Waverley Camera Club

As a further followup on the excellent talk from David Williams a number of the photos he took that night are now available in a gallery.

These range from the group shot taken at the beginning of the night:

through to individual portraits:

Following the excellent talk from David Williams at the last workshop evening, Ross Garner sent through the following:

After the inspiring talk from David Williams last tuesday night I have been doing some research on lenses and remote flash triggers.

I found this site had good information: Strobist: Lighting 101

The following comments are for Canon users, however I think the same price points apply to Nikon and other brand cameras.

Lenses

Canon make two (affordable) 50mm lenses:

• EF 50mm f/1.8 II, costs about $140
• EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, costs about $500

I noticed David was using the Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM which costs about $650

Seems the Sigma is recognised as the best lens. However the cheaper Canon does get good review for sharpness on non full frame DSLR cameras.

Remote control

Only the Canon ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter gives TTL contol of the flash. ie the flash intensity controlled by the camera.

Available 3rd party items will trigger the flash, but not control the intensity

There is a limit of about 10m between the camera and the flash

In addition to the Sigma 50mm lens (available for other brands than Nikon, eg Canon), David was also demonstrating using a Nikon D5000 (shows you don’t need the expensive camera to get great results) and was triggering the external flashes with a Nikon SU-800 Wireless Speedlight Commander.

Both the Canon ST-E2 and Nikon SU-800 use infrared light which is what limits their range. Recently E-TTL compatible radio based remote triggers have become available, however they are quite pricey and are a significant investment (as much or more as your camera).

If you were also inspired and want to learn more, then you should be coming along to the Portrait & Flash Photography group at its second meeting next Wednesday. The site Ross found, Strobist, was also mentioned by David Gilliver at the first meeting and I expect it to be an essential resource for the group.

Tonight’s workshop sees the very welcome return of David Williams.

David will be demonstrating how to get the most out a portrait shoot no matter where you are or what equipment you have at hand. This will be a great night to come along and get your portrait done by one of the other members under the tutelage of a master photographer.

You will need to bring a couple of things: your good self; your camera and some sort of prop that says something about you. It could be another hobby you have or an object you are particularly fond of. Use your imagination.

Because we want to maximise our exposure and make as much use of whatever light we have, THE EVENING WILL BEGIN AT 7PM SHARP.

Tonight at WCC we are having our first workshop for the year and it is to do with software.

Rather than have one person up the front and the rest all sat down looking at the screen we will try something different. It has been proven that the method used in the past doesn’t work for several reasons.

So what we will try is this:

I would like everyone who is able to bring their laptop (or PC’s if you prefer) with them tonight. We can then split up into much smaller groups and therefore (in theory) be able to cater for all levels of expertise. All the people who are familiar with Photoshop/Lightroom/Elements and so on will be able to demonstrate what they know and all those for whom digital editing is still a bit of a mystery will be able to ask questions specific to them.

This will only work if everyone participates.

We also have the monitor calibration tool which is available to anyone who wants to use it.

See you all tonight,
Pete

The portrait session held on the Tuesday workshop night was again another huge success. 28 members and 5 guests signed the book but a few of us agreed that there were many more that attended, probably nearer 40.

The night started with Pete showing off the clubs latest equipment, a new aluminium stand and backdrops. This combined with the old stand and new backdrop set up in the front room and the crowds building up, it quickly became obvious that we wouldn’t be able to run this event in the one room and half of the gear was moved to the back room. With both of these and a darkened room set up for longer exposures, we were all keen to get started.

The President addressed the room and announced that the models for the night were all of us. This didn’t get the negative response that was expected and the night was started by Fred Bullock posing in the back room. It soon became apparent that we have some natural models amongst us and it wasn’t long before most of us had sat for the paparazzi like mobs that surrounded each model.

Anne poses whilst John snaps away

Jill posing whilst her husband Peter Takes shots.

The darkened room had some fantastic shadow patterns showing from the blinds in the windows, courtesy of the bright car park lamp shining in through the window.

All in all a great night was had by all and I for one can’t wait for the next portrait session.