Month: October 2024

On Wed 06 Nov we have an evening of insights into club competitions (optional background reading linked from here, https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/competitions):

• Alan Edwards – how the SPF external competitions are judged and ranked 
• David Hay – a long-time SPF judge’s comments on our PPS entry to the 4-Way local derby which will be held this year on Wed 20 Nov in St Andrews  
• John Boyd – talking through the SPF’s advice, published on their website, on what their accredited judges should be looking for when judging club competitions

The evening is intended firstly to inform what we’ll see the following week, at our first internal competition of the season, and secondly to fire everyone up to enter everything that’s going. We’re bursting with ideas, now let’s make those images and bring glory on ourselves and on the club!

Another treat – Lakeland-born Peter told of how a pause for a rest during a Perthshire walk led him to notice wildlife around him that had hitherto gone unseen.

An introduction to the location of a nearby osprey nest piqued his interest. It wasn’t long before he was sharing tips with attentive locals, and following the movements of ospreys, dippers, beavers, otters, deer, foxes, and more. Almost all of this along a stretch of the Tay, from Willowgate to the Almond. You don’t have to go far; but it helps to go quietly.

Peter’s wildlife photography makes great use of fairly fast shutter speeds to freeze action, apertures towards the wider end of range to minimise background distractions, and auto-ISO to ensure the sensor records enough light to make a good image. All the images he shared included these settings details, including one rushed shot at ISO 50 that still worked out!

With the weight of a long lens, Peter favours a versatile monopod. He’s also been known to use a tripod, such as when setting up very close to a kingfisher perch and triggering the camera remotely from further away.

Peter’s also a keen photographer of sports (local amateur football) and travel/ architecture. He was an outside speaker when whe was booked, but he’s a PPS member now, and we look forward to seeing more of Peter and his work in the coming months.

Our new 2024-25 season is well under way, for anyone with an interest in Photography, and living within Perth, Perthshire, Perth and Kinross, and surrounding areas in Scotland. 

Next up we have our third Speaker: Peter is a local Perth photographer who documents the amazing wildlife to be found on our doorstep – from Ospreys and Otters in the Tay to the Quarrymill Kingfishers
https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/2024/08/programme-2024-25/#week05

Newcomers are very welcome to register online, and come along to meet us for a couple of weeks, with no commitment. That gives you the chance to decide if you like what you see.
Or you can jump straight in with new or renewed membership.
Either way, go to the online form on our Membership page to register.
https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/membership/

We were fortunate to host Espen Helland, wildlife photographer based near Dunkeld, for an evening of insights into capturing images of black grouse, other birds, and even some mammals large and small. Espen is an experienced YouTuber with a sizeable following, not least amongst our own PPS membership, and he’s also an ambassador for OM Systems.

He spoke of early starts, climbs in the dark, setting up in hides before sunrise, and remaining there for as long as it takes. But the rewards! – to witness the black grouse engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals, where it all happens so fast you can’t really tell what’s going on until you see the 1/1600 sec images when you get home.

He told us of how he likes to isolate his subject with some out-of-focus foreground, such as this front row head.

And how exposing for and shooting into the sun allows for some rim lighting around his sillouetted subject, perhaps lighting up the wing structure of a bird in flight, or the furry outline of a recognisable mammal.

He spoke of how to use the features of the camera to capture the images he shared, with tips on how to not miss any of the action, and how to maximise image quality in poor light. Most of all, he shared a love for his subject, being both the creatures he photographs with care and respect, and the greater great outdoors itself.

Only later did we learn that this was actually Espen’s first live speaking engagement, and he was glad of a convivial half hour at the Grampian Hotel in which to wind down before the drive home. Our pleasure!

Our new 2024-25 season is under way, for anyone with an interest in Photography, and living within Perth, Perthshire, Perth and Kinross, and surrounding areas in Scotland. 

Wikipedia tells us: ‘A lek is an aggregation of male animals gathered to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals…. ‘ So – an evening with potential for sex and violence as well as photography!

Our second speaker, Espen Helland, is a Norwegian ecologist working in Scotland. He is an expert on Black Grouse, and leads photography workshops to leks in Perthshire. Espen is an OM System (Olympus) Ambassador.

https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/2024/08/programme-2024-25/#week04

Newcomers are very welcome to register online, and come along to meet us for a couple of weeks, with no commitment. That gives you the chance to decide if you like what you see.
Or you can jump straight in with new or renewed membership.
Either way, go to the online form at How do I join? to register.
https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/membership/

Little people, amidst normal-sized everyday objects – that’s one of David’s specialities, and last night he told us how he goes about it.
More of his work, here: https://davidgilliver.com/portfolio/little-people/

Big thanks to David for coming up from Glasgow to speak to us at short notice,it was an absolute delight to host him for the evening.

Are we inspired? Let’s see what miniature landscapes we PPS members can conjure up.

Our new 2024-25 season is under way, for anyone with an interest in Photography, and living within Perth, Perthshire, Perth and Kinross, and surrounding areas in Scotland. 

Next up, our first Speaker: David Gilliver from Glasgow specialises in, amongst other things, macro photography (‘Little People’) and has become one of the internet’s best known names in those fields. He will tell us about his approach to Miniatures photography. 

https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/2024/08/programme-2024-25/#week03

Newcomers are very welcome to register online, and come along to meet us for a couple of weeks, with no commitment. That gives you the chance to decide if you like what you see.
Or you can jump straight in with new or renewed membership.
Either way, go to the online form at How do I join? to register.

Our Facebook Page has other posts you can share – https://www.facebook.com/PerthshirePhotographicSociety

Our second night of the season was the hugely popular Being and Share. For this we met for introductions in the old cafe room, while our usual lecture theatre space hosted a speaker for the PSNS Archaeology section.

This worked to our advantage, allowing tables of small groups to spend time ice-breaking over discussion of images brought in by all. With nearly 20 new faces this season, no one knows everyone else, so if you feel you don’t, don’t worry, you are not alone.

Four tables downstairs, four more upstairs. We had images on prints, tablets, phones, stick drives, laptops. We had images from members of 40+ years standing, from those along for their first visit, and everyone in between.

And somewhere in the corner, Tim had set up tripods with cameras running timelapse exposures, to capture a sense of the animated bustle of the evening. The results may yet appear in our Facebook group, at Perth Photo Forum. (If you’re joining that, make sure to answer the membership questions).

To round off the evening, a growing sociable gathering convened in the bar of the Grampian Hotel, just over the road. With just long enough for a swift half or so, we had the place to ourselves for some relaxed photo chat. Perfect.

Our new 2024-25 season is under way, for anyone with an interest in Photography, and living within Perth, Perthshire, Perth and Kinross, and surrounding areas in Scotland. 

For our second week, we’re having a Bring and Share – bring some of your own images, as prints or on electronic devices, to share and discuss in small groups. Finished work, work in progress, rejects from the cutting room floor, howlers from the blooper reel, whatever.
https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/2024/08/programme-2024-25/#week02

Newcomers are very welcome to register online, and come along to meet us for a couple of weeks, with no commitment. That gives you the chance to decide if you like what you see.
Or you can jump straight in with new or renewed membership.
Either way, go to the online form at How do I join? to register.

The first night of each PPS season is traditionally President’s Night, and incumbent Ian Mackay welcomed more than fifty of us, of whom maybe a quarter were along for their first visit. Welcome indeed!

Ian described the cultural context of the Society and its relationship to PSNS, outlined the programme for the year, introduced the committee members present, and invited some of them to speak:
Tom Ryan told us about this year’s visiting speakers
Wol Gilbraith sketched out the internal competitions schedule
Graham Robb covered the external competitions
John Boyd explained our novice development programme for those new to, or just rusty at, their photography.

The lengthy tea break spilled out of the foyer and back into the theatre, and provided an opportunity for making newcomers feel welcome, and for old friends to catch up.

In the second half of the evening, Ian introduced some themes in his own interests, both in photography and in life, and talked us through some of his landscape images, explaining how a sometimes-plain scene can be brought alive as a striking image.

To round off the evening, a handful of dedicated researchers investigated the possibilities of the bar at the Grampian Hotel, just over the road. Their lounge looks big enough to hold most of us, and stays open until 22:30, so not dangerously late. Let’s see if that can become a regular thing.