2012

As much a diary entry for myself as anything...

Feb Abstract concept

Mar Seaside / Coastal

April Reflections

May Flowers

June Wild thing Set of 6

July Fishing

August Night life Group of four

Sep Traffic

October Macro

November Environmental Impact

OK, they are the club set topics for next year!

Well, I guess that is pretty much the year gone...

The end-of-year hooley at the club is tomorrow night. I have two entries in for C-grade "image of the year". Of the two, the Mask is my sentimental favourite.


There was a request for images from field trips and activities as well. The only thing I have been involved in during the year was the (very well organised, run and helpful) intermediate course. At one of the final sessions we had a short studio session with one of the leaders as a very willing model. It turned out I was one of only three who had brought cameras that evening. This was the last frame -


Of the November entries - the face painter got HC, taken down by the lettering on the jacket; the alien was a different one (below) which also got an HC. I know that I will not be getting highest points this year.

















The programme is out for next year - some interesting thoughts...





UPDATE -

The end of year hooley was held last night. As expected the ol' probligo won nothing. He did get promotion to B Grade for digital images from next year. That ups the ante a bit, but don't expect any great changes in approach.

The photo of the "elder" taken at the course was shown. It was met with a quiet "Bloody hell! Where did that come from!!". Frank and I had a brief chuckle over it after the formal sessions.

Actually, I have to concede that the doors did open a little on the night. Several people were happy to stand (or sit) and converse. No, I was very careful to not dominate the proceedings. For example I learned that one was looking forward to a holiday skiing in Canada. I suggested the he take a look at Pohanginga Pete's pages of his trip to Chile. Take a look anyway and be prepared to be awestruck at the beauty of what he has seen and successfully recorded.

Time to go for this year. Been good. See ya next month.

Nove is coming...

Ye gods!! Almost the end of another year.

I have to consider this month's entries, and what is going up for end of year comps. In one respect one is driving the other.

One of the year-end comps is "Set of Four". Four images from entries to the monthly competitions. At least, that is how I read it. So this is what is going in...















So that sets the Open entry for this month.





The set topic for the month is "Street Culture". To get right to the chase, this was the best of what I got from the library. Taken 2009 in Howick it were...



So there it goes.

There are other comps.

The needles might go in for b&w trophy. Got a chance at least.

...and it is all -ober!

The judging for projected images this month was fairly tough. A lady who was quite forthright that a good part of her assessment was subjective only awarded three Honours over the three grades and two of those to A Grade. I can not dispute her assessment of my two images, particularly given her starting point. The difference between depicting “Dance” as a topic and the depiction of “movement in dance” that came from at least three other entries, and my attempt to convey the “energy” involved became something of a theme for the evening. I think I was given “Merit” for both. That equates pretty much as “average”.

That was followed by a brief exposition on histograms, DR, and the difference between visual sensitivity and mechanical sensitivity. Interesting, especially since it explained something that I had not been able to work out. I generally shoot in RAW and have found that sometimes the extreme ends of the histogram contain unexpected detail. The reason you will see, no doubt, is that the JPEG version has sensitivity of just four stops. The RAW file is sensitive to about 1.5 stops either side of the JPEG range, giving a total of roughly 7 stops between total black and total white. Hence the DR of a RAW image can be expanded simply by wringing the two ends of the histogram out into the “middle” portions of the extremes on the JPEG scale.

The reshoot of the mask series has been redone. I have looked at the results briefly. There are issues that need to be resolved – and in the following order -

The quartz-iodide 500W tube I am using for lighting is completely OTT. Far too hot. I don’t want to have to get filters to correct so I am going shopping for eco-bulbs which I have discovered carry a K rating. The ones we use for lighting at home are generally 4500K, much less yellow than the QI tube but still well below sunlight. I know there is a 5500K range as I have seen it mentioned several times. I need go look.

I need to develop a means of stretching the backcloth over its width at tabletop height. It will work quite well as a backing but it is getting shade variations still – quite badly. At this stage I think a couple of loop tags sewed carefully to the edge on each side will suffice. CF or dowel stretchers to follow. Rolling the cloth onto a larger dowel works well. Happy with that I am.

The camera needs further “investigation”. I need to find the manual and read up on the multiple exposure function and whether it includes automatic compensation for the number of exposures. Being film and not digital I can not blame the camera for “averaging” if I am using it on Manual. I tried spot metering this time on the black. I seems to have made some difference, but not enough as the backcloth did not burn out as I wanted.

I just went took a look back over the last couple of months. One of the things in my head that might help with this whole problem of getting the multiple exposures how I want them is actually to backlight the backcloth – put lights behind the backcloth, effectively turning that part into a direct softbox..

The other thing that needs consideration is that of shadows. With only the one strong light, I get a fair shadow on the opposite side of the object. Absolutely not needed. So if I get the 5500K bulbs, I will need about 1500 watts worth – 1000w from the back, 250w each side. I also have in mind the construction of a softbox. That would not resolve the shadow problem but might help in the overall lighting scheme.

I am also trying to determine the actual difference between the various settings – rough eyeball judgement of the negs is not sufficiently accurate. I am going to use a borrowed Dimage scanner to get the film onto disc so I can play around with it.

Oct -

OK, so it is October already. The past weekend has been spent setting up for this month’s competition; set topic is “Dance”.



We (SWMBO and probligo) went to Atamira this year, it being 2 years since we last went. Atamira is a presentation showcase of Maori art, craft, culture, the whole kete and caboodle. We went on Sunday, as Saturday was too much of a panic to fit SWMBO’s pre-determined timetable. That was a pity because I wanted to be there for the final rounds of the hip-hop dance competition. We had looked in two years back and spent about 15 minutes in the theatre before being overcome by the sound level. Now that SWMBO is getting to join the hard-of-hearing brigade that should not have mattered quite so much. However it was not to be. We stopped by the theatre for a while to listen to Miss Black – Whirimako’s daughter – who is a good club singer but not in the same league as her mum. Yet.



So, that source of images went past without any result.



Back to the library.



Last year we went to the Diwali equivalent of Atamira; substitute Indian and you got it. That is the source for the photo I am putting in to club. It is far from perfect; there is a very large stagelight that gets in the way. Hence the cutout vignette rather than the dodge. I have learned the difference between PS “cookie-cutter” and “layer motif”.




The Taranaki portrait is from the library; this one is from 5 images, taken about 10 minutes prior to the stretch landscape I posted previously. This has not been shopped other than to stitch the image.



While at Atamira, I took a series of pictures of a young guy who was carving a tekoteko (stylised full figure). It bears a fair similarity to Pukaki, who was one of the centre taonga in the Te Maori exhibition that did the tour to New York and other cities in the States in 1984. I have to say that I was impressed by his work. This time I asked for permission to take photos; yes, there is a first time for everything!! He agreed and I am most disappointed with the result. The first three, where he was working face-to-face with the teko I did not realise that he had his chisel - sorry gouge – stuffed up a nostril. Edifying, NOT!! My attempts at flash photo were amazingly underexposed. Don’t know what went wrong there. I will have to look at the metadata to find out what I done. I suspect that I was using a pre-set aperture but don’t know for sure. They look as though the flash was missed. There was another chappie I stopped and spoke to – SWMBO was having a cup of coffee down at the kaumatua’s lounge. He was making tiny – I mean about 20-30mm wide – kete from very fine harakeke flax. Beautiful work. He did NOT want his photo taken. Given the standard of my other efforts I glad that I did not. I also came across a woman who was making taniko cloth – small samplers was all. That is something I have watched being done before but it is one of the “lesser” arts and does not get much publicity as a result. I am fortunate to have a taniko belt my mother made – it was her only attempt and she found it very frustrating to finish.



I have not yet re-shot the mask series. The mood in the camp has not been conducive. I might have yesterday but gardening got in the way. There is not a lot that is interesting in digging cooch out of a drying bed of freesias and granny-bonnets. My version looks like the pigs got in and turned the plot over.

...mber

And so another month drifts quietly to a close. Actually, I have to admit, it turned out to be not half bad in some respects. Primary among the reasons for the good part was the birth of Kath’s twins. That resulted in yt having the house to himself for about 8 days of total self-determination. That status started with the drive back from New Plymouth, which was interrupted along the way by a number of “unscheduled” stops. The remainder of the week was accompanied by watching a bit of rugby. One of the highlights was the U20 and NRL second Minor Finals with Old Dark in one hand and rum in the other. The Sydney league semi was not broadcast or nothing would have got done on Sunday either.



The Awakino Head was probably the highlight of the trip back. There is potential there for some spectacular coast scenery – but very little else truth be told. The beach at Mokau similarly.



Thought about heading up the old timber road from Mokau to Kawhia and Raglan. Dropped the idea when leaving Mokau as the belly was calling for lunch. Tried The Fat Pigeon in Piopio – it was OK but Bosco’s in Te Kuiti is better.



The last Sunday of freedom was mis-spent on re-shooting some of the old attempts at art. I now have a 3m x 1.2m “infinity sheet” in the form of a very nice piece of cotton duck. Next thing to purchase is a 1.2m rod on which to roll it so I do not have to borrow the SWMBO’s flatteninghotter. I used only natural light in the family room.



Which leads into the competition for this month. Judge was another of the senior members – I will stay with my protocol of “No names…”. I had to try and find out just where he was coming from before I started writing this. Interesting cove he is; high-powered member of the club, and in the IT world as well. He is a very respectable photographer as one might imagine.



The pyramid was given “acceptance”, mainly because it did not grab him. He was very up-front; the type of image that it is lies completely outside of his personal taste. Can’t argue with that.

Poor Leo. He was recognised as “large”. The wording fitted the image. The very big defect was that the back of the chair was in focus. Never mind… not all of us have studio soft-boxes that we can trot out at a moment’s notice for that perfect candid shot of a comparatively bad-tempered cat.

The evening ended with a totally unexpected and very unusual experience. I got “chatted up” by a 60-something lady (a member). It was quite un-nerving in some respects. Oh, there was never a hint of anything untoward but the flirting was apparent; even to this old numbskull. Sadly, she is not really my type.


Going back to the pyramid and the mask for a bit, and my re-shoot of the mask.

The image out left is (from top to bottom); test and control for print, f5.6, 1/10; f5.6, 1/20; f5.6, 1/45. This was shot indoors, ambient light only. The three frames are on a single scan, no modification or treatment.

First thing to note is that there is not enough difference between background and object. Simple solution to that is to add light. That will be the next attempt. That will also take out the fold shadows that are all too obvious.

The other thing is the lack of difference between frames 2 and 3. This points up something I have battled for years. If you understand your digital camera you will know that it will - if set on auto - do its utmost to turn everything it sees to an average muddy grey. Commercial printers are no different. They can take a mediocre image and make something out of it. I know. Been there...

Some many years back - over 15 years back - I spent some six months cultivating a (strictly professional) relationship with a lass in the local pharmacy who had been given the job of running the automatic film processing part of the business. We both learned a heck of a lot about how that machine worked.

I know that those three frames (and sadly the rest of the film) can not be rescued.

But ... they can be re-taken.

septe

Been a busy month, this. As something of proof, daughter sent us this of the latest additions to her family and the ol' probligo's (now probbly completed)small host of grandchildren.



That took a week or so out of the beginning of the month, if only because the missus was stressed out from the last week of August until the event was over. Then the stress level rose to extreme until packing and travel had been sorted. I got a small number of frames on the way back that might be mildly interesting. I have the coming weekend available for project work before the missus gets back Monday.

So, I have been able to sort adequate entries for club this month -


Set subject this week is "domestic pets". I was tempted by a photo of a rock but decided that tempting judges had gone far enough for the while. Stick to the menu lad.





On the other side, however, I turned this out of the library last week. It is in the same mould as the mask...








I wish I could work out how Frank does his virtual masques and frames.


Oh, the cat? No, he wants it known that he is not fat.

Just big!

All 6.5 kg of him.