NWPC - Presentations

• What I'm Watching on YouTube (Michael Davis): Handout — Michael shared with us some of his favorite photography video-loggers — Perhaps you will find one that interests you. (presented Mar 27/2018)
• Twirls, The New Photoshop Trend (Bill Bentley): Tutorial page — Bill showed the club a tutorial on the use of Photoshop's "Twirl" filter to create interesting abstract works of art. (presented Mar 27/2018)
• Reviewing Photos in the Field (Kane Tse): Handout — Kane showed the club his solution to overly small camera screens when it comes to reviewing images in the field. (presented Mar 27/2018)
• A Brief Timelapse Introduction (Derek Carlin): Handout — Derek gave a quick introduction to Timelapse photography in the hopes that it might spark the interest of some members to give it a try. (presented Mar 27/2018)
• Up Close & Personal — Macro Photography (Nancy Matheson): Handout — Nancy gave an introduction to macro photography with some samples to inspire those new to the genre, as well as some of the technical concerns with capturing these images. (presented Feb 27/2018)
• Long Exposure Photography (Glenn Marcus): Handout — Glen reviewed the equipment and processes needed for long exposure photography. (presented Feb 6/2018)
• Software Demos: Dynamic Auto Painter (Karen Justice): Handout — DAP creates realistic paintings from your photographs. (presented Oct 25/2016)
• Software Demos: The GIMP (Geoff Griffiths): Handout — GIMP is a free cross-platform image editor. (presented Oct 25/2016)
• Software Demos: Snapseed (Nancy M): Handout — Snapseed allows you to edit add effects to photos taken on your phone. Best of all, it's free! (presented Oct 25/2016)
• Software Demos: Silver Efex (Glenn Marcus): Handout — Silver Efex allows you to master the art of Black and White photography with darkroom inspired controls. (presented Oct 25/2016)
• Virtual Tours, Spherical Panoramas (Alberto): Alberto's Website
• Cinemagraphs (Derek Carlin): PowerPoint - a presentation about the growing popularity of "cinemagraphs". (presented Mar 22/2016)
• Lower Falls Trail (Glenn Marcus): (View the show) Glenn encourages us to go out and have a look at a trail full of photo-ops. (presented Mar 22/2016)
• Getting into Stock Photography (Brenda): (Click for presentation notes) Many photographers think about doing stock photography to earn some extra money. Brenda's presentation gave some tips on things to consider for the would-be stock artist. (presented Mar 22/2016)
• Photo Learning Resources (Nancy): Nancy let us know about a photography resource site with many good reasonably priced e-books. craftandvision.com was started by BC photographer David DuChemin. (presented Mar 22/2016)

• Members note: please log in to access additional material.

• Resizing Images: for club projection and competitions: Handout — for competitions or just sharing images at a meeting, members should be clear on resizing their images to meet specifications.
• Critiquing, Commenting, Judging: Handout — This presentation is aimed at helping members learn how to create a useful constructive critique of an image.

This was a series of short presentations aimed at the "less confident" photographer. Someone who has just gotten their first camera, or perhaps has been shooting a few years but was timid about moving off the fully automatic mode (the "green square" on many Canon models).

The series covered both mechanical and compositional topics and hopes that through education in the so-called "basics", a novice photographer will gain confidence and start to try new ideas and techniques.

Where it makes sense, some "study guides" accompany the presentations and also a fun little idea: "Pocket Mods". A cheat sheet of sorts with key points from the presentation. Folded properly and one quick snip with scissors, the sheet becomes a nice little 8 page booklet that can be tucked in your camera bag.

Members: Log into your accounts to access the study guides here

• Session 1: Taking Control (presented Feb 5/2008)
  an overview of the basic image controls on a camera and their effect on your final image.
  Topics covered: focal length, aperture, shutter speed, film speed, exposure control, depth of field, angle of view, learn the automatic modes on your camera, hollywood special effects from photography's point of view.
  Resources:
  • Members note: more materials are available if you log in.
  • Click to show a Focal Length Demo
    

    Click to hide this Focal Length Demo

    Originally from: Canon's Site

  • Wikipedia Articles: If you really want to go in-depth on these topics, Wikipedia has some good articles:
    • Angle of View
    • f-Stops
    • Normal Lens
    • Plane of Focus (Depth of Field)
    • Focal Length
    • Perspective Distortion
    • Shutter Speed
• Session 2: The Golden Rule (presented Apr 15/2008)
  This session takes the new photographer into the world of "Rules of Composition". The first rule is one of the most fundamental one used in photography. But why does "moving your subject off-centre" make for a better image (usually!). And what do ancient measures and the Parthenon have to do with modern photography?
  Topics covered: Golden Ratio (Phi), Golden Rectangle, Golden Spiral, Eyes of God, Rule of Thirds, The Rule in action.
  Resources:
  • Members note: more materials are available if you log in.
  • WikiPedia Articles: If you really want to dive into the history and discussion of golden geometry and its use in art and photography:
    • Golden Ratio - wikipedia backgrounder on this famous ratio
    • Golden Rectangle - applying the golden ration to rectangles
    • Golden Spiral - talks about the golden spiral (also called the Fibonacci Spiral), as with most Wikipedia articles, the "see also" section will lead you into a variety of related topics.
    • Phidias ( Φειδίας ) - famous greek sculptor, one of the designers of the Parthenon. Known for his use of the golden ratio, and honoured by mathematicians by selecting the first letter of his name to represent the golden ratio: Phi (Φ)
    • Fibonacci numbers - any in-depth look at Phi will lead you to Fibonacci numbers. The first part of this Wiki article is heavy on math. But if you skip down to the "Applications" section, you'll find information of more interest to photographers. Fibonacci stole a lot of his ideas from ancient Hindu mathematics and poety structure and tried to apply it to rabbit populations --- which went to show he knew nothing about rabbits!
    • Henri Cartier-Bresson on Wikipedia - a biography of Bresson. In addition to his strong feelings on golden geometry from his training as a painter, he is also known as the "father of photojournalism" and developed styles and techniques used in modern street photography.
  • Other External Pages: some other external pages you might find of interest:
    • www.goldennumber.net one man's labour of love devoted to Phi, an excellent source of material on the "divine proportion"
    • AtRise's Golden Section - a software tool useful to graphic artists and book/web page designers. But also useful to photographers as well. It allows you to place a grid on your screen (over a photograph perhaps?!) and find the Phi lines in the frame. It has a variety of commonly used graphic art ratios and grid patterns.
    • Images from Henri Cartier-Bresson a well known photographer who often used golden geometry in creating his artistic compositions. Some samples of his images are at this site.
    • NPR coverage of Cartier-Bresson - news article on Cartier-Bresson's death in 2004 and a look back at his career with earlier interviews with the photographer.
    • 35mm Film and the Golden Rectangle - talks about the background of the development of the 35mm frame format, and its relationship to the golden rectangle. There are a couple of Cartier-Bresson samples there as well.
• Session 3: What's My Line? (presented May 6/2008)
  In this session the new photographer continues their exploration of the "Rules of Composition". We learned how to place images with the Rule of Thirds, now we learn how to use "lines" to help direct the viewer to your subject.
  Topics covered: Types of lines (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, S-curves, C-curves), use of perspective to generate "presence" and leading lines, using repetition to create leading lines, convergence and radial symmetry.
  Resources:
  • Members note: please log in to access study guide and pocket cheat-sheet.
  • Other External Pages: some other external pages you might find of interest:
    • Composition in Visual Arts - a Wikipedia article on composition in visual arts, with a discussion on importance of Rule of Thirds and types of lines.
• Session 4: I've been framed! (presented Sep 16/2008)
  In this session we continue our exploration of the more fundamental rules of composition, in particular: Framing.
  
  Resources:
  • Members note: please log in to access study guide and pocket cheat-sheet.
  • Other External Pages: some other external pages you might find of interest:
    • Photography Composition - Create Better Pictures
    • Guidelines for Better Photographic Composition Framing
    • Frame Your Picture - Digital Photography Tutorial
    • Framing Your Shots - Photography Composition Technique
    • Image composition - framing inside of the photos
• Session 5: A Shot in the Dark (presented: Nov 18/2008)
  We've spent the last few sessions on compositional topics. Tonight we return to a more "mechanical" topic, Night Photography.
  Since the meeting for this evening revolves around the topic, this session will attempt to bring newer photographers up to speed on some of the various genres and techniques you will see in this area of the art. As with all BTGS sessions, this is meant to be a springboard for those who might not have experience in these areas to go on and do further research/experimenting on their own. BTGS will open the door to the "dark side", will you enter?
  Resources:
  • Members note: please log in to access study guide and pocket cheat-sheet.