August 15th, 2010 – Issue 19

THE CAMBRIDGE PHOTO GROUP
Summer is quickly coming to a close. The weather has been great this summer and many of us have taken holidays all around the world. It’s getting time again to get back to the daily grind – kids go to school and vacations are over. As we settle back into our routines, we’ll have some time to sort through those thousands of images we took over the summer and start to find the best ones. Be sure to save a few of your absolute best images to bring to the open house and share with all the customers of Video 99 in Hespeler.

That’s right! At the next meeting, bring your best images in 8x10 format for display at the Video 99 store. The images will be voted on over the next month by customers and the winners will receive half the entrance fees. Sound worth your while?

4 Week Challenge
Every month, we challenge each other with a task – try our challenge and bring your photos to the next meeting on a memory stick to share with everyone. We’ll tell you what we like about them. If you don’t do Digitial, bring a print! We’d love to see your images.

The Last Challenge: Old Barns
There is a strange attractiveness to an old run down barn. The ghosts of past lives still seem to live on in the rustic boards of the weather worn buildings, whispering their stories to those who pause a moment. David seemed to have captured a few of those stories in his images of boards and windows and old trucks. In this image, the bicycle, long abandoned seems to beckon it’s rider to return as David waits, hiding behind a fence.

Still as if peaking into history, Gary preferred to stay a little further away from those ghosts and framed the barn behind a field of wild flowers and a crop of Soy Bean.

Scott brought a number of great images, some of which you will have to come to the open house to see – they are really marvelous, but sticking with the barn theme, he  used an HDR technique to enhance this image. He also managed to crop and replace the sky skillfully enough that we had a hard time telling that he had done so. That’s not an easy feat when cropping the leaves of trees!

Rachel didn’t really bring us a picture of a Barn, but her macro shot of Noah’s arc was close enough for us to add it to this small gallery. Nice “Rule of Thirds” Rachel.

Next Challenge: Three part story
Images should tell a story, right? So what about three images? Will they tell three stories? Well, not if they are all in one image. Confused? So am I.

But the challenge is not that confusing. Rather like a cartoon strip, simply take three or more sequential images and put them together to tell a story. There are different ways to do this – one way is like the cartoon strip, another is by combining the sequence into a single frame much like you have seen on sports shots. In fact, there is an entire flickr group dedicated to this kind of sequence shot… check it out: http://www.flickr.com/groups/sequence_photography/

As always, be creative, use your surroundings and let the story be heard!

Open House
At our next meeting, September 26th, we will be having our first (hopefully) annual Open House – and you are invited to participate by bringing and displaying your favorite images in the Gallery to be set up in the Video 99 store in Hespeler.

This is an opportunity to share your talent with All of Cambridge. And there will be prizes too. Don’t worry if you don’t think your photo will win – it’s not just about the prize money, though we want to encourage those who do win, we also want you to have an opportunity to show your talent.

On September 26th, Tammy will be firing up the barbeque out back - bring your own food and a little for someone else to share. We'll be enjoying a mix and mingle time and be displaying our images. Entry to the contest is $5.00 per photographer and the total of all entry fees will be returned to the winning photographers in two categories: 50% will go to the best "local" image (Cambridge and area), and 50% will go to the best image in an "open" category.

To enter, bring between one and three 8x10 printed images that we can display at the Video 99 store between the Open House on the 26th and our closing date of October 24th (the following meeting). During that time, Customers at the Video 99 store will be able to leave an anonymous ballot with the number of their favorite image in each of the two categories. In October, the ballots will be counted and the prizes awarded accordingly.

Sound exciting? I know I’m looking forward to being able to display some of my work, whether I should win the prize or not, and I hope you are too!

Freebie of the month: Stock Xchng
This month, in stead of free software or tools to create images, how about a site that provides free images? That’s what Stock Xchange is all about. On this site you can download literally thousands of images royalty free for promotion and commercial purposes. Many photographers are happy to have their work used and all they ask is a credit. Signing up for an account is free, and if you’re ambitious, you can even submit your own images to see if the “Stock Gods” will smile upon you and accept them for publication – it’s not an easy task to get published, but it’s rewarding to see your images promoted on the site.

Visit here: www.sxc.hu

Oh, and if you’re curious, you can visit my portfolio.

Next Regular Meeting: September 26th, 2010 – 4-6pm
Be sure to update your calendar, print your images and bring some food for the barbeque. Bring your photos on a memory stick too so we can share some of them on the blog and a friend to share in the fun. Meet us at the back of the Video 99 store in Hespeler – see the side panel for a map to the location.

Upcoming Meetings
October 24th – Contest Closing, judging and prizes.

July 25th, 2010 – Issue 18

THE CAMBRIDGE PHOTO GROUP
Be sure to read through to the end of the blog this month as there is a date change, and a special announcement regarding an upcoming event!

Surprises! Yes, it’s great to be able to set up a shot just the way you want it and have it turn out just the way you planned, but sometimes it is capturing an unexpected moment or an almost missed opportunity that is the most thrilling when it comes to photography.

Don’t you wish you had your camera handy all the time to catch those moments? Well, for those of us who went on Scott Kelby’s World Wide Photo Walk on July 24th, we had a great opportunity just like that.

Shoot Out: Scott Kelby World Wide Photo Walk
Well, it wasn’t an official “shoot out”, but it was a good chance to get out and socialize and meet some other photographers. Thanks to Scott Toman for organizing the event this year in Hespeler.

Not long after we began the walk, we ran into our surprise. We met Shawky Fahel who is developing the old American Standard building, which closed in 2007, to become riverfront condominiums. He kindly offered to take a group through the building. Many of us grabbed the opportunity to shoot some awesome photos inside what will soon become history.

Check out the Flickr Group for pictures from our photo walkers, and the Scott Kelby site for photo walk images from around the world.

4 Week Challenge
Every month, we challenge each other with a task – try our challenge and bring your photos to the next meeting on a memory stick to share with everyone. We’ll tell you what we like about them. If you don’t do Digitial, bring a print! We’d love to see your images.

The Last Challenge: 50mm
Our challenge this month was to take an image using your 50mm lens only – or with a fixed focal length. Here are some of the shots we looked at.

Gary used an extension tube on his 50mm lens to get some close up shots of bugs – of course, the extension tube removed any in-camera lens communication, which made taking these pictures an interesting challenge, moving forward and back to find just the right focal point.

Tammy was the “official photographer” at her church event where she practiced some of her 50mm shots. The angle and focal point of this shot was very interesting. Don’t you just want to reach out and pop that bubble?

Rachel had an opportunity to travel to Northern Ireland, where she had a great time and took some great photos. Being Rachel, some of her best images were of the local flowers, like this one of the buttercups.

This month we welcomed two new folks to the meeting who were at the photo walk – unfortunately, they did not have any of their shots with them, but we look forward to seeing some of their work in the future. You can also view some of their photos from the photo walk.

Our Next Challenge: Old Barns
Everyone loves the look of those old boards, the barns and the livestock roaming through them. This month’s challenge is to go looking for some of those great old scenes, time the light right, and grab a great image of an old barn. Here is a flickr search for inspiration:

 

As always, bring some of your best shots to the meeting next month, along with any other shots you would like to share – we love to view them and comment (typically encouraging comments with a few helpful tips).

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: OPEN HOUSE
Be sure to plan on coming to the September 26th and October 24th Photo Group meetings as we will be having a very special event I know you will all want to participate in. We are planning an "Open House" event where you will be able to bring and display your favorite photos in a Gallery set up in the Video 99 store!

This is an opportunity to share your talent with All of Cambridge. There will be a contest too, but don’t worry if you don’t think your photo will win – it’s not just about the prize money, though we want to encourage those who do win, we also want you to have an opportunity to show your talent.

On September 26th, Tammy will be firing up the barbeque out back - bring your own food and a little for someone else to share. We'll be enjoying a mix and mingle time and be displaying your images.

Entry to the contest is $5.00 per photographer and the total of all entry fees will be returned to the winning photographers in two categories: 50% will go to the best "local" image (Cambridge and area), and 50% will go to the best image in an "open" category.

To enter, bring between one and three 8x10 printed images that we can display at the Video 99 store between the Open House on the 26th and our closing date of October 24th (the following meeting). During that time, Customers at the Video 99 store will be able to leave an anonymous ballot with the number of their favorite image in each of the two categories. In October, the ballots will be counted and the prizes awarded accordingly.

Sound exciting? I know I’m looking forward to being able to display some of my work, whether I should win the prize or not, and I hope you are too!

Next Regular Meeting: August 15th, 2010 – 4-6pm
Be sure to update your calendar if you have already booked the 22nd – there were a number of people who could not make that date and asked that it be moved to the 15th – so, as always, bring your photos and meet us at the back of the Video 99 store in Hespeler – see the side panel for a map to the location.

Upcoming Meetings
September 26th – Open House
October 24th – Contest Closing

June 27th, 2010 – Issue 17

THE CAMBRIDGE PHOTO GROUP
I have an admission to make. I missed the meeting. First one in a year and a half, so I figure that’s not too bad. And I’m really late putting up the Blog this month :(

Anyway, I hope to make the next one again, and hopefully it will be a year and a half before I miss another one! How about you? Do you think you’ll be able to make the next year and a half of meetings? I hope so.

I’m afraid I don’t have a great cross section of pictures this month, but I’m including what I have. If you were at the meeting and shared a picture you think should have been posted here, please send me it – it’s never too late to add!

Shoot Out: Air Show
So I hope you all got out and got your cameras out somewhere, and I’m sure you’ll be sharing all those summer pics at our upcoming Open House Gallery (Details will follow). I definitely enjoyed my time at the air show as always. It’s a challenge to trigger the shutter at just the right moment as the planes wiz by – you only get one shot at it for sure!

The Waterloo Regional Airport hosted the Aviation Expo and Airshow again this year on June 19th and 20th. There were plenty of planes to shoot, both on the ground and above it, and as always, the snowbirds were definitely a highlight.

There were lots of near misses and high flying formations and occasionally opportunities to shoot planes doing things planes don’t normally do – like land on a Winnebago! Or do loops and spirals while the engine is completely stalled!

4 Week Challenge
Every month, we challenge each other with a task – try our challenge and bring your photos to the next meeting on a memory stick to share with everyone. We’ll tell you what we like about them. If you don’t do Digitial, bring a print! We’d love to see your images.

The Last Challenge: Strangers
Last month’s challenge was to talk at least three pictures of someone you didn’t know. That’s a challenge for me to do since I always have a hard time walking up to someone and saying, “hey, can I take your picture?”, but Brett helped me out a lot… he had a model shoot he was doing for a local clothing designer and I was invited to help take some of the shots for the catalogue. Here are just some of them. 

The models were, of course, total strangers to me, so I figure I’ve got it covered! If you’d like to see the rest of the images (and shop for the clothes, you can find them here.

Brooke Anderson shared some images of strangers as well, though I’m not sure he approached them… though I’m pretty sure the cows did not mind him taking their picture.

Our Next Challenge: 50mm
Take an image using a 50mm lens only. All these fancy lenses sometimes take the challenge out of photography, and the creativity too. This month’s challenge is about shooting with a fixed lens.

Even if you don’t have a 50mm lens, set your zoom to 50mm and leave it there – don’t touch that dial! Move around your subject towards it and away from it to look for an unexpected perspective.

Next Regular Meeting: July 25th, 2010 – 4:00pm-6:00pm
Come on out and share your images at our next meeting – as always, 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!
August 22nd
September 26th

SPECIAL NOTE…
At our September meeting, we will be having an “Open House” to show off our photos. Come out to the meeting to get more details and provide some input on how you would like to see this event run!

May 30th, 2010 – Issue 16

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.

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.

The place was packed with photographers of all grades – from full on pro to point and shoot newbie's. Many eager to buy equipment that ranged from a few dollars to many thousands of dollars. There were lenses to try out and if you brought your own gear, many of the booths allowed you to try their products on your camera right at the show.

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…

April 25th, 2010 – Issue 15

THE CAMBRIDGE PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP
Are you feeling it yet? The weather’s been beautiful and it’s getting nicer to get outside. Time to leave the indoor studio for a while and venture out into the landscape for some vista shots. No matter where you live, there are always some beautiful subjects to be shot.

Those who went on the Shoot Out in Elora were treated to a beautiful sun-shiny day with plenty of material to shoot. This shot of a tall work of art was nicely silhouetted against the Sun by Tammy. 

Almost everyone in the group took a shot of the coloured doors, on one of the side streets, and it was interesting to see the different perspectives in each of them, as evidenced by these two by Chris and Gary respectively.

Finally, Rachel showed her creativity and photographic eye by angling this image so that it was the door that was on the slant, and not the road as was indeed the reality – good job, Rachel!

And as if that were not enough, we also had a great time at the meeting at Video 99 where Brooke Anderson set up and providing us with a demonstration of a basic studio lighting.

We learned a great deal about placement of lights, how the light should be balanced, how to meter it effectively and even a little on posing our subjects. Great job, and thank you Brooke. Thanks also to Brett who was our impromptu model for the evening!

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: Easter
Admittedly, the last blog was a little late being published and not everyone got the message that the challenge was “Easter” but Shannon and Rachel came through for us. Shannon showed us an image of one of her favorite subjects – her dog! And managed to practice some studio lighting in the process.

Rachel gave us a glimpse of some of her “loot” with a picture of her  chocolate. What you don’t see is the real interest part of the photo – she’s been practicing her photoshop skills and removed the net weight from the box… too bad we couldn’t remove the net weight from eating it!

Our Next Challenge: Speed
This month’s challenge is about capturing speed. Unlike the “Stop action” challenge we did a few months ago, this time we want the image to portray the speed. The idea is that on a two dimensional, still image, we want you to convey the feeling of motion – and the faster the motion, the better.

For inspiration, here’s a flickr group to look at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/deliberatemotionblur/

Future Challenge: Strangers
I know this one will be a challenge to me! The idea is to bring at least three images of people you don’t know – Oh my – you mean I’ll have to ask strangers if I can take their pictures?!

Shoot Out: Henry’s Show
OK, so it’s not really a shoot-out, but how could we call ourselves photographers if we didn’t go at least one show? May 14th, 15th and 16th, Henry’s is presenting their annual “Photographic, Video and Digital Imaging Show” at the International Centre in Mississauga. Some of you may want to attend all three days when you see the Show Schedule, but if you would like to go on Saturday, contact Gary (you should already have my e-mail address as I send notes to you all). Perhaps we can travel together.

For more information on the show, visit the website:

http://www.henrys.ca/Show/Imaging-Show.html

Freebie of the Month: Photoshop Plugins
Filter Forge is a plugin package for Photoshop that allows you to use pre-built and build your own filters. You can also access over 7000 user-created filters from their website. Best of all, they have “Freepacks” that you can download and use on images up to 3000x3000 pixels!

These filters do some amazing things to your images. Give them a try. (Note: If you have photoshop elements, I believe these plug-ins will work for you too, but that is unconfirmed… if you find out one way or the other, please let me know and I will update the blog… thanks).

http://www.filterforge.com/download/

Next Regular Meeting: May 30th, 2010 – 4:00-6:00pm
You never know what you’re missing when you’re not there. We share a few of the images we see on the blog, but certainly not all of them, and not always the best either. Come on out and share you’re pictures with the rest of us! Meet us in the studio at the back of the Video 99 store in Hespeler.

Upcoming Meetings: Put them on your calendar now!
June 27th
July 25th
August 22nd