Intermediate Photography Club
Our Mission: "The Intermediate Photo
Club (IPC) exists to help members
improve their photographic skills by
providing a supportive and interactive
learning environment
Issue 20, Mar/ April 2017
Upcoming Meeting Dates:
As many of our friends and relatives dig out of the snow and
March 23- Marc Vaughn will be
the guest speaker
sunshine.
April 13
April 27
May 11
May 25
endure frigid weather, we can be thankful that we live in the
Of course that means that we should take advantage of the nice
weather and warm temperatures to get out and shoot! There are
so many things to take photos of here in The Villages and close by.
Get out a map, do a Google search or just get in your car and take
a ride- see what you can discover. If you don’t want to use your
car, get in your golf cart and go to the Weichen Preserve (off
Moyer Loop) or to one of the squares, or to a recreation center and
shoot some macro- there are so many possibilities !
All meetings are held at Bradenton Rec
Center, beginning at 1:00 PM
The only way to get better is to practice – so let’s go shooting !!
My sincere thanks to Ron Pearce, Veda Eddy, Dave Boege, Gary
Robbins and all those who sent me articles, links, etc. to be included
in the newsletter. ---- Colleen
The first triannual digital competition of the F3C is taking place during the month of March- if
you have not submitted your photos, you need to do it by the end of March. Do not wait until
the last day as they will not have time to be approved and accepted.
Mirrorless Corner
By Ron Pearce
Mirrorless cameras are starting to make their mark in the
photography world. No, they are not
for everyone. There are still some professions that will require full frame and
medium format configurations. But, fear not, as yes even the medium format
camera now comes in a mirrorless configuration! The Fujifilm GFX 50S Medium
format, 50 mp, camera is built on a magnesium alloy frame, dust and weather sealed
and can function in sub-freezing conditions down to 14 F, for some extreme
use. This does come at a cost, $6,499.00 for the body only. Even at this cost
however, it is not an action or sports friendly camera.
Mirrorless cameras are making inroads in the photography world for their
compactness, light weight, advanced technology and tremendous advancements in
lens technology. The manufacturers are creating lens that rival the pro lens from
Canon, Nikon and Sigma at a substantial cost savings, in some cases.
In the past six months I have completely converted over to Olympus from
Canon. One of the things that I have enjoyed about the change is the support given
to the product. I am not talking about from the manufacturer but, from the actual
users. I currently belong to 9 different Olympus groups on Facebook. Due to the
complexity and varied use of these cameras, dedicated specific subject groups are
being created by various people. What is so fascinating is that people are on these
groups from all over the world. From professionals, to the first time user in
photography. Since mirrorless is relatively new to the camera world, as the time
line goes, everyone is experimenting and sharing this knowledge, along with pictures
of their results. They are quick to point out that social media downgrades the
quality of photographs to save space, etc., so they often provide links to their
web sites or other medium, so you can view the true uncompressed picture. Even if
you do not own an Olympus, google your manufacturers camera and see what is
being shared on the Internet. You will be surprised what you can find out.
Continued on Next Page…
Off the mirrorless subject for a second. For all you Lightroom users or people
looking into it, I have a YouTube site that I found very interesting. It is
"Lightroom Coffee Break" with Ben Warde. It is a collection of 31 short, 2-5
minute videos, that give some great tips on how to use some of the modules in
Lightroom.
That's all for now. Remember cameras today are highly technical, sophisticated
pieces of equipment, capable of so much more than cameras even 5 years ago so,
practice, practice, practice....
Picture taken by Colleen Rutherford on our Brownwood Photo
Walk
Chiaroscuro in Photography
By Dave Boege
What is chiaroscuro? Chiaroscuro (KEE-ARR-UH-SKYOO-ROH) is an Italian term that dates from
the Renaissance period and is used in art and photography to describe strong contrast between light
and dark areas in a painting or a photograph. It usually features low-key, mostly dark tones or dark
backgrounds. In Italian, the word means light (chiaro) and dark (scuro).
Painters of the Renaissance and Baroque periods wanted to engage their viewers. Like the
cinematographers of classic Hollywood, they used the play of light and shadow to give life and
drama to their images. It's one of the classic techniques used in the works of artists like Rembrandt,
da Vinci, and Caravaggio. It refers to the use of light and shadow to create the illusion of light from a
specific source shining on the figures and objects in the painting.
Chiaroscuro in photography is often well-suited for portraits, still life, and landscape, or simply to give
a scene the illusion of being three-dimensional. It adds depth and a more mysterious atmosphere as
it creates impact and contrast between highlights and shadows in a photo. Chiaroscuro is a popular
technique we often see used in black & white photographs.
For more information, look up “chiaroscuro” with an internet search and you will find numerous
references and examples of this lighting technique in art and photography. Below are three photos
where I have attempted to use chiaroscuro to create dramatic lighting and high contrast. Go out
and give this technique a try.
Reference material for this article is from “Chiaroscuro in Nature Photography” by Jennifer Wu in
Light & Shadow, The Really Right Stuff Magazine, Issue 1, 2016 and from Wikipedia.
THE IMPORTANCE OF COLOR IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Photographers have lots of composition decisions to
make. Should we shoot horizontal or vertical? What
depth of field is needed? What perspective works best?
But there’s another important element in the makeup of a
compelling photo often overlooked, and that’s the colors in
our images.
After all, we live in a world of glorious colors. That’s why
it’s good to understand how our brains perceive color so
that in those instances when we have the freedom to
choose, we compose using colors that make our images
more memorable and align with the mood and emotion we
are trying to convey.
And, yes, black and white and all the gray shades they
create when combined are considered colors too.
It’s long been known that colors can evoke strong
emotions. Red is associated with heat, passion and anger
(it’s even been shown to increase heart rate!) Blue
conveys calm and tranquility, coldness and sadness.
Green reminds us of growth, vitality and gives us a sense
of serenity. Yellow mirrors sunshine, and in turn
happiness, energy and warmth. White makes us think of
purity and cleanliness, while black is dramatic, serious and
maybe sometimes a little sinister.
The Color Wheel
There are three PRIMARY COLORS: red, blue and yellow.
All the rest of the colors we see are made from a mixture
of two or more of these three colors. Because they are
bright and bold, when primary colors appear in our
images, they are going to pop out and draw our viewer’s
attention immediately.
There are three SECONDARY COLORS: green, orange
and purple. They are the result of mixing two primary
colors together: green (yellow + blue), orange (yellow +
red) and purple (blue + red).
Finally, there are TERTIARY COLORS: the endless variety
achieved by combining primary and secondary colors.
Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel are
called COMPLEMENTARY COLORS. For example, the
complementary color or red is green, for blue is orange
and for yellow is purple. Anytime we can pair
complementary colors in our images, we are creating
maximum contrast and impact. It’s interesting to note that
according to a class given by F3C on how to make
winning images for competitions, photos that use
complementary colors usually do well.
ANALOGOUS COLORS are colors adjacent to one
another on the color wheel, and MONOCHROMATIC
COLORS are colors made up of shades from just one
color. Images with these color schemes tend to have a
calming affect.. No one element of the image stands out.
The importance of color doesn’t end after we’ve clicked
the shutter button. A few simple post processing sliders
give us other ways to alter the colors our camera
recorded.
White balance is a good example. By adjusting
temperature, we can make our overall image warmer or
cooler, thus visually affecting our photos emotional
message.
Another example is Lightroom’s HSL/Color/B&W panel.
This link to a DPS article does a good job of explaining the
hue, saturation and luminosity sliders.
https://digital-photography-school.com/mastering-color-inlightroom-using-the-hsl-tab/
Understanding the power of color — and using that
knowledge to our advantage — can help up create better,
more meaningful, photos!
— Veda Eddy
***See two of Veda’s pictures on the next page that illustrate the points in the article. The
picture of the door and lock on page 1 was also taken by Veda.
Seven Deadly Sins of Landscape Photography (taken from KelbyOne and submitted to us by
Gary Robbins)
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Choppy water (creates tension in the image)
Frozen Water (when you use fast shutter speed)
Crooked Horizon (easily fixed in PS or LR)
Cloudless Sky = BORING
No foreground interest (foreground is needed to anchor the image)
Shooting in the middle of the day when the sun is harsh
Distracting objects around the border (do “border patrol” to look for and remove
objects)
Bonus tip: No long exposure on pictures with trees and leaves on windy days
Links
http://www.photopills.com/articles/how-shoot-truly-contagious-milky-way-pictures
(sent by Charlie Eggert)
Check out Photoshop Tutorials for Beginners from Home of Designers. Teacher taught at University.
20 years experience. It's on YouTube. A little trouble navigating the chapters, but it can be done with
just a little effort.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?index=74&list=PL-cBH39TuW2LNNPkUz5LaTVWFkw-fkZT&v=s3ADxYH-bBU
(sent by Peter Prentice)