I'm Still Learning
Derek Smith • 15 October 2024
A Model Called Sugar
A portrait of a female model called Sugar by Derek Smith
Swan
A Swan on the Cleethorpes boating lake by Derek Smith
Cranford
The steam locomotive Cranford on the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway by Derek Smith
St. Hybalds Church
St Hybalds Church at Hibaldstow, North Lincolnshire by Derek Smith
Photography is one of those hobbies where you’re constantly learning whether it’s the details of your camera, or photographic techniques.
Incorrect camera settings – How many times have you been on a photo shoot and found that the photos didn’t look great when viewing them on a computer screen? Recently on a photo shoot with a model in a low light situation, I left the ISO at 160, when I should have used an ISO of 400, even though I opened the aperture to f/1.8, the shutter speed was still too low at 1/42, as a result the image appears soft, and more by accident than design the photo does have a certain aesthetic and is usable. Later in the shoot I did notice my mistake and I’ve managed to create some rather lovely images of the young lady.
After reviewing my images, I’ve adjusted my camera settings to use Auto ISO with a range of 160 – 3200, and a minimum shutter speed of 1/60 which should overcome any further mistakes.
Blown Highlights – This is a common mistake, and one that’s frequently brought up by judges. Photographs of birds with white plumage such as swans, and gannets in bright light can often result in blown highlights which are unrecoverable in post processing. For my portraiture work bright window lighting, open sunlight, or indoor LED lighting can result in blown highlights on the face.
With the camera in Aperture Priority mode, the exposure compensation dial is your saviour, I have selected the “Live View Highlights Alert”, otherwise known as the “Blinkies” on my camera. With the correct settings on your camera turning the exposure compensation to a negative value can preserve the highlights as this image of a swan on the boating lake at Cleethorpes illustrates.
Dynamic Range – Modern digital cameras have a tremendous range of dynamic range, and a lot of detail can be teased out of the shadows even from a jpg image. However, when shooting a subject against a bright sky often photographers will lose detail in the sky, even where the sky is overcast. To overcome this, use the exposure compensation dial to retain detail in the sky, your subject will appear dark, but lifting the shadows on the subject will recover all the details.
This image of the steam locomotive Cranford at Ludborough straight from camera is shot at -2 EV, the sky detail is retained, the detail on the locomotive and train can easily be recovered in post processing.
Composition – Possibly I should have listed this at the top of this post, as it’s one of the most important aspects of photography, together with mastering light. Creating a photographic image that tells a story, that impacts the viewer is the key to a successful photograph, and begins even before you have a camera in your hands, ask the questions: What is it you’ve seen? What’s the intent? Can the subject be viewed from another angle? Where is the light falling?
For this image of St. Hybalds Church, I wanted to take this photo because of the sunlight falling on the church, and the wispy clouds in the sky. The path from the bottom left of the image leads into the photo, I allowed sufficient room at the top of the church to correct the verticals and converted the image to monochrome as I like the sky details. Cropping slightly into the image removed any distractions at either side of the church.
Enjoy your hobby, and keep learning.
Louth Photographic Society
At our meeting last night we held a PDI (printed digital image) competition, with the categories of "Local Unedited", and "Open". As this was a members competition one of our members judged the competition, Tony Gaskins was our first judge for the "Local Unedited" category, these were .jpg images taken straight from the camera, without any editing, apart from the resizing for projection. Presenting an image such as this in a competition is quite a difficult task, the photographer has to ensure that the correct exposure is chosen, the composition, and subject matter has to be precise, everything done in camera. Normally for competition entries, a degree of post processing would be involved, simple edits like toning down highlights, or even removing extraneous objects from a scene, emphasising a moody sky, all not allowed. Tony Gaskins did an excellent job with his judging, providing clear and concise critique of the images presented, he "held back" 8 images for further consideration, awarding higher points, and finally choosing the top three placements. After the break it was Robin Begley's turn to judge the "Open" category, as these were post process edited images the standard was higher than the unedited images, but surprisingly not markedly so. Robin is potentially hoping to become a N&EMPF approved judge, and he had a different style, able to suggest edits that could have improved an image, again his critique was clear and concise communicating well with members. Robin chose 8 images for further consideration, awarding higher points, and finally selecting the top three placements. It was a fabulous, and interesting competition with excellent images, many thanks to both our judges, it's not an easy job, probably nearly as bad as being a referee in a football match!! Many thanks to both our judges, well done.
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Roger Hance Memorial Lecture 16th October
Last night Lee Dixon from Cleethorpes Camera Club gave his first ever presentation to a camera club, which we were privileged to view. His presentation consisted of portraiture, creative, and his genre of choice; wildlife. Lee is an extremely talented photographer, with a highly creative portfolio, his portraits are quite atmospheric, unusual, and capture the essence of the model, and scene. For Lee’s creative work, he buys props from charity shops, often very cheaply, reusing those props in various scenes. For his composite work he will often take one of his photos of a room, and blend it with a subject in Photoshop using “blend” modes. For wildlife he visited Lake Kerkini in Greece to photograph the Pelicans, if the sky is a little on the bland side, Lee will often over expose the image resulting in a striking white background to the subject. On safari in Africa Lee showed us some amazing images of the wildlife, the close-up images of elephants, the wildebeest migration, and this stunning image of a cheetah. Lee was ably assisted by Mike Bennett. More of Lee’s work can be found on his website: https://leedixonphoto.co.uk/ Lee his kindly given permission for his images to be used in this post. Many thanks to Lee, and Mike for an amazing evening.
Good Morning All Last week at the club we held our monthly PDI competition, with the categories of "Objects in the Air" and "Open", there was a very high-quality entry in both competitions and judge Mike Bennett had quite a job on his hands scoring the entries. Well, done to Dave Turner for first place in the Objects in the Air and Tony Gaskins for first place in the Open. All the results are on our website. This week, Wednesday 30th September, our speaker will be Lee Dixon from Cleethorpes Camera Club showing us his natural history, Creative and many other photographs he has taken. It will be the first time Lee has shown his photographs at our club. If anyone else wants to enter PDI's in the 2027 N&EMPF Exhibition, the deadline is this Wednesday at midnight. Harry is still taking entries for the PDI competition, with the categories of "Local Straight from Camera" (unedited .jpg), and "Open", to be held on Wednesday 7th October. Regards Graham
At the meeting last night Mike Bennett judged our competition with the categories of “Objects in the Air”, and “Open”. The standard of entries was excellent, and it gave Mike a tough task of judging the images, Mike gave some very good critique of the images displayed, the feedback helps members to develop compositional skills. Dave Turner was awarded first place for his image of the “Tiger Club Display Team” in the “Objects in the Air” category. Tony Gaskins was awarded first place for his image of the “Spectacular Rustgill” in the “Open” category.
Good Morning All, Last week at the club we watched the N&EMPF PDI Exhibition for 2026, it was a very good evening viewing very high standard images from all over the East Midlands. Dave Turner and I did manage to get images accepted; there is a full report on our website. This week, Wednesday 23rd September, we will hold our monthly PDI competition, with the categories of "Objects in the Air" and "Open", please send entries to Harry by midnight tonight. Harry is also accepting images for the PDI competition, with the categories of "Local Straight out of the Camera (only resizing permitted)" and "Open". Regards Graham
Members were shown the 2026 N&EMPF PDI Exhibition video last night with all of the accepted PDI images in the first part, and after the break the awarded PDI images. There were some stunning images on view, and Louth was successful in having 3 PDI images accepted, Graham Harrison with his image of a Stonechat, and Dave Turner with his portrait of Paul Rudd, and his monochrome image of Kings Cross railway station "Going Down". Overall it was a good inspirational evening.
Good Morning All Last week at the club members had 15 minutes to show what they had done over the summer. It was a very interesting evening with eight members taking part. There were many locations on show and as usual some excellent photography. There is a full report on our blog. This week, Wednesday 16th September, we will be showing the N&EMPF exhibition, this is part one showing all the PDI's that were accepted. This is the highest standard of photography we as individuals take part in as a club. Members sent around 50 entries but only 3 were accepted. If you are inspired to enter the 2027 Exhibition after seeing the show, I send the clubs entries and I can give you more information. Closing date is the end of September. The Maximum size for N&EMPF is 1600 x 1200 3MB sRGB Harry is still taking entries for the monthly PDI competition, with the categories of "Objects in the Air" and "Open". Harry did ask about what can be accepted, and we couldn't really say as long as it's an object in the Air. The best way is to look up the definition of an object first. Harry is also accepting entries for the Local and Open competition in October. Robin is going to judge the Open competition, does anyone fancy judging the "Straight from the camera" category? Regards Graham
The Louth Photographic Society has returned after the summer break. It was an incredible return, with members providing us with some stunning images from over the summer break. A full, and varied smorgasbord of well executed photos, many of us visited Whitby, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, and further north images from Staithes, and Sandbanks. Tony showed us his long exposure minimalist calming coastal scenes, from the Lincolnshire coast, and Whitby.. Chris brought us some beautiful photos taken of local churches, many of which many of us have never seen. Now I’ve never really seen the attraction of an expensive Leica camera, but when Mark showed his photos from his visit to the German Leica factory in Wetzlar, I now understand, camera bodies, and lenses milled from solid blocks of aluminium, hand polished, hand finished lens glass, and textured leather applied to the camera body, not a robot in sight, just craftsmen, and women making a superb photographic instrument. Sue brought us “pink” ladies driving tractors to raise money for cancer research. Last but definitely not least Richard showed his monochrome, and infrared images of trees, his compositions, and photographic eye bring these tree studies to life, we appreciate them even if some judges don’t understand. Many thanks to all of those members who contributed.
