17th April 2021

Last week we had Robbie O’Leary and Joe Tulie talk to us about basic editing and Layers and Masks. Hopefully, those of us who have not used these features before have a better idea of what can be done and will go out and experiment and end up with better images. 

Following on from the note that David Sisk had advised us that he wished to resign from the role of Competition Secretary and the chair's request for volunteers for replacing David in this role, we have had two people come forward willing to take on the role. We will communicate early next week on the timelines and process for electing the new Competition Secretary. 

Next Monday Night

On Monday Olive Gaughan (one of our members) will talk about the building blocks of taking a portrait image, from subject to final processed image. 

IPF Club Competitions

As Barry Dillon has told you the National Club Championship competition will be held online in May this year. To compete, a club submits a panel of 10 monochrome digital images and a panel of 10 colour digital images. A maximum of two images from an individual may appear on a panel.

Deadline for Submission:  Tomorrow Sunday 18th April

Your images should be resized to 3,000 pixels on the longest edge, 300 PPI, jpg quality 10.

This is a prestigious competition in which OffShoot has done well so please send your best images Monochrome and Colour with your name and image title to the Dropbox address: https://www.dropbox.com/request/WDPjvJhVgZ1oUCWt8VaW

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 0 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.)

Accessing Video Recordings of Meetings

The Video of the 'Basic Editing and using Layers and masks' is now available in the Member's Area of the website.

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 log in to the website to see the content of this section of the site.

Every member has a log in 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!

Mono

This usually means Black & White but can include toned images.

Wiki definition: 'Monochrome photography is photography where each position on an image can record and show a different amount of light, but not a different hue. It includes all forms of black-and-white photography, which produce images containing shades of neutral grey ranging from black to white. Other hues besides grey, such as sepia, cyan, or brown can also be used in monochrome photography'

Monochrome focuses on lighting, textures, lines and patterns. It can be any style of photography: portrait, sport, landscape, macro, street still life, nature.

If you shoot in raw + jpg you can set your camera to monochrome or B&W and you will see your images in black and white but still have a raw colour image.

Links

Detailed info on shooting Processing B&W: https://photographylife.com/how-to-take-black-and-white-pictures

10 Tips for B&W: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/10-tips-how-create-better-black-white-images

Lots of Flickr groups for B&W: https://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?text=monochrome

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:

23/04/2021 - Light Painting

30/04/2021 - Low Key

07/05/2021 - Composite

Our next competition has as its theme 'Up Close and Personal'. You can use almost any lens to make close-up images. We very rarely look at everyday subjects up close but just get your camera up close to the subject use manual focus and suddenly a cup of coffee can be fascinating! 

Flowers, an aged piece of wood, electronic goods, insects in the garden, even a knife and fork, just about anything can become a subject for Up Close and Personal so you can interpret the theme as broadly as you like.

A Dropbox is set up for your images. Andrea Hunt from the Dublin Photography School will judge your images on 31st May. 

Please upload your entries before Monday 23rd May to:

https://www.dropbox.com/request/rcbi1oltkDnkOxIS4itv

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

e.g. "L2 - 987 – The butterfly.jpg"

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: ICM - Strolling in the Woods by Jean Hartin

Liffey Sunrise by Aoife Carty

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

Photography Online - GO WIDE! Panoramic photography special. Stitching, Composition and Fuji GX617

PiXimperfect: Cut Out Dark Hair from Dark Background in Photoshop!

We are still, alas, under the Government Level 5 Covid-19 Guidelines even though things may be looking more optimistic. Our priority must be to protect the health of our members.  We are obliged, therefore, to suspend official outings for the immediate future.  Continuation of the Level 5 limitations looks 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! 

The Outings Committee will also distribute some suggested Seasonal Photography Outings for you.

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/