B DMP&C Sunrise at Port Fairy

Bacc

hus M

arsh

& D

istric

tPh

otog

raph

y C

lub.

NEW

LAYOUT!Now with ‘Clickable Content’*!

* ‘Clickable Content’ has been tested in Foxit Reader V6.1.2 and in Adobe Reader XI running under Windows 7 and Mac OSX 10.7.Not tested on Animals.

Click me to see what this is all about!

B DMP&C

So why the layout change?Like Televisions, most computer monitors these days are now in (almost) a ratio of 16:9, that is, widescreen format so it seems that the old ‘portrait’ mode is not really that suitable for todays monitors. Another reason was that this Newsletter was not intended for printing so the portrait mode was not really advantageous although it still can be printed in landscape mode. Also, most photos that are included have been taken in landscape mode...sooooo....It sort of seemed logical.The ‘Clickable’ link thing:I just thought I would try this to see how it goes. Basically it works the same as a web link in the document except that instead of going to a web page it sim-ply jumps to the page that the article, or whatever, is on. At the end of the page/article, etc, there is a ‘back’ link which will bring you back to the contents. While, due to it’s size, this is probably not a great deal of use at the moment, hopefully this Newsletter will get larger, with member contributions, and as such navigating through it might become a bit unwieldy, hence the links!Of course, if you don’t like the link idea, you can still scroll through as normal.

ContentsAll about the last meeting.

Tech Night Roundup.

Metering.

Links, etc.

Members Photos.

Member of the Month.

Document created in and exported to PDF using Indesign. Additional content created in Photoshop and Illustrator. All photos appearing in this newsletter remain © of their respective owners.

(Contents will normally appear on the first page.)

If I knew how to take a good photograph, I’d do it every time.““

Robert Dosineau14 April 1912 – 1 April 1994

Do you have something you would like to contribute to the newsletter? Then please email it to me for inclusion.

B DMP&C B DM

P&CThe April meeting was once again well attended with 19 members show-ing up.The night kicked off with Eric outlining the progress towards Incorpora-tion of the Club. A motion was moved that the Club become Incorpo-rated. He also asked the members to vote that our treasurer, Linda Groot to be the authorised person to apply for Incorporation of the Club. Both mo-tions were passed.Membership fees are set at a one off joining fee of $15, plus an annual membership fee of $30 per year. Please note that the $15 is a once only fee and helps pay for things like insurance for members on field trips, etc. The financial year has been set to end on the 30th June each year so if you pay early, your membership fee will last until the end of June 2015.

Steve from What-Knots was unable to attend but his son Ben attended and offered some valuable advice on matts and framing, etc, as well as giv-ing us a good run down on what What-Knots can offer to Club members. Ben has indicated that What-Knots are interested in returning to show some samples of their work.Following the success of the first Tech Night, members were asked if they wanted more and whether they should be on a regular club meeting night, or on a separate night.The overwhelming response was yes and on a separate night.

The Yellow theme went over well and a large number of images were brought on USB sticks and in print form. (And not a daffodil in sight!!!!!).Two members had some impressive examples of light painting which generated a lot of interest and there was talk of maybe doing a workshop of this technique later on in the year. So well done Matt and Jill for your creative ideas of Yellow. It was also good to see that so many had put so much thought into the theme. Robert peaked our appetite for supper with his photo of mouth-watering bakery goodies...mostly yellow of course!Blair’s excellent photo of the firefighter was also very well received.Other photos ranged from Karin’s antique buses in Yellowstone National Park, yellow utes and classic cars, through to Eric’s stunning portrait of an Indian woman with her yellow shawl. It would seem that a lot of members are well travelled!Well done to all who brought along their images.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday May 28th and will feature a presentation from Mick Davson, a well known photographer from Bal-lan, who will give a talk on Portraits in the field. Mick also runs a six week course, the next one starts on 3rd May at Ballan Community House and runs for 6 weeks on Saturday mornings. Further details are available on the Clubs Facebook page, or you can book at Ballan Community House by phoning 53681934.

http://www.mickdavsonphotography.com/

The theme for the May meeting is Indoor/FlashSo be creative and lets see some amazing images!

Not a member yet?Click on the logo below to be taken to our Facebook page. As the group is closed, you will need to click on ‘Join’ to become a ‘member’...or whatever it is that they call it!

B DMP&C

Roundup

Our first Tech Night held on Wednesday 2nd got off to a great start with 15 members showing up wanting to learn more about their cameras. As expected, Canon and Nikon dominated the roundup, but there were also a couple of surprises in the form of Olympus OM mirrorless cameras! As well, there were a few compact cameras.We were lucky to have a few experienced people to help the novices understand a bit more about their cameras and it wasn’t long before people were trying out their new found knowledge on the various props scattered around for this purpose.Everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves and hopefully people went away know-ing a bit more about their cameras.

Continued on next page.

B DMP&C

After getting a few hints and tips, members try out some of their new knowledge!

B DMP&CB DM

P&CMetering is something most of us probably take for granted in modern cam-eras but it is essential for every single shot you take, whether you’re shooting in full Auto mode or completely manual.The metering system measures the light entering the camera - through the lens (TTL) in the case of digital SLRs - and it then translates this information into relative shutter values, aperture values or stops. So when exposing manually you can use the digital reading to match what the light meter deems is well exposed; or when shooting in Auto it will provide the camera with the infor-mation to select the appropriate shutter speed and aperture values.When it comes to making a camera, and to testing it, the metering system is as much an integral part as the focusing, processor and sensor. Each camera manufacturer has its own unique metering system and strives to achieve better ways of evaluating the light coming through the lens.Most cameras will provide you with a choice of exposure modes for your me-tering as, although the system is clever enough to work out how to expose the image, it cannot predict if you want to get creative with your exposure or bring detail out of certain areas. When there is high contrast in the scene or strong backlighting, the metering system is forced to choose between shadow and highlight areas, as the dynamic range of the sensor cannot record to the same extremes that we can see with the naked eye. By changing the metering mode, you can choose whether you meter universally from the scene, give priority to certain areas, or simply select an area of the scene.

Matrix or evaluative metering.No, you do not have to take the red pill to understand matrix metering. It’s actually a very simple concept: The meter divides the scene up into zones, then analyzes each zone for highlight and shadow. It then takes an average for all the zones and determines the exposure based on that figure. Though the idea is simple on the surface, matrix metering systems actually use a complicated algorithm, and most manufacturers do it in their own special way, which is kept secret from the general public. Depending on the manufacturer, matrix metering systems may average just a handful of zones or more than a thousand

of them. Other factors besides light are taken into consideration, such as the point within the scene where you have focused, the distance between the camera and the subject, and the colours within the scene. Nikon even has an on-board database of exposure information for more than 30,000 different photos that the metering system can refer to when determining the exposure for similar scenes.

Centre-weighted metering.Centre-weighted metering gives the most importance–usually between 60 and 80 percent–to the light that is concentrated in a circular area in the centre of the frame. The corners are given much less importance, though they are usually in-cluded to a small degree in the calculation. Some cameras will even allow you to adjust the size of the circle. This is usually considered to be the most consistent form of metering, since most photographic subjects are near the centre of the frame and rarely fall into the outer four corners. For this reason, centre-weight-ed metering is often the default metering system used by many point-and-shoot cameras of the variety that don’t allow the user to have control over the metering system.

Spot or partial metering.Spot and partial metering operate under the same basic premise: the light in a much smaller part of the scene (usually the centre) is measured and the expo-sure is set based on that reading. With spot metering, this is usually a space oc-cupying 1 to 5 percent of the total scene. With partial metering the space can be up to 15 percent of the scene. Depending on the camera’s manufacturer, you are either stuck with a metering from the centre of the frame, or you can actually tell the camera which part of the frame you want it to take the reading from.Spot metering is a very accurate form of metering in that it will give you a pre-cise reading for a very small part of the scene, so it is most useful for shooting high-contrast scenes where your subject may otherwise fall into shadow or be washed out by very bright highlights.

MeteringA quick and dirty guide to

Continued on next page.

B DMP&C

So which mode is better?Like almost all photography questions, the answer is a resounding “it depends”. Most of the time, you’re probably going to want to choose either centre-weighted or matrix metering, with the decision being made based on the type of lighting in the scene, and your own preference. Scenes with low contrast/even lighting, especially when you prefer not to have to selectively meter for your subject, are best tackled with matrix metering. Scenes with a higher contrast, especially those that would benefit from selec-tive metering on your subject are best shot with centre weighted metering. As for spot metering, reserve that for backlit scenes and for those shots where you have some extra time for experimentation.

Metering is a tricky subject to master, and like most other technical aspects of photography it is best conquered with lots of trial, error and wasted frames. And if you’re like many hobbyists, you may just prefer to set it and forget it and stick with matrix metering, since that’s the mode that will allow you to chase shots and capture them on the fly rather than have to think about metering every shot before you actually take it. After all, living subjects don’t tend to stay in one place. Toddlers and pets are notori-ous for abandoning their cute antics while you are busy metering, and recomposing. So don’t switch over from matrix metering just because you feel compelled to try something different. Instead, wait for those shots that just don’t seem like they’re going to come easy, or for that loca-tion that seems to be giving you consistently bad results. Know the different situations that each metering mode is adept at, and be ready to switch over when the situation arises. Experimentation is a good thing, but don’t lose any pictures over it.

B DMP&C B DM

P&COn the 29th April there will be an Annular solar eclipse. In Melbourne it will be a partial eclipse with around 40-50% of the sun covered at it’s maximum. It will start at 3:59PM and will be at it’s maximum at 5:07PM. The sun will be 4.4° above the horizon at it’s maximum, in a direction of 292°. So if you are going to view/photograph it you will need a clear view West-northwest.

*** WARNING ***Before viewing the eclipse, read the following safety guides.

Remember that it is NEVER safe to view an eclipse with the naked eye, through binoculars, telescopes or camera viewfinders without the proper protection.

Although this page deals with the 2012 Queensland total solar eclipse, the information is still relevant:http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au/safe-viewing-of-astronomical-events.htm

And this information from NASA:http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/safety2.html

.......It will probably be cloudy anyway!!

From DigitalCameraWorld comes these 77 techniques and tips for taking photos of everything from Portraits through to Macro and flash photography:http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2014/02/07/77-photography-techniques-tips-and-tricks-for-taking-pictures-of-anything/

Forget keeping the sun behind you when you take a photo. Try backlighting for something different:http://digital-photography-school.com/rediscovering-backlit-subjects/

Do you know of a web link or an upcoming exhibition, show, competition or event that others might be interested in?If so, please email me the details for inclusion in the next newsletter!

B DMP&C B DM

P&CMatt Page sent these two photos.

The State Library.f/9, 6 sec, ISO 100, focal length 12mm

Members Photos

B DMP&C

Sunset at Stawell f/3.5, 1/100, ISO 320, focal length 27mm.

Thanks very much for sharing Matt.If you have a photo or two that you would like to share here, please email it/them to me for inclusion in the next newsletter.

B DMP&C B DM

P&CRay Wendt.Chooses to shoot things with a Canon....DSLR of course!. His main interest is Landscape photography and is especially interested in Architectural Photography, particularly old buildings.He has travelled extensively in Europe where he was in ‘architectural heaven’. He has com-pleted a course with Mick Davson of Ballan which he found very useful. His interest in architectural photography probably stems from his occupation as a carpenter.

Mem

ber

of t

he M

onth