Atkins run their Summer School every summer. Duh! This year it is in February with seven topics. There is a small charge for each. There might be something amongst theses topics that interests you. The details are here.
Album design
Managing your image library
Analysing your business
Gaining deeper cistomer insights
Photoshop and preparing images for print
Building a business of lasting value
The film challenge
Paul O'leary has given our website a fresh new look for 2015. The content is basically the same but you will see that the program page has been replaced with an EVENTS calendar. This has the advantage that, as there year progresses, past events drop off and the next event in chronological order is presented at the top of the list. Competitions that include PDI have a link to the upload site. We hope you find these changes convenient.
The essential parts of the old PROGRAM page that are not suitable for inclusion in the calendar format are now to be found in COMPETITION INFO in the side menu. There you will find a list of the competitions, subject definitions, rules and information about the Annual Exhibition. The Program and Definitions can be downloaded form here as well. The "Members Only" area is also accessed from the side menu.
Since email is the most efficient way of communicating with members, the SECRETARIAL MESSAGES page has gone. We will persist with the BLOG in the hope that one day someone might read a post and be moved to make a comment. [Hint]. It would be nice to get some discussion going. You can start by recording your impressions of the website here.
The three images at the bottom of the HOME page will, with a click, give direct access to Member's Images, Exhibition Images and Events. There have been many other refinements, one being a smart new look for the galleries.
Please browse around and give us your thoughts by commenting below.
Members will know Yvonne Hill as a judge who most recently judged for our club last May. Yvonne has won the Macular Disease Foundation Australia 2014 Photographic Competition in the Macular Disease Community category. You can see the ABC News report here.
Having escaped the controlled itinerary of the photo tour we embarked on 9 days of independent travel, covering some of the same territory that we had just covered. The reasons for this are a long story with the photo tour itinerary changing a few times over the previous eight months.
Covering the same territory again is not necessarily a bad thing - as an unconstrained re-visiting of places visited on the tour allowed us to be more touristy and also find our own photographs away from some of the more obvious locations. We had obtained a modicum of familiarity if not local knowledge to help us along the way, which helped the driving on the wrong side of the road and the navigation. Besides, we had only just touched the surface of what we could see in all those places.
A return to Las Vegas before our flight home was also a much more enjoyable experience - a much better hotel with more accessibility to good food, shopping and entertainment certainly helped.
So after 14 days captive to someone else's itinerary we returned to Monument Valley, staying at the View Hotel - the only hotel within the park that is a stunning location for the sunset view of two buttes (the Mittens). The View Hotel was a truly wonderful location - pricey but worth it for the view. Surprisingly the food here was inexpensive given the select location - and booze prices were not an issue as the Navajo nation is dry. Non-alcoholic beer was surprisingly tasty. Non-alcoholic wine was disgusting!
View Hotel - our morning view with restaurant balcony
Sunrise Monument Valley
From Monument Valley we then travelled to Page, on Lake Powell - the upstream dam on the Colorado River. Here we finally got touristy - mixing a six hour photographic tour in Canyon X with a Lake Cruise. Canyon X is another slot canyon that is accessed by only one operator. With travel and walking time taken off we had nearly four hours photographing in the two parts of this slot canyon with no distractions from other tours.
Canyon X
Lake Powell is starkly beautiful, and a houseboat mecca in summer. Our cruise took us into the lower reaches of Antelope Canyon to the point where the boat could go no further - narrow cliffs and just 5 feet of water under us. A boat cruise on a river or lake is always refreshing and set us in good mood for the rest of our trip.
Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Dam
The Grand Canyon was our next stop - and we took the opportunity to play tourist with ranger talks and headed in the opposite direction around the rim to that which we had done on the photography tour. Strong contrasty and hazy light again filled the canyon adding to the photographic challenge of making interesting compositions of something so familiar to all.
Elk stag at Mather Point, Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon Views
Our next stop took us to new territory - Death Valley. Primal landscapes and 30 degree C heat in late autumn met us as we finally found our accommodation at Stovepipe Wells - a village that our GPS did not know about. This village is near the Mesquite Sand Dunes, very photogenic but almost always covered with tourists and their footprints whether at dawn or sunset. (Fortunately Photoshop can fix this minor distraction.)
Mesquite Sand Dunes in Death Valley - with or without Photoshop help
Parts of Death Valley had been mined for Borax and other minerals in the late 1800s to mid 1900s so it is hard to say how much of the landscape is natural, however the floor of the valley is well vegetated (in an arid sense) and the surrounding mountains were essentially free of vegetation. From the US low of 282 feet below sea level to over 11,000 feet in just a few miles are the extremes on show.
Much of the landscape here exhibits classic badlands erosion - none moreso than Zabriskie Point, where the lookout will soon be closed for repairs to the erosion that is undercutting the famous monument. Whilst there we saw a group of photographers making and exposing collodion glass plate negatives (an 1850-60s technology) using a tent as a makeshift darkroom.
Badwater Basin - lowest point in the US and badlands erosion at Zabriskie Point
Finally we returned to Las Vegas, where our Presidential Room at Planet Hollywood erased the after effects of the horrible hotel from where we started our US tour. I say Presidential Room - it was really a Presidential Film Room - as the Planet Hollywood has film-themed rooms throughout. This was a positive Vegas experience - we found good food (Gordon Ramsey's Burgr Bar was a real highlight and not too expensive), interesting shops and even great coffee (real latte and macchiato).
Las Vegas Daytime - less glitz
Faking it in Vegas - interior scene in a shopping mall
Being located on the strip was also a bonus so we could venture out into the action if we wanted. We had to wonder about a couple of things though - M&M world was a 4-floor marketing push of everything M&M without any free samples. We didn't bother with Hershey World as the chocolate is not worth worrying about.
Finally, we had to return home tour our now lonely puppy Tawny as we had lost Dalace just before we went away. Our final future laugh point once the pain goes away was to find that our travel agent (used by the tour company) that we had booked things through had only allowed us 65 minutes from landing in LA to our Sydney flight's departure time. Fortunately American Airlines and Qantas came to the party and got us onto a later flight from LA to Sydney which was just as well. At LA we had a delay in the shuttle bus arrangements between domestic arrival and international departure such that we didn't arrive in the international terminal until 10 minutes after our original flight had departed. Our Airbus 380 flight, carefully booked on our part was lost to a much noisier flight on a 747.
In all we enjoyed the hospitality, politeness (they don't seem to swear much at all) and customer service (one notable exception).
There was familiarity in the arid landscapes (apart from the big bumpy bits); the look of the arid vegetation; the long, wide and fairly straight roads; and, even the light was similar to our outback light.
Poor quality or non-existent wifi bandwidth and phone coverage was another reminder of travelling through the outback regions of South Australia.
The movie references everywhere were strong (especially in Monument Valley and Death Valley) - but a favourite movie poster at Death Valley was for Robinson Crusoe on Mars from 1964, listing Mona the Woolly Monkey as third in the acting credits.
Along the way we lost the novelty of mexican food - but not margeritas, became accustomed to filtered black coffee in the mornings and enjoyed the steaks, ribs and crispy bacon.
Finally, it is the beauty of the national parks visited that will stay with us. Wonderful just for the experiences of being there, as well as providing interesting photographic locations.
Cheers
Keith & Barb
Diamonds are running a free workshop on the fun activity of light painting.
When: Saturday 29th November 2014.
Where: Diamonds Training Suite, Level 2, 187 Rundle Street, Adelaide.
Our final stage in the Seidel year of international travel commenced on October 18 with flights from Adelaide to Sydney, Sydney to LA (delayed by engineering problems then the fuel was disconnected from the international terminal), LA to Las Vegas (delayed because of previous delay). We finally arrived several hours late and somewhat tired.
The reason for the trip was that last year I (Keith) won a photo tour of the Canyonlands area of the South West USA.
The tour started in Las Vegas where the highlights were few after such long travel - the best thing about Vegas is leaving! If we Australians sometimes see the US as a land of contradictions, then Las Vegas is surely the greatest contradiction of all. Hoover Dam and being re-introduced to Margheritas were of interest, a helicopter flight over the grand canyon was too cramped for any quality photography, and then there was a neon graveyard.If it's
Las Vegas - get me outa here
Tuesday, it must be ...
The photo tour was a mix of bus tour for photographers and a workshop - with a local photographer to provide guidance and sunrise and sunset shoots scheduled everyday - including travel days. Whilst all locations were good - the tour became a marathon in the end with no planned rest breaks.
After leaving Vegas (hooray) our first of seven national parks was Zion National Park. This was wonderful - with a deep canyon filled with autumn colour and several deer to start off the fur'n'feathers requirements for the trip. Probably the most accessible and varied of the locations we visited.
Autumn Colour and Deer in Zion Canyon
Leaving Zion the landscape changed within the park, with the first evidence of weathered rock faces that make up much of the park features across the Colorado Plateau.
Weathered Rock - Zion National Park
From 2 days in Zion we moved on to Bryce Canyon - the first of several 1 night stays. Familiar to most photographers, Bryce was as expected. Three visits gave sunset, sunrise and late morning light to work with at different parts of the canyon, which is much larger than we expected (extends for almost 20 miles)
Bryce Canyon at dawn
Our next stop was another one-nighter visit to the least known of the parks we visited - Capitol Reef. Beautiful autumn colour and red rock faces gave way to dull gray badlands erosion. More time would have revealed more gems, but we had to move on to Moab for the Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.
Autumn colour and dismal badlands in the Capitol Reef area.
Arches National Park was the second Park to exceed expectations. The combination of eroded arches and steep canyons was a highlight. Within the park is Delicate Arch (the state symbol of Utah) - an hour walk worth the considerable effort at altitude with a significant climb from the valley floor.
Delicate Arch - the crowds actually made way for the sunset photography
Park Avenue and Sunset from Delicate Arch - Arches National Park
This was a park that we could easily return to - for obvious reasons.
Mesa Arch was the main highlight of Canyonlands National Park - with cameras three deep awaiting the sunrise 'money' shot.
Mesa Arch
Monument Valley was our next one nighter - the park is within the lands of the sovereign Navajo nation. References to western movies (esp. John Ford and John Wayne) and Navajo culture abound - and our trip around the self drive trail gave us some different angles for sunset. A visit the next morning to the "Forest Gump Highway" gave us the classic/iconic/clichéd view of Monument Valley from the north.
Contrasting views of Monument Valley.
Our photographic tour then took us to Page where we visited Horseshoe Bend (not for the faint hearted) and the famed Antelope Canyon (another absolute highlight). The photos we have all seen of the slot canyons (Antelope) are photographed in very confined spaces making the results an amazing achievement. It was such a good experience that we are returning to Page this week to visit a private slot canyon (Canyon X) for more.
Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon
Our final destination was the Grand Canyon and in three days we barely scratched the surface. Our photography leader Glen Tamblingson specialises in the Grand Canyon and took us to several locations a bit off the general tourist track.
Grand Canyon Views
Grand Canyon Viewa
Our circuit of the Canyonlands covered over 2000 miles in 12 days (excluding the days spent in Vegas). The low, arid vegetation and bright harsh light are very familiar to Australian eyes - although whereas the Australian landscape is weathered, uplifted material - the Colorado Plateau at between 5000 and 9000 feet above sea level provides a fairly flat landscape (locally) where the erosion has cut down into the landscape.
Apart from mule deer, elk, a few chipmunks and one squirrel we have seen little wildlife in our travels and few birds apart from the omnipresent ravens.
Autumn Colour
So, what of the food and wine?
Unlike our previous travel reports (from Italy) we are unable to rave on uncontrollably about gourmet food and stunning local wines, leave alone great coffee. It is scary that the best beer we have had so far is the de-alcoholised beer at the View Hotel, Monument Valley. (The Navajo lands are dry!) We have had a couple of nice local cabernets, but our first red order of a "cabernet" at a steakhouse was a truly horrible Jacobs Creek 2011 Cab Sav.
Travelling in a photo tour in a 12 seat van was a bit like being contained within a cocoon - there was little opportunity to spread out to be adventurous food wise or to gain a better appreciation of the locals. Where possible we did try local Navajo influenced foods - but generally its been steakhouse, pizza or mexican.
Whilst the meals have rarely been bad or too oversized - there is a simplicity to the food preparation in the areas visited with steaks and pork ribs being the safest and best choices. The coffee - well its black and hot. The discovery of Thai restaurants on two occasions has been a saviour in the flavour stakes.
We were there - Grand Canyon
We now have a just over a week travelling on our own arrangements before our return - it should allow us a bit more time to experience the real South West.
Cheers
Keith & Barb
In keeping with the Club’s aim to draw on the expertise of members of our own Club, six members were asked to give a brief 15 minute talk to explain who or what it was that enticed them into photography, or what continues to inspire their photography. The resulting talks were really engrossing and varied. Moreover all contributors obviously put a good deal of effort and passion into their presentations.
It was very regrettable that only twelve members, in all, attended.
Gina Stewart began the evening with an humorous & entertaining explanation of how she accidentally fell into photography through various serendipitous events. These events included being given two digital photo frames, for Christmas, by each of her sons – and not having a digital camera!
Bill Versteegh focused on the impact & power of the still image – beginning with his fascination for old family photographs and continuing with his interest in the work of photo-journalists. He spoke about some of the iconic photos that have altered the way we see world and changed the course of history.
Corliss Gustavson spoke about a famous avant-garde female photographer whom she had known personally: Ilse Bing.
Ilse was of German background and Corliss got to know her while living in New York. She described her distinctive work and is the proud owner of one of her beautiful images.
Aldo Trissi began by speaking about the impact of architecture on influencing his photography. He then continued to speak about Australian photographers whom he respected, especially Peter Dombrovskis who brought the magnificence of the Tasmanian Wilderness to Australians’ attention.
Ron Jackson drew on his background in Yorkshire. He told us about a fellow Yorkshireman who was a pioneer photographer in Britain, Francis Meadow Sutcliffe. Ron showed us images created by this artist depicting scenes of fishermen, village children playing and life by the sea, around the 1880s.
Finally Robert Dettman spoke about his love of architectural photography. He then moved on to the work of Max Dupain. He made the interesting connection between Dupain’s photographic work on a small PNG island where Robert’s own father was stationed during World War 2, and where he too had photographed and recorded life on the island.
A fascinating evening for those who were there to appreciate it.
Bill Versteegh
Program Coordinator
On August 5th five club members volunteered (or were volunteered) to give a presentation on how they arrive at the end process and what the processes were to get there.
Bill Versteegh was the first presenter and gave a scholarly dissertation on how he goes from the photo taken through to his final product.
Next up was Ross Pollock (Mr Portrait) who proceeded to display how he moves from the photo taken to his final product. Unfortunately the technology worked against Ross showing how he gets from point photo taken to point photo finished. As usual the end product was trademark Pollock.
Ex prez Barbara then let us into the secrets behind how she sets custom presets in the Lightroom Develop module for two varying situations: landscapes; and animal shelter cats.
Landscapes:
Temp 7000-7500
Clarity +10
Point Curve Medium Contrast
Sharpening Amount +50
Radius 8
Detail 70
Masking 30
Lens Correction: Select specific lens used
Cats
Exposure +.5
White +20
Blacks +25
Point Curve Medium Contrast
Sharpening Amount +50
Radius .8
Detail 70
Masking 30
Noise Reduction
Luminance 10
Detail 70
Colour 30
Colour 30
Detail 60
Lens Correction for specific lens used
Vignette -25
Feather 50
To create a new preset, select a photo and apply desired changes.Click on Develop, Preset, name that preset, then Create.
Presets can be applied BEFORE developing an image.
In Library, click on Saved Preset, select user preset, and apply.
Can be used on a large number of images at once to help save time in the selection of potentially better images BEFORE further editing.
Next up was a very scary presentation by Jan Pudney, Scary in the sense that a collection of random photos disconnected in every way seem to come together in her mind to produce stunning art. Jan admitted during her presentation that when she starts she doesn't know what will be the end product.
Jan's discussion was around the use of layers and she generously supplied links to the tutorials which got her started.
Lesson 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA8TgyTruV8&index=5&list=FLy4_NE-r4qGO_Re3MrsItUQ
Lesson 2 Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSeZCuZYqJA&index=4&list=FLy4_NE-r4qGO_Re3MrsItUQ
Lesson 2 Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1gRCPpZKHI&index=3&list=FLy4_NE-r4qGO_Re3MrsItUQ
Lesson 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTtT0llCA1g&list=FLy4_NE-r4qGO_Re3MrsItUQ&index=2
Lesson 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFQz78VVrMg&index=1&list=FLy4_NE-r4qGO_Re3MrsItUQ
Jan was also good enough to provide a copy of her presentation as well:
Finally The prez himself Robert showed us all why he is the master of Lightroom and gave a presentation (which we are all hoping he will be able to upload in the near future) on how less is more when it comes to building up an image segment by segment from an ordinary beginning to a stunning end.
Our last few days in the Chianti region continued with the relaxation in Volpaia, travelling around the hilltop towns of Chianti and plans to celebrate Barb's birthday in style.
Style being the operative word. If it was not enough to be celebrating a birthday in a 13th C building, which was a winery, the special arrangements provided by Olympia at the Castello's restaurant was to provide a private table in the winery's museum cellar. Atmosphere plus!
A visit to Florence rounded out our Tuscan visit, with a visit to the Pitti Palace museums and the Bobboli Gardens - to be seen to be believed. Our day trip included two visits to the Rivoire Cafe - to again savour the best hot chocolate in the world.
Another feature was the home cooked meal at our land-lady Graziella's house. Husband Franco took great pride in bringing out his late father's 1995 vin Santo and Grappa to share with us. Possibly the best meal we had in Italy.
As we got to know the locals across the whole trip it is apparent that the impacts of the GFC still resonate strongly across Italy. Much hospitality and tourism employment is seasonal (6 to 7) months with no alternate employment opportunities and many hospitality employees live away from family for that 6 to 7 months.
Another world - Dolomites
The Dolomites are located near Italy's north eastern border with Austria and have only been part of Italy since 1919. Imagine a part of Italy that is bi-or tri-lingual, where Italian is the last ranked language. German is the dominant language in the Tyrol (Sound of Music anyone?), which is the region where the dolomites are found.
After driving for nearly 6 hours on the autostrade at a cost of 27 euro for the toll, we arrived in an alpine, germanic wonderland. Our photographic friends in particular will understand when we say that the description "chocolate box" fits the dolomites perfectly. At altitudes of between 1300 and 2400 metres, the mountains and villages in narrow valleys were incredibly picturesque. The population density was perhaps the most surprising part of this region - with steely curving roads and lengthy tunnels everywhere. What also amazed was the extent of the ski fields and related infrastructure everywhere we went.
Stories of WW1 when Italy were on the allied side in particular are strong with the locals. WW2 history is less comfortable. Although there was less direct action in these mountains in WW2 - the post war ratlines that helped Nazis escape to South America remain in the memory.
Our purpose for being in the dolomites was a landscape photography workshop for 4-6 days. The extra days were offered to those who arrived in the days before the workshop formally started. Never has a WORKshop been more appropriately named - even on the additional days we left the hotel at around 4am, drove for approximately one hour to the first location in the high alps and waited for dawn at freezing or near freezing temperatures at over 2000m above sea level. A couple of the locations involved considerable walking and exertion uphill - which certainly in the thin air had us sucking the air in hard to regain some oxygen. We returned to the hotel at around 10am for breakfast and a couple of hours sleep, before an afternoon computer session, departing again at 4pm to the afternoon shoot and returning for dinner at around 10pm. This went on every day for six days.
Our group of nine was diverse - coming from Denmark, Germany, France, Sweden and Serbia - the presenter Hans Kruse is Danish. The locations were spectacular - we went to four main areas as we were a little restricted because two key locations were inaccessible due to the unseasonal heavy snow remaining at the end of spring. Summer only broke on our last day in the dolomites. The last two years in particular had seen very cold springs and many locals were describing (a) the shifting of the seasons - a couple of later and (b) that they now appear to have two seasons - with spring and autumn barely noticable.
An extra day after the workshop concluded was spent in the company of six of the group for extra shoots and an extra processing session at the hotel. Apart from our workshop times and travel to locations we were unable to see more of the villages of the area.
Padua - resting up before we fly home.
Our last stop is Padua, a city where the old town is a mix of the best of Florence and Bologna. There are significant roman and pre-roman Veneto archaeological exhibits and remains in the museum and gardens, and our accommodation in the near suburbs is very comfortable.
One of the main highlights is the Giotto frescos in the Scrovegni Chapel, which are treated similarly to The Last Supper in Milan - humidity and temperature controlled and visitors numbers limited. These frescoes were cleaned and preserved in preference to being restored and bear some damage from time in places, but were nonetheless as beautiful as Da Vinci's masterpiece.
Final Thoughts
This trip was our second time together in Italy and again we have been touched by the generosity and welcome of the locals wherever we have been. We have enjoyed beautiful coffee, wine, food, gelati and scenery - as well as having seen more art, archaeology and churches than we ever could at home.
Thank you for reading our travelogues and now we resume normal transmissions from home.
Capella di Vitele, Val d'Orcia
The memories of the four weeks we spent in the Val d'Orcia part of Tuscany on our honeymoon five years ago are strong, and returning to this area was like revisiting an old friend. It has brought back wonderful memories of the time we spent in Montalcino, and our photography workshop week based near Bagno Vignoni.
Leaving Orvieto we commenced our Italian driving experience in a Fiat 500L - a medium-sized four seater with diesel engine that has proved surprisingly roomy. Taking to the left hand drive on the "wrong" side of the road was much easier the second time around - AND - definitely helped by a significant change in road behaviour by the locals (at least through Umbria and the Val d'Orcia). Generally drivers seemed to be more likely to stay on their side of the road than five years ago - but that was before we got to Chianti.
Speed limits appear still to be optional.
Our accommodation in the Val d'Orcia was at the former monastery at Sant'Anna in Camprena, near Pienza, which is arguably the most beautiful of the hilltop towns in this region. Film lovers will recognise this as one of the main locations for the film The English Patient.
The accommodation was simple yet lovely, the hospitality special and the location peaceful and beautiful in a way that our cameras could not hope to capture. However there were lots of old, worn steps to trudge up with the luggage, seemingly a constant in this part of the world.
As a base to revisit the Val d'Orcia it was perfect. To illustrate this, we met a Danish couple who have been coming there twice a year for over ten years.
Sant'Anna in Camprena
In many ways it was easy to visit the towns other where we had only been day trippers five years ago. Visiting Montalcino again was a bit stranger - being day trippers in a town that we had previously lived in for three weeks. It took two visits to really appreciate the present in line with our memories of five years ago.
Photographically we had an easier time after our workshop in Orvieto, and tried not to reproduce the same photos we took five years ago. However, there were one or two spots where the quality of light and the time to spend in one spot were better than five years ago, and camera club members will have to wait to see what that entails.
However, as we are enjoying the holiday aspects of the trip, early morning starts have been excluded so far. That does mean no new photographs of the Belvedere farmhouse at dawn.
San Antimo Abbey/Basilica di San Mageo, Montepulciano
This does not mean that the tradition we started here five years ago has not been revisited, we are still taking our dawn shots through the windows of our accommodation - which gives us vistas and perspective for detailed early light photographs. Sant'Anna in Camprena and our accommodation at Volpaia in Chianti both have offered this option - get up with the early light about 6 to 6.30, take photographs, go back to bed for a couple of hours before breakfast. Good planning, what!
Morning Views from Bedroom Windows - Sant'Anna in Camprena and Volpaia
The other aspect of returning to Tuscany has been the return to seriously good red wine territory. The food is still a wonderful mix of the traditional with lots of pasta options, meat sauces and fresh local seasonal ingredients, but the Rosso di Montalcino and other local vino rosso from Pienza and Montepulciano were palate pleasers. Not to mention the vin Santo and cantucci, an ideal way to conclude almost any meal.
Three days in the Val d'Orcia disappeared very quickly, meaning we were off to pastures new in the Chianti part of Tuscany - located between Siena and Florence for the geographically inclined. Driving into Chianti the landscape changed from the rolling hills of the Val d'Orcia that are most associated with Tuscany, to become both higher in altitude but also steeper. The scenery is very wooded - oak, chestnut and fir - with little land cleared for agriculture apart from vines and olives on steep slopes that were historically terraced. Pastures dedicated to wheat and hay are not particularly evident in this part of Chianti.
The roads consequently are incredibly narrow and windy. For South Australians, it means that travel is like continually driving on roads that are a combination of the Old Norton Summit Road and the Corkscrew Road, only steeper and higher. For Kiwis, the roads would be more familiar. Lots of curves, lots of climbing and dropping in altitude and average speeds of no more than 30 km/hr. Straight runs to get into top gear are very rare. Gear changing is constant - there being no such thing in Italy as a hire car with automatic transmission.
We have also had a mix of cloudy and rainy weather with a few sunny days in Chianti - adding to the challenge of photographing a predominantly wooded hilly landscape - after all grey days and hazy skies are the bane of the photographer and tourist alike.
Volpaia
Volpaia, our home for 12 days, sits at over 700 metres above sea level, compare that with Mt Lofty at just over 500 metres. It has a population of just 54! It also has two restaurants and a bar and a cellar door, but no other shops apart from a twice weekly visit from a local artisan silver jewellery maker. The village survives on tourism and the local industries - wine and olive oil. The main function of the town, where the current buildings date back to the 13th century, is as a winery (Castello di Volpaia). It is a peaceful and beautiful place to spend our longest stay of this trip.
Volpaia
Since the 1960's 2/3rds of the buildings and the surrounding vineyards have been consolidated into an amazingly modern operation housed within the medieval structures that make up the village. To see modern, stainless steel fermentation tanks (3 stories high) housed within 13thC buildings is simply mind boggling - and the story of how the tanks arrived at the top of the hill and were installed by the crane driver from the village piazza (square) would be unbelievable if we had not seen the results. Having sampled the results we can attest to the value of the investment through the quality of the wine produced.
Volpaia - barrel storage in cellar under the village church - note the use of the barrel seal mechanism as designed by Da Vinci
Restaurant door to accommodation is less than 2 minutes walk
The morning coffee is less than 2 minutes away
Locals are warm and friendly, moreso once they see you for more than two days
The disadvantages of staying in a small hilltop village are as follows:
Steps, everywhere - really old, worn, steep steps
No general shops, just the restaurants, bar and cellar door (maybe this belongs above?)
No gelati
Really poor phone and wifi coverage (not taking account of the 60+ cm thick walls)
Volpaia
The local wine is Chianti Classico (and Riserva). These are predominantly Sangiovese-based wines with strict origin controls, aging requirements and specifications for the grape varieties that comprise the Chianti wines. For example, Chianti Classico requires a minimum of 80% Sangiovese. The wines that use modern techniques and international varieties (Cab Sav, Merlot, Shiraz) and techniques are marketed either as relatively inexpensive local blends or as Super Tuscan wines - the latter with high prices to match the international reviews.
Generally speaking wine is relatively inexpensive compared to the Australian experience. We had an experience here in Chianti where a cellar door manager practically apologised for the expensive price for an aged (1998) vin Santo dessert wine that at less than 25 Euro ($A40) was actually inexpensive for the aged quality, and we have actually purchased wines that in Australia would have been marked up as Cellar Reserve or Museum Release, but here were discounted to 14Euro for four wines from 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 - three being Sangiovese (inc 1 Chianti Classico Riserva) and one a Syrah(Shiraz) - all of which were incredibly inexpensive for the quality of a appropriately aged red wine.
Chianti Classico
For the serious wine aficionado, the wine in Chianti is generally less expensive than in Val d'Orcia and the wine lists at trattoria, osteria etc. are far less parochial.
In Chianti we have toured many of the local hill towns, where the history continues to amaze with the Etruscan influence still strong and well represented in local museums. It remains totally mind-blowing to consider a built history of several thousand years with so much of the fundamental urban design and locality based on pre-Roman civilisations - the essentials of which survived millennia of wars, takeovers and religious upheaval long before we got to the mass destruction of the 20thC and particularly the influence of WW2 on what remains and now exists.
On this trip we are more aware of the impact of WW2 on some of the hilltop villages we visit - the damage in many cases either patched up or just left as it was.
The villages most affected are visually obvious - by the lack of old buildings in the historic town centre and the presence of obviously post war reconstruction of housing within and beyond the old town walls.
Italy shares its national day with our Anzac Day, and throughout our trip we have noticed the wreaths and flags at war memorials in each village, much as we would see at home - the sobering difference is the identification of both military and civilian casualties on all memorials - a reminder of how lucky we really are.
At the time of writing we have two more days in Chianti - we are off to Florence for a day trip and have more coffee to drink and have the time to consider ourselves lucky to have stayed in an area that is beautiful, yet not easy to photograph for any purpose other than memories - and maybe that is not such a bad thing.
The tourist information states that Orvieto is one of the principal sights of the region of Umbria. It exhibits traces of every phase of history for the past three thousand years, culminating in its magnificent cathedral. The tufa butte on which Orvieto is located is itself riddled with tunnels and wells dating from Etruscan times to only a couple of hundred years ago.
Orvieto
Orvieto is a charming hilltop town with car access only available to residents. We stayed in a b'n'b on a piazza close to the centre of the town and certainly close enough to hear the town's bell that rang every 15 minutes (24/7) to let the whole town know the time.
Orvieto Cathedral
Across the region we also came directly into contact with more recent history - the damage and consequences from WW2 bombing raids and ground fighting are still evident.
That's enough of the official guff.
Our stay in Orvieto was based around a Camera Etrusca photography workshop with Patrick Nicholas, with an extra night's stay before and after. The workshop experience was a delight - although at times seeming to be a weird mix of cultural tour being taken to interesting and out of the way locations that had some vague photographic potential. To get to some of these locations was like being in boot camp as we had to scramble down cliffs, over rocks in addition to some interesting off road experiences in Patrick's occasionally problematic Land Rover.
Off the beaten track
We were the only fulltime attendees for the week, joined occasionally by Albert (a Dutch former World Bank employee who had retired to Italy) and his wife Henrietta for a couple of half days. There were some useful photographic tips but none of the in the field instruction of the sort that Lou and I do in the Flinders, nor the evaluation and feedback until the last day. Patrick's professional experience is in commercial, advertising and glamour photography, but his knowledge and passion for the history and culture of Orvieto and surrounding districts is endless.
We hit the traditional tuscan food styles for the first time, and started weaning ourselves off Spritz - the reds were starting to improve and we found we could again trust the 'house red'.
We seriously had a great introduction to the etruscan, roman and papal states history of the region, including photographing the Barabatta Festival - a kind of harvest festival - in which all the food producing trades in Marta, on the shores of the volcanic Lake Bolsena, paraded floats through the village and up the hill to the church.
Barabatta Festival, Marta, Lake Bolsena
The trades involved are the fishermen; the shepherds; the ‘butteri’, the cowboys of the Maremma on their fine horses; the herdsmen with their oxen and the villani, the villains or peasants, all dressed in their traditional costume. Everything is accompanied by loud cheering of “Evviva Maria, evviva il santisimo sacramento, Evviva la Madonna!”.
There is nothing like appropriating a pagan festival for a Christian ceremony every 14th May for last 550 years.
Orvieto Walls
Barb has renewed her love affair with truffles and we have ventured bravely into the 'tipica' cuisine - including the wild boar (chingiale), pigeon, rabbit, hare, stinging nettle sauce (with beef) - mostly with success. Cantucci and vin santo have also reappeared in our lives like long lost friends - life on the road is as they say tough - but we are soldiering on.
And let's not forget the furry friends that Barb especially keeps making as we travel through Italy.
We hope that all are well and happy back home. Our next report will cover a return to Tuscany and the beginnings of our time in Chianti, depending on the availability of effective wifi access.
We have now picked up our hire car from Orvieto and will be independent for our travel arrangements now until we finish our holiday. More on that in the next edition.
FROM VENICE TO BOLOGNA
Last Days in Venice
(not an Agatha Christie mystery)
Our last couple of days in Venice gave us clear weather as though spring had finally sprung. This helped with the photography but we also continued our cultural tourism with church, museum and other such visits. A real highlight was the tour through the 15th century clock tower overlooking St Mark's square.
Our friend Jonathon gave us several "local" recommendations for typical Venetian trattoria that worked a treat, and Barb is still raving about her bouillabaisse at Taverna del Campieto Remer - a small, out of the way tavern near Rialto, almost on the Grand Canal. Stunning location and meal - thanks Jonathon.
Barb has also continued her 'pursuit' of the pattable cats and dogs with photogenic potential.
Our seafood soirée through Venice was concluded with some lovely black ink squid and polenta at another of Jonathon's recommendations (allo vedova) -at least I (Keith) liked it.
We still retain an active taste for Aperol Spritz but perhaps the taste sensations of Venice were the liquorice, dark chocolate and coconut gelati. For Aussies, the liquorice gelati was like converting Darrel Lea soft liquorice into an ice cream.
Our stay in Venice concluded with a boat ride through the canals of Cannaregio where we were staying - not a gondola but a traditional rowing boat that - was conducted by two energetic, friendly and informative young men keen to maintain traditional skills. Jonathon - we suggested they get onto Trip Cubes.
Bologna - Grimy Grungy & Friendly
Bologna is the home of Mortadella, tortellini and tagliatelle alla ragu (which we have bastardised to spag bog). For a foodie town what we experienced was functional but not outstanding - although the coffee, Spritz and gelati did keep their end up. A university town (80,000 students at the university) means it is a young person's town and the graffiti problem perhaps reflects this. However, once we got past the railway station the locals were extremely friendly.
Architecturally the main feature of the city are the endless porticos and archways that dominate throughout the old city - although the four km and 666 arches to a basilica housing a portrait of the Madonna and child attributed to St Luke pushed our energy levels as it also entailed a rise of at least 300m in that 4 km, on top of about 6km to get to the start of the basilica porticos. It is hard not to note the irony of the claimed 666 arches on the way to such a holy place.
We left Bologna feeling that there was more to see and do, however we were very busy in our two and a half days and happy with our time there.
The highlights - an exhibition of 17th century Dutch masters including Vermeer's Girl with the Pearl Earring and four Rembrandts.
However, we found out before getting to Bologna that Tommy Emmanuel was due to play in Bologna on our last evening - and we got the third and fourth last tickets to a sell out concert that just blew us away. As Aussies it was nice to see how one of our musical finest was received by a crowd even more enthusiastic than those at home, as was the very strong appreciation for Aussie support act Anthony Snape. It was a rave performance received rapturously by a very appreciative and vocal crowd.
Leaving Bologna we travel to Orvieto where we will stay for 8 days including a photography workshop, which will form the basis of our next report.
A couple of members with very long memories say that this inter club competition has been going for over 40 years. That is a great tradition for two clubs that consistently produce top quality work.
On this occasion the competition was hosted by Edwardstown and judged by Geoff Smith. As is usual there were three Open category sections in PDI, Colour Prints and Mono Prints. It was a very closely fought contest as the results indicate.
TOP OF SECTION IMAGES
"Old Redhead" Ross Pollock
"Champagne" Renée Holmes
"Finding the Gaps" Bill Versteegh
SCORES BY SECTION AND CLUB
Section EPC ESCC
PDI 222 214
CP 133 134
MP 122 214
The overall winner was Edwardstown Photography Club with 477 points to Eastern Suburbs Camera Club, 475 points. Congratulations to Edwardstown and to the authors of the top images.
First impressions from our second visit to Venice.
Five years after our first visit to Venice it is both familiar in a comfortable sense, and exciting as we have made several new experiences.
A good flight, with an upgrade to an exit row seat from Adelaide to Dubai, but Dubai airport was old and tired (in Terminal C) and the 15 minute drive from the terminal to the plane on the tarmac was unexpected at such a transport hub. Emirates has the best airline food we have tasted but the in air staff seemed very formal and structured in their approach to the customer.
Cannaregio Canal and MQ10, just around the corner from our apartment
Venice is a real melting pot of tourist cultures and the locals are challenged to maintain an authentic Venetian/Italian culture under these external but economically essential tourist demands. Everywhere you go throughout the island there is the sound of suitcase wheels across the cobbled pavements, crowds and queues. It is almost as though it is a living theme park of history and culture in which the tourists immerse themselves.
But, despite the faded glory of aging palazzo that can appear decrepit and empty from outside, there is a vibrancy that exists within. Nothing that we have experienced elsewhere can quite match the appeal of dining alongside a venetian canal as the sky fades and the limited night lighting takes effect - with a background soundtrack of lapping water, ferries and small water craft well into the night.
Faded glory or historic beauty - the charm of Venice
Excitingly the coffee is uniformly excellent or better, same for the gelati, the food wonderful and our second experience of Venice is everything and more than we could have expected although not always as we have originally envisaged. We have also developed a serious temptation (but not yet addiction) for the local aperitif - Spritz (a blend of Apero and Prosecco).
Spritz waiting to be consumed
To get the 'boring' stuff out of the way - our accommodation is a one bedroom apartment in the Cannaregio district of Venice (near the railway station) and about 25 minutes walk from St Mark's Square if you don't take a wrong turn. The wrong turn is a tourist hazard in Venice that can be embraced and provide wonderful unplanned experiences.
The apartment by the way is very comfortable, totally quiet and matching the on-line description when we booked.
We have a stunning coffee shop (MQ10) just around the corner that provides a great heart-starter each morning as we set out.
The weather has been mixed - one day rain, one day fine. The grey skies have changed our photographic approach but also allowed us the flexibility to time our many visits to museums and churches (containing over 1200 years of history and precious art) using the benefit of the VENICE CARD - an opportunity to skip waiting lines at up to 10 museums and 15 churches of significance, amongst other things.
When they say possible thunderstorms they mean thunderstorms all day, so we have become used to finding an indoor visit whenever heavy rain threatens.
Spring weather in Venice - possible thunderstorms
Highlights so far:
With two days to go in our stay in Venice we realise that again we have just scratched the surface of what is on offer here.
Symbols of Venice
by Aldo Trissi
On a journey to Kingson SE with the ESCC a few hardy souls attempted some night photography at the local cemetery. While passing by the cemetery on the way to join other club members at the local pub for an evening meal I spotted a number of graves with fenced enclosures on sloping land that might make some interesting images.
The following capture is one taken in the company of four other fellow photographers which is not only more fun but is pretty handy for those worried about being out in scary locations alone on dark nights, (not that I was concerned). The advantage of a group is that you can try something different and wave lights around in strange places with others around for moral support. The disadvantage is that there is likely to be other photographers that have staked out a prime position and that your composition might be less than ideal or they tend to get in the frame and possibly meander around with a torch in the middle of an exposure. A bit of co-operation is needed to wait until everybody is ready and then shoot at the same time before turning on torches or moving into the scene.
"Cemetery Night" © Aldo Trissi
The settings for this image were 24mm, f/5.6, 20 seconds, ISO 4000 with RAW image capture to allow fine tuning of white balance later. A sturdy tripod, (stabilised with a camera backpack) was used, as was a remote trigger set on 2sec delay with mirror lock-up. The protection filter was removed to reduce flare. A small torch is needed to check various switches and find camera buttons. A high powered LED torch was used to illuminate the nearest headstone while adjusting focus in Live View mode. Switch the lens to manual focus only and use the 10x magnified view. I don't use in camera long exposure noise reduction as it takes twice as long to record an image. The extra noise reduction only applies to RAW files if you use the manufactures software which in Canon's case I find a bit clunky.
I wanted to capture the stars in the sky, the silhouette of the fences and distant headstones with the long shadows projected by the descending moon in the background while applying just enough diffused fill light to not create harsh shadows on the headstones. It's not too much to ask is it? I had to live with the blown out 1/4 moon. Ideally it would be better to plan the shoot for a time when there is no moon to see a greater mass of stars.
I also wished to keep the verticals of the fence grave surrounds upright so I used a fair bit of shift on my Tilt-Shift lens, (because I can), rather than apply correction later with software. Perspective correction works almost as well in Photoshop but creates a small loss of resolution and slightly stretched star trails. To get small points of light when photographing stars at night the rule of thumb is 500/focal length, (on a full frame camera), giving the maximum exposure time in seconds. Ie. 500/24mm = 20.8 sec.
I used f/5.6 for a bit more depth of field. The closest headstone was about 5 metres away and checking DOF calculator, (a free app for smart phones), it showed a hyperfocal distance of 3.4 metres so the trees in the distance were likely to be sharply in focus. The next step is to tweak the ISO up to a point where the resulting image looks about right on the playback screen. In this case it is a bit hit and miss especially as it is hard to get consistent fill light when using a high powered LED torch waived at a low whitewashed stone fence about 10 metres behind the camera position to produce a soft diffused light from a low angle. Starting with 30 sec at ISO 2500 and no fill light, the result was very deep shadows on the downhill slope created by the descending moon. I tried ISO 4000 and 20 sec with about 10 seconds of reflected fill light and it was just right.
No special processing was required apart from colour noise reduction set to 50 versus the default 25, (on my version of Photoshop). Contrast was tweaked slightly and small amount of sharpening was needed. Following is a 100% crop of part of the image.
100% crop © Aldo Trissi
So don't be afraid of trying the high ISO settings on your modern DSLR at night or in dark locations. Bear in mind that my Canon 5D MkII used to capture this image was first released in 2007 and that newer camera's have improved high ISO performance by a couple of stops. On newer full frame camera's you should get similar results at ISO16,000 with a 5 second exposure. A modern crop camera should produce similar results with the right technique.
Bear in mind that at high ISO settings the amount of direct light generated even by a weak torch is likely to be too bright and create blown highlights in many instances if held stationary. A few candles can be used to light up a small room and even a pop up flash will have an effective range of 20 metres or more.
Get out there with your camera and try something different.
Members might also be interested in reading how Peter Solness does it.
Lytro's second generation "Illum" light field camera doesn't have a conventional sensor. It has a 40 megaray light field sensor that records the colour, intensity and direction of every light ray entering the lens. This can then be manipulated to determine the perspective focal point of the image. It has a constant 30-250 f2 zoom lens. The final image is 5 megapixels. Read about it here and here.
Lytro Illum
Here is the required postcard picture of the Taj Mahal in Agra.
Note absence of fog. Note also blue sky!
So lucky.
As you will now be aware, the PhotoComp software has its own web link for image uploads and print registration. (You will find it on the COMPETITION INFO page in the left menu).
There is a lot of automation in the software, so it is no longer necessary to alter the file names of your images in accordance with the image naming convention published here on 24 April 2012.
The old method required a file name in the format: secfir_image_title.pdf. Now you can just leave the image file name as it is in your system and all will be well.
BUT NOTE: You must type the title of the image in the field labeled "Title:" immediately below the "Image File" name.
An email went out a short while ago in regard to SAPF organising a new
initiative re Regional workshops and presentations.
At the time I restricted the email to only our regional clubs but following the committee meeting last Monday, it was decided that this ‘idea’ should encompass all clubs. It is hoped that a register of names can be compiled, of members who would be willing to make themselves available for conducting photographic workshops or presentations for any club wishing to tap into this resource.
It is intended for this be a volunteer undertaking with little or no payment from the clubs. When greater distances need to be travelled, clubs can assist with accommodation, meals etc while SAPF would fund travel expenses.
Some thoughts to keep in mind if you intend to volunteer:
It is envisaged that a club would study its programme for the year and decide
at an early stage when and if they needed to tap into this resource of ‘expert
speakers’. I see the idea working very similar to that used when choosing
judges - get in early with request leaving enough time to approach another
person if necessary.
The SAPF Annual Exhibition is coming up on the 13th and 14th July..
The final stage of preparation involves Friday 12th July [setting up day]. We are fortunate to have access to the Masonic Hall in the morning at 10am. We just need some helpers to lend a hand.
Initially only the ante-room will be available for the setting up of the print section. At 1.30pm we can attack the larger room for projected image presentation and opening night.
If you can come along and help please contact either Peter Phillips - peterphillips2312@gmail.com - or myself and you will be made most welcome.
Thank you and hope to hear from some of you soon.
If you can assist in any way Lydia will be happy to hear from you, or Peter at
the address above.
Welcome to the on-line home of the Eastern Suburbs Camera Club.
Here you will find a wealth of information about the club, our programme of activities, the advantages of membership and of course, lots of examples of our member's work. Do come and visit us during one of our programmed meetings. You will be greeted warmly and can enjoy the services available on the premises.
Email: the Secretary
All images are © copyright. None may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of the relevant author.
