Club Photo Shoot - Streedagh and the Horseshoe Glen, Sligo

This month's club photo shoot took place in Sligo on Sunday 26th of February. Brian Munnelly greeted members at the assembly point in Rathcormac before moving first to Streedagh Beach and later through the Horseshoe Glen. The day, which was initially dull and overcast, later developed into a damp drizzle that considerably reduced photographic opportunities normally abundant in this very beautiful and dramatic Sligo landscape. While the rain stayed away, our time at Streedagh was productive but the beauty of the Glen was generally admired via a scenic drive with the mountainous landscape viewed by squinting through the moving windscreen wipers. As always, the social aspect of the event was most enjoyable and despite the poor weather, there was no shortage of quality photography.

Next month, the club photo shoot will take place at "Eagle's Flying" in Ballymote. Details given at the next club meeting.

Distinctions Meeting - Tuesday 28th February

Members submitting panels for the next session of IPF Distinctions will meet in St. Joseph's Resource Centre, Boyle at 8pm next Tuesday 28th February. As usual, members should bring printed samples of images for their proposed panel for review.

Participants contribute €3.00 for room rental.

Mark Capilitan - Exhibition of Panoramic Photography - Sligo 26th March

Photographer Mark Capilitan has personally invited members of Boyle Camera Club to attend the opening of his new exhibition in Sligo on 26th March from 7 to 9pm in The Atrium at Nazareth House, Churchill, Sligo. Map

The exhibition runs until 23rd April 2012.

More information; Mark Capilitan

Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection

Meridel Rubenstein, Donaldo Valdez, El guique, ’49 Chevy from “The Lowriders, Portraits from New Mexico,” 1980

From 23rd of February, this not to be missed exhibition of more than 100 photographs drawn from the renowned Bank of America Collection, one of the largest and most comprehensive corporate art collections in the world, opens to the public in Dublin at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection documents the evolution of photography since the 1850s and presents some of the most notable photographers of the 19th and 20th-centuries. Hand-picked from thousands of photographs, the works are displayed so as to create “conversations” between images by individual artists and across a wide range of themes, including portraits, landscapes, street photography and abstraction.

More; Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Kilmainham, Dublin.
22 February 2012 – 20 May 2012

Club Meeting - Tuesday 14th of February

Presentation

Club Chairman, Christopher O'Connor introduced our special guest for the night, Podge Kelly. Podge, well known for his series on photography for RTE, does much lecturing and teaching in Ireland and indeed worldwide for companies like Adobe .

Podge kicked off with a slideshow of his work. He explained how he started in photography during the days of film and darkroom. One of his favourite idioms is Black and White. He also did some work with Polaroid Lifts and Selenium Toning.

Podge then gave us a demonstration on retouching using Photoshop & Nik software.

He advised members on the importance of printing and showed samples of his own stunning Fine Art prints as a taster of what could be achieved. The presentation ended with a second slideshow.

Members agreed that this was a night that will be remembered as one of the best the club has run.

Winning entries in each category of the February Motivation are; Conor Dowling, Amy Clarke and Mick Nolan.

Motivation

The Motivation theme for February was “Composition”. Podge Kelly judged the Motivation entries and presented the results with a short informative critique on each.

The winners in each section are;

Advanced

1. Conor Dowling - “Tea”

2. John Walshe - “Checkmate”

3. Joe Kennedy - “The Last Lap”

Intermediate

1. Mick Nolan - “Curves & Textures”

2. Susan Duffy - “Life in Decay”

3. Marion Noone - “Pillar Box”

Beginner;

1. Amy Clarke - “Deserted Village”

2. Derek Fetherstone - “Chicken”

3. Laura Laugere - “Lough Key”

The Motivation Theme for March (set by Podge Kelly) is Still-Life. Members MUST incorporate the creative use of a flashlight or torch to illuminate the subject. Entries on or before Friday 9th March.

Gold Medal for Boyle Camera Club

Club Chairman, Christopher O'Connor presented Tony Murphy with his Gold medal, won for his photo "Clew Bay Sunset" (above) at last Sundays’ National Final of the Irish Photographic Federation Print and Projected Images photography competition. Tony was one of a number of members representing Boyle Camera Club at this competition, all who successfully qualified at the regional event at the end of 2011.

Photo Shoot

The photo shoot this month takes place in Sligo. Geoffrey Percy will lead members to Streedagh and the Horseshoe Glen. Assemble on the Crescent in Boyle at 8.30am sharp for car-pool.

More on the Forum HERE.

52/52 Photo Challenge

Three weeks into the 52/52 photo challenge. Participating members are asked to add their weekly image to the NEW 52/52 Group Pool on Flickr. This will make it easy for all to see the collection develop in the months ahead. Keep up the good work!

It's never too late to begin but you must register on the Club FORUM first.

Other Items

Committee Meeting - Tuesday 21st February 2012

Next club meeting Tuesday 13th March 2012 at 8pm in St. Joseph's Resource Centre, Boyle.

NATURAL HISTORY LECTURE by Robert Thompson

The lecture will take place at the Glenside Hotel, Drogheda (hotel is about 2 km south of Drogheda on Julianstown road).

Thursday March 1st, Starting time: 8pm
Cover Charge €5 includes ticket for raffle

Robert Thompson hails from Banbridge in Northern Ireland and is widely recognised as the leading natural history photographer in UK and Ireland. Robert is the author of 7 books including:

• Close –up and Macro, a photographers guide
• The natural history of Ireland’s Dragonflies
• The natural history of Northern Ireland
• Orchids of Ireland

Robert has kindly agreed to give this lecture and he is hoping as many natural history photographers as possible will come along on the night so that he can meet them. This is a once off lecture; being held in the Glenside so that anybody interested in Natural History or just stunning photography can come along and see all these amazing images. The lecture is sponsored by the Royal Photographic Society of GB, Drogheda Photographic Club and the Glenside Hotel.

Lecture is open to all to attend.

To reserve seats phone Des Clinton 0866009976 or Glenside 0419829185
Email: desclinton@eircom.net
By post: to Des Clinton, 35 Hillview, Drogheda.

52/52 CLUB PHOTO CHALLENGE - GROUP POOL

After the midnight deadline for a week-two post last-night, there are 30 members currently participating in the 52/52 Photo Challenge. The club has set up a special GROUP on Flickr, separate from the regular club group, to distinguish between submissions for the 52/52 and the monthly Motivation.

It would be great if participants in the 52/52 Photo Challenge could join this new GROUP and post their weekly image to it after loading it to their personal Flickr site. Some members have already joined and done this, it will make it easy to see what fellow members are posting each week.

Below is the link to the new 52/52 Challenge Group. Only images for the 52/52 Challenge should be posted here.

Boyle Camera Club 52/52 Photo Challenge Group on Flickr.

NB. Participants should note that they must allow the Exif Data to be visible on their Flickr Photostream.

Licentiateship Meeting - 7th February

A very good turnout at the recent meeting in Daly's for members going forward for the next sitting of the IPF Distinctions to be held in Athlone on 19th & 20th May.

We thought it might be useful to clarify the ASSESSMENT CRITERIA for panel submission as prescribed by the IPF on the Licentiateship Application Form. This is what judges will be considering when reviewing your work;

1. Camera work and technical quality. Is the choice of viewpoint sympathetic with subject? Is focusing, exposure, etc., correct for subject.
2. Image quality. Has contrast, highlights and shadows, colour balance been properly controlled. Are images clean and blemish free?
3. Cohesion. Is there cohesion and variety in the panel?
4. Composition and editing. Is there good arrangement and composition in the images? Have the images been edited to present the strongest panel?
5. Is there imagination and creativity in the images?
6. Has the panel got visual impact?
7. Has there been good use of light in relation to the subject matter?

There is nothing new in this criteria, the items addressed above are the standard for evaluating all photographic images for competition purposes. When selecting images for your panel, use the above to guide your judgement.

LICENTIATESHIP APPLICATION

Please take note that the closing date for receipt of applications for the next distinctions sitting is April 1st. The next sitting will take place in Athlone on May 19th.

DOWNLOAD the Application Form and Protocol Documentation HERE.

The number of applications is being limited for both Licentiates and Associates at each sitting - please see below for further details.

The IPF intends to roll out an additional distinctions sitting this year (provisionally scheduled for Sept 15th) in addition to the regular sittings in May and November.

Further information on Distinctions Sittings for 2012 are detailed below;

• Saturday 19th May, Athlone – closing date for applications 1st April
• Saturday 15th September, venue TBA – closing date for applications 1st August
• Saturday 24th November, Thurles – closing date for applications 1st October

N.B.: Irrespective of the closing dates, applications will be limited as follows

• Licentiate: maximum 40 applicants
• Associate: maximum 10 applicants
• Fellowship: no limit

Places will be reserved on a first come – first allowed basis.

Agenda - Club Meeting, Tuesday 14th of February

Photographer - Podge Kelly

Presentation

Not to be missed, this month's guest presenter is photographer Podge Kelly. Photography enthusiasts from the last decade may recall Podge's series on RTE television called 'What a Digital Picture'. He has lectured on photography and Photoshop nationally and internationally and worked with some of the top Photographic Companies in Ireland. Podge has a studio in Dublin where he is much in demand as a wedding and portrait photographer. At the meeting Podge will discuss some of his images and demonstrate some of his distinctive editing techniques.

The Agenda for our February club meeting is as follows;

• 8pm - Chairperson's Address

• February Motivation - COMPOSITION, presented by Joe Kennedy. Members should submit their entries before Friday 10th February. Submissions available to view HERE shortly.

Other Items to Note

• 52/52 Challenge up-date. (2/52 should be posted by Friday 10th February).
• IPF Related Issues - Print & Projected Images and National Nature Competition 2012 Athlone (11th &12th Feb). Distinctions preparation meetings.
• February Photo Shoot to Sligo and Horseshoe Glen - date to be decided.
• Adobe Lightroom Tuition.
• Club investment in NEW EQUIPMENT.
• Summer Weekend Photo Shoot to Clare Island.
• Tea/Coffee
• Presentation - Podge Kelly.

House Keeping Duties

• All members are reminded that their annual subscription is now due. Membership Form and fees can be given to the club Treasurer at the meeting. Download the Club Membership Form HERE.

• Setting out the room in advance of the meeting.
• Taking charge of refreshments.

IPF Distinctions Meeting

There will be a meeting of members going forward for IPF Distinctions on Tuesday 7th February at 8pm in Daly's Bar. Attendees should bring samples of printed work (6" x 4") for review.

Adobe Lightroom - Tuition

Jason Mallard has offered to conduct a series of classes in the use of Adobe Lightroom. Participating members should have a laptop with Lightroom 3 installed (Trial Version available to download HERE). Classes will take place from 8 - 10pm at St. Joseph's Resource Centre, Boyle on Thursday 16th & 23rd of February and Thursday 1st March. The cost for the 3 sessions is €15.00.

Members should express their interest in attending by registering on the club forum HERE.