Category Archives: News

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

See what we were up to last week:
https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/…/news/

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.

The three images from each of the top five authors are now on our Galleries page for the new season. Go take a look.

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.

Next up, we have the first competition of the season, which as well as being a competition is a great opportunity to hear some learned commentary on our images from a judge accredited by the Scottish Photographic Federation. We’re fortunate to have Bob Humphreys from Donside CC coming to share his expertise for the evening. 

Bob will have his work cut out – we’ve got 90 images to enjoy. Expect to be inspired to think more deeply about how you can better tell the stories you want to tell.

After the event, the top-placed entries will be posted on our Galleries pages for us all to enjoy, and perhaps learn from, again. 

https://www.perthshirephotographicsociety.org.uk/2024/08/programme-2024-25/#week07

Our Member’s Night ran exactly to plan, thanks not just to our four speakers, but also to our skilled members for assistance with such issues as sharing a presentation to a second screen, and using our new lapel microphones.

Alan Edwards outlined how the various SPF external competitions are judged and ranked 

John Boyd talked through the SPF’s advice, published on their website, on what their accredited judges should be looking for when judging club competitions

David Hay provided expert commentary on our PPS entry to the 4-Way local derby which will be held this year on Wed 20 Nov in St Andrews  

To finish, Ian Mackay told of his workflow for photographing landscapes in the classic wide angle, sharp front to back style.

Lots there to inspire us.

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!