AV News 222 April 2021

17th edition

Closing date : April 30, 2021

Meeting (if possible) : May 29, 2021

Rewards

- Gustave Eiffel medal, engraved with the author’s name

- FIAP medals (Gold, Silver, Bronze)

- FIAP ribbons

- FPF Trophy

The potential profit from the sum of the registration fees, will be distributed to the top-ranking authors.

Jury

M Philippe Delaplace (France – Composer and Audiovisual author) Chairman

Ms Claudine Durand (France – Audiovisual author)

Ms Grazia Gamba (Italy – Professor of History e)

M Richard Brown (England – Audiovisual author)

M Philippe De Geetere (France – Audiovisual author)

Contact

trophee.paris@orange.fr

full details,rules and entry form

https://tropheedeparis.fr

«English language entries welcomed»

Chairman's Chatter

Edgar Gibbs FRPS, MPAGB, AV-AFIAP

The last few weeks have been quite eventful. I’ve had my vaccination, and the PAGB held an online Adjudication for Awards for Photographic Merit in AV, which has been a big talking point. It was held using Zoom when well over 200 people joined in to watch. There are further details within this issue so I won ’t say any more other than to congratulate our Vice Chair, Ian Bateman FRPS, who organized it very professionally and the PAGB for going ahead with the online Adjudication. You can also read more about the successful submissions plus comments from the audience in PAGB e-news issue 277.

What about the RPS I hear you say? When will it hold an online Assessment Day for AV? Well, I can’t tell you that, but in an article in Issue 219 Andy Moore, Distinctions Manager, stated that the RPS would like to keep a home open for anyone interested in submitting AVs whether with or without video, to the Film, Digital and Multimedia Panel. It has carried out assessments, but there were no AV applications.

However, I am pleased to report that the Panel of award -winning cinematographers and an animation specialist has now been enhanced by Ian Bateman FRPS and Richard Brown FRPS. A great acknowledgement that AV is alive and well. The current cut off date for all three levels of Distinction (LRPS, ARPS & FRPS) is 30th July 2021, with the result announced on 3rd September 2021. Peter Hayes, Chair of the Distinctions Committee, is looking forward to receiving some AV applications.

For more information go to https://rps.org/qualications/lm-distinction/ There are two future events I want to tell you about.

The rst being an online “Celebration of 50 years of RPS AV Distinctions” with Ls, As, and Fs over the last 50 years. If you have not yet lled in the questionnaire which was in the last AV News e-xtra, I should be grateful if you would do so as soon as you can and send it to AVChair@rps.org. Thank you to those who already have done so.

The second event is the RPS International Audio Visual Festival. There will be an online event, but we have not yet decided if we can run a live event in Cheltenham alongside a virtual Festival. The factors to consider are:

 Coronavirus and the government rules that are in place at the time;

 Whether accommodation be open and available;

 Will we still need to socially distance which means a reduction in capacity to about 40 people;

 Will the AV community want to travel; and

 Has the Cheltenham venue got suitable upload speeds for running a real time online event.

A lot to think about. One thing is certain and that is the hall is booked as the deposit was transferred over from last year’s planned Festival. Also the Jury members that were to judge the Festival last year have agreed to carry out the judging this year The date has yet to be conrmed by the school. All you need to do now is make sure your entry is ready. Entries will be accepted from 1st - 28th August 2021.

There does now appear to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s hope it will be the light of a digital projector. With best wishes for a better 2021.

Marilyn Leedham 1949-2021

A tribute from Linda and Edgar Gibbs

It is with great sadness that we pay tribute to Marilyn, particularly her contribution to the AV community.

Marilyn rst became involved in AV back in 1988/89 when Keith was an Area Organiser for the RPS. With her naturally friendly manner she welcomed people at the door of AV events whilst taking their money at the same time. Additionally, Marilyn was a regular attender and helper at the Essex AV Group. Many guest speakers stayed with Marilyn and Keith which was the start of a number of long-lasting friendships.

Continued overleaf

Marilyn Leedham 1949 - 2021: A Tribute continued ...

We rst met Marilyn and Keith at an RPS International AV Festival when it was held in The Pavilion, Bath, renamed by Colin Balls as “The Aircraft Hanger”. We sat a row behind them and enjoyed exchanging comments about the sequences. We then met again when we were on the International Committee and Linda was invited to be on the Pre-selection Panel. We travelled to Essex for the weekend where the event was being held where everyone was relatively unknown to us. Thankfully, Marilyn looked after us and made us feel most welcome, which we soon learnt was one of her endearing skills. We learnt about who did what and that Marilyn and Sylvia Williams looked after the entries, which at that time were slides and tapes. They were a great team and made sure they were unpacked carefully, the packaging kept safely and then the entries repacked and returned to the authors. Initially, we did not know who was the team leader, but soon realised Marilyn quietly took charge, but we’re still not sure if Sylvia realised that!

Over the years, attending AV competitions, such as the Internationals, the Nationals, the Great Northern and the IAC Peter Coles we really got to know Keith and Marilyn and like many people at the AV events we were always pleased to join them over meals and especially in the bar after the AV sessions. We have also stayed with them at their home in Essex when judging the East Anglian AV Competition. Marilyn was a real homemaker and made us feel so comfortable - it was like staying in a boutique bed and breakfast. We shall always remember the last time we were there in March 2018, when one of the highlights was the four of us, sitting in the sunshine, drinking coffee together, at the end of Southend Pier.

When Ian Bateman stood down from running the RPS International Festival, so did everyone else on the team. However, taking over the running of the event, Edgar recalls talking to Keith and was delighted when he said he would continue as the Technical Team, or Technical Director as Marilyn said, not long after me becoming the Festival Director. One of the added benets was that Marilyn also agreed to continue to help and support both Keith, Edgar and the other members of the Festival Committee, which was much appreciated. Marilyn contributed considerably to the Internationals. She was involved for over 26 years from the days of slide-tape, not just packing up the entries, but helping with arranging and providing beverages, taking on the important position of Friend of the Jury, organiser of the audience vote, and in 2008 she took on the role of Compère/MC for the Festival, and when Marilyn said to the audience to “be back at 11:30” we all knew she meant 11:30 and no later. In 2012 when Keith won the Grand Prix at the RPS International AV Festival with “For the Sake of Example” and went up to collect his award, Marilyn beamed with pride.

Marilyn provided some lovely voiceovers for Keith, and for one sequence about the Lake District she talked to Peter Coles and used his words in the AV called “Transgurations”. When Marilyn had her rst run in with cancer in 2009 we were all so shocked to learn that she needed treatment, but even more taken aback 5 years later when she and Keith made the AV called “The Night I Fell for You”, about Marilyn's illness and the painting they bought together that symbolised her recovery. This truly reected Marilyn and Keith, who always supported each other and as so many people have said, they were the perfect couple who did everything together.

On a personal note Marilyn was very supportive of Linda following her replacement hip operations. Marilyn was so thoughtful, sharing her own experiences and what worked well, which Linda found reassuring and helpful. The last time we saw Marilyn and Keith was at the 2019 RPS National AV Competition. Linda remembers how Marilyn commented when we were sitting in the bar: “look at us with our legs crossed”, which wasn’t possible before hip surgery. How they both laughed at sharing this simple observation, which was typical of Marilyn; the life and soul of any party.

There are many more complimentary things we could say about Marilyn, which we’re sure could ll an entire AV News. The lovely comments and support on the AV News Facebook page are a testament to how she touched so many people's lives.

Marilyn will be greatly missed, especially by the AV Community, and our thoughts are very much with Keith and family at this sad time.

An interview with RON DAVIES FRPS, FIPF, EFIAP, FACI

Last summer I had an email exchange with Ron Davies about FIAP distinctions and in return he sent me an 18-page document ranking all the AV authors and the points they had collected. With over fifty names per page, I will let you do the sums as to how many names are listed. It is page 8 before you get to me and my total of 8 points as I strive towards my AV-FIAP distinction, but that is another story.

Ron is the fourth name on the list and the second most successful British AV worker, beaten only by the late Peter Coles who is second on the list. Ron’s vital statistics are an amazing testament to his AV success over the years. Active from 1988 to 2019, Ron has gained a total of 141.46 FIAP points having entered a total of 67 AV sequences in international competitions with FIAP patronage. Of the 67 sequences, 41 were from the analogue slide tape era and the remaining 26 modern-day digital. (For the record, Peter Coles entered a total of 129 works)

All of this started me thinking about the stories (well those that can be repeated

We started by talking about international competitions

Ron said “Before 1988 there were dozens of AV Festivals across Europe and so many of these have now disappeared. Originally, all entries gained a FIAP point with the prize winners gaining three points and this this was really successful in attracting entries. In 1988 the FIAP Council introduced new rules, to act retrospectively, whereby prize winners would be awarded only one point, hence reducing their points total by a possible two thirds. Also introduced was the rule of that only a maximum of fty percent of entries would be awarded a FIAP point. Colin Balls, Peter Coles and I protested and argued vigorously but nothing changed. We warned that festival entries would fall, to the detriment of their existence.”

Ron went on to list many of the AV Festivals he entered that no longer run. “Whether this is entirely due to the 50% rule, introduced in 1988, is debatable but I'm sure that it’s a major factor” he added.

Ron recalled the Eurofest AV Festival as being particularly enjoyable. The authors who attended judged the competition and marked each sequence out of 50. They then had to justify their score. Translators from the European Parliament were used.

“They were brilliant” said Ron. “They instantly translated the comments from the judges. All these marks were accumulated and those at the top were the winners. Often there would be more than 50 authors present. Initially there was Peter Coles and Colin Balls joining me at the judging. I remember Linda and Edgar Gibbs joining us later as well as Richard Brown and Robert and Maureen Albright. It was great fun.”

Extinct AV Festivals

 Angouleme, France

 St. Etienne, France

 Romanian at Timisoara

 Hungarian at both Pecs and Vacs

 Eurofest (see below)

 Mechelen, Belgium

 Legnano, Italy

 Trelaze, France

 Amberieu, France,

 St Chamond, France

 Supercircuit (see below)

 Diaporama Tour

 Meyrin, Switzerland

 Rijen, Netherlands.

Eurofest (Thionville, Esneux, Schwabisch Hall, Legnano, Hayange, Florange and Munster in Germany)

Supercircuit (Brabant, Valle de la Fensch, Hayange, Nilvange, Nequen, St. Gallen, Holzgerlingen, Argentina, Luxembourg, Ottowa, Epinal)

A Life in AV: Personal Memories and Reections continued ...

Ron then recalled the year when the event was held in a certain location where the audience was ooded with local members who of course voted for their own local hero. He got 50 points, Colin, Peter and I got “nul point.”

“It was just like the Eurovision Song Contest” chuckled Ron.

Ron thought that these AV Festivals hit their height in the 1980s and things started to fade away in the nineties.

I asked where the 141.46 came from in Ron’s total points score. He conrms my thoughts that this is where there were joint authors, and the points were split accordingly. Ron points out that the European festivals award a Grand Prix together with FIAP Gold, Silver and Bronze medals plus the country’s federation medals. So it’s possible to win a Gold medal and yet be second.

Ron thinks he is the third most successful in grand prix with 13 to his name. He points out that “this is our history” and it is right and proper to keep the records intact.

Below: Idwal Bach

Points means Prizes

We talk about the challenge of accumulating FIAP points. Ron says that it’s necessary to persistently enter FIAP patronaged competitions and not to be discouraged by having sequences “Not Accepted”, meaning that they are in the bottom 50% of the entry. “I’ve had a sequence which won a Grand Prix in Romania but was not accepted in the next festival in Hungary”.

We note that some authors started to amass their FIAP points back in the mid seventies with some being active in AV for the best part of 50 years.

We spent a few moments reminiscing about some of the famous AV names, many long gone, and the work they produced. “I made many friends along the way and stayed with and hosted many great personalities.” adds Ron. “It is interesting to know them and the type of sequences they produce. I nd that a country’s culture inuences style.” Ron has judged competitions in Australia and Argentina as well as throughout Europe.

Below: The Survivors:

A Life in AV: Personal Memories and Reections continued ...

AV - FIAP and E - FIAP

We talk about the FIAP acceptances needed for the AV-FIAP distinction – 12 acceptances from 5 different sequences, 6 international festivals and four different countries. For E-FIAP you need 50 acceptances from 20 different sequences, 18 international festivals in 6 countries. We agree that it is quite a big ask given the limited number of international competitions. Ron admits that he has time on his side when it comes to gathering FIAP points.

Ron agrees that International AV Festivals have been a big part of his life. The rst FIAP acceptance he gained was the 1988 Folkstone event with an AV called Hiraeth. The same entry was awarded a FIAP ribbon (and three FIAP points, later reduced to one by the FIAP Council edict) at the RPS International Festival two years later.

Ron says that some of his older works have not yet been digitised fearing that the slide cassettes will end up in the bin. We chat about the need to digitise all of this. “It’s our History” reiterates Ron. “We owe it to the next generation to show them what we did”. Ron recalls that the lm museum at Bradford used to keep the physical records and in the early days FIAP would expect a physical copy of the slides and the tape.

Below: Striped Pyjamas

Ron recalls a competition in Romania where the organisers mixed the slide trays meaning that the slides were being displayed in the wrong order. He recalls another occasion in Hungary where a well-known UK author had a sequence shown out of sync which none-the less, went on to win an award.

A Near Diplomatic Incident

Getting to Romania was a nightmare recalls Ron. “We (that is Peter Coles and myself) ew into Budapest in Hungary and we had to take a train to Romania. I discovered that I could not buy a ticket in local currency and had to use dollars for about 10 times the price. Finding the right station was a nightmare and purchasing the ticket from a woman akin to a Russian woman shot putter was even worse. Eventually we set off and got to the Hungary Romania border. A young Romanian soldier with a Kalashnikov came into our comportment and started to turn over the seats. He even inspected a trap door in the roof of the carriage looking for god knows what!

Then we had baggage inspection. We had thirty rolls of lm as a gift for a Romanian AV friend. The inspector muttered something about us having to pay tax, meaning bribe. I had been given a letter from the Romanian Minister of Culture as an invitation to the AV Festival. I pulled this out, got a salute and everything was ne. We arrived in Timisoara at 4 in the morning and found ourselves surrounded by about a dozen dodgy looking characters. Rather frightening. It turned out that they were taxi drivers wanting to exchange money and rip us off. We arrived at the hotel, paid our money for the night. The festival organiser was supposed to meet us at the border but failed to turn up.

Not knowing what to do, Peter Coles who was the mayor of Calderdale at the time decided that the best way out of this situation was to track down the local mayor who could not have been more helpful. He sorted things out and helped us to meet up with the organiser.”

On another occasion the prize which Ron won was a bronze statue about 1 foot tall made by a local sculptor. It was so heavy that getting it home was an ordeal in itself. At one point it dropped out of a strong but rain sodden bag and chipped a hole in Budapest’s railway station platform.

The rst foreign festival which Ron went to was in St Etienne in 1992. “We were treated like royalty” commented Ron. However, it turned out that my sequence The Survivors had not been selected despite it coming third at the RPS International festival the previous week. “That’s how it is” commented Ron “An entry might do really well in one competition and go nowhere the next week – from hero to zero as the saying goes – but that is the way of the world”

A Life in AV: Personal Memories and Reections continued ...

We went on to talk about how Ron got involved in AV.

It started relatively early. Ron played football for Wales as a youngster and broke his leg when he was 16. There was a risk that he would lose his leg so he had to spend months in a plaster cast. This meant that he had an interrupted education but eventually graduated. Deferred from National Service until the age of 23 he joined the Merchant Navy and that is where his interest in photography was born as he travelled the world.

Later on in his career he joined Swinton Camera Club where around 35 years ago Brian Bower gave an AV Show. This inspired Ron and his wife Linda and later they became founders of the Manchester Amateur Photographic Society AV Group where they went on to start making AV sequences with quite basic equipment.

They showed one of their sequences to the North West RPS AV group which went down well. This would be in the mid -eighties. Ron went on to get an ARPS in slide tape with his rst sequence – Hiraeth. He recalls how he was invited to meet the jury prior to them deciding their awards to have some feedback on what he needed to do to improve the sequence. It was at this point that Ron became interested in competitions.

Integrity and Intent

Ron talks about sequences needing “integrity”. He feels it is so very important to think about the “why” when making an AV sequence “You know what you want to say but the real question is why are you saying it and that will lead to the what”

We agree that you have to have a “why” and that “intent” is such a vital aspect of AV making - such an important thing to think about. We agree that you must be in the right mind and creativity cannot be switched on like a lamp. We both have had times in our AV career when we have had a mental block.

Ron talks about how it took him the best part of six years to make his AV sequence the The Exiled Mind

“This AV is concerned with philosophy of Welshness and you have to think about how you portray that” says Ron. Imagery is extremely important. You have to have a mind which allows you to work out how an image can portray the feeling you want, with imagery needed in both words and pictures.”

Above: Hedd Wyn

Below: Vigilantes

A Life in AV: Personal Memories and Reections continued ...

We talk about AV workers who have inspired us over the years and conclude that they have inuenced us all a great deal. We both agree that the AV community is so wonderful when it comes to sharing intelligence and information. Whilst reminiscing about the days of slide tape and the need to splice tape and all sorts of other tricks with lith lm, etc. we both agree that modern day AV workers “don’t know they are born” when compared to the tricks we had to play forty or so years ago.

Ron talks about some of the work he saw at foreign festivals and the novel effects which were used. He tells me that Peter Coles had an aversion to “moving sound with still images.” or people speaking but lips not moving. He recalls a Jacques van de Weerdt AV which depicted a trial. To overcome the problem Jacques had the defendant speaking whilst we saw a picture of the barrister she was talking to. This technique was used throughout with the judge, defendant and barristers involved. “These are the great ideas we see and put into our own work” adds Ron. We agree that some of the AV work from twenty years ago stands up very well compared to some of the newer works. Content is paramount, bells and whistles being trimmings.

Ron comments that when he rst started visiting foreign festivals the British AV workers were renowned for documentaries. However, one well-known French author derided these as “He was born, he lived, he died.” and dismissed them with a Gallic gesture and a loud “Bof!” Ron’s approach was based on his Welsh heritage and culture of storytelling. He thinks that the human interest story told in the rst person has an important part to play in AV production. We agree that the skills of script writing and how to bring things alive is the most important skill and one which too many AV workers nd difcult. Ron says that he tries to employ the skills of the poet in using as few words as possible to convey as much meaning as possible.

Ron thinks that in script writing the concept of “less equals more” is an important skill. He recalls an occasion when he had a question-and-answer session with an AV’er who didn’t think she could write a script. She was surprised to see that the answers became the AV script.

After the interview, Ron sent me a document showing all of his competition entries from the 1988 to the present date. This document runs to 10 pages and forms an intriguing record of his achievements. I am mindful that we need to keep these personal stories and archives as part of some sort of digital archive

Our conversation was full of nuggets of wonderful information and some inspirational ideas. I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion. I will leave the nal words with Ron who sent me an email after our discussion.

Dear Alastair, Just as a footnote I thought that some of the AV News readers might be interested to know that having reached the age of 89 I have now retired from entering AV competitions. I won last year's L&CPU competition for a record equalling 9 times, Colin Balls also has 9 wins. I also won the last International I entered, the Peter Coles competition in 2019, with the same sequence, “Fragments of Memory”. so it's about time I retired.

I did a bit of reckoning and in terms of results you might be interested in what I discovered, the large majority are in FIAP festivals:-

13 Grand Prix

7 Gold Medals

20 Silver Medals

12 Bronze Medals

14 other Medals

51 Ribbons

80 Acceptances

11 Salon Invitations

I've really enjoyed my time in AV, the camaraderie both in the UK and abroad is wonderful. I've met many lifelong friends through AV. I was lucky enough to be awarded the Dobson Henry Medal. That's much more precious to me than any other award.

Thanks for listening to an old dinosaur, it's appreciated , Ron

Above: The Exiled Mind

Dear Alastair, Tribute to Maurice Dobson

I would like to thank you on behalf of myself and my family for printing the tribute by John Patton regarding the service my husband gave to both the Stirling and District Camera Club, their AV Group, he also spent time on the Committee of the Scottish Photographic Federation, representing the Stirling District Camera Club.

Maurice attended many Camera Clubs in Scotland along with myself to enable the lectures he gave run smoothly.

Having now looked at the AV News I notice a few names we have both known especially Colin Balls, he came up to Scotland long before the digital/ computer age to demonstrate his two projector equipment and that was the beginning of our interest in AV. He even stayed with us on a couple of his visits which were mostly on AV days held in Stirling. For many years Maurice and I attended the North of England AV day at Snods Edge, near Shotley Bridge. Here we were able to meet other AV workers in the area.

With all our joint work stored on the Home Computer it now gives me great pleasure to see these various sequences bringing memories of happy times we spent making them and subsequently showing them, along with our AV group’s contributions to many Camera Clubs in Scotland.

John gave a tribute to Maurice at the Service to Celebrate his Life in March, it was indeed a surprise he had written the tribute for AV News. I have today written an email of thanks to him too.

Regards, Ellen Dobson.

The Editor is always pleased to receive letters for publication and particularly those which stimulate some discussion and debate.

Please contact the editor at magazine @avnews.org.uk

Dear Editor

Photo Harmony is Dead: Long Live Photo Harmony

In the dim and distant mists of time everybody knew what an AV was. Anything goes. Then two things happened.

1. In competitions, entrants, judges and audiences felt that it was difcult to compare AVs having voiceovers with “slides to music”. Most newcomers to the AV world started off with the latter and there was subtle pressure for them to progress to “proper” AVs, long and boring documentaries with lots of gravestones.

2. We wanted to encourage new people into the movement, especially members of photographic clubs, and convince them that Audio Visual is a wonderful way of showcasing their (usually excellent) photographs, not just as single images or boring prints, but in a sequence accompanied by some nice music. We sometimes used to call this a “Photo Essay”.

Then the RPS wanted to encourage people to apply for a Distinction in this genre, and came up with the term “Photo Harmony”. I was never very keen on this phrase but it does seem to have stuck, and you can see the thinking behind it, with the emphasis on “harmony” of images, music and production.

It was of course reinventing the wheel because many international AV events, especially those with FIAP patronage, required entrants to specify in which category their sequence was to be judged. Some of these categories were quite straightforward: “Documentary”, “Tourism”, “Fiction”, “Nature”, “Song”, “Poetry”, “Music”, “History” (isn’t that “documentary”?), and “Humour” (never a good idea as most humour depends on the element of surprise). Others were a bit more obscure: “Our time”, “Visual art”, “Essay/ creativity”, “Reportage”, “Series”? And most incomprehensible of all, “Theme”! What is a theme? Doesn’t every AV have a theme?

AV Festivals like Adelaide tweaked these categories and came up with a “Music, Poetry and Song” category for example. Isn’t that Photo Harmony I hear you ask? Good question.

My AV Group have just held their Annual Competition, and like many AV events these days we had two sections, an “Open” and a “Photo Harmony” section. Some competitions require the entrant to specify which section they want their sequence to be in, but quite a few of our members are fairly new to AV or coming back to it after a long break, and although we have had several workshops and evenings devoted to Photo Harmony it’s clear that not everybody agrees about what the criteria should be.

The Letters Page continued

So I thought it would be better for the Judge to decide on the awards for each section based on his understanding of what makes a good Photo Harmony sequence. I did try to help our Judge by identifying which sequences had just music, which had a song, and which had some voiceover. Not so simple. Quite a lot of our AVs were images with music. In some of them it felt that if you changed the order of the pictures it would not make a lot of difference, whereas in others there was a denite structure, a progression, and there was a message, more like a traditional AV. The soundtrack of a few of the AVs was a song. In some of these the images just matched the mood of the song, whereas in others there was an attempt to interpret the song, sometimes literally. Does that make it an AV, not a Photo Harmony sequence? We also had a couple of examples where it was mainly Photo Harmony but the author had given it a spoken introduction. Published denitions would tend to rule this out as a Photo Harmony sequence.

So, maybe it’s time to do away with the term “Photo Harmony” and instead have an “Open” category, and a “Music, Poetry and Song” category?

Malcolm Imhoff FRPS FACI(M)

Dear Alastair

What a great weekend the Great Northern was, an excellent programme with not one sequence I was not happy to see again. Thanks to all. My two favourites from the weekend were Millstone Grit and And a Dog Rose.

Millstone Grit is still a powerful sequence after 25 years. The script had some lovely phrases, I liked the line, when showing the interior of the chapel. “The hanging scroll with the commandments on, including thou shalt not steal, had been stolen”. All beautifully narrated. The black and white images gave such a gritty feeling and the brass band music was perfect. As with all good sequences all the elements tted perfectly and created the mood.

As it was in And a Dog Rose I remember seeing this at an AV day in 1996, I was blown away by it then and still am. That lovely lilting voice of Laurie Lee, the words so beautifully written, the photography and the production making it very emotional, who could not like it.

Two productions I feel were ahead of their time were Portrait of the Author such an amazing script and narration. The production was so cleverly put together with the different pieces of music and effects, again the emotion. Also Echoes of a Silent Village, with no narration just images taken in the village with the sounds you would have heard before the massacre. I hadn't seen this sequence before, and every time one appeared about the same subject, Oradour, I would be told by a Wilmslow Guild member 'ah but you've not seen Mike's. I have now and I was not disappointed.

Finally I must comment on The Ascent of Mont Blanc one of my all time favourites. Being a keen walker for 40 years or more and lover of mountains I felt very emotional when I rst saw this in 1998 and still feel the same now. Such amazing photography and the script told you enough without boring the non walkers, narrated with the emotion the author must have felt at the time. It got to me again.

And how could you not enjoy The Mousehole Cat?

I often feel there is more feeling in slide/tape sequences than digital. This might this be because when you control the changes by hand slider, not mouse, the emotion you feel for your sequence travels to that hand and consequently inuences the pace of the fades.

Jeff Mansell

The Mousehole Cat courtesy Martin Fry

Pictures (above and below) of Cwmorthin courtesy Malcolm Imhoff

The Letters Page continued

Dear Alastair

I was very pleased to see that Jill Bunting and John Smith had included Cwmorthin Requiem by my friend Peter Wylde in the festival programme. Sadly, Peter passed away just 3 weeks before the festival.

In 1992 when Peter rst showed Cwmorthin Requiem to the MAPS AV group, the forerunner to the Wilmslow Guild AV Group, I was working on a sequence called Idwal Bach, a true family story based on an incident in the Blaenau slate mine. However, having seen Peter’s sequence I truly felt that his was the denitive slate mining sequence.

Peter’s highly emotive script was delivered in his own inimitable style. He captured the trials and tribulations of the slate miners’ lives, the harsh working conditions suffered by the quarrymen, together with the hardships endured by their families. The mono images added to the impact.

There had been a number of quarrymen in my family, my father had been a quarryman in a silica quarry before becoming a coal miner. So I could empathise to some extent with the story line, the script rang true.

I thought that Idwal Bach would never be as good as Cwmorthin Requiem and was close to binning the sequence. I happened to chat about both sequences to my good friend Peter Coles and told him of my feelings. Those who knew Peter will know that he encouraged everyone to achieve the best they could. He persuaded me to dig Idwal Bach out of the bin and nish it.

Peter Wylde knew how much I admired his sequence and he too encouraged me to nish my sequence.

Luckily for me Idwal Bach has been successful and I frequently get quoted to me the end statement “Who will look after Mam now?” However, in my opinion, as stated previously, Peter Wylde’s Cwmorthin Requiem is the denitive slate mining sequence.

A number of others, Malcolm Imhoff for one, have produced excellent sequences using the Cwmorthin quarry as their inspiration but to me Peter’s sequence is king.

I’d like to thank Malcolm for the help he gave Peter in digitising the sequence. It was wonderful to see it once more. For me, it was one of the highlights. It brought back so many memories. I owe a sincere debt of gratitude to Peter for his generosity of spirit.

Ron Davies FRPS, FIPF, EFIAP, FACI(M)

The NIPA 2021 AV Festival

Raymond Hughes

When the 2020 Northern Ireland Photographic Association, Audio Visual Festival ended in February last year no one had any idea of what lay ahead.

By March we were in our rst Lockdown anticipating that by the time the clocks changed we would be back to normal again. The clocks have since changed twice and will change again before our latest Lockdown might end.

During all that time we have come to understand the 'New Normal' and we discovered that we should have bought shares in 'Zoom' the digital conferencing App. In the last year we have been amazed at how the community has stepped up to the mark and we have been able to participate in meetings and Festivals that we thought were going to be impossible. The silver lining to this dark Covid cloud has been the connections made possible by Zoom.

Personally I now attend a fortnightly meeting with colleagues in Dublin regularly joined by our friend Jeff Morris in South Africa and others from across the U.K. We have also been able to enjoy links to Australia and Europe, all while enjoying the Digital Audio Visual events from the UK and further aeld.

Having held off to see if the situation would ease the NIPA Audio Visual Festival Committee decided that it would be the Digital route for 2021. The Festival is an All Ireland Competition for members of NIPA and the Irish Photographic Federation from the Republic of Ireland

Howard Bagshaw agreed to be the judge for the 2021 Festival and Howard is well known to the audience in Northern Ireland having previously judged the festival a few years ago in person of course, at Ballyearl the usual venue.

We have a very competent technical team that would normally run the festival presentation but this year they would have their mettle tested to present digitally. The sequences were available for all to see on YouTube a few days before the Saturday Awards night. As normal, the judge’s selection of award winners was shown on the Saturday evening.

Saturday evening 20th February was opened by the NIPA President Hugh Rooney and addressed by the PAGB President Howard Tate.

The selected sequences were shown with his usual comprehensive comments by our judge Howard after each one. I am sure to the relief of the technical team all the sequences ran through smoothly. After a short break the awards were announced and the trophies normally presented on the night, were held up to the camera for the winners to see. Ah, the 'New Normal'.

The PAGB Gold Medal winner was Liam Haines IPF with a sequence on the history of Shanghai, PAGB Silver winner was Brendan Gillan NIPA his sequence was on the work of Henry Clark, Irish stained glass artist, and the PAGB Bronze winner was Rita Nolan's sequence on Dublin Bridges.

One of the commended sequences is worth a mention 'Troll Hunter' as it was made using CGI, the rst time many of us have seen this used. While there is no substitute for the face to face human contact it is wonderful that at least we are in contact and participating digitally and the big bonus for us in Northern Ireland was that we were able to welcome for the rst time so many of our friends from the rest of the UK and it was delightful to see and even exchange a few words with some.

We look forward now to next year when hopefully normality may have returned but I think that even then we will not have seen the last of Digital Festivals having experienced the world wide connections that it allows.

It was with great sadness that I received an email from Raymond Hughes just prior to the publication of this edition.

It with great sadness that I tell you that our friend Ross Mulholland died suddenly yesterday 25th February. It has come as such a shock following his successful running of the NIPA AV Festival last Saturday. I know that he was delighted at how well it had gone and also the follow up on YouTube.

Ross had been involved with the Festival for over thirty years and he will be sorely missed. Our thoughts are with his wife Ruth and his family at this sad time.

Pctures Below: From Rags to Riches by Liam Haines

Creating an AV on an iPad

Martin Addison FRPS

“

I created an Audio- Visual sequence while away from home and I did it entirely on my iPad. This is how I created the AV and what apps I used ”

The Photography

I used several apps for the photographs. The Apple iPad/iPhone camera.

This is the default camera on my tablet and does a very good job to record the image. The editing tools are adequate for most occasions.

I used this for some of the general images and some of the rust images.

The Lightroom Camera.

This is in Adobe Lightroom Mobile version and comes as part of the Creative Cloud subscription. The app has improved dramatically in the last couple of years and is now an outstanding image editor for mobile devices and has most of the essential tools available in the desktop Lightroom Classic.

The big advantage of using the Lightroom camera is that you have much more control over aperture, ISO and other controls and the images can be saved as RAW les (DNG) which allow considerable more exposure latitude. The LR camera can also record in HDR.

Slow Shutter app.

This is one of two apps which I use for creating camera movement. It has more effects than the standard Apple camera and I particularly enjoy the blurry effects. There are several important settings under the gear icon which allow very long exposures if required. The image is built up from a video le and you can to edit the result by selecting the exact point you like.

Spectre app

This is another app for camera movement which works in a slightly different way, so I usually try both to get the result I want. This has presets for 3, 5 and 9 second exposures.

Diptic app.

This app creates panels from photographs in a variety of layouts. I used this for the nal image of the AV.

Photo Split app.

I use this chiey for multi-exposures as it allows an unlimited number of exposures to build up and also the ability to change the blending mode between each one.

Photo Split is by far the best app I have found for multiple exposures.

Creating

an AV on an iPad continued ... Production

All the elements were put together using the ‘LumaFusion’ app [pictured right]. This is an expensive app by iPad standards coming in at just under £30, however it is very sophisticated and powerful and in my opinion much better than the many cheaper apps. It is of course cheap compared to equivalent programs on a desktop.

As you can see from the main screen layout, there are plenty of options. At the bottom are the video and audio tracks, six tracks for each. And the options to mute, lock, link and adjust the levels on the side. Simple transitions can be placed in between and at the start and end of tracks.

The length of any image or transition can be changed by dragging with a nger. Tracks are layered as in Photoshop and the opacity and blend mode of each one can be selected.

Titles and graphics can be added and edited easily.

Voice and Sound Effects

For the voice over and the sound effects I used ‘Voice Memos’, which is an installed app on the iPad. I recorded the voice in sections and the sound effects of the sander, sandpaper etc. in separate sound les. The quality would be better with a separate microphone, but for this quick AV I used the built in microphone on the iPad.

The Edit Screen [right middle] showing size and position

Double tap any image and it will open in the Edit dialog where many different effects, colour changes, size and position are found. There are adjustment panels for Frame and Fit, Color Presets, LUTs, Graphic Effects, Blurs, Distort Effects and Chroma Keys.

The Edit Screen [right bottom] showing the Effects panel

This is also where keyframing is done. Audio tracks can be edited in the same way with a variety of useful presets for shaping the sound. The nished production can be exported as a video le in a variety of sizes and formats.

Creating an AV on an iPad continued ...

The Edit Screen showing the Effects Panel

The alternative layout on the main screen

Helpful reminders on the main screen

It is now possible to make high quality productions using mobile devices. Undoubtedly I missed my large screen, graphics tablet and familiar programs, but I soon picked up how this program worked and found the convenience of creating a sequence while away from home very satisfying.

If you don’t want to pay for a highly sophisticated program like LumaFusion, there are plenty of cheaper or free apps to try, and if you own an iPad or tablet of any kind, you probably already have everything you need to get you started. Why not give it a try?

The AV which I created was a one minute AV which I called Shuttered and just a bit of fun about painting shutters. If you would like to view it, click the link below:

https://youtu.be/ IQoAwWDD_Ow

PAGB Awards for Photographic Merit in AV

Aspecial report on the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB) awards for photographic merit in Audio Visual held on - line on Sunday 14 February 2021

Organised by Ian Bateman form the Exmouth Photo Group, a bumper entry made for an excellent day of AV excellence. Held on-line via the Zoom platform, an audience of approaching 200 were able to observe some top quality AV productions.

There were six submissions for Credit level (CPAGB), another six for the Distinction level (DPAGB) and four for the Master level (MPAGB). The adjudication panel consisted of The adjudicators panel consisted of Robert Albright (Chair), Howard Bagshaw, Martin Fry, Richard Speirs, and Gordon Jenkins.

Successful submissions were:

CPAGB

Mo Martin

Name of AV

La Vallee des Saints

Share the Dream

Laura Parker

Jenny Baker

Cathy Fordham

White Island

Will You Speak for Me

What an Amazing Place

Neptune's Bounty

Transcience

DPAGB

Alastair Taylor

Another Day in Paradise

Beyond the Wall

MPAGB

Judith Kimber

Matthew Loney’s Miracle

Car Guy

Poems for Girls

Images below from What an Amazing Place by Jenny Baker CPAGB/AV and La Vallee des Saints by Mo Martin

Images below from Beyond the Wall and Another Day in Paradise by Alastair Taylor

CPAGB/AV

DPAGB/AV

Images from Matthew Loney’s Miracle, Car Guy and Poems for Girls by Judith

Kimber MPAGB/AV

Kate Brown LRPS DPAGB 1960-2020

A tribute from Richard Brown FRPS

Catherine Margaret Dove was born in Escrick near York on the 17th of July 1960 and the love of her native county stayed with her throughout her life. She had a notice in her kitchen which read “You can take a girl out of Yorkshire, but you can’t take Yorkshire out of the girl”. It was at the local primary school that she was to meet her future husband Paul when they shared a desk at the age of nine. After leaving school, Kate moved through a wide variety of jobs including working in insurance, retail, craftwork and as a student nurse, before nally working alongside Paul at his accountancy practice in Shefeld. Their sons Alex and Sam were born in 1996 and 1998 when the couple were living just outside Hope in Derbyshire. The boys inherited Kate’s love and talent for music and both were to become members of Shefeld Cathedral Choir.

Sadly, Kate’s marriage ended in 2003, but she continued to live on in Hope in a smaller house in the village itself. She was an active member of St. Peter’s Church and the Mothers’ Union. It was through the MU that she was to meet Keith, when he was ‘volunteered’ to take photographs of a charity paragliding event which Kate was involved with. Their shared interest in photography soon blossomed into romance. Fairly early on, Keith introduced Kate to his great friend from Shefeld PS, the late Ken Doney. Afterwards, he asked Ken what he thought. To which he replied “If you let this one get away, you must be a right Royal plonker!” one of Ken’s favourite admonishments.

With such a ringing endorsement it was pretty much inevitable that a marriage proposal would follow. The wedding at St. Peter’s church in 2006 was especially memorable for the large number of AV enthusiasts from different parts of the country who were in attendance, in addition to many other family and friends. Naturally, there was a write up and photo spread of the event in AV News. The happy couple honeymooned at Murren in Switzerland, which along with Filey became one of their best loved holiday destinations.

Kate soon took a keen interest in AV production and was largely responsible for nally prising computer-averse Keith away from his beloved slides and into the world of digital.

They made numerous sequences together, most memorably Grease, Gaskets and Gears which enjoyed great success in competitions and festivals. Kate obtained her DPAGB award in AV in 2009 but she was also an accomplished single image photographer and was awarded an LRPS for a panel of colour prints. Her favourite subjects were stained glass windows and owers. The ofce where she worked was close to Shefeld’s Botanical Gardens and many of her pictures were taken during lunchtime visits there in all seasons of the year.

Kate was rst diagnosed with cancer in 2012 and accepted all her treatment and long periods in hospital with a remarkable fortitude and positive spirit. She lived just long enough to celebrate her 60th birthday and to proudly see Sam graduate with a 1st class degree from Oxford University. She died as she had wished, peacefully at home surrounded by her family.

Images Below from: Beep Beep, Blessings and Postcard from Ireland

What sparks the idea? Is it the photography or the music? Or the words of a song, or a poem? A news item on TV or radio? An interesting article in a magazine, or a book you have just read?

There is always something. I call it ‘the spark’, and it is that lightbulb moment that sets everything else in motion. Before you consider the various elements that make up an Audio Visual there are two immediate areas that needs to be sorted. The Software and the Audience.

Mark Allen DPAGB/AV

Taking your AV to the Next Level

There is an Irish saying, “ If I was going there, I wouldn ’ t have started from here. ” So, where or what is the starting point? The simple answer is that there is no simple answer. It depends on so many things.

What sparks the idea?

Software

My new iPhone offers me slideshow suggestions based on themes it has somehow identied. For example, it offers ‘Portraits’ then asks me to select the length of the show (short, medium, long) and then the style of music, (relaxed, uplifting, funky). I make my selections and the Articial Intelligence (AI) goes off and makes the slideshow. The result is surprisingly good. The images are synced to the beat of the music. If you select the long version, it will always include fast ips from image to image to match the beat, but will also include some slow fades. It is all most impressive. I am more than happy to send these to my family living overseas.

The easiest type of slideshow to create is to take some of your pics on a certain theme and then add some music. I started with travel photography. Remember the days when we could travel? Hopefully we will be able to travel again soon. You can create a slideshow with many software products with just a few clicks. I started with ProShow and then moved to Pictures to Exe, now called PTE AV Studio.

Taking your Audio Visuals to the next level will mean getting to know your software. Pick a product and learn how to use it. It is the same as postprocessing, pick a raw editor and learn how to use it. Use YouTube as your search engine. ‘How do I (the problem) with (your software).’ You will nd a load of tutorials out there and there are also excellent support forums, Facebook groups, the list goes on. I have now removed Windows from my Mac and am using PTE AV Studio for Mac. It is still in Beta at the time of writing, but in my humble opinion it is the best.

Audience

Most folks on their rst few goes, will bang in loads of photos and then add any music they can nd that ts. Such a show can be produced in minutes which is ne for your relatives in America. They will be delighted to hear from you. Your camera club or AV group is a completely different audience. They will see (and denitely point out) blown highlights, wonky horizons and question (out loud) why on earth have you used your favourite Eminem rap song to go with photos of the serene mountains and valleys of Switzerland? This is how we all start. We learn, through making mistakes and listening to feedback. Learning who you should carefully listen to and who you should simply ignore, might take a while.

If you intend to enter your sequence into a local AV competition, or for a photographic distinction, then the audience changes again. Your audience is now a panel of Audio Visual and Photography experts, who will miss nothing. Anything inappropriate; or anything that jars the ow, or emotion, or storyline will be noticed and noted.

Photography, Sound and Production. However; each element must not be seen in isolation. They are all linked. Let’s consider an overview.

Taking your AV to the Next Level continued ...

Good Photography includes almost all aspects of photography, composition, focal points, leading lines, curves, depth, bokeh. These, in turn, are supported by appropriate Sound. The biggest initial improvement you can make to your Production is bringing your photos and sound together with ‘appropriate’ music. This is a big and important step. You need to evoke the right emotion from the combination of the images, music, sound effects into the overall production of the show. The rst 20 seconds will set the scene, the mood, the atmosphere, and lets the audience know what is coming.

Over time, you will learn that if you could match the beats of the music to the ow of the photos, it will improve things. That if you add subtle sound effects, it will improve things. Suddenly you are the ‘lm director’ of your production. You will nd yourself watching countless slideshows and note the things you like, the things that work, and of course, those that don’t. Just like your journey with photography, there will be things that you simply just like, but maybe can’t describe exactly why. You will pick these up with experience.

Good photography and appropriate music must be the immediate building block to bring your AV work to the next level. Although which comes rst, the photography or the music, is debatable. It all depends on what is ‘the spark that starts everything off’. In the past, for me, it has always been music. I hear something and somehow, I just know what images will suit. But recently, over lockdown, I now nd myself with several projects in the planning stage that have a long list of photos that I need to get. If and when I can get out.

The ‘Sound’ side of things includes; the music, sound effects and narration also link into the overall production of the show. Inappropriate music will destroy a sequence. Sound effects that are too loud will destroy a sequence. More on this in Part Two. The golden thread entwining ‘Audio’ and ‘Visual’ is the overall ow and production of the show. More on this in Part Three.

Here’s a helpful list of things, that I nd, can interrupt the ow of the show. Some are BIG distractions but others, not so much. I have split it up into the three main areas, Photography, Sound and Production. I also include some ideas and suggestions.

Part One: Photography

Good photography. Michael Freeman’s book, ‘The Photographers Eye’ will teach you almost everything you need to know about good composition, why this works and why that doesn’t. It is the book I advise all potential judges to buy and carefully read before attending one of my judging workshops, that I run for the Northern Ireland Photographic Association. You can get it on Amazon, or if you are lucky ‘World Of Books’, cheap second-hand. Remember I said “If I was going there, I wouldn’t have started from here.” Learn about composition and your photography will be at a better starting point.

Poor photography. Whilst each image does not have to be of competition standard, it should not contain any basic photography errors. It certainly helps to think of what the judge might say if you had entered it in print competition. Wonky horizon, blown highlights, over or underexposed, bland empty skies, colour casts, the list of basic errors could go on. Audio Visuals are a way of showing off your photography. Some folk may tell you that the image is only up for a few seconds and that no one will notice. This is not true. I notice, judges will notice, keen-eyed photographers will notice.

Distractions. Anything that would be considered a distraction in a print, is for me, a distraction in an AV. Not just the basic photography errors, wonky horizons, blown highlights, but other distractions, the red coat that is far too bright - dull it down. The red re extinguisher, the bright green re exit signtake them out. all signs, unless they are the main focal point. Any writing will make the viewer want to read them. While reading them they are distracted. If they can’t be taken out, blur them, so they can’t be read. Lampposts, fences, people, bright areas, can all be removed and this will improve the composition, the simplicity and the ow.

You can also remove things that are not a distraction, but their removal forms a triangle or a ow of three instead of four. Equally, two items can become three by cutting one out, duplicating it, ipping it and giving it a little tweak with the liquify tool.

Archive images often have completely white skies, which sticks out like a sore thumb. But it doesn’t have to. Simply replace the sky. With modern software it is really easy, then convert the new sky to mono. I have a folder with numerous subfolders, pink, sunset, stormy, funny cloud shapes. I have been collecting skies for years. Remember for competition work or distinctions, all work must be your own.

Taking your AV to the Next Level continued ...

Bland skies or wrong skies can be easily replaced to improve the image and help in the ow of your production. Do you want to move from a series of blueish skies to a series of blueish/orangey ones? Replace the sky of the last blue one with a mixture of what you need.

Similar photos are a wasted opportunity. You should only pick one photo of the castle and its reection in the lake, rather than include 10 variations of the same thing. Be aware that it may not be the very best photo of the scene but will be the one that ows best within the sequence.

Duplicate images are usually a mistake. “Oh, they have used that image twice” I have often heard in an audience. Folks then are distracted by wondering why the image was used twice, did they not have enough photos, was it just a mistake, am I missing an important part of the storyline? All the while losing out on the ow or storyline of your show.

Conicting, changing ratios, from portrait to square, to landscape, to portrait. Going to and from upsets the smooth ow of the show. As a result, many AV workers will only use landscape images for this reason. Landscape ratio photos use most of the available projector space on the screen. Portraits will leave large black bars on either side.

The most common ratio is 16:9, best known from widescreen TV and most projectors use this as the default setting. But this does not mean you must use 16:9. The more traditional 4:3 and 3:2 are also used, especially in documentary sequences. I often use 16:10 as is the closest to the Golden Ratio. Dramatic Landscapes can benet from 2:1 or even wider cinematic 2.39:1. This is very wide and needs careful planning when taking the images. Productions that include video are usually in 16:9. Generally, the rule of thumb is that using one ratio throughout will improve the ow of the show.

Speaking of ow, may I suggest you consider ‘Thinking In Threes’ TIT, you will not forget it now! Trotters Independent Trading. ‘Thinking In Threes’ is mainly about the production side of things that I will be covering in more detail in Part Three, but I will mention it here as it is never too early to be thinking about how everything links together. It is a simple approach, carefully considering the slide you are working on, the one before it, and the one after it. ‘Thinking In Threes’, will ensure there is a good ow of the show In time, you may start to think of your AV in the round.

The lightbox, the not so secret weapon. In PTE AV Studio I use the Lightbox a lot when deciding which image to use. I may have a bank of 100 photos to play with, but will only be using around 40. These are being swapped in and out, accepted and moved around and may be rejected again.

I am thinking about the placement of the horizons, the colours of the skies, the overall colour tones. I like to use best images at the beginning to grab attention, really good images at the end so the audience remembers. A special image, to link to the crescendo in the music. Your music doesn’t have a crescendo? More in Part Two.

And this is when you remember that it all has to be coordinated with both Sound and Production. The 40 photos in your lightbox are only Version1, there will be many versions. Your choice of music may change, the length of the music may change, this will impact your photography, more photos needed, or maybe fewer. More in Part Three

Thinking in Threes, the image before, the image you are in and the next image. In PTE AV Studio, I use a Circle Shape, in ‘Slide Options’ to draw attention to the top of the dark triangle above the grass hut. I then use the same placement to draw the eye to the top of Mountain. I then use the same placement to draw the eye to the sun are. You can have the eye be drawn ‘to the centre’ or ‘from the centre’, the user sets the centre with coordinates.

But, I also needed to move the horizon from the top third, at the mountain, to the bottom third of the church. I copied the sun are and added it to a duplicate of the church. The attention moves from the hut, mountain, sun are, to fading sun are and the attention to the focal points means that almost no one notices any jarring of the big change in horizon

Parts two and three will be in the next edition of AV News

Choosing a Font for your AV

Peter Young

How do you nd the perfect font for the title of your AV? You can use the default font that your software offers. Or you can be adventurous and search the internet for a free font, preferably one that’s different from anything you’ve used before, because then no one can accuse you of being unoriginal: This font will denitely impress. Job done. But hang on. Is that the best you can do?

Does it matter which font you use? It’s only on the screen for a few seconds, so it can’t be that important, can it? Fonts matter because they provide clues to the content and meaning of your AV. The Title Slide has a job to do: You want your audience to feel a certain way. Graphic designer Sarah Hyndman says: “Fonts turn words into stories”. So ask yourself: Does this font add to the story I’m going to tell?

Unconscious Expertise

You’re already knowledgeable about typefaces and fonts: you’ve been absorbing them since childhood. Perhaps you played with a John Bull Printing Outt. Later you enjoyed – or got frustrated – using Letraset dry transfer sheets. Now it’s much simpler. Hundreds of fonts are already on your computer, and thousands of others can be downloaded.

Choose your AV Title font with care; every typeface comes with built -in associations. Round shapes are safe and friendly, are associated with sweetness, whilst jagged shapes are dangerous or aggressive and make things taste bitter. We have learned this from the way fonts are used commercially, from the packaging of sweets to the labels on bottles of wine.

Think about easyJet, The National Trust, WHS, Harry Potter, Boots the Chemist, IKEA and so on. Not only do we recognise their logos, they make us feel a certain way about them. Emotionally that could be positive or negative.

So does your Title Font reect the content and tone of your story? Is it a serious piece, a comedy, a parody, a meditation? You might want a neutral, informative typeface. For example, many sans serif fonts have been designed to convey information, such as airport and trafc signs, where it’s important to be clear and easily read. You could go for Arial, the font used for many club newsletters. What does that tell you about the content?

Calibri Although Calibri is the most widely used font of all (it’s the go-to font used by Microso soware) it’s probably beer to use something less ‘boring’.

Papyrus You may like the look of Papyrus – it was used for the movie Avatar – but it’s been so over-used that it’s now a least liked font, and suggests a lack of artistic authenticity.

Comic Sans The font that has attracted most antagonism is Comic Sans. It might be appropriate to use it for topics for young children, but not for AVs about the Second World War.

Or perhaps you nd a Typeface that’s more distinctive, more fun, relaxed, possibly hinting at distant lands or far-off times ... as long as it’s appropriate for the content. But here lie some dangers. Just because some fancy display fonts came bundled with your computer, that doesn’t mean you must use them. Fonts get over-used (Papyrus, Souvenir), go out of fashion (Hobo, Prol, Davida), and develop negative associations (Comic Sans), so best to avoid giving the wrong impression.

It’s not a good idea to ‘borrow’ a typeface that some organization has used for a very specic purpose. For example, the Harry Potter font already has a strong association. If your AV shows winter scenes, resist using the font for Disney’s “Frozen”. The popular font, Cooper Black, already comes with baggage: it’s been used famously with Dad’s Army, easyJet, and many others.

Choosing a Font for your AV continued ... Modesty

If the Title is going to ease the viewer into your AV’s story then it should do so without drawing attention to itself. (It’s the same with using transitions between slides. If the transition draws attention to itself it will pull the viewer out of the story.) If it fails to set the tone for what is to come, it will confuse the audience, and possibly put them into sceptical mode: “Can’t even get the title right!”

If you use those fonts, what does it tell the viewer about what’s going to come in your AV? That you haven’t thought it through, that your sense of design is somewhat off? Maybe. If you use an appropriate typeface, the viewer is more likely to have relevant associations and experiences, and warm to your AV. Subtlety is better than misrepresentation. It’s not compulsory to have blood dripping down your title just because it’s meant to be scary! But remember that people vary: you can’t control their associations and experiences.

In a 2007 survey of designers, some of their least favourite fonts were Brush Script, Souvenir and Comic Sans. (Garfield (2010) Just My Type, chapter 21)

How to get it right

 Fonts have been around for over 600 years, and in that time a lot of good practice has developed. (See for example: How to Choose and Use Fonts & Typefaces, details overleaf)

 Pay attention to how fonts are used in the world, especially in movies. Don’t ‘steal’ what others have done. Ask yourself: What does this typeface remind me of?

 Choose your font according to the Date/Era and Place/Country. For example, Paul Renner’s font Futura is appropriate for referencing the period of the second world war.

 If you want to play safe, use fonts such as Georgia and Verdana, which came with your computer.

 UPPERCASE vs Initial Capitals. In text, uppercase is perceived as ‘shouting’. But that doesn’t apply to a title. It’s the sort of decision only you can make: try out both versions, and see which carries across your intention and emotion.

 There is no need to put a full stop at the end of your title.

Choosing a Font for your AV continued ...

Font Clinic

Your editor has kindly provided a sample Title Page for an AV about Africa which uses Arial. Using this real life example, let’s explore some options for improvement. This is a matter of judgment; see which you prefer in the mock-ups.

 The original title was at the top of the image. It coincides with a bright spot which reduces its visibility. So let’s move the title to a place in the image where it contrasts with the background.

 There are two words that begin with J, so perhaps we could use a font in which the capital J has a tail which goes below the line. So which of these carries with it more a sense of returning to the Jungle? Let’s try them out.

Return to Jungle Junction

Return to Jungle Junction

Return to Jungle Junction

Garamond (Looks like a book tle)

Zapf Humanist Ult (looks fresh, could work)

Tango (this has a nice tail on the R as well, but does it associate itself with anything Jungly?)

Useful Tips

It’s a good idea to keep a list of the fonts you have used, just in case you want to use that font again, or you want to revise your Title or add further textual material, such as inter-titles. Identifying a font by looking through all possible fonts can be a time-consuming activity.

If you want to identify an unknown font, then https://www.myfonts.com/ WhatTheFont/ produces some good results.

References

Tony Seddon, et al (2015) How to Choose & Use Fonts & Typefaces, Flame Tree Books

Simon Gareld (2010) Just My Type; a Book about Fonts, Prole Books

Sarah Hyndman (2016) Why Fonts Matter, Ebury Publishing

Videos:

Wake up and smell the fonts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXc-VZ4Vwbo

Nicer Tuesdays

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAidpE5UW0Y

THIS IS NOT A FONT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR3-JxPGPac

Data Display Aids for AV Production

Alan Lyons AIPF

Sometimes the initial leap from idea to production of a sequence can be a major stumbling bock for Audio Visual workers. From the point of view of planning the production of an Audio Visual it could be said that there are three distinct starting points.

 The meticulously planned and researched production.

 The idea which occurs or develops while visiting a location.

 The sequence made from images in stock

In all cases it is vital to adopt some method of managing the many aspects of the production to ensure that you don’t become overwhelmed and frustrated by the process. Data display is a term given to any document which enables a clear understanding of the process which is planned, in progress or has been completed. Proper use of these documents during the production of Audio Visuals will aid the process, ensure that the project is focused on the creative brief and allow the author to reect on the process and apply lessons learned to future productions. It is important however to ensure that the documenting of the process does not become more than the process itself. Data display should be an aid to the production and a way to clarify the processes for the author and others involved in the production of a sequence.

This article will review data display options which give practical assistance to Audio Visual productions, give denitions of these types of data displays, and a sample of how they might be used. Data displays can be used throughout the whole process and used as reference tools as required to ensure that the project is on track and on time. They can be laid out in table form on paper or on the computer. These methods are not intended to restrict or conne the creative process or to prevent the sequence taking on a different direction than rst imagined. They are however designed to prevent chaos and disillusionment that comes when the author gets lost in the whole process and cannot nd their way to the nal production.

The rst type of Data Display Document we will look at is a Creative Brief. Creative Briefs are used in professional production projects to ensure that the project keeps to the original idea and that all aspects have been discussed and resolved before production begins.

Some may feel that a creative brief is not necessary for an audio-visual production. But if you use the process, whether working alone or as part of a team, a creative brief can be an asset which helps to keep the project on course and ensures that the creative outcomes will be met.

The brief is not meant to be cast in stone at the early stage of development, but as the ideas and potential issues are ironed out there will be a clear idea of how the project should look and feel. Those involved in the production can then refer to the Creative Brief to conrm that they are proceeding as planned or to review and agree if changes to the brief can be made to accommodate new ideas which have developed.

Project Name: (Audio Visual Title).

Genre:

Documentary, Nature / Interpretation of song; poem or prose / Humour/ Themed (personal view on any subject)

Target Running Time:

Maximum 12 minutes if for international competition

Objectives:

The author’s vision Describe in detail the idea behind the sequence and how the nal sequence should look on screen.

Target Audience:

Who is the production aimed at?

Images:

What is required to create the sequence and convey the ideas?

Can these ideas be realised on screen?

Locations:

Where are the images to be taken?

Can you gain access?

Are there privacy / copyright issues?

Script:

How is the narrative of the sequence to be developed?

Written Script? Music or song? Text on screen?

Music:

What choices need to be made to t the mood and impressions of both the images and the narrative?

Is copyright clearance required or available?

Effects:

Will sound effects be included to enhance the mood?

Where will they be sourced?

Where will their use be most effective?

Data Display Aids for AV Production Continued ...

The Planning Matrix (tabled below) will follow directly on from your Creative Brief and will list the key points of your project on a vertical axis and the actions needed on the horizontal. It will take most of its data from the creative brief but can be added to as the project progresses. For example, your Data Display Sheets might look like the following set which I used for my sequence Glencree.

Type

Format Requirements

Images

Exterior and Interior Landscape

Script Single Voice Own

Music Mixture of Irish Flavour wav

Sound FX Water Birdsong etc. wav

Public

Location

Church

Access to Church for Interiors

Written script and recording

Research less known Orchestral Pieces

BBC Sound FX

Continuity of light and seasons

Find if permission is required to photograph

Below left and right: Time Ordered Matrix for Glencree

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Images

Script Begin Research into History Write Script Plan Shoot

Music Search for Suitable Music

Sound FX Plan FX Location

First visit to check for access & permission Visit to help plan

Recording Music

Once the project gets underway it is advisable to begin a Time Ordered Matrix (tabled below left and right) . This is likened to a calendar and shows your planned progression through the making of your sequence. This will help prevent the project from falling into the dreaded “Mission Creep” trap.

When things are put off a sequence takes more time to complete than is reasonably required. A Time Ordered Matrix can be lled in advance and will provide a clear overview of the project and the deadlines which need to be met to keep the project on track.

June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

Photograph from Shooting List

Review and Edit Script

Compare with Images

Compare with Images

Review and Edit

Review and Edit

Shooting list

Review Choices

Compare with Images

Compare with Images

Data Display Aids for AV Production Continued ...

A Shooting List (tabled below) is a simple list of the images you need and is an invaluable aid to productive photography when shooting sequences which are pre-planned and to ensure that you have all the images you need. A Shooting List is invaluable if the location is remote or you are limited to the amount of times you can visit. If you are starting from a prepared script or idea the images can be listed in sequence order and contain spaces for comments and conformation that the image was photographed.

No Description Comments Taken

1 Fork in Road showing sign to Glencree Cross on Left of frame

2 View down towards road to show location

3 Show full valley with sugar loaf towards right

4 Similar as above but with Sugar loaf on left showing farmland

Sign not visible in image need to add title

Keep high ground to left

Will dissolve over 2 and open up frame √

Changes perspective √

Comments can be added before, during or after your visit to the location and are designed to clarify and record ideas which will impact on the project. The list can be edited and used for future location visits as images are reviewed for suitability or reshooting. A well-prepared shooting list will remove the need to “Shoot everything and hope for the best” thereby reducing the time spent sorting through images or returning for missed images.

Finally, I would recommend using a Running Order Table (tabled below) to assist in bringing the whole project together. This table has the key elements of the design in a horizontal axis with time running vertically. Each part of the project is laid out across the table in its relevant place on the time line. The example below shows the opening sequence for Glencree.

The arrows are used to show that the music, FX or voiceover are continuing across image dissolves. At this stage you are trying to get a rough idea of the layout of the sequence. This will help you to begin to lay out the nal sequence in the software. Time here is only a guide and you should not try to get precise timings on paper. The nal sequence can be pulled together on the timeline in the software. Running Order Tables are helpful in ensuring that the sequence is brought together as originally planned in the creative brief. They can be vital if a group of people are working on a sequence as it can help them envisiage how the nal sequence might look.

As we have seen the use of data displays can be helpful in bringing order to the processes involved in producing an Audio Visual. This also applies to those sequences which you may develop as an afterthought to a visit or a holiday or to those stories which present themselves on the spur of the moment at a location and demand to be made. In these circumstances you will have to adopt a slightly different approach to your planning and data displays.

Part 2, will explore the subject more including some helpful online tools.

All Images from Glencree courtesy Alan Lyons

The Audience Vote

Malcolm Imhoff FRPS FACI(M)

Back in 2017 I wrote a piece for AV News on “The Audience Vote”. We have had quite a few on-line AV competitions during Lockdown which have all been most enjoyable and efciently organised. As I was planning my own AV Group’s Annual Competition AV Day in January it occurred to me that the one thing missing from all these events to date was the Audience Vote. At East Midlands we think this is a most important part of the day and we have a posh trophy shield for the winner. I really wanted to be able to have an Audience Vote, so I set to work to nd out how it could be done.

Our Judge for the Competition was Tony Collinson and he thought it was possible to conduct a “poll” in Zoom. Well, you can, but proved unsuitable for our purposes as it limits the number of choices to 10, and we would have very many more AVs than that. I had heard of Doodle polls but did not pursue that. I remembered that my mountaineering club has had a couple of events, including a photo competition, where we had a vote so I sought advice from my friends there. It turned out that it was done using “Google Forms”, so that is what I went for.

You will need a Google account to set it up but the beauty of it is that the respondents do not necessarily have to have a Google account and be required to log in to be able to vote. You have to set it up this way though.

Google Forms is hidden away in the Google Apps area, so when you log on click on the icon with a square of 9 black dots [Fig.1below left].

Scroll down to Google Docs and Google Forms is one of the options there [Fig.2 below right].

There are lots of ready-made templates there but I found it quite simple to open a new form, change the wording of the Question (in my case “which three AVs did you enjoy the most?”, and type in the title of each AV which will then have a radio button for people to select [Fig.3 below].

It is very time consuming to have to type all the AV titles in and I couldn’t nd any way of copying and pasting more than one at a time. I’m sure someone out there will tell me how.

That is the way we have had the Audience Vote when we have met in person, three choices, no preference as to the order. I couldn’t see a way of voting for your 1st (say 3 points), your 2nd (say 2 points) and 3rd (say 1 point) other than by having three separate questions and that would make the whole thing more complicated and harder to total up at the end.

Initially I did have three questions, “what is your No.1 favourite?”, “what is your 2nd favourite?” and “your 3rd?” but I found I could select an option to specify the number of responses any one person can make, so I went for just the one question with three responses. This is where you have to be careful.

If you make too many limitations Google insists that the respondents have to log on to a Google account which you denitely don’t want. In theory it would be possible for one person to vote twice, but if you make one question “what is your name ” you can check that when they come in [Fig.4 right].

The Audience Vote Continued ...

Another advantage of using Google Forms is that everything you do in setting up the Form, and any changes you make, are immediately saved in your Google Drive, (you don’t have to do anything) and the Form is there whenever you want to return to it.

On the day all you have to do is go to “Send ” and you have the option of emailing the form or getting a Link . I just copied the Link and pasted it into the Chat Box so all everybody had to do was click on the link and the Form would open for them to complete.

I also realised that many “participants” in Zoom are actually couples, and they would both want a vote, so I simply said, “click on the Link again”. I think AV people are basically honest and any rate you have the names to check off as they come in. The wonderful thing is that when people “Send " their response it comes to you straight away and also draws a bar chart with the results and percentages in real time so you have the Result immediately [Fig.5 below].

I was very pleased with the way it all worked and I have had a lot of appreciative e-mails. I know that several AV competitions now have beneted from our experience and have ne-tuned the process. Of course, “other voting platforms are available” and I know that some organisers will be using different interfaces to do the same thing. I believe that we at East Midlands AV Group were the rst to hold an AV competition Audience Vote on line, and I am quite proud of that.

HINTS and Tips 24: DPI, PPI, or just P

Malcolm Imhoff FRPS FACI(M)

An old chestnut surfaced again recently on the RPS Distinctions Facebook page. People were asking what “dpi” or “ppi” they should make their PDIs (Confusing isn’t it!) for submission for a Distinction. During Lockdown all photographic distinctions are being judged as projected images.

“dpi” or “dots per inch” is a measure of how much ink is sprayed on a piece of paper so is completely irrelevant.

“ppi” or “pixels per inch” is also completely irrelevant unless you are going to print your image, in which case it is a guide as to how big a print you can make. So Fig.1, a 1920 x 1280 pixels image at 300ppi would indicate a print of 6.4 inches x 4.267 inches.

The three examples on the right have obviously been printed in AV News! They are the same 1920 x 1280 pixel image at 300ppi [Fig.1], at 72ppi [Fig.2], and at 3000ppi [Fig.3].

I hope you can see that they are all absolutely identical.

The only thing you need to worry about in making images for AVs or PDI competitions is the dimensions of the image in pixels.

Fig 1

Fig 2

Fig 3

Photoshop – Sky Replacement Feature

Keith Scott FRPS DPAGB AV-AFIAP

It has become almost habitual if not actually traditional for Adobe Corporation to announce major updates to Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom software during October. In mid-October 2020 Adobe duly obliged with their announcement of the release of Photoshop version 22 (generally described as Photoshop 2021). Like many subscribers I was interested to learn of new features that had been incorporated and of any existing features that had been improved.

Photoshop becomes more powerful with each new release, therefore ever more demanding on system resources. As always before updating Photoshop you should check the technical specs and system requirements as stated by Adobe; some older computer systems may not be suitable to run this latest version. With the release of version 22 Adobe issued this statement: “The Photoshop hardware requirements for Processor and Graphics card have increased for version 22.0. Ensure your system still meets the minimum requirements”.

If you’re running a Windows PC the minimum requirements are: Intel or AMD 64-bit processor running at 2GHz or faster, with SSE4.2 (Streaming SIMD Extensions 4.2) or later. Windows 10 64-bit version 1809 or later. LTSC versions of Windows are not supported. A minimum of 8 GB of RAM although 16 GB is recommended. 4 GB of available hard disk space with additional space required for installation. A graphics card with Direct X 12 support and minimum of 2 GB of GPU memory, however 4 GB of GPU is recommended.

MAC users will require similar hardware with a minimum operating system of macOS Mojave version 10.14 or later, but macOS Big Sur version 11 or macOS Catalina version 10.5 is recommended. Photoshop will not install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive le system.

Note; if you have a system that does not meet these requirements the program may install and run but in a limited manner, some features will be greyed out and therefore unavailable. There is also the risk that the program may freeze or suddenly shut down while trying to perform certain tasks, especially tasks that are GPU demanding. Be aware that you `may’ need a computer hardware upgrade to run the latest version properly with all its functions working.

As you may expect both PC and MAC require Internet connection for registration and software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to Adobe online services. This has been a requirement for several years.

Photoshop's end-user license agreement (EULA) has always allowed for the application to be activated on up to two computers (for instance, a home computer and a work computer, or a desktop and a laptop), as long as it isn't being used on both computers at the same time. At the time of writing the UK cost of the Photography package including Photoshop and Lightroom is £9.98 per month or paid annually at £119.21 with 20 GB of `Cloud’ storage.

As a photographer and AV worker I’m happy to shoot any subject to illustrate my AVs, although generally my photographic preferences tend towards landscape, cityscape, and seascape images.

With such images, I do have a pet hate i.e., uninteresting skies, either leaden grey or plain blue skies. Over many years I’ve collected hundreds of sky images from around the world containing a variety of interesting cloud formations. Therefore, I’m quite happy to replace, blend, or enhance any uninteresting sky with something more suitable and attractive on a pictorial image, but I don’t change images intended to be true records.

From the earliest days of Photoshop, I’ve learned of and self-developed many ways of enhancing skies, including some extraordinarily complex and occasionally time-consuming methods. These have including precise delicate masking and blending techniques of exceptionally ne detail often found within the branches and leaves of trees, or the edges of complex structures. With the above in mind, I was therefore delighted to learn of the new `Sky Replacement Feature’ added to Photoshop’s `Edit Menu’. According to Adobe, and I quote

“The new Sky Replacement feature in Photoshop lets you quickly select and replace the sky in a photo, automatically adjusting your scenery colours to match the new sky. You can now get the mood you want in your photos even if the shooting conditions weren’t perfect. You can save precious time when you're retouching your landscape, real estate, wedding, or portrait photos. To get more precision, you can also zoom in and select just a section of the sky or move the sky around to nd the right conguration of clouds or colour you want”.

Photoshop - Sky Replacement Feature continued ...

My rst thoughts on this were `this is quite a claim’ and if Adobe’s statement is true it could revolutionize the speed of editing pictorial images.

Choosing an appropriate sky containing the right cloud formation, direction of light, and colour balance is probably a matter of practice, it also depends on the size of your stock image library from which to choose. However, Adobe do give you a start with this new feature by including a choice of around twenty-ve skies ranging from plain blue, through various cloud formations, to warm toned skies and sunsets. There is of course the ability to import your own skies and to remove unwanted skies from the Photoshop database.

When making prints, possibly images of 20 x 16 inches (50.8 cm x 40.6 cm) or 16 x 12 inches (40.6 cm x 30.5 cm) and viewed at normal print viewing distances a mismatch of a pixel in a sky replacement may not be noticeable. However, AV sequences may be viewed at signicant magnication. For example, when we hold our RPS AV days at Trinity University in Leeds we project onto a screen exceeding twenty-foot width (6 metres +).

At such image magnications any mismatch shows up markedly, therefore I was intrigued to test out Adobe’s claim on dozens of images with varying complexities of skylines that would be intolerant of any such mismatch, and that may also take some time to achieve by traditional methods. I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

Top left image in this block of eight is the original taken at Corfe Castle during October 2015. No edits whatsoever have been carried out other than converting from an original NEF to a .jpg le, and reduction in size for the purpose of this article. This original has a bland pale blue sky, exactly meeting my pet hate. The other seven images all had sky replacements `automatically’ applied by Photoshop using this new function.

In each instance sky replacement was achieved using default settings without any adjustments applied, this ensured a fair comparison of the effect achievable with little effort. Only ve clicks of a mouse (or in my case clicks of a graphics pen) was required to replace skies without manually creating any masks.

Photoshop - Sky Replacement Feature continued ...

This new function is found within the main `Edit’ dropdown menu, simply select `Edit’ then `Sky Replacement’ whereupon a control panel will open. At the top of this panel is an image of a currently selected sky with a dropdown sub menu located by its side (see red arrow on left image). Clicking this sub menu will reveal a range of skies (see image below right) from which you may choose the most appropriate to match your image requirements.

If you’re not happy with any of the available skies, then you can import your own by clicking on the + sign at the bottom of the dropdown sub menu. Unwanted skies can be deleted by selecting them then clicking on the dustbin icon at the bottom of this same menu. Skies can also be imported, appended, exported, deleted, or re-named by clicking on a `Gear’ icon located at top right of the dropdown sub menu panel.

Image Below: Examples of Sky Replacement

There is one annoying quirk about this control panel; If the `Preview’ box located at bottom left corner of the control panel is ticked, then when opened it automatically starts the process of sky replacement to a preview of whichever sky was used last. If that isn’t the sky you want, then you need to wait a few seconds for this process to nish before you can choose an alternative sky.

It’s much less frustrating to have this box unticked until a preferred sky is chosen, then by ticking this box you will obtain a preview of the effect.

After choosing and previewing your sky and having made any necessary adjustments then untick the Preview box before clicking OK button to complete the sky replacement.

The main control panel offers several adjustment sliders to allow ne tuning of the visual effect, e.g. contrast, brightness or colour temperature.

The default setting for both is zero which works well in most instances without needing further adjustment, however, this will depend upon the characteristics of each replacement sky. If you’re importing your own skies, then you can of course adjust such properties to perfection using a larger range of tools in Photoshop or Lightroom rst.

Photoshop - Sky Replacement Feature continued …

It’s difcult to imagine the algorithms going on under the bonnet to achieve such complex effects with just a few clicks of a mouse, without rst making any selections or creating masks. Therefore, I doff my hat to the programmers at Adobe for enabling any user to achieve such effects so quickly and simply. An examination of the `Layers’ palette for the Corfe Castle images gives an insight into the background process. Bottom layer is the original unedited image from camera named Background.

The next layer up is a copy of the background layer. This I always use for editing so the original remains unaltered. With this copy selected the Replace Sky function from the `Edit’ menu was activated. Photoshop automatically created three new layers in a `Sky Replacement Group’. First new layer is a linked layer entitled `Foreground Color’, looking at its icon this appears to be a `curves’ layer based on the colour of the foreground image with consideration of colour temperature of the new sky.

Above this another layer entitled `Foreground Lighting’, this appears to be a representation of the foreground lighting `qualities’ together with a new exceptionally soft edged foreground mask. Topmost layer is entitled `Sky’ it contains the replacement sky together with a mask which conceals the foreground.

Whilst in Preview mode this mask affecting the sky area can be manipulated somewhat using the top two sliders named `Shift Edge’ and `Fade Edge’. Their effect is readily visible on the preview and may be subtle or severe as desired. The default setting for the `Scale’ slider is 100%, moving this slider will enlarge or decrease the size of the new sky, which can also be repositioned by selecting the `Cross’ shaped move icon situated at the top left of the control panel, then dragging the sky to your preferred position. By ticking the `Flip’ box the sky will be ipped horizontally.

A dropdown menu named `Lighting Mode’ under the heading of `Foreground Adjustments’ provide a choice of blending modes, either `Multiply’ or `Screen’. In all tests I found `Multiply’ to be the most useful but this obviously depends on each individual image and the effect required by the user.

In summary, this new function can replace an otherwise uninteresting sky in a few seconds with one that will project onto a large screen and look more than acceptable. Also included in Photoshop v22 is another new related automatic sky selection tool under the main `Select’ dropdown menu. This can be used to select a foreground simply by inverting the sky selection.

Photoshop and Image Editing

Do you have any Image Editing hints and tips you would like to share or is there anything you need to know? Do please contact the Editor if you have any offers and requests and we will do our best to help you out

Contact the AV News Editor: magazine@avnews.org.uk

Dyffryn Summer School Memories

Richard Brown FRPS

Iwas rootling around in the loft this afternoon and I came across some photos from a Dyffryn summer school, undated but I should imagine early 90s. I must confess that I had completely forgotten that our esteemed editor Alastair was there! How many people can you name?

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