After Repeated Failures
Paul Malley • 31 March 2023
Lancaster
Photo By: Paul Malley
Kingfisher
Photo By: Paul Malley
Perilous
Photo By: Paul Malley
LEARNING FROM MISTAKES
After repeated failures, Thomas Edison was purported to have stated that he "now knew of a thousand different ways not to make a light bulb work"; Following many trials and errors, he finally came across a process which successfully led to the development for the initial grounding for what we accept today, to be a common place and accepted item. Perhaps it is also the same in our journey through Photography? As I look back through some of my earlier personal work and images, they would be classed as nothing short of 'disastrous' compared to today's standards, but they were all part of my transition and development. In today's Club Competitions, I wouldn't expect to get an 11/12 (from a favourable Judge) based on the ideas, methods and simple 'Fads' in use at that time. Follow me through 3 of my earlier failures...
1. Lancaster. Many software programs nowadays include a simple 'Solarisation' slider. Used carefully and in moderation, I find they can enhance vibrancy in some colours. In the very early good(?), old days of Photoshop Elements, the way to get Solarised effects was to play drastically and erratically with the Curves feature, locking midpoint and dragging the sides up and down until you were happy with the wildly extreme gaudy effects, which often came close to burning your retinas out. No two images came out the same, there was no consistency and the awful garish results produced were not to everyone's taste. However, it was a new FAD, and I did sell multiple copies of Military aircraft using different extremes of this process. I learned it in 2008 and its been 15yrs since I've used it. Colour-popping anyone? - try it, get over it.
2. Perilous. One of the things I've come to learn in photography is that the image needs to 'look real'. In attempting to create dynamic, fast paced action shots, 'Dutch Tilt' is a favoured method, either on an upward or downward incline. Just bear in mind where there is a pronounced horizon or waterline, it's a dead give-away. In this image, the Rider is too tight in the frame, has no breathing space and looks like he's just about to fall off the edge of the Planet; another 12 maybe for this because at least we can see his face (more by luck than judgement). Moreover, reviewing my work, I've learned better about panning, shutter speed, focus lock, composition, angles and.... if Hornby ever produce a camera WITHOUT Back Button Focus option, that's the one for me!
3. Wholesome Meal. Oh dear, this is where the excitement of the event overtook me and, in selecting Canon's marvellous tracking AI Servo with High Speed Drive in machine-gun mode, I must have taken some 25 shots, almost identical. In the days of film this would not be cost effective; today in the almost infallible camera functionality, its more interpreted as a guaranteed way to get a shot. What a waste I tell myself; it's too small in the frame, composition is poor with the angle of the fish, the image is muted and dull in colour as I didn't wait for the right light and, because it's a cropped image its very much over-sharpened.
Sometimes it pays to be analytical, even self critical because it's a route to identifying areas which you can improve upon - and surely that something we all want to do in our hobby isn't it?
Louth Photographic Society
A print competition was held last night with the categories of "Trees" as the subject, and "Open". Our judge for the evening was Gail Wrigg from Barton who did an expert job. The first category to be judged was the "Open" with the high standard of prints making the choice of top placement difficult, and Gail held back 9 prints for further evaluation. There were some chuckles from members around one of Richard Hildred's prints of wooden electricity poles titled "In my previous life I used to be one of them" an "in" joke from Richard, which totally baffled Gail. After the break Gail judged the "Trees" category, with 7 prints held back this time for awarding of higher marks, the beautiful colours of some trees, especially the autumnal images contrasting with the stunning monochrome infrared prints from Richard Hildred. It was a great evening, with excellent prints on display, and the website Competition page has been updated with the full results.
Good Morning All Last week we visited the nature reserves at Fir Hill quarry and Muckton wood. I have written a blog report on the evening which is on our website. You can always try something a little different like I did using camera movement. This week, Wednesday 24th June, a print competition will be held, with the categories of "Trees" and "Open" and is to be judged by Gail Wrigg. The following week we have an outing to Kirkby Gravel pits. If you want advice on camera settings etc the outings are the perfect opportunity to ask other members while we all have our cameras. Regards Graham
Each year Louth Photographic Society begins a new project, one photo taken each month on a specific subject, that's 12 photos presented on "Project Night" in January. Last year the subject was "Prime Time" one photo each month taken with the same fixed focal length lens. This year the subject is water, the subject sounds easy enough, and I've completed 5 photos already, but I'm struggling a little with a photo for June. I'm currently on holiday in Corfu, an island surrounded by water which should be easy, but I'm yet to find the "definitive" photo for the project. These are my photos so far this month: Best regards Derek
Good Evening All
Summer is here at last, maybe?
Last night a few of our members had an outing to Old Bolingbroke village. Initially visiting the Lincolnshire Wildlife Reserve of Sow Dale, off Spilsby Hill at the village entrance, I was a little hesitant at first at entering the reserve because of the grazing cattle. When the cattle herd moved up the hill we climbed over the stile and entered the reserve, as we began to take some photos around the reserve though, the herd returned, but seemed quite docile. Later in the evening we moved on to Bolingbroke castle, and took several photos of the castle, fauna, and flora. It was a lovely evening, good to get out with cameras, and socialise with others.
Good Morning All Last week I went to the Lincoln cathedral to see Queen by candlelight, a great night of music and some different lighting in the cathedral. Last week at the club we held our 1 st round of the LPA Battles against Grimsby and Scunthorpe. Members from the two other clubs attended making it a very full room with some excellent photography on show. Scunthorpe won on 255 points, Louth 2 nd with 250 points and Grimsby 3 rd with 245 points. This week there is a 2 nd round LPA Battle at Grantham on Tuesday evening, if any member wants to attend, please contact me for more details. We did decide to have an outing on Wednesday 10th June, I had thought of Donna Nook, but Derek has come up with another idea, Sow Dale and if time permits Bolingbroke Castle both out Horncastle way. Derek is going to see if it's worth visiting Sow Dale and will let us know. Don't forget to send your print titles to Dave Turner. Regards Graham
It was the LPA Battles last night, with Louth hosting Scunthorpe, and Grimsby. Diane Seddon was the judge for the evening, and gave excellent critique of all the the prints presented to her from the three clubs. Our club room was packed with our members, and representatives from Scunthorpe, and Grimsby clubs. At the break the points scores appeared fairly evenly matched. However, it was the highest scoring prints that swung the competition in favour of Scunthorpe, their still life prints of "Sunflowers", and "Weights and Measures" scored 20 points each, taking their cumulative score to a winning 255 points. None of Louth's prints achieved 20 points, but ended with a respectable 250 points. Grimsby produced some strong prints, "The Road to Talmont", and "What's Your Name?" received 20 points each, their overall score was 245 points. As Diane Seddon said the submitted print entries were of a very good standard, resulting in a closely matched contest. Congratulations to Scunthorpe for securing the lead in this LPA Battle round contest.
Good Morning All I did go to Chambers wood last week, not too much around but the Marsh Fritillaries are back again in the meadow. We had a good turnout for the meal on Friday, hope you all enjoyed it, thank you to my partner Jane for organising all the food orders. Everything went to plan until the chef dropped the roulade, hopefully your replacement was just as good. This week we have our first round of the LPA Battles against Grimsby and Scunthorpe. The judge for the evening is Diane Seddon. There should be a good turnout for this one with the other two clubs attending. The print competition with the categories of "Trees" and "Open" is to be held on the 24th of June, please email Dave Turner your titles and then bring your prints in on the night. Regards Graham
It’s been a fairly mundane May photography wise for me. I’ve visited Gibraltar Point, Messingham Sand Quarry, and Far Ings nature reserves, and taken some reasonable photos, but nothing really competition quality. The West Lindsey Open Churches Festival has been on for a couple of weekends, and I climbed the bell tower at St Peter, Scotter, had lunch at Kirton in Lindsey, and dropped in on a couple of churches in Caistor. My model photography has taken a back seat, I’ve not had a model shoot all of this month, I’ve had enquiries from a couple of models that I’ve worked with before, but not been able to arrange anything. Instead, I’ve been concentrating on wildlife, landscapes, and insect photography. My OM Systems cameras have been with me every day, the OM-5 is my daily carry, and the OM-1 is my heavy hitter, especially with the OM 100-400mm lens, or the 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens. I’m continuing to take images for the “Water” project, that’s one image of water for each month, providing twelve images to show on “Project Night” in January 2027. The May photo is an indoor creative image taken on a wet day. The trees, and horses were taken at Gibraltar Point, the Heron, and swans were at Messingham Sand Quarry.
