OffShoot Photography Society We believe that the image is everything!

30th January 2021

News

It’s difficult to believe that January is all but behind us with a lock-down as harsh as we have seen. Let us hope that February will herald the dawn to eventual relief from this plague. To all who have suffered its effects we extend our sympathy and for all of us let’s hope we may once again, if tentatively at first, gather together. On a more positive note, Covid-19 has enabled us to meet fellow photographers from further afield. 

Last week our competition – 2020 Vision – was judged superbly by members of the Enskede Fotoklubb, Stockholm, Sweden. 

Next Monday Night

On Monday we introduce you to Cherry Larcombe from Eastbourne who will talk to us on CREATIVE FLOWER PHOTOGRAPHY. If you love flowers or a creative way of looking at whatever genre you love best then this is for you. As Cherry says ‘creative photography is not just about Photoshop it starts in the mind. It’s about ideas and imagination’. 

If you don’t think flowers are your ‘thing’, creative photography surely is so come along, imagine and get some ideas.

Shoot With Me (SWM)

The SWM team have sent out the choices. Don't forget to get back to George with your preferences.

Learn With Me (LWM)

A big thank you to all who have completed the questionnaire. None of us knows everything about photography and for most of us, the best way to learn is by putting what we have been shown into practice.

Our plan is to run workshops outside our normal meeting rota. But in order for us to help you, you must help us. If you haven’t already done so please complete it as soon as possible at the link https://www.offshoot.ie/lwm-survey/.

Please do give us your feedback.

Club Competition for Judging 29th March

Check out the details of the next competition all the way down at the bottom of the Newsletter. (We've put it there just to make sure you read the whole Newsletter!)

What do we all look like?

Having all gone virtual we miss the personal interaction and sometimes it’s difficult to fit a face to a name? We are exploring how we can expand the website to solve this. Watch this space.

2021 Annual Subscription Now Due

The annual subscription for 2021 for renewing members of €50 is now due. Please ensure that you pay by 28th February 2021. Payment can be made by PayPal at https://www.offshoot.ie/subs or bank transfer. Please email treasurer@offshoot.ie for BIC and IBAN details.

Accessing Video Recordings of Meetings

Last week's video of Chis is now up to access from the website.

You can access this and other recordings of past Zoom meetings in the Videos section of the Member's Area at https://www.offshoot.ie/member-area/. You will need to login 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 log in and catch-up on speakers you missed. Happy catching up!

Outings

The current Government Covid-19 Guidelines stipulate there must be 'no outdoor gatherings'. We are obliged, therefore, to suspend official outings for the immediate future.  Our priority is to protect the health of our membership.  We will keep our members informed and re-introduce as soon as we can. That doesn’t mean you can’t carry a camera with you on your stroll. It just means we can’t photograph together.

Ideas for personal photography outings while club outings are suspended

Bring your camera and a single lens with you for a walk this week and see what you can discover.

Garden Wildlife: You will be safely ‘cocooned’ and the birds will always visit if you leave some food out; goldfinches/the tit family/robins/sparrows/ starlings etc.

Coastal images: The Dublin coastline offers endless possibilities: sunrise/sunset/seabirds/stormy conditions etc

Rivers: also offer many opportunities to photograph wildlife: look out for herons/kingfishers/wagtails/dippers/cormorants/otters etc. 

Dublin Cityscapes: the Dublin City cityscape offers endless possibilities as well as street photography. Also, many of our local villages have buildings or monuments of architectural interest. 

Winter Landscapes: frost/snow/flooding/bare trees etc

Indoors: bokeh with your Christmas lights/still life/smoke/using a mirror/oil and water etc

 

Some Interesting Items

Some members might be interested in a podcast on the difficult ethical issues facing photojournalists:

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/sight-unseen

On Netflix, there is a charming movie about portrait photographer Elsa Dorfman called TheB-Side

This Weekly's Flickr Project: Vehicles

You can either freeze fast action like sports, water splashes or falling objects or blur moving objects like light trails, traffic, joggers, waterfalls, waves, cyclists, animals, birds rain...

For inspiration Google search: "Photos freeze-action" or "Photos blur-action"

Youtube tutorials here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqse6i2qWTU shutter speed explained

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6ksXz-nzqg  creative use of shutter speed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZdLudjkJSY&t=67s Panning a cyclist

Remember to include the Project Name at the start of the image title.

See more about how the OffShoot Weekly Flickr Theme works at https://tinyurl.com/flickrthem.

Future weekly projects are:

05/02/2021 - Abstract colour

12/02/2021 - Reflections

19/02/2021 - Yin-Yang 

26/02/2021 - World in a Water Drop

What's On

Speakers and Outings

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

Members will be able to attend our outings by registering for specific outings. Keep up to date with the latest events at https://www.offshoot.ie/whats-on/.

Member's Photo of the Week

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

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

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

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

Theme: Cloudscape by David Whitaker

Well Aged Sherry Bottles by Frank Gaughan

Interesting Video

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

PiXimperfectPS Exports will be Corrupted if You Miss This Step!

PHLEARNTesting the NEW Depth-Aware Haze in Photoshop

 

Club Competitions

You will have received notice from David Sisk emailed this week to all members on our next competition. The theme is 'The Natural World' and judging will take place on 29th March

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally so you can interpret the theme as broadly as you like - landscapes, seascapes, animals and plants, skies and celestial bodies, weather etc…

Please upload your entries before Monday 22nd March to:

https://www.dropbox.com/request/tuB7DLwSrwm7UKwacHSr.

Make sure to name your images in the following way Level - Membership number - Title

e.g. "L2-987-Glenmalure Waterfall.jpg"

Please also ensure that there are no distinguishing watermark on the image.

 

IPF Links & Events

 

Irish Photographic Federation Web Site:

https://irishphoto.ie/

Congrats to all our members who contributed to the wonderful results at the recent Shield competition.

Most recent news and articles posted:

https://irishphoto.ie/news/

 

Distinction Sittings and Availability:

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

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