Blackwood Photographic Club of South Australia Inc.

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21-Apr-2013: Gorge Wildlife Park – Photographing Wet Animals

I had received a lot of in coming mail from people excited to be going on the club excursion to the Gorge Wildlife Park. It looked to be a big event – perhaps bigger than the outing to old Port Willunga. Saturday was quite sunny and a delightful day. On the Sunday morning however I awoke to torrential rain. It had set in a big way and was not letting up. The weather radar showed wave after wave of rain as a depression had settled in over the Adelaide region. Reluctantly I conceded that it was all over. I sent out an e-mail advising all to give the excursion a miss.

Later that afternoon I drove over to the gorge in case any had missed the e-mail and foolishly set off. To my amazement there was a contingent of 4 or 5 eagerly paying their entrance fee, cameras at the ready. “Hadn’t you got my e-mail?” “Oh yes, we got the e-mail, but we thought it might blow over and so we turned up anyway”. This was going to be a weird kind of day. I went in with Ron and Howard, meeting Kim and Ken and his contingent inside.

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How do you photograph animals in the rain?
I suggested we retire to the shelter of the covered aviary, a large tin shed where we sheltered from the worst of the rain for over an hour or more. It was hard taking shots in the gloom. The birds however were interesting. Eventually it cleared a little and we were able to venture out and get a few photos. Despite the difficulty everyone seemed to enjoy the challenge of the difficult conditions.

One of the skills was in making the bars of the cage disappear. This is not too hard with a telephoto lens when you stand close to the cage and the animal is in the centre of the enclosure. However if the animal is large, standing close to the wire and the wire is lit up by sunlight, you might as well forget it. Sometimes it can make you swear. It seemed that a lot of learning was taking place as we mimicked each others style and tried different shots.

Eventually the rain let up, just as it was time to head home. It was hard to believe that they were telling me what a successful outing it had been. Needless to say I did enjoy interacting with the animals.

James Allan

Posted by ChrisS | 19/05/2013 | Categories: Blackwood Photography Club News, Club outings | 1 Comment

Crossing Of Paths – A Meetup with Tea Tree Gully Camera Club – April 7th 2013

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Part of the fun of being involved with a Photography or Camera club is the enjoyment you get sharing your passion with others who feel the same. Can you imagine how much more fun it is when 2 clubs get together?

On Sunday the 7th of April, BPC were invited to enjoy an afternoon of photography at Port Adelaide with the like minded people of the Tea Tree Gully Camera Club. Approximately 6 BPC members were in attendance and approximately 10 from Tea Tree Gully.

It was a very pleasant afternoon, exploring the treasures around the Port, Capped off with an interesting sunset (dare I say, enhanced with a massive Jet contra trail, which I failed to capture!).

Tea Tree Gully seem to be our cross town kindred souls, who seem to share similar values when it comes to photography and photography/camera clubs. If you would like to find out more about there club, you can view their website @ http://ttgcamera.blogspot.com.au/

Needless to say, I think a return invite will be very much in order for the spring!

Ashley

Posted by Hoffy | 16/05/2013 | Categories: Club outings | Comments Off on Crossing Of Paths – A Meetup with Tea Tree Gully Camera Club – April 7th 2013

Science and Technology – 11th April 2013

Eric Budworth_Different Recording

The competition subject was Science and Technology and, while some such as Eric embraced it, specifically setting up still life shots to illustrate the theme, many retreated to the ”safety” of Open competition, with the largest number of Open Colour Print entries in four years! There were a number of Nature Science photographs and quite a few focusing on structural/mechanical/engineering technology. The judge, Peter Phillips, drew our attention to the subjective nature of judging photography by simply taking votes on our favourite colour and pointing out that we all see things differently. He gave constructive comments and overall created a positive atmosphere. He seemed particularly impressed with the Colour Prints, showing appreciation for the diversity of subjects and attention to detail, and giving many 9’s and a few 10’s. Again it was great to see a number of people in the top scores, including some new members!

Click on the links to check out the Top Scoring Prints and Top Scoring Digital Images pages.

Helen Whitford

Posted by hwhitford | 19/04/2013 | Categories: Blackwood Photography Club News | Comments Off on Science and Technology – 11th April 2013

It Must Be a Sign! – 14-Feb-2013

Volunteers Wanted – Ron Hassan – Set

Quietly ignoring the fact that it was Valentine’s Day a large number of members and visitors showed up to inform, point us in the right direction, mislead and confuse us with our Signs competition. Judge David Smith gave us helpful hints, tips and scores as he judged the 90 images, emphasizing the fact that he was presenting a personal opinion and that photography appreciation is very subjective.

There was an interesting range of ‘takes’ on the Signs theme though David noted that there was only one image that was angling for a laugh where Volunteers were wanted at a cemetery (thanks Ron!).

Eric’s Napoleon, Ursula’s Alpha Jet 01 and Chris S’s Rest in Peace impressed him the most. A large number of Open section images in a range of genres created discussion and inspiration. It was also great to see entries from a few of our newer members – they’re certainly throwing out a challenge to the rest of us!

To see the Top Scoring Images visit our Top Scoring Prints and Top Scoring Digital Images pages.

Helen Whitford 😉

Posted by ChrisS | 24/02/2013 | Categories: Blackwood Photography Club News | Comments Off on It Must Be a Sign! – 14-Feb-2013

Who wants to be a critic?

Record the date 31-Jan-2013 as an important date in your records.

On that day Blackwood Photographic Club embarked on a new direction that encourages more participation and sharing of photographic ideas. We moved from the mainstream camera club ethos of competition and into (what for us in 2013 is a new idea) actively sharing, encouraging and improving our photographic art as a group, as well as learning from each other and not just receiving a judges opinion.

Interestingly, the peer review/critique session is not a new phenomenon. Many educational institutions have done the same thing for decades (if not centuries) – the arts & literature need feedback to develop. The early days of our club embraced this method of learning, but it got lost along the way. Well, I think we’ve found it!

The night began with another significant event – the raising of the new projector screen!

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Matt, Ashley & I spent a bit of time planning how best to mount the new screen – and after a bit of brainstorming, came up with the solution of clamping the screen to the ballet rail and raising the screen up. We did a test run on the Australia Day long weekend, and with a little paint, some more brainstorming, a ladder, some hand tools and a drill the new screen was ready. This method overcomes the problem of the mass of the screen, and therefore reduces the risk to the people raising it as well. We’ve employed the old widowmaker rods for raising it, but they’ll soon be replaced with something even better.

The big advantage of this screen is that we can now project our images at full 4:3 (just like your camera) on a larger, brighter screen. We must acknowledge the support of the SAPF in partially funding the new screen – which replaces our 30 year old screen.

The night was also significant for the debut of the new print stand. Eric built a new one just before the end of last year which is more robust, and allows prints to stand in a rail rather than be clipped into place. Even panoramas will now fit. Our sincere thanks to Eric for his efforts.

So on this already auspicious evening, we began our critique session. It was a pretty full house with many club members present & displaying their images, as well as 5 new members (welcome to Lesley, Ren, Grant, Gerry and Ron). We also had a few visitors – Peter & Richard from Edwardstown PC, Rosemary & Roger (2nd time – I remember 😉 ). Richard & I have corresponded about this new direction a few times as well – illustrating that our ideas find a resonance outside the club. We were also pleased to see life member Ruth Palmer attend and lend her support.

Critique using the new print stand too

Our inaugural critique night (the modern edition) comprised Matt & Ashley as the review panel, with myself as chairperson, and images (print, slide & digital) from 18 club members. Not bad for a first draft. The initial concept was to have the images displayed in rounds of 1 image (or set) at a time. We thought that up to 3 rounds could be had in the normal meeting time. Each member was allowed up to 1 minute to describe their image, then the panel discussed the image, followed by comments from those present for a total of about 5 minutes. This worked reasonably well, except that the panel and audience ran overtime – repeatedly! That will have to be tightened up!

A few observations about the process I mulled over afterwards:

Some members put up images and basically said “What to do you think?”. In retrospect it should be “I was trying to achieve …… by doing …… – have I achieve it or how can I get there?”.
The critique this type of opening remark received was at times a little soft, but then the introduction by the photographer led to that. So next time you come along please tell us what your trying to do
Matt & Ashley tried to be constructive and make helpful observations. They prefaced some remarks with “a judge might say…..”.
Although this is valuable, particularly for competition, its not the only way to provide feedback, and they tried to avoid the cliches. Well done guys.
They also worked hard to give feedback on composition and technique – along with members of the audience such as Arthur (who I think commented on every image), Eric, Helen, Ray, James & Peter (apologies to those I missed).
Many other members chipped in too – and this is the important part of the night – we all took part.
I felt all those present were looking and trying to help the photographer improve the image – and not just superficially. This is something we miss after a competition night as the images get whipped down and stored.
Everyone stayed polite and constructive – brilliant!
Members such as Helen, Heather, Theo & Eric displayed images to help them refine their display and technique. Helen addressed her ongoing screen calibration issue, Heather looked at image resolution, Eric showed us how to photograph drops of water & Theo addressed the issue of what is the best perspective – in close or out wide? All of this generated some excellent discussion in the process – and many of us – not just the authors – left with new insights.
There was a good selection of prints on the night as well – with some valuable discussion on breaking the standard judging rules – the rule of thirds needs to be taken out and buried and sharpness need not dominate our lives!
We ran out of time after the first round – hmmmm. Fortunately, we managed to have a 15 minute free for all with the remaining digital images.
Next time we will have to be a lot stricter on time limits
We were all enjoying it so much I didn’t see anyone doze off. Amazing! Some competition nights you can almost here the snoring – none evident on this occasion! 😀

Next time we’ll have another pair of panelists – everyone will get a turn (don’t be shy!). In fact thats another way of improving your art – by being made to give feedback to someone else.

So there you have it – the first installment of BPC Peer review. We’ll refine things as we go along. If you’ve got any ideas or observations I haven’t addressed email me or leave a comment on this page. I promise our critique nights will only get better!

Chris 😉