FOCALPOINTThe Official MIPP Newsletter May 2013

www.mipp-malta.com

Issue No. 29

Editor:Th erese Debono

Design:Th erese Debono

Articles:Kevin Casha, Sergio Muscat & Th erese Debono

Editorial Advice:Kevin Casha

Contact:newsletter@mipp-malta.com

Newsletter Team

I hope you all started this love-ly month of May with a nice and well deserved public holiday! I soaked some sun and had a few drinks with friends. What did you get up to? Do you record these events with your camera or phone? As most of you prob-ably know through facebook I really love recording everyday life and outings with my camera or iphone.

How about sharing some of your every-day pics with us here for a nice feature on the newsletter. Just showing how one can record everyday life in unusual ways will surely make an interesting article, so feel free to drop off a few images and a short summary on the following email: news-letter@mipp-malta.com.

Apart from all this, do make sure you cir-cle 14th May in your calendars because we have a great talk about ‘Making contact’ in photography by Alex Attard, plus there is also the monthly photowalk on 19th May which is scheduled to be for the ‘Alarme!’ event at St John’s Cavalier in Birgu.

I will leave you now to enjoy this month’s newsletter!

Happy May!

EDITORIAL

CONTENTSpg 4 president’s viewpoint A few works from the Presidentpg 5 travel feature Bianco e Nero!pg 11 monthly event Shooting Rugby pg 18 featured artist Meet Oliver pg 25 upcoming monthly talk Alex Attard pg 27 past event Joe Smith’s Talkpg 29 upcoming monthly event Gozo Seminar pg 31 Calendar Mark out your diariespg 32 Press Release MIPP Sports Photography Workshop

MAY 2013

cover artist MARTIN AGIUS

2

Martin says: “One aft ernoon I was assigned a pho-tographic job in Birzebbugia, and once I got there I found out that I was two hours early. I was a bit annoyed and it was not worth going back home for just two hours so I just took the opportunity to stroll along the Birzebbugia Prom-enade. I was intrigued by the patterns on the ground and liked the shadows on the fence/wall separating the swings area from the pavement and street. So I found myself looking for the best angles to shoot. Th ere were times where I actually waited for the sun to go further down so I get the shadows where I wanted them. Th is is one of the images I came up with. I like the contrast of the shows and the paving. Th e two hours passed very quickly and turned out to be fruitful aft er all!”

president’s viewpoint

This month sees the MIPP heavily involved in the running of the various work-shops and courses we organize yearly. Th e Introduction to photography course has been successfully concluded and we are in the middle of the Digital Editing course as well as the very popular Workshops. In fact, for the third year running, we could unfortunately not accommodate all those interested to join us on these workshops. Due to this, we are studying the feasibility of running a second series later on this same year, possibly around September. We will be sending out a draft of this forthcoming workshop series to gauge interest in our members. We will naturally organize this if we have enough numbers. Th is is in line with our policy that, whenever possible, to give our members what they want.

In June, we will again be organizing the Gozo workshop weekend and by the pub-lication of this newsletter, the programme and full details should have been an-nounced. We have tried to again build an interesting weekend whilst at the same time keeping the price as low as possible. I would like to make members aware that during such events, the package price just covers our expenses, such as food and lodging. Th ere is no mark up whatsoever and tutors who are running the courses do so on a voluntary basis and without remuneration. So please do appreciate the eff ort that goes not only in organization and logistics but also in the time and eff ort that individual members give to the Institute.

I would like to remind you that the Gozo weekend is being organized with the help of our Gozitan members. During this weekend we not only try to do workshops and learn but also try to socialize and get to know each other better. Th is is vital for any group to mature and progress. For this reason, we also welcome family and friends to join us on this weekend. Naturally, these only pay for their lodging.

Th is year seems to be fl ying and I would also like to remind those members who in-tend to submit for MIPP Qualifi cations in October to begin organizing themselves from now. As a quick guide, one has to determine his theme then start gathering images on the chosen subject. Naturally seeing and conforming in detail all the rules and regulations is important. I would also like to remind members that there is an optional mentoring service available which can help to further guide you towards preparing for your Qualifi cation. Leaving things for the last minute can court failure.

Good luck to all! 4

5

Bianco e Nero!I caught up with Charles Paul Azzopardi between his busy schedule and my hectic one to get to know more about his pictures from his trip to Italy. And here is his story about one of his trips to Italy....in black and white!

Italy, France and a bit of Switzerland… all in monochrome

Italy has a particular appeal, especially to a man who loves fashion, soccer, archi-tecture and Italian food. Having travelled frequently to northern Italy to freelance during Juventus home games in Turin, habitually also passing through Milan, this was an unusual trip planned to accompany a leukaemia survivor who wanted to experience watching Juventus live but could not travel unaccompanied, but it also ended up with an architectural walkabout and a climb up Europe’s highest moun-tain peak added on in the process.

Ruing previously missed photographic opportunities whilst travelling due to una-vailable photographic gear, nowadays I pack glass and bodies appropriate to what the planned locations and light will entail, whatever the weight involved. In this case I carried two full frame DSLRs, lenses to cover a major sporting event, usu-ally rented (400 mm f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8) and my two favourite lenses for archi-tecture and landscape work, the 24 mm tilt shift and the 8-15 mm fi sheye lenses, together with a monopod, a tripod and a remote shutter release.

Landing in Milano Linate, drive into city centre (always a hassle, especially seeing the level of driving etiquette in Italy) with a jaunt in the city centre trying to capture the architecture from a new perspective, be it the majestic Duomo di Milano reach-ing up to the heavens in majestic glory or the Gallerie Vittorio Emanuele II, where even attempting to window-shop will make your bank account weep in agony!

Onwards to Turin, and into Juventus Stadium to witness very up close and per-sonal a Champions League match, with a cacophony of sounds, songs and inciting jeers in your ears and your eye stuck to the viewfi nder. Worst situation for a sports photographer on the side-lines? Trying to keep the concentration up, with the fi n-ger pressed on the AF button and the super-telephoto aimed at Juventus players… when you yourself support Juventus. Th ree goals for (who else?) Juventus ensued

travel feature

7

against Chelsea on the night, with me jumping up and down while trying to let the image stabilizer keep up with the ensuing camera shake!

Trying to control the overwhelming adrenaline rush of the Champions League vic-tory the previous night, I knew of no better way to calm down except for a day tour of Turin with me, myself and two cameras pointed at architectural marvels. Turin may be taunted as being a grey, industrial city with no fl air, but it begs to diff er with a passion, off ering a gamut of architecture like no other, from the expanses of the Reggia di Venaria Reale to the multitude of chapels spanning the river Po, the quaint squares around Piazza San Carlo, Via Roma, through a bicerin or two.Onwards and on a northerly path, through Como and its magnifi cent cathedral,

8

coupled with a boat trip over the Lago di Como, crossing over into Switzerland, it was time to prepare for one Massif undertaking – attempting to climb the highest mountain peak in Europe – le Massif de Mont Blanc.

Arriving in Chamonix at the base of the mountain, one undertakes gruelling prepa-ration by organising climbing gear (and hop-ing you have reached the adequate level of physical fi tness you had been aiming for to cope with the acclimatization and physical exertion involved in climbing with 10 kilo-gramsof photographic gear on your back). Technically, Mont Blanc can be a tough nut to crack, reaching an altitude of 4800 metres and temperatures of up to -20 Celsius at the peak, and the ascent depends on having the right weather conditions to do the ascent successfully and safely, accompanied by a trusted and experienced guide. Th ankfully, the weather proved lenient on this occasion and off we set.

We chose the Nid d’Aigle (Eagle’s Nest) route, through a brief rest at the Tete Rousse hut ascending up the Goûter corridor and to a

refuge on the Dome du Goûter for a warm meal before you proceed onwards and ever upwards. Th e last part of the climb, involving what might look disappointingly as “only” a fi nal 900 m gain in elevation, you arrive on the Bosses ridge and reach the summit through what is aff ectionately called the “Stairway to Heaven”, a very narrow and steep fi nal approach to the summit, where you have one foot in France and one foot in Italy. Th e sheer quiet and magnifi cence, the sheer inspiring beauty leaves you enthralled and worth the eff ort made to get there. It proved to be the ul-timate inspiration to name the series of images and the genre of the photography I will be pursuing for the next years in photography, one which I will make my own.

Would I do it again? Without batting an eyelid, but this time, it is time to explore

Aiguille du Midi, from Courmayeur, an ode to Ansel - 1Ds III, 70-200 mm

Clockwise top right:Reggia di Venaria Re-ale, Torino; Framed and not happy about it; Feed-ing gulls Ponte Vittorio Emanuele, Torino; Massif Mont Blanc

le vie di Roma e i canali di Venezia, where architecture abounds, made to be captured and painted in monochrome of course. Ar-chitecture, food and la Bella Vita… always a draw for my camera sensors!

11

ShootingRUGBYTh is past month has seen Malta playing Switzerland at Kordin. MIPP members had some special passes for this event, so I contacted them and here they kindly passed on to me their favourite shot from the event and their take on it! Enjoy these men in shorts!

1111

PATRIZIA VAL MADIONAWhile patiently waiting action to come over to my side (being not having a large zoom lens), I couldn’t help not to notice the other players who were also waiting for some sort of result from their team mates. Th is Swiss player in particular although his face cannot be seen, I could feel how attentive he was to what was happening on the other side of the fi eld and being professional he seemed to know already what the outcome will be for which he therefore prepared himself by taking position

- which is when I took this shot. I feel that this image shows all of this much more rather than if the player was simply standing by.

12

KEITH ELLULAs soon as I shot the image, I knew exactly what I was going to title it - Grab ‘the Ball’, and was already seeing it in Black & White. Th is helped to eliminate the distracting colours of the player’s gear. Th e image might seem a bit busy but what caught my attention was the pulling and grabbing of the shirts and......’shorts’, I immediately felt a funny feeling about it and I took the shot, now I under-stand the saying “Rugby is played by men with odd shaped balls.”

I’ve never been to a rugby match in my life, so I didn’t know what was going to happen next, but still I managed to get some decent action shots which I’m happy with.

12

MARTIN AGIUSI have covered a couple of Rugby matches in the past such as the Local league and a few International games. Rugby is a great game, as the action you see and manage to capture on camera are fantastic. It is a tough game, with lots of struggling which includes grab-bing, punching, hitting and anything else you can imagine but I have never seen anything like I managed to capture in this image! I was totally focused in observing the game for a few minutes when all of a sudden I see this

guy with his pants pulled down etc. I couldn’t resist but shoot this im-age. Obviously this was done in a matter of seconds!(image on the right)

13

ALAN FALZONI never was a rugby fan, still cannot un-derstand why men enjoy jumping on each other to grab a ball but since im al-ways happy to shoot something new and challenging i took on the off er by the MIPP. We are all used to watch-ing football and know that players are carried off the pitch when injured. Not in rugby. Th e injured player and medic stay on the pitch while the game goes on. I fi nd this photo to be quite funny, with the players concentrat-ing on the ball, the medic relaxed watching the action while the injured one with his head up also relaxed watching the action. To say the truth i was busy enjoying Malta’s fi nest beer at that moment so did not think much about this photo until i got home. (image on the left )

15

JOHN AMBROGIOI like this particular image because it encapsulates the fi ghting spirit of the Maltese team who, although ended up the losers in this game , gave the visitors some striking resistance. Imagine the strength of the two Swiss players restraining the advance of the maltese player who is just about to lose his grip on the ball, while a third Swiss player is ready to block the onward movement for the Malta side. Th e facial expressions are so intense that they convey the true battle that the game was for the Malta side but as much for the Swiss.

In this brief scene the viewer is left wondering what each player was hoping to do next as a tactical or defensive move. A fi ve-hundreths of a second that tells the story of the whole game.

Ask about our“Try Before

You Buy ” Scheme

you can

For full details and conditions visit www.avantech.com.mt or call on 2148 8800

Canon Lens Rental ServiceLenses available for hire:

Avantech Building,

St Julian’s Road,

San Gwann SGN 2805

CanonMalta.com

17

featured artist

Briefl y describe/talk about your move to Paris, be it for music, life path etc.

I moved to Paris in 2004 to study music. I had been playing music all my life and it seemed like the perfect time to move to the city and give it a go. I studied for a few years and slowly started to make my way into the jazz scene. Today I perform as a sideman with diff erent artists and have a few projects in which I take a more active role (ethio jazz band Akalé Wubé), and Festen, (a jazz quartet).Living in the city also got me into photography again. I have trouble defi ning what really moves me in photography but it usually involves some quirk or another, off beat details which are plentiful in any city, Paris being no exception. So a few years into my move I invested in a DSLR and started taking more photos, thinking about photog-

18

meet oliverI cannot pin point the day I met Oliver, however I remember listening to his band play some smooth bossa nova tunes many years back at some bar in Xemxija. Now this got to me since bossa nova is my fa-vourite jazz genre but this is a photography newsletter so I am not here to talk about Oliver’s music even though it is interesting and he will tell you about it himself.

What is interesting is that Oliver’s artistry does not stop at music, but it goes onto photography, and probably this is where you are more concerned however I do be-lieve that music, before a form of art, helps one in another other form of art.

Alas I could not hop on a plane and fl y to Paris to interview Oliver, however he very willingly obliged to answer my questions and provide us with some fantastic images from his portfolio called City Snaps (Par-is), which were my favourite shots from his website.

raphy, practicing diff erent techniques, exploring genres and trying to develop a style. I don’t think that being a musician makes it any easier to be a good and interesting photographer but I like to think a lot in terms of improvisation and experimentation, something I do regularly both in my music and in photography.

When did you start or stumble upon photography? In what way does it help you, if it does, is it a hobby, or a means of further expression.

I always loved to take pictures when I was really young. Every family holiday, I used to be the one with the camera, generally getting told off by my dad because I used up a 36 photo roll in less time than necessary!

phot

o by

Alis

on G

alea

19

I bought my fi rst SLR from a second shop in Gzira (a Canon A1), and thought myself the basic techniques. I started trying out diff erent fi lm types and lenses, learning as I went along.

Whilst I started taking pictures as a “hobby” (I’m not a huge fan of that term...) it quickly evolved into something more essential. I have always been very bad at draw-ing and illustrating, and it has been a huge frustration in my life. It’s not hard to im-agine how quickly and naturally photography fi lled up that creative gap.

Nowadays photography is also an essential tool in design work which I’m doing more and more. Be it album covers, posters, programmes or invitations, they usually in-volve some element of photography.

I also get the opportunity to take photo shoots for bands and artists, which is not something that comes natural to me, but is always a big challenge and the results are hugely satisfying!

Above: Th e Eiff el Tower, cropped to isolate it from the rest of the rooft ops

20

Going through your website, I can see that b&w seems to be your preferred edit-ing, simply explain why you choose monochrome, maybe you edit according to the image or the feel you want to give an image.

It was at the time when I started experimenting with fi lm that I realised that it felt great to have a black and white fi lm loaded in my camera. Th e limitation gave me an immediate freedom and motivation to play with light and shadow whilst really focus-ing on composition and subject matter.

With digital, I’m oft en faced with the dilemma of whether I should keep a photo in colour or turn in to black and white. More oft en than not, I fi nd that colour distracts to the real substance of the photo, and I fi nd it easier to bring out what I really want from a photo by simply turning off colour! Th is is not to say that I don’t enjoy work-ing in colour, especially with all the techniques available in digital editing, but it’s this huge choice that tends to distract me from bringing out what is most powerful in a photo.

City Snaps (Paris) is what I would like to feature so would you tell me how you get inspired about them etc...

Paris is a great place to take photos. It is a city that shift s elegantly between classical, modern, conservative and avant garde. Th is applies to its architecture and streets as well as to its inhabitants. Th e strong multi cultural presence makes Paris a very col-ourful city which begs to be photographed!

Of course, being one of the most photographed cities in the world, I set out to photo-graph a less known Paris, keeping the landmarks in check but not necessarily making them the centre of attraction.

Your take on equipment...

I am not much of a gear head when it comes to photography. I take most of my photos on a Nikon D90 with a 50mm 1.4 lens which I adore. I have other lenses but the prime lens tends to be my favourite, as well as the lightest and smallest!

I still use my Canon A1 (which is a great fi lm SLR with a built in meter) and have had a lot of fun with a Holga I got off ebay. It was my fi rst experience with medium

21

format, which I’d love to get into even more in the future.

Having said that, some of my favourite photos have been taken with my phone. I wish I had my SLR on hand every moment of my life but more oft en, when I’m on tour, or other times when I’m out without the camera, my phone is still always in my pocket. And generally, even though the result would have probably been better with an SLR, the simple fact that it was possible to capture a moment makes my phone the best and most useful camera I’ve ever owned!

Any tips about your way of work to members?

I don’t have much of a workfl ow myself and I’m very erratic in the way I take and edit photos. If I had to give one tip, it would be to never underestimate the power of crop-ping. It is amazing how interesting a pro-vocative crop can be, or how intriguing it can make a photo look. Sometimes, leaving things out can have a more powerful eff ect on a photo than keeping them in! I enjoy experimenting with diff erent crop options and even though it’s hard to be objective when you know what is being left out, it is a crucial step in the fi nal composition and result.

A few more things....

I’ve been to a lot of exhibitions in France and the one that moved me most was a retrospective of Willy Ronis’ work, a huge exhibition in Paris which was set up soon aft er his death in 2010. Ronis was prob-ably another major reason why I’m so in love with black and white photography.

I have participated in a few collective ex-

262266

hibitions in France but exhibiting is still something I’m dabbling in. I want to hone my style further and experiment more before I feel comfortable in presenting my own work, and I look forward to it!

I content myself with using my photos in my design work and keeping “online collec-tions” on my website (www.oliverdegabriele.com) as well as a “photo blog” which is basically a huge dump of photos and experiments I keep on a daily basis.

Words & photos by Oliver Degabriele

22

Below: A woman sitting on a wonderfully bent tree in the park Buttes Chaumont

Above: A Parisian streen lamp in a Parisian pud-dle, rotated.

Right: Two of the Bib-liotheque Nationale de France buildings with the old “Frigos” between them in the distance, now a squat for artists and mu-sicians.

MAKING CONTACT by Alex Attard

As photographers, making contact is what we do, or should be doing. We make contact with and through our equipment. We have to make contact with our sub-jects as well as with our inner selves. We should be in contact when we process and develop our images and our ultimate aim is to make contact with our viewers. If we fail in this, we fail as communicators.

Th e focus will be on fi ne art photography with particular emphasis on mono-chrome.What makes a photograph special? Apart from the subject and the compo-sition, what makes a successful B&W photograph?

All light has to emanate from the print. How do we get the shimmer and control the shine with the right amount of sparkle?

Alex shares his experiences, the path he followed and discusses and analyses some of his work and the thoughts behind them.

www.alexattard.com

Next month sees Alex Attard talking about “Making Contact” in photog-raphy. Join us and hear all about it on 14th May, at Corinthia San Gorg at 19:30hrs

25

upcoming monthly talk

Last month’s talk by Joe Smith was really a success. A great number of you mem-bers turned out to hear what Joe had to say about Emotions in the images we take. Joe is always an inspiration during his talks and I hope you all got inspired by his beautiful work!

Th anks for your attendance! It is always a pleasure to see you at MIPP Events!

Past Monthly Talk

Top Left : Joe Smith during his talk.Bottom: Members at the talk

29

Gozo Seminar

Dates: • 1st& 2nd June 2013

Prices: • €65 for MIPP members participating in the workshops• €85 for non-MIPP members participating in the workshops • €45 for anyone else not participating in the workshops

Included in price:• Lunch on Saturday 1st June• Lunch on Sunday 2nd June• 1 night accommodation in Tal-Fanal Farmhouse• All workshops (full day on Saturday 1st June & half day on Sunday 2nd June)• Workshop assessments

Not included in price:• Dinner on Saturday 1st June (participants can choose their own dinner at the dinner venue)• Breakfast on Sunday 2nd June (participants are to procure their own breakfast)• Ferry tickets for participants / non-participants / vehicles (we suggest pool ing to reduce costs)

Workshops:• Low light photography• Special eff ect photography by Duncan Cauchi• Panoramic photography• Interior photography (Xewkija Church) by Sergio Muscat• Live-Model photography by the pool by Kevin Casha

Th e annual Gozo Seminar is fi nally with us!We have a great programme for you all, so join us to have a relaxing yet informative weekend on our sister island!

32

upcoming event

31

CALENDARKindly note that the Course ‘Foundation in Image Editing’ Course is going to be held at iLab, Qormi. Photo Essentials workshops to be announced shortly.

9th & 16th MayCourse: Foundation in Image EditingiLab; 18:00hrs

19th MayPhotowalk TBC

21st MayPTYA Judging

Corinthia San Gorg; 19:30hrs

23rd & 30th MayCourse: Foundation in Image EditingiLab; 18:00hrs

24th MayWorkshop - Night Photography; Charles Calleja

Birgu Maritime Museum; 19:30hrs

1st & 2nd JuneGozo Weekend SeminarTBC

11th JunePrivate Art Review & Discussion

Corinthia San Gorg; 19:30hrs

14th MayMaking Contact - Talk by Alex Attard

Corinthia San Gorg; 19:30hrs

32

Successful MIPP Sports Photog-raphy workshop at the National Stadium

For the second year running the Malta Institute of Professional Pho-tographers launched its’ annual photography courses with the fi rst

of a series run by international awarded photographers – the emphasis being on “hands-on” tuition on practical scenarios.

Domenic Aquilina’s “Sports Photography” set the ball rolling with a very entertain-ing and highly interesting workshop on Saturday at the National Stadium with the very interesting scenario of two highly entertaining BOV Premier League matches – Sliema Wanderers v Tarxien Rainbows and the big match between Birkirkara and Valletta. Twenty MIPP members took part in the event. For most it was a very fi rst time to be part of the action in such a high profi le environment but they enjoyed every moment of it and most of them wanted to be back again at some point in time! One of the participants Warren Kiomall stated “It was an amazing experience where I learned how to capture fast moving subjects without any blur – freeze the moment and the action. All this thanks to our tutor Domenic Aquilina. Such a positive experi-ence inspired me to consider taking more pictures of sports events.” “Each and every one of them enjoyed the atmosphere and obviously gained from the hands-on advice I did off er during these two match as per regards shooting football at a high level. Credit to all of them because they came up with some really good images in the end and produced a good eff ort” Malta Football Association photographer and MIPP member Domenic Aquilina stated aft er the workshop was done.

Big thanks goes to the Malta Football Association who for the second year running supported this lovely initiative.

Photograph above shows the entire group with tutor Domenic Aquilina at the Na-tional Stadium. Photo by Warren Kiomall

press release