Autumn Season opens with outstanding new talk by Ruth Grindrod
Opening Presentation for the new Autumn season = Scotland - Looking Beyond and Within
Norfolk base landscape, the inspirational Ruth Grindrod opened the new season of NDPS photo-talks with a bang! Ruth had prepared a new presentation and we were the first camera club to receive it. A real privilege and a real feast for the eyes.of the 56 members and guests who where there in our new home at the City Academy Norwich.
Ruth began, and indeed ended, with a rousing short audio visual presentation which introduced her photography, her thought processes and her technical tips. This was a 'no bullet point' start to an evening of Scotland north, south, east and west!
As usual with Ruth she began with a brief list of her kit - the cameras she uses, her filters and tripod. She followed this with her first piece of advice, advice which she has found invaluable over her photographic journey - get it right in the camera!
She said that printing your picture is by far the best idea and to help get the printing to your satisfaction you should print sample sheets on ordinary photo paper and then consider the best paper, the most suitable paper, for each particular image.
Ruth showed a series of breath-taking photos to illustrate composition. Offsetting an image by using a pebble - she didn't place it! It was there naturally! She showed the horizon in the centre of a picture, normally against the rules of composition but . . . Rules can be broken.
She came to the halfway point by talking about, and showing, long exposure shots and a landscape shot of harbour steps with the red 'No Access' sign changed to orange because that was the most suitable colour.
Don't ignore the popular shots and views. They are icons for a reason!
And finally Henri Cartier-Bresson's quotation “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”
We all sloped off for our tea and biscuits with these words still ringing in our heads.
The second half of Ruth's presentation was important for processing tips in Camera Raw - making full use of the histogram
Then stunning pictures of woodland, mists and fogs in forest areas and over the sea. Terrific scenes of sea, sand and distant mountains.
Ruth wrapped it up with a sort of Scottish medley of music, sun, sea and sky. An uplifting and beautiful experience. Our thanks to Ruth who we look forward to seeing in November when she is runnibg a exclusive winter coastal workshop for the members of our own Landscape Group..
