Viewfinders Newsletter June 2020

Since 1994 Next meeting: 10 June online via Zoom

Š Richard Sylvester

Newsletter 269, June 2020

www.viewfinders.be

newsletter@viewfinders.be

A SEMBLANCE OF NORMALITY

By Alun Foster

© Alun Foster

T

hough we must all be highly vigilant still, to avoid what could possibly be an even worse “second wave”, the freedoms we enjoy in “normal” life are slowly starting to become available to most of us again. Depending on where you happen to live, the restrictions on our physical interactions with society have forced a significant re-evaluation of what is important (and what is not): some of these lessons are very well worth keeping (though I do fear – as I look around – that some are already being forgotten. Erare humanum est, but so too, it would seem, are rank stupidity and in some cases blatantly antisocial arrogance, but that’s another story).

During the first phases of the “lock-down light” (as it has been in Belgium at least), we could happily witness great bursts of photographic creativity: bending the focus from the extra-ordinary things happening outside towards those things happening in more confined spaces – the “intra-ordinary” things (is that a word? If not, can it be? Pretty please?). I must admit that, for me, the inspirational potential of the inside of an apartment that I see every day, and even of a nice terrace, quickly evaporated (and, having to work from home did not free up as much play-time as one would hope: the pandemic response itself creating even more tasks to handle in my particular case, though I declare immediately that my lot is far more secure than the many who now may have spare time but also very stressful financial worries from all this).

The lost enjoyment of creative activity, though, was happily replaced by the joy of seeing so many wonderful images posted on our Viewfinders

© Hélène Cook

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© Hélène Cook Facebook group (by those with more creative imaginations than I, no doubt). During this confinement, a new Facebook group was started, on “European Nature Photography”. The brainchild of Simon Pugh – once President of our noble club – it has quickly gathered quite a substantial following, with now many beautiful images to admire. Highly recommended.

© Hélène Cook

And of course, we had the opportunity to admire many very interesting and beautiful images presented at our on-line Viewfinders club meetings. Since the start of the pandemic measures, we have now held three of these on-line meetings and, even though we are still learning and still have a lot to learn, the feedback on them has been positive: sometimes heart-warmingly so, which renders the effort put in by the organising committee even more rewarding.

It is also wonderful to be able to welcome again club members who have left for far-flung climes, or guests from near or from far. This is certainly a formula which we should keep on using, also once our physical meetings can restart, for that reason alone.

Inspiration for new activities for the Viewfinders club – especially about the potential of “digital meetings” – is always welcome. For this, here’s a shout-out to all who would like to offer some time to help out our members and organise interesting and sociable photographic things to do. Our meeting in June (also on-line) will house our Annual General Meeting, where the candidates for the various Committee positions will be elected. The committee is set up to avoid over-

© Philippe Clabots

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© Philippe Clabots © Alun Foster loading already busy people yet giving an opportunity to connect

more deeply with the club, its photographic and its social activities.

Please contact anyone of the committee for more information.

And now with the confinement rules gradually being relaxed, a

semblance of normality gradually grows and access is once again

possible to museums etc… (albeit on appointment only and wear-

ing a mask), the opportunities for my “post-contemporary observationalist” photographic style are once more abundant. A short trip

downtown, and another to the Heyzel where a previously unvisited

museum/gallery for design is situated gave an enjoyable afternoon of discovery and opportunity to take some photos worthy of being

© Felicity Handford

seen.

At least I think so. So there!

© Hélène Cook

© Philippe Clabots

© Philippe Clabots

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GHOST TOWN

By Hélène Cook

I was struck both by the beauty of this empty Brussels and the weird and unatural atmosphere of the situation. But I felt safer there and more inspired than in my neighborhood. I went back 2 times afterwards to take memories of this period for later.

You can follow me on my Facebook Page Hélène Cook Photographie https://www.facebook.com/helene.cook.photo.brussels/ or on my website http:// www.helene-cook.eu/.

© Hélène Cook

Social distances, masks and fear of heavily breathing joggers are not very compatible with interesting street photos. And then during the Easter week end, I couldn’t wait longer, I took my DSLR on my bike one early morning and went to the town center to roam the empty streets.

© Hélène Cook

© Hélène Cook

D

uring lockdown it became fashion among photographers to start ‘shoot from home’ photo projects. This is really not my thing!

Photography for me means going out and make discoveries. In order to fight the blues, I started to make early morning walks every morning in my neighborhood, before too many people are on the street. I live in a residential area and I have never seen so many people on the pavement there than during the lockdown. I always took a small camera with me with the aim to make street photos. This turned to be more a therapy to keep myself busy than a photographic succes.

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© Hélène Cook

© Hélène Cook

© Hélène Cook

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FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY DURING QUARANTINE

By Haryo Nindito

While some of us were busy learning to cook during the lockdown -- or putting a few quarantine kilos -- art portrait photographer Haryo Nindito turned his camera to the table! Here’s his quarantine adventure in food photography.

I

am usually a portrait photographer. Before the lockdown, I shot at my studio, indoors (in a castle or a nice hotel), or outdoors. As I always explained in my seminars and webinars, I do a lot of preparation before I press the shutter button. Among other things, I prepare the models, dresses and styling.

During the lockdown, I stopped my photoshoots, exhibitions, seminars and workshops. To keep myself busy and creative, I switched to giving webinars. In April and May, participants from 34 countries attended my webinars.

But as a photographer, something was missing when there was no shooting. Some of my photographer friends experimented with product photography.

Because I use off-camera flash, I was mainly interested in other people’s work who also used flash.

Because I didn’t have any interesting product to shoot at home, I thought about trying food photography for the first time. I started by looking at examples on the Internet.

In food photography, in addition to the main food as the main subject, the other objects on the table are as important. Similar to my workflow in portrait photography, I started by imagining the end result.

© Haryo Nindito

I went to Makro to buy the ingredients of the main food that I would cook. Yes I can cook! But also, I

shopped for the other supporting objects. I chose carefully which plate, glass, flowers, fruits, etc, that, when shot together, would make a good overall image.

When everything was ready, I setup a ‘table’ in my studio. This table was empty monitor box. I laid a studio backdrop on top of it. I arranged all objects to make them cohesively interesting. This was like posing and styling in portrait photography.

One important factor was lighting. As you can see in the behind-the-scene photo on the right, I used two small softboxes on the left and right. The EXIF was ISO 500, 50 mm, f/4.0, 1/40 sec.

Another important factor, as in all other genres of photography, was composition. I tried several times with different heights of the tripod to achieve different angles of the shot.

Photography allows you to learn to look and see.

You begin to see things you’d never paid attention to.

- Saul Leiter

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SUMMER WEBINARS Haryo Nindito is continuing his Art Portrait Photography seminars this summer. His webinars last for approximately 1 hour, starting with an explanation on a specific topic and followed by Q&A. Tickets may be booked through billetto.be.

12 JUNE Studio, Indoor, Outdoor + Dresses, Locations, Models 19 JUNE Flash theory and modifiers.

Flash or no flash.

26 JUNE Camera and flash settings.

High-speed sync, small aperture, focal length 3 JULY Basic of Post processing The price of the webinar is €5 + processing fee.

Tickets may be booked through billetto.com, and the webinar will be delivered using Zoom or Skye for Business application. The link will be sent to the participants. The recording of the webinar will be available for participants for one week.

© Haryo Nindito

Register: https://billetto.be/en/e/webinar-2-artportrait-in-studio-indoor-outdoor-tickets-424092/ Participants of previous webinars have included photographers from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Lithuania, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, UK and the USA.

Still about composition, another aspect was how all objects were arranged in the image. In my first shot the basket for the oranges was too parallel to the wooden plate in the foreground. In the end, I changed them completely to get the final result.

I was happy enough with the final result as my first attempt in food photography. As you can see, many aspects were similar to portrait photography: preparation, posing, styling, composition, lighting, etc.

As the lockdown measures are relaxed now, I will go back to portrait photography. I am not sure if I will do food photography again.

The food was delicious, though. It was Indonesian cuisine.

LIFE LINE

By Alun Foster

W

hile the optimist in me revels in the small but sure signs of the return of some kind of normal, with my first trip down town and to the Heyzel documented elsewhere in this noble journal, the realist realises (can you actually say that?) – with the spectre of a second wave gradually looming over the horizon of a lost summer vacation – that true freedom to live the life may still be some way off. On-line has been our life-line since early spring, and it thankfully continues to be. While physical photo exhibition visits slowly come back (book in advance – something I’m terrible at), temporary salving of the photographilia can be found in Artsy’s collection of 5 on-line photo galleries. Several interesting but as yet unheard of names, some greatly beloved greats (Dorothea Lange, anyone?).

Well worth the browse. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-5-must-see-photography-view-online

© Alun Foster

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TRIGGER HAPPY

By Alun Foster

S

ome time ago I bought a multi-purpose camera/flash trigger (at the last Photo Days, actually) but had not yet used it “in anger”. Recently, a squirrel came to say hello while I was eating lunch outside. Cute guy, but rather shy. These two events sparked the idea that I should take a foray into the wilds of our tiny patch of Brussels, to see if I could grab some shots of frolicking fauna – of course setting up a camera, a trigger and some bait to lure my unwitting victims…

Above: The complete Captur kit - © Alun Foster

The trigger unit I have is the “Captur Module – Pro” by Hähnel, which comes with a source of infra-red (i.e. invisible) light to use with one of its triggering modes (if an object or animal breaks the beam, it triggers the camera). It can trigger a camera directly, like a cable release (using a cable to connect to the camera), or it can fire a wireless camera/flash trigger of the same brand, which has the added advantages of distance (gets the camera further away from the trigger than the length of the cable would otherwise allow) and – yes – it can trigger a flash/speedlight, too.

My “frolicking fauna” set-up had the trigger and the IR light source sat atop a wall, in the shade of some plant boxes, where I could also put some tasty morsels to lure whatever animate being that may fancy to trip the light (fantastic) and so take a selfie… Camera on tripod, manual focus (pre-focussed on the bait), Aperture Priority (Av) mode at f8 and leave it for a few hours…

The Captur unit can trigger the shutter or a flash using an interval timer (pictures at regular time delays), on ‘hearing’ a sound (burst balloons, anyone?), when a light flashes (slave to another flash, for example), or when the beam from a laser-pointer (not included) or the included IR light-source gets interrupted. Once triggered, it can be set up for various delays, repeats and maximum number of shots in a session. Very flexible and limited seemingly only by one’s imagination. The Captur module Pro is independent of the camera manufacturer/model, but you need to get the remote flash trigger specific for your camera brand (Canon in my case). See the Hähnel website (hahnel.ie, in English) for the various options.

Working as a remote camera trigger is just that: set up the camera as you would if physically pressing the button and off you go.

Using manual focus is probably best, and possibly manual exposure if the available light is fairly stable over the time you expect to take pictures. In my animal shoot case, the sun would occasionally go behind a cloud or my “trap” might get into the shadow of a tree as the sun moved around, so I opted to use Av exposure mode. Triggering a flash to capture some fast-moving event requires a dark environment with the camera set to “Bulb” (shutter constantly open), so that the flash itself sets the exposure time.

Not so useful for my animal shoot, even at night - it’s never really dark in a city: that’ll be for another day.

The `’trap``’ end of things - © Alun Foster

At the camera - © Alun Foster

And the result of this? Apart from some nice pictures of my own hand or other body parts, taken while I was testing the set-up, absolutely nothing. Zilch. “Rien de knots*…”. It stood there all alone for 5 hours – no humans present to scare anything off - and not a single bird, let alone the squirrel, deigned to partake of the juicy treats I had so carefully selected to delight them. The only thing that triggered the camera was the interference of direct sunlight, as the sun moved around and shone into the Captur’s IR receiver … and filled the memory card (note to self – remember that for next time).

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© Alun Foster The following day, while seated quietly on the same terrace (with the same camera to hand, luckily) enjoying the evening air and actually writing this article, the unbelievable happened. Friend Squirrel came back for another visit, so I managed to get a photo of him anyway! Hand-held, no high-tech traps. Just plain-ol’ focus, frame and push the button…

Sciurus vulgaris!

I’ll keep trying though. More pictures will follow, I promise. (* dialect from parts of Flemish Brabant, meaning nothing at all – literally).

By Miguel Angel Vilar

COVID PHOTO DIARIES

© Alun Foster

N

o doubt, there have been endless examples on how the society has captured the Covid-19 confinement in photography, and you probably have some images of your own.

After seeing a TV news feature story a few weeks ago, I started visiting a fascinating web page regularly,

where eight prominent Spanish photojournalists document the one event we have all been living as both

victims and witnesses during the past 8-10 weeks. This initiative is sponsored by the NGO Medicos del Mundo (Doctors of the World).

Confined as they were, all the images are taken in Spain, but I think their stories speak universally. Their

images represent all the emotions that go at a personal level, as part of a family, as a society. A reference

in storytelling that finds a balance between the documentary function and the visual aspects in the way the story is captured.

See the images here: https://premioluisvaltuena.org/en/covid-photo-diaries/ 10

MEMBER PROFILE: EWA IWICKA

E

wa Iwicka moved from Poland to Belgium about 20 years ago.

A long-time member of Viewfinders, her photographic interests are wide ranging. Just look at her new photography portfolio website. www.iwicka.com. It’s filled with beautiful travel landscapes, heartwarming portraits, and mesmerising urban discoveries. Whether it’s trees or hands, her unique spin on visual art shines through There’s even a bit of whimsy with her “Untaken Photos” portfolio.

“Untaken Photos” is something completely different - pictures that never happened either because I didn’t have a camera, I didn’t dare to use it, or I was too slow,” Ewa explains.

Ewa describes herself as a a serious amateur photographer, trying to combine her passion with her day job, which has nothing to do with photography. Last year, she continued to fine-tune her photographic skills as a student at the RHoK Academy in Brussels. And she launched her website. “It wasn’t meant to be lockdown occupational therapy, she says, but confinement was certainly helpful in completing it.”

The reaction to the site has been enthusiastic, she says. “It was warmly welcomed to this world. I was quite surprised about it because there are so many of those already, and I’m not some famous or enormously talented photographer. Also, my local Facebook page has risen some interest and positive reactions.

© Ewa Iwicka

EWA IWICKA Country of Origin: Poland Arrived in Belgium: 2001

Ewa is a Canon fan and has almost always used Canon camera, an SLR purchased in the early ‘90s. I got the full-frame, mirrorless Canon RP that I love, and that made me to part with Fujifilm, whichI was using as a lightweight alternative for my Canon DSLR. I was surprised by how much I liked the mirrorless camera, especially now, since the electronic viewfinders became so good. I never looked back at my DSLR. The advantage of switching back fully to Canon again is that I can use all the lenses I already had.

“My favourite lens is the one that’s good for the job and still lightweight enough that I can handle it,” she says with a smile. “Most of the time I use the Canon zoom 24-105mm, which is the most versatile one I have. I like to shoot with wide angle lenses, sometimes very wide like my 11mm Irix, but these are not suitable for every subject. I also like my medium telephoto Canon 70-200mm. It has some special image quality that it’s difficult to explain, but I find it very pleasing.”

Preferred Camera: Full-frame, mirrorless Canon RP Favourite Lens: Canon 25-105mm

Advice to fellow photographers: Do what you enjoy and enjoy what you do, whatever it is.

Like some photographer said, “There must be a place in this world for rainbows and kittens.”

So if this is your thing, just shoot it.

© Ewa Iwicka

Personal Photography Website: www.iwicka.com

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© Ewa Iwicka Ewa doesn’t have a favourite subject to shoot. “I tend to take photos wherever I am of whatever I find visually interest- ing,” she says. “Like most of us, I like nature and landscape, but also streets and city life. I also tried some portraiture in the local care home – obviously before the corona times. I believe in what Henry David Thoreau said: ‘It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.’”

For her location photography, Ewa likes to shoot in the neighbourhood where she lives - Schelle, a little village near Antwerp - and the surrounding area.

“There is nothing really special out there, but I believe we can find something interesting everywhere, provided that we explore it thoroughly. The proximity of my ‘working area’ to my home allows me to jump in my car or on my bike and go shooting when I have some time and the conditions are good. It also makes me take regular walks. I created the Facebook page “Een blik op Schelle” (A glimpse on Schelle) that I shared with the “locals.” The page is public, so every- body can have a look.

© Ewa Iwicka

“I believe that everybody needs to find their own creative way in photography or in whatever else we do,” says Ewa. “If there is one piece of advice I can give to the others it is not to pick up your camera only when you travel or for some special events. This way you are going to miss most of the photographic opportunities! Get a portable camera or some small lightweight lens and try to have it with you all the time.

The daily life provides a lot of subjects, even if you are just stuck in the traffic take a metro.”

© Ewa Iwicka

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VIEWFINDERS CALENDAR 2020

DATE

10 June 2020

July and August 2020

EVENT

President

DETAILS

Club Meeting

Storytelli ng

Summer Break

See you in September!

COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2020

Alun Foster

0496 572 402

alun@dafos.be

Vice President

Sebastian Boatca

0498 736 929

duncansebastian@yahoo.com

Secretary

Richard Sylvester

0474 300 086

rsybru@gmail.com

Treasurer

Membership Coordinator

Caroline Hendry

0494 089 098

caroline.hendry@mecar.be

Dagmara Jakubowska

0485 796 565

jdagmara@yahoo.co.uk

Programme Coordinator

Hélène (Cook) Cuisinier

0472 073 775

hcuisinier@hotmail.com

Newsletter Editor

Deborah Bernstein

0470 210 189

deborahmbernstein@gmail.com

IT Support Coordinator

Miguel Angel Vilar

0477 942 743

mavg30@gmail.com

Publicity Coordinator

Martin Schmid

0498 945 083

martin.schmid@hp.com

0497 591 746

ninditoh@gmail.com

Trip/Workshop Coordinator Haryo Nindito

Associate Committee members:

Philippe Clabots

0477 264 681

pclabots@gmail.com

Hector Epelbaum

0495 128 128

hectorVF@veqtor.com

Robert Paridaens

0475 203 524

paridaensrobert@hotmail.com

Alun Sebastian Richard Caroline Hélène

Deborah

Miguel Angel

Martin

Haryo

Robert

Philippe

If you are on Facebook, connect to the Viewfinders Group! It’s an informal group for sharing news on events, ‘for sale’items, interesting websites and news stories, or just to share some of your recent photos. newsletter@viewfinders.be

Bank account: BE13 3101 2440 7539

Any items from members for publication are welcome. Images are particularly welcome, please send them in as separate attachments (not

Any items from members fordocuments), publication welcome.

Images are particularly welcome.

Please them in as separate attachments (not embed-ded in emails or inare JPEG format, with no less than 1400 px on the long side, andsend minimal compression.

Please be aware that, embedded in in accord-ance emails or documents) in JPEG with less Please than 1400 on the long side and minimal compression. Please be aware with the layout, someformat, cropping mayno occur. send px submissions to the newsletter to: newsletter@viewfinders.be that, in accordance with the layout, some cropping may occur. Please send submissions to newsletter@viewfinders.be.

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DAYDREAMING © Hector Epelbaum

W

hat images have you captured during the COVID-19 quarantine? We’ve already seen some surreal images of Brussels without people or traffic, some of which are featured in this edition of the newsletter. You can share your photo essays, whimsical shots and photo essays. We all like learning from each other -- and

being inspired. We’re interested in sharing a wide range of photos from all of our members!

Send your photos to us at: newsletter@viewfinders.be. Images should be of a size suitable for publication. Usually

anything over 1Mb is fine. Requirement on filenames: Please use a name that helps us identify you and correctly credit your work.

Include your name, and, if possible, something to distinguish the image or its location. For example:FSmith01_car.jpg.

Please send your images in now for consideration for our autumn issues. It’s never too early.

Thank you.

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© Richard Sylvester

© Ewa Iwicka

15

© Neil Causey

16

Š Robert Paridaens

Š Deborah M. Bernstein

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© Miguel Angel Vilar

© Miguel Angel Vilar 18

© Robert Paridaens

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© Alun Foster

© Alun Foster

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Š Robert Parideans

CHECK OUT OUR NEW GALLERIES

I

f you missed our last Zoom meeting or if you want to view the images submitted by members again, visit our website regularly for updated contents.

We have recently added new galleries in Assignment and Challenges with the activities for this season.

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