We’ve been on a break from our meetings in town, but not idle. Not least: our novice programme is well under way, with many of our newer members getting together with old-hands who have offered to help them get more from their photography.
We come back on Wed 08 Jan 25 with our Grant Cup digital competition. It’s for digital images on the theme of ‘Water’, and it’s judged by us, the members. Our website’s Programme page (link below) lets you get familiar with our online voting process, ahead of comp night.
Newcomers are still 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/
Newcomers are still 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 delighted to welcome back Guy Phillips, SPF judge and aviation buff all the way from Helensburgh, who last visited PPS to judge the 4-Way inter-club competition we hosted in 2022.
Guy was a lively judge for our mono prints, and wasn’t slow to tell us which ones he ‘really really liked’.
And he ‘really really liked’ lots of them, commenting fluently and generously on the print in front of him on the night (a great number of which were, it must be said, very likeable).
If there were themes to his commentary, a couple of things stand out. Firstly, he liked to see shadow detail; a few prints were noted as being a bit dark, even though there was scope to bring out more. This can a be a consequence of an uncalibrated monitor, on which an image appears brighter than it really is; or of trustingly accepting the first image that emerges from the printer, without another round of critical evaluation. Secondly, the importance of presentation. He really really liked several of the smaller prints, mounted ‘just so’ in the standard sized and relatively larger mount; and he commented on some other prints that were let down by the mounting, either by the neatness of the cutting or by the choice of mount colour for the print.
But mostly he really really liked them, and his top 5 choice can be seen on our Gallery page.
Now, here’s a novelty – spin this around at leisure (may work better on a desktop screen) ….
We’d put all the entries out on display before the comptition, the first time we’ve done this, the thinking being to let everyone have a look at the images before we started so we’d better know what was being talked about when the judging got under way. Before tea, 44 prints were brought forward to the easel and put back on the stands as they were judged, and after tea, same again for the remaining 22 prints.
It was also the first night of active duty for our new print stands, which performed faultlessly. Thanks to everyone who helped put up and take down the stands, and with the fetching and carrying of prints during the evening. Good teamwork, folks.
Newcomers are still 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/
Being a member’s night, we were in the old cafe room, where we lit the projector and settled in for five short presentations and a tea break ….
Raymond Leinster has lately traded the privations of wildlife photography for the comforts of the members enclosure, and provided insights to the range of photos that can be taken during a day at the races. The best place in Perth for photography (perhaps), says Raymond.
Mike Gloistein told of photography at 12 knots, being a documentation of some of the sights from his life on board ship with the British Antarctic Survey. He says it wasn’t so Brr, because they were mainly out in the summer.
Sam Dearlove gave us a tour through a range of apps and web services for photographers looking to make their work more visible to a discerning audience, even to paying clients, and also to competitions and galleries.
David Hay walked us through a brief history of the Meyer-Optik Görlitz Trioplan 100mm f/2.8, a triplet lens from 1950’s Germany based on a design from the 19th century, and famed for its ‘soap bubble’-like out of focus areas (considered an optical defect at the time!). And his experience with an affordable new TT Artisans remake of this classic and now-expensive original. He makes the park in Pitlochry look even more magical, particularly with the combination of bokeh and lens flare.
Our event photographers had fun tonight. Tim used his vintage Helios 58mm f/2 for David’s mono portrait; Wol contrived some special ‘DH’ bokeh for the colour one.
To close, Wol Gilbraith unveiled our new-look print stands, ahead of next week’s PKM Trophy mono print competition, and called for volunteers to help put up 22 of them, for the 66 prints in the running. Simple and stable, the dowel and clip stands can be seen in the video on our guidelines to print competitions page, for anyone looking for a reminder.
For our next member’s night we’ve got a selection of topics, which (at time of going to press) looks like:
Soap Bubble images – There is a growing interest in adapting older lenses to modern cameras to create images with more ‘character’. David Hay has been using a vintage lens which produces pleasing circular out-of-focus areas, and he’ll tell us all about it.
Photography at 12mph – Perhaps 12 knots would be more accurate. New member Mike Gloistein will tell us about his photography, most of which has been conducted on board a moving ship.
Apps and Software – Sam Dearlove has been exploring what apps and software is available to help us with our photography. Some may be known to you, some may be new. And some may help you in ways you didn’t know were possible.
Print Stands – Wol Gilbraith will get us ready to use the new-look easy-build print stands we need for next week’s PKM Trophy mono print competition.
Newcomers are still 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/
What a fabulous presentation. Richard Smith is a long-term BlipPhoto Friend of our own Tim Haynes, and is not your typical gritty urban photographer (even though your correspondents had planned these gritty outdoor portraits on the basis that he might be).
Richard told us first of his transition from the rural landscapes of Argyll to the urban landscapes of Glasgow. The varying cones on the Duke of Wellington statue. A series of images of street art in their millieu. His take on ‘food photography’ – wonderful pavements and cobbles of spilled chips, coffee, milkshakes.
He didn’t dwell on the details of his gear, although we did learn of his fairly high-profile ‘street photography with a tripod’ approach that in itself requires a certain confidence with people to pull off.
Nor did he linger on the details of his composition – he didn’t need to, the photos spoke for themselves, as in the Deliveroo rider with shadows.
It was when he spoke of his second transition, from regular urban landscapes to ‘people photography’ is support of the Homeless Project Scotland, that his real passion shone through.
Taking photos that are deliberately intended to solicit support, in the form of volunteering or of donations, his photos of the service users and service providers of this project tell powerful stories of the lives and circumstances of some of Scotland’s most disadvantaged people.
Think twice before you try this. The subjects of his photos are often known to Richard through many weeks and months of encounters, developing relationships and trust. But not everyone knows him. And not everyone on the street wants to be photographed. Some night he works with a ‘security detail’.
As a volunteer photographer for the Project, Richard has strong incentives to make his photography ‘work’. We too can perhaps find that taking on some sort of photo project gives us an incentive to progress. What do we care about enough to want to take that on?
As to how to help the homeless, Richard’s recommendation is for donations to charities who know the score, know who’s who. and know who needs what – they’re the best placed to make a difference.
Here’s a series of phone pics and captions from our Facebook blogging of a Day Out in Dunblane at the SPF DIgital. Six of us were there from PPS, four of whom were actually rooting for the Civvies today. The best way to get a sense of the proceedings is to be there, but you can also see the SPF’s webpage for the event.
Several of us are in Dunblane today for the SPF Digital Championships
We’ve had Round 1 of the Plate, for the smaller clubs. Now we’re into Round 1 of the Bowie, for the larger clubs, so more entries per club. We’ve seen four 15’s so far – three animals and one aurora (none of them ours).
We’re into Round 2 of the Plate. Over lunch, clubs pick a selection of their remaining images, based on what they’ve seen in Round 1. PPS highest score here is a 13. Pictured is one of the Civvies’ entries, rim-lighting the three judges, who have around 10 seconds to mark 3, 4 or 5, so 15 is top marks. At the table on the right are the SPF back room team, keeping track of everything.
One rep from each club goes round the back to choose what goes in our Round 2 entry. Meanwhile, in the hall, we have prizegiving, starting with PAGB awards.
And quite a number of FIAP awards
SPF President George Taylor presents the Gold Medal for the best mono print in this year’s SPF Portfolio to PPS’s very own Wol Gilbraith.
Representatives from both Carluke and Stirling CC’s, joint winners of the Portfolio Digital Trophy for the club with the highest total score
Drawing the raffle, while the backroom team tot up the results
Raffle winners. Permajet Fine Art Satin paper for John, Bombay Sapphire for Alan.
Announcing the club totals for the Plate competition. LIbby says PPS and the Civvies are 7th Equal on 173 points, but Alan has done the sums for the Civvies and he’s shaking his head. Club scores range from a high of 186, down to 159 in 24th place.
Farewell, Victoria Hall, Dunblane. See you again in Feb for the Print Championships.
We’ve got another treat this coming week, 20 Nov. Richard Smith (a.k.a. Rich Fotografi) is an urban photographer from Glasgow with “an unexplained and possibly disturbing interest in photographing cinematic alleyways, street art, abandoned buildings”. He also works with a charitable group supporting homeless people. https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/2024/08/programme-2024-25/#week08
Newcomers are still 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/
Well that was exciting. No, not just the fire alarm going off at the start. Although it was gratifying to know that we can evacuate if required. And good to know where not to put the steaming tea urns.
But no – we’re talking about the Main Cup. Bob Humpreys from Donside CC came over the Cairnwell in the dark to talk through our 90 digital images. He introduced himself with a few of his own slides, and it was clear he’s a well-travelled wildlife photographer of great enthusiasm and skill.
He’s also a judge who’s very warm with his delivery and generous with his comments. With an average of around 60 seconds available per image to get over his main points, his commentary was necessarily concise.
His love of wildlife was evident. And a common theme in his observations was on the matter of cropping – where to leave space, and what to leave out.
The standard of entries was high, and, this being the Main Cup competition, what counts is consistency – the scores from each entrant’s three images are combined, to determine the placings.
It’s often said there can often only be one winner. However, anyone who came away from last night knowing what they need to do to improve is perhaps the greater winner, and there’s no limit on numbers for that kind of dividend.
