DIG News - November 2017
‘Elgol Beach’ by Rex Waygood
Winner of the forum competition this past month.
NEW DIG DISTINCTIONS This month we have only received the ARPS lists from HQ. No doubt there are some LRPS, but regrettably I have not been able to get the information about these so they will have to be held over till December. Congratulations this month goes to Geoffrey Smith ARPS Kathy Chantler ARPS David Manning ARPS
North Yorkshire Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire <<<<<>>>>>
We are especially pleased this month to be featuring the recent ARPS panel from Martin Farrow. No doubt this is work that would look even better when seen printed, but I am sure you will still enjoy this little glimpse of Martin’s beautiful work……. Martin Farrow ARPS My photography began at the age of 10, but became more serious in my twenties, taking part time O-level and later A-level photography, which gave me my LRPS. I worked mainly in black and white in my own darkroom, using Olympus and Bronica cameras.
In 2000 I bought by first digital camera and quickly moved to four thirds, and now micro four thirds Olympus cameras. I have gradually moved towards a more fine art style involving graphic images, both colour and mono.
Working for ARPS has taken a couple of years. During this time the content and appearance of my panel changed considerably as it evolved, with feedback from a number of people and two advisory days - for which I am extremely grateful. However, my statement of intent remained the same. The images come from a number of Mediterranean islands: Santorini, Mykonos, Samos and Menorca.
I first submitted the panel for assessment in March 2017 after a positive advisory day appraisal. The overall panel was well received with praise for the layout, but it was rejected due to technical problems on several prints: lack of sharpness, depth of field and artefacts in the plain blue skies. This really illustrated the exacting standard the panel are looking for. Having addressed these issues I resubmitted the panel with the same layout in June 2017, this time successfully.
Statement of Intent While travelling around southern European islands I have become fascinated by vernacular architectural details, shapes, tones and colours. This panel extracts simple shapes and tones from some of these encounters to create graphic images and illustrate the often unseen beauty of the buildings.
DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR Our congratulations to one of our DIG members, David Fletcher LRPS, who won the annual Documentary competition with his work.
SUCCESSION PLANNING Your DIG committee has been discussing the future of DIG and how we ensure continuity. It is my intention to stand down from the Chair at the AGM in March 2019, so we really would like to find a DIG member who would be willing to come on to the DIG Committee this coming AGM (March 2018) with a view to becoming the Chair in 2019. I genuinely believe that any company or group needs a change at the top to refresh it every few years. It is with this in mind that we wish to find that ‘someone’ with the vision and desire to put themselves forward: Or indeed anyone who would simply like to stand for a general committee position. It isn’t that daunting and by working on the committee and side by side with myself for 12 months, you would be in a strong position to take over in 2019. If you are reading this and want to talk it through (no obligations at this early stage) with any of us, then please do get in touch. digchair@rps.org DIG has 1600+ members so we are extremely hopeful that there are some of you who will consider this opportunity to step up to lead the biggest (and best) RPS Special Interest Group.
FORUM A well deserved win this month for the image you see on the front page from Rex Waygood. Here is what he has to tell us about it………
Taken on our October holiday to Scotland. Three photographers removed, one was wearing a bright red jacket, that was Nora! Processing was repeated more carefully than the FB posting as I did this one at home and not on my laptop! It was mainly processed in ACR with the photographers removed in PS. This may become a print! Second placed was Jack Bolton with one of his iconic minimalist architectural images.
Opening by Jack Bolton ARPS
The third paced image is from Eric Begbie and was shot in a museum commemorating the 1953 floods in the Netherlands. This is near where I live and have been very many times. Eric did really well to record this so beautifully. It isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t easy as the floor is a moving wave like sequence of the names of all those who died in the floods.
Victims of the Flood by Eric Begbie LRPS
GETTING TO KNOW YOU This month we are going to feature two very important Officers of the DIG Committee. Our Hon Treasurer Lynda Simpson LRPS and Hon Sec Janet Davies ARPS.
First let us ask Lynda a few questionsâ&#x20AC;Ś. Q1 What do you feel are the benefits to you of belonging to the Society and DIG? Belonging to the Society and the process in gaining a distinction has helped me enormously to develop my photography. Being exposed to so many genres of photography has broadened my knowledge and approach to my own photography and this is reflected in my membership of the Digital Imaging Group too. It's the largest and most diverse Special Interest group and being a member has inspired me to try new things and also helps me meet new people. Q2 What inspiration do you seek to help you grow and develop your photography? I am very inspired by photographers I can relate too whether that be their genre, style or working practices especially if it fits with what I enjoy doing. Q3 Do you have a preferred genre and why? It has to be Wildlife, nature and animals. I very much enjoy being outside and love travelling too. There is nothing more pleasurable than seeing animals in their natural habitat and studying animal behaviour. I also enjoy taking pictures in my own garden and of my own animals too. Q4 Tell us why your chosen own favourite image is important to you? Initially the evening had been rather dull and overcast and a rain cloud was on its way so it was amazing to see the weather and light change to produce this double rainbow. The rainbow faded very quickly and I was lucky to be standing in the right place. A few months later I was asked if it could be used for a visitors guide and expecting it to be featured inside but it made it to the front cover.
â&#x20AC;Śand now some questions to Janet Davies. Q1 We know you are heavily involved with two camera clubs and DIG, so what motivates you to volunteer? Having had a job where I was always surrounded by people, I needed to do something in retirement that still keeps me meeting people. Being involved with two photographic groups locally certainly does that.
Having been President of one and then Chair of the other, I am now Programme Secretary for both which is something I definitely enjoy doing. I also work for our local Housing Association based on the same principle and the fact that I am "in the know" on many things, likewise DIG. Q2. Since doing your beautiful ARPS panel of flowers how have you remotivated yourself to continue your photographic journey? I can still remember the day I was finally successful. It was such an absolutely great feeling. Since getting my ARPS I have assisted with a local project with the Peterborough Civic Society, for almost two years, which resulted in a 2000 copy run of the resulting book called "Peterborough and its Villages in Detail" (a bargain at ÂŁ18). The introduction was written by Griff Rhys Jones. I have also completed and printed my own book when I took one photo a day for a year called "A Photographic Diary" and, five years later, am now doing another with variations and a lot more text. I frequently think about trying for my FRPS but haven't yet found the right subject. I do keep looking. Q3. Do you consider yourself a flower photographer or do you work in other genres too? It can be a pain being known as a "flower photographer" as some people think that is all I do. However, I always say that I do a bit of everything except for formal people work and street photography in particular. I thoroughly enjoy macro and close-up work and do have a very basic digital microscope, so I can focus on the pollen in flowers, for example. I am also well into digital manipulation and AV work, being the VERY local "expert". Q4. What is your favourite personal image and why? There are a few favourite images that can be seen on the PPS website but the one that I keep coming back to is attached. It shows a robin in the arm rest of a seat in Bishops Road Gardens and was on the front page of the DCC website for a long time. Everyone thought it was taken just like it is, until someone decided to ask me about it. I then said, "Of course it is genuine! I noticed the seat covered in snow and
then ... just round the corner, I spotted this lovely little robin SO I picked him up and put him gently into position before pressing the shutter!!!" Confession: the robin really was just round the corner but I took the two images separately and worked on the final version on my PC! My story is therefore based on fact and pretty close to the truth.
Cold Seat
MEMBERS GALLERIES Two very diverse galleries this month which just goes to demonstrate that DIG is not all about fiddling and diddling â&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;Ś We know many of you thoroughly enjoyed the DIGIT article about Mrs Fox so we thought this month it would be good to follow up with the gallery of more of these creative works from Julie Warrington.
Nikki Acott seems to get access to some great interiors so we thought we would ask her how. It transpires she has been appointed to shoot the restoration of property that has been overseen by English heritage. Nikki has seen first hand the craftsmanship and even the restoration of 100 year old wallpaper. An interesting project. Another of her assignments was at The Ginger Monkey Studio for their web site.
KEN PAYNE TRAINING VIDEOS Greetings Members â&#x20AC;&#x201C; In this video we correct camera shake, tidy up the background with some cloning, and finally add an Orton Effect. I was very impressed with the results. Worth a look. Run time is 30mins. Can be done in most versions of Elements
You will also find a recently posted a video on You Tube showing you how to use Masks and Layers to enhance your picture. A new sky is also added in a very professional way and finally we end up using Nik Efex Pro for a B&W finish. All done in Elements 15, but can of course be done in Photoshop CC. If you would like to watch it please click on the image below, run time 35mins.
click the image to link to the video
iPHONEOGRAPHY – Apps reviewed by Jo Cope Image Blender – Johan Andersson For iPhone £3.99 Many apps will offer the blending of two or more images but this app gives a lot more options and control than most. There are apps for Android that will blend but as an iPhone user I cannot offer any advice on these. On opening the app for the first time in the opening screen go to the 3 dots- top left and go to settings for file type, resolution, metadata etc To start you need to bring in a background and a foreground image using the squares in the bottom of the screen before the editing tools at the top become available. The slider can then be used to adjust the balance between the two photos. The top of the screen then has 3 important tools- mask, blend style, and arrange. When one of these is selected a context specific set of tools is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Cancel will return you to the main screen.. Mask- allows you to mask over the foreground image so only the background shows through. You can alter the size of the brush, rub the mask out, change brush size and adjust background and foreground. Blend mode- simply a case of choosing the effect you want- confirm by pressing the blend mode icon and to return to the main screen. Arrange- allows you to resize, rotate and position the top image. The three dots in the bottom context menu allow some more specific adjustments and as in mask mode you can change the weighting of background and foreground strength. Save will return you to the main screen
Useful features From the 3 dots top left you can choose switch to swop the background to foreground Reset allows you to do just that to the mask or arrange Pressing the squares at the bottom of the screen allows you to add a filter to that image or remove it and swop it for another You can share and save the background or foreground as an photouseful only if you have applied a filter Flattening the blend -from the arrow square at the top of the screenmeans this now becomes the background photo so you can bring in a third shot to blend in. Finally- save, share or open your blend in another app from the arrow square.
Arboretum blend
Crosby beach and winter wonderland blend
DIG CENTRES Accolades for RPS Volunteers at the Thames Valley Digital Imaging Group Sunday 15th October 2017 was a memorable day for eight TVDIG committee members, past and present when they were presented with Certificates of Appreciation by the President of the Royal Photographic Society, Robert Albright Hon FRPS. Robert Albright was already booked as the presenter for the day and judge for our annual Millennium Cup print competition, therefore it was
seen as an opportunity not to be missed by asking him to present these RPS awards to members as a recognition for their respected and valuable service. Volunteers such as these are an essential part of running such a thriving centre of the DIG. They have all been generous with their time and energy in various fields of expertise on behalf of the TVDIG.
Members presented with a Bronze badge and Certificate to mark their four years of service were (from left to right in the above photo), David Beaumont, Laurie Pate, (Robert Albright Hon FRPS), Janet Barton, Carol Drew, Mike Reed ARPS, Alan Cross LRPS, John Scotten ARPS and Roger Norton LRPS (photo by Marilyn Taylor ARPS) It should also be noted that Carol Drew achieved this status in 2015. I think having this many awards for volunteers is quite remarkable and shows the success of the TVDIG, we truly appreciate their dedication. Report by Janice Payne ARPS
DIG WESTERN The date has been changed for the Ian Bateman event at DIG Western Group and is now being held on the 10th December. Ian will be demonstrating creative digital AV's. Ian has pioneered the making of digital AV sequences, and was the first to be awarded a Fellowship with a digitally-projected panel of sequences. He was the Chairman of the RPS International AV Festival for six years, and is a current member of the RPS Multimedia Distinctions Panel. As well as showing some of his own work, Ian will demonstrate how to make a simple AV sequence that will allow you to present your images in a creative style that can be shown on a domestic TV set as well as on a PC.
DIG SCOTLAND For our final meeting of the year we are pleased to introduce Cat Burton, a fine art photographer based near Perth who in her own words is a fan of all things dark and eerie. Cat's work is inspired by myth, folklore and gothic fantasy and have been likened to the atmosphere of Hitchcock films and she counts Edgar Allan Poe and horror movies as key influences. Her artworks are usually composite images made up of multiple original photographs. During the talk she will go through her portfolio of 12 images in her current exhibition and explain the creative process behind it and what her inspirations.
Time permiting she may also share a few of her photoshop processes. This meeting will be held at the groups normal venue at Bridge of Allan Parish Church. Sunday 12th November. Time 1.30 to 4pm - doors open at 1pm. Full details at http://rps.org/events/2017/november/12/dig-scotlandcentre---november-2017-meeting
DIG SOUTHERN
Sunday 19th November 2017 10.30 am to 4.00 pm Doors open 10.00
Greyfriars Community Centre 44 Christchurch Road BH24 1DW
Professional Landscape and
Travel Photography Unveiled. David Clapp David will be presenting his professional Landscape and Travel Photography with images from around the world. David Clapp is one of the UK’s most successful landscape, travel and architectural photographers. A jack of all trades, he began working as a writer, contributing imagery and words for photography magazines. This lead to a career as a full time professional in 2009, amassing a strong position as a global stock photographer.
David works closely with Canon UK and Canon Europe, representing Canon at numerous leading industry events like 'The Photography Show' and ‘Photokina'. His public speaking and teaching skills have extended beyond workshops to video presentation. David co-presented 'EOS Adventure: Portrait & Landscape Photography, in 2015 and also presented tutorials for the Canon EOS 6D, sent to Patagonia.
All welcome: DIG Members £3 All others £5 Tea and Coffee on arrival, Bring a packed lunch
Advanced Booking Strongly Recommended Forms available by download from www.rps.org or from
Barry Senior: email: digsouthern@rps.org T: 01425471489
BOUQUETS & BRICKBATS The DI Expo follow up survey was, in the main, very complimentary in regard to our event. The main thing that came over as an issue was the parking â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and justifiably. We had agreed with the hotel that staff would be on duty outside the entrance to direct our attendees to the overflow car park adjacent to the hotel. They failed and we had not realized this till rather too late. They did then put staff outside but by then most of you had arrived. So our apologies if you were inconvenienced. However we are pleased to say that there were more bouquets than brickbatsâ&#x20AC;Ś.. A huge thank you to you and your team for all the hard work you put into DIG and for making it very interesting and worthwhile for photographers like me. Glynis Harrison LRPS
LATEST NEWS ON NIK This good news was spotted by one of our members, Eric Begbie, and posted on our DIG Facebook.
It is worthwhile joining the DIG Facebook page as a way to keep in touch with other DIG members. Another example is from member Susan Leonard…….
For those of you Facebook doubting Thomas’s these two postings alone demonstrate the value of being a member. Remember it is a closed user Group, so only available and seen by other DIG members. To join go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/255778611506306/ and click the ‘join’ button. Our moderators will quickly validate you as a DIG member and allow you access.
SIG Link Visual Art Group, has asked us to bring the following meeting to our members attention. As it is being held in an area where we do not have a DIG Centre some of you may feel inclined to go along to this meeting. Or indeed if you particularly like photographing dogs it will be of interest to you. (Click on the image)
For our extreme technically minded members the next one is well worth a trip to London for. The ISG hold an annual â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Good Pictureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; symposia crammed packed with the very best speakers of the highest quality. One of our own DIG Committee members, Rex Waygood is a speaker there this year. (Click on the image)
SPOTLIGHT ON AN OVERSEAS MEMBER Gibraltar may be a little rock off the southern coast of Spain but we recently discovered we even have a DIG Member there. So we asked him to tell us more about himself. Leslie Linares BEM Bed ARPS My interest in photography dates back to the late 1960s, but it was not till 1974 that I took up the hobby more seriously when I joined the Gibraltar Photographic Society. I was elected Secretary of the Society in 1975, and have held this office continuously up to the present. That's 42 years! Apart from the demanding secretarial duties, I participate fully in the Society's events, outings, and regular competitions and exhibitions. I also organise and run photography courses, which bring in welcome revenue to the Society.
Geranium rotundifolium - Round-leaved Cranesbill
My photography covers many fields, but I prefer macro/close-up work, graphic images, shapes and patterns, textures, landscapes, particularly urban, etc. I don't do much of "people" photography. Over the years I have dedicated myself on a project to photograph the complete flora of Gibraltar and in collaboration with the Gibraltar Botanic Gardens published a book and are in the process of setting up a website on the subject (www.floraofgibraltar.myspecies.info/), which uses my photographs and data. I have become the local expert on Gibraltar's flora and vegetation, and get called in to give talks, conduct botanical outings, and also advise the Gibraltar Government and developers on possible impacts that any works may have on vegetation and/or habitats.
Bryum capillare - Capillary Thread-moss I obtained my LRPS in 1987, and my ARPS in 1990, the latter, obviously, on Natural History with a panel of local flowers. In 2013 I was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours, for my contribution to photography and botany in Gibraltar.
Iberis gibraltarica - Gibraltar Candituft
Mesembryanthemum crystallinum - Ice Plant
Pistacia terebinthus - Terebinth
As we approach the end of the year and Christmas comes into sight on the horizon that does not mean your DIG Committee shut up shop. We have a committee meeting in early December so if anyone has anything they would like to bring to our attention please contact us. The DIGIT Editorial team are beavering away on the next issue and it should be with you early in January 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; we needed to avoid the Christmas mail! You will of course get your DIG News in early December so again if you have anything to contribute please let me know. Regards
Janet
Janet Haines ARPS DIG Chair digchair@rps.org