Zoom — PUBLIC BLOG — NDPS | Norwich & District Photographic Society

Our images, Joe’s processing…!

Last night the well known Joe Houghton was given a collection of NDPS images from our last competition, both the original RAW file and the finished jpeg file.

The object of the evening was for Joe to work on as many of the images as possible during the presentation and to finally compare his end product with the member's final jpeg.

He selected nine of the images offered and carefully worked on each one, explaining his thought processes and explaining the tools used as he went. His explanations were carefully considered, clearly explained and watching him use the full suite of tools in Lightroom was an enlightening experience.

I believe that he left no corner of the Lightroom Development panel untouched. His use of the masking tools and artificial intelligence was, perhaps, one of the most useful parts of his presentation. The resulting final images he produced were exceptional.

Zoom, Photo-talkMaurice YoungMarch 29, 2023lightroom, masks, luminosity

Storytelling for Photographers by JP Stones

Yesterday evening's presentation by JP from his home in Mexico, where he has lived for about the last ten years, was shared with Sheffield Camera Club so more than 60 people tuned in to a very interesting presentation.

JP explained that he worked with the Mexica people whose roots are in the prehispanic periods of meso America. He showed a picture of Linda, one of his models, in a costume relevant to the myths of her culture and he made the point that she had produced the costume herself and how expensive it was, but all the details mattered to be sure that the costume was factually correct for the myth.

He said that when he first started full time photography he only wanted to take pretty photos, but he found that his interest in making narrative photos resulted in a different kind of picture and he was surprised to find that his photographs were copied on to tattoos and murals! He even gave permission to have one of his images used as a Hells Angels logo!

This change of direction from pretty pictures to storytelling photos had produced a much greater reaction to his work. It was clear to him that the story comes first, and the photo follows. As an example of narrative pictures JP used the early Christian church of western Europe. The first followers of the Christian faith could neither read nor write so to give them an understanding of the legends and stories the interior of churches and the stained glass of the windows were covered with pictures showing the religious messages and histories - iconography.

Zoom, Special PresentationMaurice YoungJanuary 4, 2023culture, portraiture, storytelling, mexico

An Indian Adventure by Alan Cameron ARPS

This week at our Tuesday meeting Alan Cameron recounted his pre-pandemic holiday in India, he described it as his travelogue. And what a feast of art, history and photography this presentation proved to be.

Alan divided his presentation into two parts, part one featured the north of India, the 'Golden Triangle' and Ranthambore National Park, and after the break he moved south to Karnataka and Kerala.

After a late arrival in Delhi Alan showed us pictures of the terrible traffic and driving manners, highlighting the Tuk Tuk donkeys, sacred cows and the ubiquitous camel!

The India Gate, commemorating the fallen of both world wars and the mosque were beautifully photographed and presented. These formal photographs were contrasted with pictures of street markets including artisans with tools of their trades, and collections of foodstuffs, nuts, cloves and so on.

e Gandhi monument built on the site of Gandhi's cremation was an interesting building. World Heritage sites are abundant in India and the tomb of the second Mogul Emperor with its Paradise Gardens with its rivers of water, honey, milk and wine. A land flowing with milk and honey!

In Agra Alan showed pictures of the famous Taj Mahal with its tomb and paradise gardens.

In Ranthambore Alan found the famous Indian Tigers and he took some great pictures but not without some trepidation because firearms are not allowed for the guides in their open jeeps.

Thanks Alan for a wonderful evening.

Special Presentation, Cambidge Inter-Club, ZoomMaurice YoungDecember 2, 2022india, trravel, culture, people, landscape

Starting with a Blank Canvas by Polina Plotnikova

Yesterday evening, 4th January, Polina Plotnikova opened the 2022 season at NDPS with a presentation of her work featuring creative flower portraiture and still life photographed in both a studio and her home. She studied fine art in a Moscow university and her photography was then only a hobby, but this grew into a profession and obsession.

Polina gave us several examples of old masters who had inspired her, European artists of the 17th to the 19th Century, but her inspiration extended to include the Impressionists; Van Gogh; Claude Monet and Bobbie Burgers.

She said that her approach to studio flower photography was to treat the exercise as a portrait photograph. Her pictures were not flower arrangements but individual flowers or very small groups of blooms. She explained that many of her photographs were focus stacked and taken using a variety of lenses including those from Lensbaby.

Her lighting diagram was two lights, a camera on a tripod plus a tethered laptop. She said that she preferred to spend time with her camera rather than Photoshop, always capturing exactly what she saw on the back of the camera without the need for lengthy work on the computer after the shoot.

The second part of her presentation was called 'Still Life'. Again, she explained that in the studio she, the photographer, was in control of everything so that no one could be blamed for mistakes, this compares with outside shoots where the light varies, there can be rain and there can be people to walk into the shot.

Polina showed herself to be very exact in her compositions citing an example of a two year wait to find a particular prop! Plus, the invaluable piece of advice for anyone who wants to try this type of photography - 'don't get rid of your old ironing board'!

Thank you Polina for an absorbing presentation and a collection of outstanding photographs as well as a brilliant start to the New Year.

Special Presentation, ZoomMaurice YoungJanuary 5, 2022fine art, flower portraiture, still life, old masters

At the bottom of our Garden - Jayne Odell FRPS, FIPF opens the Autumn Season

Last night nearly 55 people, including some of our friends from Old Coulsden Photographic Society, London, were treated to a feast of black and white images from Jayne Odell based on her attainment of both ARPS and FRPS from the Royal Society. All presented under the heading of At The Bottom of Our Garden!

Jayne began by outlining how her interest in photography was fired. Like many of us she began with landscape photographs from family holidays, in her case the Lake District, before later moving on to club photography, exhibitions, salons and finally RPS distinctions.

She showed us her kit, Nikon full frame SLR plus 5 lens' and now more often Fuji mirrorless plus 2 lens'

Jayne attempted the Associateship first following an advisory day, which means 15 pictures and a Statement of Intent. Success!

But having achieved Associateship was Fellowship possible? She held back but continued to enjoy taking photographs! She moved to Newmarket and found a stables at the bottom of her garden and became intrigued with the morning 'runs' and the regular workings of a stables. Then, quite by chance she met the trainer, Charlie Fellowes who wanted photos of his horses, and this led to a long standing relationship between the racing stable and the photographer. Jayne began to photograph everything from before dawn when the first string of horses head out to exercise on the Heath to all the candid behind the scenes shots of the teamwork that is so evident around the yard.

Special Presentation, ZoomMaurice YoungSeptember 8, 2021black & white, rps distictions

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