WPS Archives 2004

The President's Exposure 2004:

The WPS President, John Greenwood, writes an editorial entitled The President's Exposure for our club newsletter The Aperture. There is plenty of good reading here, and if you feel like commenting or discussing any points write to John by clicking on the email link at the bottom of each Exposure, and your comments may eventually end up on this page too.

Note: I have changed this page so the Japanese characters (in October 2004 Exposure) are no longer visible but some older browsers may now show this page as it was intended (the Webmaster).

November 2004

Over the past couple of weeks I have been putting together a PowerPoint programme on Navigation for a night class I am running at Fraser High School. In the process I am having to rethink all that I know I know about navigation. Maps, compasses, grid references, topographical data such as contour lines, trig points, spot heights, hand rails and so on and so on. Yes, I do know how to determine where I am on this planet as long as it is in this part of the world.

As I put the programme together and typed in my teaching notes, small things that I had forgotten about kept on coming back to me - minor things that I now take for granted such as how far apart the contour lines are on an NZMS 260 topo map, or which way the land I am looking at on the map lies, for example. I have come to realise what a lot of stuff I have had to digest over many years to become a competent navigator and to be certain that I know where I am in the mountains at any time.

You know it is like that with our photography too. How many of us who have been round this photographic hobby for years and years, automatically assume that newer members know what we are talking about when we speak of "F stops", "exposure value", "depth of field" and so on. We know without thinking that a bright sunny day needs a certain setting to get a reasonable exposure with such and such a film. We learnt it before we had automatic cameras to do the thinking for us.

In navigation, we also have automatic means at our disposal to locate our position clearly on the surface of the planet. GPS - a wonderful tool and an exciting addition to the bag of tools that I have at my disposal. The thing is that they have drawbacks too. Like, they rely on batteries to power them and they don't work under heavy or wet bush nor in deep gullies. We still need to rely on our ability to use a map and compass, to resect our position or more importantly to use what we refer to as "location awareness". That is, just knowing that I know that I know where I am at any given time.

Perhaps the greatest disadvantage that up and coming young photographers face today is that the camera does all the thinking for them. When I started serious photography I had a hand held exposure meter and carefully took readings from all sorts of angles before deciding on an exposure. I could not afford to waste film anyway. I learnt very quickly that a tripod was a must, though my first one was awfully rickety. I learnt how depth of field worked and studied depth of field scales for all sorts of lenses even if I didn't own one of them. I developed my own films in the laundry at home with the windows darkened and printed them on a homemade enlarger with an old camera lens to form the image. Primitive stuff by today's standards. The result was like my navigation - I learnt the basic underlying philosophy and techniques of the photographic hobby I have now participated in for over fifty years.

Well, next year we intend to run some practical events about the basics of photography for all of you. Yes, older as well as newer members. We will cover things like exposure values, F stops (aperture, to you who know), shutter speeds and the interrelationships of one with the other. We will look at depth of field and how a camera works. Sure we will include some digital stuff too. And we will have some practical outings in the field taking pictures and asking the more experienced members to coach you on the spot.

Meanwhile, please don't wait for next year. Over the next few months get out and take some pictures. Ask older, wiser members if you are in doubt. Most of us will assist if you ask, but probably won't come and tell you if you don't ask. Please give us a chance.

Our last meeting gave us a taste of the interest there is in basics. Let's get our act together and see if we can't make a difference in your photography over the next twelve months.

Happy shooting

John

If you would like to comment on the November Exposure send me an email .

October 2004

This evening we received an email from a friend in Japan. He speaks very little English and his email is like interpreting a word puzzle. Wonderful thing this email stuff but Languages do tend to get in the way. Try this for size: Mt. Ruapehu Although it erupted for the year. mountain climbing was allowed next year. Since the mountain was also its favorite. John, a photographer, showed around to "if it does not reach," the edge of a crater. Signs that the rock which blew off in this middle rolled with ( ___) and volcanic ashes was poured by rain water are fresh. The scratch which the glacier shaved off was seen to (the rock) __ in a it side, and the far-reaching breath of the earth was felt for it. If it goes up to the top at the end of a crater, white smoke raises and pressures upwards sound and the crater wall by the side of opposite is hidden and is not visible. I was allowed to peep into the breath of the earth continued for hundreds of millions of years. Do you understand all this?

Anyway, Koichi emailed us to tell us he has had another book published - it is in Japanese. In it, he explained, he has described a trip I took him and his late wife on, up Mount Ruapehu. This was shortly after the last major eruption. I guided then to the summit of the mountain and we had lunch looking at the low level of the crater lake and then they were awed at the size of the holes through both ends of the Dome shelter. It really was awesome and Koichi has described how he felt about this in his book. I had taken Koichi and his wife, Hiroko, to Mount Egmont, through the Tangarakau Gorge to Tongariro National Park, and later to Rotorua and the Coromandel Peninsula. A great time of trying to understand one another.

Our landscape in New Zealand is truly incredible. Last Tuesday evening we listened to an American speaker waxing eloquent on what a wonderful country we live in and how beautiful it was. Have you ever had the thrill of seeing New Zealand through the eyes of an overseas visitor who is seeing it for the first time? Try it!!

With the impending trip to Tongariro National Park we once again have the opportunity to visit one of the truly amazing parts of this magnificent land. Tongariro National Park was the second one ever established in the world. It has encompassed in its boundaries three active volcanoes. You can only ever really appreciate the immense power of the volcano when you have stood on the edge of Ngaruhoe's crater when it is erupting (yes, I have), or have seen the size of the bomb holes right through the dome shelter.

However, even on the lower slopes of the mountain, where we will be going, there is an impressive array of plants, ferns, lichens, sub-alpines, etc., plus geological formations and streams of amazing beauty.

I have checked out my "Common Plants of Tongariro National Park" book and a good range of sub-alpines will be in flower at the end of November.

In any case, even if the weather is "stink", we will have a great time together. Part of the fun of WPS is the friendships we make as we do things together. I know a number of you will be unable or not wish to make such a trip, but we will endeavour to let you see the outcomes through our photographs when we return.

We will give those of you who are coming a list of "must take" in the way of clothes and bedding, etc., before we go.

Meanwhile, why not sharpen your skills with your equipment on the club night on 26th October. Some of the things we do there may well be of value to you on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu or up the Mangatepopo Valley.

Happy Days.

John

If you would like to comment on the October Exposure send me an email .

The best excitment in life comes in small bundles - September 2004

I was forcibly reminded of the principle that the best often comes in small bundles when Janet and I had the privilege of being with our Grandson and Granddaughter-in-law within an hour of the birth of our first Great Grandchild. A lovely little daughter for our Grandson and his beautiful wife.

What a joy to hold the tiny little bundle, take some pic's then come home, download them and send them to all our rellies, not just in NZ, but overseas as well. Instant communication right round the world. This was exciting and stimulating. Wonderful!

Well I don't know about you, but from time to time my photography gets into the doldrums and I find myself thinking, "what can I do now that is different, exciting and stimulating?"

One of the most stimulating things in my photography has been the advent of a new camera. (A small bundle - get the link?) No I have not just bought another camera. However, I know quite a few of you have done so recently as you have moved into the Digital revolution or have scooped up some of the cheap film cameras that are appearing on the market with the arrival of the newer and more sophisticated digital models.

Whenever I have acquired another camera, new or second-hand, or even simply a new lens, flashlight or some other photographic "goody", I find my energy levels to get out and take some photographs goes up and up. I go out and re-photograph things in a different way than what I may have with my previous camera.

Well, this month we will have another one of those stimulating evenings on the 28th when Mike Small of H E Perry and their Marketing Manager will attend the club evening to show us the latest in the "Olympus digital range" and no doubt some other interesting items too. Like the Ilford range of inkjet papers.

A couple of months ago we heard from the Fuji agent about what they think is happening. Now we have the chance to see another side of the coin. As an avid Olympus fan, I warmly commend this evening to you. You will be stimulated by the presentation and, who knows, you may feel the impetus to get out and do some new and exciting photography.

On another note altogether, - the pot luck dinner at Graeme and Jan White's was a resounding success. How many of you who were there are taking positive steps to achieve your two year goal? Let me challenge you. What is the first step you need to take to see that goal come true? Ok then, do it - Now!!

However, don't stop taking photographs. Take a look at our web site if you haven't done so. And we need your images on it, so get into gear!!

Happy photographic days.

John

If you would like to comment on the September Exposure send me an email .

No Pain - No Gain - August 2004

Since I last wrote my column last month I have, as I indicated in that column, spent a couple of days in hospital and had the surgery to my shoulder. Well I did not expect it to be any sinecure, but what I had not realised was just how painful the restoration process was going to be.

Well, I can see light at the end of the tunnel now and can use the computer keyboard again although not without discomfort. I especially want to thank those of you who phoned, emailed or called to see how I was and how things were going. In fact, it was wonderful to know so many of you cared! There are still a few months of restoration to go though. Physiotherapy and so on.

In the middle of this, however, I was reminded of the old saying "No pain - No gain". It sparked off in my mind the issue of photographic competitions and feelings akin to pain when we go to a lot of trouble to enter an image in the competition and the "stupid Judge" doesn't like it, or indicates by his/her comments that they do not see the beauty or creativity we see in our work.

I well remember as a "C" grader in WPS, I put in a slide of sunrise up the Mokau River. Now this image is so good I had a Cibachrome print made of it and it is hanging today - thirty years later - on the wall of our home. However, the judge gave me a "Merit" for it with the comment that if it did not have a prominent hair on the image it would have taken Honours.

I was furious, this slide was not mounted in glass and the judge only had to do what I did when I got it back - turn it over and blow on it and it disappeared. I felt like walking out of that club night and never returning. However I am a pigheaded cuss and decided to stay.

It did teach me, however, to be more critical of my work before it goes into competition. This applies even more so to National and International competitions. Just ask Roger Taylor!

I developed a philosophy on judging that night that I have held tight to ever since. It is this:

"I put images in a competition because I like them - and if the judge likes them great, if not - who cares."

I still operate to this philosophy and it works.

My counsel is this. If the judge likes your pics, great If not, you are still the best judge of what you like and that is all that matters. Nevertheless, we do need to listen to the comments of the judge. Over the years they have helped me to see ways of improving my photography and that is what counts.

So especially you newer members please keep right on putting your images in the competitions. This is the glue that keeps the club together.

Happy Photography and may the judges truly agree with your assessment of your images.

John

If you would like to comment on the August Exposure send me an email .

Ten Feet Tall and Bullet Proof - July 2004

Not that many years ago I considered myself, - well not exactly "ten feet tall and bullet proof", but a fit, active and agile person. I worked in a job that had challenges galore, some of which included hanging out of helicopters with a camera in my hands, climbing high peaks, standing on the edge of an erupting volcano or descending into caves and tramping over some very rugged terrain. In short, I reckoned I had the best job in the world.

In 1990 in Kenya, however, part of that started to be tempered by the knowledge that I may not be so "iron cast" as I thought when I injured a shoulder. The doctors called it a "rotator cuff strain". That injury plagued me for several years. Then I thought I was out of the woods. I went to the gymnasium three times a week, I continued to tramp and climb mountains, although a little slower. I kept fit!

However, in early April this year it all came to a grinding halt when a comparatively simple stress caused excruciating pain in my right shoulder. It was bad enough to chase me off to the doctor who sent me to a specialist and after ultra sound scans, MRI scan and several consultations, the diagnosis was confirmed - I had two torn tendons in my right shoulder. These would have to be repaired surgically.

This was bad news. On the opening day of shooting season I could not lift a gun to my shoulder and that - gentle readers - is a major disaster for John.

Well, the upshot is that on 21st July I go into hospital for surgery. Only a couple of hours I am assured. They will drill some holes in the top of the humerus (the upper arm bone) and stitch the torn tendons back onto the bone where they are supposed to be. Then the worst bit - I have three months of restricted activity, absolutely no lifting, and only movements to maintain the mobility of the arm. This is followed by another three months of physiotherapy to rebuild the shoulder muscles.

In short, I will not be able to do any physical activity for at least three months.

So this is your big opportunity. On club nights we will need some of you to take the initiative to put out the seats, set up the screen and projectors and make sure all the necessary preparation is done. It will also involve making sure it all gets put away at the end of the evening.

Firstly: We do get help already, and I appreciate this. But this will be more so without my input as "leader of the gang". I look forward to your assistance to see that the practical aspects of club nights are taken care of. If we all buck in, it is a small job. If it is left to one or two, it is a major task.

Secondly: Please take care of yourselves. I have learned the hard way that my body is not bullet proof, and as we get older the muscles and tendons get more brittle (so my doctor says).

I trust that I will soon be able to wield a camera as before, but realise that it may be several months until I am able to do very much.

So you all need to keep taking photographs to compensate for my inability to hold a camera to my eye.

And finally, thank you for the support we are getting as a club. It is great to know we are meeting the needs of so many of you.

Happy snapping

John

If you would like to comment on the July Exposure send me an email .

Landscape Competition - June 2004

I have just finished putting together an entry for the Laurie Thomas Landscape competition run every year by Christchurch Photographic Society.

As I did this, I was forced to consider again just what constitutes a "Landscape" image.

So I thought I would pontificate about this as July 27th is the date to enter your landscapes for the Landscape Memorial Competition - the George Chance and Margaret McDiarmid trophies. So you ain't got much time left to get your pics.

Years ago I put an entry in the club competition of a coastal landscape on the Coromandel north/eastern coast. Looking at it a few days ago I can scarcely believe that the judge of that competition did not even accept it as he/she (I cannot remember who the judge was) said it was not a landscape. I asked one of the older members later and she said that it had too much sea in it! What - over half of it was land! That slide was and still is a stunning image!

Then two years ago the winning image in the Laurie Thomas competition was "a seagull over the sea". Yes, that won that year! Then in 2003 a very intimate section of sand and cliffs on the sea shore was the judges' choice.

So what is a landscape, and how do I know I have a winning one?

My gut feeling, in spite of the decision in the Laurie Thomas, is that the image should be predominately land. However, it need not be a large section of land. In fact, my definition is all encompassing - from the grand images of the Southern alps, or Mount Taranaki, to the intimate of a small stream in the forest, or the inside of a cave at Waitomo or wherever you can get access to one. Add everything in between and you have it.

What I am absolutely certain of is that the image must be a dramatic one. That is, one that makes you stop and say "wow"! So what makes this kind of picture? Well, like all photographs, light is the key. The old adage of "the first two hours of the day and the last two hours make the best photographs" is very true. In the winter you can stretch these hours a little, but generally this is a good starting point. Look for long low lighting and plenty of modelling in the landscape.

Secondly, make sure you have some point of real interest in the image. An image without some special point to draw your eye in to it will rarely be a world-beater. Use the rule of thirds to position your strong point. But don't get slavish about it.

Use the sky as a feature in the landscape, don't chop it out. Waikato has some magnificent skies and the last few weeks has been a great example of that. A landscape with a bland or blank sky will rarely succeed in competition no matter what you feel about it. So your image doesn't have a great sky. Put one in it. I used to do this in the darkroom with Black and White images. I can do it much easier now in the computer. No excuses. If you do it right, the judge will not know. Jenny Scown did not know my Lindis Pass landscape that she gave me honours for in 2002 had had clouds added, and she is a Professional Photographer.

So get out your camera and your tripod and go make some landscapes. See if you can beat me to it this year. I would love to have one of the younger members beat all us oldies.

Happy Shooting

John

If you would like to comment on the June Exposure send me an email .

The F64 Issue - May 2004

Last month I wrote about the problems/advantages of depth of field with digital cameras. In my second paragraph I said that if you didn't know what F64 was all about look forward to this month's "President's Exposure." I also suggested that you should ask me what a Circle of Confusion was, but to date no one has ventured to do so (did you read it?) Or perhaps you were thinking, "If I ask him, he might tell me".

Anyway here goes on both counts!

Depth of field is a very interesting topic. In researching for last month's issue I came across an article that put the whole thing in perspective to me - that is, in layman's terms.

Simply put, it is that the smaller the aperture of your camera (that is the higher the number of the aperture), the greater the depth of field available. So an aperture (or F stop) of F2.8 has a lot less depth of field than one of, say, F16 which is about where most of your 35mm cameras always finished. Each aperture is roughly half the diameter of the one following. So if we start at F11, the next aperture, F16, is half the diameter of the previous one. (You can, of course, get half stops too to complicate the issue, but let's ignore them for now). Simple eh!

For depth of field, the smaller the aperture the longer or greater the depth of field. That is, the area of the photograph that appears to be in focus - that is acceptably sharp.

So now we come to the complications. All lenses, if perfectly constructed without any optical flaws, are only absolutely in focus at one given point. That is, the point at which they are focussed on. It might be ten, twenty or thirty metres, or even a few millimetres for a macro lens. So why do other parts of the image appear to be in focus? Well, this is because of what are known as "circles of confusion". These are small areas of the image that appear to our less than perfect eyes to be in focus. There are literally hundreds of these circles of confusion in any given image. They can be approximately represented as a fraction of the diagonal of the film, or sensor of a digital camera. So for 35 mm cameras they are 0.03 mm or 1/1140 of the diagonal of the film. Confused? Well join the clan!! As I said last month, I don't really understand the mathematics of how this all works, but it does.

However, this is important to remember when you complicate the equation by enlarging an image to get, say, an A4 print Therefore the reason why those old masters seemed to get such great depth of field from their 10 x 8 inch plate cameras had nothing to do with the F64 lenses, so much as the need to do very little if any enlargement of the image to get a viewable print. That is why it is not always a good idea to enlarge a digital image too far, or a 35mm one for that matter.

Who wants large prints anyway? I for one do, but at known sacrifice of detail unless one uses a larger format camera.

Well, to finish this epistle off, remember the ideal viewing distance for looking at any print is 2.5 times the diagonal of the image. So a 6 x 4 inch print can and should look critically sharp at arm's length. But 20 x 24 inch print needs to be looked at from at least five feet or almost two metres.

Keep your shutters clicking - and some area of sharpness in an image is important!

John

If you would like to comment on the May Exposure send me an email .

The Good News and the Bad News - April 2004

How often have you heard these words? Well there is a very good reason to consider them right now.

Many of the older members will be aware of the old "F64 club", a loose association of photographers like Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and Minor White, who created such marvellous landscapes earlier last century (sounds terribly old eh!) Photographers who carted round enormous 10 inch by 8 inch plate cameras with lenses that stopped down to F64. Now if you don't know what that means, look forward to next month's edition of President's Exposure.

The combination of this very small aperture and large film size meant that these old photographers produced magnificent landscapes with amazing depth of field.

Over the past two to three years I have been wondering why my digital cameras appeared to have much more depth of field than my 35mm cameras and even more so my medium format cameras. So I decided to do some research. To my surprise I came up with some interesting facts. I will not bore you with the mathematics of it 'cos I can't understand that part of the business. What I have discovered is that the rule of thumb you can operate on is this: "The smaller your recording medium (that is your film, or sensor for a digital camera) the greater the depth of field"..

It works out like this. A 35mm camera with a lens equivalent to one used on a 10 x 8 inch plate camera for landscapes will achieve the same depth of field at F9 as the plate camera does at F64. Not only that, but the digital cameras in common use today will achieve that same depth of field at F2.8 or thereabouts.

Now before you leap up and put pen to paper or fingers to key boards to tell me this is all "bollux", I have to say we are talking about depth of field, not final clarity of the print, which is of course governed by another set of factors such as magnification of the 35 mm image to 10 x 8 inches which is about 8.5 times enlargement compared to the contact print from the 10 x 8 plate camera.

What this tells me is that, while I have magnificent depths of field in my digital camera compared with the depths of field of comparative 35mm lenses, I have difficulties if I want to do portraits, say, with a very shallow depth of field. You may not in fact achieve that outcome.

So we have the good news and bad news. The good news: We have better depth of field with both 35mm film cameras and digital models than the old masters of the F64 club had for their landscape photography. The bad news: We will be struggling to make the same kind of portraits those cameras did with their shallow depths of field. Oh well, you can't win them all.

Well, my research led me into interesting areas of photography I had never understood properly. Ask me sometime to tell you about "Circles of confusion". Now that has got you confused, hasn't it!

Happy photo hunting!

John