IN FOCUS Newsletter of the Northside Creative Photography Club MARCH 2015 IN THIS ISSUE From the President 1 Contacts, Notices 2 Articles 3 Workshops4 Outing, Exhibitions 5 Left: Walking in Step by Alison Seccombe PRESIDENT’S REPORT UPCOMING EVENTS Is photography dead? Are we drowning in images? Photography took over from painting as a recording medium in the visual world and reigned supreme until the 1980’s when computer imaging was developed. Until that time you could say that what was in front of the camera was reality. “The camera never lies”. This is no longer the case as we all know. One indication of this is that photography can no longer be used as evidence. Computer manipulation of both still and moving images is available to us all. Criminal cases have been overturned when it was found that manipulation of images had taken place. Images and scenes can now be created entirely digitally using Photoshop techniques. Today most cameras and phones are sold with special effects built-in, which alter the image in many different ways. You don’t need any skills at all to create them. The camera has become a democratic tool available for everyone. Mobile phones, whilst making photography more popular than ever, have virtually extinguished the point-andshoot market. Will mobile phone technology eventually improve to the point that press photographers will no longer need to carry a full frame DSLR and a 600mm lens, and we lowly amateurs no longer aspire to own a top of the line DSLR? Whereas we used to take 3 rolls of film on holiday (if we felt a bit extravagant), and wait with baited breath to pick up the prints from the chemist a week later, we now take hundreds of images in the hope that some will be “Special Merits” and we come home with a massive editing and processing job to do. Is this progress? Are we really thinking about what we’re taking or are we just recording everything we possibly can but not actually enjoying, appreciating or remembering the moment. Camera phones can take great photos, but when you come to print them the result is generally poor. For most of the population this is not an issue as they are stored and ultimately displayed on a phone, tablet or computer. Do we need prints in this digital world? Personally, I think we do. To me, a print is the ultimate expression of photography. There’s something about a print which can never be reproduced in a digital display. It has depth and texture and integrity. Hopefully it sets us aspiring photographers apart from the general populace. Let’s keep the quality coming and don’t let the mobilephonographers take over! We should remember however, that a top of the line camera or the world’s best app won’t make us better photographers any more than a good microprocessor in your computer would make us better writers. - Alison Seccombe 1 Wed 4th March Open Competition Judge: Allan Coker Wed 18 March Presentation: Sue Murray “Imagine me” Chinatown Outing Competition (Max 3 prints) Fri 20 - Sun 22 March Weekend Away Southern Highlands Sun 29 March EDI entries due 8pm Wed 1 April Open Competition NEW MEMBERS’ MEETING Saturday 18th April 2015, 1pm - Please keep this date free. New members will be contacted regarding an informal get-together to discuss .... well, anything photographic and/or club related! New-ish members who have previously attended such a meeting are welcome to come along – especially if they still have questions! IN FOCUS Newsletter • Northside Creative Photography • March 2015 REVIEW OF WEBSITE OPERATIONS CONTACTS POST: PO Box 192 Gordon NSW 2072 Australia WEB: www.ncp.org.au EMAIL: For general enquiries: [email protected] To contact individual members of the committee use the “Contact Details” page on our website. THE CLUB MEETS AT: Lindfield Uniting Church Hall, Pacific Highway, Lindfield (Corner Provincial Road) On the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7.30 for an 8pm start. PRESIDENT: Alison Seccombe 0418 338 337 VICE PRESIDENT: Jan Glover: 02 9498 3916 SECRETARY: Chris Spraggon TREASURER: James Proctor COMMITTEE: Chris Barlow Susan Buchanan John Chapman John Fisk Judy Watman PUBLICITY: Judy Watman WEBMASTER: Chris Barlow: 02 9487 3646 2 A meeting has been scheduled for 25th March (7.45pm at Gordon) to review website operations including ancillary functions such as processing of digital images and projectionist. The intention is to ensure that the club has a group of skilled members to carry out these essential tasks and also that there is appropriate backup to provide robustness. The current Webmaster is unable to maintain his considerable workload. A number of members have already volunteered - if you would like to assist please contact Alison Seccombe or Chris Barlow. PORTFOLIO 2015 I have done presentations on Portfolio work for various other clubs and it can take a couple of hours – depending on the amount of discussion generated. So how to condense all that information into this article? Hmmm… JUST DO IT. This will be our 5th portfolio year and the goal is unchanged: for members to develop their photographic skills and techniques. As always, the portfolio is aimed at any and all levels of photographic ability and your photographic development is based around creating a body of work that illustrates an idea or theme of your choice. With each portfolio the bar has been raised. Your fellow members become your mentors, your comrades in arms, your wizened advisor (that’s me!), through regular meetings and unstinting critique. Be afraid, be very afraid and… DO IT ANYWAY. I am happy to answer any questions members may have about doing a portfolio. The salient point to address now is commitment. Organizationally, we need to know how many members are interested. Please express your interest by emailing [email protected] Please keep the following date free for our first meeting: 1pm Saturday 28th March. (Location to be advised.) Finished work will be exhibited on November 18th. Susan Buchanan More info: http://www.ncp.org.au/forum/ viewtopic.php?f=32&t=503 (Members will need to log in to the Forum to view) Presentation Wednesday 18th March Sue Murray – IMAGINE ME Sue began her creative studio practice working in the traditional form of documentary photography, where the photographer interprets their subject. Later, she began exploring the subject’s participation in the making of their image. In 2013 Sue began developing the Imagine Me creative self portrait project, which tells the stories of people living with spinal injury, through images and text. Individuals are invited to participate in workshops where Sue collaborates with them using digital photography to create innovative individual artworks which express their feelings about themselves. The aims of Imagine Me are to give people living with spinal cord injury the opportunity to share their stories and be heard, and to offer support to others. It fosters community awareness and understanding towards people living with disability. Sue has exhibited widely since the mid 1990’s and has lectured at University and TAFE while completing a Master of Fine Arts. Throughout her career she has been commissioned by numerous public organisations to develop creative projects with a diversity of community groups. Visit Sue’s inspiring website at: http://www.imagineme.com.au/ ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS are now due Details for payment are available on the membership/renewal form which is available HERE. Printed copies of the form are available at the desk on club nights. All financial members will receive a 2015 membership card. NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS We invite you to contribute to In Focus. If you have images you would like to see appear or a story with or without accompanying images, we would like to hear from you. As a guide, photographs should be saved as high quality .jpg, 1024 pixels wide. To ensure our newsletter goes out on time, please have any submissions emailed to the editor at [email protected] MATERIAL DEADLINE: Fri 27th March or prior IN FOCUS Newsletter • Northside Creative Photography • March 2015 NAME TAGS If your name tag is lost or damaged, or just out of date, please request a new one. Contact Jan Glover via the club website [email protected] The Photograph and Australia Sundays 8-29 March 10.30am The Art Gallery Society would like to let you know of an upcoming lecture series at the Gallery which may be of interest to you and your students. The Photograph and Australia is the largest exhibition of Australian photography held since 1988 that borrows from collections nationwide and looks at the history of the medium. This accompanying lecture series investigates how photography was harnessed to create the idea of a nation and reveals how our view of the world, ourselves and each other. We would like to offer special members pricing for the Federation of Camera Clubs NSW and student pricing is available as well. You can find out more about the lecture series here , and to access membership pricing simply choose “Partners promotion” when booking your tickets. NATASHA MIKITAS Marketing & Events Coordinator ART GALLERY SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/ members EVENTS for photographers Each year, former FCC President Alan Hitchell compiles a useful list of events for photographers. http://www.ncp.org.au/forum/ viewtopic.php?f=25&t=969 Coming up in March are: Mardi Gras (Sat 7th Mar), Camerally (6th – 8th Mar), Canberra Balloon Spectacular (7th – 15th Mar), Cessnock Country Rodeo (21st Mar), Royal Easter Show (26 Mar – 8 Apr). Steam Train Sunday at Hornsby. Sunday March 8 Celebrate 125 years of the North Shore Line. Heritage Express will be running steam trains from Hornsby to Gordon and return. Most seats are now sold, but it may be a good photographic opportunity. Trains depart Hornsby at 10.22, 11.22, 12.22, 2.22, 3.22. http://www.heritageexpress.com.au/ pages/tours-events/2015-03-005-SPEV. htm#timetable 3 Special Interest Groups What type of photography do you favour? Macro, Portrait, Nature, Creative, Street or any of the many other genres? Would you like to share that special interest with other Northside members? Well, that’s what our Special Interest Groups project is all about. We’ve already had one meeting of enthusiasts with more coming up. The initial group of eight members has decided to concentrate on Macro photography for the time being. But all of us are interested in at least one other genre. As more join us, it won’t be long before we are working in the other areas too. We have decided to set up a Flickr group for our macro work. Its purpose will be to showcase our output and provide a forum for discussion. We will also meet in person at least once a month to share tips and comments. Between us all, we seem to have all the gear you could ever want so that’s something else to share. In time, we plan to exhibit our work at the club and contribute articles to In Focus. This is promising to be a great way to extend our knowledge and enjoyment of our wonderful pastime. Give it some thought and join in. Contact John Pettett for more information at 9410 1007 or [email protected] SHIRLEY STEEL PRESENTATION Shirley Steel entertained, enlightened, impressed and educated us with her beautiful images and her wonderful laid-back style of presentation. She prefers black & white photography, but also showed us many of her colour images. She very generously shared some of her photographic and processing techniques with us. Shirley loves to take out-of-focus images, using a slow shutter speed combined with panning, jiggling or twisting the camera in a circular motion, to create dreamy effects. She has also perfected the art of multiple exposure images, her greatest influence being the photographer Chris Kovacs. Some of her other influences are photographers Freeman Patterson and André Gallant, and artist JM Turner. Shirley shoots in raw and edits with Lightroom and Nik software, although she is about to do some experimenting with Photoshop. We will await the results with eager anticipation! http://www.shirleysteel.com/ FREEMAN PATTERSON Shirley Steel in her February presentation, referred to photographer Freeman Patterson as her inspiration. Freeman Patterson is a Canadian nature photographer and writer who lives in New Brunswick. Born in 1937, he received a Master of Divinity degree (M. Div.) from Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University, New York. His master’s thesis was “Still Photography As A Medium Of Religious Expression.” His popular books on photography and visual design include Portraits of Earth ( 1987), Photography and the Art of Seeing. (1979), The Garden (2003), Photo Impressionism and the Subjective Image (co-authored with Andre Gallant) (2001). Although he states “In the broadest sense I photograph Nature”, much of his work focuses on the things that are unseen to most observers. His landscapes are simple graphic images which concentrate on patterns and shapes, in contrast some of his later impressionistic images are riots of pattern and colour, often achieved with slow shutter speeds or multiple exposures. His books contain many writings on photography, on the subjects of composition and visual design, how to create balance and proportion, and insights into what inspires his photography. His books were written well before the days of digital photography, and much of his work was done with a 35mm Minolta SLR. His insightful writing and beautiful photographs were an inspiration for many of us who were looking for new ideas. Now we are overwhelmed with images on the internet, but we can still appreciate the simplicity and honesty of his images (without asking which Photoshop filter he used!). Read his Art Statement http://www. freemanpatterson.com/art_statement.htm His books are available from his website, and also from Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/FreemanPatterson/e/B000APT9OI (See Andre Gallant’s website at: http:// www.andregallant.com/ ) IN FOCUS Newsletter • Northside Creative Photography • March 2015 SUNSTUDIOS 1 day only PopUp Sale, 7 March 12pm to 6pm. Huge discounts on professional camera gear, studio equipment and furniture, lighting, ex-rental gear. sunstudioaustralia.com 42 Maddox St, Alexandria Foto Riesel by Digital Camera Warehouse Digital Camera Warehouse and Foto Riesel are two photographic stores which are popular with members for their excellent service. In a press release it was announced that DCW has bought Photo Riesel - will be interesting to see how that pans out. Sydney, Australia – 27 Jan, 2015 - Digital Camera Warehouse is delighted to announce it is the new owner of the Foto Riesel store in Sydney’s CBD. Foto Riesel is located at 360 Kent St, Sydney. Digital Camera Warehouse, acknowledging the importance of Foto Riesel as a specialist store in Sydney’s photographic retail industry, made a successful offer to purchase the business. The store will re-open as ‘Foto Riesel by Digital Camera Warehouse’ in the coming months. COMPETITIONS Sydney Harbour International http://www.sydney-harbour-international. org.au/ Closing 14th April International Landscape Photographer of the Year http://www.internationallandscapephotographer.com/ Entries close 15 May 2015 The Epson International Pano Awards www.thepanoawards.com Opens March Macquarie Photography Prize Closes 31 August. http://www.australianartsales.com.au/ MacquariePrize/Macquariephotograhyprize.html Heritage Bank Photographic Awards The awards are one of the richest competitions of their type in Australia with prizes valued at more than $8,000. Entries open 1st April 2015. https://www.heritage.com.au/sponsorship-events/photographic-awards.aspx 4 WORKSHOPS PhotoTutor Photography Course March 2015 Dear friends, As you probably know, Jim Crew and I have previously run some workshops and photography courses based in the Lane Cove area. We are running our 8 week photography course again in conjunction with the Parallaxis Photography exhibition in March. We concentrate on personal tuition and hence the small group size. Please note the course prerequisites on the registration form. We would like to invite any members of your respective clubs who would benefit from this course to register ahead of the public promotion through the exhibition in early March. We are also available to run workshops for small groups at your premises, if required. Our Lightroom introductory course has been very popular. There will be some opportunities for further workshops later in the year. Should anyone be interested and need further information, please contact me via [email protected] or on 0418 241 141 MICHAEL SMYTH Download a flyer at: http://www.ncp.org.au/forum/viewtopic. php?f=28&t=959 IGNACIO PALACIOS Altiplano 17-28 October 2015 – Bolivia and Chile Galapagos Islands – 6-15 Nov 2015 Lofoten (Norway) – Chasing the Northern Lights – 16-23 February 2016 http://www.iptravelphotography.com.au On the Verandah Photographic Adventures in the Kimberley May 11-17 – “End of the Wet” Photo Adventure June 1-7 – “Dry Season & Cattle Muster” Photo Adventure. http://www.ontheverandah.com.au/ http://www.ontheverandah.com.au/photography-adventures.html Live It Tours Lakes and Landscapes New Zealand Photography Tour – 1st May 2015 Christchurch, Te Anau, Milford Sound, Queenstown, Fox Glacier With Andrew Goodall, Nature Photographer www.liveittours.com.au Iconic images International Mongolia - the Land of Nomads August 2015 http://iconicimagesinternational.com/itineraries/mongolia-nomads-land/ Len Metcalf Tours and workshops include Flinders Ranges, Blue Mountains, Cradle Mountain, Tarkine, Lighroom, Digital B/W photography (November – Jindabyne). www.lensschool.com Luminous Landscape Tours to Patagonia, Iceland, Antarctica. Instructors include Art Wolfe and Ignacio Palacios. http://luminous-landscape.com/workshops/page/2/ Darran Leal 2015 - China, Kimberley, Tanzania, New Zealand, Capetown to Kalahari. 2016 – Arctic, Argentina, Guatemala, Canada, Alaska, Mongolia, Gobi Desert, Iceland, Cuba, Botswana. worldphotoadventures.com.au Peter Eastway Away- Hamilton Island. June 2015. With Peter Eastway, David Oliver, Bruce Pottinger, Clare Oliver http://www.betterphotography.com Michael Snedic – Trekabout Photography Michael Snedic & Mark Rayner from Trekabout Photography are holding their photography workshop on beautiful Norfolk Island in October 2015. Travel dates are ex Sydney 26 October-2 November 2015. Trekabout is also organising a 2 week trip to Antarctica in January 2016 http://www.trekaboutphotography.com/ index.html QUEENSTOWN CENTRE FOR CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY Autumn colours, Fiordland, Kinloch, Mt Cook, West Coast NZ. http://www.qccp.co.nz L&P Off Camera Flash event 2-6 Mar and workshop 16 May JOIN US AT L&P 2-6 March 2015 for this exciting week, showcasing the latest technological advances in the ‘OFF CAMERA FLASH’ range with TTL and HSS. WORKSHOP : 16th May 2015 Off Camera Flash Lighting with Tim Bauer http://www.lapfoto.com.au IN FOCUS Newsletter • Northside Creative Photography • March 2015 SOCIAL NIGHT - SELFIES At our first meeting of the year, members had an opportunity to demonstrate their creativity in interpreting the subject “selfies”. Steve Mullarkey did an excellent job of commenting on the entries, and gave the top award to Peter Steele. EXHIBITIONS PARALLAXIS PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP EXHIBITION - 3- 15 March We are pleased to announce the first exhibition by the Parallaxis Photography Group. The exhibition is called “Odyssey” and will be held from March 3rd to March 15th inclusive at The Art Space on the Concourse, Chatswood. www.parallaxisgroup.com MICHAEL SMYTH Parallaxis Photographic Group AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM Wildlife Photographer of the Year 28 March to 5 October. See over 100 Images selected from 40,000 entries worldwide http://australianmuseum.net.au/event/ wildlife-photographer nhm.ac.uk 5 FEBRUARY OUTING Chinese New Year Because there was so much to see and the venues so scattered it is no surprise that we each soon went our own way. It also explains why we all saw different things. We arrived a little late to see a dragon dance in Dixon Street but we were rewarded by the antics of a very engaging and beautifully made up 82 year old clown still coping with a hoopla! Darling Harbour was unrecognizable. It had been transformed into a real colourful Chinese playground. The paths became red and gold pergolas covered with beautifully painted lanterns. Barges decorated with big swans, fish, lotus floated on the little streams. Rows of white tents and red lanterns provided great perspective. In Castlereagh Street the floats were being decorated for the night’s parade. In the many years I attended the preparations to the Chinese New Year Parade in Hyde Park I had never seen so many group taking part. The bands and the flag bearers kept on repeating their steps until they were perfect. The girls groomed each other or practised their dancing steps, their outfits were gorgeous and their smiles very catching. I understand that the same word in Chinese applies for goat and sheep and that explains why we saw lots of each. I left before the Parade started but that was the right place to see dragons dancing; one dragon was carried by over 30 bearers! A very colourful and happy day. Jacques. See more photos on the photo gallery under outings - February 2015 ART GALLERY OF NSW ArtExpress – until 19th April www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au Featuring a selection of outstanding student artworks developed for the artmaking component of the HSC examination in Visual Arts 2014, ARTEXPRESS 2015 provides insight into students’ creativity and the issues important to them. The exhibition encompasses a broad range of approaches and expressive forms, including ceramics, collection of works, documented forms, drawing, graphic design, painting, photomedia, printmaking, sculpture, textiles and fibre, and timebased forms. http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/ insideartexpress/2015/expressive-forms/ STILLS GALLERY BOOKMARKED EXHIBITION 4-28 March 2015 OPENING Wednesday 4 March, 6-8pm STILLS PHOTOBOOK FAIR Saturday 7 March, 11am-5pm + STEPHEN DUPONT ARTIST TALK Saturday 7 March, 3pm Celebrating artist books in all their forms, from handcrafted one-offs to selfpublished photobooks, sculptural creations and vintage punk fanzines, Bookmarked is a curated group exhibition that allows visitors to get lost between the pages. Bookmarked will feature a special display of nearly 50 books on special loan from the Asia-Pacific Photobook Archive . 36 Gosbell St, Paddington. Wed to Sat 11am – 5pm stillsgallery.com.au IN FOCUS Newsletter • Northside Creative Photography • March 2015
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