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

Tuesday evening's Special Presentation came from Blackburn in Lancashire and was delivered by Lee Sutton who has a list of achievements after his name stretching almost to Norwich!

Overall his talk was easy to follow and informative, full of explanations and examples. He began with a very short outline of his camera and lenses before moving on to the thought provoking 'reasons why your pictures are not as good as they could be'.

There then followed a list that all photographers have to grasp if they are to improve their images: know your camera; practice, become part of your camera; understand the basics of exposure; pay attention to composition; study other photographers, not just the greats but others in your club; understand light; if possible include a story in your picture; hold the camera properly and finally get your photos critiqued.

Lee continued with examples of composition including the importance of 'thirds'; cropping; filling the frame; leading lines; triangles; backgrounds and so on.

He showed us many examples of shots taken in a studio where he had total control of the lighting the pose and properties and followed with a set of shots taken in natural sunlight.

Then he showed how he edited a headshot in Photoshop, slowly clearly and succinctly.

He outlined some of the problems associated with location shoots, the weather, locations and unhappy models.

His recap included the advice to talk to the model, keep poses simple, check backgrounds for distractions, use suitable depth of field and finally he talked of camera care. If your camera is not clean and dust free there will be problems with the pictures you take.

We are grateful to Lee for an evening of down to earth advice and endless tips for producing better photographs.

Special PresentationMaurice YoungOctober 27, 2022portraiture, portraits, models, photoshop

Review of last night's outstanding photo-talk by Panikos Hajistilly

His website tells us that Panikos has won dozens of National Awards with his imagery, including the prestigious MPA Master Photographer of the Year in 2017/18, a Fellowship with the Master Photographers Association, a Master Craftsman with the Guild of Photographers and a Fellow with the SWPP and the BIPP.

The NDPS programme billed Panikos like this - 'Tonight we look forward to a Masterclass as Panikos discusses his workflow from capturing the images all the way through post production to the final images for viewing by the client.'

And what a night it was for understanding the creative viewpoint of the photographer and the nitty gritty work of painstaking post-production. Panikos made it clear that before he shoots a picture, be it studio or outside, he knows how he wants the image to look and he also knows how the model wants it to look! He took us through a couple of model shoots and began by showing how he selected, discarded and kept images in his system and then he moved on to demonstrating his photoshop techniques.

We all know that with Photoshop there are always different techniques to achieve a similar result, but Panikos demonstrated his best and most workable ways of producing outstanding images in a manner that was easy to understand and simple to follow. Slowly, slowly, layer by layer, his images leapt into life.

The two groups of NDPS, one at home and the other at our new Bluebell Road venue, listened and watched intently and came away with lots of new ideas and things to try for themselves. Our thanks to Panikos for a very practical evening and for a brief insight into the workings of this remarkable photographer.

Special PresentationMaurice YoungOctober 27, 2021portraiture, working with models, photoshop

Excellent presentation on Photoshop by Ian Wilson

Another good turnout for last Tuesday’s Special Presentation. Once again requiring the use of the larger hall upstairs at Chapelfield to accommodate everyone. The Special Presentation was a fantastic evening of post processing from a very knowledgable expert on all things Photoshop Ian Wilson.

Ian covered a number of aspects in Photoshop, Lightroom and Nic Software including Luminosity Masking and their usefulness in getting the very best out any image. Ian also spent some time explaining what Smart Objects are and how to use them.

Photoshop Training - another good reason to join NDPS.

A successful and instructive second evening of Photoshop training for beginners at the University of East Anglia (UEA) last night given by our Vice-chairman Neil Hall.
Neil covered a number of topics during the evening including the various ways to make Selections, what Layers are and why they are so versatile and useful, and how to use Layer Masks in adjusting and refining our images.

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