NZ CameraTalk To p r o m o t e t h e w i d e r e n j o y m e n t o f p h o t o g r a p h y
T H E O F F I C I A L M A G A Z I N E O F T H E P H OT O G R A P H I C S O C I E T Y O F N E W Z E A L A N D I N C
Fe b r u a r y / M a r c h 2 0 1 9
In this issue PRESIDENT Moira Blincoe LPSNZ t. 09 379 7021 e: president@photography.org.nz
VICE-PRESIDENT
Karen Lawton t. 021 143 7764 e. vicepresident@photography.org.nz
TREASURER David Knightley PO Box 99470, Newmarket, Auckland 1149 e. treasurer@photography.org.nz
WELCOME TO THE first edition of CameraTalk for 2019. I hope that everyone had a great summer holiday break and have not suffered too much from the heatwave that the country has been under since the end of January. In addition to all the regular columns, in this issue we have a special feature on lighting, as well as full details of the exciting PSNZ Workshop Series. These are development events kicking off in May, and will be held all around the country. We also take the opportunity to profile PSNZ Councillor James Gibson APSNZ, who is the driving force behind the workshops.
SECRETARY Patrice Nilsen 8 Raroa Terrace, Tawa, Wellington 5028 t. 04 232 1565 e. secretary@photography.org.nz
Paul Whitham LPSNZ Editor
EDITOR, ADVERTISING & LAYOUT
Editorial
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Paul Whitham LPSNZ PSNZ Councillor t. 04 973 3015 or m. 021 644 418 e. paul@pwfotos.com
Canon Online results
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Lighting special feature
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SUBEDITOR
National exhibition news
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Hutt2019 update
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FIAP update
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NZ Camera 2019 PSNZ workshop series
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The next CameraTalk deadline is
Audio-visual notes
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1 April 2019
Salon updates
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The story behind the image
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For competition secretaries
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Councillor Profile - James Gibson APSNZ
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Key dates for the diary
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Lindsay Stockbridge LPSNZ 14 Poynter Place, Whanganui 4501 t. 06 348 7141 or m. 027 653 0341 e. dilinz@actrix.co.nz
CAMERATALK DEADLINE
Email your contributions to the SubEditor at his email address. Editorial should be sent as Word or .txt files. JPEG images generally should be saved at 300 dpi, compressed to high to medium quality. Include return postage if you wish material to be returned. The opinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Editor or of the Council of PSNZ.
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On the cover Looking out by Paul Whitham LPSNZ. This shot is completely staged in a studio.
WELCOME TO ANOTHER year in the PSNZ world. I hope everyone had a wonderful festive season and launched themselves into the new year with the usual repertoire of ‘setting New Year resolutions, goals to meet, making changes to lifestyle and of course close to heart, doing more photography’. In order to help you achieve the ‘more photography’ component, Council has been working hard on making some changes to the way we do things as well. That will include the creation of a new event for members – the PSNZ Workshop Series – that will be rolled out later in the year. February kicks off a busy time for most of the Council and various committees. Remember that 14 February is the final date that nominations for a PSNZ Service award can be received by the Honours Board Secretary, Heather Harley APSNZ. Any member can make a nomination and this is the way that other members are recognised for their ongoing contribution to photography and the Society. Later in the month – the 28th – is ‘the’ final day for Honours Awards to be received, also by Heather. A gentle reminder to those submitting to be mindful of courier and postal delivery services, as many ‘postal deliveries’ only take place three times a week now. And again, ‘don’t leave it to the last minute’. The Executive officers have progressed the rewriting of the Constitution with the draft update having being distributed to all members in late December for members’ comments. Thank you to those members who responded - your comments were valuable and constructive and where appropriate have been taken into consideration. We are now entering the final stages of the revision and it is still my intention to have these finalised for inclusion in the Annual General Meeting agenda, for adoption.
From the President’s desk... Registration numbers for the 67th national convention, Hutt 2019 ‘Focus on Learning’, have been steady and continue to climb. There are still spaces on some of the workshops and plenary sessions, so if you are one who is sitting on the fence, it’s time to get off and make your registration count. The national convention provides a great learning opportunity (for me) as well as a time to reconnect with members and friends. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Sunday 28 April and I encourage you to come to this meeting when at the convention. If you are unable to attend (the convention) but live within the region you are welcome to attend or alternatively you can send a proxy. (continued overleaf)
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An AGM is the time when I, as President have the opportunity to report to you on the status of the Society and to provide a brief overview of the plans for the coming year. It is also the time when Council is elected. This year, a number of current Councillors will not be seeking re-election, which leaves vacancies to be filled. If you would like to be considered for nomination to Council and have specific skills, experience and the time to contribute to the Society, please contact me to learn more. Alternatively if you do not wish to seek appointment to Council, we are also looking for members with “specific skills” for a number of ‘off-Council’ committee work. Again, please get in touch with either myself, or any of the Executive officers. Meantime, thank you again to all the volunteers who help make the Society function smoothly – without your commitment and service we would really struggle to maintain the current level of services provided. Remember my virtual door is always open – until then, I’ll see you at Hutt2019.
Kind regards Moira Blincoe LPSNZ President
Soaring by James Gibson APSNZ
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Editorial : Improving your photography one day at a time!
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By Paul Whitham LPSNZ
AT THE END of 2010 I wanted to improve my photography in a practical way, and had been reading about people who were taking part in 365 day projects. Put simply this is a commitment to take at least one photo a day for the year. I put the idea out in my club and we quickly had around 12 photographers keen to take part. Some wanted to set rules and others wanted the images judged but we eventually settled on a simple formula of posting the images to our Facebook feeds. Everyone started with great gusto on 1 January 2011, but several faded quickly as the holidays ended. On 1 January 2019, there are still two of us doing it. Now I know that setting such challenges is against some people’s DNA, but before you all say that this is too hard, consider the following: 1. Firstly and most importantly, a photo a day challenge does not require you to photograph a prize winning image each day. It is simply about training your eye to see images around you and capture them.You may choose to share them or keep them to yourself. It is fully acceptable to have images that actually fail if you are learning from them. 2. You don’t need to choose a wide variety of subjects or themes. Some people challenged themselves to shoot the same lighthouse each day and another person shot 365 self-portraits. My son started shooting such a project three years ago, and in the second year photographed his 3 year old daughter every day. This year his subject is his son who was born last October.You choose how you want to plan the shoots. 3. Don’t stress about having to get ‘the’ shot each day. If you look at the work of great street photographers you will find that they have excelled at shooting the mundane everyday life around them.
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4. You don’t need expensive gear. Simply shoot with what you have, but get into a routine of carrying the gear with you. For most people now that camera will be the one in your phone. 5. ‘Photo a day’ gives you the perfect opportunity to explore photographic genres that you may not consider to be your main areas (for example, landscapes and nature for me).
On the basis of eight years’ experience I will share some tips.
1. When you start, make a list of fall back items. This might include subjects that you see one day after you already have that day’s image and others that you will shoot if all else fails on the day. And don’t worry, we all have still life images shot late in the evening. On the first day that I went out walking I came back with a list of 30 items to shoot. Within a week there were 40 on it. Eight years later there are still 40 items on that list. 2. Build the shooting into a daily routine. I find the weekends more troublesome than the weekdays. This is because it is part of my routine that I shoot most of my images during my lunchtime. 3. Once you have a shot, do not worry about trying to improve on it immediately. Save that for another day. Generally, once having got my shot I will not bother trying to take another, unless I see something else that will only occur on that day. The 365 project is the ultimate commitment, but there are different versions such as committing to shooting once a week, or fortnight.
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PSNZ Canon Online Results from Round 6, 2018 THE RESULTS ARE in for the final round of Canon Online 2018 and another excellent variety of images challenged our selector. This final round was selected by Chris Parkin APSNZ. Chris is a member of Hutt Camera Club and Hutt Art Society, and teaches photography and Photoshop extramurally through the Southern Institute of Technology in Invercargill. He is passionate about art in all genres, and his latest experiments have been in pottery and watercolours, alongside his photography and digital photo composites. Chris is also part of the organising committee for the 2019 PSNZ National Convention, which he is flagrantly plugging here: hutt2019.org.nz, where the overall Canon Online winner will be announced! A huge thank you to all the entrants for sharing your beautiful images in 2018. It has been a pleasure to see the huge variety and exceptionally high standard of work. Congratulations to everyone who has ‘placed’ during the year, and I look forward to next year with bated breath. Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you all. Entries for the first round of the 2019 Canon Online competition close on 25 February. Entrants must be financial PSNZ members. Just one image please, sized 1620x1080 and uploaded on the PSNZ website. James Gibson APSNZ EFIAP PSNZ Canon Online Coordinator
Comments from the judge: Chris Parkin APSNZ What a great Christmas present, when 79 fantastic photos arrived in my inbox on Boxing Day 2018! This is the first time I have commented on the Canon Online competition, and it was a real privilege to see such a variety of high-quality work, exploring a wide range of themes and genres. The privilege was heightened knowing that the leader board for the 2018 competition is wide open and that this is the final competition for the year. Thanks to everyone who submitted images; it was hard to whittle down the body of work to a “top 10”. I hope to see some of you at the 2019 PSNZ National Convention in Lower Hutt!
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1st Hawk versus wasps by Jeanette Nee APSNZ A brilliantly composed shot, with the visceral experience of a predator or carrion eater. The photographer has used muted complimentary colours in the hawk and sky to particularly emphasise the red carcass, and I like the way the curved branch resonates with the arch of the wings.
2nd Captured by Dianna Hambleton LPSNZ The title ‘Captured’ resonates well in this image with the person appearing stuck in the fence. The vivid colours grabbed my attention at first glance, and the mystery of the story held it well. The small splash of green against the red fence helps to draw the viewer into the face, and the crack forms a natural transition point.
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PSNZ Canon Online: 3rd Kawaha jetty by Lezanne Gibbs The sense of movement in the sky contrasts well with the serenity of the lake and the permanence of the jetty. The photographer has used a central composition for the jetty. I think the balance is offset effectively by the island, creating a strong secondary focal point. I like the use of sepia tone and vignette. The slight colouration left in the jetty leads my eye effectively around the image.
4th Girl on the hill by Val Burns LPSNZ Great use of leading lines; the sweep of the hills and the contrast in the sky all bring you in to the focal point. I think the post-apocalyptic nature of the model provides an interesting contrast between the model and the cultivated lines.
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5th Over the top by Rachel Hume Talk about “the decisive moment”! The flailing of limbs and separation between the tackler and player No.22 give a sense of impending (possibly painful!) contact. The expressions on the faces really help to tell the story.
6th Golden gannets by Glenda Rees I like the way the light emphasises the shape of the birds’ heads; this is very effective against a black background. The gannets’ distinctive markings almost flow into each other, and there is an effective catch-light in the eye of the left-hand bird.
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PSNZ Canon Online: 7th Pure beauty by Julia Home APSNZ EFIAP BPSA I love the use of low-key lighting with the rim/side lighting giving form to the model. For me, I feel that a little more lighting to the face would help bring out even more emotion.
8th Motueka salt baths by Kathy Pantling LPSNZ A fascinating play with geometric shapes against the soft curves of the sand. I particularly like the use of the green and yellow, with a tiny splash of blue, with the person standing next to the bath giving a sense of scale.
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9th Solace by Kelvin Aird I really like the way this photographer has investigated translucency and opacity depending on how the light strikes the veil. I sense a stillness and introspection in this image that captures and holds attention.
10th When God makes it rain by Sue Riach APSNZ I commend this photographer for entering a true digital photo composite image that does not simply use overlays. There are lovely leading lines from the sun in the corner to highlight the top of the tap, and the cloud distortion helps move my eye around this image. The lighting on the tap correlates well with its surroundings, something often overlooked in photo composite work.
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Lighting - special feature Photography is all about light, but lighting scares a lot of photographers. In this special feature we have a series of articles designed to intoduce lighting, as well as deal with some of the most common issues that you will face. All images within the articles are contributed from the author.
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Lighting terminology By Paul Whitham LPSNZ
ONE OF THE things that can be very confusing when you are reading articles about lighting, or watching videos, is that there seems to be a whole new range of terminology that you need to learn. In this article I’m going to run through some of the main terms that you are likely to encounter, and try to provide a simple explanation for them. It is in no way intended to be a complete list of all terms, and in some cases I have chosen the most common terms (for which there may be alternatives). I am also not going into lighting positions, or the terms used to describe individual lights in this article.
Types of light There are several terms by which light as a whole is described:
Ambient light
Hard light
This is a general term for the light that is found in the scene before you add your own lighting. This could be the sun, or existing artificial lighting within the area.You will use shutter speed to determine how much of the ambient light is brought into an image.
Light is described as hard when there is a very strong contrast between the highlights and shadows. This particularly shows up on the edges of shadows that will be well-defined. Hard light is generated when you have a small light source relative to the distance to subject.
Flat light Flat light means that there is little difference between the shadows and the highlights, to the point where shadows cannot be seen at all. Generally, flat light is achieved when there is an extremely large light source, such as a cloudy day, or where the person has been positioned and lit in such a way that the light cannot cast shadows.
Hard lighting has very sharp defintion especially along the shadow edges.
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Incident Light This is the light that is actually lighting your object and on which a correct exposure should be based. This is mainly measured through the use of an external light meter, and is not influenced in any way by the colours found in the scene.
Natural light This is the general term to describe light provided by the sun.
Reflective Light This is the light that bounces off an object. The metering system within your camera uses reflective light to access the scene, and bases its setting on what it finds. The amount of light reflected is greatly influenced by the colours found in the scene.
Soft light Soft light is the opposite of hard light in that there is not such a sharp contrast and the edges of the shadows are much less defined. Soft light is produced when you have a large light source close to the subject.
Soft lighting has less defintion on the shadow edges.
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Lighting equipment terms The following terms are used in connection with the camera and lighting equipment that you are using to control the light. I am not going into any detail about the many forms of modifiers that are available as they serve essentially the same purpose.
Bare bulb
Modifier
This is the term used when a flash is fired without any modifier on it.
This is a generic term for any piece of equipment that is placed on the flash with the express purpose of altering the light in some way.
Off-camera flash
A studio strobe being shot bare bulb
This is a general term used to describe any lighting with the flash no longer on the camera.
Continuous light This is a light source that is constantly on. This makes it easy for you to position the light as you can see its effect. Traditionally, continuous light has not been as powerful as flash, and the lights tended to get really warm. This is why they were sometimes referred to as Hot Lights. In recent years LED is mainly used; it does not have the issue of heat.
Hot-shoe This is the connection point on top of the camera where you can mount either a flash or a trigger.
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On-camera flash This is the term used when you have used the flash that is built into the camera (often referred to a “pop-up flash�) or when a speed-light is positioned in the hot-shoe.
Speed-light
Trigger
This is the generic name for the small, portable, battery powered lights that can fit into the hot-shoe of a camera.
This is a device that is fitted to the camera and provides communication to the offcamera flash unit. Triggers mainly fall into one of two groups. A dumb trigger simply sends a fire signal to the flash, whereas smarter triggers can access the camera’s metering system and therefore adjust the flash output as needed.
Strobes Strobes are larger, more powerful lights which were traditionally used in a studio environment and powered either directly from the mains supply or via an external battery pack. Generally they can deliver a great burst of light, and with a shorter time between flashes. The other advantage of them over speed-lights is that they often have modelling lamps. A modelling lamp is a constant light that lets you see how the light is falling without taking the image.
Terms used for other lighting equipment Flag
Scrim
This is a term used to describe a piece of material (normally black card) that is used to block part of the light falling on a scene.
A scrim is a panel made of a white material that is placed between the subject and an external light source to soften the light. They are most commonly used outside as a means of reducing the sun’s impact.You can however use them with a artificial light to increase the size of the light source, and therefore soften the light. Anyone who has a 5in1 reflector already has a scrim as it is a central frame for the reflector.
Reflector A reflector is anything that is used to bounce light onto a subject. The most popular are made of material and come in a range of colours; however, a simple piece of white card or polystyrene will achieve the same result. Reflectors are mainly used to fill in areas of shadow, although it is possible to use them as your main light.
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Terms used in connection with the way the flash operates Bounced flash
Manual flash
This is a term used to describe the technique by which the flash is turned so that the light bounces off another surface before reaching the subject. The goal is to soften the light and it is mainly used when it is not possible to use a modifier.
This is the term whereby the flash has been set in manual mode and the photographer sets the power output based on the look they wish to achieve.
Pre-flash Fill flash Fill flash is normally used when you have a strongly backlit subject and as a result the camera has underexposed. The flash is set at a low power level to simply fill in areas that wpuld have been in shadow.
First curtain flash First curtain flash is the term used to describe how the flash is fired as soon as the shutter opens. A mechanical shutter is made up of two shutters. The first opens at the start of the exposure and the second moves at the end of the exposure.
High speed sync This is the term for a technology that lets the flash shoot above the maximum sync speed (explained below) of the camera. Rather than delivering a single discharge the flash pulses, meaning that the entire sensor receives the same amount of light.
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This is the term for a short duration flash that occurs mere seconds before the main discharge. Depending upon the role of the main flash it can have two functions. The main use is in determining metering when TTL is being used. However, if the on-camera flash is being used to control other flash units, then the pre-flash is what alerts them. The duration between the pre- and main flash is often so short that we generally cannot pick it up.
Rear curtain flash In rear curtain flash the flash is fired just before the exposure ends. It is mainly used when you want the flash to freeze part of the action but still allow for the scene to have some movement in it. The other term often used for this technique is “dragging the shutter�.
Sync speed
TTL
This essentially represents the minimum amount of time that the two parts of the shutter (curtains) are fully open. Sync speeds vary between brands and even models within brands but generally range between 1/160s and 1/250s. If you try to use flash with a shutter speed higher than the sync speed then you are likely to find black areas on the edge of your image. Essentially you have photographed the back of the shutter.
This is an acronym for through the lens and refers to a flash unit’s ability to access the internal metering system of the camera and then adjust its power settings.
In this image the shutter was left open for one second while the flash fired at the end, freezing the dancer.
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The key concept when using flash by Paul Whitham LPSNZ
ONE OF THE first things that many of us will have been taught, when we wanted to take control over how the camera operated, was the exposure triangle. The key element to a good exposure was the interplay between aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. Now this is an absolutely true statement when you’re shooting under natural light, or ambient light, but the second you introduce flash into the equation, it changes quite dramatically. When a flash unit is brought into play, it is the duration of the flash itself, and not the shutter speed, that freezes the action. Rather than controlling the exposure, the shutter speed is relegated to controlling how much ambient light will actually be recorded. Effectively this equates to how much of the background elements will be lit up. The following image sequence demonstrate this. The camera was set at f11 and 100 ISO, and the flash was at Ÿ power, so that it exposed my main subject well.You will see that as I gradually slow down the shutter speed more of the background becomes visible.
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1/200s
1/100s
1/50s
1/15s
1/5s
1s
Please note that the area on the right of the mannequin was being lit with spill from the flash, hence the changes are not as pronounced as on the left. The final image in the sequence is slightly over exposed on the dress, which is not surprising as when I changed the camera to aperture priority the camera took the following image using 1 second as the shutter speed.
How is this useful? A basic understanding of the role that shutter speed plays, when flash is deployed, gives you a better handle on how to light larger scenes if you don’t have multiple lights to play with.
Image by David Jensen - Nikon D810 - Tokina 11-16 at 16mm - f20 - 10 second exposure
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Going off-camera By Paul Whitham LPSNZ
IF YOU HAVE read any articles about lighting, you will know that they recommend getting the light off the camera, so that you can create more dynamic images. In this article I’m going to cover what you need to do to achieve this. The article will mainly reference speedlights, although the process for using studio strobes is very similar. In order to achieve off-camera flash, you basically need two items, something to hold the flash and something that will enable the camera to talk to it.
Holding the flash Finding something to hold the flash is relatively straightforward. If you have a willing friend you are sorted already.Voice activated light stands (VALS) are the cheapest and most useful in the business.VALS becoming boring fairly quickly so what we really need is some form of stand or support.You may already have one in the form of your tripod. You will need something to hold the speedlight on the stand.You may not realise that you already have one.
Most speedlights come with a small stand contained within the bag. It simply claps onto the bottom of the flash and then you can stand it on a hard surface. On the bottom of the stand is a screw that will attach to either a tripod or a light stand. This works fine if you’re planning to use the flash in bare bulb mode or with a modifier that attaches to the flash directly.
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However, if you wish to attach a larger modifier to the flash then you need a bracket of some sort to accommodate it. The simplest form of modifier is an umbrella and the image below shows two types of bracket that are on the market. The one on the left is cheaper ($10 online) and uses a clamp, while the one on the right has a slide for the plate on the bottom of the flash. (This is a Manfrotto and costs $60.) Personally, if you want a simple umbrella holder then I would not go with the type of clamp on the left. I know from painful and expensive experience that the bracket is prone to fail, resulting in your speedlight falling off the stand. If you want to attach a larger softbox to the speedlight then you need a different attachment. The attachment I use is perfect and costs $25 online. The flash is held firmly in the bracket with a rubber mount (with no risk of it falling out), and in addition to an umbrella mount you can also attach any modifiers that have a Bowens1 mount.
Talking to the flash Now that we have the flash away from the camera, we need to sort out how the camera will communicate with it. There are four main methods that can be used to achieve this, and depending on your camera and flash unit, you may have a couple already available to you without having to spend any more money. That is not to say, however, that the free methods are the most effective. The four methods are • sync cable • infrared • optical • radio. 1 Bowens were a lighting manufacturer whose mount became almost the industry standard until other Chinese manufacturers started to produce modifiers considerable cheaper than the branded versions. 25
We will now look at each of these in more detail.
Sync cable
This is the simplest of the methods, and also the oldest.You attach a cable to the camera, normally via a bracket on the hot shoe, and then attach the other end to the flash. Cables come in various lengths, with 6.5m the longest I’ve seen. The cable only serves one purpose and that is to tell the flash to fire. While the cable is relatively simple to use there are some obvious drawbacks. Firstly, your lights cannot be positioned any further away than the length of the cable. Secondly, not all flash units come with a synch port. Thirdly, the cable can quickly become a hazard on the shoot, as it is very easy to trip over, pulling over either your flash or camera in the process. The next three methods avoid this issue as there is no physical connection between the flash and camera units.
Infrared
Some cameras have the capability of communicating to an external flash via the use of an infrared signal. This has the advantage that it gets over the issue of distance that we had with the sync cable, but there are still significant disadvantages to using it. Firstly, it only works well if the flash and camera can see each other. This is due to the fact that the infrared requires a straight line between the units. Therefore it fails miserably if you are trying to use the flash to provide accent lighting. The second issue is that it does not work particularly well in situations with bright ambient light. Finally, not all flash units and cameras have the functionality built in, and you are mainly limited to using flash units from the same brand as your camera.
Optical
This is similar in some ways to Infrared, but it uses the built-in flash on the camera to send a signal to the external units. When you first start to use this function it can be rather confusing as the flash on the camera is still going off, but it is done in such a way that it does not affect the exposure of the final image. While it is a fairly cheap solution, the use of an optical trigger has many of the same disadvantages that the infrared did. It works best if the flash unit and camera can see each other, and also struggles in situations where there is bright ambient light. As a result it can be rather inconsistent in the results you achieve. In addition you need to use flash units of the same brand as your camera for this to work, and the commander feature is not available in all cameras.
Radio
This is by far the most effective, and reliable, means of communicating between a camera and a flash unit. 26
At a minimum you need a transmitter unit that sits in the hot shoe of the camera. Then, depending on the flash unit you have, you may need to purchase a receiver unit that attaches to the flash. Many flashes these days have radio receivers built into them, but they will require a transmitter specifically designed to work with them. Radio triggers come in two main types. They probably have a fancy description but I refer to them as being either dumb or smart. Dumb triggers are the cheapest, mainly because they only perform one function. They send a signal to the flash to fire. They cannot control the output of the flash in any way, so thy really only work best in manual mode. Dumb triggers do have the advantage that they can be used across brands. For example, I’m able to fire a Canon speedlight using a trigger mounted on a Nikon camera.
Dumb trigger
Smart trigger
At their simplest, smart triggers let you control the power settings on the flash unit when the unit is in manual mode. This can be extremely useful especially in situations where you have positioned flash units either up high or you are dealing with multiple units (as you can assign different units to groups and have different settings for each group). Smart triggers can also access the camera’s metering systems when they are set in TTL mode, and adjust the flash units automatically. Due to the extra capabilities, smart triggers are considerably more expensive than their dumb counterparts, and it is necessary to purchase one that is compatible with your brand of camera. Whether you go for a smart or a dumb trigger will very much depend on your budget and the style of shooting that you like to do. I tend to be a control freak, when it comes to lighting, and I always shoot with the flash in manual mode. Therefore I do not have the need for a smart trigger. However, I recently purchased a Godox AD600 battery-powered strobe, as well as a Godox speedlight. The latter was purchased to give me on-camera flash capabilities on my Panasonic G9, as my other flash units were designed for my original Nikons. Both of these flash units have receiver units built in, and as I wanted to be able to use them together on location it made sense to control them both from one transmitter. I still have my original dumb trigger and I tend to use this when I am only using a single speedlight or my Nikon gear.
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Dealing with glasses by Paul Whitham LPSNZ
A MAJOR CHALLENGE you’ll face with lighting, is how to avoid seeing the effect of the flash on reflective surfaces. The most common example of this is people wearing glasses, but it can also apply when you have people standing near windows, mirrors or other shiny material used as wall linings. The situation is made worse when the flash and lens are close together; hence it is particularly prevalent when using either pop-up or on-camera flash. The root cause of the problem is simple. Light travels in a straight line and when it hits an object it bounces back at exactly the same angle. The image below left shows the situation when the flash is positioned on-camera, and the image right shows the effect in the final image.
Light coming from the flash bounces at the same angle and ends up hitting the lens.
This is direct flash from the camera. It is quite hard with a strong glare in the glasses.
The answer to the issue is to position the flash so the angle at which the light comes back from is such that it does not fall on the lens. When dealing with on-camera flash we are somewhat limited in what we can do. The simplest measure is to angle the flash and bounce that off some other surface. This works to a certain degree, however as light comes out in all directions from the flash, it is likely that you will still see a small amount of reflection on the glasses.
The angles have now been changed so that the bounce of the flash no longer directly hits the lens.
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In this image the flash was bounced off a reflector positioned camera right. In addition to reducing the glare it has softened the overall light on the image.
It is much better to take the flash off the camera and place it in a position so that the angles work in your favour as shown below.
In this image the light was positioned off the camera with the angle such that no light on the glasses hit the lens.
Remember: Honour submissions must be in by 28 February 2019.
Services
Courier or storage boxes. Contact Sean Dick, sean@evokestudio.co.nz
Printcases for 16�x 20� prints. $75 plus post. Contact Jocelyn Barrett, the.barretts.jl@gmail.com
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Dealing with reflective surfaces by Paul Whitham LPSNZ
THERE WILL BE times when you are trying to light a subject standing near a window or some other highly reflective wall covering. As with the glasses scenario the first option may be to see if it is possible to angle the light in such a way. However this may not be possible, especially when you’re using large light modifiers in a small space. The solution to this is what I call a “double tap” (I am a big fan of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels). Essentially you take two images in rapid succession. The flash will fire on the first, but will not on the second one, as it will not have had sufficient time to recharge. Therefore the second image will be taken using the ambient light in the room on the settings that the camera has chosen. Once you process the two images you can do a simple replacement of the areas affected by the reflection. This technique works very well when you are dealing, for example, with windows with a large amount of light coming in from outside.You may need to adjust the exposure and the colour temperature of the non-flashed image.
This was the original image shot using a 7 foot umbrella in a small kitchen. As a result the reflection clearly shows up in the glass.
This is the double tap.
This is the final image after the two were put together.
With this technique, it is a lot easier to replace a window if it is clear of the main subject as hair is often very difficult to mask properly.
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Entries close very soon for the 2019 PSNZ Canon National Exhibition! By Glen Innes, Chair 2019 National Exhibition Organising Committee
WE ARE NOW into February which means you only have a few days left to get your entries sorted for the PSNZ Canon National Exhibition to be held in conjunction with the National Convention in Lower Hutt from 26 to 29 April 2019.
Entries close on Friday 22 February 2019! Please don’t miss out on your chance to have your best work displayed alongside that of your fellow photographers. Entries are all done online. Simply head to the PSNZ website, click on the Salons heading and then on PSNZ Canon National Exhibition in the drop down menu. This will take you to the National Exhibition section and entry form. As in previous years, entries are invited in four sections- Open Prints, Open Projected Images, Nature Prints and Nature Projected Images. However, the fee structure has changed and it is now a fee per image instead of a fee per section. If you are a PSNZ member the cost is only $7.50 per image ($9.50 for non-members). You may enter up to four images per section. All the details can be found on the website, including the National Exhibition definitions. As of 2 February 2019, a mere forty or so photographers had entered, so many are clearly leaving it to the last minute! Please don’t forget and regret later that the selectors didn’t have the chance to see your amazing images! Only 20 days left until the closing date of 22 February 2019! Head to the website and submit your entry today!
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26-29 April 2019 Lower Hutt
It’s the final countdown to HUTT2019! After working on this convention for over a year now, it is hard to believe that we are now less than three months from the opening night. To the many members who have registered, we thank you for the confidence you have shown. To those members that have not yet registered we encourage you to act quickly as this month we are starting to promote the event to the thousands of photographic enthusiasts in the Wellington region, and we are sure to sell out the remaining spaces. Fortnightly emails will continue until the event begins and we still have lots of videos to load to introduce our presenters to you.
Sunday options Back in November we indicated that early in 2019 we would offer one day options to the convention. We are pleased to advise that from Saturday 9 February, we are offering a Sunday only option. This will enable people to attend the Sunday morning partner presentations (to be announced at the end of February), visit the trade area, attend one of the most important AGMs in recent years and the Sunday afternoon offsites. This will also provide some convention activities for any Honours recipients who were otherwise only coming to the banquet. The option does not include the CRK Honours Banquet as that is already available as a separate option. The Sunday only option will cost $160.00. If you wish to attend the Sunday option and the Banquet you will need to tick both options when registering.
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Do you want to learn Lightroom in depth? For anyone who wants to learn how to handle their post processing better, there are still spaces available in our Saturday workshop sessions. In the morning you can learn about the Library module which is the tool at the heart of the way that Lightroom catalogues your images. Anyone who has thousands of images on their computer will know the pain in trying to find an individual image, unless you have a really good retrieval system. Then in the afternoon we move on to the Develop module where most of the magic takes place. These sessions are being run in a purpose built computer suite so you will be working on your own workstation under the guidance of Alistair McAra, who is a specialist in this area. (Please note: you do NOT need to bring your own laptop to these workshops.) Several members of the Convention Committee have attended Alistair’s Lightroom course and have come away with a better understanding of how to use the programme. This was despite the fact that both were long time Lightroom users.
A full trade area A highlight of the convention is always the opportunity to visit the trade area, and this year’s one will be one of the largest held with just about every camera brand being represented. 2019 is shaping up to be the year of mirrorless and this is a perfect opportunity to try all the latest gear and talk to the people who know all about them. For those of you living outside the major centres this is a major bonus.
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Are we getting through? If you have already registered for the convention we will have added you to our fortnightly mailing list. We have already sent out two emails in 2019 alone. We have picked up that not all these emails have been opened and over the next three months we will be using email to send you a lot of vital information that will make your convention experience better. Can you therefore please make sure that email coming from mailing@hutt2019.org.nz does not end up in your spam filters.
Our YouTube channel If you haven’t already, do a search for HUTT2019 on YouTube and you will find our channel. We are using the channel to introduce the programme and the presenters to you. There are 25 videos loaded at present with several more in development.
FIAP report: by Ann Bastion FPSNZ EFIAP FIAP Liaison Officer
THE NEW YEAR is upon us already! I hope you all had a good break over Christmas. I have updated the FIAP information which can now be found at photography.org.nz under the HONOURS tab – FIAP &FIAP distinctions – Information and activities etc. This will give you the links to documents and FIAP news. The latest copy of FIAP news (No.6) is out now, and there is a link to it, as well as back copies, on this tab.
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28th FIAP COLOUR Projected Images BIENNIAL- a reminder PSNZ INVITES MEMBERS to submit images for consideration for selection into this year’s PSNZ entry to the FIAP 28th Projected Images Colour Biennial being judged in Spain. The theme for the PSNZ entry is FLOWERS. We would love to see some of the flower images you took over the holidays or the great shots you took a few years ago. The details: • It is FREE to enter. • From now on, all works that obtain a total score of 8 or more points may be considered for FIAP distinctions. • Images can portray single flowers, ‘creative’ flowers or floral images. • You can submit up to four images per person. • Files should be in JPG, sRGB, 300 dpi. • Image size: 2400 pixels minimum and 3500 pixels maximum for the longest side, with a maximum size of 6MB. • The images must not have any signature, text or distinctive marks on them. • There are no requirements for special file names; the files will be renamed automatically during upload. Because we need to send our set much earlier this year, the selection will be made on 25 February 2019. Our entry will be a portfolio of 20 colour images, with a maximum of two photos from the same author. The final selection will be a portfolio which is coherent from the viewpoint of inspiration, conception, flow and presentation. Please send your entries to Lynn Clayton Hon PSNZ APSNZ EFIAP ESFIAP, email lynnmc46@gmail.com, no later than 20 February 2019. If Lynn doesn’t acknowledge your submission within 48 hours please contact her again, or contact me at ajbastion@gmail.com. Ann Bastion FPSNZ EFIAP Councillor for International Salons FIAP Liaison Officer 35
New Zealand Camera 2019 by Melanie Dick LPSNZ Councillor for Communications and Marketing
IT IS TIME to choose your very best images for selection in New Zealand Camera 2019. New Zealand Camera is the Photographic Society of New Zealand’s flagship publication for the wider audience. It aims to showcase outstanding photographic images from members of the society. Each PSNZ member can submit two images, but a maximum of one per member can be selected. The physical limitations of the publication mean that not everyone who makes a submission will have an image published. Selection is anonymous and everyone, new members included, has a chance to have their image selected and published. This year there will be no theme and no specific section for PSNZ Canon National Exhibition gold medal and trophy winners. The quality of the images in New Zealand Camera 2018 was outstanding, and we hope that this year’s images will be even better. We will be welcoming entries for New Zealand Camera 2019 on the PSNZ website from 10 February 2019.You will find the submission form and terms and conditions of submission in the Members Area – login required. Please ensure that you read the terms and conditions carefully as some have changed. Entries will close on 31March at 11.59pm; please don’t leave it until the last minute to enter.
Balloon fun triptych by Helen McLeod FPSNZ SPSA ARPS
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PSNZ Workshops – an exciting series! It is our pleasure at PSNZ to introduce the PSNZ Workshop Series for 2019.You will find more details on the PSNZ website, with registration forms in the members area. Here’s a peek into the plan for each workshop. Numbers are strictly limited for all the workshops, so be sure to check your calendar and sign up early. If you have questions regarding any specifics, feel free to get in touch with the series convener, James Gibson – gibsondesignnz@gmail.com
Workshop 1 – 25 May
Bruce Girdwood FPSNZ takes over as Chair of the PSNZ Honours Board in 2019 and has been an instrumental member of the Judge Accreditation team. His expressive style makes him stand out as one of the finest creative photographers in New Zealand, and his ability to help others use photography as an expressive medium for art makes him a natural choice to lead this first workshop. Nestled in the native bush at the “A Place to Be” retreat in Hawke’s Bay, Bruce will take you on a fantastic journey, discovering new ways to use your camera as a tool of expression, making unique and emotive images in an exploratory, open, creative environment. With simple demonstrations and explanations, he will help you overcome challenges with using your camera, understand the visual design elements of images, and enable you to play with new techniques in a supportive environment to create uniquely personal, expressive art.
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Workshop 2 – 15 June
Winner of the international “Better Photography Magazine 2018” Creative Flair Category (and also previously in 2015), Helen McLeod FPSNZ SPSA ARPS uses her Photoshop skills and stirs in a healthy dose of fantasy and imagination to create her fine art photographic masterpieces. Using the concept of open exploration (play!), Helen will guide you through several example projects and open up a whole world of creative possibilities. Develop your Photoshop skills by exploring some of the tools of this fabulous program to attack artistic challenges with concentrated vigour.You will quickly learn techniques that allow you to open up endless new possibilities. Join Helen for a day of allowing that inner child to come out and play with Photoshop. Learn new concepts that you can apply to other images and add to your repertoire. Let your creativity run wild! This is an advanced workshop and to get the most out of it you will need a degree of existing photoshop skills (using layers, layer masks, selection tools and blend modes should already be familiar to you).You will also need to bring your computer with Photoshop CS5 or newer.
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Workshop 3 – 6 July (night)
Leith Robertson, current President of the New Plymouth Astronomical Society, has been avidly making astrophotographs for many years and over many cold winter nights. His passion for the stars has taken him on a night-time photographic journey to some of New Zealand’s great landscape locations, creating deep space images with the Society’s telescope, and more recently pursuing wide field tracked astrophotography using a portable tracker. Join Leith Robertson and James Gibson APSNZ (PSNZ Workshop Series Convenor and 2017 Laurie Thomas Landscape Salon winner) for an overnight astro-shoot at the foot of majestic Mt Egmont, Taranaki. The workshop will begin at the New Plymouth Observatory where we will cover all the techniques and settings required to make an image of the stars, and talk about planning your shoots. After supper we will head out for an evening shoot to get comfortable with the settings, then later (after a quick sleep and weather permitting) we will head to the mountain to capture the setting Milky Way arch over Mt Egmont. The workshop wraps up with a discussion on postprocessing and how to get the most from your images.
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Workshop 4 – 10 August
Scott Fowler EFIAP FPSNZ GPSA PPSA leads this exploration into the world of portrait lighting. Scott’s knowledge of studio lighting and poses are matched only by his enthusiasm for photography and learning. This action-packed workshop will see you working through four completely different lighting setups. Based at Emmily Harmer’s professional studio in Ashburton, you will work in groups of four with models in various studio lighting setups and natural light environments, learning about posing and creating mood in portrait images. Whether you are looking to fine-tune your lighting techniques or are just starting out on the road of off-camera strobes, this will be a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable day, with plenty of time to ask questions, try different things and be inspired by Scott’s unique energy and style.
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Workshop 5 – 14 September
Why print? “A print has a physical presence, permanence and an added beauty in a way that a digital file cannot ever have.” Make your images into a physical work of art with Shona Jaray APSNZ, past President of PSNZ and head of the Judge Accreditation Panel. In this workshop you will learn to take control of the printing process as Shona takes you step by step through making your own fine art print, demystifying each step. She will focus on • The benefits of printing your own work • Selecting a paper that enhances your image • ICC profiles – what they are and how to use them • Creating print templates and presets in Lightroom By the end of the day you will have the skills to produce your own prints, take complete control of how your images are viewed, and the confidence to make your own prints at home. With the assistance of our trade partner Epson, you will go through this process with one of your own images, leaving the workshop with an exhibition-quality print and the joy and excitement of creating it yourself.
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Workshop 6 – 23 and 24 November
Join Craig Mckenzie for a weekend bird photography workshop in Okarito, New Zealand’s only nesting site of the iconic white heron, kotuku. Craig is an acclaimed wildlife photographer, having taken nature images for NZ Geographic and other publications, including an image used on a New Zealand stamp! He loves sharing his passion with fellow photographers, including his extensive knowledge of capturing stunning nature images. We will commence with an informal sunset shoot on Friday evening. Saturday will see us work through the details you need to capture a great image, and then head out to the sanctuary for a truly spectacular experience with the herons. There will be time to practise new techniques and enjoy an evening (and hopefully sunset!) at Okarito Lagoon. The weekend concludes with an informal review on Sunday morning to reinforce the skills learned and friendships made! Supported by PSNZ trade partner Nikon, there will be plenty of opportunities to trial their gear over the workshop, including at the heron hide!
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PSNZ membership benefits Helping photographers grow As a PSNZ member you can enjoy a range of benefits, including: • Expert advice to help improve your photography. • The opportunity to achieve a Society distinction (APSNZ, FPSNZ). • A complimentary copy of New Zealand Camera, and the ability to submit your images for selection in this annual publication. • Access to member only resources, including a member only PSNZ Facebook page for social chat and updates with other members. • The opportunity to enter the Canon Online Competition, with trophies for each round and for the overall winner each year. • Discounts for Society activities, such as the annual PSNZ national convention, special workshops, international competitions and much more. • The opportunity to participate in regional club meetings and events, including the PSNZ Workshop Series • A copy of our bimonthly member’s magazine – CameraTalk, with news, reviews, events and some of the best photography around. • The opportunity to exhibit your work in exhibitions such as the PSNZ Canon National Exhibition, Regional Salons and other member only online competitions. • Access to judge training workshops which are free for PSNZ members. • Ability to promote your website on our website. • Receive our regular blog posts to stay up to date with the latest news on events, activities and special offers. • Product discounts and savings when they are offered from our corporate partners and associated companies. • Discounts for major NZIPP events as a PSNZ member.
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Audio-visual notes Compiled by Trish McAuslan APSNZ AV-LAPS EFIAP AAPS
Tauranga Audio-Visual Salon 2019 This competition is open to all members of PSNZ and clubs affiliated to PSNZ. Entrants are able to enter up to four audio-visuals. There are four categories: Documentary, Theme, Music Poetry and Song, and The World of Nature. Entries will open on 6 May and close at midnight on 5 June. If there is some reason why you cannot submit your entry in that time period, such as overseas travel, please contact the organisers to make other arrangements. For all the details see the Tauranga Photographic Society website: taurangaphoto.org.nz/tga-av-salon/
Overseas competitions
Getting Started
Adelaide AV Fest 2019
About six months ago I talked to Moira Blincoe LPSNZ about an idea I had to help NZ AV workers who had questions to ask. But then I went to Australia and had rather a serious accident which left me in hospital on the Gold Coast for two months. My recovery has not only slowed down implementing this idea which I will tell you about in the next CameraTalk but it has also severely restricted my ability to go to places to take photos.
If you have never entered an overseas competition, this is one you could consider. Although the rules say you can enter up to four AVs which can be up to 12 minutes long, don’t be discouraged by having a shorter AV. My experience is that very few AVs are anywhere near 12 minutes in length, with the majority being around five minutes. Entries close on 28 February. For full information and the entry form go to the Australian Photographic Society website: www.a-p-s. org.au/index.php/exhibition/adelaide-av-fest.
NB: I am happy to help you if you would like to enter this competition but are not sure how to go about it. Please contact me at mcauslanav@gmail.com
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AV Makers South Africa have announced the theme for their competition which is ‘Celebrations’. This is not a FIAP competition but, like the Tauranga AV Salon, attracts entrants from around the world. This is early information because this competition doesn’t close until about November.
However I want to make a new audio-visual so this puts me in the same position many of you are in - I have to rummage in my ‘shoebox’ to see if I can find enough photos to tell a story. The problem with the ‘shoe box’ approach is that often you have not taken enough photos or the right photos for the story you want to tell. It does help if you have taken as many photos for a potential story as you can - wide angle shots, detailed shots and every different aspect you can think of.
When you are thinking of a story you can tell, especially about your travels, consider the potential audience. If the AV is for your family the story and images you include will be different from an AV intended to be viewed by people who don’t know you or the place you visited. Don’t try to tell the story of your travels but choose something specific you did or an interesting place you visited and tell that story. My AV Tourists Come to Inle Lake which won the JSMT last year was one of these and, along with the other award winning AVs, will be shown at the National Convention in April. While our travels provide a good source of material for an AV they are not the only possibility. Maybe you have taken a lot of photos of something which interests you, for example your garden, and these could be put together to tell a story. Maybe you are able to take an idea like the theme in the AV Makers of South Africa competition – Celebrations - and use the photos you have to weave a creative AV. Other themes they have had include Emotions, Water and Environmental Issues.
have enough photos to cover all the points you want to make. If you have gaps you can either change the story or think creatively about other images that you have that could contribute to the story. It could be that the gap can be filled by a third party image, especially if it is something you could not possibly have taken. For example, in an AV about Iceland I needed to include something about volcanic activity but I was not there during any volcanic eruptions. This gap was filled by a couple of photos from the internet (be aware of copyright issues) which were acknowledged. These are part of the 20% of third party images and graphics etc that you can include as long as they are an essential part of your story. Think sideways or creatively if there are a couple of photos you forgot to take. For example, if your AV is about a place in Scotland and calls for a sunrise photo which you don’t have, you can use one taken in New Zealand. Be careful to choose one that fits in with the rest of the story. A photo of a sunrise over Mount Ruapehu will not work, as it will never make anyone think it is a sunrise in Scotland! When you have your story line and your photos sorted it is time to start preparation for putting your AV together.
Once you have chosen your story, spend time writing an outline of the story you want to tell. This will provide the framework for the story and allow you to check that you
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Save the dates 11-13 OCTOBER 2019 The Southland Photographic Society is proud to be hosting the PSNZ Southern Regional Convention in Invercargill Venue: Hansen Hall, Southern Institute of Technology Confirmed speakers include Jane Trotter APSNZ James Reardon Kevin Tyree APSNZ The website can be found at https://southern.psnzconvention.org.nz and will be live from 12 February.
The associated PSNZ Southern Regional Salon will also be organised by the Southland Photographic Society.
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22nd Laurie Thomas NZ Landscape Salon 2019 By Carolyn Elcock ANPSNZ AFIAP, Team Leader
NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER salon for landscape projected images is run by Christchurch Photographic Society and will be held again this year. The salon is named in honour of a pioneer member, Laurie Thomas, who was a devoted member through the 50s, 60s and 70s and was recognised internationally for his New Zealand landscape photography. The salon trophy presented to the winner was designed by Lesley Sales FPSNZ. The trophy known as “Wind & Water” symbolises the essence of the New Zealand landscape: water, wind, trees and light. Lesley says the outline shape suggests a mountain and the forces acting upon it to carve out the landscape. Mountain streams flowing down the mountain sides are depicted by internal cut-out lines. The action of the wind is suggested by an invisible, implied line that begins as a curl on the outside edge of the mountain and flows across the landscape. Trees clinging to the mountainsides add another dimension, that of vegetation and plant growth. Light defines the shape of the mountain, illuminating the waters, the shapes, the trees, silhouetting the shapes of the landscape.
This unique trophy is given to the winner of the salon to keep. This year our judges will be from the South Island. Find out more in the next issue of CameraTalk. The 2019 Laurie Thomas Salon opens for entries on 5 April. Go to lauriethomassalon.com for details. The closing date is 17 May 2019.
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Entries open for the Trenna Packer Salver Competition on 1 May 2019 By Carolyn Elcock ANPSNZ AFIAP, Salon Coordinator
THE TRENNA PACKER Salver competition is the annual New Zealand nature inter-club competition run by the Nature Photography Society of New Zealand. This competition is for sets of six nature projected images and is open to all clubs in New Zealand. The objective of the Trenna Packer Salver Competition is to illustrate the diversity of the natural world in New Zealand and its offshore islands. We hope that by running an annual New Zealand nature inter-club competition we can promote an increasing interest in photographing the natural world as well as encouraging best practice in photographing nature subjects. Coordinators of sets, please note that the competition is for sets and the image showing the format may be presented in two rows of three or a single row of six. The sets will be judged for flow and cohesion, from image one to two, two to three, three to four etc. As this is a nature competition, titling is important. To quote our judge from last year, Elizabeth Passuello: “On the subject of titling, it is important to remember that in nature competitions the educational benefit of the image is put before the pictorial aspect... If you can get both in the one shot you usually have a winner! Therefore, correct and appropriate titling is very important. No cute titles!� Clubs are invited to make it even harder for our judge this year by using diversity, flow, cohesion and correct titling. Last year the competition was won by Pukekohe - Franklin Camera Club. This was the first time the salver has been to the North Island. From left to right the winners are David Smith FPSNZ, Pauline Smith LPSNZ and Geoff Beals APSNZ.
Entries close on 14 June 2019. See details at www.naturephotography.nz/trenna-packer-salver
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The story behind the image In this section CameraTalk asks members to discuss what went into making an image, and not just the technical specs. This image of model Marina Voronova by Brendon Lang fitted nicely with this issue’s lighting feature so we asked Brendan to explain it.
“Here is a photo I took one Monday evening on the Kapiti coast. We decided to use a silvery reflected dress which would pick up a bit of colour from the sunset. We managed to find a bit of beach that was flat and wet, hence the great reflection. “I used a Sony A9, as I needed to focus on her in the dark before the flash fired. The A9 does this really well. It was shot with an 85mm lens set at f1.4 ISO 100, 1/640. “I used a Godox AD600 to light the scene after setting my exposure for the background. The trick is to set everything up as if you were taking a landscape, except you are shooting at f1.4, and then introduce flash set at low power. “Editing was just Lightroom colour balance and some spot and sandfly removal in Photoshop. This was pretty much what I got straight out of camera.”
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For competition secretaries: Some points to ponder By Shona Jaray APSNZ - Judge Accreditation Panel
PSNZ ACCREDITED JUDGES are available to judge competitions for affiliated clubs. They work on a completely voluntary basis. The job of assessing images and preparing comments generally takes quite a few hours to complete. Here are some guidelines which the Judge Accreditation Panel would appreciate clubs considering when they are requesting judges. • We now have three categories of accreditation – Open, Nature, and Audio-visual. Please look at the category of accreditation when asking a judge to judge your competition. It may not be fair to ask someone who is accredited in AV only to judge your Open or Nature competition. • Please plan well ahead when asking judges to assess your images. This will ensure that you are more likely to get the person you want. • If you are emailing a number of judges at the same time, please ensure that you use Bcc and do not have all recipients email addresses available for public view. • Ensure that you provide the judge with clear guidelines as to how you wish the images to be assessed and rated. For example you may ask that in C grade or beginners grade that there are no “not accepted”. Please explain your grading system. A copy of your club competition rules is also helpful. • If you have a set subject, please provide a definition to the judge. • Do try and keep the number of images to a maximum of 50 to 60. Larger clubs may need to have different grades assessed by different judges. • Please allow the judge plenty of time to assess the images. Two to three full weeks is ideal, but that is the amount of time the judge has access to the images, not the amount of time between the images being collected and the date the comments are required back. • If you are using a trainee, please ensure that the online feedback is completed in a timely manner. This is an essential component of the trainee’s progress towards full accreditation. Feedback for PSNZ Accredited Judges is always welcome. • If you have sent prints, please ensure that there is a courier ticket included in the package for the judge to use when returning the prints (if the judge is not presenting comments in person). • When you receive the prints back, an email or text to the judge acknowledging their safe arrival is always appreciated.
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• If the assessments are done in person, a petrol voucher for the judge is always appreciated. Remember, the judge is doing this for your club in their own time and at their own expense. • When the job is complete, please send a “thank you” card or email.
We now have 54 PSNZ Accredited Judges on our database and by following the above recommendations you will help to ensure that they all remain a happy bunch!
Queen bee by Toya Heatley APSNZ
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Councillor profile:
James Gibson APSNZ James became a member of the PSNZ Council in September 2018. To find out a little more about him he was interviewed by editor Paul Whitham LPSNZ.
How did you get into photography? I think that it was probably through my dad. He was a commercial artist and he did graphic design, logos etc. He had an old SLR and a big Grant projector that scaled up pictures - and I could trace around them. I did a lot of playing for school art projects and that sort of thing. Photography took a back seat for quite a long time and I didn’t get back into it until I went to university. I went climbing a lot, getting into the outdoors, and I wanted to take a camera with me. I tried to capture what we were doing and where we were, and all these amazing landscapes we were exploring. At that stage it was really just an opportunity to record the cool things that we were doing rather than an art form. When I moved to New Zealand in 2005, I was sucked into cycling and bike racing, and the outdoor lifestyle. As a result photography again took a back seat while I was playing on my bike around the country. Then my partner Helen decided to go back to university; we had the Christchurch earthquakes and cycling became very difficult. It was my turn to fund her, rather than she paying for my expensive bikes. I went back to work, decided that cycling had done its turn, and picked up the camera again. I also started going along to Christchurch Photographic Society (CPS) sometime in 2011/12. I started to treat photography as a goal rather than a side activity along with what else I was doing. Going to CPS was a very big eye-opener for me, seeing what other people were doing. I started to understand a little more about composition and that you didn’t just point the camera at what you were looking at and click the button.You actually had options to try to create moods. There were people at CPS using fantastic techniques that I had never heard of before like HDR. It was such a great opportunity to play with a new toy. It was like finding something that you have had for years but really didn’t understand how it worked.
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A light in the darkness by James Gibson - 8 images (2 rows of 4 shot portrait) 20s each, 20mm, f/1.4
What areas do you mainly photograph? I am pretty much a landscape photographer. Sometimes when I go out and am struggling for inspiration, I will use a macro lens and just play, creating abstracts with them. This often doesn’t work but it is entertaining and a great way to ‘get in the mood’, and I start seeing potential images that I hadn’t even noticed before.
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What has been your biggest achievement to date, and why was it important to you? My biggest achievement was my Associate set. I think I spent between eight and ten months putting that together. It was the biggest achievement for me because of the amount of effort that went into it at the time. It taught me so much about single image composition but also how images come together to make a portfolio. It has had a big impact on my style. It was a black and white set, even though I do shoot a lot of colour. It was strongly based around symmetry, and I keep seeing those recurring themes coming up in the way that I am looking at images today. I followed a process to put the set together, and I received advice from other people to create it. It was a big challenge but I learned a lot in the process and felt greatly rewarded when I was awarded my APSNZ.
Turmoil by James Gibson - 100mm, f/25, 0.5s
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What are you focusing on in 2019? In the last couple of years most of my shots have been taken with two different lenses, a 100mm macro and a 24mm tilt-shift. I really love the tilt-shift lens. I have been doing a lot of large panoramic images, and after meeting someone through CPS have been doing a lot of astrophotography. Astro has become very popular, and very achievable for a lot of people. While I was getting some nice images, I realised that I really didn’t appreciate how to take a good landscape photograph. My astro images improved when I started to concentrate on the overall composition. What I needed to seriously think about was the composition of the landscape images without the added distraction of the Milky Way. It is almost like going back to basics. I am trying to concentrate on using one lens to create a single format and put more emotion into my landscapes - to learn how to compose a landscape for emotive impact.
What are your current Council responsibilities? I am the Councillor for membership, I co-ordinate Canon Online and I am currently in the process of setting up the PSNZ workshop series.
What do you want to achieve in your role on Council this year? I want to see the PSNZ workshop series succeed, and I am trying to make the workshops as accessible for the membership as possible.
Unnamed by James Gibson - 24mm TS-E (single shot, full-tilt!), f/3.5, 1/1250s
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APSNZ set
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Lower Mcleans Falls by James Gibson - 3-image stitch, 24mm TS-E (landscape, horizontal shift), F/8, 20s
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The lonely road by James Gibson - 3-image stitch (landscape, shift horizontally), 24mm TS-E, f/11, 0.8s
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Key dates for the diary February 10 February 14 February 20 February 22 February 25 February 28 March 11 March 31 April 1 April 5 April 10 April 25 April 26-29 April 28 May 6
Submissions open for 2019 NZ Camera Last day to submit nominations for PSNZ service awards FIAP Flower selection closes PSNZ Canon National exhibition closes Canon Online round 1 closes Honours applications close Interclub competitions close Submissions close for 2019 NZ Camera Deadline for next CameraTalk edition Entries for Laurie Thomas Salon open Registrations close for Hutt2019 Canon Online round 2 closes Hutt2019 National Convention PSNZ AGM - Lower Hutt event centre Entries for Tauranga AV competition open
The last image
Valley storm by James Gibson APSNZ
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