THE CAMBRIDGE PHOTO GROUP
Welcome back! Hope you’ve all been out shooting lots and having fun. I know, I know, the strong sunlight makes for harsh shadows… well, perhaps you want to take a nice snooze in the warm sun before you head out in the cooler evening and better light – either way, I’m enjoying the great weather.
%5B5%5D.jpg "Photo Credit: Gary Scott - www.garyslens.ca")
Speaking of which, come to our meetings from 4 to 6 monthly – after the meeting is a great time to just go out and shoot some photos – the light is good, the weather’s great, and you may have picked up a few great tips during the meeting!
That’s exactly what we did right after our meeting this month. We went round the back of the old furniture building where Video99 is located and took some shots of my bike in the grass. This wasn’t the only shot of course. Come out next month to see more, or bring your own!
Some other highlights of this month’s meeting were Shannon’s sharing of her first attempts at DSLR HD Video (I want one!) and Brett sharing photos of his latest model shoot. There were lots of great tips shared on how to capture not just great images, but great poses.
Those who missed out on the Henry’s “Photographic, Video and Digital Imaging” show missed a great opportunity to get some tips from the pro’s in a variety of photographic disciplines. Myself, I enjoyed sessions on everything from making movies on a DSLR, to Nature Photography with Ethan Meleg (who also has a blog on blogspot), to Travel photography with Michael Willems.
Another highlight of the show was a great shooting area with some really cool setups. Hot bikes and hot fire breathers… was there a theme going on? At least they didn’t set off the fire alarms!
4 Week Challenge
Every month, we challenge each other with a task. Try our challenge and bring your shots to the next meeting on a memory stick to share with everyone. We’ll tell you what we like about them.
The Last Challenge: Speed 
Capturing speed isn’t as easy as some led me to believe. It’s tricky to get that smooth motion of the camera, and focusing at the same time can be difficult as well. We had some good discussion about the images.
Shannon had some interesting shots at the fair where she shot a posed person in front of a moving ride (sorry Shannon, I didn’t get the copy of your images to post :(
Brett managed to capture a few images while waiting by the curbside and managed to pull it off quite nicely with a few very sharp images of cars passing by.
Our Next Challenge: Strangers
Sound odd? Scary? Well, it wouldn’t be a challenge if it wasn’t… well… a challenge. The idea behind this challenge is to bring at least three images of people you don’t know. Chat with the people, ask them if you can take their picture and pose them if you can. Some of us find that really hard – and I know some find it very easy (I definitely fall into the hard category). Either way bring your photos next month and let us see your new friends.
And remember, you’re welcome to bring any images you have taken and share them with the group – they don’t always have to be from this month’s challenge.
Future Challenge: 50mm
All these fancy lenses sometimes take the challenge out of photography, and the creativity too. Start thinking the next month about shooting with a fixed length lens.
Shoot Out: Air Show
Well, there were lots of undiscussed options this month. Get out and shoot! Take your camera when you go looking for flowers for your garden, your trip to the beach or anywhere else.
Here’s an idea. The Waterloo Regional Airport is hosting the Aviation Expo and Airshow again this year. The show is on June 19th and 20th from 9:00am until 5:00pm. If you didn’t get those “speed” shots before, maybe you’ll get some of the jets screaming by!
Freebie of the Month: Tintii
Last month we showed you a photoshop plugin package from filterforge. Plugins are great but if you don’t have photoshop, they’re not very useful.
Here’s a little utility that is both – the paid version is a photoshop plugin, so if you can afford it, it works directly in your photoshop. If, however, you just want to run it as a standalone, then you can.
The program will let you take a full colour photo and processes it into a black and white image with some elect highlighted colours quickly and easily.
Download here. And enjoy!
Next Regular Meeting: June 27th, 2010 – 4:00-6:00pm
Come on out to our next meeting, share your images. As always, meet us at the back of the Video 99 store in Hespeler (see the side panel for a map of the location).
Upcoming Meetings: be sure to put them on your calendar!
The Fourth Sunday of every month…
July 25th, August 22nd, September 26th…
