This will be a list of interesting photo-related websites including photo blogs kept up by prominent photographers. Club members are welcome to add their favourites to the page by using the comments facility at the bottom of the page. You don't need a Blogger account, just click the Comment link below, type in your message and select the Anonymous option, but be sure to put you name in the body of the message.
Marc Sibler has a wonderful photo blog crammed with videos in which he explains how to take better pictures. HINT: It isn't about equipment.
Joe McNally: One of my favourite current photographers is Joe McNally, who worked for National Geographic, among many other major clients. He keeps a regular blog of his doings and you can learn a lot from it. He is also one of the lecturers on Kelby training: see entry below.
Scott Kelby: Scott is the guru of Photoshop gurus and a pretty mean photographer as well. He has a regular informative blog, does a free weekly Photoshop show at Photoshop User TV, a free weekly TV show for Nikon owners, and runs Kelby Training, an online training facility that costs a flat $19 per month and will allow you to view an unlimited number of video courses on all aspects of photography, including Photoshop, Lightroom and photographic and flash techniques.
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Saturday, April 25, 2009
Our Group at Flickr.com
There are some conspicuous exceptions but some members gave now established online photo albums at Flickr.com. Online albums are good to have to show off your pictures to others and they're free, so why not.
* The first step is create an account at Flickr.com.
* Next, you upload pictures to your album, making sure to say that they are open to viewed by anyone.
Visiting many different members' pages could soon get to be very time-consuming but luckily Flickr provides a way to create Groups (with their own pages) that people can join, and to which they can submit pictures. Our Hillcrest Camera Club Group is at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/hcc/.
To use a group, you have to join it and submit pictures to it.
Joining the group
NOTE: At this time, you can submit one picture per day to the group
Comments
Group members are able to leave comments on any pictures by using the facility at the bottom of the page. You are urged to leave constructive comments on any pictures you like. If you do that, there's a chance that people will do the same for you.
One interesting way of doing this is by using the the Add Note feature which is displayed above most enlarged pictures (unless the photographer has specifically said they don't want notes). Just click the Add Note button at the top of the picture and you will get a dotted box, which you can resize and reposition to cover part of the picture. You also get a space to type in whatever text you want to put in the note. In future, when anyone else looks at the picture, they will be able to read the note. See my picture for an example of what it looks like.
Hint: position the mouse cursor over the picture and the click on the box when it appears.
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* The first step is create an account at Flickr.com.
* Next, you upload pictures to your album, making sure to say that they are open to viewed by anyone.
Visiting many different members' pages could soon get to be very time-consuming but luckily Flickr provides a way to create Groups (with their own pages) that people can join, and to which they can submit pictures. Our Hillcrest Camera Club Group is at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/hcc/.
To use a group, you have to join it and submit pictures to it.
Joining the group
- Go to your Flickr page.
- Click on the Groups menu option and select Search for a Group from the list.
- Type Hillcrest Camera Club into the search box and click Search.
- Select our Club from the list that comes up.
- Click Join above the rows of picture thumbnails; it might take up to a day or two for the request to be processed
- Go to your Flickr page.
- Click the picture you want to share with the group and an enlargement of the picture appears.
- Click the Send to Group button located immediately above the picture.
- Click name of the Group you want to send the picture to.
NOTE: At this time, you can submit one picture per day to the group
Comments
Group members are able to leave comments on any pictures by using the facility at the bottom of the page. You are urged to leave constructive comments on any pictures you like. If you do that, there's a chance that people will do the same for you.
One interesting way of doing this is by using the the Add Note feature which is displayed above most enlarged pictures (unless the photographer has specifically said they don't want notes). Just click the Add Note button at the top of the picture and you will get a dotted box, which you can resize and reposition to cover part of the picture. You also get a space to type in whatever text you want to put in the note. In future, when anyone else looks at the picture, they will be able to read the note. See my picture for an example of what it looks like.
Hint: position the mouse cursor over the picture and the click on the box when it appears.
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Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Meeting/Outing April 2009
Hi All
This is your friendly reminder of the two Hillcrest Camera Club happenings this week!
Thursday 16th April , 7.00pm at Augusta (see here for directions! ) There will be coffee and tea and you can either bring other drinks or order from the bar before 7pm.
We will be discussing Portraits – the Headshot!
Your “entrance fee” is the following:-
- Your monochrome print (homework from March’s Thursday night meeting)
- A print or digital file of an image by Yousuf Karsh.
Obviously if you are coming along for the first time to a Thursday session, then you don’t have to bring your monochrome homework, but you still need to find an image by Yousuf Karsh!
On Thursday we will look at and discuss your monochrome prints/images. Then Geoff Purnell will give a 5min presentation on Yousuf Karsh, and by way of a counterpoint Allan Jackson will give a 5min presentation of images by Annabel Williams.
We will then look at and discuss your images that you brought by Yousuf Karsh. The purpose of this session is to be exposed to portraiture by a “master”, and gain an understanding on why their images work so well and are highly regarded. This can only help one develop one’s own style!
April Outing
Saturday 18th April, 6.00am onwards at Steinbank Nature Reserve at Yellowood Park.
There is a small entrance fee payable at the gate – it is an Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Reserve.
Unfortunately we can not get entrance to the Steinbank Castle, but we can walk around the gardens outside! The wildlife in the Reserve is very tame (zebras in particular), and the scenery is spectacular. There are patches of open grassland between Coastal Dune Forest, and even a little dam, so wildlife, landscape and architecture photographic opportunities abound!. There are a few roads to drive on, and one is encouraged to walk…….
Geoff will bring the ingredients for an egg and bacon (and coffee!) on a roll or plate breakfast, some fruit juice, and organise a few skottels and a braai fire. It suggested that you bring your own cutlery, mug and anything special that you may want for breakfast. Geoff will bring a gas stove and large kettle, and limited quantities of real coffee and a plunger, so if you really want coffee maybe bring your own flask or instant coffee!
The idea is that you get to the main gate as soon after 6.00am as possible to capture the magic early morning autumn light. Maybe drive around along the two available roads and then park up at the boma. Wonder around to your heart’s content, and then meet back at the boma at about 9.30. We will then cook and consume breakfast there.
To get to Steinbank – look at your map or GPS! Once through the main gate, you have 3 options. The road going to the right goes down to a picnic site. The road straight ahead goes up to the castle (it says private road, but we are allowed to go up it to the castle, which is on your right about 1km up the road). The road to the left goes to the main car park, which is a nice place to start a few walks from. To get to the boma, you turn left off this road a short distance after leaving the main gate. You then follow this road upwards for approximately 1km – it is pretty, going through forest and along the edge of a grassland. It then turns 90 degrees to the right, by now you are in the forest! Keep your eyes open for a turn off to the left which takes you straight into the boma area. If you carry on straight, you drive along a very beautiful road that is completely covered over by the forest! This road eventually takes you to the castle.
As we cannot book the boma I will try and go straight there and occupy it!
See you there!!
Geoff Purnell
.
This is your friendly reminder of the two Hillcrest Camera Club happenings this week!
Thursday 16th April , 7.00pm at Augusta (see here for directions! ) There will be coffee and tea and you can either bring other drinks or order from the bar before 7pm.
We will be discussing Portraits – the Headshot!
Your “entrance fee” is the following:-
- Your monochrome print (homework from March’s Thursday night meeting)
- A print or digital file of an image by Yousuf Karsh.
Obviously if you are coming along for the first time to a Thursday session, then you don’t have to bring your monochrome homework, but you still need to find an image by Yousuf Karsh!
On Thursday we will look at and discuss your monochrome prints/images. Then Geoff Purnell will give a 5min presentation on Yousuf Karsh, and by way of a counterpoint Allan Jackson will give a 5min presentation of images by Annabel Williams.
We will then look at and discuss your images that you brought by Yousuf Karsh. The purpose of this session is to be exposed to portraiture by a “master”, and gain an understanding on why their images work so well and are highly regarded. This can only help one develop one’s own style!
April Outing
Saturday 18th April, 6.00am onwards at Steinbank Nature Reserve at Yellowood Park.
There is a small entrance fee payable at the gate – it is an Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Reserve.
Unfortunately we can not get entrance to the Steinbank Castle, but we can walk around the gardens outside! The wildlife in the Reserve is very tame (zebras in particular), and the scenery is spectacular. There are patches of open grassland between Coastal Dune Forest, and even a little dam, so wildlife, landscape and architecture photographic opportunities abound!. There are a few roads to drive on, and one is encouraged to walk…….
Geoff will bring the ingredients for an egg and bacon (and coffee!) on a roll or plate breakfast, some fruit juice, and organise a few skottels and a braai fire. It suggested that you bring your own cutlery, mug and anything special that you may want for breakfast. Geoff will bring a gas stove and large kettle, and limited quantities of real coffee and a plunger, so if you really want coffee maybe bring your own flask or instant coffee!
The idea is that you get to the main gate as soon after 6.00am as possible to capture the magic early morning autumn light. Maybe drive around along the two available roads and then park up at the boma. Wonder around to your heart’s content, and then meet back at the boma at about 9.30. We will then cook and consume breakfast there.
To get to Steinbank – look at your map or GPS! Once through the main gate, you have 3 options. The road going to the right goes down to a picnic site. The road straight ahead goes up to the castle (it says private road, but we are allowed to go up it to the castle, which is on your right about 1km up the road). The road to the left goes to the main car park, which is a nice place to start a few walks from. To get to the boma, you turn left off this road a short distance after leaving the main gate. You then follow this road upwards for approximately 1km – it is pretty, going through forest and along the edge of a grassland. It then turns 90 degrees to the right, by now you are in the forest! Keep your eyes open for a turn off to the left which takes you straight into the boma area. If you carry on straight, you drive along a very beautiful road that is completely covered over by the forest! This road eventually takes you to the castle.
As we cannot book the boma I will try and go straight there and occupy it!
See you there!!
Geoff Purnell
.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Cool photo site
Check out the Life magazine website. It's got pictures from many of the great photographers from the past and new photos too. There are also many Life photos on display at Google; see here.
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