Workshops

An update on the Photographic Society of New Zealand events

cameracrafteditor

Thanks very much to Judith, our PSNZ Liaison Officer, for updating us with the following:

There is heaps coming up from PSNZ in the next few months and lots to plan for as the year unfolds. Have a look below for individual competitions, club competitions, honours challenges, workshops and judge training opportunities …

Upcoming PSNZ events and dates to note.

PSNZ Workshop – Bird Photography – Whanganui – Toya Heatley – 25-26 February 2022

On 8 Feb there were 3 spaces left!
PSNZ members only. $140.00.
Information and registration link.
Note – workshop attendees must be fully vaccinated and provide vaccination passes for accommodation and hospitality venues associated with the workshop.

Canon Online Competition round 1 – entries close 25 February 2022

PSNZ members only. Six round across the year. Points accumulate.
More information, log into the PSNZ Members Area, then Canon Online Submission.
See the 2021 winning images.

PSNZ Sony National Exhibition 2022 – entries close 28 February 2022

Digital only this year (due to COVID-19).
Open to ALL New Zealand residents.
Two categories: Open and Nature.
A number of trophies are able to be won.
Information, 2021 winning images, entry form here: National Exhibition information.

Honours Submissions close 28 February 2022

Submission for honours must be received by 5pm (1700h) on 28 February 2022.
More information here: https://photography.org.nz/honours/.

PSNZ Interclub Salons – entries close 1 March 2022

Wiltshire Cup

Four digital images.
More info here: Wiltshire Cup information and entry form.
See last year’s winning images here: Wiltshire Cup 2021 winning images.

Bowron Digital Landscape Trophy

Four digital landscape images.
More info here: Bowron Digital Landscape Trophy information and entry form.
Last year’s winning images here: Bowron Digital Landscape Trophy 2021 winning images.

PSNZ National Convention – Cancelled

Unfortunately this event has been cancelled for 2022. More information about this decision is here.

Camera Talk 2022

Articles, updates, and news for the next Camera Talk … email the editor.
Read Camera Talk/.

Tentative Workshop Programme 2022

Notes

  • Attendees must be fully vaccinated and have a valid vaccine pass.
  • Previously PSNZ have subsidised the workshop series, this practice is stopping. Hence workshops are more expensive than previous years, but will still be cheaper than attending directly with the presenters.

The workshop programme kicks off from May. Registrations will likely open in March. All workshops are tentative and depend on the evolving COVID-19 situation.

  • Astro – Tekapo – Joseph Pooley – 27-28 May
    May be residential and include accommodation
  • Landscape – Queenstown – Meghan Maloney – 15-15 July
    Will be residential (include accommodation) and will include transport to the shooting locations.
  • Astro – New Plymouth – Leith Robertson – 23-24 July
  • Street / Urban – Wellington – Helen Westerbeke – 5-6 August
  • Creative Portrait – Tauranga – Karoline Ferbei – 1-2 October
  • Landscape for Novice and first time workshop attendees – Buller / West Coast – Graham Dainty – 22-24 October

Possibly also South Island workshops for bird, and studio portrait or natural light portrait.

Judge Training Weekends 2022

A number of Judge Training Weekends are being planned for later in the year. More information is available at Judge Training. These are, of course, dependent on the COVID-19 situation but should be able to operate under the current red settings.

  • Orewa – 18-19 July – Hibiscus Coast Camera Club
  • Taupo – July – More details to come
  • Christchurch – September – More details to come
  • Dunedin – October – More details to come

Judge Training weekends will require full vaccination and valid vaccine passes.

Projected Image of the Month: Flow, July 2021

cameracrafteditor

Thanks to Melanie Dick for her appraisal this week, and congratulations to Ian Thomson, Kate Burton and Greg Hughson! 

We only have a very small pool of judges within the club, so Melanie very kindly stepped in this month. If you think you might be interested in becoming a judge, check out the upcoming PSNZ Judge Training Workshop weekend, which will be held in Dunedin on 30-31 October. Even if you’re not quite ready to start judging yet, these workshops are said to be very beneficial in sharing insights into what’s involved in the judging process. More info here: Judge Training and Accreditation Programme

  • 1st place: River of Gold by Ian Thomson
  • 2nd place: Waterfall by Kate Burton
  • 3rd place: Misty Mountain Stream Flow by Greg Hughson

Standings

  • Nicola

Astrophotography and Field Trip

cameracrafteditor

The NatMAT group have organised an Astrophotography trip, open to all members, which should be a great night out! Judith Swann has also put together some very handy information to look through before the night, so have a read and start preparing 💫⭐✨

Image by Trevor Douglas

When: Meeting at 1800h on Saturday 12th June 2021 depending on the cloud cover. We will have another look at the weather on Saturday morning and if we need to cancel we’ll let you know, otherwise see you Saturday evening.

Where: Aramoana. Meet at the memorial carpark. Hereabouts: https://what3words.com/waterfalls.goalie.hubcap.

Moon, sun and tide.

The new moon is on the 10th June, so on the 11th and 12th it will still be basically moonless and dark. On the 11th and 12th sunset is at 1658h; moonset is at 1718h and 1805h; and the tide will be falling. High tide is at 1520h and 1600h.

What photos could I take?

Stars – https://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakey/34495994481
Star trails – https://www.flickr.com/photos/joedsilva/6132188906
Milky Way – https://www.southproud.co.nz/listing/aramoana-beach/
Foreground
Light painting
Reflections (in the wet sand)

How do I take these images?

You keep yourself and those around you SAFE

Dark – It will be DARK

Safety: Think about your safety. Bring a RED LIGHT torch our eyes take longer to adjust to the dark after looking at white light compared to red light. It is also very easy to get temporarily blinded by white light. Put fresh batteries in your torch. Remember Sea Lions use the sand and they don’t leave just because it is dark! Check before you take a step backwards.
Lights: Folks around you may NOT want your torch on just so you can make adjustments to your camera. Practice beforehand so you can change your camera settings by touch. Talk to each other about putting lights on.
Focus: Focusing in the dark is really hard. Find out if your camera will do focus magnification and turn it on. Teach yourself how to turn on manual focus by touch! On site, find a star and manually focus on it until it is crisp pin point of light.

Cold – More than likely it will be COLD

Layers: Taking astro photos can involve quite a lot of standing around, in the cold, doing very little. You will get cold. Wear some warm layers, bring more, including a wind-proof layer. Hat, scarf, gloves, chemical hand warmer pouches, something to sit or kneel on if you think you’ll need it.
Camera & Batteries: Your camera gear will get cold, and cold batteries don’t work so well. Take some spare batteries and keep the spares in a warm pocket. Putting a cold camera into a warm car risks inducing condensation inside the lens and/or camera. A Ziploc plastic bag or dry-bag with a silica gel sachet in and a plan to warm up your camera slowly will reduce this risk. (https://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/how-to-protect-your-digital-camera-in-cold-weather)

Movement – The subject (the sky) moves and your camera is at risk of movement

Subject movement: Actually it is the earth that is moving (turning) while the sky stays still! We perceive this as the stars moving. Photographing this movement is how you get star trails. If you want points of light for stars your exposure time needs to be less than about 25 seconds.
Camera movement: The long exposure time means you have to hold your camera completely still so a tripod, bean bag or similar is essential. Remember your cable release, or work out how to use the timer on your camera. Work this out in the light and warmth of home before you set out.

Stars / Milky Way

https://www.capturelandscapes.com/how-to-photograph-stars/
https://digital-photography-school.com/beginners-tips-for-night-sky-and-star-photography/
https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/photographing-the-night-sky.html

These articles are good backgrounders to taking images of the stars. Read about wide open aperture (f/4 or lower if you can get), higher ISO (1600 and up), longer exposure times (10 – 30 seconds), and white balance to 3200Kelvin (if you can). Then also read the pros and cons of each of these variables in this situation.

Star Trails

https://nightskypix.com/how-to-photograph-star-trails/
https://www.lightstalking.com/how-to-photograph-star-trails/
https://learnandsupport.getolympus.com/learn-center/photography-tips/astrophotography/astrophotography-101

Star trails use very similar settings but are taken for longer so your camera captures the movement of the stars OR you take a number of star photos and stack them together to make the star trails.

Milky Way

The techniques and settings for stars usually work for the Milky Way as well. One difference is learning where the Milky Way will be, at the location you’ll be at and at the time you’ll be there.
The videos on this site (https://www.davemorrowphotography.com/p/tutorial-shooting-night-sky.html) describe using free apps and programmes (Blue Marble, The Photographers Ephemeris (TPE), Google Maps, Stellarium) to work out where the Milky Way will be.
The Milky Way should be just to the seaward side of Taiaroa Head at about 1900-1930h on the 111th and 12th June.

Light Painting

https://digital-photography-school.com/add-more-interest-astrophotography-with-light-painting/
Bring along an led light source (torch, head lamp, panel) so you can add some more light in the foreground.

Aurora

http://www.aurora-service.net/aurora-school/how-to-photograph-the-aurora/
Just in case!!!

More details?

Have a look at these sites.

Stars:
https://www.davemorrowphotography.com/p/tutorial-shooting-night-sky.html

Star Trails:
https://www.davemorrowphotography.com/2012/03/StarTrailsPhotographyTutorial.html
https://www.photopills.com/articles/star-trails-photography-guide#step5

Milky Way:
https://www.photopills.com/articles/milky-way-photography-guide

[Video] Recent Events

dunedinphotogsoc

We always try to have at least one photowalk or field trip each month and when we get back we like to share a selection of photos taken on the trip – to entice other members to join us on the next trip!  Here are the slideshows from some recent trips (and a workshop).

Vogel Street Party photowalk: 8/10/16

Light Workshop, starting at Queens Gardens: 31/10/16

Overnight field trip to Quarantine Island/Kamau Taurua: 12-13/11/16 http://quarantineisland.org.nz/

Workshop: 22nd Aug

dunedinphotogsoc
Our next meeting on Monday 22nd 7.30pm is an indoor (vege) light painting workshop.  It’s going to be a fun night where you can let your creative side run wild and come up with some interesting images
Please bring:
– camera
– tripod
– shutter remote if you have one
Optional items to bring:
– small torches, glow sticks, iPads, LEDs, mobile phones
– interesting shaped/coloured fruit or veges
– still life objects e.g. books, bottles, flowers, old boots, anything!
– large pieces of dark, dull fabric e.g. velvet (not shiny, preferably not wrinkly)
– download a free app such as Pocket Softbox for a selection of any coloured light
This event is open to anyone, but a gold coin donation on the night is requested for non-DPS members.VegePainting

Lighting Workshop

dunedinphotogsoc

 

Lighting Workshop – Melanie Middlemiss

Last night was the 5th Monday of the month and, as has become custom, we held a practical workshop for interested members.  The topic of last night’s workshop was lighting – using off-camera flash and other lighting accessories.  Members were invited to bring their cameras and flashes and any other lighting gear they had.  An added bonus were the mannequin heads provided by Linda – they were spectacular models, holding their pose for the whole night, and never a word of complaint out of them!

Craig led the workshop, and stepped us all through the different ways to light your subject.  Everyone got to have a turn at photographing our model and observing the effect of the light modifiers on their images.  It was a good chance for most people to have a look at their camera settings to work out things like how to use manual flash, and change the flash power etc.

A big thanks to Craig from everyone who attended for his efforts in putting the workshop together and providing members with another fun night of learning.