24th April 2021

Last Monday we enjoyed an excellent presentation by Olive Gaughan and Kazi Ushioda describing their individual approaches to portrait photography. Some great examples of the genre were shown and discussed with considerable interaction with the members on the Zoom session. We will all remember Olive’s stressing of straight backs for her subjects – and no one will forget Kazi’z approach to head-chopping! 

Next Monday Night

Matt Emmet is a photographer whose goal is to rediscover the forgotten worlds all around us. Next Monday, Matt will present his work under the title Architecture – Forgotten Heritage.

IPF Club Competitions

It is good to report that members submitted over 330 images for consideration for the IPF National Club Competition. Barry Dillon and his adjudication team are now working to prepare the best possible panel of 12 images for the club’s submission to the IPF.

EGM – Tuesday 4th May at 8 pm

You will already have received email notification of an EGM of Offshoot to take place on Tuesday 04 May at 8 pm to ratify the appointment of a new Competition Secretary. Katherine O’Boyle (proposed by Steve Crozier and seconded by Emily Gallagher) is the sole candidate for the position.

So please put the date in your diary as we are required by the constitution to put the appointment to a vote of members.

We should also note the thanks of us all to David Sisk for his excellent work as Competition Secretary, particularly during the difficult covid circumstances.

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 1 new entry 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 'Portrait Images, From subject to the final processed image', 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!

Light Painting

Light painting is a photography technique that uses a moving light source (e.g. a Torch or LED ) to add light to a subject while taking a long-exposure photograph. A scene or object can be brought to life by "painting" with a beam of light. Subjects range from tabletop macro to landscape. 

You can also take photos that show the track of the moving light(s). You can use lights to draw patterns, objects, cartoons or to outline real objects. 

Links

Beginners Guide to Light painting: https://digital-photography-school.com/beginners-guide-to-light-painting/ 

Guide to Light painting: https://shotkit.com/light-painting/

Examples: https://www.thephotoargus.com/beautiful-examples-of-light-painting-photography/

Lots of Flickr groups for light painting: https://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?text=light%20painting

or Google "light painting images"

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:

30/04/2021 - Low Key

07/05/2021 - Composite

14/05/2021 - Window Light

21/05/2021 - Night Photography

28/05/2021 - Frame within a Frame

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: Mono - Wake Up Call by Matt O'Brien

Artist at Work by Jean Hartin

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

PHLEARN - How to Whiten Teeth in Photoshop

Greg Benz Photography: 3 Kinds of Smart Objects

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/