1st August 2020

As August  3rd is a Bank Holiday, there is no virtual meeting next Monday evening. However, there is an outing to the Cliff Walk at Portrane, next Tuesday,  to look forward to. 

We extend our appreciation to  Steve Crozier and the team of John Wiles, Emily Gallagher, Robbie O’Leary, Mary Hahn and Helen Black for last week's critique session.  It was a very interactive session and lots of good suggestions were shared.

We also look forward on Monday 10th August to presentations from Olive Gaughan on her trip to Vietnam, while Liam Haines will share his travel experiences in South Korea.

Weekly Flickr Theme: People

From portrait to street scene to silhouette to creative multiple exposure, there’s lots of choice within this week’s theme so long as there’s at least one person as the subject of the image. 

Depth of field is an important choice this week. For portraits, a shallow depth of field (f2.8-f5.6) is very effective to isolate the subject and reduce distractions in the background. However, if you’re going for an environmental portrait or street scene, the background/environment is important and so an aperture of f8-f11 works well. For groups of people, eg a family group, f8 should ensure that everyone is in focus.

Light is another important element. If you are shooting indoors, make good use of natural window light. North facing windows tend to result in the softest, most diffuse light. How close you place your subject to the window, and at what angle, will significantly impact your image. Expose so that the highlights are not blown out. Perhaps turn off the indoor lights and use a window to the side to give you dramatic result with beautifully soft deep shadows. Alternatively, you may wish to use a flash. If you can, bounce the light from the flash off a roof or wall before it hits the subject. Or use a softbox or umbrella to soften flash/strobe light.

Finally, the eyes are very important. Make sure that your subject’s eyes are sharp.

Next week's theme: Woods

See more about how the OffShoot Weekly Flickr Theme works at: https://tinyurl.com/flickrthem.

Speakers and Outings

The main Committee and Outings Sub-Committee has been working very hard behind the scenes, constantly adapting their plans to try and keep pace with the changing rules associated with social distancing. It is especially satisfying to announce this schedule of events for July and August.

Members will be able to attend our outings by registering for specific outings. Keep up to date with the latest events at https://www.offshoot.ie/whats-on/.

Just a note for new members – if you want any of your pictures considered for the photo of the week, you just have to post them to the OffShoot Flickr group at:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/offshoot_society.

There’s also the latest images published on Flickr that are displayed on the OffShoot home page.

[Note. To join the Offshoot Flickr group, you must first be a Flickr member. Then send the email address used to join Flickr to webmaster@offshoot.ie. You will get an email when you have been added to the group. Please be patient as this is a manual process.]

Theme 'Coast' Dún Briste, Downpatrick County Mayo by Deirdre Irwin

Non Themed: Chomp by Jerome Fennell

If you come across one you want to share let us know at newsletter@offshoot.ie.

PiXimperfect: Animated Slideshow Maker Hidden in Photoshop!

Jessica Kobeissi: Outdoor Portrait Photography Tutorial - How I take photos outside

For this one, there is no theme for Levels 1, 2 and 3; please enter up to three of your favourite images.

There is also an Open section for everybody to enter. The Open section has the theme of Journeys and calls for members to enter a themed set of 3, 4 or 5 images. While feedback will be given on individual images, the competition judging will be of the set as a whole.

Feel free interpret the theme Journeys as broadly as you wish. These last few months have certainly seen some of us undertake journeys in how we view and interact with the world around us; some have become philosophical, some whimsical, some completely discombobulated. Some have embarked on journeys of discovery of new techniques or subject matters, some revisit memories of distant lands..... Let us see what journey you have been on.

Please upload your entries to

https://www.dropbox.com/request/gZl99Up3dp0kmSvk3bHU

How to name your entries:

either Level-Member Number-Image Title.jpg  (for example L1-999-TopTrumps.jpg)

or

Open-Member Number-Set Title- Image Title.jpg (for example Open-999-Home thoughts from abroad-My Old man.jpg)

Jpg quality is good enough for this competition, no need for Tifs.

Closing date is midnight Sunday 6th September so you have plenty of time to prepare a last-minute entry!

Remember, competitions are a great way to get constructive feedback and positive advice on your photography.

And maybe, just maybe, there will be a unique prize for some of our lucky (not to mention talented) winners! More on this later.

Quote from the IPF Web Site

"Please be advised, In light of COVID-19 and the National Guidelines on the gathering of large crowds and most importantly in the interest of the Health & Safety of all our affiliated clubs and their members the Irish Photographic Federation have postponed the upcoming National Club Championships, Annual General Meeting and May Distinction Sitting that were all scheduled to take place on the weekend of May 16th & 17th 2020.  We will be hopefully re-scheduling these events later in the year and will keep you all informed through the IPF Website and Social Media Platforms."

Irish Photographic Federation Web Site:

https://irishphoto.ie/

Most recent news and articles posted:

https://irishphoto.ie/news/

Distinction Sittings and Availability:

https://irishphoto.ie/distinctions/assessment-dates/