Special Event — PUBLIC BLOG — NDPS | Norwich & District Photographic Society

Seeing in Black and White by Eileen Rafferty

This evening from the far north of the United States, not so far from the border with Canada Eileen delivered her lecture on seeing in black and white. Her background was in film, and she was a full time darkroom technician in her early work life, and she mused how black and white was still an alluring form after 200 years or so.

Eileen was keen to point out at the very start that black and white conversion was definitely not a way to 'save' a picture! She said that a photograph was in two parts - form and content, the form is visible, and the content tells the story or concept or meaning. Inspiration can be drawn from early photos.

Using these old pictures we can ask 'Why black and white?', what is contrast and where is the eye of the person looking at the picture being drawn and why. Black and white images eliminate the dominance of colour and bring attention to content. The image is more homogenous in black and white, more dramatic! Obviously black and white is a departure from reality because colour is 'everyday'.

Special Presentation, Special EventMaurice YoungOctober 6, 2022photo-talk, zoom, black & white

Creative Techniques by Glenys Garnett

Creative Techniques
Photography is a visual art that begins before you pick up the camera

This week on Tuesday evening Norwich & District Photographic Society were treated to a inspirational special presentation - Creative Techniques, by Glenys Garnett.

Why haven't I used these techniques? Glenys' results were breath taking. Of course I've used multiple exposures but not with blend modes!

Glenys began with a short introduction of herself, revealing that her background was in graphic design and IT. She said she was interested in landscape and nature and particularly floral photography. She said that many of her images were abstract and two important points were that mostly the capture was in camera and the end result created an impression, that is structure, shape, and form rather that a record shot.

Glenys, throughout her presentation, explained technique, and approach and in every case showed examples, and what stunning examples they were.

She said that photography was a creative visual art and that the whole process began before she picked up the camera - visualisation, capture, technical skill, processing and developing. She quoted Cartier-Bresson 'Think about the photo before and after, never during.' Being creative was a mindset and all about seeing, exploring and discovering ways of expressing yourself. Ask yourself; Why am I doing this? What am I trying to say or show?

Techniques do not make you creative, you must express yourself, play and experiment, develop ideas and visions.

Glenys was on a roll and in the second part of her presentation she focussed on intentional camera movement (ICM) and multiple exposures (ME). For ICM shots she recommended not to use small apertures, use ND filter, manual focus hold the camera still then move it.

For ME shots she described the different blend modes available in today’s cameras and the effects they produce. Of course these explanations were accompanied by her own wonderful examples.

This review barely scratches the surface of the information offered and falls short of describing the enthusiasm of Glenys for her hobby. So much to assimilate and so much to practice.Creativity is hard but she finished her presentation with the exhortation HAVE FUN

Special Presentation by Eddie Hyde FRPS

Making Sense of the Landscape - The Art of Seeing
A personal take on Landscape Photography

Yesterday's special presentation was all about landscapes and the art of choosing not only a subject but choosing all the elements of a composition. Eddie is clearly a consummate photographer and this expertise is the result of carefully 'seeing' what's in the viewfinder and making a multitude of decisions.

“Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer and often the supreme disappointment”

— Ansel Adams

Eddie began with the key criteria of landscape photography - the rules of composition and key elements. Composition, does 90% of the work in a good photograph but remember lighting, atmosphere and keeping it simple! Eddie showed many examples of simplicity with some remarkable subjects: planes, castles, beaches and storms.

Make use of leading lines and as examples he showed fields, railway lines and other compositional devices including the path to nowhere, the river to nowhere and the road to nowhere!

Another gem of an idea was to ask yourself 'Is there more than one picture within the view?' Eddie enlarged on this theme by explaining his use of different focal lengths - 50 to 200 mm, 109 to 500 mm to select different compositions.

Moving forward to woodland captures Eddie invited us to embrace the chaos and be aware of the power of light. Also he said use the marcescence of beech leaves especially when combined with mist and fog. Mist and light in woodland are heaven on earth!

Special Presentation, Special EventMaurice YoungMarch 2, 2022landscape, woodland, forest, mood, atmosphere

Special Presentation by Bob Johnson ARPS

The Kingdom of The Ice Bear
Tuesday 22nd February.

This evening members of Norwich & District Photographic Society were all entertained by an inspirational story of arctic adventure illustrated by some outstanding photographs. The presentation by Bob Johnson was a description of his four week trip inside the Arctic Circle in the Svalbard area in the former seal hunter ship called Havsel and captained by Bjorn Kvernmo to the Kingdom of the Ice Bear!

Bob began by telling how he started photography, fell in love with Africa (he has been there 14 times now!), talked of his farmers photos in Essex but quickly moved on to this evening's presentation in the far north of Norway. The boat he was on had previously been used for seal hunting, capable of hunting and killing 1,500 seals on a trip, but today Captain Bjorn is now passionate about wildlife.

At the start of the trip there was a lack of bears and they sailed along the edge of the ice where Bob had some amazing views from the crow's nest. Suddenly they spotted a dead whale and 21 bears. The view was amazing, 21 polar bears all together in one spot was a record even for the captain, but the horrible, rancid smell . . . Later a mother bear and two cubs were spotted, and the photographers watched them for a couple of days, just long enough for the bears to get used to the ship and come closer and closer allowing some breath taking photography.

Special Event, Special PresentationMaurice YoungFebruary 23, 2022adventure, travel, wildlife, polar bear, walruss, arctic fox

Venice in Pictures and Words By Chris Ceaser

This presentation, the last for the 2020/2021 season, was a brief history of the city and state of Venice from the 400's to the present day illustrated with his Chris’s own photographs and the works of artists through the centuries.

Chris divided his presentation into chapters - an introduction, Byzantine, Venetian Gothic, Hope and finally Sex! A really nice idea to lead us through the story of Venice. Particularly helpful was the 'plan' of the lagoon with Venice and the surrounding islands.

The city is built in a lagoon on thousands and thousands of trees driven into the mud with a level platform on top! Chris' images of these man made islands were a joy to see. The Byzantine period with their square windows and simple arches are to be found all over the city and indeed allow us to compare the paintings of Canaletto with a photo taken from the same spot today.

In the Venetian Gothic period, 1100 - 1450, Venice grew its wealth despite the fact they could not grow meat or veg! Instead they traded in salt, dried from the salt water of the lagoon. It was this period that the Ducal system began; such a good system of government that it lasted 1,100 years! Chris gave us the story of Enrico Dandolo, the Massacre of The Latins and the first Crusade including the Shameful Glory.

Special Presentation, Special EventMaurice YoungJuly 21, 2021venice, words, pictures, history, landscape

Six Great Yarmouth venues to host celebration of 'ahead of his time' artist

Being launched on Saturday, June 5, Great Yarmouth’s 'Finding Emerson Photo Festival 2021' plans to place Great Yarmouth within the history of photography and the work of the 19th century photographer Peter Henry Emerson.

Contemporary photographers, academics and curators have been invited to share their own understanding and practice with residents through a programme of seminars, break-out sessions, exhibitions and art installations.

The festival will provide people with the chance to discover more about P.H. Emerson, the history and development of photography as a whole, contemporary photographic approaches and the cultural heritage of Great Yarmouth.

The festival is a collaboration between Utter Nonsense and originalprojects and is being funded by Arts Council England.

Six Great Yarmouth venues will be used for different parts of the festival, including:

St George’s Theatre
Primeyarc Gallery, in the old Debenhams unit of Market Gates shopping centre
Skippings Gallery, on King Street
The Yare Gallery, in the old Nelson museum on South Quay
Time and Tide Museum
Utter Nonsense Studios, down Battery Road near the Barrack Estate

All events are free, apart from the seminars, where donations between £2 - £8 are being requested.

The Power of Sport by Peter Milsom

Yesterday's presentation took us into the world of sport - field and track athletics, canoe slaloms, husky racing, wheelchair basketball and Paralympics. A kaleidoscope of activities which left us breathless!

Peter described his own years in sport and his move into photography. He began with photos of snow leopards, leopards, tigers from local zoos and private collections before moving on to all those sports activities showing athletes up to Olympic standard.

He asked us 'What makes a good sport photograph?' The photo must demonstrate three distinct things - firstly, Effort; secondly, Drama; and thirdly; Emotion. All three must be present for the image to be worthwhile. And he went on to produce photos demonstrating all these things, with top quality athletes taking part in pole vaulting, high jumping, steeple chase, marathons and so on.

Peter said that he liked to be outside in good weather and not freezing cold, soaking wet or boiling hot. But even worse than these drawbacks was being inside a swimming pool trying to capture swimmers - the heat, the steam, the water and so on!

Canoe slaloms are outside, but they have a special set of problems caused by 12 tons of water per second travelling down the course, removing background problems (blocks lining the course) and perhaps the worst of all, canoes with two paddlers! And while the medium is water how about Jet Ski racing and Freestyle competitions. Trying to keep up with a jet ski capable of 0 to 60 in 2 seconds and five consecutive back flips definitely needs the burst mode and 10 fps.

Peter had high praise for the wheelchair athletes and showed great pictures, often in the rain, of competing athletes.

He mentioned the dedication of all athletes and particularly the wheelchair and Paralympic athletes and he quoted one such person - Hannah Cockroft 100M 'Loosing scares me more than winning excites me'

Hannah’s career highlights include PARALYMPIC GAMES 5 Gold - 2012 & 2016 - T34 100M / 2016 - T34 400M & 800M / 2012 - T34 200M
WPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 12 Gold 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 & 2019 - T34 100M (5), 200M (2) 400M (2), 800M (3)
WPA EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2 Gold 2014 & 2018 - T34 100M & 800M / T34 800M and 1 Silver 2018 - T34. That's determination and motivation...!

Landscape Photography and Aerial Photography by the inspiring Mieke Boynton

Last night's presentation from Mieke, more than 10,500 miles away from her home the beautiful Alpine Valleys of North-East Victoria in Australia, broke the Societies record of distance for a presenter and allowed 58 members and guests to enjoy a fantastic evening of wonderful photography and infectious joy from a world class practitioner. For Mieke this was the start of her day 6.00 am!

The presentation was in two distinct parts, the first part about her background and her inspiring landscape photography and in the second part we were transported into the air for helicopter rides over Kimberley and Iceland.

Meike gave us a short CV - art school; scholarship in America; teacher in Melbourne; a librarian; discovering camping and connecting with nature and the aboriginal culture when she moved to Kimberley. How she discovered that photography was an art form not just a record of what it looked like!

She asked us what makes a landscape photograph special. She gave us a list. Seven points that she considered important in her landscape photography. Then she showed a selection of her photos and we had to explain to her what she had captured in each shot. Real listener participation. We saw pictures from Patagonia, Tasmania, Iceland, Kimberley, New Zealand, Norway (red wine and the aurora), Namibia and Morocco.

And she answered her own question about what makes a landscape photograph special by saying that she showed people what they don't normally see!

Special Presentation, Special EventMaurice YoungMarch 10, 2021landscape, aerial photography, photo-talk

The Beautiful Light by Jane Goodall

Yesterday's presentation by the wonderful Jane Goodall was received with enthusiasm and joy by nearly 60 participants including Claudia Frost who watched Jane from her home a few miles West of Chicago in the USA - 3,975 miles away beating the NDPS record for the furthest guest by more than 800 miles.

This was all about photo composition with the mind in mind. Always try to work out how your mind relates to the picture and how this can make or break a good composition. She urged us to be objective behind our cameras and tripods and look for the visual clues to capture the many sensory inputs in a scene. Remember, our brains work in 3d but a photograph is in 2d! She invited us to consider the difference between 'field of view' and 'depth of field' but in any case work with the sun, the source of light, and don't forget the 'finger trick'.

As aids to good photography she emphasised the need for careful planning and the use of The Photographer's Ephemeris and Imray's Tide Planner to be sure that everything works on the day. She emphasised not only the use of a tripod but stout wellington boots and the need for compact packing of equipment and care in crossing slippery rocks on a seashore.

But her most surprising tip, to make sure you see any problems or something unusual in your frame, was to follow the training of an army sniper! Search your scene from right to left, an unnatural eye movement and one that would make anything out of the ordinary stick out like a sore thumb!

It's impossible to cover all the photo tips and all the breath-taking photos she presented but as an indication of the breadth of this presentation Jane produced three consecutive photos to illustrate a particular point - Overstrand, Death Valley and Normandy. This reviewer has never seen three more disparate locations to highlight a technique.

Thanks Jane for a great presentation.

Special Presentation, Special EventMaurice YoungFebruary 24, 2021landscape, photo-talk, gower, northumberland, scotland, simplicity

Another First for NDPS

NDPS is committed to booking inspirational speakers from around the globe and on Tuesday 9th March we have our visit Special Presentation from Australia - see programme for full details

Be inspired by the breathtaking photography of Mieke Boynton who was the first Australian and first woman to win the prestigious Epson International Pano Awards, with three of her abstract aerial photographs receiving Gold Awards.

“Landscape and Aerial Photography” is a 90min presentation by Internationally-acclaimed landscape photographer Mieke Boynton.

In 2008, she travelled to the rugged and remote Kimberley region of Western Australia and promptly fell in love with the landscape. She took up photography as a means to share her amazement with family and friends, and quickly caught the photography “bug.”

She is now a full-time professional photographer, specialising in landscape and aerial photography, and has won numerous International awards including the prestigious Epson International Pano Awards. She is a member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography, and was named the AIPP Victorian Landscape Photographer of the Year in 2019.

She regularly exhibits her work and thoroughly enjoys teaching photography through online workshops and individual tutorial sessions. Her “Landscape and Aerial Photography” presentation begins with a very brief explanation of her background, and then – through audience interaction – highlights a series of maximum-impact elements of Landscape Photography in an engaging and entertaining way.

She also presents a selection of her abstract aerial photography and provides some useful advice for members if they wish to try their hand at this genre. There are plenty of opportunities for discussion and questions too…!

Special Presentation, Special EventMaurice YoungJanuary 28, 2021australia, landscape, aerial photography, photo-talk

The World of a Wildlife Photographer - David Boag

Yesterday's presentation to the Society was by this professional wildlife photographer, billed as enthusiastic, encouraging and entertaining he certainly lived up to his billing. There was no 'Muck and Mystery' from this self-effacing speaker!

This was (mostly) a journey through his work for book illustration interlaced with anecdotes not just about the photos, which were wonderful, but also about the human interactions in his professional journey through life to pay the mortgage and feed and clothe the family.

There were many things to take away from this presentation. Firstly he explained that because the end use of the photographs was a book then he always worked on specific projects and he always had a theme. But he said that he was not special in any way and anyone could take these photographs providing they wanted to.

David's view of the weather raised a smile in the audience as he gave his view that there were not four seasons. There were 365 seasons! Every day is different and you can take pictures in any weather conditions and not produce boring pictures but ones that have a monetary and artistic worth.

He said that it is vital to know your equipment and how it works, never forgetting that it is the photographer who takes the picture not the camera. A 'poor' photographer will still be 'poor' even with expensive top of the range equipment. Having mastered the camera remember the theme and concentrate on timing the shot.

A very entertaining and informative evening by a consummate professional. Our thanks to David .

Special Event, Special PresentationMaurice YoungJanuary 20, 2021photo-talk, nature, wildlife

Special Presentation by award winning photographer Tracey Lund

'Stunning images, Tracey'

This heading comes nowhere near summing up last night's Special Presentation to Norwich & District Photographic Society. Tracy was chosen because of her undoubted expertise in this particular field, as evidence by her long string of awards, to make the final Special Presentation of 2020.

'Wonderful, thank you'

Tracy took us through a long and breath-taking journey around the world photographing what was obviously the love and passion of her life - wildlife. We visited Japan (Snow Macaques, Red Crown Cranes, Whooper Swans, Eagles), Finland (Black Grouse, Goshawks, Waxwings, Golden Eagles, Wolverines), Iceland (Blue Nosed Arctic Foxes), The Camargue (Horses), Holland (Gorillas), Spain (The Lynx and Bears), Kent (Lions and Leopards, Yorkshire (Polar Bears), Yellowstone USA (Grizzly Bears, Birds of Prey) and other places in the United Kingdom (puffins, Seals, Owls, Hares, Red Squirrels). Not just a list of far flung places but a very long and varied list of species.

'I loved your beautiful images.'

Tracy also shared some of her techniques with us. She always uses Manual mode. She make eye contact with her subject and takes the images at their eye level - a way of working that shone through all her images. Always have your camera set and ready for the 'grab shot'.

Special Presentation, Special EventMaurice YoungDecember 16, 2020wildlife

Shooting Models on location with Jade Stacy Maria

Last night’s monthly Studio Group could not go ahead as originally planned due to the latest ‘lockdown’ imposed by the UK Government so instead we all gathered for a zoom presentation by the professional model Jade Stacy Maria Brimfield.

Jade has become well known to several members of the Studio Group since she moved to Norfolk from her native Essex a few years ago and more recently through her blog ‘Journeys with Jade’ as she travels the world with her partner James Kerwin.

Jade is a Fashion model most of her time and she specialises in (surprise surprise) location shooting. Jade has shot extensively, across the world, with James and she spoke last night via zoom from Tbilisi in Georgia where she and James are currently residing before their next planned return to Norwich in the Spring of 2021.

Last night’s talk consisted of an Informative and easy to follow presentation about shooting models on location and offered useful tips and techniques about achieving the best possible results at different types of location.

Jade covered a range of subjects such as how to approach a model for a location shoot and using colour theory by implementing simple additions such as props, subjects and set designs. In addition, she covered the likely sources for being inspired and practical tips for finding potential locations

Special Presentation, Special EventMaurice YoungNovember 10, 2020models, studio, derelict, photo-talk

David Keep closes the 2019-2020 Season with inspirational photo-talk

Thank you David for delivering such an awe inspiring talk last night to the members and guests of our Society. David’s presentation - Underwater Photography 1 - brought to a close the 2019-20 season and we could not have chosen anyone better to talk to us. This season Norwich & District Photographic Society hosted 11 outstanding Special Presentations covering a wide genre of photographic subjects at the Methodist Hall before coronavirus struck and we all went into lockdown. Since then NDPS has opened up and hosted a further exceptional 12 online presentations but when we look back we shall all remember David’s talk as one of the standout events of an exceptional season.

It is not just David’s images that stand out but also his relaxed presentation style and the passionate way he takes people through his trips and explains in detail how the images were captured along with his excellent use of video clips. We all look forward with both excitement and a little trepidation – having been introduced briefly to the saltwater crocodile - to next season when David returns to share the continuation his journey with Underwater Photography 2.

Inspiring, Spellbinding, Wonderous and Extraordinary..!

Norwich & District Photographic Society would like to say thank you to everyone who has been in contact to say what a great time they had on Saturday night (14th September) when David Noton’s Chasing the Light Road Show finally arrived in Norwich.

David had promised that this would be no ordinary photographic talk as the audience travelled around the world sharing in his experiences behind the lens in a diverse range of situations and environments. So, it turned out as David took every one of the enthralled audience in the Thomas Paine Lecture Theatre at the University of East Anglia (UEA) on an incredible journey around the world in pictures and video.

The outcome...? Inspiring, spellbinding, wonderous and extraordinary – just a few of the words that have been used by those lucky enough to there to describe the Road Show and the quality of David’s photography.

Outdoor Photography declares David Noton's Chasing the Light Road Show is 'A Night to Remember'

There are now less than 20 days before Norwich and District Photographic Society hosts David Noton’s inspirtational ‘Chasing the Light Road Show’ when it arrives in Norwich.

David Noton is recognised as one of the world’s leading landscape and travel photographers, who runs his own highly successful freelance photography company from Sherborne, Dorset, UK. His passion for photography, travel and the world’s most beautiful locations are the defining influences that have shaped his life, work and creative approach to photography. The BBC has described some of his latest work as beathtakingly beautiful…!

Just two weeks to the start of the New Season at NDPS...

With just two weeks to go before the new season opens at Norwich and District Photographic Society all the final preparations are well advanced and we are working hard to ensure everything goes to plan.

Our programme has contained many superb presentations in the past 12 months during which time our membership has continued to grow, and our regular meetings and Special Interest Group meetings have all been well supported. Hopefully this season will be even better with many great highlights throughout the season and a number of important new initiatives being introduced.

Here is a summary of the main activities during the first month:

David Noton's Chasing the Light Road Show in coming to Norwich

Chasing the Light Roadshow 2019 is no ordinary talk on photography. The audience will join David Noton on a journey around the world. Sharing in his experiences behind the lens in a diverse range of situations and environments, he will take the audience on a two-hour trip of a lifetime.

Damien Demolder opens the New Season at NDPS

Norwich & District Photographic Society are pleased to announce that Damien Demolder opens the new season on Tuesday 3rd September 2019.

Non-members of the Society are able to attend Special Presentations upon purchase of a ticket which prior to the event are only available from Eventbrite.co.uk

'Stunning images, Tracey'

'Wonderful, thank you'

'I loved your beautiful images.'

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