Photography News 10

Camera clubs

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Parkwinner As the season came to a close at Park Street Camera Club, awards were made for the best projected image of the year. For this special evening Paul Mitchell FRPS from Amersham Club was invited to select from an entry of more than 50, all of which had scored highly during the year. horizon until one realises that she has had the courage to turn the image over and the majority of it is actually the reflection. In its original colour form this greatly enhances the saturation and detail in the ‘sky’ as well as allowing us to see more of the foliage. However the reason for the surreal effect is simply that there is a reed bed with a tree in it in the mid-foreground which is pretty well impossible to detect unless you invert the image back to the original.

BognorRegisPhoto Exhibition2014

Paul’s eventual choice was very popular with the members, as Stocker Lake Reflection (image right) was clearly amongst the best pictures of the year, but also the author Rosemary Wenzerul, a popular member, had been unable to attend the last few club nights as she was looking after her unwell husband Derek, also a member. The image had already won a PDI competition. It catches attention by way of the slightly surreal effect of an unclear

Once again it illustrates how easily we are fooled. We see what we expect to see. Very clever, and in his judging summary, Paul was subtle enough to not even mention the inversion.

π To find out more, go to www. parkstreetcameraclub.com.

Bognor Regis Camera Club’s 2014 Photography Exhibition takes place 4-9 August – every day, 10am- 4pm at the Recital Hall, Sudley Road, Bognor Regis PO21 1ER. Entrance is free and over 200 prints will be on show plus a continuous projected show of images from over 50 members. Contact chairman Rob de Ruiter on01243267642, rob@deruiter.me.uk, or secretary Bill Brooks: secretary@bognorregiscameraclub.org.uk for further information, or visit the website.

π To find out more about the exhibition, go tow www.bognorregiscameraclub.org.uk.

We at Photography News love to knowwhat you think – whether that’s about the stories we feature, your club, the latest developments in technology or photography in general. If you have an opinion or even a rant, please drop us an email at opinion@photography-news.co.uk Feedback

What excellent science fromMrMcNab. I love hismetaphor on chopping up theMona Lisa andmaking amosaicwith it! Would the result still be a painting? He says no and so do I! I think the whole issue revolves around the practicability of streaming the indexed camera file and the synthesised picture inside the framework of all levels of competition. If access to the original camera file can tell us all we need then surely we are home and dry on this. All types of imagery are great and nothing should be discouraged but I think it is essential if we are to keep the grass routes interest alive, that we ensure the pure ‘indexed’ picture has somewhere to compete. Look at the comments in PN Issue 8 and at the highest level – The Edinburgh Exhibition. Public reaction: ‘Too much Photoshop’. It’s vital we don’t appear to be excluding all but the computer super-literate. Let’s get busy drafting a workable, practical rule. Well done Ian McNab for suggesting the beginnings of a way. DaveHipperson

Much has beenwritten in your excellent PN over the last issues on judges and judging, all very valid and at times seriously emotive. There is however a somewhat lighter side to this aspect of our hobby, allowme to explain. The local flower arranging club hold an exhibition for their members on a seasonal basis, which I am asked to photograph and there’s a photographic competition which I judge. The competition usually has an Open section and a Set subject which means almost anyone can enter. And while the rules state ‘No entry to be larger than 10x8in, mounted or unmounted’ I have been presented with 30 or so images which have simply been taken down from a wall and entered including the frame and several years of dust! But you need to forget the high standard of photographic club competition and apply common sense, because there is no assessment of the images as would be done normally. I will talk any entrant through his/ her picture/s, and there is a surprising amount of interest in what is said, and you are soon on

dangerous ground when talk gets round to ‘what is the best camera for me’! Bert Broadbent Referring to IanMcNab’s Speakers’ Corner in Issue 8 of your excellent newspaper, manipulated photographs have been common since themediawas invented. The work of Rejlander, Uelsmann et al has always been considered legitimate photography. What about blurred long exposures, deliberate camera movement, as these do not pass the ‘index’ test? What about traditional darkroom manipulation? How far is too far? Who decides? I sense that your contributor is disturbed by how little apparent skill is now needed to change a photograph. But howmight one measure degrees of skill (what’s easy for you may be hard for me, and to realise a polished manipulate image in Photoshop requires immense skill)? It’s a can of worms, don’t let’s be hasty! Let’s not legislate yet, but allow an answer to emerge from practice. Not a neat answer in a complex

world, but perhaps the most pragmatic. Stefan Shillington

In response to Brian Law’s article on the validity of photographs of others’ artwork: Paintings on a spare piece of wall are not something you can drop into the back of a van and hang up at your next house. It exists in one place, sometimes for years. A photograph of street art shows how that piece fits in its surroundings and what the painter had to do. Should pictures of street art be in a competition? I think so. It’s up to the judges to decide on howmuch photography talent is used. The bland photograph used in your article tells no story: where is it? Was it difficult to paint in that location; is it in the middle of nowhere or city centre? Bring in the surrounding area, the right time of day, a good view and a photograph of street art can show the viewer where it sits in the gritty urban world, and potentially the lengths it

took to paint it. Daniel Stinton

Photography News | Issue 10