Danehill and Chelwood Gate camera club evening

A great evening talking on my favourite subject, Photography!
A huge thank you to all the members of the Danehill Camera club for making me feel very welcome. Some great discussions reflections and challenging questions!
We covered Exposure, Auto override, Flash compensation, White balance, and the sometimes confusing topic of Raw files versus Tiffs.

How to achieve grain on your pictures was asked and I showed an example of grain applied to a picture using the Adobe picture software "Lightroom"

No grain adjustment to image except converting to B&W

Grain added in Lightroom.

here are the pictures again showing the difference and a screen shot of the Grain control in Lightroom

Grain amount,size and roughness can be controlled

Quiz results
We had a fun quiz at the end the winner receiving a Voucher for one of my workshops  in Forest Row.
The winner was Mike Taylor, well done sir voucher on its way!
here are the questions and results.

1 .Which company, founded in 1888, used the slogan "You press the button and we do the rest"?
Answer; Kodak

2. Name the English photography pioneer born in 1800, and developer of the calotype process of photography?
Answer; William Fox Talbot

3. In 1973, Fairchild semiconductors produced the first large image-forming CCD chip - what was it's resolution?
Answer; 100x100Pixels, 0.1megapixel (I gave half a point to those who had a  less than 1)

4. What do you adjust on your camera to adjust the depth of field.
Answer, Aperture

5. What Type of camera was left on the Moon during the Apollo missions?
Answer; Hasselblad

6. which aperture is wider
a. f4
b.f11
Answer; f4

7. In Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller, “Rear Window,” who played the role of a magazine photographer?
Answer, James Stewart

8.Which National Park has been made famous by Photographer Ansel Adams?
Answer; Yosemite

9.9.Name the British
Photographer
who took this picture

Answer; Sir Cecil Beaton












10.The 1966 film “Blow Up” involved a Photographer. Which famous Photographer was the character based on?
Answer. David Bailey

Flowers and plant pictures

Yesterday it really felt that spring had arrived!  We spent a sunny afternoon at Wakehurst, the RHS botanical gardens near to us.
I  love taking pictures of flowers and plants. I thought I would take a few pictures to illustrate a couple of techniques I use. As a family we regularly visit National Trust properties and heritage sites and before we hit the tea shop, I like photographing of the grounds.
I want to look at two things,
1. The usefulness of  a Polarising filter
2. Composition

The Polarising Filter
I generally use a polarising filter on most of my outdoor picture taking.
One of the more pricey filters to buy for your camera, but it can be used to good effects.
Essentially like a pair of polaroid sunglasses it cuts out reflections in water and reflective surfaces.
it is made of two pieces of glass which can be revolved, reducing the glare.

With a  Polarising Filter

Without a Polarising Filter

The filter reduces the glare in the water, the effect is different according the angle of the sun.

Notice my composition.

we talk more about that on our workshop days. Applying the thirds rule in composing the shot. The stream, is off centre in approx. the right hand third of the shot.The main bulk of the tree takes up the left hand third. 

With polarising filter

Without Polarising filter

Polarisers can be used to intensify colours and skies. A bit like the skylight filter it cuts through haze, and adds contrast in the sky. Shine on leaves can be reduced using this filter. Pictures will also print out better with more contrast and clarity.

Without Polarising Filter

With Polarising filter

I like to play around with layers and shapes in composing a shot. using complimentary colours  behind a plant or flower to add interest, these ar few more of the afternoon, all with the polarising filter

 

 

With close up pictures focusing is key. Try hard to make sure the camera is locked in to where you want it to focus. If its mis-focusing take it out of Auto and focus it yourself. Being in such a beatifull garden does offer lots of picture opportunities, get up close with the plants, use the macro facility on the camera and enjoy!

reflections on a workshop

So we did a full day workshop just over a week ago on Saturday 13th April. A busy day that involves, for Janine and I, allot of behind the scenes organising so that the day runs smoothly. We love having a lunch together with all the students, so the evening before I was baking rolls and making the soup as well as checking the equipment and getting it transported to the venue. Childcare and dog walking had to be sorted before workshop start time of 10am.
A new venue for us and excited about the days possibilities. A range of students, cameras and abilities. All had little experience in operating in manual mode and normally shoot in total Automatic. I love helping and showing how better pictures can be taken when you, the Photographer is in charge of the camera.

I focus on depth of field (no pun intended) We take  pictures of props I have brought in and  of each other to try and achieve pictures with shallow depth of filed, that we control. To get it right we have to consider exposure, looking at the relationship between the aperture, shutter and sensitivity settings, the ISO/ASA controls. I teach as if you are photographing  in a family/social setting, its not a tutorial on how a professional photographer works but how I, as a Professional, would take personal pictures for fun ,at events, places of interest, family day out or to record a special occasion.

I am convinced that by showing some good basic creative techniques of shooting, together with an understanding of the camera's controls, great pictures can be achieved, certainly a big improvement. I assume flash is not going to be used , as often flash on camera kills the mood, I do give some tips on how to use flash on camera in a subtle way.
The day does fly by, lots of questions , lots of aiding and guiding to a level of confidence with the camera.
We make sure everyone goes away with at least two good prints of their work. I print out on A4 Epsom semigloss Photo paper a selection of shots that the student is pleased with.
Packing up , returning home  to a dog that needs walking and a family that needs feeding, we finished off the leftover soup.

Workshop dates

We are running day workshops on
Saturday 13th April 2013
Saturday 11th May 2013
10am- 4pm

Getting to grips with your camera and techniques to getting great pictures.
Venue; The Forest Row baptist Church Hall Hartfield rd, Forest Row RH18

Notes , refreshments and lunch provided.
Email or phone for detail and to book
Looking forward to the days!
Bill

May 26th Workshop

Our next workshop is now on Saturday 26th May 2012.
Location; Forest Row Community Centre, Hartfield road Forest Row East Sussex RH18 5DZ
Forest Row Community centre details
10am- 4pm Lunch included.
We would love you to join us,for a fun and affordable photography workshop,
just bring your camera and lots of enthusiasm!
The day will include
Full knowledge of your camera workings at the beginning of the day
Raw,tiff,jpeg,ASA, Shutter speed,aperture,fully explained.
Exposure
Composition,(what makes a good photo?)
Constructive creative critique of all types of photography including your own
Plenty of practical, including full lighting practise
downloading and printing out from a computer.
Cost £60 including homemade organic lunch.

Comments from our previous workshops.
"A really good day with a perfect mix between theory and practise"
"understanding,shutter speed,aperture and ASA,I cracked it!"
"Enhanced digital confidence-digital demystification!"

Email me and let me know if you would like to come,info@better-pictures.co.uk

Better Pictures camera choices

We get many people attending our workshops asking our advice on the type of camera we would recommend.
Essentially according to your budget , get a chip size as big as you can afford. More Pixels, better quality pictures
There are allot of cameras out there and I wouldn't pretend that I know everything about all of them. So when looking for  a new camera to buy or to check out I follow a couple of basic principles.
1- how big is the Microchip in the camera, how many pixels is it using, a 10mb pixel size is a good minimum start
2- How sensitive is the camera at high ASA settings, how does it perform in low light, is there much electronic noise? checking independent reviews is a good way of finding out.
3- Speed of camera response, I don't mean the shutter speed but how quickly will it respond to you pressing the shutter and the camera actually taking the picture, This depends on two things how quickly does the camera respond in Auto exposure and Auto focus settings. Again on-line independent reviews will give a good indication of this
4- The look of the camera, do I actually like the design to hold and handle.

That about it, all other settings are a bit of and added extra but not essential.
If you want to take shots of wild life, or sport, then bear in mind the speed of the continuous frame rate and being able to follow the subject in Auto focus.
Close up or Macro facility would be important for me, what is the quality of the lens? can it handle close up of flowers for example.
So, looking at what's available at the moment, my considerations would be
Nikon 1 nikon details
Fuji FinePix X100  X100 details
Nikon d700 0r  D300
Canon 7d or 5d
Ricoh GR range Ricoh range

Happy Shopping
Bill at Better Pictures

March Workshop

Our next workshop is now on Saturday 24th March 2012.
We would love you to join us,for a fun and affordable photography workshop,
just bring your camera and lots of enthusiasm!
The day will include
Full knowledge of your camera workings at the beginning of the day
Raw,tiff,jpeg,ASA, Shutter speed,aperture,fully explained.
Exposure
Composition,(what makes a good photo?)
Constructive creative critique of all types of photography including your own
Plenty of practical, including full lighting practice
downloading and printing out from a computer.
Cost £60 including homemade organic lunch.

Comments from our previous workshops.
"A really good day with a perfect mix between theory and practice"
"understanding,shutter speed,aperture and ASA,I cracked it!"
"Enhanced digital confidence-digital demystification!"

Email me and let me know if you would like to come,info@better-pictures.co.uk