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April Speaker and Judge

We would like to welcome back John Williams as our guest speaker in April. John is General Manager of Showcase Photo and Video. John always has a great presentation and he's a wealth of information on the latest photographic trends and gadgets, as well as being a genuine expert on lighting. John joined Showcase in 2010 after leaving his 25 year position at John Williams & Associates, a manufacturers' representative firm for photographic products and was a founding instructor of the Nikon School of Photography. We are also pleased to welcome back Parlee Chambers as our

guest judge. Parlee has spent her lifetime in creative endeavor. Her many years of production, photography, painting, art direction and styling work making her someone you will be grateful to have handling the many facets of any project you might throw her way. She creates each still life with the heart of a painter, the eye of a stylist and a calm

and easy attitude that both clients and crew appreciate. Every shoot and it's pre-production are bettered by her creative mindset, tip-top organization and the attention she pays to the needs of crew, agency and client.

March 2012 www.spsatlanta.org

Our Next Monthly Meeting is April 6, 2012

April Competition - Food Images must have food as the primary element. Images can be literal or abstract, but creative presenta-

tion of food as the subject is paramount.

March Color Print Winners 2 March Black and White 3 Print Winners March Digital Winners 4 Meet-A-Member 5 Explaining RAW vs JPEG 6 Formats SPS Competition Rules 8 2012 Competition Themes 10 Procedure for Digital 11 Submission Image Sizing SPS Contact Information 12

**Mark Your Calendar** Opening Reception for the first SPS Gallery Show for 2012

Sammiches N’ Stuff in Decatur During the Decatur Arts Festival in May

More Details to Follow Soon

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Color Print Winners March 2012

Theme– Humor Judge-John Mariana

Impact is the key in this month's competition.

HM– Mike Boatright “Do Not Hump”

Image Not Available 4th - Emmanuel Petkas

“Frat Boy”

3rd - Mary Jean McGinn “Cookies and Cream”

2nd –John McGinn “Call Waiting”

1st – Jeff Milsteen “Sinners Repaint”

HM-Cherie Truesdell ”Prissy Color”

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Black and White Print Winners March 2012

Theme– Humor Judge-John Mariana

Impact is the key in this month's competition.

4th-Carl Fredrickson “Water Fountain”

1st – Jeff Milsteen “Polly Wants a NIkon”

3rd– John McGinn “Dead End”

2nd –Cherie Truesdell “Wall Street Woes”

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Digital Winners March 2012

Theme– Humor Judge-John Mariana

Impact is the key in this month's competition.

HM-Laura Kresmin “Let Me Sleep On It”

HM-Jack Martin “Kisses”

4th-Sue Read “Tights and Tops Shop”

3rd –John McGinn “Go Bananas”

2nd –Paul Shimek “Chicken Fingers”

1st--Mike Boatright “You Never Know What Will Pop

Up In Times Square”

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Meet-A-Member - Jeff Milsteen

1.Where do you live in Atlanta? In Atlanta, about a mile and a half from the SPS meeting location. 2.What is your profession? I am an attorney and have served as Chief Deputy Attorney General of the State of Georgia since 1997. 3.How long have you been a member of SPS? I think since about 1990. (I served as President of SPS in 1992 and 1993.) Although I have continuously been a member since then, I went on “hiatus” from attending meetings and taking photographs for a while in the 2000’s while I struggled to transition from film to digital. (I still miss my old Fuji Velvia slide film!) Although I wouldn’t want to go back to film now, I think my photographic skills are better from having learned on slide film, which was unforgiving when it came to exposure and relatively expensive at $16 to buy and develop a 36-image roll. Needless to say, you were much more thoughtful about the shots you took when you were effectively paying .45 cents each time you pressed the shutter button! 4. How long have you been into photography, and how did you get started? I got started in photography in the late 1980’s after taking several classes at the Southeastern Center for the Arts with Neil Chaput (now of the Rocky Mountain School of Photography). At the time, I was primarily interested in nature photography as it served as a good excuse to spend some quality time outdoors. 5. Tell us about your equipment: I’ve been a Nikon user pretty much since day 1. I currently use a D300 body, and am still (impatiently!) waiting for the D800 I ordered on the first day it was announced. (I can’t wait to get back to a full-frame sensor.) My lens collection (all Nikons) contains, among others, a 10.5mm f2.8 fisheye, a 12-24mm f4.0, a 16-35mm f4.0 VR, a 24-70 f2.8, a 70-200 f2.8 VRII, an 80-400 f4-5.6, and a 105 micro f2.8 VR. I have too many tripods, but my current favorite is my Gitzo carbon fiber GT3530LSV (it is tall and has no center post). I recently bought a 4-section carbon fiber Induro CT214 for casual travel because it will fold up and fit in a carry-on. I’ve always been a tripod fanatic and find it difficult to take photographs without one. I guess that explains why my favorite subjects tend to be of the non-moving variety! 6. What is your favorite subject/what inspires you? I still love nature and travel photography, but lately I’ve also been drawn to photographing abandoned buildings and things. I am continually inspired by other photographers, including fellow SPS members and the amazing work I often see on Flickr. (My Flickr site is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/20973954@N07/) My biggest challenge is people photography – I’ve always said I’d rather photo-graph a dead tree than a live person. I need to work on that. 7. If you do your own post-production work, what software are you using? I currently use Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 4 (along with the complete set of Nik plug-ins for Light-room). As Lightroom continues to improve, I thankfully find myself using Photoshop less and less, which is good because I’m not all that proficient in it.

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Explaining RAW vs. JPEG File Formats

I found this article, which provides a very basic, easy to understand description of both formats. This dis-cussion may be old news for experienced photographers, but many of our members could be relatively

new to digital photography, or even if they have been shooting for a while, may not quite understand the formats or why they have been using one or the other. The article was written by Jim Goldstein, and the

complete article can be found at http://www.jmg-galleries.com/articles/raw_vs_jpeg_is_shooting_raw_right_for_me.html

The Basics: To put everyone on the same plane of knowledge, whether you’re an experienced digital photographer or someone that is just now looking into digital photography, the file formats in question should be defined. RAW format is often a proprietary format of a particular camera make. RAW files hold all the RAW data captured by the camera. Unlike conventional photography where light is exposed against film with a spe-cific chemical formulation to provide deep saturation or soft skin tones that would otherwise be automati-cally applied based on the type of film used, RAW digital files contain raw data that is uninterpreted and unaltered. RAW files in their simplest description can be thought of as digital negatives. They are a pre-production starting point. JPEG format compresses image data into a smaller file size. In theory, a JPEG file contains less data (how much depends on the specified size and compression/quality settings) than an equivalent RAW file, but is able to closely reproduce an image once fully loaded. When saving an image with photo editing software it is possible to save an image with different levels of JPEG compression. This enables you to create files that take less storage space sacrificing how well the file displays or take up more storage space to more accurately reproduce the original image. Know Thy Self ­ Key Questions To Ask Yourself Unlike recommendations in other articles I’ve read, the best way to immerse yourself into this question of whether to use (capture and/or edit) RAW or JPEG file formats is to ask yourself the following questions: "What are your goals as a photographer?" Surprisingly, this is often alluded to in articles I’ve read on this subject, but never explicitly stated. The sig-nificance of this question is quite important, as you’ll want to select the right file format to match the follow-ing: your output goals (print, online display, etc), your technical comfort level, your available storage ca-pacity, your computer software/hardware capabilities, and the amount of time you’re willing to commit to the post-production of your work. "How comfortable are you with editing images on a computer?" Many long-time photographers are technically excellent and seldom need to make substantial edits in post-production; while newer photographers just starting out in the digital format may need to employ many post-production editing features available to them to clean up their images. Realistically assessing your technical skill level behind the camera and behind a computer is a key factor in deciding what file format to use.

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Meet-A-Member—Jeff Milsteen (con’t)

8. Do you do your own printing? What type of printer do you use? I do my own printing. I’ve had an Epson R1800 for years and I recently purchased an R3000 (and am still learning how to use it). I’ve recently discovered, and become a big fan of, metallic paper for certain types of prints. 9. Anything else you'd like to share about yourself or your photography? Although my shooting was at best sporadic over the last 10 years, being back at the club has encouraged me to get out and shoot more. Having served as President of SPS “back in the day,” I know the work our current officers and committee chairs put into each meeting and I very much appreciate their efforts. I’ve always viewed photography as an individual endeavor, but one that benefits from shared experi-ences. SPS is a great place to learn and grow as a photographer, and I’m glad to be an active participant again.

Explaining RAW vs. JPEG File Formats (con’t) Format Pros & Cons: The Pros of RAW format:

RAW is a digital negative holding all of the data captured by your camera providing you a foundational element

to which to apply all of your edits to with no sacrifice of image quality.

RAW file software editors allow you to quickly and easily change the output of your image such as adjusting exposure, white balance, noise reduction, image size (interpolation), saturation, contrast, levels, curves, sharp-ness, output resolution, bits/channel, etc.

RAW file software editors allow you to load saved adjustment settings and some even enables users to batch process a group of files versus making changes to one file at a time.

The Cons of RAW format:

RAW files take up more space on your camera's compact flash card or microdrive than other formats.

RAW files require you conduct some degree of post processing via photo editing software to convert your im-age to an editable file type for editing, printing and/or online display.

RAW file software editors have a learning curve, even if mild, and for the uninitiated can be intimidating at first.

Batch processing and/or loading multiple files may tax slower machines and require more computer RAM to keep your software running smoothly.

The Pros of JPEG format:

JPEG is a file format that has been adopted as a standard and can be loaded in a variety of programs making display easy and simple.

JPEG files take up less space on your camera's compact flash card or microdrive than other formats.

JPEGs can be loaded easily by most all image editing software applications, requiring no intermediate steps.

Most dSLRs enable you to choose what size JPEG files (S, M, or L) to save to your compact flash card or mi-

crodrive when shooting. This enables you to use smaller images that are easier to handle for email attach-ments, web display or as an alternate preview mechanism if your camera supports saving files in JPEG and RAW formats simultaneously.

The Cons of JPEG format:

JPEGs are not a lossless file format. Each time the file is saved data is compressed, with some data being lost

in the process. The net impact can be loss of color saturation, color range and sharpness.

JPEG files reflect a one-time interpretation of your subject based on the settings of your camera (white bal-ance, exposure settings and output resolution, etc.). Altering these settings and re-outputting a new file, as you can with a RAW file, is not possible. What you capture is what you get.

Interpolating or upsizing an image initially saved as a JPEG can result in less than ideal results. Some 3rd party software applications can do this better than others, but you’re still dependent on using another software application to get the job done.

With specific types of photographed scenes JPEG compression artifacts can appear in prints.

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SPS Competition Rules

**Correction ** The SPS Competition Rules printed in last month’s issue of Exposure Notes were from an out-

dated version of the rules. That version of the rules has been removed from the Files section of the SPS Meetup site. For clarification purposes and to ensure our members are provided the

most current, up-to-date information, the General Rules are being reprinted in this month’s issue. The SPS Competition Rules can be found at the following link:

http://www.meetup.com/SPS-Meetup/pages/Complete_Competition_Rules/

If the link doesn’t work, go to the Pages tab on the Meetup site. At the bottom of the page under the Table of Contents, you’ll see a link to “Complete Competition Rules”.

If you have questions about the rules or how they are enforced, please contact Ray Davis, Competitions Chairperson at RDavis7939@AOL.com or any of the Board Members identified on page 11 of the news-letter. General Rules 1) The initial exposure must have been made within the previous 12 months before the date of the compe-tition unless the competition theme specifically denotes it as "Vintage" (vintage can be any age). 2) Prints need not be printed by the member and prints can be of any practical size (5x7, 8x10, 11x14, etc. or any custom size). 3) A member may place entries into each category of competition but may not place more than one entry into any one category. 4) No entries that have been previously entered in any regular SPS competition will be allowed to be en-tered a second time - except for those given a special exemption under Rule #11. 5) A competition entry shall comprise a single overall image unless a competition theme specifically allows an exception (e.g. a "series" competition). Multiple images may be combined during the creative process but the entry must be printed and presented as a single image. 6) An image derived from a specific slide/ negative/file (or combination of these) may not be entered into more than one competition category. Additionally, an image may not be altered and then reentered in a subsequent competition as a new image. Projected images may not be reentered as prints, color prints may not be reentered as black & white prints, and so on for all possible variations via traditional proc-esses, digital processes, alternative processes, etc. 7) Members should arrive 30 minutes before the stated starting time of the meeting (usually 7:30 PM) in order to have their entries logged in. Absolutely no entries will be accepted after the stated starting time of the meeting determined by the Competition Committee's timepiece. 8) SPS members in good standing do not have to be present to log their entry into competition as long as the member makes her/his own arrangements for someone to deliver, correctly log, and return the entry to the member. The SPS will not be responsible for any works incorrectly logged in or left at the competition site.

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Competition Rules (con’t)

General Rules (con’t) 9) All images and visual components that make up an image must be original images captured by the member (no incorporation of scans, reproductions from stock photography, clip art, etc.) 10) At each competition there must be a minimum of three entries in a category before any winners are selected in that category. When the minimum number of entries in a category is not met, the member may opt for a non-competitive critique by the judge. The one (1) "entry point" will still be awarded. An entry given a non-competitive critique under these circumstances is still eligible for entry into a future SPS com-petition without prejudice. 11) The December competition is a "Member's Choice" competition. Each member may enter one image for digital projection. The image must have been taken in the 12 months preceding the competition. Im-ages entered in prior competitions are eligible. No print competition takes place in December. 12) The image must conform to the announced theme of the competition. The competition committee may reject an image if it does not conform to the theme. If an image is rejected on this basis, the member may appeal the decision to the members of the SPS board who are present at the time. Their decision shall be final. Competition Categories - Digital Projection - Color Prints - Black & White Prints 1) Digital Projection entries must be submitted as jpeg files to digital @ spsatlanta.org no later than 9:00pm the Thursday prior to the competition. The club projector has a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. Members are encouraged to resize their images to fit within these dimensions for best projection results. Excessively large files or formats other than jpg will be rejected. If you would like confirmation of receipt of your image, include the word “Competition” in the subject line of your email. 2) Titles should be included for all images. Please include your name in the body of the email as this is not always clear from the sender's email address. If titles are omitted the digital coordinator reserves the right to make it up on the fly. 3) Prints shall be placed into either the "color prints" or "black & white prints" category. Prints may be the result of traditional, digital, and/or alternative processing techniques. While it is fairly obvious in which category a traditional print should be entered, use of alternative processes and advancements in digital photography may create situations where it is unclear which category would be the most appropriate. The Competition Committee will try to accommodate the wishes of the member, but reserves the right to re-classify an entry in order to maintain the fairest environment for competition. Print Presentation - All prints must be mounted to an appropriate rigid mounting surface; over-matting is optional, but encouraged. Frames, glass, plastic overwraps, etc., are not allowed. If a title or signature is present on the front, it must be completely covered with a neutral covering such as masking or archival tape. Labeling of Prints - Each member must clearly label each entry on its back with member's name, print's title, and entry category. Additionally, an arrow designating the "up" position or a label reading "top" must be placed on the back to ensure the print is displayed correctly.

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2012 Competition Themes

January Open: Enter your best work on any subject, however, all images must have been ex posed within the past 12 months. February Travel: The primary criteria here is that the image must give the viewer a sense of place outside of Metro Atlanta. This might be someplace out in the country or some far away land. March Humor: Impact is the key in this month's competition. April Food: Images must have food as the primary element. Images can be literal or abstract, but creative presentation of food as the subject is paramount. May Twists and Turns: Images can be of any subject, so long as they convey a clear sense of twists and turns. June Wastelands (Urban Decay and Abandonment): We’re looking for images of deserted old buildings, rusting cars, and any other form of decay, presented within an urban environment. July Things in Motion: The primary element of the image must be in motion, relative to its environment and other supporting elements. August Wild Animals (not domestic)-Vintage: Since this is also a "vintage" competition, the image can be from any prior year (not just within the past 12 months as for the non- vintage themes), so long as it has never been presented in an SPS competition before. September Extreme Point of View: Images can consist of any subject so long as they are taken from an unusual perspective that makes you think of the subject differently because of your point of view. October Making a living (workers in their work environment): The assignment this month is to convey the sense of making a living by creatively presenting workers in their work environment. November Architecture: The first photograph ever made was a view of buildings out a window. Now -as then- architectural images must be both aesthetically pleasing and accurate representations of their subjects, whether interior or exterior, detailed or expansive. December Member’s Choice: Show us your best image from the last 12 months whether you’ve already had it in competition or not. Digital submission only – no prints – and one image per person.

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Procedure for Digital Submission Image Sizing

SPS has a new digital projector. The new projector has much higher resolution, greatly expanded color gamut, and dramatically increased contrast ratio. All of our images should look much better on the screen as the new projector will handle them much more accu-rately.

One change you’ll notice right away—the projector will fill less of the height of the screen. Because the picture is more oblong, keeping the sides in bounds means a shorter height.

High resolution projectors are designed for HD movie and TV content, and follow the HD specs. Our projector supports 1080p, meaning its resolution is 1920 x 1080 pixels. The old projector was 1024x768.

Aspect Ratio Change

Aspect ratio refers to the ratio between width and height. The 35mm / APS-C size all of our standard cameras produce is 1.5 : 1, meaning the width is one and a half times the height.

The old projector’s aspect ratio was 1.33 : 1. This is why you had to either crop your horizontal images on the left and right or not quite fill the screen.

The new projector’s aspect ratio is 1.77 : 1. Once again your image will have to be cropped a bit top and bottom or display some black borders.

Sizing your image un-cropped

If you want to display your image un-cropped, size it so that it fits within the 1920x1080 projector dimensions. Both horizontal and vertical images will show some black margin on the sides.

Photoshop In Photoshop, for both horizontal and vertical images set the height to 1080 and allow the width to size automatically (it should end up around 1624 for horizontal and 718 for vertical). The projector will have empty black space left and right.

Lightroom

In Lightroom, set the Export Image Sizing to 1920x1080. These are constraints, so Lightroom will automatically size the image without cropping to fit in these dimensions.

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Exposure Notes Published monthly by the Southeastern Photographic Society

P. O. Box 49646, Atlanta, GA 30359.

Newsletter Submittals: Information and articles for the newsletter should be submitted two weeks prior to the meeting date. Articles should be sent electronically to Josh Earhart at the

email address above (please no .pdf documents).

Meeting Location: The Southeastern Photographic Society (SPS) normally meets in the Fellowship Hall of Briarcliff Baptist Church,

3039 Briarcliff Road, on the first Friday of each month at 7:30 PM.

Directions: Take the Clairmont Road exit from I-85. Go south on Clairmont Road toward Decatur/Emory. At first light, turn right onto Briarcliff Road. Turn left into the drive way adjacent to the wrought iron fence adjacent to Ed’s IGA and park in the lot. An awning

labeled 7'6" CLEAR covers the entrance to the hall that leads to the Fellowship Hall.

2011 Committee Chairs

Competitions

Ray Davis RDavis7939@AOL.com

Facilities

Stan Bowman sbowman64@yahoo.com

Programs

Jack Martin jackmartinphoto@gmail.com

Membership

Stephanie Scanlin scscanlin@aol.com

Communications

Josh Earhart josh_earhart@bellsouth.net

Gallery Shows

Sheila McIntosh runswith3dogs@gmail.com

2011 Officers President

Ken Ross ken@kennethrossphotography.com

Vice President

Mike Boatright f64@mikeboatright.com

Secretary

Cherie Truesdell rctruesdell@comcast.net

Treasurer

Elton Saulsberry Elton@eltonsaulsberry.com

Past President

Wendell Tudor awtudor@comcast.net