The February meeting was again well attended with …The February meeting was again well attended with 19 members showing up for what turned out to be a great evening. Matt gave a

The February meeting was again well attended with 19 members showing up for what turned out to be a great evening.Matt gave a great tutorial on creating Panoramas with some examples using various software packages which gave the members a lot to think about. Judging from the questions that were asked and the ‘furious’ note taking we can only assume that the talk was a hit!So a really big thanks Matt.Now it is time to put all that useful information into practice as next months theme is (insert drum roll here!)...Panoramas.To recap on some points:• Panoramas should be a minimum of 3 shots.• Don’t forget to overlap the shots by at least 10%• Panoramas can be horizontal or vertical.• To avoid ending up with a very long but skinny photo, turn your camera to portrait

orientation.• Avoid scenes that include waves or moving objects as these will not stitch properly.• You will need some sort of software to stitch the images together.

Canon users can use the free software Photo Stitch that came with your camera. Evidently Nikon also have some software to stitch photos, but I can’t seem to find anything specific on Nikon’s website. The same goes for Pentax and Olympus sites.Other options include Photmerge for Photoshop owners (Go to File> Automate>Photomerge). This is not available in Photoshop Elements.Free options include MS ICE for Windows only:

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/ice/There is the Open Source program Hugin available for Windows or Mac:

http://hugin.sourceforge.net/From Serif there is Panorama Plus Starter Edition for Windows only:

http://www.serif.com/free-panoramic-photo-stitching-software/index.aspxPOS Panorama Pro is another free software package for Windows only:

http://www.photopos.com/Pos-Panorama-Pro-Panoramic-Image-Software.aspWith the exception of Photomerge and Photo Stitch I haven’t tried any of the above software so I can’t vouch for how well they work!Unfortunately there is not a lot of free options available for Mac users.

10 stop Neutral Density filters (aka ‘Black Glass’) are primarily used in landscape photography to allow the user to take long exposures, anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds in daylight. Much longer exposures (up to 4-5 minutes+) can be achieved as the light fades. This ability is due to these filters allowing only 1/1000th of the available light to reach the cameras sensor.Most of the images taken are of seascapes or other flowing water features with the long exposure smoothing the water to a ‘milky’/misty effect as well as causing clouds to become ‘streaks’, while still keeping the static objects in the image sharp. Another use for them is in ‘cityscapes’ where moving people and vehicles can be blurred out of existence giving the appearance of a deserted city.A further, but less known, use for these filters is to allow the photographer to decrease the depth of field.Like most filters these come in two types. The screw mount type that screws to your lens and the (usually) square type that slots into a filter system such as the Lee or Cokin systems.Most 10 stop ND filters have two things in common, they are pricey and they almost all exhibit some sort of colour cast on your Image...some worse than others.

Brands like B&W exhibit a warm/magenta cast which is generally easy to remove but sometimes can be quite difficult, while others like Lee exhibit a cool/bluish cast.Cast removal can be as simple as changing the white balance of the image (and for this reason, shooting these tyoe of images in RAW is preferable), changing the colour temperature, or a combination of both...or it could involve something more complicated. Either way, these type of images will almost always require some type of post processing no matter how much we try to get it right ‘in camera’. While there are no hard and fast rules, usually the colour cast will get worse the longer the exposure and the worse it gets the harder it is to remove successfully.

Some examples:All images were taken with:

Canon 550DCanon 24mm prime lens

f22, ISO100, )EV, Auto WB, tripod, cable shutter release, @1/60th sec.

Control image

1/60th was the slowest that could be achieved under the conditions on the day. With this now set you can work out the shutter speed required with the filter in place. If you are mathematically challenged like me, then the easiest way to do it is to use one of the many ‘cheat sheets’ available on the Web.

The cheat sheet indicated that using a 10 stop filter the exposure time would be 15 seconds to achieve a similar shot. So all filtered shots were taken at 15 seconds. The magenta cast from the B&W filter is quite evident in the image on the left but in this case was easily removed by changing the white balance to daylight and reducing the colour temperature by 1000K from 5060K to 4060K. The result being the image on the right.

Besides the filter for the 24mm lens (58mm diameter), I also wanted one for my Sigma 10-20mm which has a diameter of 77mm. As the B&W one at that size was expensive I did some research (IE looked on the net!) And decided to try the much cheaper Nisi filter as it had quite good reviews and and was touted as having negligible colour cast...something which I was a bit sceptical about in a cheap(ish) 10 stop filter. However......With the aid of a 77-58mm stepping ring the Nisi was attached to the 24mm lens and the shot taken.*** Tip: If you are using screw in filters buy a filter to suit the largest diameter lens you have and then buy step up rings to suit your other lenses....it is much cheaper than buying a different filter for each lens! ***The image on the left is 15 seconds using the Nisi 10 stop and on the right - the colour corrected image. As can be seen there is very little difference. The uncorrected image is only slightly warmer and correction involved nothing more than lowering the colour temperature by a few hundred K.

Sometimes, no matter how much you try, the colour cast simply cannot be removed completely...and you can almost bet that this is going to be on the best shot you take all day! So, what can you do? The easiest thing is to do a mono conversion of the image. Fortunately these images readily lend themselves to mono and the results can sometimes be more dramatic and aesthetically appealing than their colour versions, but mainly you don’t have the problem of trying to remove the cast:

Another problem with using these filters is focusing. If you are using Live View then you can focus as normal (manual focus only) as Live View can ‘see’ through the filter, but if you don’t use it then you must focus before placing the filter on/in front of the lens. Once focus is achieved (and if you are using Auto focus), change the lens to manual. This will prevent the focus from changing as you attach the filter and will prevent the camera from hunting when you press the shutter release.Some things to remember:• Keep the subject matter simple.• Sunrise & sunset are the best times as the exposure will be longer and the effect will be better.• For the most part ignore the ‘Rule of Thirds’ as you will have both water & sky effects.• Overcast days, usually the bane of landscape photographers, can be your best friend with these types of

images!• Ignore your cameras metering system....in these cases it really doesn’t know best!

There are dedicated Flickr groups for 10 stop filter users and a search of Google images using something like ‘ND110 images’ will return hundreds of images. As well, there is a Facebook group dedicated to the ND400 filters For the Land/Seascape photographer, using these filters can change the way you see some of your favourite locations.

Here are some web links that may be useful:

Composition is something people, especially newcomers to photography, have a bit of difficulty with. So here is a link to 10 ‘rules’ (guidelines) to composition:

http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/10-top-photography-composition-rules

Histograms are another area that can be difficult to understand as well as interpret properly.

http://digital-photography-school.com/histograms-your-guide-to-proper-exposure

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2013/06/27/histogram-photography-cheat-sheets-for-achieving-perfect-exposure/

Let’s not forget the dreaded ‘Rule of Thirds’!http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/rule-of-thirds.htm

There are no rules for good photographs.There are only good photographs.

Ansel Adams1902-1984

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The Moorabool Environment Group MEG are running a photo competition which will be launched at the Ballan Festival on the 23rd March.The subject is: “Trees in a changing environment.” Entries close early June.Will keep you posted as new information comes to hand.Thank you to Bronwyn Flack for that information and thanks to Judy for passing it on to me.The Ballan Autumn Festival is also holding a photo exhibition.

http://www.ballanautumnfestival.org/

The Bacchus Marsh Harvest Festival is on the 16th March which should provide some photo opportunities. The website is:

www.visitbacchusmarsh.com.au

The Ballarat Begonia Festival is on this weekend 8-10th March 10:00AM-5:00PM for those who like to take photos of flowers or the great architecture that is in Ballarat.

http://www.ballaratbegoniafestival.com/

If you have any information, tips, tricks, websites, or anything else that you think others might like, then please email them to me for inclusion in the newsletter.

The Queen Mary 2 is docking at Station Pier for one day only, departing at 6:00PM on Wednesday 12th March for those who like ships! You can’t get onto Station Pier but you can get a photo from Beacon St., Port Melbourne or Princes Pier.

Members Photos‘Company for Dinner’ - Judy Archer.

No need to be to shy to send a photo for inclusion

here!So come on...send one

(or more) for next months newsletter!

Email them to:[email protected]

Remember:It is only for fun so even

bloopers and mistakes are welcome!

Camp fire at Nug Nug. - Marilyn Prime

For your photos.

email them to me:[email protected]

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