WPS Archives 2007

The President's Exposure February to July 2007

The Club President, John Greenwood, writes an editorial for the clubs' newsletter, Aperture.

July

Don't get put in a box

Did you ever see a Jack-in-a-Box? Like, you have this head on a spring and when you push it down into a box and clip the lid down it stays there till someone else clicks the catch and the head pops out again.

I have a theory about photographic exhibitions, competitions, call them what you like. They are destined, if not deliberately, then certainly by example and practice, into pushing you down into a box like the Jack-in-a-Box, into the same old rut day after day after day.

It works like this. I, alongside everyone else, puts their entry into the Salon, competition or what have you. They are submitted to a "judge", a "panel of judges" a "commentator" or a "critic". These august individuals or groups make judgement calls on your photograph - they like it or not, they comment on it, or pontificate how you might improve it. They may simply comment on how they see it, or they may make judgements such as Highly Commended, Honours or Champion! Or maybe it is simply selecting or rejecting your image from a whole heap of others to be part of the exhibition of images.

Whatever the process, someone is making a form of judgement on the merit or non-merit of your image as they see it.

You, in your turn, hear their comments or simply see that your image was or was not accepted in this exhibition or salon and from that make your own assessment of the relative merits of your own as to the value of the image.

So what? Well, next time it is time to put a photo in an exhibition or competition, you may unwittingly be influenced by what you know was or was not accepted by the last judges or commentators, or simply by what got accepted for the exhibition. This may, and quite possibly will, affect what you decide to put in that exhibition. For instance, you will have a picture that you particularly like but your mind will say in effect: "Yes, but there was one like that or similar to that last year or last month and it didn't do any good", so you leave it at home.

This, in effect, is the start of "putting yourself in a box", a box that says, "Yes, I need to conform to this or that general style, at least if I am to have any chance of success."

This, of course, accumulates when you do follow these thoughts and you get a success. Must be worthwhile doing it, eh!! And lo and behold you may have put yourself in a box.

Well, I have come to the conclusion that there are many boxes in the photographic world. Each has its own idiosyncrasies that influence what I, or you, will put in as entries or submissions. There is a "Waikato Photographic Society Box", which is an offshoot of the "Photographic Society of New Zealand box". There are boxes for overseas salons, boxes for submissions to commercial buyers, and yes, calendar companies each have their own little box.

Judges/selectors at local club or national level, often unknowingly allow themselves to contribute to the mould-makers as they make the selections they think fit the requirements of the particular genera they are working in. This is particularly so in Natural History, but occurs in all genera. Yes I have been guilty of participating in such lotteries too. I use the word "lotteries" deliberately to provoke someone out there to challenge my thesis. I have had to "horse trade" over the relative merits of individual images as a member of a judging/selecting panel, against my better judgement on occasions.

Well my challenge to you as a photographer is to put the idea of conformity out of your head and go for what you like. Forget the boxes!

On two occasions I have submitted sets of images for National Honours and both times having had them rejected in spite of the fact that on the second one I asked for and received advice from a past member of the Honours Board. I was being asked effectively to put my photography into a box called "PSNZ Honours Box". Don't ask me if I will ever submit another set. At the moment I would not even consider it. However, I do know how to make money from my images and I can get acceptances in National as well as club competitions. I just happen to know how to fit into their boxes on occasions.

I take my photos cos I like them, and if I can get an acceptance in a salon or at club level that is great, or if I can sell the rights for an image that is even better. The bottom line is I take them cos I like them.

Why don't you try to do the same. Keep out of the boxes eh! Be a radical Photographer!

Kind regards

John

June

It's really all in your eye! Your camera is simply a tool to record what your eye sees.

Having just come back from a lovely five weeks in the South Island, plus another two weeks in the North Island, we are having to spend hours and hours on the computer sorting and saving the best images for future enjoyment. In the course of this, I received a letter from one of our members commenting on my mention of the use of my little compact Mju Olympus for much of our trip south.

Certainly, when you are tramping the Milford track (4 days) or the Greenstone/Caples (5 days), there was no way I was going to carry a large multi lens, super megapixel digital SLR with me. Not at my age eh!

Before we went south we tramped over the Tongariro crossing. Lovely weather and I used the Olympus Mju 4 megapixels. The results are stunning. Superb pictures, provided I treat them carefully in the computer and printing process. One of these was accepted in the National Salon under Nature Projected Images. No-one, but no-one, could tell if the image was made from a compact camera or a top class SLR with umpteen megapixels.

Well, we were home from our trip and had to go to Chartwell to get some printer ink. There I met Rhys Palmer, a professional photographer and past press photographer for the Waikato Times. We got to talking and Rhys was very interested in our trip. I told him I had mainly used the Mju and his comment was along the lines "That's all you need John. I see Pro's doing weddings with cameras of twelve megapixels and more and all they are doing is filling up cards unnecessarily."

A four megapixel camera will produce an A3 (12"x18" at Harvey Norman's), that you cannot tell was done on digital. The prints are crisp, sharp and sparkling. So why do we keep trying to outdo each other in getting bigger and better cameras?

I actually think it is partly a "blame the camera, not the photographer" syndrome, for images that do not come out the way we would like them to! Provided you have a camera that has a good quality lens, the execution of a good photograph is a combination of "seeing what you want" and then being familiar enough with your gear to be able to record that image the way you want it to turn out.

We need to be thoroughly familiar with out camera, lens, etc. We need to understand the difference and relationship between Aperture and Shutter speed, we need to know when to turn off that confounded auto focus and use manual focus to get exactly the result we have visualised.

In many ways the advent of auto focus and auto exposure cameras has been a curse as well as a blessing. One of my daughters many years ago joined the club and I gave her a little 4x4 cm twin lens reflex camera and an exposure metre. A totally manual camera. In a twin lens, the image is back to front so you need to really think about your composition. She did and the results spoke for themselves. The only advantage she had over other C Grade (Novice now) photographers was that she had a father that told her "it's not good enough - do it again" and I suppose I was paying for her film and processing. Well, she went from C Grade to B Grade to A Grade in just over twelve months. Unfortunately she met a young man, got married and moved away, otherwise she would be giving all of you a run for your money in the competitions.

On the 19th June, the digital group will be talking about cameras. Make sure you get there and learn about aperture, shutter speed, depth of field, and how to access the wonderful menus that modern cameras have. You will not regret it.

Kind regards

John

May

Other People's Photography - should challenge you.

Well the last couple of months have been quite an adventure for Janet and me. It started with going to New Plymouth to be on the PSNZ panel for the Nature Prints Section of the National Exhibition. It continued with our South Island trip - more of that later. Then back to New Plymouth for the National Convention and exhibition of the "Natex" Prints, Projected images and Honours sets.

Then last month seeing the images from Ruthin Camera club in Wales and hearing Geraint Jones comment on our submission. Wonderful!

What I want to draw to your attention is that viewing other people's photographic work is always worth while as, in my experience, it stimulates us to do even better with our own photography.

The exhibition of Natex prints and Honours print sets at New Plymouth was stunning. We viewed parts of this several times. One of the Fellowship sets, that of Barry Doig of Nelson, was superb. It was all photographed in the Nelson Anglican Cathedral - not just the building, but people as well, or parts of people.

This year was the first of the Natex "Projected Images" section and this was a resounding success. The down side was that the slide part of this was not projected anywhere near as well as the digital images. No, I am not biased because Janet and I both did well. So did Sally Phillips and Tim Williams, and Roger Taylor. When we realise that WPS was one of the first clubs in New Zealand to institute a digital competition, we can be proud that PSNZ, at our instigation along with Dunedin PS, were the catalyst for PSNZ to get "On the band wagon" so to speak.

What I am certain about is that it is a worthwhile discipline to try to produce images that are good enough for exhibition outside of Waikato PS, in the larger world. You can do it. Ask Sally Phillips, a comparatively recent member of the Society, but she collected a gold and a silver medal in Natex. Sally in my view epitomises the discipline of getting good images and presenting them well.

Now to cap it off, the major Landscape Salon in New Zealand - The "Laurie Thomas" has come off the wall and has expanded its previously tight "Slides only" criteria to include a new "Digital" section. Projected digital that is, not prints. Janet and I have had slide acceptances in the "Laurie Thomas" in the past and you can bet we will be entering images this year in the digital section.

One of the things about the National Salons of this type is that you get to compare yourself against the best of New Zealand's photographers. This year's Natex shows that Waikato PS photographers can match it with the best of New Zealand's. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, plus 11 other acceptances, probably the best Waikato has done for many years.

Now, I want to challenge you to have a go at these competitions. All of you. No need to sit and listen to the judges' comments, as useful as these are to some of us. Just send in the images and wait for the results.

Now back to where I came in. Whenever you get the opportunity, please go and visit the exhibitions. You will be surprised at what is accepted sometimes but you will surely say to yourself, "I could do that!" Certainly you will be stimulated by what you see.

Good photography is about visualising what you want to photograph, then converting this into an image in whatever format you are operating in. So start putting yourself into the position of seeing what others are doing, then get to work and beat the daylights out of them next time round.

Janet will certainly ensure you get information on upcoming competitions as we receive the information. The rest is up to you.

Kind regards

John

February

All is never lost - well almost never!

Well the New Year started with quite a spectacle, didn't it? What? You don't know what I am talking about?

The Comet McNaught, of course. What a build up and what a spectacle.

I listened to an interview with Bob McDavitt, the Weather ambassador for the New Zealand Met Office. Bob, who I have communicated with on a couple of occasions, is a very "down to earth" sort of a bloke, a nice guy to speak with. Bob was waxing eloquent about the Comet McNaught and what a wonderful sight it was. Not only that, but the certainty that it may never be seen in the skies of Planet Earth ever again.

The statistics were amazing too. My understanding was that it is about 128 million kilometres from earth, and is slowly moving away. The bright head is more than 100,000 kilometres across but is really nothing more than a dust cloud around a relatively tiny snowball of ice and dust a few kilometres across. The comet's tail is a million kilometres long and made up of fine dust pushed away from the head by the pressure of the sun. Some reports I have seen have indicated an even larger size than this, but who knows, it is so far away and no one has ever managed to get their tape measure over it.

Anyway I decided to have a go at getting a pic or two of it, so one Thursday evening Janet and I went up to Porritt Stadium hill and waited to see the spectacle. We were well rewarded and I took a number of shots which on the camera screen looked pretty good.

Next day I downloaded my XD card from the camera to my digital album. I then reformatted the card, only to discover that I had downloaded the wrong card by a series of stupid events that I will not bore you with and reformatted the card with the comet images on it. Effectively I had lost all my images.

I went back on several nights, but never got anything like what we had seen that first night. So eventually I resigned myself to the fact that I did not get a picture of Comet McNaught.

Then last Tuesday evening at the WPS committee meeting I told them all about my bad luck. Richard Edghill and Jody Bosgra almost simultaneously said they can be recovered as long as you haven't over written them. Richard asked for the card which he then installed on his laptop and a few minutes later gave me back the card with the recovered pics on it. They are not superb, but neither are they too bad.

The moral of the story is, as I put at the top of this epistle, "All is never lost - well almost never!" If I had gone on using the card, the chances of recovery would have been very much less. So if you make a booboo like I did, don't despair yet. Visit Richard or Jody and see what magic they can produce.

My special thanks to Richard for the job he did, and also to Richard and Jody who were responsible for getting Arthur Beale's comments on the Ruthin Camera Club images recorded and sent by email to Wales, UK. Thanks also to Arthur for doing the critique. You will get to see these images all in good time.

Janet and I will be away from 24th February to 15th April, mainly in the South island. Others of the committee will keep the show on the road while we are away. No one is indispensable, eh! Eat your hearts out. This is reward for a long time working and volunteering.

Keep taking lots of pictures - the more you take the more Honours ones you will have for our competitions.

Kind regards

John