O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E C A N A D I A N A S S O C I AT I O N F O R P H O T O G R A P H I C A R T
Creative Photography for Seniors Digital Black Light Photography A Memorable Thanksgiving The London Camera Club Preparing Photos for Print
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Vol. 10, No. 4 • Winter 2009
Contents
Sheena Wilkie
Editor-in-chief 14220 71 Ave. Surrey BC V3W2L1 E-mail: editor-in-chief@capacanada.ca
Allen Bargen
Publishing Editor
Jozef VanVeenen
Art Director E-mail: info@tikit.ca
Roger Partington
Advertising Manager E-mail: roger@coherentb2b.com
CANADIAN CAMERA (ISSN1206-3401) is published quarterly by the Canadian Association for Photographic Art, Box 357, Logan Lake BC V0K 1W0. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission of the publisher and author. All photographic rights remain with the photographer. Opinions expressed are those of the individual contributors. Articles and photographic portfolios are welcomed from all CAPA members. All articles should be submitted to CANADIAN CAMERA, c/o the editor-in-chief. If you wish material to be returned, include a suitably sized envelope with adequate return postage affixed. CANADIAN CAMERA and the editor assume no responsibility for loss or damage to material, regardless of cause; however, every effort will be made to return material supplied with SASE. CANADIAN CAMERA reserves the unrestricted right to edit, crop and comment editorially on all submitted material. SUBSCRIPTIONS: CANADIAN CAMERA is distributed automatically to CAPA members. Individual copies are available for $7.95. Library subscriptions cost $25.00 for four issues. For further information, contact CAPA National Headquarters, Box 357, Logan Lake BC V0K 1W0. Tel.: 1-250-523-2378 E-mail: capa@capacanada.ca Canadian Mail Publication Agreement #1665081
Allen Bargen
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Message from the President
4 In Focus 6 CAPA 2009 Annual Digital Competition 8 Y uichi Takasaka Albert Mok, ACAPA 10 Digital Black Light Photography: Sheena Wilkie
A Variant Technique Using Fluorescent Paint Focus On The London Camera Club Goes to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for its Annual Autumn Trip
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Ralph Milton Friends of Photo Art
14 20
21 22 25 26 Sheena Wilke 27 Sheena Wilke 28
Creative Photography for Seniors Merritt Trip 2009: A Memorable Thanksgiving Remembering Natalie Chapman CAPA Announcements Book Review: Spiders: The Ultimate Predators Gift Guide Preparing Photos for Print New Members
THE COVER By Yuichi Takasaka
Printed in Canada by
CAPA is a FIAP-affiliated organization.
www.capacanada.ca
CANADIAN CAMERA - 1
Message from the president Allen P. Bargen
CAPA
Officers & National Council Members Founded in 1968, CAPA is a non-profit organization for photographers, including amateurs, professionals, camera clubs, and anyone interested in photography. The aims of CAPA are to promote good photography as an art form in Canada, and to provide useful information for photographers. CAPA accomplishes this through interaction with individuals and member camera clubs and by distributing slide sets, evaluating photographs, running competitions, and publishing the quarterly Canadian Camera. CAPA also sponsors Canadian Camera Conference, an annual summer weekend of field trips and seminars held in a different city each year. CAPA is a member of the Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique (FIAP).
CAPA OFFICERS President . .............Allen Bargen Vice President .......Bill Lloyd Secretary ..............Mike Breakey Treasurer . .............Len Suchan Past President .......Jacques Mailloux
CAPA DIRECTORS Pacific Zone ..........Larry Breitkreutz Prairie Zone............Larry Easton Ontario Zone..........Bill De Meester Quebec Zone . .......Volunteer op. Atlantic Zone .........Volunteer op. Director of Competitions .........Judy Higham Director of Pictorial Imaging....Bob Ito Director of CCC.......Volunteer op.
For membership information and rates please see page 28. CAPA Membership Services Paula Allen Box 357 Logan Lake BC. V0K – 1W0 1-250-523-2378 E-mail: membership@capacanada.ca Web site: www.capacanada.ca
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Winter has arrived, and with the new season, a whole new set of photographic opportunities present themselves to us. In Vancouver, we are completing final preparations for the winter Olympics, and are well prepared to welcome the world to our bit of paradise. You can imagine the photographic excitement buzzing around local area clubs. New Olympic Venues are ready and are being well used by our athletes as they prepare for their day on the podium. The signs of seasonal change, migrating flocks flying south, Bears retiring to their dens and Squirrels storing a season’s worth of food for the coming months, have come and gone. Nature changes its outward appearance and blankets much of our great country with a fresh covering of snow. People head to ski slopes, Ice rinks and many other outdoor sports events to benefit from winter and its uniqueness. For many intrepid Canadians, this is the time to dust off, or develop new photographic skills to deal with the challenges that ice, snow and cold weather offer us. Getting outdoors becomes an exciting adventure through a w o n d e r l a n d o f r i ve r s , l a k e s a n d streams that transform themselves into new subjects to be explored and photographed. Great shadows of trees, unseen in the camera’s eye are cast upon a ridge line newly blanketed with snow, waiting to be captured by your camera. Nature reintroduces us to her wonder and beckons us to come photograph the season. CAPA camera clubs, back in action n ow, f o r s e ve r a l m o n t h s a re g re a t places to seek the help of experienced photographers who are often pleased to mentor those of us who need to develop the techniques used to shoot winter scenes. Your club may have special events planned for this time of year in the way of field trips, special event outings, or oneon-one mentoring. If you have seen the work of a fellow camera member that you respect, why not speak to that person and seek their advice. We have an amazing wealth of experience in CAPA to draw upon. Make sure you benefit from it.
Your executive has been quite busy over the past few months. We have now completed moving the CAPA website to a new host that offers us much more space and options. For example, we can now add more member galleries and make room for many other things like educational articles, club news, national and regional events and so on. Soon, we will commence work on a major facelift of the site, and a rework of our Forum, making it easier and friendlier for you to use. We welcome your feedback for things you would like to see become part of our website. In this issue of Canadian Camera Magazine you will see the results of our 2009 Digital competition. We were amazed by both the excellence of the images and the significant increase in participation in this year’s event. Look forward to another exciting theme for the 2010 competition, and join in on the excitement. Don’t forget to take advantage of the discounts CAPA negotiates on your behalf for software and photographic supplies. If you are working with HDR images, we have a special discount for members who would like a deal on Photomatix Software from HDRsoft. Drop me a note at president@capacanada.ca for the discount code, or look in the forum for it. Ditto for people who want to purchase Proshow software. The codes are located in the member’s area of the Forum on our website, or by asking me for it. And don’t forget the deals for our members at Camera stores like Henry’s. Your board is working hard to bring innovation, new ideas and events that
you want to the organization. As always, please feel free to write to me with your ideas. We all benefit from the suggestions received from our members. And don’t forget to make full use of your ability to send images to the editor of Canadian Camera to be used in Member portfolios. We also welcome your articles for consideration in future publications. What a wonderful opportunity to see your photos in our high quality magazine.
To each of you and your families, please accept my warmest wishes for a wonderful Holiday season, a blessed Christmas filled with love of family and a most happy, prosperous and productive New Year. Allen P. Bargen, FCAPA President
SUBMISSION OF ARTICLES, PORTFOLIOS AND NEWS ITEMS CAPA Members… We need submissions for upcoming issues. Canadian Camera is YOUR magazine! We welcome your articles, news items, portfolios and reviews. We do reserve the right to accept or reject material as we see fit. We will make every effort to achieve a balance of views, subject matter and geographical representation of our members. So please, submit an article about that last photo trip you took or that last nice lens you purchased. You never know, you might just get your name in print.
How to send material • Please write your article in Word format or plain text • You may mail your article and high resolution images on a CD/DVD • CD/DVD returns require a SASE suitable for return mail • You may send your article and low res photos by email to editor-in-chief@ capacanada.ca • High resolution photos can also be submitted by FTP (instructions available upon request)
• Please don’t format the text of your article. No bold, underline, bullets, indenting, or special characters • Photos must be JPG format (No RAW, TIFF, PSD, etc.) • Do not resize, final photos must be full resolution • If photos are scanned CMYK is preferable to RGB • Photos must have simple descriptive filenames and include the photographer's name, e.g. Susan_ Brown_barn_swallow.jpg
• We may not use all of the photos you submit, therefore: • Your article should not contain notes about where to place a photo • Your article should not contain wording specific to a photo • You may list your files and suggested captions after your article text • Please include your phone number, e-mail address and CAPA membership number
When to send it • Spring Issue Jan. 19 • Summer Issue April 20 • Fall Issue July 20 • Winter Issue Oct. 23 These dates are for time-sensitive material only. Submitting an article and having it accepted does not mean it will come out in the next issue.
Where to send it Canadian Camera
c/o Sheena Wilkie, Editor-in-Chief 14220, 71st Ave., Surrey, BC V3W 2L1 E-mail: editor-in-chief@capacanada.ca
CANADIAN CAMERA - 3
In Focus Sheena Wilkie, Editor-in-chief
Being the editor of your magazine is kind of like living in a constant state of Christmas. Year round, my email account is like a chimney on Christmas Eve; cool stuff just keeps flying out of it.
Like an eager youngster, I tiptoe down the message listing of my inbox. As I peer under the subject line column, numerous surprises await, and I struggle to contain my excitement; I want to tear off all the wrapping at once, but instead I proceed item by item. First, I select a b r i g h t s h i n y package covered with brilliant stars and glowing colors. Tearing open the paper, I discover Yuichi Takasaka's brilliant portfolio piece on the Northern Lights. I dig down further beneath the tree and my mouse cursor trips over tissue and ribbon to reveal a delightful a sugarplum; a delicious article by Albert Mok on ingenious black light photography techniques. I peruse the many packages (while trying to avoid the ever-present
Viagra spam messages), and in a heavy, but ornate parcel, I find the trip photos sent from the Friends of Photo Arts. What's that funny-looking item? Shake it to see what sound it makes. Peek under the corner where the paper's not taped down. I tear this one open as well, only to have my funny bone tickled and my morning filled with chuckles at Ralph Milton's humorous tips and tricks. And just as I'm about to pop out for coffee, the winning images from the annual digital competition spill out on my desktop like tiny sparkling jewels. I postpone my morning jolt to admire the stunning photographs from all across the country. I g u e s s yo u c o u l d s a y C A PA members everywhere are a bit like my very own Christmas elves, busily
working away all year long in their workshops to stuff my stockings with clever words and the juicy photographic fruits of their labours I know you're probably thinking I've either gone off the deep end or over-indulged in the Christmas eggnog. Don't worry, I'm just having fun! But on a more serious note, I'd like to thank all of you contributors for the treasures you share with me each day, and allow me share with the entire readership. Without you there would be no magazine. Photography is a gift for those who make it and those who enjoy viewing it. Thank you for sharing your gifts w i t h t h e C A PA f a m i l y. Ha p p y Christmas to you and yours, and may the New Year bring you peace and joy (and that 600mm you’ve been lusting after). g
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UP N O UR SIG Y
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CANADA’S ONLINE PHOTOGRAPHY COMMUNITY
!
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PHOTOCLUB
Featured photo essay
The elusive cougar and bear
Share Learn Inspire
Photography by Dan Newcomb
photoclub.canadiangeographic.ca
OUR PARTNERS:
CAPA 2009 Annual Digital Competition Puertas y ventanas – where the soul escapes the dreariness of everyday life, or hides in solitude to heal itself from the hurts of the world tragedies! The theme of the September 30, 2009 Annual Digital Competition was “Windows and Doors” and the entries were judged by three very experienced photographers, with a long history of judging. Our first judge was Pierre Gauthier, a CAPA trained and certified judge, and current president of the RA Photo Club, in Ottawa. Sitting at the table beside him was Garry Black, a highly successful professional stock photographer heralding from Orléans, Ontario, with years of judging experience. Our third judge, Jim Sutton, is one of only a handful of photographers to have achieved Master Level at the RA Photo Club, and has extensive experience judging competitions, while also being a CAPA trained judge. Their experience showed all through the judging event. Time and again, you would have believed these judges to be psychic, all
Per Sempre, Michael Van der Tol
World from behind doors, Zbigniew Gortel
Competition participants can login to the CAPA Digital Website www.digitalcapacanada.ca/ , using the e-mail address they used to register and the password that was generated for them, to view their score in the competition. This was designed so that all scores be kept confidential. Three entries were disqualified this year, for not being on topic. The Annual Digital Competition is a theme competition, and as such does not allow general entries. The following is a complete list of the prizes won by our first, second and third place winners, in a three-way tie. Ten participants will also receive an Honour Award Certificate from our Competitions Director, Judy Higham, commemorating their winning entry into the 2009 edition of this competition.
Wet Paint, Alan Beaton
1 2 3
FIRST PRIZE Michael Van der Tol of Stittsville, Ontario:
• Sony a330L Digital SLR Kit w/DT 18-55 f3.5-5.6 SAM Zoom Lens • Lowepro Nova 200 AW Camera Bag • Manfrotto 190XPROB Tripod w/486RC2 Ball Head • Adobe Photoshop CS4 6 - CANADIAN CAMERA
entering either the same or nearly the same score, independent of one another. We also benefited from the generous loan of high-end projection equipment, including a state-of-the-art judging apparatus using a Linux-based main database system with three wireless netbook computers, linked together by a special program written by John Elliott, a professional programming wizard and member of the RA Photo Club. The winning entries, including the honour award recipients, will be posted on the CAPA Website shortly, and will be incorporated into a short slide show, to be shown at all major CAPA events in Canada, throughout the year. As previously mentioned, Sony of Canada will also be showing these images at various venues, giving full credit to the photographers and to CAPA.
SECOND PRIZE Zbigniew Gortel of Edmonton, Alberta:
THIRD PRIZE Alan Beaton of West Vancouver, British Columbia:
• Sony Cyber-shot DSCH20 10.1MP Digital Camera w/10x Optical Zoom • Lowepro Nova 170 AW Camera Bag • Photoflex 32” Multidisc 5-in-1 w/Carry Bag • Adobe Lightroom 2
• Sony Cyber-shot DSCW270B 12.1MP Digital Camera w/5x Optical Zoom • Lowepro Nova 140 AW Camera Bag • 2 Boxes Hahnemühle Bamboo 290 FineArt Paper • Adobe Lightroom 2
Honourable Mentions
Scrapyard Window, Jacques Primeau
Apartment for Rent, Bill Hall
Abandoned to the Elements, Maggie Sale
Highrises, Jennifer Lamb
Auto Reflect, Andrew Pugh
Love comes Through The Doors, JT Tse
The support and response CAPA continues to receive from our sponsors has a major impact on the success of this competition. As our membership continues to grow by leaps and bounds, member participation and interest is increasing, making this com-
Shangri La, Jennifer Lamb
Lofty View, Brenda Nisse
Laundry Time, Neil Le Nobel
petition one of the most valued CAPA has ever hosted. Our most sincere congratulations go to all the winners. Many thanks to all of you who participated and for making our judging event so interesting and so challenging!
Broken Pane, Nigel Fletcher
See the announcement of the 2010 Annual Digital Competition in the Spring 2010 issue of your magazine! Jacques S. Mailloux
Past President CAPA 2009 Annual Digital Competition Chair
EVENT SPONSORS
Our deep gratitude and appreciation go to our sponsors for their support: Sony of Canada Ltd.; Amplis Foto Inc.; DayMen Photo Marketing; and Adobe Systems Canada. A special note of thanks is also due to Roy Hooper, for creating and maintaining our submission system, and for being so responsive to our queries; to John Elliott for providing the judging program that made it so easy to get the results quickly and error-free; and finally to the RA Photo Club for giving us access to their valuable equipment.
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Yuichi Takasaka
Yuichi Takasaka was born in Japan.
He became interested in photography in his late teens when he moved to Canada. He worked as a video cameraman in the late 1980's and began to develop an eye for a good picture while doing this job. Yuichi didn't seriously develop his photography skills until the early 1990's when he moved to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, Canada. While living there, he gained much of his expertise from conferring with professional photographers who shared their love of the craft with him.
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Since that time, Yuichi's images have appeared in various brochures and magazines, in educational books and textbooks, and on many Internet web pages, including the NASA pages and calendars. Yuichi now lives in Lumby, British Columbia, Canada and operates photography and tourism services under the business name “Blue Moon Promotions”. His work has also been featured in numerous individual and group exhibitions. He was chosen as a member of TWAN (The World at Night) from Canada. TWAN is a special project of The International Year of Astronomy 2009 and it is a global effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and UNESCO to help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and nighttime sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery. Yuichi’s love of colours in nature led him to his love affair with the Aurora Borealis. He first saw and photographed strange Lights in Jasper, Alberta in the spring of 1990. Only later did he discover that these “strange Lights” were the Aurora Borealis. After moving to Yellowknife in the Northwest
Territories, he soon found that this area is one of the best places in the world to observe the Aurora Borealis. He did a lot of experimenting trying to photograph the Lights at night, while working at a tour company during the day promoting the Lights to the Japanese market. These Lights became a part of his life. He left Yellowknife after living there for 7 years; however he still returns to lead many photography
tours every year in order to photograph yet another variation of the Lights. In recent years, Yuichi has begun creating time-lapse videos of starry skies. These noiseless HD videos are created from hundreds of DSLR files and have a fastforward look. g More of Yuichi’s photos and his time-lapse videos can be seen on his website, www.blue-moon.ca CANADIAN CAMERA - 9
Digital Black Light Photography:
A Variant Technique Using Fluorescent Paint
By Albert Mok, ACAPA Photography using fluorescent color paint reflected on objects illuminated by UV or black light has been a favorite technique for many years. Typically fluorescent colored construction papers are placed near the subject of interest and UV/ black light is used as a light source. The subject of interest is usually made of high reflective nature such as metal or glass. When properly done, the color rendition of the images would look surreal or psychedelic.
Illustration 3: Table top setting showing Black Light unit elevated on wood blocks, the black plastic backdrop, the fluorescent paint package and the glass objects.
Just for fun, I have modified this technique by directly painting the fluorescent colors onto the subject instead of relying on the reflection off a more remote source. This results in more intense and vibrant colors (Illustration 1 & 2). The table top work area has been reduced as a bonus as it is much less crowded with reflective materials (Illustration 3). I prefer using glass objects with many cut facets as the fluorescent colors are seen through the glass when the paint was applied to the back. Because of the thickness of the glass and the many facets, the brush strokes do not have to be precise as in fine art painting. There is no need to apply thick layers.
Artist’s brushes are used to apply the paint on the objects. The painted object is then placed on a sheet of continuous backdrop usually made of black plastic or polyester fabric. One must not be sloppy as the tiniest bit of paint will glow where it is not needed especially when taking slides. When shooting digital, Photoshop will take care of that. Nevertheless, that does not give you the right to be “sloppy”! I have done a variation of this technique by placing a piece of paper painted with different colors under a relatively flat glass plate (Illustration 4). The paper was cut to the size and shape of the plate and placed so that it does not show outside the plate. The plate and the paper are then separated by
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The UV/black light fluorescent tubes can be purchased at various electronic specialty or hardware stores. You can either buy a UV/black light fluorescent tube by itself and replace the regular tube in a regular fixture or buy a compact portable fixture with the UV/ black light already in place for $2030. One can also purchase Black Light standard bulbs but they are usually of lower intensity so I much prefer using the tubes. The fluorescent color paint is readily available at “Arts and Craft” stores for a few dollars. They usually come in individual plastic bottles and are water based. For beginners, one might buy a cheaper package of four or five colors (pink/red, green, yellow and blue).
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Illustration 1: Glass Mice
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llustration 4: Fish Plate with colored paper placed beneath it, separated by 4 painted half-marble glass spacers.
painted glass spacers. This time I used a larger aperture (f2.8/4) and focused on the plate so the painted background would appear more out of focus to avoid a flat look. It is also fun to play with the Hue setting to get different color renditions instead of having only the few original colors (Illustration 5). I used to use or borrow expensive crystals during my “slide taking” days (see publication in Swarovski Magazine, Winter Issue, 2003). Since I took on digital photography, I have found that virtually any glass object will do. I prefer shooting with a 50-60mm or 100-105mm macro/micro lens. The photographing is done in complete darkness under the UV/black light so a tripod is a must. It is essential to
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Illustration 2: Glass Oxen
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Illustration 5: Images as in Illustration 4 with Hue +50 added.
use either a shutter release cable or the camera’s self-timer to release the shutter. I do all the stage and camera set-up with the regular overhead light on. The field test including the exposure determination is done with the overhead light turned off. I usually do this in the evening as there is no light coming through the windows. I normally shoot in Manual Mode with an aperture set to f22 or smaller for maximal depth of field and adjust the shutter speed accordingly. Surprisingly, I leave the White Balance at Auto. I almost invariably shoot in JPEG. Shooting in RAW is up to the individual. The shutter speed is usually on the order of seconds due to the choice of small apertures, and varies with the distance from the light source to the subject of interest.
The placement of the UV/black light source is not as important. I usually place the light source on top and slightly behind of the object. One can adjust the distance by placing it on small wood blocks made from 2x4s or similar. On occasion, I have used a piece of aluminum foil to act as a reflector. With the technical features properly set up, the attention will be directed to the artistic expression of the photographer to produce the final images. I hope that this article will stimulate your interest in taking up this technique. It costs very little for the hardware and is fairly easy to set up and take down. It is something with which you should consider experimenting during the long up-coming Canadian Winter. g CANADIAN CAMERA - 11
FOCUS ON
s e o G b lu C a r e m a C The London ula s in n e P r e p p U ’s n a to Michig rip T n m u t u A l a u n n A s for it This year, members of The London Camera Club went to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for its annual autumn photography weekend. Munising Michigan, located on the shores of Lake Superior, offers fifteen waterfalls, several which are within the town limits; the Seney National Wildlife Refuge with its seven miles of drivable roads; and the spectacular Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore which is forty-two miles long, extending between Munising and Grand Marais. A big part of our weekend photo trip is finding and exploring new and remote places to photograph. It was great fun to locate the waterfalls by following map directions or, in some cases, using a GPS (even if it did lead us down potholed roads with trees blocking the way). These explorers
never did get to Rock River Waterfalls but that too is part of the adventure. That was the hard way. Other waterfalls are located right beside the roads and one need only park and walk short distances. The beautiful Wagner Falls, Munising Falls and Alger Falls are within Munising itself.
On any photography trip, there are the early risers hoping for spectacular sunrises. Up and out by 6 AM for two mornings, we were offered heavy gray skies with a minimum of light. The thirty-five-mile drive to the Seney National Wildlife Refuge was followed by a fifteen-minute film at the Visitor’s
PICTURED ROCKS NATIONAL LAKESHORE
AU TRAIN SUNRISE WAGNER FALLS
SENEY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
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WILDLIFE REFUGE SENEY
PICTURED ROCKS NATIONAL LAKESHORE- FROM MINERS CLIFF
PICTURED ROCKS NATIONAL LAKESHORE
TRAIN FALLS
SUNRISE AT AU TRAIN
WATERFALLS FALLS
The highlight of the trip was the three-hour boat ride along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Center about the Wildlife Refuge. Then we set out to drive the seven miles through the Refuge. Wonderful autumn colours enhanced the area, making the many pools and small islands great opportunities for landscape photos. Best of all, there were many trumpeter swans close enough to photograph. The highlight of the trip was the threehour boat ride along the Pictured Rocks
National Lakeshore. This Lakeshore is just as beautiful as any place in the southwest. For fifteen miles, the boat brought us close to the wonderful rock formations and spectacular colours of Michigan’s Lakeshore on Lake Superior. One could easily take hundreds of photographs, because at every turn, the two-hundred-foot cliffs changed shapes and colours. It did not matter that the
boat fought its way through waves and rain. The gray sky was the best light to bring out the amazingly rich reds, browns and yellows of the rock. Now that we are home, a slideshow of the trip with photographs from each attendee is being prepared. The show will be featured at our annual Christmas Party and everyone will receive their own copy. g
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By Ralph Milton
Creative Photography for Seniors We’ve all been put to shame by agile octogenarians who can hike farther and faster than 20-year-old Swedes. Bless them! They’ve earned their glory. This article is not for them.
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Through the window on a bus at night, I had great fun experimenting with various exposures.
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On a “photo safari” in French Polynesia, the photographer-guide had no helpful photo suggestions, but he did point out some great photo ops like these fiddlehead ferns.
I am an average, arthritic 75-yearold who keeps the local apothecary in business with a multi-colored collection of pills. They keep me going. Slowly, but going none the less. That, and all sorts of exercises and healthy food, help slow down my creeping decrepitude. And I love photography. Especially digital photography that liberates me to take as many bad pictures as I want from which I can pick the occasional good 14 - CANADIAN CAMERA
one. And it doesn’t cost me my week’s supply of Tylenol. Aging photographers like me need to develop a special set of techniques, tools and attitudes to keep our creative juices flowing. Otherwise, we’re confined to being the designated photographer at grandchildren’s birthday parties. Photo magazines sometimes are less than helpful because so often their articles are by or about athletic
youngsters (anyone under 65) who spend weeks sweltering or freezing in a blind somewhere. Or who carry a 90 pound rucksack full of lenses around the inner city. Some of us geezers still try to do that sort of thing. Last year, on a shore excursion from a cruise ship, I went on a “photo safari” in French Polynesia. I knew it would be less than wonderful when two of the eight participants said they’d never taken a picture before. One had the camera still in the box and didn’t know it needed a battery. My sympathetic heart went out to a distinguished elderly gentleman from Montreal. He spoke fluent French with our photographer-guide whom he showed the dozen lenses and other do-dads he had in a bulging pack. He was able to get off the jeep and take one picture at our first stop. He came back, flushed, puffing and sweating and looking as if he was about to have an aneurism. After that, he simply sat in the jeep and waited for the rest of
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I cloned out the ID bands on the hawk’s legs, so it would look properly wild.
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Close-up of a spring bud shot in my little garage studio.
us. Which was too bad, because those shore excursions are expensive. And while our photographer-guide was mostly preoccupied with the newbies, he was able to point the rest of us to some glorious photo opportunities. So here’s my first suggestion for travelling, especially in the tropics. If you can’t afford a flunky to carry your gear, limit yourself to two pieces of equipment. Yes. Just two. One camera
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Close up of a bursting bud taken in my garage studio.
with lens. One bottle of water. And a sun-hat. OK, that makes three. The camera should have a long enough neck strap so you can sling it over your head and under one arm and take pictures without taking it off. And so you can use the bathroom without putting it down. Murphy’s Law holds that if you put it down once – just once – you will forget it. The percentage of such cameras returned is down into negative numbers.
My camera has an 18-200 mm zoom, which takes me from almost wide-angle to almost telephoto. Yes, there are times when I mutter unprintable expletives because there’s a longer or wider lens I’d like to use. Or I badly need a tripod. But not often. With that camera and lens I get 90 percent of what I would have taken with more gear. I do have a few other lenses. Of course I do. I tell Bev, my wife, that I need them CANADIAN CAMERA - 15
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In a city park, not five minutes from our house, Bev spotted this spider web shining in the sun. I was glad I had my camera around my neck because the sunlight left the web about five minutes later.
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This was in a zoo. The doe and her faun seemed to be posing just for me. I got a dozen lovely shots.
to have a bit of status at the camera club. Which isn’t true, and she knows it. But that’s as good as some of the other arguments I’ve used to justify spending another thousand dollars. Getting a new lens is a bit like climbing Everest. You buy it because it’s there. I only use those lenses in my house, or when I’m working from my own car and don’t have to carry the beasts around. The more gear you carry, the less energy you’ll have for the expedition in question. 16 - CANADIAN CAMERA
Sometimes I fantasize about being a world-famous wildlife photographer. And I do have some really nice wildlife photographs. I’ve had a few of them printed and framed and given as gifts to relatives who know zip about photography. They ooh and ahh (at least as long as I’m within hearing range) and say how proud they will be to hang it in their living room. Sure I tell them the pic was taken in a zoo but it doesn’t seem to make any difference to them.
No, I don’t enter those zoo pictures in the “nature” category of photo competitions. That would be outright lying. The hard lesson finally sank in. I’m not shooting for the benefit of photo club judges. I am shooting to fill my own creative needs. That bit of sanguinity makes a huge difference to what I do and adds immeasurably to my enjoyment of photography. What younger, idealistic, competitive photographers might call “cheating,” I define as “creativity.” There’s nothing ethically wrong with what I do if I don’t tell lies about it. Freeman Patterson said, “You can either take photographs or make images,” which is as much license as I need. Photoshop was invented for people like me who clone out the ID tags on the hawk’s legs or the game-keeper’s plastic pail beside the orangutan. Sometimes I fiddle around until I come up with a wonderfully abstract photo that looks nothing at all like the
original image. Something Picasso might have done after a bottle or two of Spanish wine. I show them to Bev and she tries really hard to say something positive. It’s great fun! On warm summer days, I keep a full bird feeder right beside a large spruce tree in our back yard. I set my camera on a tripod, aim it at a branch near the feeder, and with cable release in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, I sit there and snap delightful shots of golden finches or white-crowned sparrows. When there are slow times without birds nearby, I pick up a photo magazine and read about frozen photographers shooting penguins in Antarctica. I’ve become something of a specialist in macro photography. That doesn’t mean I’m good at it. It only means I do it a lot and enjoy it. There’s a slow creek near our back door that is full of wild shrubs and weeds. Not many years ago, I would lie down on my stomach, my camera on a bean-bag, and shoot close ups of buds and flowers and the occasional insect. This is particularly
wonderful in the early spring when the just-opening buds display an almost unbelievable spectrum of color. The smallest buds are the most glorious, so you have to get really close to see them. Really close. Which makes focusing quite a challenge, especially if there is even a whisper of breeze around. Even the slightest movement puts it out of focus. So I’d spend hours (Well, it seemed like it!) on my belly waiting for that moment when the air was absolutely still. But as I aged, while I found I could still get down to that prostrate position, getting up verged on impossibility. Sometimes, after a couple of futile attempts, I’d wonder how long it would take them to find my corpse face-down in the middle of the Oregon Grape. And would my family have the sense to check the pictures I had just taken and show that glorious dragon fly at my memorial service? So I got “creative.” Now I wander down the creek, whistling nonchalantly, with a tiny plastic bag in one hand and a small pair of scissors in the other. When
I find one of those marvelously colored buds, I look furtively in all directions, snip it off, and hide both bud and scissors inside my multi-pocketed Tilley vest. I set up a small counter-top studio in my garage. With the light from an obsolete slide projector and some white cardboard reflectors, I manage some pretty decent illumination for my purloined buds. And I can do all this with the camera set at a comfortable working height, and as slow a shutter speed as I need, because there isn’t a breath of air moving. There’s a small nameless gizmo that Nikon (and others) must have invented with us visually challenged seniors in mind. It’s a periscope kind of thing that slides onto your viewfinder. With it, you can see through your viewfinder at some otherwise neck-breaking heights. I use it in my little garage studio because with the flick of a switch it magnifies (2X) and makes it possible for my ancient blood-shot eyes to get a tack-sharp focus – which is tricky when you are in that close.
LIFE'S work
The eyes of experience PHOTO CONTEST AND EXHIBIT Open to all Ontario Seniors
Entry closing date: March 31, 2010 Exhibit dates: May 31-June 4, 2010 Commerce Court West, Toronto Sponsored by
LIFE Institute, Ryerson University (Learning Is ForEver) (See the website for details)
www.lifeswork.ca CANADIAN CAMERA - 17
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When you can’t hire an assistant, you go on walks with your grandchildren. I got granddaughter Zoë to take a run at these semi-tame ducks near our house, and fired several dozen shots as they flew past me.
There’s a bit of unwritten fiction among photographers, that the harder it is to get the picture the better the quality. The artistic value goes up one notch for each mile hiked to get it. Which everyone knows is not true, but if you admire a deep wilderness or wildlife photo, the first thing the photographer tells you is how hard it was to achieve. “I had to hang by my toes under an ice-shelf at 14,000 feet on the Matterhorn in a 90 mile an hour wind!” If it’s not true, why is that relevant? As a senior, I reverse that. The easier it is to get, the better the photo. So over the years I’ve put together a Project2:Layout mental list of photos I want to9:21 take AM 1 2/23/09
inside my own house – designs and patterns cast by sunlight through the window – the crystals in the glassware – still life designs of raisins and salt crystals. My goal is to shoot a masterpiece during a commercial break in a football game with a beer in one hand. I stumbled on the reality of great photo ops in your own home at a photography course during the years we lived in New Jersey. The instructor gave each student three rolls of black & white film, and told us to bring back 20 “meaningful pictures” taken in a part of our house that we spent time in every Page 1 day.
I fussed and complained and finally settled on the bathroom. Which generated this bit of conversation. “Mom. What’s Dad doing in the bathroom?” “Taking pictures.” “Of what?” “Don’t ask, honey. Just don’t ask.” I got some strange looks at the lunch table, but I came up with 20 photos. None of them award-winning, but all of them within the instructor’s “meaningful” category. And no, in case you are wondering, there were no photos of my own anatomy. (Shame on you for even thinking such things!) The exercise taught me how much design, pattern, colour, texture there is in even a modest house like ours. To say nothing of house plants and the occasional bouquet of flowers. So even if I should find myself in a wheelchair, you won’t hear me complaining that I lack subject matter. A trip to the local tourist bureau and a bit of time on the net turned up literally hundreds of sites within an easy drive of my house – interesting places where I can park my car and walk easily back and forth to the photo sites. I have all my gear in the car, but I only carry what I specifically need for a particular shoot. When I get weary, I lower the back on a car seat and have a siesta. The biggest barrier preventing many seniors from doing creative photography is psychological. “Because I can no longer
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Sunset from a parking lot near Phoenix, Arizona. You don’t need to hike into untracked wilderness to get great photos.
do everything I used to do, I can’t do anything,” they whine. I know that doesn’t make sense but you’d be surprised how many seniors think that way. I have three little words of advice. Get over it! Never mind what you can’t do. Focus on what you can do. Which is plenty! T h e w a t c h w o rd f o r g e r i a t r i c photographers is KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid! If you remember that little formula, you can be as creative as any muscular 25-year-old. There are no significant limits to your photographic art. Here’s how you apply that KISS formula. First of all, don’t buy a multi-thousand dollar camera that does everything except make frozen daiquiris. Leave those for the young guys with too much money who can read instruction manuals and actually remember what they say. Unless you are a technophile who loves all those bells and whistles, stick with a good camera, an SLR, in the one to two thousand dollar range. You really don’t want to spend your life trying to figure out all the settings on those expensive jobs. And get one good zoom lens. Not too big. Similar to the 18-200mm zoom I have. Lenses are the heaviest part of the camera and you have to carry the beast around. If you find even such a camera daunting, get a decent point and shoot camera. It’s amazing how good they are.
Or if you like the look and prestige of one of the big, black jobbies, just set the little dial to “auto.” Then it becomes an expensive “point and shoot,” but who’s to know? And you’ll get almost as many good photos as those of us who fuss over dials and settings. Those cameras are technological marvels with dozens of little computers built into them that often make better decisions than we humans ever could. You paid for all that. Why not use it? And Photoshop. The same principle applies. You can get the big version of Photoshop and spend your life trying to remember how to do all those great things. Or you can get Photoshop Elements which is a whole lot cheaper and has everything you need to turn those pictures into beautiful images. A few of the folks at the photo club may sniff when you tell them you are using Elements. But not the really accomplished photographers. Any seasoned and wise photographer knows that the equipment you use means zip. It’s only the images you produce that count. Photography is “the art of seeing,” to quote Freeman Patterson again. If you work at it, you’ll get better at this art of “seeing.” It’s not about having 20/20 vision. It’s about understanding what it is that makes a photo a beautiful image. As for the few who think good photography has to do with expensive gear, let their snippy remarks roll off
your aging shoulders. Shrug and smile. That’s the essential skill you need as a senior photographer. If you can’t manage that, perhaps you should find a different hobby. Crokinole maybe. One way to overcome the psychological hang-ups that afflict us seniors is to nurture a lively sense of humor. Humor is not the opposite of seriousness. You can be laughing your head off and still be completely serious about what you are doing. Humor is the opposite of despair. Of dejection. Of depression. Of insecurity. So learn to laugh. Primarily at yourself. Especially if you are part of a photo club where they have judging nights. Especially when the masterpiece you entered gets shot down in flames. That happens to even the most accomplished photographers. If you can laugh at yourself – if you chuckle at the silly little status issues – if you know that photographic excellence is highly subjective – if you know that the only real judge of your photos is you – nobody else – then you’ll have great fun as a photographer. And your photographic art will become deeply satisfying. No matter how old you are. g
Ralph Milton is a retired writer living in Kelowna, BC, and an active member of the Central Okanagan Photo Society (COPS). He’s lived and worked in various parts of Canada, the Philippines and New York, and travelled the world as a media consultant, mostly in radio and TV. He is the author of more than a dozen books, hundreds of magazine articles and the recipient of two honorary doctorates. He’s married to Rev. Beverley Milton, a retired minister in the United Church, the father of three children and grandfather of two.
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By: Friends of Photo Art
Merritt Trip 2009: A Memorable Thanksgiving
Merritt BC, a community 270 kilometers northeast of Vancouver has always been a photographer’s paradise for vibrant fall colours, except for this year. The reason is that British Columbia experienced an unusually hot summer, with record-breaking high temperatures and minimal rainfall.
In the Woods, Patrick Poon
O
ur group of nineteen photographers spent the Thanksgiving weekend in Merritt intending to capture the beautiful colours with our cameras. To our astonishment, the fall colours that we are familiar with were hard to find. The yellow leaves were sparse and scanty; a lot of the green leaves had turned brownishblack and had started to fall. The environment was harsh looking, the landscape desolate and bleak. Over the years we have become too lazy and too dependent on settings delivered by the perfect weather. Hence, we had to push ourselves to work harder, to see beyond the obvious. As a result, we managed to photograph more diverse subject matter that we have overlooked in the past. Although the fall colours in Merritt were disappointing, we nevertheless made it a fruitful and prolific trip. The experience and challenge were priceless, as they have broadened everyone’s horizons, as well as our ability to look further. We put our brains to work and effectively made lemonade out of lemons! g 20 - CANADIAN CAMERA
Frost at Lake, Frederick Choy Parched Solitude, Angie Lau
Old But Still Standing, Leona Isaak Subdued colours, Jenny Wong
A Rare Breed, Edward Lui
Kevin Chu
On the Look Out, Raymond Lo
Remembering Natalie Chapman Excerpted from Natalie’s website by U. Easterbrook From her early teens, Natalie always had a camera in her hand, taking pictures of friends. As a young adult she became more interested in documenting family and friends' events and special occasions. In the early 80's she inherited, and began taking courses to learn about, an SLR camera. Always up for a new challenge, she was 'inspired' and began to learn to SEE through the viewfinder in a different way. She had an artistic bent, and had been working with charcoal, pastels and watercolours. Once in photography, she found her creative niche and passion took over! She continued taking workshops, seminars, special presentations, and joined photo clubs in both Canada and the U.S. She was a member of the North Shore Photographic Society, before moving up to Vernon. She served as an Executive member of several Photo Clubs and Executive officer for CAPA. Although she felt that film is still a superior medium, she succumbed to the digital camera. But whichever medium she worked in, she was creative: she explored, and gave workshops in black light photography and microscopy. She loved travel and nature - they were her favourite subjects to photograph. She found creative, off the wall, and abstract work most challenging and it often gave the greatest satisfaction, because it
brought out the artistic side of her personality. She said: “So often we forget about the art; we're so busy with the technical aspects. Then when something with a WOW factor emerges, we remember: Oh yes! I'm an artist, aren't I? Not just a technician!" She sold her w o r k p r i v a t e l y, to publishers and through an art gallery. At the 10th anniversary of Artwalk, an annual event held in Winfield, she was honoured as the founder of the event’s Photography section. She received the Maple Leaf Award (MCAPA) from CAPA in recognition of her photographic achievement and service. She won numerous ribbons, awards and medals for achievements in photographic competitions. “The image has to stir your soul somehow. Many elements make a good
Natalie amassed a collection of approximately 50,000 35mm slides of BC over the past 20 years. She photographed ten zones of BC from the Queen Charlotte Islands to the southern border and every area in between, patterning her BC Collection after the Beautiful BC Travel Guide. She recently donated her collection and copyright thereof to the Vancouver Public Library Special Collections Division. Anyone wishing to see these images can do so by visiting the VPLSC division on the 7th floor of the VPL in downtown Vancouver. She wanted to leave a legacy of her hard work, where it might be useful and appreciated, long after she is gone. Natalie posthumously received the Certificate of Honour at the last CAPA AGM. g
“Seeing beauty in one’s surroundings is an art in itself: abstracting from the canvass of life and taking that special vision into a photograph.” — Natalie Chapman photograph: composition, exposure, technical proficiency; but it still has to speak to you. There is impact in a good photograph that instantly elicits an inner response!”
To see her work, visit http://www.gallerydir.com/cgi-bin/gd/gd.exe/ARTIST?ID=8 CANADIAN CAMERA - 21
ANNOUNCEMENT
Appointment of Hannelie Swanepoel Over the past few years, CAPA has formed a close relationship with The Photographic Society of South Africa (PSSA). To continue strengthening that relationship, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Hannelie Swanepoel as CAPA Liaison between the Canadian Association for Photographic Art (CAPA) and the Photographic Society of South Africa (PSSA). In this role, Hannelie will continue to develop the already strong relationship we have with PSSA. Hannelie lives in Jasper, Alberta while in Canada and Polokwane, Limpopo while in South Africa. She commutes back and forth every three months. Hannelie joined CAPA a few years ago when she and her husband Braam first came to Jasper, Alberta where he is a Doctor.
Here are some of Hannelie's photographic interests. • She started photography in 1994 • Obtained Associateships (APSSA) in color prints and slides (from PSSA) • Obtained a Fellowship (FPSSA) in slides (from PSSA) • Attended various courses, seminars, workshops and congresses • Involved in teaching photography and Photoshop through workshops • Actively involved in club photography in South Africa (Pietersburg Photo Club, MASTER silver) • Actively involved in competitions both at national and international levels (won various medals and awards) • Judged several competitions and salons • Public Relations Officer for PSSA for three years • Served on the Board of Directors of PSSA for two years • Member of both CAPA and PSSA • Commuting between Canada and South Africa every three months • Competes in CAPA Digital competitions Hannelie advises, Portrait photography is my passion. There is beauty in every person and it is up to the photographer to capture that something special. I love to take wedding pictures – it gives me great pleasure to share those very special moments in a couple’s life with them. To capture the essence of nature makes me a whole person whether it is wildlife, birds, insects or all the amazing landscapes around us. 22 - CANADIAN CAMERA
I find action photography very fulfilling - my preference is skiing (water in the summer and snow in the winter!). I love to play with my camera as well as on computer to explore my creative side. The equipment I use is a Nikon D300 with lenses varying from 12-800mm as well as Photoshop CS4. I am lucky to have a husband who introduced me to photography, who shares my love for photography, who is also a vivid photographer and who is my best judge, tutor and competitor… Depending on where she is, Hannelie can be reached at ADDRESS: Box 3306, Jasper, Alberta, T0E1E0, CANADA Box 3339, Polokwane, Limpopo, 0700, SOUTH AFRICA PHONE: 7808527288 (Canada) +27152988569 (South Africa) EMAIL: hanneliesw@gmail.com Please join me in welcoming Hannelie to CAPA as our liaison between CAPA and PSSA. Allen Bargen President, Canadian Association for Photographic Art
CAPA Judging Course Are you interested in learning how to evaluate and score photographic images or becoming a trained Judge? CAPA is pleased to offer a brand new course that will teach you how to look at an image, comment on its strengths and opportunities, and how to correctly score it at Club and CAPA competitions. You will quickly learn how to: • Identify The Strengths and weaknesses in a photograph • See the message the photographer intends • Spot the criteria that makes a photograph great • Understand the Techniques used to create the image • Set aside your own personal bias when evaluating • Apply a fair and impartial score to an image • Understand what judges look for in your photography • Discover new rules for evaluating photography • Know why it's ok to break rules for great photography • Qualify to become a CAPA Certified Judge Courses are now being planned and implemented across Canada. For more information on how to register for a course, or to find out if one is being offered in your area, please contact Allen Bargen at president@capacanada.ca or phone 604-270-1137
ANNOUNCEMENT
Appointment of Lynda Miller
Appointment of Jim Barnsley
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Lynda Miller to the position of CAPA District Representative for the Okanagan/Interior of BC. Lynda has been actively involved in photography in the Okanagan region for many years. She has served as President of the Central Okanagan Photographic Society and has been active in the Okanagan Mainline Photographic Council. For the past eight years Lynda has been working extensively with Photoshop, and to hone her skills, she has attended professional development workshops at Image Explorations on Vancouver Island. She enjoys helping others of all ages discover the possibilities of photography, and what is possible with their images using Photoshop CS4, Photoshop Elements and Corel Painter. Her current favourite project is creating delicate artistic flower images from x-ray film, utilizing her knowledge of, and the immense versatility of the above image editing and creating programs.
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Jim Barnsley, from Saskatoon to the position of CAPA District Representative for Central Saskatchewan. Jim Barnsley first used a bakolite 127 camera at the age of 10. He would often shoot family gatherings, family pets and friends and was soon hooked. By highschool, documentary, portraiture and the darkroom were natural elements for him. The support of good teachers and family was a bonus to nurture his photography. Jim is a graduate of Edmonton’s Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Photography. NAIT was a full growth experience. The summer between the two school years was spent with Murray Gibson, of Gibson Photo. Murray was a fine friend and supporter of Saskatoon photographers. After graduating, Jim went knocking on doors. He made such a ritual of appearing at the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, they had to hire him just to stop the bother. After a few months of summer work, a job at CFQC TV presented itself. Working for less money and more work, what was their not to like? He went for it. Three years of shooting and processing TV news on 16mm mag stripe film, was an adventure, to say the least. Chemistry and f: stops were all magic to everyone in TV, nobody else understood. During this time Jim would keep a B/W darkroom, with some colour. Television would evolve through tube cameras, ¾ inch tape, Beta, chip cameras and DV digital. After thirty years, it is still fun to get up, go to work and wonder what he will be shooting that day! When Digital photography arrived, he knew it was time to jump in. Not as an experimental user, but an early adopter of this exciting technology. Digital cameras revitalized his love of photography. Jim is a long term member of the Saskatoon Camera Club, where new friends, fun and learning continue to this day. CAPA offers a new, higher level of camaraderie and workmanship for us all, let’s enjoy.
CAPA District Representative for the Okanagan/Interior of BC
Lynda will network with all of the clubs in the Okanagan, including; • Central Okanagan Photographic Society • Kelowna Kamloops Photo Arts Club • Kamloops The Lightroom • Kelowna The Osoyoos Photo Club • Osoyoos Summerland Camera Club • Summerland The Shuswap Photo Arts Club • Salmon Arm Vernon Camera Club – Vernon Please join me in congratulating Lynda as she assumes this challenging position. lynda-miller@shaw.ca Larry Breitkreutz Director CAPA Pacific Zone
CAPA District Representative for Central Saskatchewan.
Jim can be reached at : 306-955-9249 or E-Mail jim.barnsley@sasktel.net ; www.picturenuts.com
capa@capacanada.ca www.capacanada.ca Tel. (250) 523-2378
Please join me in welcoming Jim to his new position Larry Easton, Prairie Zone Director
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ANNOUNCEMENT
Appointment of Roger Partington CAPA Advertising Manager I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Roger Partington to the position of CAPA Advertising Manager, effective October 1st, 2009. Roger N. Partington, B.Sc., MBA 92 Abbeywood Trail, Don Mills, ON M3B 3B5 Res: 416.447.9254 Cell 416.258.7298 roger@coherentb2b.com
BIOGRAPHY Roger Partington’s career spans over 25 years of achieving marketing and sales results within business to business markets. As a marketer, he applies a disciplined analytical approach to relating buyer behaviour to the activity and communications within the sales process. As a leader in roles ranging from strategy to business development, his marketing approach bridges what could be, to how can we achieve it. Roger brings extensive leadership experience within a major electrical products distributor. From this unique industry vantage point he oversaw numerous product launches and developed and managed all varieties of marketing programs, sales tools and promotions. He has a deep understanding of the interaction between marketing and field level sales. He knows the challenges that need to be overcome for products and manufacturer lines to succeed. As an executive member and Chair of the Supply and Distribution Council of the Canadian Electro Federation he has worked first hand with the key challenges and change forces affecting manufacturers and their distribution channel partners Earlier in his career he led the successful development and implementation of a competitive strategy that succeeded in dramatically improving company profitability during a recession. He also led strategy and market research studies focusing on energy consumption and customer needs within large energy consumer industries such as mining, automotive and petrochemicals. With significant exposure to diverse industries from construction to utilities, and leadership experience within manufacturing, distribution and services, he has the perspective to bring orig-
inal approaches to market opportunities. A constant learner, intensely curious about technology, customer behaviour and communications, Roger has consistently been able to distinguish his employers from their competitors to capture customer attention in a crowded market place. Roger thrives in a team environment. He enjoys exploring and debating problems bringing relevant analytics and theory into the discussion. He recognizes that successful execution takes leadership and commitment and is always looking for the key ideas that can coalesce into a powerful action plan. Skilled at mentoring, willing to share knowledge, capable of capturing valuable input from diverse sources, Roger brings the team skills to ensure that all the stakeholders are included and committed. His philosophy is that work is meaningful, that success depends on all of us. Allen P. Bargen, FCAPA
Announcement All CAPA Clubs in the Pacific Zone (BC and the Yukon) are invited to participate in the CAPA 2010 Print Competition to take place in Richmond BC on April 25th, 2010. Hosted by the Richmond Photo Club, this important annual Print competition offers individual club members the opportunity to win CAPA medals for their work. Posters and invitations to the event will be sent to all Pacific Zone clubs in the New Year. For additional information, please email RPCInfo@capacanada.ca. 24 - CANADIAN CAMERA
BOOK REVIEW
Spiders: the ultimate predators By Stephen Dalton, 2008. Firefly Books, Richmond Hill, Ontario and A&C Black, London, UK. 208 pages. $CAN 34.95 hardcover. Review for Canadian Camera Magazine by Robb Bennett, Oct 2009 Noted arachnologist and photographer Fred Coyles’ response is a good summation of Dalton’s new book – “’Spiders ...’ is a delightful contribution to nature photography and writing (and a bargain, to boot).” Even if you don’t know his name, it is virtually certain that you are familiar with one or more of Dalton’s world-famous stop-action images of mammals, birds, herptiles, and insects. The very small size
of most spiders, their confusing array of prey capture and other behaviours, the near invisibility of their webs, and perhaps most importantly, the fact that Dalton is (or rather, was) arachnophobic combined to keep spiders out of his viewfinders for many years. I read the book back to front. The Postscript provides a brief and enjoyable description of the evolution of the book (and of Dalton from arachnophobe to arachnophile), followed by a short list of classic and recent spider literature. Because we live in an electronic age, some important websites are listed as well. “Photographing Spiders”, the chapter preceding the Postscript, reveals that Dalton’s leap was made in 2002. Until that point film definitely had many advantages over digital – after 2002 that was no longer true and thus Dalton hasn’t “exposed film since” then. In simple prose, Dalton explains the advantages of digital, the pros and cons of digital formats, and a series of simple but important tips for achieving good results with spider subjects. The remaining chapters present the real meat of the book: images of spiders and enjoyable accounts of their natural history. The Introduction, along with outlining some basic ecological facts and Dalton’s philosophy of life, explains the layout of the book. Dalton concentrates on northern hemisphere spiders and mostly on relatively large beasts. He has grouped
his images and natural history accounts into eight chapters according to behaviour patterns; such as nocturnal hunting, webbuilding (“orderly” and “disorderly”) and “noncomformists”. This is a user-friendly way to present spiders, and Dalton’s prose is engaging and pleasurable reading. This is essentially a book of photographs and all but two pairs of facing pages feature at least one high quality image. Only one “dud” caught my eye, heavily outweighed by the hundreds of other images ranging from “nice” to “Oh! Wow!” On the other hand, grammatical, spelling, and typographical errors are common enough to be irritating. Careful proof-reading would have eliminated all or most of these errors. But I can live with them considering that this is not a high price item. I like this book. If you like natural history photography and prose, probably you will be happy with this book, too. g
capa@capacanada.ca www.capacanada.ca Tel.(250) 523-2333
CAPA Members
PUT YOUR AD IN THIS SPACE You can reach new customers with your ad in Canadian Camera. Your message will be seen by serious photographers across Canada at a reduced ‘Members Only’ price of $50.00 (B&W) per issue.
Contact: capa@capacanada.ca
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Gift Guide Datacolor Spyder3Express™ u The Spyder3Express™ adjusts the color on your monitor so your photos appear more accurately. Easy-to-use right out of the box, this award winning proven technology helps you calibrate your display - just like professionals. It is a revolutionary simple monitor color correction tool that automatically adjusts the color of your monitor so what you're seeing is more true. www.daymen.com
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Lensbaby – A Creative Effects Lens System Attach the Lensbaby Composer to your DSLR and expand your creative levels, just by shifting focus or applying one or a combination of the Lensbaby accessories, such as the macro and wide-angle lenses. The Lensbaby Composer ball and socket configuration delivers smooth selective focus photography with unparalleled ease. www.lensbaby.ca Slik Sprint Pro II u Lightweight and perfect for travel, this all metal 4 section tripod folds to a compact 18.5 inches and weighs just under 2lbs. The ball head has quick release plate so it can stay mounted to your camera. The speed-release leg locks make for quick and easy set up. www. daymen.com
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Acme Made Stella Lunch box The Lunch Box is a chic camera case specifically designed to protect most DSLR camera. The fully padded interior has a soft tricot lining to keep your camera and a few essentials well-protected and quickly accessible. The front flap is made from water resistant material. www.acmemade.com
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Lowepro Versapack 200AW The Lowepro Versapack 200’s inventive design offers a multitude of ways to pack and quickly access camera gear and personal items. It’s lightweight and will hold everything needed for an urban or wilderness day trek. www.lowepro.com
www.daymen.com 26 - CANADIAN CAMERA
Preparing Photos for Print BY SHEENA WILKIE Sheena Wilkie is the Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Camera magazine, a professional photographer and a photography instructor. Her work can seen at www.sheena.ca and www.photogurus.ca When film was popular, most photographers had it easy when it came to getting photos printed. With the exception of photographers who had their own darkroom, we all took our photos to a lab, asked for a specific size, and left the rest to the experts. And up until this decade, slides were the standard way to provide photos for many competitions as well as inclusion in printed publications such as this one. If we shot negative film, we might be able to submit the prints produced from it. We didn't send unprocessed negatives; we wouldn't know what they looked like, and nobody would want to deal with processing someone else's photos. These days, many of us have made a transition from film to digital photography, and processing photos is an activity for which photographers now have far more responsibility. As most of us are finding out, walking into a lab (or a big box store), and handing someone a memory card will often result in prints which are passable but not great. And because raw images are today's unprocessed negatives, we really must process and output them appropriately before sending to a publisher, a skill which is not found in camera manuals. The following guidelines and steps will not cover the conversion of raw files, nor the many possible ways of manipulating a photo. We will only concern ourselves here with the output process. Of course there is no one true method of digital output; once you understand it, there is room for personal preferences. Consider this one starting point for someone who has not yet wrapped their head around the subject. First, let's discuss the importance of pixels. The pixel dimensions (resolution) of a digital file determine how large it can be printed. To use this magazine as an example, our pages measure 8.5 by 11 inches. If we want to print one of your photos on a full page (or the cover), your file would need to at least 2550x3300 pixels. This is the size produced by a camera with an 8.4 megapixel sensor. The smallest size we are likely to use for a photo is 1/4 page, which requires 1275x1650 pixels, or about 2.1 megapixels. Photos with fewer pixels than this can only be printed at diminutive sizes which won’t do them justice. Second, on the important subject of resizing, or resampling: Don't do it. Increasing the number of pixels by upsampling may seem like a way to meet the pixel requirements of a larger print size, but the new pixels added by upsampling do not add new detail, and the print will not be sharp. Don't downsample either. Labs and publishers will downsample as necessary for their output devices, and repeated resampling reduces the sharpness of your photo. Third, what about cropping? Keep in mind that if you crop your image, you reduce the number of pixels it contains. This is important when submitting to a magazine. Since magazines may need to crop your image for layout purposes, it is generally best to send the uncropped image and give the designer the most pixels to work with. On the other hand, when preparing an image that you plan to print at a specific size, it is almost always necessary to
crop, at least slightly. If you do not, the lab doing your printing will do it for you, without any consideration for your composition. To crop an image in Photoshop for 8.5x11" printing: 1. First, choose the crop tool from the toolbox. 2. Set the width to “11 in” and the height to “8.5 in” in the Options bar (reverse these for a vertical orientation).
3. Make sure to include the “in” (but without quotes). 4. Click and drag from near the top-left corner of the photo toward the lower-right and release. 5. Adjust the crop box by dragging the square points at the corners. When you’re happy with the crop, press Enter.
Finally, whether you are taking your photos to a lab, or sending them to a magazine, you must save them in a particular format. In most cases, JPEG is acceptable, and it's easy to do with Photoshop. 1. Go to File>Save As. Choose JPEG as the Format. Enter an appropriate name such as yourname_ subject.jpg and click Save.
2. the dialog window that pops up, choose the highest quality setting and click OK. g
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M E M B E R S H I P A P P L I C AT I O N F O R M
NEW MEMBERS
Canadian Association for Photographic Art L’Association canadienne d’art photographique
New Members and Donations July 1, 2009 to October 22, 2009
US AND INTERNATIONAL
Shahriar Davachi - Iran Gissou Moradmand Kargar - Iran Marc Gagnon FL,United States
ATLANTIC ZONE: James Colwell Peter Gergely Larry Kelly Mark Sloan
ONTARIO ZONE:
Richard Andreychuk Tahereh Barati David Barcroft Mike Campbell Todd Dailey Barbara DeJonge Brian Duggan Fergus & District Camera Club Monica Fitzpatrick David Fong Grand River Imaging Photographic Society Lynn Heinitz Sherrene Kevan Larry Lanigan Pete Liukaitis Scott Macquarrie Nick Mares Eleanor Outscherenko Alicja Parlak Roger Partington Bruce Ritchie David Robinson Andy Roefs Craig Steley Grant Te Brugge Jonathan Te Brugge Victoria Te Brugge Anna Terryberry Wesley Terryberry Russ Thom Rod Trider Steve Vukovic Val Woodward
PACIFIC ZONE:
George Andrade Nafiseh Asgari-Tabari Jason Beattie Russell Beuker Comox Valley Camera Club Thorsten Gohl Travis Goodridge Man-Kay Koon Derwyn Lea Alan Milnes Evelyn Nodwell Ted Nodwell Karen Pacheco George Reamsbottom Connie Robson Denise Sheridan Michael Termuende Lee Treloar Nelda Turner
PRAIRIE ZONE: Doug Dalton Kristine Dalton Ronald Levasseur Anthony Neilson Stewart Scott Pamela Wilson
QUEBEC ZONE: Francine Bigras Nicole Campeau Laurie Picard Jacques Primeau
DONATIONS
Don Brown G. Harry Brown Mr. & Mrs W. Abbott Rick Marotz Douglas Bingham Gail Courtice Lynn McCaslin Mr.& Mrs.Winkleman
Mail or send completed form to: Canadian Association for Photographic Art CAPA Membership, Box 357, Logan Lake BC. V0K 1W0 1-250-523-2378 • E-mail: membership@capacanada.ca (Please print clearly) New member o Renewal o Membership # Date M D First Name Last Name Additional Family Members Address City Prov
Y
Apt.# Postal Code
Phone E-mail Website CAPA Club Affiliation TYPE OF MEMBERSHIP: Individual $ 55.00 $ Family (two members) $ 70.00 $ Family (three members) $ 80.00 $ Family (four members) $ 90.00 $ Two year membership $105.00 $ Three year membership $155.00 $ Students (full time) $ 25.00 $ USA $ 65.00 $ International $ 75.00 $ Coupon # Enclosed Canadian $ All prices include GST - GST #R119051415 Referred by Membership # (If Available) Credit card service available online or at Membership Services Online registration available at www.capacanada.ca Please make cheques payable to: Canadian Association for Photographic Art, CAPA MEMBERSHIP Box 357, Logan Lake BC. V0K 1W0
1-250-523-2378 E-mail: membership@capacanada.ca
o VISA o MASTERCARD Credit card Number Expiry Date Signature Current o CAPA Volunteer o Want to Volunteer Area of Interest: o Digital o Film o AV Shows o Other
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MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES FOUR ISSUES OFCANADIAN CAMERA . ALL MEMBERSHIPS ARE FOR 12 MONTHS.
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