What I've learnt in my first year with OPS.

[Ian Stedman]

Hi,

I meant to post this sooner but got distracted by another photo or two...
I have been compiling notes and tips from the various competitions, members evenings and talks the past year. Thought some of them might be interesting. Have learnt a lot the past year, still have a lot to learn.

Composition

What are you trying to show your audience?

Lead in lines are important and can help make a better shot. If the line leads to a dead end, your score drops.
If walking down a path/road, take a photo, then step to the left/right, let it make a diagonal is it better?
The rule of thirds or multiples of three. Some cameras have guides for this.

Sometimes less is more, don't try and show too much.
Good colour contrasts can make a difference. Bright colours, especially red can help.
With people, cars/planes or animals, leave some space for them to 'move into' but not too much.

For portraits, don't be afraid to fill the frame with the person's face.

Challenge yourself, try something new. Photographic challenges expand your creativity.
99 out of 100 street photography images will be unsuitable, that elusive final one is worth it.

Try a different camera angle, low down, high angle, overhead, diagonal or camera tilt for added effect.

Add some foreground interest to landscape shots. Utilise the depth of field to either have sharp foreground of blur it for added effect.

Read a scene from left to right. Have the person/vehicle/action moving from left to right, with space to move in to.
As a left hander, I prefer right to left 🙂

Watch the background. If it's too busy, it can spoil the shot. Simpler the better.

Symmetry works wonders, when done correctly. The same goes for reflections.

The golden ratio works, really need this overlay in the viewfinder.

Find a focal point and fill the frame.

If photographing an animal, have both eyes in the shot and in focus. For a bird, one eye but sharp will do. Have them facing you (not always easy) for the best results.

Try exposure bracketing. Shoot the scene 1/2 to 1 stop higher and lower. You could then use HDR to combine with the original.

Post processing

If you crop too close, the judge will want to see more. If you don't crop, you'll be told how to.
Changing the crop can have a dramatic effect, try 5:7, 1:1, 16:9 instead of the usual 4:3.

Flip the image 180 degrees, you'll spot the highlights easier. Process the highlights carefully.
Watch for haloing around an object that has been processed. Judges have an ungodly knack for finding it!
Always check the highlights, contrast, shadows and histogram of a prospective image, a few quick adjustments can do wonders.

If you blur a background, add some noise back in to smooth the edges to the un-touched portion, this helps remove haloing and makes the edges more natural.

Nik-effects, enough said. Don't overdo the effects.
You can spend an hour editing a picture and not like the end result. Have not found an easy time saver here.

Make sure the verticals and horizontals are correct.

Try a quick conversion to Mono, does it have more impact? If it does, then break out Silver efex.
Dash and burn for monochrome images can add a bit of impact. Use selectively.
Have black and white elements in a monochrome photo to show the full tonal range. If it's fifty shades of grey, it will not do.

Look out for unwanted street furniture in your photo. Clone it out.

With a dark image a 1 or 2 pixel wide, white or light grey, key line, around the edge can help. This helps distinguish the picture from the black edges of the frame or projector.



Prints

Once you've done the first print, that's when you spot the CCTV camera/lamp-post/aerial/person/someones head you should have cropped or cloned out.

Don't use the PDI version of the photo for the print, you'll lose detail.

Paper types........speak to Richard Waterman.

Look at the images under a fluorescent or cool white LED light. Most competitions @ clubs use lights with a colour temperature around 4000 Kelvin.

A smaller print hides more small imperfections from the viewer.

Judges

Crop! Crop! Crop!
If you have a photo you really love and for you has great emotional value think twice before entering it, you might not like the critique.
If you just moved to another position and re-took the photo it would be fine.
The majority of the previous notes have been collated from judges comments. I do pay attention, they are trying to help you become a better photographer.
A good title can help a photo. It can help describe what you are trying to present and give them a clue.

This goes to show that I do pay attention in the competitions, even if occasionally, there is the temptation to nod off once the lights go off.

See you all again for the next season.

[Alan Graham]

Thank you Ian, a very good reminder to us all. Keep taking notes like that and you'll end up with an executive roll... 

Congratulations on your New Members Cup award. It shows jumping in with both feet when you start can pay off. 

On Tue, 30 Apr 2019, 23:53 Ian Stedman [via Orpington Photographic Society Forum], <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi,

I meant to post this sooner but got distracted by another photo or two...
I have been compiling notes and tips from the various competitions, members evenings and talks the past year. Thought some of them might be interesting. Have learnt a lot the past year, still have a lot to learn.

Composition

What are you trying to show your audience?

Lead in lines are important and can help make a better shot. If the line leads to a dead end, your score drops.
If walking down a path/road, take a photo, then step to the left/right, let it make a diagonal is it better?
The rule of thirds or multiples of three. Some cameras have guides for this.

Sometimes less is more, don't try and show too much.
Good colour contrasts can make a difference. Bright colours, especially red can help.
With people, cars/planes or animals, leave some space for them to 'move into' but not too much.

For portraits, don't be afraid to fill the frame with the person's face.

Challenge yourself, try something new. Photographic challenges expand your creativity.
99 out of 100 street photography images will be unsuitable, that elusive final one is worth it.

Try a different camera angle, low down, high angle, overhead, diagonal or camera tilt for added effect.

Add some foreground interest to landscape shots. Utilise the depth of field to either have sharp foreground of blur it for added effect.

Read a scene from left to right. Have the person/vehicle/action moving from left to right, with space to move in to.
As a left hander, I prefer right to left 🙂

Watch the background. If it's too busy, it can spoil the shot. Simpler the better.

Symmetry works wonders, when done correctly. The same goes for reflections.

The golden ratio works, really need this overlay in the viewfinder.

Find a focal point and fill the frame.

If photographing an animal, have both eyes in the shot and in focus. For a bird, one eye but sharp will do. Have them facing you (not always easy) for the best results.

Try exposure bracketing. Shoot the scene 1/2 to 1 stop higher and lower. You could then use HDR to combine with the original.

Post processing

If you crop too close, the judge will want to see more. If you don't crop, you'll be told how to.
Changing the crop can have a dramatic effect, try 5:7, 1:1, 16:9 instead of the usual 4:3.

Flip the image 180 degrees, you'll spot the highlights easier. Process the highlights carefully.
Watch for haloing around an object that has been processed. Judges have an ungodly knack for finding it!
Always check the highlights, contrast, shadows and histogram of a prospective image, a few quick adjustments can do wonders.

If you blur a background, add some noise back in to smooth the edges to the un-touched portion, this helps remove haloing and makes the edges more natural.

Nik-effects, enough said. Don't overdo the effects.
You can spend an hour editing a picture and not like the end result. Have not found an easy time saver here.

Make sure the verticals and horizontals are correct.

Try a quick conversion to Mono, does it have more impact? If it does, then break out Silver efex.
Dash and burn for monochrome images can add a bit of impact. Use selectively.
Have black and white elements in a monochrome photo to show the full tonal range. If it's fifty shades of grey, it will not do.

Look out for unwanted street furniture in your photo. Clone it out.

With a dark image a 1 or 2 pixel wide, white or light grey, key line, around the edge can help. This helps distinguish the picture from the black edges of the frame or projector.



Prints

Once you've done the first print, that's when you spot the CCTV camera/lamp-post/aerial/person/someones head you should have cropped or cloned out.

Don't use the PDI version of the photo for the print, you'll lose detail.

Paper types........speak to Richard Waterman.

Look at the images under a fluorescent or cool white LED light. Most competitions @ clubs use lights with a colour temperature around 4000 Kelvin.

A smaller print hides more small imperfections from the viewer.

Judges

Crop! Crop! Crop!
If you have a photo you really love and for you has great emotional value think twice before entering it, you might not like the critique.
If you just moved to another position and re-took the photo it would be fine.
The majority of the previous notes have been collated from judges comments. I do pay attention, they are trying to help you become a better photographer.
A good title can help a photo. It can help describe what you are trying to present and give them a clue.

This goes to show that I do pay attention in the competitions, even if occasionally, there is the temptation to nod off once the lights go off.

See you all again for the next season.

---

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NAML

[Chris Sawyer]

Thanks Ian.  You mentioned your notes last night.  I didn't expect to see them so soon.  These are the sort of things that rattle around in my head when preparing my prints and PDIs.  Very useful to write them down I think, so thanks for doing the hard work for me.

[Ian Stedman]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

I'll start work on my first group of entries for 2019/2020 season soon. Will probably be away end of September so need to get organised.

One area I need to expand the notes on, what paper types are recommended for Mono/Colour?
I vaguely remember some comments from the judges about types that work best but they escape me.