13th March 2021

Last week we had an inspiring talk by Harry Wheeler-Brand about East Anglia. East Anglia is the flat bulge on the East coast of England between the Thames Estuary and Wash comprising the counties of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. It has an extensive coastline and an ancient history. Harry must be the youngest professional photographer ever to talk to us on a Monday evening. He kindly offered us a 10% discount on his Photo Guidebook to East Anglia’s Coast.

Next Monday Night

On Monday we will have talks by members of OffShoot on the subject of File Back-up and Storage. How do we back-up our photos? The lifetime of your hard drive is estimated at 5 years and none of us wants to lose all those precious memories. This is sure to be interesting, especially when you consider the advances in technology in the last ten and more years. 

Come and join us; be educated and entertained.

IPF Club Competitions

So far we have no dates for the IPF National Club competition and National Shield competition. However, we would like to ask members to gather some possible images (Colour and Monochrome) together from their existing catalogue of images (over any time period) to be ready for the competitions when they are announced.

Please gather them in a folder or a collection as lower resolution jpegs (say between 1600  and 2000 pixels on the long edge and max file size of 2Mb).

Please exclude any images previously used in any of the previous IPF Club competitions. We will let you know how to get them to us shortly.

Exhibition

We miss the craic at Deansgrange Library and the display of images but we are working on having a virtual exhibition. Watch this space. 

What do we all look like?

We have 3 new entries to the 'Meet our Members' page this week. (Please log in to the site to see the profiles that are Private.)

Please check out the page at https://www.offshoot.ie/our-members/.

We invite all that have not previously submitted an entry to complete the form at the bottom of the page and add your mug to the gallery. (If you choose to keep your details and image private it will require the members to be logged in to see them.)

Shoot With Me (SWM)

The Shoot With Me programme is progressing in the most difficult of times and members are toiling away at their chosen theme. We hope you are all enjoying the challenges in spite of the limitations of Covid. Oh to be together again!!

Learn With Me (LWM)

In our recent survey, some members expressed an interest in learning basic camera settings and now is your chance.

It is proposed to run a couple of short interactive sessions for those who shoot in AUTO because they are unsure how to or why to use other settings. There will be a blend of theory and practice – and no question will remain unanswered no matter how basic!

If you think you would benefit from such a session, please contact David Sisk (lwm@offshoot.ie) to arrange some dates to suit. Because of the interactive nature of the proposed sessions, it will be necessary to keep numbers low, but we will do our best to fit everyone in.

Congratulations

We know we’ve said it before but let us all claim some reflected glory from Liam Haines’ gold medal, Barry Dillon’s nomination for Photographer of the Year in Architecture and Jimmy Freeley’s inclusion in finalists for the RTE Wildlife competition. Their success should be applauded and recognised. It is an inspiration to us all. 

Accessing Video Recordings of Meetings

You can access this and other recordings of past Zoom meetings in the Videos section of the Member's Area at https://www.offshoot.ie/member-area/. You will need to login to the website to see the content of this section of the site.

Every member has a login to the site. If you don't remember your login details go to https://www.offshoot.ie/login/ and select the 'Forgot your password?' link. Enter the email address you received this newsletter with and reset your password. Once you've reset your password you can log in and catch-up on speakers you missed. Happy catching up!

An Interesting Video

The daring love story that changed photography forever - The story of Robert Capa and Gerta Tora.

Minimalism

Minimalism in photography means isolating the main subject(s) against a contrasting, frequently simple background. Large areas of negative space are often used in minimalist photos.

Links

Definition and examples: https://shutterstoppers.com/minimalism-photography-examples

50 examples: https://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/less-is-more-50-examples-of-minimalist-photography--photo-3914

10 tips: https://expertphotography.com/10-tips-minimalist-photography/

Remember to include the Project Name at the start of the image title.

See more about how the OffShoot Weekly Flickr Theme works by clicking here.

Future weekly projects are:

19/03/2021 - Where I Live

26/03/2021 - High Key

02/04/2021 - Spring / Easter

09/04/2021 - ICM Creative Blur

16/04/2021 - Mono

You will have received notice from David Sisk emailed this week to all members on our next competition. The theme is 'The Natural World' and judging will take place on 29th March. 

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally so you can interpret the theme as broadly as you like - landscapes, seascapes, animals and plants, skies and celestial bodies, weather etc…

Please upload your entries before Monday 22nd March to:

https://www.dropbox.com/request/tuB7DLwSrwm7UKwacHSr.

Make sure to name your images in the following way Level - Membership number - Title

e.g. "L2-987-Glenmalure Waterfall.jpg"

Please also ensure that there are no distinguishing watermark on the image.

Speakers and Outings

Here are the next scheduled meetings and events for the Society:

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 - Table Top Photography: Garlic by Mary Hahn

On the Lookout by Enda Magee

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

PHLEARN: One-Click Color Correction in Photoshop | Quick Tips!

Jordi Koalitic: 10 PHOTOGRAPHY IDEAS at HOME (quarantine)

The current Government Covid-19 Guidelines stipulate there must be 'no outdoor gatherings'. We are obliged, therefore, to suspend official outings for the immediate future.  Our priority is to protect the health of our membership.  Continuation of the Level 5 limitations look like lasting for some weeks/months yet and the social benefits of outings seem like a forgotten dream.

That doesn’t mean you can’t carry a camera with you on your stroll. It just means we can’t photograph together.

Ideas for personal photography outings while club outings are suspended

Bring your camera and a single lens with you for a walk this week and see what you can discover.

Garden Wildlife: You will be safely ‘cocooned’ and the birds will always visit if you leave some food out; goldfinches, the tit family, robins, sparrows, starlings etc.

Coastal images: The Dublin coastline offers endless possibilities: sunrise, sunset, seabirds, stormy conditions etc.

Rivers: Offer many opportunities to photograph wildlife: look out for herons, kingfishers, wagtails, dippers, cormorants, otters etc. 

Dublin Cityscapes: The Dublin City cityscape offers endless possibilities as well as street photography. Also, many of our local villages have buildings or monuments of architectural interest. 

Spring Landscapes: Frost, budding trees, etc.

Indoors: Bokeh with your lights, still life, smoke, using a mirror, oil and water etc

Food photography: Everyone has some. Everyone on Facebook and Instagram takes millions of these pictures. However, it is not as easy as you think to get a great shot. Have a go! 

Irish Photographic Federation Web Site:

https://irishphoto.ie/

Congrats to all our members who contributed to the wonderful results at the recent Shield competition.

Most recent news and articles posted:

https://irishphoto.ie/news/

Distinction Sittings and Availability:

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