a

wonderful mood with this view

contained within the natural

vignette of the cave walls.

In “Pink Sunset” Dot set out to

create a mood by removing all

detail. “Moody Creek” focuses on the

detail rather than the whole

scene to create this clear

monotone image.

from your BMPG committee: When attending club, please do NOT park on church grounds. We do not have permission for this.

Thanks to everyone who helped with Springwood Festival, especially Ted who organized us. We had lots of people check out our work, talk about photography, and express an interest in attending a club night.

This year’s club weekend away will be at the end of May, at the Entrance on the Central Coast – a great opportunity to visit a different venue, share your passion (& a wine or two if you like), discuss image making, learn from each other, ….. Book early.

This month’s short workshops are on Adobe Lightroom – learn the basics of developing your images digitally and managing your library so you can find images. Shirley Steel will be sharing her skills.

What a busy start we have had to this year, with exhibitions, guest speakers and short workshops, as well as Springwood Festival. This ensures that there are many opportunities for members to participate and feel involved. It won’t be this busy all year, but it has been great to start with a bang!

Our outing for April will be to attend and follow the Anzac Day march in the city. A group did this last year, and there were many opportunities for interesting photos, particularly away from the march itself.

The outing for May is our weekend away to The Entrance. Those who camped at Dunns Swamp last year had a great time, and we are still seeing some of their top images. Don’t forget to put your name down at club to indicate your attendance at this camp.

Had the chance to visit the National Photographic Portrait Prize in Canberra. A really inspiring exhibition, with images ranging from a huge closely cropped portrait of Edmund Capon, to those where the surroundings were dominating. Felt very proud to see David Glazebrook’s portrait of Olive hanging there – such a lovely image of this interesting character.

See you at club, Jeannie

April 2012 Blue Mountains Photography Group

Blue Mountains Photography Group The Secretary BMPG P.O. Box 352 Springwood 2777 Phone: (02)47513730 Email: info@bmpg.org.au Web Site www.bmpg.org.au Newsletter Jeannie McInnes jemci@me.com articles, information, photos are very welcome

BMPG we are:

Theme Definition: COLOUR The intent of this topic is to challenge photographers to produce an image where colour (one or more) is a defining characteristic.

• Consider the effect of colour on mood, emotion, intent, impact

• Has colour been used in a way that gives the image meaning that would be different if the colour was missing or was altered?

An image that is predominantly mono (or desaturated) but edited to reveal a part of the image in colour is not deemed to fit the topic definition.

Theme for May: MACRO