How to Photograph Christmas Lights

This is one I took just before Christmas.

I just found this tutorial "How to Photograph Christmas Lights"

I'm going to give it a go on the weekend, if anyone wants to come along email me.


Check out these Videos too.

Patti

Photoshop quicktip #7

Zoom in and out by using Ctrl+Plus ( + ) and Ctrl+Minus ( - )

Reminder about the Bunnings BBQ - CANCELLED

CANCELLED DUE TO THE WEATHER

Don't forget the BBQ at Bunnings on Saturday.

All those working at the BBQ must wear closed in shoes (NO THONGS/SANDALS) and a hat.

Image of the Year - Full Results

Monochrome Print

1. Tania Jacobson
2. Les Lockland / Tania Jacobson
3. Tania Jacobson

Colour Print

1. Tania Jacobson
2. Patti Vallance
3. Tania Jacobson / Sue Stuckey / Graham Dickson / Les Lockland

Small Print

1. Joey Vallance
2. Emma Strachan / John Culver / Patti Vallance / John Culver
3. Patti Vallance / Patti Vallance

Creative/Experimental Print

1. Craig Homberg
2. Les Lockland
3. Les Lockland / Kate Hope / Graham Dickson

Best Slide

1. Craig Homberg
2. Rhonda McDonell
3. Craig Homberg

Winners of the 2008 Aggregates

Colour Print John Culver

Monochrome Print Patti Vallance

Small Print John Culver

Creative/Experimental Les Lockland

Slide Craig Homberg

Les has a full list of scores and judge's comments

Photoshop quicktip #6

Ctrl z undoes your last action, but if you press ctrl z again it redoes the last action. To go further back you can go into the history tool bar OR pres ctrl alt z to go further back. This can be much faster than using history.

More of -Image of the Year

Image Of The Year

Image of the Year Results

And the Winners for 2008 Image of The Year are......

Best Monochrome Print
Tania Jacobson

Best Colour Print
Tania Jacobson

Best Small Print
Joey Vallance

Best Creative/Experimental Print
Craig Homberg

Best Slide
Craig Homberg

Winners of the 2008 Aggregates

Colour Print
John Culver

Monochrome Print
Patti Vallance

Small Print
John Culver

Creative/Experimental
Les Lockland

Slide
Craig Homberg


Congratulations to all the Winners

Thank you Paul Robinson for coming from Melbourne to judge.
Thank you to everyone that entered, the quality of the work presented was excellent
Thank you to our Print Stewart Lorraine Lee for all her hard work.
And thank you to everyone who helped set up for the night. The new hall was perfect and the newly painted display boards looked great.

A full list of results as soon as they are available. Les also has the Judge's notes if you wish to see them. Keep an eye on the Website for photos from the night.

Photoshop Workshop Handouts

I have just uploaded some of the handouts for the Photoshop Workshop. You can download them here:

Converting Your Image To Monochrome

5 Quick Ways To Adjust Your Photos

Photoshop Actions

HDR Introduction

Please print them out and bring them with you if you are coming on Saturday. Hope to see you there. Let me know if you have any problems with these.

There may be more handouts to download so please check back here before Saturday.


I hope everyone had a good time and came away with a bit more knowledge and a bit of inspiration. Thanks Roger and Graham for the presentations you did and also thank you Kate for all the help. Hopefully this is just the start of a series of workshops and learning days.

So, what does everyone want to do next?

Set Subjects for 2009

The set subects for 2009

February Macro - Colour
Abstract - Monochromatic

March Night / Low light

April Decay

May Curves

June Fences - Monochromatic

July Industrial

August Moody Blues

September Elegance

October Hot / Cold

November Beach


Yes we are having a set subject every month. All set subjects are for Small Print, Colour and Monochromatic unless otherwise noted above. Don't forget every month also has an Open competition in each section.

Due to the new judging format you will need to bring along your February and March entries to the February meeting.

I hope everyone finds something on the list to challenge and inspire them. looking forward to seeing your work.

Some Photos by Les Lockland

Thanks Les

Photoshop quicktip #5

To draw a straight line with any paint tool, click on the image, move the mouse, and then Shift-click. Photoshop will join the two points with a straight line using the current tool.

Photoshop quicktip #5

Correcting Perspective in Photoshop Tutorial

The notes for the Photoshop workshop will be available for download next week, but I thought I would put up a tutorial this week so we can workout any bugs with the downloading. To download it click on the link http://www.mediafire.com/?mzqd2wm4wjr and click on the "click here to download" button. The file is a word document.

Please let me know if you have any problems with the download.

Thanks

Photoshop quicktip #4

Press the Space Bar to access the Hand tool at any time. This is better than pressing H since when you take your finger off the space bar you still have the original tool selected.

Photoshop Workshop

2008 Image of the Year

Saturday 29th November

The Church Hall, Dennington

1:30pm – 4:30pm Photoshop Workshop

Suggested topics
· 5 easy things to make your photos look better
· How to make a collage (using Layers)
· Why shoot in RAW
· B & W conversions
· HDR
· Downloading and using actions
· Grahams quick tips
· How do you fix this?
· Organising your files

Notes will be available to download prior to the day, or if you contact me I can email them to you. Step by step instructions and demonstrations. If you have any photos that you are struggling to post-process, please email them to me and so we can use them for a demonstration. I hope the day will give everyone an opportunity to learn a few hints and tips and also to discuss they way other people process their images.

6:00pm Dinner
The Shamrock Hotel


7:30 Image of the Year

Judging and Presentation of Print and Slide of the Year
Small Print, Colour, Monochromatic and Creative/Experimental
Presentation of Aggregate Awards

Bunnings BBQ Roster

8.30- 10.30am - Craig H, Len & Chris B
(Kate there to help with set-up & will then vanish for awhile!)


10.30- 12.30pm - Di Mugavin, Tania J & Donna M


12.30 - 2.30pm - Di Hislop, Sharon W & Kate H


2.30 - 4.30pm - Patti V, Mark W & Craig H


*thank-you to all of the above for helping help, if things change please let Kate know!

November Competition Results

Small Print - Open

1. John Culver
2. John Culver
3. Joey Vallance

Colour Print - Open

1. Tania Jacobson
2. Graham Dixon
3. Joey Vallance

Monochromatic -Open

1. Patti Vallance
2. Patti Vallance
3. Kate Hope

Monochromatic - Set Subject "Self Portrait"

1. Kate Hope
2. John Culver
3. Craig Homberg

Creative / Experimental

1. Kate Hope
2. Patti Vallance
3. Graham Dixon

Slides

1. Craig Homberg
2. Craig Homberg

Congratulations at all

What Makes a Good Piece of Art

I picked this up from the Artist Society last month and I thought it also had relevence to photography. Obviously a good photo relies on some technical factors also, like focus and correct exposure, but I still thought it was an interesting perspective.

What Makes A Good Piece of Art

• Use of the art elements - line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour, perspective

• The art principles - Composition - aesthetically pleasing / interesting, balanced, harmony, format, style

• Audience response - emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual

Photoshop quicktip #3

Hold down the Alt key to change any Cancel button into a Reset button (in any dialog box); this allows you to easily restore values without having to Cancel and reopen the dialogue.

Set subjects for next year

It's that time of year again to decide on the set subjects for next year. At the next meeting (Nov 6th) there will be a list of suggested topics. Please make sure you have a look at the list and indicate the topics you would like to see. Keep in mind though that the set subjects are there to encourage everyone to get out and take photos of something that they may not usually photograph. So when making your selections please think about what might challenge you.

Don't forget the meeting is at The Church Hall, Drummond Street, Dennington (opposite Fonterra main gate). 7:30pm as usual.

A few of mine from the show

Warrnambool Show

First time I've been for years and had lots of fun with my camera. Looking forward to seeing some photos from all the others that went

Images for the website

The Warrnambool Camera Club website needs your images. This is a great way to show case the talent of the members of Warrnambool Camera Club and show the world what we do.

Images can be emailed to the website and Craig will do the rest.

Thanks

The Results Are In

And the winner of the poll " What sort of workshop/outing would you like" is........PHOTOSHOP

So Photoshop it is. If there are any particular areas of post processing that you would like to see on the workshop program, please post them here in the comments section. You don't have to log on, you can even post anonymously if you like, so please don't be shy. The more suggestions we get the better we can tailor the program to meet your needs.


Dates and Times will be posted as soon as the details are finalised.

Photo from Flagstaff Hill shoot

I haven't had a chance to look at my shots from Thursday night yet, but I thought I would post one that my daughter (Joey) took. Hey not bad for an eleven year old using a little old point and shoot. I just hope mine turn out as good.

Night Shoot at the Show

If anyone is interested in getting together to take photos at the show on Saturday night, we will be meeting at the old tourist information centre (opposite KFC), at 8pm. Karen has arranged a few free passes. The fireworks start at 9:15pm.

Flagstaff Hill Night Shoot

Wow!! What a night! An extra big special thank-you to Flagstaff Hill who were absolutely amazing - it was wonderful to have such enthusiastic assistance.

We couldn't have picked a better night, the weather was just perfect, not a breath of wind, allowing some great reflection shots across the water with the village lit up in the background.

I am sure once we all get a bit organised there will be some great shots posted.

....and what a great turn out....go W.C.C!!!!

Flagstaff Hill Night Shoot

Tonight is Go!! Flagstaff Hill have booked the night out just for us and have organised to ferry us down and back in the little car thingys!! Meet out front at 9pm for a 9.30 -10.30pm shoot. I think cost is $5.85 per person... Don't forget your tripods and get those batteries on charge!!!

Photoshop quicktip #2

Want to see your photo with less clutter? Pressing the TAB key will hide the tools. Press "F" to cycle between three different Full Screen modes (or use the Mode buttons near the bottom of the toolbar).

Reminder: Flagstaff Hill Night Shoot 9pm

Don't forget this Thursday night is the Flagstaff Hill night shoot. Meet out front at 9pm for a 9.30 sharp start. We only have an hour, so don't be late!! There will be a 4pm update on Thursday on the blog to let you know that it is still definitely on.

Working Bee Cancellation

The proposed working bee for tonight has been postponed to a later date. New date to be advised...

Congratulations

Congratulations to Camera Club members Les Lockland and Erica Vallance for there placings in the Warrnambool City Council Natural Environment photography competition. Les was awarded 2nd and 3rd in the Adult section and Erica 2nd in the youth section. The results and winning photos are in this months C2C magazine.

Warrnambool Camera Club Working Bee

Thank you to Di and her husband, Emma, Patti and family, Graham, Lorraine, Kate and Rhonda for making the working bee a success. Everything has now been moved to our new location - The Church Hall, Cnr Drummond St and The Esplande, Dennington.

Photoshop quicktip #1

AS a way of encouraging people to regularly view this blog I am going to post some photoshop quick tips. I intent to do this at regular intervals - not sure how often at this stage.

Red eye can easily be removed by using the Redeye Tool. This can be found under the Spot Healing Brush Tool menu by clicking on the black dot bottom right. Once selected just click on or even near the red eye and like magic the red will turn to black.

Graham

Flagstaff Hill Outing - Change of date

There has been a change of date for the Flagstaff Hill Night Outing. The new date is Thursday 23rd October. The sight and sound show finishes at around 9:30pm, so if everyone can be there at around 9:00pm this allows time to sort everything out for us to be in the village from 9:30 to 10:30pm. Cost will be a approx $6.

Low Light Photography

At our last camera club meeting we had a short discussion on taking photographs in low light. This was as a prelude to our forthcoming Flagstaff Hill night visit on the 27 th October. Lots of good ideas were suggested by members. I am sure there are many websites that can be found as well. Here are a few of the ideas suggested. Please feel free to add other ideas and suggestions.

• Try using a tripod so that you can keep the ISO down. On a tripod you can use the inbuilt timer or a cable release to avoid camera movement.
• Many cameras have inbuilt noise reduction, but this can slow down the camera. A 30s exposure may need up to another 30s to process, so shooting becomes very slow. Check out the software you use, noise reduction may be better done on your computer.
• You can experiment with added light. Take a torch to paint a scene, or an off-camera flash could be used.
• Night scenes are very contrasty. HDR could be worth a try. Remember, change shutter speed not the F-stop or you could have different depths of field.
• If you put the ISO down low and the F stop high you can force a long exposure to be necessary. If you then open the aperture you could walk in front, stop a while then keep walking and create a ghost.
• Practise working in the dark before the night.
• Take a torch so that you can see to change settings on your camera.
• It isn’t that hard to do, the photos below were taken with a 3 Mpixel Kodak camera in 2003 with camera just resting on objects and the timer used.

Graham

Warrnambool Show

Don't forget that entries for the photography section of the Warrnambool show close this Friday 10th Oct. Entry forms and a list of categories can be collected from the show society, just inside the main entrance of the show ground.

The Camera Club is doing an exhibition of images at the show, so if you would like your work to be on display, please drop it off to Linda at the Balloon Shop next too the cinema or direct to Karen. Karen will need some volunteers to assist her with the set up of this exhibition in the days prior to the show, so please contact her (or leave a message here) if you can help.

Visit to Cudgee

A great day was had by all. Thanks to Cudgee Wildlife Park owners for helping to organise some animals for photo shoots.

Possum Paparatsi

Competition rules (the fine print)

With so many new members joining recently this seems like a good time to go over the competition rules. (Click the above image to enlarge).

Also a reminder that if you want to enter a print or slide into image of the year, you must have entered the exact same image (including print size) in a monthly competition. So if you have any you wish to edit or reprint before image of the year, then make sure you enter them in the November competition.

We are Moving

The Warrnambool Camera Club has a new home. All meetings will now be held at The Church Hall, Drummond Street, Dennington. (Opposite the Fonterra main gate)


There will be a working bee to move everything on Saturday 11th October. Please meet at the Artist Society gallery at 3:00pm. If you can bring a trailer or Ute that would be great. Hope to see everyone there.

Image of the Year

There has been a change of day for the Image of the Year. The new date is Saturday 29th November at the Church Hall, Drummond Street, Dennington.

Getting cheap prints through the internet

I've recently tried getting some large prints, 12 x 18 processed via the internet. I am sure ther are plenty of places but I have used http://www.photoenlargements.com.au/. Their support has been great. One batch slightly damaged in transit by the courior was immediately replaced. All my big prints at camera club have been done here. A big batch of 20 prints worked out to be only $2.80 each after postage and GST added, so you can afford to experiment with different versions.
Graham

Volunteers needed for Celebrage Festival

the following email was received by the Camera Club:


Good Afternoon,

I'm organizing the Celebrage Festival which runs from Sunday 5th to Sunday 12th October this year. The festival is designed to ensure that people aged 55 and over have opportunities to meet people, experience new things, develop new skills and above all, celebrate their age! The 2007 Celebrage Festival was a huge success attracting over 2,500 participants.
We are hoping to have two digital photgraphy workshops, being about 2 hours in length each. I am hoping a few people from your club may be interested in volunteering for such workshops.
The first being a very basic workshop looking at getting the most out of your camera and understanding the different functions (eg sport, macro, night settings). Last year we took 8 participants down to the breakwall and took photos of race horses along the beach, looked at where the sun and your subject are (shadows on faces etc), then went to the Botanic Gardens and took some macro shots of flowers. We then headed to David Owen photgraphy and had a walk thru behind the scenes. We would be looking to do somethng similiar again this year. It would be small group, with a maximum of 10 participants. I am open for any suggested changes (subject matter and venue etc).
The second workshop we are hoping to run was downloading photos of your camera and printing them. We have 5 computers at Archie Graham that particpants could hook their cameras upto and download photos. This may be a couple of 30 minute workshops.
At this stage we have pencilled the workshops for Monday 6th October, 9am-11am and again on Friday/Saturday.
If you have any members that may be interested in volunteering for these workshops, please do not hesitate to contact me using the details below.
I look forward to your reply.
Kind Regards,
Sally
____________________________________________
Sally-Anne Williamson
Community Project Development Officer
Archie Graham Community Centre
118 Timor Street, Warrnambool, VIC 3280
phone: 03 5559 4919
fax: 03 5559 4900
email: swilliamson@warrnambool.vic.gov.au
NOTE: I am only in the office Thursdays and Fridays, please contact me on
5563 2168 if your request is urgent


I have spoken to Sally today and she is still in need of volunteers, so if anyone else is available please give her a ring.

Introducing High Dynamic Range (HDR) digital photography

At the September club meeting, whenever I mentioned I was looking into HDR images, I got blank or curious looks in return. This brief intro encapsulates what I have learnt so far!

High dynamic range digital photography offers a solution to the limitations of working with available light.

Properly executed, a HDR image can display unparalleled ranges of light.
Dynamic range is the variation in luminance from the brightest to the darkest areas of a scene. HDR simply means a much wider range of brightness values than what we are accustomed to seeing.

To create HDR images, multiple exposures of the same scene are taken then merged together in HDR software. Tone mapping is applied through the HDR software. The resultant image is then exported in either 8 bit, 16 bit or 32 bit colour as a .tif or .jpg file.

The file is then opened in photo editing software (eg Photoshop) and tonal contrast, hue/saturation and sharpening actions added to suit the personal taste of the creator. The final result can then be exported in whatever file format (8bit, 16bit or 32bit colour) and dpi setting required to suit the final output size of the image.

The HDR process can control noise in shadows, capture detail in dark areas and retain detail in highlights. There are visual limitations to HDR as some subjects simply do not suit it. However, if you like scenic photos with lots of Wham, Zap and Pow in them, plus incredible detail, then HDR is a process you should investigate. Interior architecture images, full of detail and great tonal range can be achieved without having to use expensive lighting set ups.

I have just started experimenting with HDR digital photography. My first attempt is quite satisfying but there are still lots of learning to do.

The attached images were shot as three exposures (+1EV,0EV and -1EV) in Raw format on a very, very dull winter’s afternoon.

Image A was the best result I could achieve using Photoshop’s merge feature plus lots of levels and hue/saturation adjustments. The sky is still overexposed and general look is still a flat result.

Image B is the HDR result of merging the three exposures in Photomatix Pro*, tone mapping the merged result in Photomatix Pro, exporting it as a .tif file then slightly tweeking contrast and sharpening in Photoshop. The sky has more detail and definition is better in plants and rocks.

The HDR result will not be to everyone’s taste but it clearly demonstrates the added levels of detail, contrast and colour rendering that’s possible in HDR digital photography.
Remember this is only my first attempt. Who knows what’s possible with more experimenting and practice?

To find out more about HDR, simply enter - hdr images - in a Google search.

* I have used the free trial download of Photomatix Pro. When I pay for the real version the watermarks will not be applied to my images! http://www.hdrsoft.com/

Photographs by Roger Neal

Thank you Roger for sharing some of your photographs.

New Haven Pier Dawn

September Meeting - 1st place small print

St Andrews Beach Sunset

September meeting - 2nd place small print

Thunder Point

September meeting - 3rd place Open Print Colour

Autumn leaves

Blairgowrie Boatsheds

I’ve lost track of settings but wherever possible I shoot at smallest aperture possible (f11-f32) on tripod using cable release regardless of shutter speed.
Three were shot on Fuji Velvia ISO 50 slide film and scanned on Epson 3200 scanner (at work).
Blairgowrie BoatSheds was one of my first digital shots done about 3 years ago and ThunderPoint was shot digitally about 6 weeks ago - Fuji 9500 9megabyte camera, fixed 28-300mm lens.
Autumn Leaves: was shot on driveway of motel in Bright – leaves just as they had fallen.
Newhaven Pier Dawn: I remember this shot being 30 seconds at f22. The green cast is from fluorescent lights on building out of frame to left.
St Andrews Sunset: St Andrews Beach Mornington Peninsula – we used to live there. I wanted to capture the 5 lines of waves in the surf. Shape nearest sun is waves – it’s not a ship. Got wet feet getting this image but it was worth it.

Visit to Cudgee Wildlife Park

I have organised for the camera club members to visit Cudgee Wildlife Park, on Sunday 21st September 2008.The time advised to me was 10.30 this is when the animals are most active. If you want to go just turn up at 10.00am at the old site of the tourist information center (Opp Kentucky)We can car pool from there, or you can drive alone if you want.

Cost is $10.00 per person and you can take a thermos of caffeine and some morning tea if you like - they have tables and chairs in case we need a break. Helen will take us into some of the enclosures.

Hope to see you there. Keep in mind Octobers set subject is "A day at the ZOO"

If you want to know any more just contact me.

Regards Rhonda



Thank you Rhonda for organising this

Weather Information

I have added a link to a very informative weather site. It has the usual forecasted weather, but also sunrise/sunset/ first light times, moon phases and moon rise and set times.

If anyone is interested in taking photos of the full moon rising on the 15th (assuming it is at a reasonable time), let me know.

September Meeting Competition Results

Small Print Section

1. Roger Neal
2. Roger Neal
3. John Culver

Open Colour Print

1. Graham Dixon
2. Graham Dixon
3. Roger Neal

Monochrome Open Print

1. Kate Hope

Creative / Experimental

1. Craig Homberg

Slides

1. Craig Homberg
2. Craig Homberg
3. Craig Homberg

Congratulations and thank you to all those who entered

Postcards

Recently I have been turning my photos into postcards. I wanted them to look like real postcards, so I made up a template for the postcard backs. You can down load the template here

The template is a word document so you can change the font and add your details. I print it out on a piece of 8 x 12 inch cardstock (you can get 12 x 12 at scrapbook shops or spotlight), cut into 4 they fit perfectly on 6 x 4 photos.

What's New - Nikon D90

Nikon has announced the release of the D90, 12.3 megapixels, live view, 3 inch screen and VIDEO . Yes, VIDEO, with sound. It kinda seems weird for a SLR camera to come with video, but I guess why not. 24FPS may not give you the smoothness of a real video, but with the D90 you can adjust your Depth of Field, and that's something you can't do with your average camcorder. One limiting factor with the video mode is how long can you video without overheating your sensor.

Digital Camera Warehouse has it listed for pre-order (delivery mid/late Sept) for $1300 body only.

Full Specifications Here

Colac Camera Club Judging Seminar

Thank you to Colac Camera Club and VAPS for organising such a great weekend. It was educational, inspirational and most importantly fun. Congratulations to all involved. Looking forward to the next one.

Western District Muzzle Loaders Club

On the 16th of August Les Lockland and John Culver accompanied the Western District Muzzle Loaders Club to the Simpson Gun Range for their "Wet to the Arse" competition. Various competitions and skill firing were conducted. Shooters work in pairs, making their way through a very wet forest and creek beds to seek out hidden targets. Points are awarded for their observation and accuracy. Many of the participants dress in official 1800's clothing. The shooters really have a great time, but safety is paramount. Around 30 shooters entered this years competition.

Specifications of the guns:-

19mm bore - gun powder

26 mm bore - gun powder

Flint strike and cap firing mechanism.

Thank you Les for sharing some of your photos.