OPS Weekly Newsletter 25 February 2024
- Next Tuesday’s meeting is via zoom and NOT being held in the hall
- Do start selecting your prints for our second print competition on 5 March
- The Silverband Hall will be close in April for three to four weeks due to renovation work. Our 2 April evening will be held at Old School House, Hertford Street, East Oxford, OX4 3AJ. Subsequent April evenings will be held at Holton Village Hall, Holton, Oxfordshire, OX33 1PR.
- Last meeting – “Street Photography My Way” with Peter Crane
Peter retired in 2009 and joined a camera club. In 2010 he heard about and joined the RPS London Street Walk and later joined a similar one in Bath and became a ‘street photographer’ – photographing people on the street. He also became a camera club judge and started giving talks to camera clubs and this one was his hundredth talk.
His other ‘hobby’ is angling and he likens street photography to angling: you catch a moment, which will be a chance event, you need to be alert and switched on, and you need a bit of confidence and patience.
His equipment used to be Nikon but now has switched over to Fuji and shoots with a 16-80 mm lens. He doesn’t use a neck strap but a wrist strap. His exposure settings are manual, centre weighted, but uses auto ISO and uses 1/125 second shutter speed. For auto focus he uses ‘back button focussing’.
Sometimes he will shoot from the hip and to help with getting the camera level he uses a very simple and cheap spirit level. He had a load of them and sold them at £1 a piece.
He advices not to dress to stand out, wear comfortable shoes and carry a simple backpack, not a bag that screams ‘I’m a photographer’. See Wear Good Shoes, tips for young (or young at heart) photographers from Magnum.
He started showing his street photos and he likes looking for colour matching of his subjects. Like Charlie Waite’s advice he likes blue and yellow in his shots. If his subjects are matching in colour he usually has a good shot.
He likes to get everything right in camera and uses Photoshop Elements to crop and lighten and that’s it. He works in colour but if there is a distracting colour in his image he will switch the image to black and white. He had a nice black and white image of a person who as behind a series of vertical spouts of water. On chilly days there are good opportunities for shots, such as people in a cloud of their vaping. He showed great shots of reflections with his camera tight against a shop window.
He doesn’t shoot children except his own granddaughters. He had a delightful shot of them up against a piece of street art of a couple of same aged granddaughters. The image looked as if there was a conversation between both sets of children.
He is into visual jokes, such and two police officers passing a club emblazoned with the club’s name COPPA, a bald headed man passing a shop with bald headed models, and a woman in a black and white polka dot dress next to large images of Dalmatian dogs.
He then put up a warning sign: Suitable only for 15 years and over, and showed images of the annual No Trousers on the Tube Day. After this we were treated to World Naked Bike Ride. Some excellent and ‘brings a smile’ images.
See his street photography on his website here. An enjoyable evening with a very good street photographer who certainly knows how to capture an engaging image or two.
- Next week’s meeting Tuesday 27 February: Rosebowl Competition Via Zoom – Hosted by OPS
Note this is not being held at the Silverband Hall but via zoom from a room of your choice. Round 3 with Oxford PS, Wantage CC, Croxley CC and Harrow CC.
Zoom link is here https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87917385255?pwd=LqEeAabSMNI87i4QzetUwywhzJzqiK.1
- Upcoming meetings in February and March
Tuesday 5 March: Print Competition No. 2
Judge will be Kevin Day
Tuesday 12 March: ZOOM Presentation – Phil Savoie with his talk “The Principles of Photography talk”
Phil Savoie talk is geared to inform everyone from the seasoned pro to beginners.
The talk contains a significant chapter on Astrophotography. He will address the often overlooked topics covered in Principles of Photography.
19 March: Best Use of Light
Judged by our very own Phil Joyce
- Exhibition at the central Library, Westgate, Oxford
If you haven’t yet visited it do go as it is well worth it.
- Photo themed events in Oxford
Launch Event | Elena Gallina, Çiknia jonë: Our Girlhood Rhodes Trust
Explore the Kosovar practice of collecting and trading paper napkins at this photography exhibition.
6:30pm/Free/Thu 29th Feb 24Rhodes House South Parks Road Oxford
Bluebell photography course
Capture spring’s stunning display of colours whilst exploring the Arboretum. Learn various methods to photograph trees, plants and views with your own camera
10.30am – 1pm/£50/Sat 4th May 24 Harcourt Arboretum Nuneham Courtenay
Meadow photography course
Capture our wonderful meadow in bloom in the summer whilst exploring the Arboretum. Learn various methods to photograph trees, plants and views with your own camera
10.30am – 1pm/£50/Sat 15th Jun 24Harcourt Arboretum Nuneham Courtenay
Natural Photography Workshop
Leave the cameras at home and try a photography workshop with a difference. Create your own beautiful prints from plants and explore a new experimental photographic technique that references Sir John Frederick William Herschel’s discoveries in the 1800s
10.30am – 2.30pm/£50/Wed 3rd Jul 24. Harcourt Arboretum Nuneham Courtenay
- Photo exhibitions further afield
DAVID BOWIE – A LONDON DAY A new exhibition of photographs by Kevin Davies
The Fitzrovia Chapel is proud to announce a new exhibition of photographs title DAVID BOWIE – A LONDON DAY by Kevin Davies, capturing David Bowie over the course of a single day in 1992, which will open on 1st March and run until 20th March 2024 as part of The Fitzrovia Chapel’s Cultural Programme. Entrance is free and you don’t need a ticket or to book.
https://www.fitzroviachapel.org/event/david-bowie-a-london-day-5/
Best photography exhibitions to see in 2024
One of the best ways to gain inspiration for your photography and exploring different styles is by experiencing and viewing the work of other photographers and artists. We’ve put together a selection of the best exhibitions on around the UK during 2024 to see photography; including exhibitions that present photographs alongside other disciplines.
Below, you’ll find the information you need including dates, location and ticket details to plan your trips.
https://amateurphotographer.com/latest/articles/best-photography-exhibitions-to-see/
- General photographic interest
A familiar ring: Hull’s 1960s cream telephone boxes – in pictures
Growing up in Hull, Esther Johnson loved the city’s distinctive cream telephone boxes. The artist and film-maker has now tracked down and photographed the remaining K8 kiosks, designed by architect Bruce Martin in the mid-1960s. “It’s a slick, functional design – modern and quite space-age, for the time,” she says. Nine of these kiosks, in the local Honeysuckle Cream tone, were given Grade II-listed status in February 2023. “The series isn’t just about nostalgia – it’s about noticing what’s in your environment and preserving these things for future generations,” says Johnson. “Hull sometimes gets a bad rap, but there’s a lot of charm to the city.”
Deutsche Börse prize review – from crotchless knickers to the sound of a grave
Photographers’ Gallery, London
The photographic equivalent of the Turner prize delves into our current state of loss and absence to such a degree that one installation doesn’t feature images at all
‘A visual testament to Palestinian society’: inside a powerful new photography book
Timely new book Against Erasure shows the ‘breadth and richness’ of Palestine before the Nakba in 1948 when 750,000 people were forced from their homes
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/feb/22/against-erasure-palestine-photo-book
Edward Burtynsky on climate, abstraction, and hanging photos like paintings
The Canadian artist has captured our scars on the planet for over four decades. His largest ever show is a rallying cry with multiple voices
RPS Distinctions, qualifications & other certificated courses
The RPS offers qualifications, Distinctions and certificated courses to cater for every photographic experience level. There are also opportunities with The Open University, The Open College of Arts, boomsatsuma and Falmouth University. Qualifications are an excellent way of setting yourself educational challenges and projects to help further your skills and focus your work (additional fee required).
https://rps.org/qualifications/