Last Monday 

At our last meeting of 2025 we concluded our two presentations of the Shoot With Me Autumn programme. As usual each of the presentations showed how inventive members can be and it is obvious that in the process they enjoyed themselves.

Well done to all the groups, to all the leaders and to Bob Acton who moulded all participants into disciplined groups and offered soothing words of wisdom. 

Next Monday is the Offshoot Christmas Party

The Christmas Party will be held on Monday 15^th December in the Horse and Hound in Cabinteely from 8 pm. Put it in your diary. 

We look forward to seeing you there for the final gathering of 2025.

Outings

We owe this dedicated crew under the captaincy of Eithne O’Leary our thanks for all their work.

Tonight (13^th December) we will gather to see the lights of Christmas in the streets of Dublin and come with us to Duffy’s circus in Tallaght on the 18^th December. Good company is guaranteed, and the coffee is optional.

New Committee

As you will be aware, following the AGM on 23^rd November the committee for 2026 will be: 

Chairman                           Gerry Donovan

Vice Chair                           Robbie O’Leary

Secretary                            Eithne O’Leary

Treasurer                            Nigel Leyland

Competitions Secretary         John O’Connor

Outings                               Peter Chapman

SWM                                   Bob Acton

IPF Liaison                           Emily Gallagher

IT/Membership                     Ian Gemmell

Our congratulations to all on their election and it would be remiss of us, at the end of 2025, not to thank the outgoing Committee for their time, freely given. 

Our thanks go to Steve Crozier for his many years of dedication to Offshoot. And to Andy Quinlan who steps down as secretary, Lionel Barker who steps down as Competition secretary. 

Gerry Donovan has taken the chair whilst Eithne O’Leary has taken the role of secretary. We welcome Peter Chapman who, with his dedicated team, will take you on outings only dreamt of and John O’Connor who will on the role of competition secretary.

Our thanks also go to all those (behind the scenes) who have contributed so much to make Offshoot ‘tick’. 

Shoot With Me - Spring 2026

As we close the door on 2025 we start to open the door on 2026 and Shoot With Me (SWM) is just around the corner. In the final weeks we have seen the work or the Autumn SWM and the images they brought together and the enjoyment they shared. 

For those who are new to the club:

Shoot With Me is a project-based activity which the club puts together twice a year.

The principal idea is that around 12 club members 'volunteer' to facilitate a small group of other club members in a chosen photographic project.

The essence of SWM is twofold:

1.   It gives members an opportunity to meet and socialise with other members while taking part in a photographic project, and

2.   It gives members a chance to practice/explore/develop or learn about some aspect of photography.

3.   To bring your newfound skills to fruition, everyone gets to present two of their images at a Showcase in December.

Call for Leaders:

As ever, the success of SWM relies on getting 12 volunteer leaders. If you would like to volunteer, but are not sure if you can do it, talk to other members about sharing the task. Many groups have had two members sharing the Group Leader role.

Ideally, we would like to kick off the Spring 2026 SWM as soon as possible after the winter break, so please get in touch as soon as possible. It would be great if we had our Group Leaders identified by the first week in January so that group activities can start before the end of the month. As you know to your cost early Spring can be cold and wet so why not try a project indoors.

Group leaders don’t have be experts in any aspect of photography. The only qualification required is enthusiasm and a desire to proactively contribute to the vibrancy of the club.

As ever, it cannot start until the leaders are in place.

To volunteer to lead a group, send an email with your chosen project title and include a short description to swm@offshoot.ie

SWM Projects:

The project can be anything at all – macro, landscape, architecture, flowers, wildlife, street photography, water movement, painting with light, portraiture ……the list is endless. It doesn’t have to be an original project. It could be one you participated in previously or maybe one you didn’t get to.

Go on; have a go and we promise you will enjoy yourself.

Competitions

Our strapline says that Offshoot is “all about the image”. We are not just another camera club – we are a photography society! So, we’re going to test that statement for our first club competition in 2026.

The competition theme is “Open” and it will be “Projected”. That means you can pick any photo in your collection – nature, portraiture, landscape, street, monochrome or nude. Whatever! Dead easy – no need to print or mount it – just upload it in January. There’s only one stipulation: it has to be taken on a SMARTPHONE. No Canons. Nikons, Sonys or any other fancy cameras.

If you’re looking for inspiration, check out these websites:

https://spcompetition.art/home

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/photography/awards-and-competitions/this-award-winning-image-was-shot-on-a-phone-yes-really-is-this-final-proof-that-mobile-cameras-can-rival-tradional-gear

We will confirm the image upload details in January. Get cracking.

The Secrets of Mid-Winter Photography

The bleak mid-winter. A time of warm fires and the glow of a monitor as you edit your images. Or is the camera locked up awaiting Spring? Winter, as cold and wet as it might be, does not have to be an end to outdoor photography. In fact, it should be an inspiration to get out and shoot something a little outside your comfort zone.

The overcast clouds, bare trees, and low contrast light beckons your creative mind into black and white, and you will see a whole new realm of photographic possibilities.From a majestic but barren landscape to a solitary, naked tree in your local park, black and white can truly capture the mood of mid-winter. It’s a time to push your compositional creativity.

Whilst the mid-winter may seem made for black and white, there are also great shots to be had in colour. A single bold colour on an otherwise grey, flat day can look amazing. It might be the splash of red on a robin’s breast or the yellow sports car in a sea of black and grey cars. 

• In real life, a splash of colour on a cold winter’s day really catches the eye. The same is true for an image. Cities can look very grey on a winter day yet are also full of colour. Keep an eye out for places where that colour contrast is likely to occur. 
• Look for the juxtaposition of old brick buildings against modern skyscrapers. The muted colours of the brickwork provide an interesting contrast to the grey steel of modern architecture. Cities are full of such subtle splashes of colour

The Blue Hour

With the mid-winter’s short hours of daylight, the blue hour becomes a very attractive proposition to shoot. With sunrise after 7 am, there is no need to rise early, and with the light fading around 4 pm, you don’t need to stay out late. But that’s not all. Winter light on an overcast day is naturally much bluer. Combine that with the fading light and you are all set for some spectacularly moody blue hour shots. 

In cities, towns and villages the contrast in your shots will come from artificial light. The warm glow of a cafe, juxtaposed against the blue, grey tones of the surrounding buildings. The punchy neon lights against a stormy blue sky. Urban landscapes are full of mid-winter blue hour shots. 

In rural areas, you can also look for the colour contrast. The glow of a farmhouse or traffic on a distant road. You could also find a solitary subject and offset it with the subtle blue tones of an overcast sky. 

Wherever you are shooting, blue hour is a spectacular time to shoot in winter. 

Mist and Fog

Mid-winter is the perfect time for capturing mist and fog. These can provide a beautiful, mysterious backdrop to your shots. Mist can be fleeting, drifting in and out of your compositions. Patience is required, you need to choose a subject carefully and wait for the right moment to shoot. 

The biggest challenges in mist and fog, however, will be exposure and focus. Cameras tend to under-expose, particularly in fog. You may need to use exposure compensation, adding a stop perhaps more to get the right exposure.

A camera’s auto-focus will often hunt in foggy situations, struggling to find the contrast to lock onto. In this case, you should look at focusing manually. This way, you will know that your subject is correctly focused. 

Rain and Reflections In Mid-Winter Photography

Most of us have to suffer winter without much snow. What we do have, however, is an abundance of rain. Rain shots work well in combination with splashes of colour, particularly artificial light. Shooting a fast shutter speed can freeze the motion of the rain, giving a feeling of energy but you will need to be focussed on a relatively close subject or use an ultra-wide lens for this to work well.

Another shot that works well in rain is the raindrop image with drops on a window and a defocused background. Try to keep enough detail in the background for the viewer to identify what it is. Splashes of colour in a grey scene will enhance those raindrop shots.

Reflections work best in combination with the blue hour. A combination of the city’s artificial light and the cold blueness of the sky reflected in a puddle can give a very dramatic look. Use your camera’s LCD screen to get down low without having to kneel down in the wet.

The cold, wet, grey mid-winter can be off-putting. However, dress up warm with some good waterproofs and you will find there are plenty of amazing shots to be had. Those shots may be very different from what you normally take, but that’s a good thing. It will challenge you both technically and creatively. 

Stacked Focus On A Rose - Owen Tighe

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 webadmin@offshoot.ie. You will get an email when you have been added to the group. Please be patient as this is a manual process.]

What's On 

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

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

Martin Parr - A Visual Tribute To the Master

How To make A Greeting Card In Photoshop - Photoshop Cafe

Irish Photographic Federation Web Site:

https://irishphoto.ie/

Most recent news and articles posted:

https://irishphoto.ie/news/

Distinction Sittings and Availability:

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

Videos are available 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 login to the site. If you don’t remember your login details go to https://www.offshoot.ie/login/ and select the ‘Forgot your password?’ link. Enter the email address you received this newsletter with and reset your password. Once you’ve reset your password you can login and catch-up on speakers you missed. Happy catching up!