November Clix - SICC-photography

CLIX
STATEN ISLAND CAMERA CLUB
November 2014
President’s Message by Dennis Arculeo
I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy
Holiday Season. I hope to see all of you at our Holiday Party to
express that in person. The party will be held on Thursday, December 18th, at Carini Restaurant, like last year. The cost is
$26.00 per person. Guests are welcome. We will be collecting the
payments at our December meetings on the 4th and 11th. The reservation deadline is December 15th .
Timing - You don’t necessarily have to wait until it’s pitch black
outside to get some great night shots. Dusk provides an excellent
opportunity for low light photography with the added advantage
of capturing the amazing colors that linger in the sky shortly after
sunset.
Leave the Flash Behind - Night photography is all about long
exposures.
It’s time to start thinking about the April assigned-subject competition. One of the subjects is Night Life or night time PhotogBring a Tripod - A tripod is much easier to manage when you
raphy. What better time to go out and shoot the night than at the don’t have to navigate a crowd and it’s a necessity if you plan to
longer night time hours of December.
do something like light trails or astrophotography. They are best
employed holding the camera steady during time lapse exposures
Night time photography is surprisingly similar to daytime phoexceeding 1/8 of a second. When using a tripod turn off your
tography in the sense that it’s all about capturing the right light.
image stabilization. Leaving it on could cause unwanted blur as
Obviously, making good images is considerably more challeng- the camera or lens seeks to compensate during long shutter
ing at night. While it may appear on the surface that your oppor- speeds.
tunities are limited once the sun dips below the horizon, you
should think about looking for a different set of opportunities.
Experiment - Night time photography is just a blanket term that
covers a number of things you can do and locations in which you
Night scenes possess a unique set of aesthetics. The night can
can work. Landscapes, light trails, astrophotography, motion blur,
transform a familiar location into something strange, mysterious, silhouettes — why not try your hand at each of these?
and captivating; the night can even be freeing in some respects.
You can now see the world (and the skies above it) without the
As a final thought, consider the advice put forth by night time
distraction of sunlight. Night time photography may very well
photography specialist Kevin Adams: “Night photography is
push the limits of both you and your camera, but it is a worthunique in that the photos look nothing like what we see with our
while challenge with the potential to pay big creative dividends if eyes — a result of long shutter speeds, high ISOs, big apertures,
you stick with it. If you’ve been looking to get started with night and subjects that are often on the move. A good night photogratime photography, the tips below could be of some interest to
pher understands all this and knows what the image will look like
you.
before shooting.”
Plan Ahead - Spur of the moment adventures are great but it’s
not always the best approach, especially when you’re new to
something.
And, also have a Happy and healthy New Year!
Club officers for 2014 — 2015
President: Dennis Arculeo
First Vice President: Matthew Miner
Second Vice President: Mark Harris
Treasurer: Barbara Hoffman
Secretary: Diane Griffiths
Competition Chairperson: Carol Mayr
CLIX Editor: Matthew Miner
Webmaster: Dennis Arculeo
Page 2
CLIX
Digital Competition November 20, 2014
No. of
Entries
6
6
Color
Denise Canlon
Hilda Rubin
Total
Score
52
51
6
6
6
6
Mark Tardy
Dieter Bieler
Barbara Hoffman
Mary Fulks
50
47
47
45
6
6
6
6
5
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
4
1
Bob Green
Paul Rubin
Dennis Arculeo
Carolyn Flynn
Ann Grodman
Herb Goldberger
Mark Harris
Lora Livshits
Matthew Miner
Len Rachlin
Joe Sorge
Ed Higgins
Lauren Arculeo
Henrietta Robinson
45
45
44
44
44
44
43
43
42
42
41
39
25
7
Matthew Miner - Who Knew?
Award
Heron 1
Hibiscus
Flamingo
Nourishment
Honorable Mention
Surfer 3
Praying Mantis
The Meeting
Start The Sprint
Blowing Bubbles
Medieval City
You Looking At Me?
Candy Dish Ant
African Bird
Sunlit Roses
Hi Big Handsome Dude- I'm For You
Little Zoey
Loving Chocolate
Going For A Walk
Family Group
Orange Flower
Len Rachlin - 1938 Dodge
Page 3
CLIX
Digital Competition November 20, 2014
No. of
Entries
6
6
6
6
Black & White
Hilda Rubin
Dieter Bieler
Bob Green
Mark Tardy
Total
Score
48
47
45
45
6
6
6
Mary Fulks
Herb Goldberger
Barbara Hoffman
44
44
44
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
4
Matthew Miner
Joe Sorge
Paul Rubin
Mark Harris
Len Rachlin
Ann Grodman
Dennis Arculeo
Carolyn Flynn
Lauren Arculeo
44
44
43
42
41
40
39
39
26
Award
Honorable Mention
Guns On USS Constitution
Drawing
The Arches
Big Sky Small House
Melissa Arched Back
Hello?
A Handful Of Food
Old Dodge Pickup Truck
Winter Chess
The Red Car Driving Over The Bridge
It still happens: too-small images are being scaled up...
If your entry in the SICC digital competition is BOTH: less than 1080 pixels
high, AND less than 1920 pixels wide, it will be scaled UP to the maximum
size that will fit on the screen.
In days of film, enlarging—raising the enlarger head—by too much would make
the image grainy and soft. In modern digital images, enlarging by too much (too
much scaling up) typically softens the image or introduces jagged edges to
curves and slanted lines. Colors may also be more muted, or contrast reduced.
Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.
-- Henri Cartier-Bresson
For example, after you manipulate your image, you submit it at
724 high x 1080 pixels wide. Since this is less than 1080 high
AND less than 1920 wide (don’t mix height and width), the competition software will rescale it UP to 1080 high by 1611 wide,
the largest that fits in the projection area (without altering the
aspect ratio). 724 pixels to 1080 pixels is a 49% increase.
Whether damage is visible depends upon many variables, such as how much
upscaling occurred (10%, probably not visible; 50% probably is), distance between viewer and image (2 feet or 10 feet makes a big difference), viewer’s eyes
(20/20? 20/10? 20/40?), and type of image (slanted lines and curves: noticeable;
Pet hair: probably not so much).
Let’s say that you _want_ your image displayed at 724x1080. Just make your
canvas larger (1080 pixels high by no more than 1920 wide).
Page 4
CLIX
Print Competition November 20, 2014
No. of
Entries
6
6
Color
Dieter Bieler
Mark Tardy
Total
Score
51
50
6
6
6
Barbara Hoffman
Len Rachlin
Dennis Arculeo
48
47
46
6
6
5
6
2
2
Ann Grodman
Bob Green
Barbara Feist
Joe Sorge
Matthew Miner
Kevin Rasmussen
45
44
41
40
16
12
Award
Wheel-Chair Racer #327
Ghost Rider
An Angry Bird
Honorable Mention
Sara
Barber Chair
November Sunrise
Autumn On Bannerman's Island
Fishing
Golden Eagle
Woodpecker
Who Knew?
Print Competition November 20, 2014
No. of
Entries
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
2
1
Black & White
Len Rachlin
Bob Green
Barbara Hoffman
Mark Tardy
Dennis Arculeo
Dieter Bieler
Joe Sorge
Ann Grodman
Matthew Miner
Kevin Rasmussen
Total
Score
51
49
48
47
44
43
38
35
12
6
Award
1938 Dodge
Face
The Boss
Honorable Mention
Buddy
Model Story
An Old Factory
In White Water
Short Eared Owl
Photography is a "Technical Sport" as much as an "Art".
Ignore either at your peril.
-- Matthew Miner
Len Rachlin - Barber Chair
Page 5
CLIX
December:
December 4th:
December 11th:
December 18th:
Program on “Photography Seeing” presented by Eric Mayr in the Harbor Room at Snug
Program on “Expanding Your Creativity Beyond Basic Printing” presented by
Catherine Steinmann in the Harbor Room at Snug
Holiday Party at Carini Restaurant at 10 Akron Plaza, SI. $26.00 per person; guests are welcome
January 8th:
January 15th:
January 22nd:
Program on “Tools In Elements” presented by Carolyn Flynn in the Harbor Room at Snug
Program on “You Be The Judge” participation by members in the Harbor Room at Snug
Competition in the Learning Center at Snug. Dave Des Rochers judging
January:
Herb Goldberger - Little Zoey
Denise Canlon - Heron 1
Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I'm going to take tomorrow.
-- Imogen Cunningham
Ann Grodman - Hi Big Handsome Dude-I’m for You!
Bob Green Candy Dish Ant
Bob Green - Drawing
Page 6
CLIX
Matthew Miner - Hello?
Paul Rubin - African Bird
Hilda Rubin Flamingo
Ann Grodman The Red Car Driving over
the Bridge
Barbara Hoffman - praying mantis
Hilda Rubin - Hibiscus
Everything makes a difference.
— Matthew Miner
Mark Tardy - Nourishment
Paul Rubin - A Handful of Food
Page 7
CLIX
NJFCC Fall Print Competition on Nov. 19, 2014 held at Gateway Camera Club
Color Print:
Honorable Mention for “Phillip T. Feeney” by Anthony Penza
Black & White Print:
Award for “Egret At Falls” by Anthony Penza
Award for “Bone Yard” by Anthony Penza
Honorable Mention: “Bannerman’s Castle” by Dennis Arcuelo
Honorable Mention: “After The Storm” by Anthony Penza
Joe Sorge - Short Eared
Owl
Dieter Bieler - Wheel-Chair Racer # 327
Bob Green - Face
A quick (45 seconds)—and flexible—Vignette process
These instructions are written for any version of Photoshop, but should work in most software that
supports the concept of radial gradient, mask, and colored layer.
1. Get your image to the point where you want to add the gradient.
2. Click Layer > New Fill Layer… > Solid Color…. Click OK.
3. Choose color of vignette (double click color icon in layer tray to change vignette color).
4. Select Gradient tool (may be behind paint bucket tool). In the option bar along top, choose
Radial Gradient (second option). Also, clear Reverse check box (a bit further to the right).
5. Click the mask for the Color Fill layer (solid white box icon on layer).
6. Click your mouse about where you want the vignette to center (e.g., subject’s eye); while
holding click down, drag to outside corner, then release. If dark vignette color is in center,
clear the Reverse check box and repeat.
7. With a large black brush (700 to 1500 pixels), and fairly low feather percentage (10 to 40%),
paint over the part of your subject you want uncovered. To make vignette more intense, select mask and paint with a white brush. Remember: Ctrl-Alt-z is undo.
8. Adjust the opacity to tone down the intensity of the vignette.
Experiment. If you don’t like results, delete layer and restart—the underlying pic is not changed.
Barbara Feist - Golden Eagle
Page 8
CLIX
The Month in Review
Thanks to Bob Green for the idea.
Now, I need pics that support the topic of the Workshop.
Or this column won’t last very long. A picture,
a few words as to how it related to the workshop, all I ask.
(Don’t assume someone else sent something—if you have something you like, send it.)
Thursday, 11/6 was a model shoot .
Model: Aubery Zich
Contact: [email protected] (that’s VYL…)
By Bob Green
If you have an
apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I
will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us
will have two ideas.
Thursday, 11/13 was a You-Be-The-Judge
night where audience participation took the
very mediocre photo on the left, avoided the
mistakes in the middle, and produced the image on the right (which still needs more work,
but #3 is still way better than #2 :-).
(Photos and work by Matthew Miner; some
ideas and direction: SICC)
IMG_5603
IMG_5603_cropped
Photography for me is not looking, it's feeling. If you can't
feel what you're looking at, then you're never going to get others
to feel anything when they look at your pictures.
-- Don McCullin
IMG_5603_urn_plant
Page 9
CLIX
Staten Island Camera Club, Staten Island’s Friendly Camera Club!
2014-2015 Assigned Subjects
Color Prints and/or Digitals:
1) Season landscapes (fall, winter,
spring, or summer)
2) Night Life
The Staten Island Camera Club has been in existence since 1954, meeting three times per month
at 7:30pm from September through May.
We meet on the first and second Thursdays of the
month at Snug Harbor in the Harbor Room, building G, for various workshops and education.
We meet on the third Thursday across the hall in
the Learning Center for our monthly Competition.
3) Animal in Motion
Details and schedule available on our web site.
Black and White Prints and/or Digitals:
1) Water in Motion
2) Transportation Mode
3) Artistic Nudes
http://www.siccphotography-club.com/
For each category (digital color, digital
b&w, print color, print b&w), use two
different subjects of the three listed
Competition Guidelines
Four competitions:
Digital projector (1920 pixels wide, 1080 pixels high)
Email us at -
1. Digital Black and White
[email protected]
2. Digital Color
CLIX Editor: Matthew Miner
Images will be rescaled, if necessary, up or down to fit
within those boundaries by the competition display program.
Aspect ratio is always preserved during rescale.
Print (images no more than 20” tall, nor more
than 24” wide, so to fit in display box)
3. Print Black and White
4. Print Color
No exposed tape or mounting material! Mount on
[foam] board stiff enough to stand on its own,
optionally with an over-matte.
Websites of interest:
www.popphoto.com
www.nyip.com
www.strobist.com
www.exposure.com
You may submit up to two images in each competition.
www.life.com
Competitions are held in the Learning Center, Snug Harbor Building G, across
from the Harbor Room, on the third Thursday of each month at 8pm (Sep, Oct,
Nov, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr (Assigned Subjects), and May (Finals)).
www.photography--now.net
www.bhphoto.com
www.adorama.com
CLIX—Competition winners
www.photojojo.com
Competition images with a top score are inserted into the CLIX newsletter
www.photo.net
Digital images are handled automatically; no work for Maker.
www.elementsvillage.com
Digital versions of print images must be emailed by Maker to the CLIX Editor (if
Maker wants them in the CLIX). No need to resize them, just send a high quality
jpg file. To avoid confusion, please name those images <your name> <Title>.jpg; for example: “Joe Smith - Cat.jpg.” This prevents confusion with similar images. Be sure to insert the exact title in the email also.
www.shutterbug.com

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