OffShoot Photography Society We believe that the image is everything!

11th April 2020

News

Bank Holiday Special 

We normally do not publish the newsletter on Bank Holiday weekends, but are doing so to announce this week's Offshoot Flickr Theme.

Weekly Theme 

The next weekly Offshoot Flickr Theme is  "Spring / Easter".   

The idea is to capture the essence of Spring or Easter (or both). It could be Easter Eggs, Easter Cake or a still life with an Easter or Spring theme, Spring Flowers (inside or outdoor), Spring Growth, etc.  Look in the ordinary or look for the unusual.  Images can be posted to our Flickr group from Monday. This is a short week with the final deadline set for 9pm next Friday night. This give your hard working editors a window to update the Newsletter, so we can include the Theme images plus normal Flickr posts in our weekly newsletter, published on a Saturday.

Images can be mono or colour or subdued or subtle or glossy or brash.  

This is not a competition but an opportunity to have fun with your camera or post-processing skills or both. These exercises are good for getting us to use our cameras and our minds,  and to look for unusual compositions or situations related to the theme.  Remember there are no judges, no-one checking for over-sharpening, for eyes out of focus or rules of thirds.  We are looking for variety and expression.  Normal Flickr rules apply.

Members do not have to enter every week.  The only condition is that you enter the Theme title  "Spring / Easter" at the very beginning of the Title Description field when uploading to Flickr, so we can recognise 'Themed' images. People can continue to post non-themed images to Flickr.

[Note. To join the Offshoot Flickr group, you must first be a Flickr member. Then send the email address used to join Flickr to webmaster@offshoot.ie. You will get an email when you have been added to the group. Please be patient as this is a manual process.]

New Digital Competition 

See details in the competition section below.

Virtual Meetings / Presentations Update 

A number of  small scale tests took place this week using 'Zoom' , but delayed progressing because of some recent bad Zoom publicity.  Following due consideration, we will start with Zoom initially and hope to progress this further this week.

In parallel, Peter Gordan has offered to host one of our virtual meetings.  

We will update you on progress and issue details on upcoming virtual/web events as soon as we have details confirmed.

Annual Exhibition 

We are pleased to confirm that agreement has been reached with the library to defer the exhibition until the Autumn.  

This means that you can continue to work on your exhibition images and submit them to this link when you are ready. 

https://www.dropbox.com/request/9bNDicu71JFLXL1W4eHx 

Please be assured that we will not print or frame the images until we are comfortable that the exhibition will proceed and people can fully enjoy such an event.

Tony will circulate a note with more specific details in due course.

If you have any further queries, please contact Dave or Tony.

Shoot With Me (SWM)

The Shoot With Me is only suspended from a group or club perspective, but individuals are completely free to progress their own projects at a time and pace that suits them. We will republish dates for the SWM when that is possible.  

Summary

We wish to emphasise that all of the activities are all optional. The basic idea is to have a few things to focus on to maintain your hobby, continue to develop your skills, familiarity with your equipment. It is an opportunity to experiment and share with others the fruits of your labours. 

Furthermore, we can look forward to the eventual demise of this pandemic, knowing that we have an Exhibition and Shoot With Me ln the wings and ready to launch as soon as we have clarity on dates, etc.  We can use both to celebrate the return to more normal times.

 

Member's Photos of the Week

We are selecting one image from the weekly theme and one image from the general Offshoot Flickr posts.

Ken Dobson       Something Odd

Mark Elmore       Pink Moon Rising

Just a note for new members – if you want any of your pictures considered for the photo of the week, you just have to post them to the OffShoot Flickr group at:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/offshoot_society.

There’s also the latest images published on Flickr that are displayed on the OffShoot home page.

[Note. To join the Offshoot Flickr group, you must first be a Flickr member. Then send the email address used to join Flickr to webmaster@offshoot.ie. You will get an email when you have been added to the group. Please be patient as this is a manual process.]

Interesting Videos

Greg Benz: Easily restore beautiful colour and detail with exposure blending

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

Club Competitions

Competitions are currently on temporary hold.  The currently suspended competition will be the first competition held with a printed component when normal competitions resume, so all work in progress or prints can be used for this competition.

In the meantime, we are experimenting with a 'Digital Competition'.

 

"We're holding a digital competition this month, with a theme of 'My Photography These Days' - entries and judging will all take place online; this is a first, so let's boldly go where no OffShoot Competition has gone before!

Please interpret the theme as broadly as you like - you might be exploring a particular technique or genre, you might be having fun with your family, you might be documenting your daily life, you might use your camera as a tool for introspection and expression......There is also an Open category open to all Levels if you've been going through your old files and would like to share them."

Please upload your entries before Monday 27/4/2020 to:

https://www.dropbox.com/request/5pEIs0rRaXIJjdsskoZw.

Make sure to name your images in the following way Level (or Open) - Membership number - Title

e.g. "L2 - 987 - Me and  My Shadow.jpg" or "Open - 987 - Bustling Street.jpg"

If you have any specific queries please send them to:

competitions@offshoot.ie.

 

IPF Links & Events

Quote from the IPF Web Site

"Please be advised, In light of COVID-19 and the National Guidelines on the gathering of large crowds and most importantly in the interest of the Health & Safety of all our affiliated clubs and their members the Irish Photographic Federation have postponed the upcoming National Club Championships, Annual General Meeting and May Distinction Sitting that were all scheduled to take place on the weekend of May 16th & 17th 2020.  We will be hopefully re-scheduling these events later in the year and will keep you all informed through the IPF Website and Social Media Platforms."

 

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/

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