Here's my usual few notes on our ESIG meeting, just to remind you what we covered, and we covered a lot this week.
We had nine speakers, a record, mostly responding to my challenge last time to produce a panel of six. They were all completely different and on reflection raised some interesting questions that I've tried to weave into the summaries below.
- Ali started us off with an excellent three part talk, starting off with a dynamic shot of a penguin swimming alongside the boat. Ali felt the image would not be an outright winner with the judges (arguable) but it is one of her favourites because of the memories, and the difficulty in taking the shot. Ali asked if it matters that the judge might not like it, and we all agreed that it doesn't. The primary purpose must be to produce photographs that we like ourselves, otherwise we're destined for a life of disappointment. Ali then showed a panel of six, made up from some kind of device with cogs(?). In camera multiple exposures were involved and the question was does this make it a straight shot, compared with building up the same shot in Photoshop with layers. This matters for some it seems if the competition rules don't allow. And finally Ali showed some images from the Guild which had been heavily photoshopped, to great effect (?), and asked the question is Photoshop now an integral part of the image making process. I think the answer is undoubtedly yes, Photoshop skills are becoming increasingly important. Although there is a fight back on the horizon.
- John Mobbs was next with a thoughtful contribution. John set himself the task of 'noticing more' when he's out and about. What an interesting thought. John showed a series of 6 images taken at night around St Albans, each of which had some unusual aspect, or at least raised some questions in John's mind. It was interesting that the questions raised in John's mind were not the same ones as those raised in everyone else's mind. There's a theory to explain this - semiotics. But this approach did produce a very different set of images, and maybe the start of a project for John.
- Torben turned technical on us by demonstrating the remarkable new 'Replace Sky' feature in Photoshop. This uses AI to replace a sky and does an excellent job of cutting out the most difficult fine detail. Torben's example was actually a model with wispy hair, and 'Replace Sky' did a great job in selecting individual strands of hair. Great demo Torben. I understand now that the latest Photoshop update includes a AI based 'Super Resolution' feature which increases the size of the file by x4, and maintains sharpness. So no need now to buy the latest high mega pixel cameras, just upsize in Photoshop.
- Gerry showed us a set of six images of a lone trees, all taken on the same snowy walk. The tonal balance of each were identical so they fitted together beautifully, and compositionally they were similar in positioning the tree in the centre of the image. The whole set were very attractive. Gerry said the panel probably reflected his mood at the time. I thought this was an interesting comment and worthy of a longer discussion.
- Judith showed us a very subtle set of images with the great title of 'Whilst waiting for owls'. The title alone sets up a tone and expectation of what might be coming. They were taken on a trip with Peter W intended to photograph owls, but during the long periods of waiting Judith turned the 400mm lens onto the landscape, focusing on close up subjects and allowing the background to go completely out of focus. I thought they were beautiful, definitely abstract, and worked really well together as a panel. Definitely worth working more on this theme.
- Peter (W) did manage to photograph the owls. He showed a panel of six, with two 'straight' shots, (one of them a real cracker), and four abstracts, taken by panning with a slow shutter. I think to our surprize, Peter expressed disappointment with the abstracts, even saying that it felt wrong, and not what wildlife photographers should do (apologies if I've mis-quoted). I for one, and I speak for the whole group I think, couldn't disagree more. Maybe its wrong if you're wearing the wildlife photographers hat, but Peter, if you put on momentarily your 'artists' hat, then its completely right. And I'd be amazed if one of your owls shots doesn't get an award in the upcoming 'Abstract' competition. The interesting issue raised here is do we find ourselves wearing the same hat all the time, and thereby cutting ourselves off from other types of photography. Or is a degree of specialism a good thing?
- Iain took himself off to Redbournbury and took a few shots along by the river. Iain admitted to it being a bit of a struggle to get the shots, but it did motivate him to have another go sometime in the future. I was reading an interview today in Outdoor Photography with Vanda Relevska (excellent photographer) who was saying you cant force things. If there is a photograph there you will see it and become excited. If not then nothing will happen. I can understand that.
- Malcolm took us to France and showed us the work of a graffiti artist, who goes by the name of RNST. Made me think of Banksy, although the style was completely different. The work showed young people, all wearing masks, in very animated and energetic poses. They were certainly dynamic, and eye catching. I thought they were all a bit angry, like protest posters, and could easily be interpreted as being politically motivated. I'm not sure we all felt that. But there were many images in the same recognisable style and RNST has generated an active group of followers.
- I finished off the evening. Having set the challenge, I gave myself a day to produce something. I had in mind two photographers, Sam Haskins, who goes way back and was a studio worker. He was well know for producing calendars amongst other things. But I recall seeing an exhibition of his called Photographics, and was blown away. I've still got the book. The images were all montages, produced by overlaying negative film. One of the themes was Seascapes and I had the idea of trying out this theme. The other photographer I had in mind was Stephen LeProvost, who you will all know (?) produces beautiful soft abstract scenes. So I went off the the local fishmonger, situated on the mouth of the Tyne and bought a whole load of fresh mixed fish - £7.50 the lot - and enjoyed taking close up of the fish, and creating a sort of abstract image, nothing like Sam Haskins or Stephen LeProvost. But the interesting learning here is that these photographers gave me a place to start, and I produced something I wouldn't have otherwise tried.
This note has become a bit long winded, but I hope at least some of you have reached the end. I enjoyed this week's meeting, I hope you did too. All our panels were different. We all have different voices.
We had nine speakers, a record, mostly responding to my challenge last time to produce a panel of six. They were all completely different and on reflection raised some interesting questions that I've tried to weave into the summaries below.
- Ali started us off with an excellent three part talk, starting off with a dynamic shot of a penguin swimming alongside the boat. Ali felt the image would not be an outright winner with the judges (arguable) but it is one of her favourites because of the memories, and the difficulty in taking the shot. Ali asked if it matters that the judge might not like it, and we all agreed that it doesn't. The primary purpose must be to produce photographs that we like ourselves, otherwise we're destined for a life of disappointment. Ali then showed a panel of six, made up from some kind of device with cogs(?). In camera multiple exposures were involved and the question was does this make it a straight shot, compared with building up the same shot in Photoshop with layers. This matters for some it seems if the competition rules don't allow. And finally Ali showed some images from the Guild which had been heavily photoshopped, to great effect (?), and asked the question is Photoshop now an integral part of the image making process. I think the answer is undoubtedly yes, Photoshop skills are becoming increasingly important. Although there is a fight back on the horizon.
- John Mobbs was next with a thoughtful contribution. John set himself the task of 'noticing more' when he's out and about. What an interesting thought. John showed a series of 6 images taken at night around St Albans, each of which had some unusual aspect, or at least raised some questions in John's mind. It was interesting that the questions raised in John's mind were not the same ones as those raised in everyone else's mind. There's a theory to explain this - semiotics. But this approach did produce a very different set of images, and maybe the start of a project for John.
- Torben turned technical on us by demonstrating the remarkable new 'Replace Sky' feature in Photoshop. This uses AI to replace a sky and does an excellent job of cutting out the most difficult fine detail. Torben's example was actually a model with wispy hair, and 'Replace Sky' did a great job in selecting individual strands of hair. Great demo Torben. I understand now that the latest Photoshop update includes a AI based 'Super Resolution' feature which increases the size of the file by x4, and maintains sharpness. So no need now to buy the latest high mega pixel cameras, just upsize in Photoshop.
- Gerry showed us a set of six images of a lone trees, all taken on the same snowy walk. The tonal balance of each were identical so they fitted together beautifully, and compositionally they were similar in positioning the tree in the centre of the image. The whole set were very attractive. Gerry said the panel probably reflected his mood at the time. I thought this was an interesting comment and worthy of a longer discussion.
- Judith showed us a very subtle set of images with the great title of 'Whilst waiting for owls'. The title alone sets up a tone and expectation of what might be coming. They were taken on a trip with Peter W intended to photograph owls, but during the long periods of waiting Judith turned the 400mm lens onto the landscape, focusing on close up subjects and allowing the background to go completely out of focus. I thought they were beautiful, definitely abstract, and worked really well together as a panel. Definitely worth working more on this theme.
- Peter (W) did manage to photograph the owls. He showed a panel of six, with two 'straight' shots, (one of them a real cracker), and four abstracts, taken by panning with a slow shutter. I think to our surprize, Peter expressed disappointment with the abstracts, even saying that it felt wrong, and not what wildlife photographers should do (apologies if I've mis-quoted). I for one, and I speak for the whole group I think, couldn't disagree more. Maybe its wrong if you're wearing the wildlife photographers hat, but Peter, if you put on momentarily your 'artists' hat, then its completely right. And I'd be amazed if one of your owls shots doesn't get an award in the upcoming 'Abstract' competition. The interesting issue raised here is do we find ourselves wearing the same hat all the time, and thereby cutting ourselves off from other types of photography. Or is a degree of specialism a good thing?
- Iain took himself off to Redbournbury and took a few shots along by the river. Iain admitted to it being a bit of a struggle to get the shots, but it did motivate him to have another go sometime in the future. I was reading an interview today in Outdoor Photography with Vanda Relevska (excellent photographer) who was saying you cant force things. If there is a photograph there you will see it and become excited. If not then nothing will happen. I can understand that.
- Malcolm took us to France and showed us the work of a graffiti artist, who goes by the name of RNST. Made me think of Banksy, although the style was completely different. The work showed young people, all wearing masks, in very animated and energetic poses. They were certainly dynamic, and eye catching. I thought they were all a bit angry, like protest posters, and could easily be interpreted as being politically motivated. I'm not sure we all felt that. But there were many images in the same recognisable style and RNST has generated an active group of followers.
- I finished off the evening. Having set the challenge, I gave myself a day to produce something. I had in mind two photographers, Sam Haskins, who goes way back and was a studio worker. He was well know for producing calendars amongst other things. But I recall seeing an exhibition of his called Photographics, and was blown away. I've still got the book. The images were all montages, produced by overlaying negative film. One of the themes was Seascapes and I had the idea of trying out this theme. The other photographer I had in mind was Stephen LeProvost, who you will all know (?) produces beautiful soft abstract scenes. So I went off the the local fishmonger, situated on the mouth of the Tyne and bought a whole load of fresh mixed fish - £7.50 the lot - and enjoyed taking close up of the fish, and creating a sort of abstract image, nothing like Sam Haskins or Stephen LeProvost. But the interesting learning here is that these photographers gave me a place to start, and I produced something I wouldn't have otherwise tried.
This note has become a bit long winded, but I hope at least some of you have reached the end. I enjoyed this week's meeting, I hope you did too. All our panels were different. We all have different voices.
