- Our second exhibition at the Central Library in the Westgate shopping centre will run from 19 February for three weeks. The theme is My Oxford. Deadline to let Les know of your (two) entries is Tuesday 6 Feb. Bring your pictures, bagged to avoid scratches, to the club meetings on 13 Feb.
- Last meeting – Digital Lecture TALKING PICTURES with Chris Palmer
Chris delighted us with an incredible array of superb landscape images. He describes himself more of a ‘location’ rather than a landscape photographer. He certainly is not a shoot from the hip photographer either as he explained as he went through his approach to his photographic art.
He shoots mainly using a tripod, this slows him down and makes his approach to a location ‘considered’. He will first explore the location before setting up his gear. Hiss advice is ‘don’t waste your time on easy mediocrity’, look at what the light is doing, use a polarising filter – sparingly, no need to ramp it up to 11. Early morning and late afternoon light helps enormously to help create images that appear three dimensional. Be careful with harsh light, dull light can be your friend, as you can always add contrast later, but it is difficult to take contrast away.
The seasons are important too. Dappled light can help, and so can mist and fog, to create mood and atmosphere. Even rain can be your friend, even when it is cold and miserable it is better being outside taking atmospheric photos than sat indoors cold and miserable.
He also advised that we think about the subject and its relationship with the background. He illustrated this with images taken at various distances from his subject – a tomb in a churchyard. The further he walked away from the tomb and the church then the relationship between the two ‘compressed’. This very effectively demolished the old fallacy that telephoto lenses compresses an image. They don’t. It is the distance away from the subject that gives the impression of compression, not the lens.
When it is harsh light going monochrome can help. Black and white can handle a very bright sunny day due to its ability to exploit graphical elements, line, shape and texture. The colours are always better in black and white.
In the second half Chris showed us images taken on the beach. Words cannot do them justice so please see his website here.
He likens photography to cooking. Get all the ingredients ready and put them together in the right way and enjoy. On the beach Chris will explore and linger, look around, acclimatise, assimilate, with camera around his neck and tripod over his shoulder before he decides what his focus is going to be.
He likes tides that are receding, they are free of distractions such as footprints. They are also wet which is good for reflections. He looks up as well, as the sky must compliment the scene. Bad weather can be a gift for the beach photographer and helps put some excitement into your images.
Beaches are very good for those ‘intimate landscapes’. Chris showed some exquisite images of single pebbles on the beach and he was not averse to helping his composition with the deft placement of a pebble in the scene.
He had a series of outstanding shots of round granite stones, known locally as dinosaur eggs, just nestling on a rock or in a crevice, all taken on a dull overcast day. And who would have thought seaweed would make an interesting and beautiful subject matter?
An excellent and inspiring evening, many thanks to Chris for sharing his art. Check out his website here
- Next week’s meeting Tuesday 6 February: “The Art of Paper Selection” with Colin Hurley from Permajet
Colin, who works for the Imaging Warehouse, will be talking about the wide range of papers that can be used for printing and what the outcome would be for choosing the wrong paper.
Colin has offered as a goodwill gesture, pleased to provide OPS members with the following voucher codes to use on either the Permajet or Photographic Academy website.
PJFREE20
This entitles the member to 20% discount off any Permajet branded paper and FREE delivery. (www.permajet.com).
ACADEMY25
This entitles the member to 25% discount off selected (*) courses held at our Photographic Academy. (www.thephotographicacademy.co.uk).
- Upcoming meetings in February
Tuesday 6 February:
Tuesday 13 February: A passage to India and Brazil. Sandra Devaney’s visit to India and Linda Wride’s trip to Brazil
In the first half Sandra will present her street/documentary images from her recent visit to India and in the second half Linda, who has only arrived back in the UK on 29 January from her trip to Brazil, will be showing her architectural images.
Many thanks to both for stepping in at such short notice.
Tuesday 20 February: “Street Photography My Way” with Peter Crane
Peter Crane’s talk is a dpi lecture entitled ‘Street Photography My Way’, it’s where he take you into his world of Street Photography, covering in particular the various techniques, tips and the equipment he uses – Seeing and catching moments in time that thew OPS club members will hopefully relate to.
Tuesday 27 February: Rosebowl Competition Via Zoom – Hosted by OPS
Round 3 with Oxford PS, Wantage CC, Croxley CC and Harrow CC.
- Exhibition at the central Library, Westgate, Oxford
You would have received Les’s email. Here it is again:
As advised the next exhibition is from Monday 19th Feb for the set up and Monday 11th March for the take down.
The theme selected for this exhibition is : “Everything to do with Oxford”
Thank you to all the members who wrote to me with their choice for their preferred exhibition Theme, Unfortunately we had so few people in any one category that i think to make this work we need to have a wider remit so a lot more people can join in.
Can those members who plan to exhibit please e-mail me so that i can get an idea of numbers and the amount of space we need. Ideally we would want 40 prints
I was sent this information from Ian from a past member “Terry Lee” who had the job of Exhibition Secretary for OPS in the past and there is some really useful information which you may find help full.
I have used Terry Lee’s e-mail and his word document about Brooks and amended it where necessary
Mounts please use White Boards 50 x 40
Prints: They can be colour or monochrome and any size or shape but most members opt for A3 or A4. If you haven’t got a decent printer, I could recommend Brookes Print at Brookes University (www.brookes.ac.uk/brookes-print (see attachment for details). Also online printers DSColour (www.dscolourlabs.co.uk) are good but be sure to read their recommendations with respect to file size, colour profile etc before submitting your image. Another online printer, Photobox (www.photobox.co.uk), has also received acclaim by several members.
DIY Label (see attachment). In Word, type out your picture title (UPPER CASE) and name (lower case) in Arial, Bold, size 12 font, centre text. If you have a personal photography website this can also be included as Arial, Bold, size 10 font, centre text, underlined in blue. Print and cut to size. Fold around the bottom right-hand corner of the mount at 45 degrees to the corner and attach each end on the reverse side with sellotape. See image for reference:
IMPORTANT DEADLINES
Feb 06th – final date for notifying me that you will be submitting 2 pictures. Bring your picture(s), bagged to avoid scratches, to the club meetings on Feb 13th or drop them into the Library.
This is a wonderful opportunity to show the world (well, Oxford anyway) what a fine bunch of photographers we all are (!) – don’t miss out!
We look forward to receiving your pictures.
- Photo themed events in Oxford
History and Myth in Painting, Sculpture and Photography
Discover how historical events, myths and stories from the ancient world have inspired artists through an investigation of a variety of works from the ancient world to the present day
10am – 4pm/£41.00/Mon 5th Feb 24 Oxford University Dept. of Continuing Education – Rewley House Dept. of Continuing Education 1 Wellington Square Oxford
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 24Harcourt 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
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 24Harcourt Arboretum Nuneham Courtenay
Eco-Friendly Photo Developers OVADA
Learn how to use plant-based chemicals to make your own eco-friendly photography developers.
10-1pm/Standard Cost: £75 / Pay Less: £60 / Pay more: £90/Sat 24th Feb 24OVADA Warehouse14A Osney Lane Oxford
Chemigrams with Sally Gunnett OVADA
Learn about an alternative photographic technique that uses household substances to create images.
2-5pm/£37.50 – £62.50/Sat 24th Feb 24 OVADA Warehouse14A Osney Lane 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
- Photo exhibitions further afield
One Year! Photographs from the Miners’ Strike 1984/85 exhibition
Four decades after the brutal industrial dispute, a new exhibition looks back at the photography that came to symbolise the British state’s abuse of power.
Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol, 18 January to 31 March.
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
Photography Online video: Light Painting | Wildlife Photography | Photo Challenge | Fuji GX617 Panoramic Lighthouse Shoot
In this action packed episode of Photography Online, we start what must be the UK’s most demanding photo challenge – to shoot all 15 UK national parks in only one week. Day 01 sees them in the Cairngorms and the Trossachs. We then take advantage of the dark evenings by doing some light painting with one of the UK’s most experienced night time photographers. We’re then off to Chester Zoo to see how difficult it is to take wildlife photos which look like they’re in the wild. We reveal the winner of our £2000 photo holiday and take a sneak preview of what to expect from The Photography Show – Europe’s largest photo retail exhibition which happens next month at the NEC. We end the show on a remote Scottish island, as we attempt to capture a dramatic photo on a Fuji GX617 camera in 60mph winds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rn17d5BUKU
‘An enigma, an artist who walked to his own beat’: the everyday sublime of photographer Saul Leiter
For 60 years, the American quietly captured small, luminous details of life on the streets of New York. He was also a notable painter. The biggest UK show of his work will celebrate this remarkable, self-effacing artist
Dive into the surreal: strange views of Cuba – in pictures
Cuban photographer Raúl Cañibano worked as a welder before beginning a photographic journey he describes as ‘somehow surrealist’
Meeting their match: photos that talk to each other – in pictures
Joel Meyerowitz’s latest exhibition presents his work in pairs, revealing how two images have extraordinary parallels in light, colour and composition