Photographic Honours - Tips for Getting Started

This blog is aimed at those within the club who might be interested in achieving photographic Honours through the Australian Photographic Society (APS).  It is divided into three parts.  The first are some insights from APS’s Honours Subcommittee Chair, Dr Alfred Zommers EFIAP/b GMAPS PPSA SSAPS.  The second is some general comments from experienced QCG members who have obtained Honours via the exhibition system. The third is portfolio examples and experiences from three QCG members who recently achieved Honours via the panel system.

Introduction

The APS offers Honours awarded for photographic excellence including:

• LAPS (Licentiate)

• AAPS (Associateship)

• FAPS (Fellowship)

• MAPS (Master)

• GMAPS (Grand Master)

• APSEM (Australian Photographic Society Exhibitors Medal – Bronze, Silver and Gold).

Up to the level of MAPS, Honours can be achieved two ways, either by panel system (submitting images to a panel of judges) or via exhibition (entering images into approved APS exhibibtions/competitions and, over time, achieving a certain number of acceptances that once achieved, qualify the maker for Honours).

Full details on how to achieve photographic Honours and the minimum requirements for each way of achieving these is available on the APS website.  It is imperative that anyone wishing to apply read and fully understands these documents.

Advice for Applicants - Dr Alfred Zommers EFIAP/b GMAPS PPSA SSAPS

For the general benefit of interested QCG members, Anne Pappalardo spent half an hour on the phone to APS’s Honours Subcommittee Chair, Dr Alfred Zommers to gain his insights and recommendation on achieving Honours.  His advice can be summarised into two recommendations:

• get a feel for what constitutes an acceptance image; and

• be guided by a mentor to help make that distinction.

Whether deciding what image to enter into an exhibition or, choosing which images will make up a panel application, the issue is always the same.

“People need some way to assess their images - a way to figure out if [their image] will likely achieve an acceptance,” Alfred said.

Alfred said that those who regularly participate in national and international exhibitions gain real insight because their images are judged to be acceptable (or not!).  Participants are then able to continue entering successful images – those which have previously received acceptances and are likely to receive acceptances in other exhibitions - which sets participants on their journey to acquiring the minimum number to achieve photographic Honours through the exhibition system, or helps points them to what images should be included in a panel portfolio.

So, what is an acceptance in a national or international competition? 

“Acceptances are the top 25% images of the exhibition,” Alfred said.  “Awards, they are hardest to get, with only 1 to 1.5 percent getting an award. You’ve got to be very, very good to get an award!

“Images that do well will also vary across countries and you learn from that – you learn what is acceptable and what isn’t.  You learn what is acceptable, most of the time, in most of the competitions.

“So, people who have exhibited their images eventually get a feel for what is acceptable at national and international levels.  If people don’t exhibit, they really need to find out (in some other way) what is acceptable.”

Alfred said that some people applying for Honours via panel system had failed on more than one occasion.

“To me, it’s very frustrating to be rejected time and time again.  It starts to affect your self-esteem, which is not want we want.

 “Unless you exhibit a bit, you need someone to give you some guidance.  Coming first, second or third at your camera club is not necessarily the test,” he said, “as sometimes there is not a good overall standard within some clubs.”

Alfred said he first achieved LAPS by panel, then AAPS by panel, but had someone giving him some guidance.

As well as having someone look over your portfolio (does not have to be a judge, just someone with the same or higher qualification than you are attempting), Alfred suggests looking at national and international catalogues.  You can view some here.

“In addition, we encourage clubs to participate in interclub competitions – you need that sort of feedback system.  When people put an image into a state interclub competition that is a good way for the best members in each club to gauge their standard against other good photographers in the state,” he said.

Insight from QCG members who have obtained Honours via Exhibition

Ray Shorter and Phil Lawrence are two of the club’s most experienced camera club members and photographers.  Both have obtained their Honours via exhibition.

From Ray Shorter FAPS.  “For anyone wanting to improve their photography, I think it is very worthwhile entering national and international competitions: your images are exposed to a wider range of judges' opinions and you can benchmark your images against those of other competitors and learn from them.  So I would encourage other QCG members to have a crack at these comps and so gain points towards photographic Honours which give recognition to your level of photographic excellence.”

From Phil Lawrence EFIAP FAPS. “I started entering comps ten years ago and currently I am having a break from it.  There is no doubt that the  exhibition approach has had a big impact on my photography over the years, encouraging me regarding my skills vs others around the world. I would encourage all club photographers to enter exhibitions.”

Insights and portfolio examples from QCG members who have obtained Honours via Panel

This year, three QCG members - Sue Chen, Anne Pappalardo and Martin Riley – successfully applied for photographic Honours via Panel (see Sue’s detailed story below). 

Aiming for AAPS, which requires a portfolio of between 20 and 25 images, Anne and Martin both put together a shortlist of 40 images and gained advice from experienced judges Tina Dial and Ben Stoffl on the 25 images which were more likely to succeed.  In addition, they sought advice on the top 12 images which would make up a possible LAPS award in the event that their submissions were not considered to be of a sufficient standard to be awarded AAPS.

Both have provided their successful AAPS portfolios (Martin’s on top, Anne’s below). The images are in the order in which they would have been viewed and judged, that is, with the strongest 12 images first (aiming to maximise the chances of LAPS success), but applying for the higher honour of AAPS. Anne and Martin hope that these portfolios, including Sue Chen’s below, provide some reference for other members in the club (currently there are no LAPS or AAPS portfolios on the APS website for reference).

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My Photographic journey to APS LAPS - Sue Chen

Sue Chen achieved the photographic Honour of LAPS, and has generously shared her journey here for all other QCG members:

Being in banking for over 30 years, I had never thought to hold a camera to take photos when I was in the bank and had not even had the slightest desire to take photos with my mobile.  My first encounter/journey with photography started when a friend of mine invited me to join the Qld Chinese Photographic Club in September 2016, the year it was founded.

Sue Chen

Being preoccupied with work and family commitments I had been an inactive member of the Club until the end of 2018, when I joined the Club’s Christmas party in Gatton. It was the first time I took photos of birds (egrets) in flight and naturally as a beginner, most of the images turned out to be either missed or blurred. I was really upset with myself that my photos were so terrible compared to the others.

That’s the deciding moment when I made a promise to myself that I must make time to learn how to take better photos.

I then started joining photographic workshops and excursions, asking senior photographers for suggestions on photography skills and watched heaps of YouTube tutorials on photography.

My genuine passion for photography grew as time went by, especially when I received more and more encouragement from family, friends, fellow club members and judges.

Being a rookie in photography, I though I was lucky to get some recognition from my local club, let alone thinking about getting recognition from official photographic bodies such as the APS. In fact, I had no idea what the APS was all about or how the Honour system worked. Having said that, I had gained some small achievements from within the Chinese Photographic Club and local community competitions (one of them was first prize with $500 award), which gave me some confidence in entering into international competitions.

I was told that in order to attain the APS first level Honours recognition of LAPS, I had to have 50 National or International acceptances before I could apply. I thought to myself I would never get there or it will take me at least a few years to accomplish that. Looking back in time, it has been an interesting journey and great learning experience for me in the world of photography. To date, I have been lucky enough that I am not too far from the 50 international acceptances that I originally thought it would have been a “Mission Impossible”.

On 16/3/21，I attended a QCG seminar presented by Margaret O’Grady from the APS on the Honour system and various qualifications available for members. I was surprised and inspired to learn that there is a Panel Judging System whereby members can send in a set of images to APS to be judged by a panel of judges, instead of having to waiting to get 50 national or international acceptances, to obtain the recognition by APS.

I consulted Anne Pappalardo at the end of the seminar whether my images were good enough to enter and she was extremely supportive and encouraging and suggested that I should give it a go. I thought I had nothing to lose so might as well apply. However, I was confused navigating through the APS website and could not find clear instructions on how to submit the images or make the payments. I reached out to Anne for assistance. She was most understanding and patiently guided me through the application and payment process. Without Anne’s support and guidance, I would not have successfully submitted the application for panel judging. 

I would also like to thank Stella Fava (secretary of APS) for her patience and guidance during my application process.

My advice to anyone planning to apply for the APS panel system Honours is that it is definitely worth a go. Whether the outcome is successful or not, it would be a valuable and worthwhile experience to one’s journey on photography.

I sincerely wish all the future potential applicants all the best with their applications.

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How can I start?

If you are interested in beginning or continuing your photographic Honours journey with APS, here are some ideas:

• Join the APS.  It will be a requirement, ultimately, for your Honours application but the main benefit is the exposure membership can provide to many genres of photography and photographic activities.  It is very likely to compliment your camera club membership.

• Enter an exhibition.  You don’t need to be a member of APS to participate in an exhibition, but remember, only choose those which are APS approved (if Honours are your goal).  The Lake Macquarie International Circuit is closing 3 October and would be a great place to start.  It will also give you a feel for the rules involved (read carefully), the cost (there is always a cost to enter) and a sense of why it is important, from the start, to manage and record your entries.  Even if you plan to apply via panel, it may provide the mirror back to you on which of your images are an ‘acceptance’ standard and help to narrow down your portfolio.  Click here on the APS website to see a list of forthcoming exhibition opportunities, but beware, it can be addictive!

• APS Vice President Greg McMillan has agreed to provide a short, 30 minute Zoom presentation to interested members sometime this year.  Keep your eyes peeled for an invitation.

• Contact others within the club for their insights into the process of achieving and the benefits of Honours.  Anne and Martin in particular are extremely keen to share their recent experiences and to help others navigate the process.  Their details can be found on the QCG website, and the club secretary is always available to put members in touch if you are unsure of how to contact another member.

The Story Behind the Photo - Collections 2021

Collections 2021 - an exhibition of Street Photography - is over for this year. Many members were able to visit Aspire Gallery to see the images in print there, and in QCG’s street photography book. While the genre typically dictates that the photo does the talking, we could not help but be curious about the stories behind those images. Here, some of the participants in the exhibition and book share their experiences.

Eye-Popping, Lip-Smacking Special by Chris Pigott This image was taken in West End which is often a location that provides some interesting street scenes. I was sitting in a cafe having a coffee when I noticed the lady nearby having a portuguese tart with her coffee. I focused my camera on her and thought the reflections in the shop window would add to the scene. Then the deli owner appeared in the window which was a bonus. As is often the case, I didn’t notice the expression on his face until I saw the image on the computer later.

Helping Hands by Chris Pigott I was walking through the city one night with camera in hand and was attracted by the bright and colourful lights in this shop in Elizabeth Street. I stood outside and took a few shots mainly focussing on the image of the hands projected onto the stairs in the background and the reflection of the shopper on the highly polished floors. I thought that would combine to create an interesting image. When I looked more closely I noticed the hands of the shop assistant and the hands on the sanitising station. I then changed the focus of the image from light and colour to the four sets of hands that were visible.

Wrong Way by Gaye Slade I was in China Town New Years Day heading out into the street when I noticed two One Way signs with an arrow pointing right.  My thoughts started clicking around in my head.  I walked out into the street and saw a young couple heading towards me. I ran back in, waited for them to come into view and took the shot.

This Vintner Knows His Market by Margo Wade I was photographing buildings in the pretty village of Millthorpe when I spotted an elderly lady pushing her walker past the Slow Wine Co. The juxtaposition between company name and walker (in both senses of the word) was too good to miss.  

Talking About You not To You by Anne Pappalardo This is a serendipitous shot, taken on the ferry on the Mersey River in Liverpool in 2019.  The women seated were quite intoxicated!  Immediately, I knew I wanted to photograph them. I noticed the bloke in the background watching these ladies, lined him up between the two main women in the foreground, and voila - created an image which looked like these women were secretly chatting about the gent. 

All Alone by Georgie Crossley This was shot in the Brisbane CBD on a Thursday. Every month myself and three other ladies known as the Thursday Girls, would go somewhere in Brisbane for a photo shoot followed by lunch. We are known as the Thursday Girls because we always took classes on a Thursday and now we always meet on a Thursday. I was actually admiring the Brisbane Post Office when I noticed the man on the steps. As I was composing the shot I realized the other two people seemed to fit the composition perfectly. It looks like all three are all alone even though the city was teeming with people.

Wait for Me by Georgie Crossley was a very lucky and well timed shot, taken when I lived in Shanghai. This is at a beautiful hotel about an hour west of Shanghai where a lot of expats would meet for Sunday brunch. The water in the foreground is the indoor swimming pool, where my children were swimming. The windows looking out to the pond and the park perfectly framed this local man and his daughter as they crossed the stepping stones. I often wonder where they had been and where they were going, as there was really only the hotel and the park in the area.

Such is Life by David Cain We had settled down for a hot breakfast in the Darling Downs’ Allora café. A battler limped in on a stick for his toastie and tea – no doubt a regular and local I surmised. Then a pair touring on a Harley Davidson arrived and parked near the battler’s mobility scooter. I compared the tourist’s circumstances with the battlers’, ditched my big breakfast and contorted myself into an almost impossible position to make the shot - with the scooter framing the Harley. No people, but such a strong message.

Unsuspecting by Nick Lefebvre In 2019, I had the opportunity to practice some street photography in London. The horses are two of the four Horses of Helios statue in Jermyn St, Piccadilly.

Sunbaking San Sabastian Style by Martin Riley This image was taken on a gorgeous autumn afternoon in 2017 in the Spanish seaside city of San Sabastian. This buzzing city is known for its amazing tapas bars and is a hotspot for people watching! On a picture-perfect afternoon we were strolling the seaside streets takings in the atmosphere (along with thousands of others!). The first thing that struck me was this interesting gentleman who was striking an amazing pose using the heat of the sun’s rays to dry himself. I wanted to capture this subliminal moment. Then I noticed the other people (and dogs) on the beach all caught up in their own worlds, seemingly oblivious of this gentleman and all the other tourists - witnessing their individuality. I loved the story of the whole scene – so many different stories representing the strange world of us humans!!

Ouch by Martin Riley This image was taken in 2017 in the ancient city of St Remy, located in Provence, France. We were lucky to be staying within the historical centre, where its ancient streets were packed during the day. I decided to get up early (European early - about 8am!) to wander the streets with my camera to see the business owners and locals setting up for the day.  I must admit I was looking at the wines located in the shop in the lane opposite when I turned to see this lady setting up her clothing shop and displays. Her aggressive hold on this male mannequin made me laugh and cringe at the same time as I quickly captured the opportune moment!

And to think I was a Vegan by Mala Ranu Saw the man;  ran for my camera;  the man was gone.  Then reappeared with a fresh carcass.  I took the shot.  Luck was on my side as I managed to capture the image of the cow photograph on the side of butcher’s shop.  Enjoyed the pun in the title.

I Have Eyes Only For You, Babe by Mala Ranu In Petaluma, California and invited to an outdoor dance/band.  Everyone was dancing and looking at the band, not my lady.  She only had eyes for her babe.  He was not so keen, but stayed.  So a quick shot and captured the moment.

Street Watercolour Artist by Sawindar Ranu Penang, Malaysia;  off the tourist patch and came upon this painter.  Standing behind him, everything appeared to line up.  The sky even had clouds.  Grabbed the shot.  The judge later told me privately it was the best composed image.

Cool Dog by Betty Collerson Image taken in Fortitude Valley during a Street Photography workshop with Lisa Kurtz. I saw this guy drinking a coffee and noticed the harmonious colour palette around him. It wasn’t until I had taken a few images and checked them on the back of the camera that I realised there was a funny resemblance between him and the dog on the advertising board behind him. I got closer, and snapped a couple more shots. As luck would have it, this one was a perfect mirror of the man and the dog’s pose.

Where are you by Betty Collerson Image taken at night in Fortitude Valley during a walkabout organised by members of the Brisbane Camera Group. I was walking towards Brunswick St when I saw this woman on the phone looking around, as if searching for someone she had planned to meet. I decided to take the photo, and include as much as possible of the street scene unfolding in front of me. There is a lot to see in this image, it is a busy image, so to direct the viewer to my main subject, I desaturated the image but kept my main subject in colour. I did this in Lightroom, and is not a technique commonly used in street photography, but in this instance I think it worked well.

Behind the Scene by Betty Collerson Image taken on Queen Street Mall.  I was meeting friends on the Mall on a Friday evening and took my camera along (as you would!) in the hope of getting some images for QCG’s Street Photography June Competition. As I passed the back of this restaurant, the chefs in the kitchen and the food warming lights glowing over the clean counter caught my attention, and I decided to photograph. Again, luck was on my side. As I pressed the shutter-release this waitress came down the stairs carrying empty coffee cups. I thought she had bombed my photo.  In fact, she makes it.

Laundry day by Dave McGinnis I saw this mother and son in a laundromat in West End. They were engrossed in their phones and nearly motionless in contrast to the machines and noises behind them. I was only about two metres away and able to stealthily grab the shot by using my camera's "shoot around the corner" mode.

Taking Aggie for a walk by Dave McGinnis I loved these two! The rain was pelting down, yet both dog and owner were making the best of it. I'm certain Aggie thought she was getting the better deal by being carried through the rain, while her owner was equally happy that no muddy paws came in the house.

Tossing the footy by Dave McGinnis I saw this young bloke down an alley killing time by tossing his football around. I was struck by the bright colours of the bins and the red ball and a kid just doing kid stuff. I felt very lucky to get this shot.

Untitled 1 by Lou Gilbert The march for justice in 2021 had finished. I was heading back to the city centre when I noticed the mane of bright red hair on the opposite side of the road. I crossed over to follow behind, willing her to turn around to show the protest message on the placard she was still holding up. She didn’t turn around during a three block walk but I kept shooting. It was only at the very last minute, before she went in another direction from me that I saw the detail on the back of the cardboard sign. Thank goodness she didn’t turn around. I had my street shot, in fact I had several. 

The City Is Alive with The Sound Of Music by Geoff Lawrence I was in Brisbane to take some photos of the Anzac Day parade. I noticed that the bright sunlight was causing great reflections of the city scape in the polished brass instruments. So it was just a matter of finding the right spot for the best reflections, and waiting for a big instrument to come along.

Whoops by Geoff Lawrence We were sitting in a café in Seville, Spain, and I noticed there was renovation work being done in an apartment block opposite. The workman started to haul up a wheelbarrow full of tools and sand using a simple rope and pulley. This looked unusual so I grabbed the camera off the table and started taking some shots. Amazingly just as I started shooting the wheelbarrow tipped up and everything came crashing down to the street. So I have a great series of shots of this all unfolding. A real example of being in the right place at the right time – but also a lesson to always have your camera ready to shoot.

Helping An Old Lady Across The Road by Geoff Lawrence We had arrived in Santiago for a long-awaited trip to Chile, only to find the city was in the grip of large scale riots. Every night large gangs of rioters lit fires, destroyed buildings and metro stations, looted shops, and ripped up concrete pavers and street signs, with the centre of the riots just a couple of blocks from our hotel. The city was effectively in lockdown with an early evening curfew. We had already suffered from the effects of lingering tear gas, and the night before we had had to shelter in a bar where we had been eating outside after having rocks thrown at us and a water canon vehicle came to disperse the stone throwers. The streets were full of armed soldiers and police. But during the day the streets were calm and almost normal apart from the graffiti and destruction. The sight of a couple of armed soldiers helping an old lady with her shopping was too good to miss. A front on shot would have been better, but I was nervous about pointing a camera in the face of the soldiers.

Dustyesky Selfie by Rodney Nancarrow Dustyesky are billed as the world’s best genuine fake Russian choir and this photo was taken a few minutes before the start of the choir’s performance at the Woodford Folk Festival. The choir’s leader Mark Swivel engaged with one of the road crew to take a selfie, providing an opportunity to capture a candid moment of pre-show comradery.  

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Gaye Edwards: As a portraits-with-permission photographer, heading onto the streets to shoot strangers was both a mental and physical challenge.  Following motivational QCG Street presentations by Adrian Whear, Adam Robert Young and our own Paul Cook, I faced the challenge and made three trips into the city specifically searching for some special street moments.  This is what I love about our club comps and speakers - they give you the opportunity and the preparation to try something well out of your comfort zone.

 Mobile With A Mobile (above left): Taken while crossing at a set of lights, camera at hip level, pointing at the shadows. 

 No Wheels For Us (above middle): Found a place in the city (the parked scooters) and waited.  Focused on the scooters and waited for the passersby.  Had many shots to choose from but liked this one for its colours and content.  

Walkies: Taken at the very close of the club photoshoot at Kangaroo Point.  I'd been searching for a shot which screamed "Brisbane"! And I love dogs and birds.

 You will notice I didn't overcome the challenge of photographing people without their permission - no identifying faces are included!

QCG Collected Works - Part III

Here it is - the last of the series of three installments of blogs, featuring the images and words of the 2020 QCG Collected Works. Our book has now been reproduced by Momento Pro and will be included in the camera club kits which Momento Pro send to their customers as an example of a goodie. Good job to us!

Puffin Beak Tap Mating Ritual by Anne Pappalardo

This image received an Honour in the Nature Category (print) and is one of my favourites from a special family holiday taken in 2019. I was fortunate to visit Skomer Island in Wales which is a well-known haven for puffins. While puffins do not mate for life, they do tend towards monogomy. They rarely change mates, and before building a nest, perform a mating ritual where they sweetly rub their beaks together. I was so thrilled to capture this image as it is different to the usual ‘beak full of sand eels’ but more importantly to me, shows the very real connection to each other these birds enjoy.

Puffin Beak Tap Mating Ritual by Anne Pappalardo

Little Feet by Sue Chen

This image has special meaning to me as I actually 'made a photograph’ and went through a course of ‘pregnancy’ from concept to ‘giving birth’ during Covid lockdown. I had to wait for the right season to have the small mandarin and the pomegranate then looked for the perfect leaf that compliments the shape and colours. Took about three days to photograph it as I kept changing the layout, angle and distance of the "little feet".  Lol...

Little Feet by Sue Chen

Afternoon Stroll by Nick Lefebvre

I took this picture of the Science Museum in Valencia, Spain one winter's afternoon in 2015. We arrived at the City of Arts and Sciences within which the Museum sits at 2 pm and left after sunset. It was so interesting. 

Afternoon Stroll by Nick Lefebvre

Flora by Jasmine Westerman

A tree in bloom, yet this one flower held my attention.

This ‘lady’ in colonial style dress, her head dressed with a bonnet, a shawl draped over her shoulders, and a billowing skirt drawn tight into her slim stem waist.

I left some time later, who knows how long. 

 In awe of Nature, its perfection personified. 

My Life in a Box by Jasmine Westerman

This (honour) image best represents what 2020 was for me, taken in ‘Lockdown’ during the COVID pandemic.  

It’s a self reflection of what I valued in my life, and to ponder what was, what is and what will be....pity my saxophone couldn’t squeeze into the box. 

Very deep thinking to find the box was really quite shallow.   What was clearly the most important thing, was the desire to connect with other people and the outside world :)

Flora by Jasmine Westerman

My Life in a Box by Jasmine Westerman

Fog Flood by Tony FitzGerald

This image of Brisbane city was captured from My Coot-tha very early on a chilly and foggy early winter’s morning.  I particularly like the image because of the amazing eerie lighting effect created by the city lights illuminating the fog from beneath prior to the sunrise overwhelming the scene.  This illumination effect is accentuated somewhat by the long shutter speed used to capture the image.  I finished up with quite an audience of early morning visitors to the lookout looking over my shoulder in amazement, some asking why they were not able to achieve a similar results with their phones.  In time they probably will.

Fog Flood by Tony FitzGerald

No Fear Here by Ray Eisenmenger

Other travellers often spoil the view for photographers but in this case they played their part beautifully.

No Fear Here by Ray Eisenmenger

Resting on a Bed of Green by Jane McMenamin

On a cold morning in early winter, wrapped in my woollies, I watched this egret fishing for breakfast in the Brisbane River. When it took a break on a floating island of green vegetation, I was struck by the beauty of its delicate breeding plumage. My early start to the day was well rewarded!  This image received a Merit in the Open Category.

Resting on a Bed of Green by Jane McMenamin

Una Heera by Rodney Nancarrow

My love of music is equal to if not greater than my love of photography so it is pure joy when the opportunity presents itself to combine the two. This image is of Dawn, the singer and one of the main songwriters of the band and was taken at the 2019 to 2020 Woodford Folk Festival. Una Heera are a talented young Brisbane band who describe their genre as music from the forest. Not only do they present themselves beautifully on stage but their music is joyful and soothing. The backdrop was a full stage size LED screen with ever changing colours and patterns so it did present some challenges but in this image I feel it worked nicely.

The Possession by Rodney Nancarrow

 The base image for The Possession was taken at “Melaleuca”, a holiday cottage in Boreen Point that was originally owned by the writer, poet and activist Judith Wright. The cottage is constructed of rammed earth and is very museum like, filled with an eclectic collection of antiques and bric-a-brac. I thought that the doll with the spooky eyes in the old pram would make a nice still life study on the front patio but the image just seemed to lack something. I decided to do a simple composite and add my carnival friend in the window and I was quite pleased with the unsettling feeling this addition gave to the image. For me The Possession exemplifies my slightly skewed sense of humour.

Una Heera by Rodney Nancarrow

The Possesion by Rodney Nancarrow

There Goes the Bus by Gaye Slade

This image was given an Merit in March 2020 in the Set Subject ACTION. I took it early evening in front of the Treasury Building, Brisbane.  A city bus crossed in front of my camera just as I was taking it.  As the camera was on slow shutter speed it gave a light trail.  It is one of my favourite images as I love this building especially at night.

There Goes the Bus by Gaye Slade

2020 Best of the Best Awarded Images

Best of the Best Images are selected by a panel of three judges at the conclusion of each compettion year. They are selected from the honour and merit images and are considered the ‘best of the best’ for that year.

Visitng her Ghosts by Anne Pappalardo

Print of the Year - Visiting her Ghosts by Anne Pappalardo

This image is a composite I made following a presentation by Michelle Kennedy at one of the club’s Focus Meetings. The fact that it did well is testimony to the success of the club’s Focus program and to the fact that Michelle was so generous in sharing her techniques. This year, due to Covid, these awards were announced via Zoom (rather than our annual dinner), and the club took the opporutnity to showcase all of the shortlisted images for the Best of the Best award (we’d never done that before). When the Print of the Year awards were being showcased I remember marvelling at the caliber of the work. It was humbling just to be included in the shortlist.

Trapped in a Kaleidoscope by Phil Lawrence

DPI of the Year - Trapped in a Kaleidoscope by Phil Lawrence

I am interested in Creative images and in many instances and where appropriate have included my grand children as models. This image also received an Honour in the QCG August 2020 Open Competition.

Ette by Betty Collerson

Gaye Edwards Portrait Prize - Ette by Betty Collerson

This image received an Honour in the June 2020 A Grade Portrait and Open Competition. It was then chosen Portrait of the Year 2020 in the Gaye Edwards Annual Portrait Prize. I photographed Ette Karney, who is from the Ivory Coast, and now lives in Brisbane, in a Portrait Master Class Workshop run by John Lomas, from the Brisbane Camera Group.

The Outback Publican by Martin Riley

Black and White Print of the Year - The Outback Publican by Martin Riley

This image received an Honour in the set subject ‘Portrait’ in June 2020. This amazing character, Lester, was the publican at the Middleton Pub, located west of Winton in remote western Queensland. Lester was full of charm and stories and even recited his own poetry to us on the veranda of the pub. This image just captures his cheeky disposition perfectly!

The Path by Harvey Kramer

Mountain Landscape of the Year - The Path by Harvey Kramer

This image received a Merit for 'Scapes' in 2020. It was also awarded first place in 'Mountain Landscape of the Year'. Mountains, trekking and photography go hand in hand for me. Our group was trekking the mountain up from Lake Mackenzie on the Routeburn Track in the NZ Alps. It was February and there had been an unseasonal snowfall overnight. As we climbed higher, the unveiling panorama was breathtaking. The awesome beauty of Nature literally stopped me in my tracks!

Contemplating a New Wheelbarrow by Martin Riley

Most Apt Title of the Year - Contemplating a New Wheelbarrow by Martin Riley

This image received a Merit and Most Apt Title in the Open competition in March 2020. This lady was captured at the busy and atmospheric fish markets in Negombo, Sri Lanka. She was escaping the chaos in a quite laneway, and I loved the gritty nature of the surroundings with the rusty old wheelbarrow and the exposed electrical wiring. The lady’s mind seemed to be miles away - contemplating a new wheelbarrow?

QCG Collected Works - Part II

This is the second installment of three blog posts featuring the fabulous images from QCG’s photo book of 2020 Collected Works. The perfect bound soft cover book was printed by Momento Pro who sponsor the club’s photo book competition. QCG’s next photo book competition is slated for 2022. Read on to enjoy some fantastic images by some super photographers and to gain some insight into the story behind each photo.

New York - A Moment in Time, by Joy Melchiori

The image was given a Merit in the 'Open' Section in May 2020.  I saw this street scene and just couldn't walk by it without capturing the moment.  I actually loved the busyness of the scene - the colours, people, window reflections, and birds - and yet, there was a stillness about it as each person had their own little story going on.  It's one of my favourites as each time I look at it, I see something new.

A Moment in Time

Black Cockatoo in Gum Tree, by Debby Talon

This image is a photograph that I took of one of the Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos that reside around our property throughout most of the year, and it is one of the seven species of cockatoos we have here in Australia. Several creative processes took place to produce the final digital photograph to make the painterly abstract background, and to enhance the vibrant colour palette of the gum leaves. The end result is an original fine art photograph of one of our amazing Australian wildlife, the Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo.

This style of photography is what I enjoy the most as a Visual Artist and Photographer as I love creating images that look very different to the original photograph. Often, during the creative process, it is a very pleasant surprise to see the final image. I also like to make my photographs a bit different, working towards my goal of an individual and recognisable creative style.

Black Cockatoo in Gumtree

Casino at Sunset, by Ken Butler

This image (Merit, Open, May 2020) was taken from Brisbane Square late one afternoon in March while my son and I wandered around the Square and the Cultural Centre across the river recording city views. For me it makes a great shot because the nature of the light at that time of day delivered a contrasty image with a faux metallic look when converted to black and white in NIK software.  It was taken with a wide angle lens, enabling great sharpness across much of the image.  This was a major factor in producing the picture’s special look and feel.

Casino at Sunset

Beyond the Apocalypse of Climate Change ... Dust & Drought, by Ray Shorter

The overwhelming consensus of evidence-based science is that our planet is warming.

My project focused on producing a visual narrative of how the world may be after the apocalypse of the climate change emergency we are all facing. This image depicts how increasing frequency of extremes of weather and especially drought in many parts of Australia threaten our food production capacity.

My hope is that the narrative I have tried to create does not actually come to pass and that we are able to change the way we live to mitigate the more extreme scenarios of the climate emergency we face … for the sake of our children and grandchildren.

Beyond the Apocalypse of Climate Change

Double Up by Paul Cook

This image is one of my personal favourite Street photos. It gained an honour in the 2020 April Open Black and White Competition. For me, the image reflects a simplicity and character of a time past or present, location here or there. I'm hoping this image can take you to a time and place you imagine it to be. This image was taken in the same way most of my street photographs are taken, a mirrorless camera, viewed in black and white, with manual settings, manual zone focus. All that is left to do is wait for the right moment and press the shutter button. Steps of Cathedral of St Stephen, Elizabeth St Brisbane. 

Double Up

Emerging Skimmer Drying by Bob Britcher AFIAP AAPS PSQA

Captured September 2019.  Received an HONOUR at IPSWICH & PENINSULA in 2020.

Emerging Skimmer Drying

Rainbow Lorikeet & Bees on Xanthorrea by Bob Britcher AFIAP AAPS PSQA

Captured September 2017 but not exhibited yet.

Rainbow Lorikeet & Bees on Xanthorrea

Fraser Island Predators by Esther Andrews

For us the Covid pandemic lockdown ran from March to May 2020.  I’m really not sure of the details of the dates.  It’s almost surreal looking back on it now.  I still remember the phone call from my son, “Quick Mum, you’ve got to come up now.  They’re stopping the planes.”  Their baby’s due date was approaching and they had a toddler already.  There was no work in Brisbane.  I might as well be locked down in the north for a bit longer than the planned visit.  So after a mad scramble to finish my SEQ entries, off I went.  

 Six weeks in the warm north with one and then two delightful grandchildren.  It was only on my return that I realised I was weary.  My children laughed and said, “you need a holiday to get over your time up here!”  And they were right.  So when the opportunity arose to go to Fraser Island I grasped it with both hands.  It was a brilliant photographic week with no domestic responsibilities and no constant child watching.  (The toddler isn’t known as ‘lightning’ for nothing.)

 When the three related images competition came around, this was a good time for me to try something special. 

 I have always loved sandhills.  Going to Fingal to run up and down the coloured sandhills is a happy childhood memory.  On Fraser Island they called to me with freedom and space and quietness.  Even the approach of the dingo only added a respect for his space, his territory.  This land belonged to the animals, the birds, not to us.  We watched, we waited, and, of course, we took photos!

 To me this composite image is from a moment in time; it is a trigger to the beauty and peace that is ours, despite the horrors of other parts of our world, both near and far.  It lifts my strange year being an intermission that gives both strength and calm.

 And when the judge said nice things about this image, I knew it would be a good one to share!!

Fraser Island Predators

Togetherness by Gaye Edwards

Covid19 restrictions led to a new photographic and environmental interest.  These two little native female Red-backed Fairywrens at Oxley Creek Common symbolise the challenge and the charm my photography enjoyed during very anxious times.

Togetherness

St Petersberg Sunset by Philip Lawrence EFIAP,FAPS,CAPS/b

I received an Honour for St Petersberg Sunset in the Print section of Scapes late February.

St Petersberg Sunset

Fabulous photo book of collected works by Queensland Camera Group members

Photo books are an amazing way to showcase images in the printed form. During our Covid-affected 2020 year, the club ceased print-making from the early part of the year, and while we resumed making prints right at the end of 2020, there were a few beautiful images which probably missed out on being presented to the club as prints.

So last year, the club invited interested members to submit a favourite image to be included in a special photo book of collected works from 2020. Those photo books have now been published and copies are being distributed to each participating member. This is the first of a three part series where we share the images that went into these wonderful books, along with the words that were included for each picture.

My Girl, by Ken Marchant

 “My Girl” was the first image that I received an Honour for at QCG. Taken at Crows Nest – I sat patiently for some time to capture this interaction.

My Girl

A Wagon Full of Trouble, by Georgie Crossley

I received an Honour for this image in Wings and Open, Open category. This shoot was so much fun as we had 13 puppies on the day. This litter was 4 weeks old and all of them were so cute and cuddly. It required 2 puppy handlers to keep all the puppies on the wagon.

A Wagon Full of Trouble

Mates, by Martin Riley

This image received  a Merit in the Open section of our July 2020 competition. In addition, it was lucky enough to win 1st place at the 2020 Ekka exhibition in the Camera Club division.  These two wonderful characters were spotted in a beautiful cloister in the northern Italian city of Alba. I love this image not only for its wonderful textures and the priceless blank looks on the men’s faces which say 1000 words, but it takes me back to one of my favourite parts of the world renowned for its rolling hills and importantly world famous wine!

Mates

Sarah and Robert Ready for Winter by Margaret Whyte

I have been a fairly regular attendee at QCG's Special Interest Portrait Group and have learned so much about both studio lighting and natural lighting for portraits.  I am lucky to have willing family members to model for me and received two merits in the Open section of our August competition.

Sarah

Robert Ready for Winter

Sharing and Caring, Chris Pigott

This image came about as at least one good thing from Covid. One of our QCG committee meetings was held face-to-face in a park rather than via Zoom and I was distracted by the presence of these colourful birds. Anne Pappalardo who knew about them told me they were Rainbow Bee Eaters. So I came back the next day with my camera and they really put on a show.

Sharing and Caring

Back Scratch

Framed in Orange, by Peter Moodie

This image was given an honour in the open category in 2020. When in Iceland in 2019 we visited the Arbaer Open Air Museum, a place that displays the built history of Reykjavik. Among the buildings was a simple grey shed, with orange framed windows, that happened to be framed by autumn orange berries hanging from a tree branch over the window. I enjoy this image because of the striking contrast between the orange and industrial grey.

Framed in Orange

Betty Collerson:

Glittering-throated Emerald Hummingbird

This image, from the May 2020 A Grade Still Life and Open Competition, received an Acceptance. It was taken in March 2020 during a visit to my mother in Brazil. She has a nectar feeder hanging in the veranda of her ninth-floor apartment in Belém, Pará. It attracts a great number of birds during the day, and other creatures, such as microbats and native geckos at night. These incredibly fast, dazzling, and enchanting little creatures are hard to photograph, and I was happy to get these images after much trying.

 Nectar Feeding Microbat

 This image, from the September 2020 A Grade Wings and Open Competition, was awarded an Acceptance. It was also taken in Belém in March 2020.

Glittering-throated Emerald Hummingbird

Nectar Feeding Microbat

Monument Valley Buttes, by Max Biddlestone

This image was given an honour in an Open subject in 2020.  It was taken during a visit to the "American West" located in Utah just over the border from Arizona.

Monument Valley Buttes

Keep on rollin’, by Suzanne Mulligan

This image received an Honour in the set subject ‘Action’ in March 2020.  It was taken at the “Lumberjack Show” in Ketchikan, Alaska.  These very fit young men (one an Australian) performed various action tasks - wood chopping, axe throwing, pole climbing and in this photo they’re each trying to dislodge the other while staying on a log in the water. 

Keep on rollin’

Next week we’ll publish the second installment of the images from QCG’s Collected Works 2020.

How camera clubs can help us develop as photographers and artists

Written by Bob Britcher

The Queensland Camera Group is trialling a new program called Mentor of the Month.

The programme aims to provide members an opportunity to make contact, on a one-on-one basis, with one of our more experienced members to take advantage of their extensive photographic skills and experience.

Our first Mentor of the Month is the highly respected and experienced Bob BRITCHER (AFIAP AAPS PSQA). There is probably no one currently active in the club who has more photography club history and experience than Bob.

In this story, Bob shares his insights into the development of you as an artist, and how camera club judging can be a part of that development.

“Creativity is a journey of experiences and dedicated
endeavour”

As photography is considered to be a means of self expression it is therefore a recognised part of the art community. 

All artistes have the creative licence to make the kind of art they like as an individual and in such a way as to please themselves first and foremost. 

Try to keep in mind: - “There is no right or wrong way to be a creative artiste.  That is why there is no criteria to measure success. Trying to fit criteria into your creative endeavours can kill creativity.  Creativity is a journey of experiences and dedicated endeavour”.

Teaching and learning technical aspects of any art medium is the easy part.  However no one person can teach a person creativity - they can only offer some guidance along one’s journey of discovery.  Creativity comes from within one’s heart, mind and soul, accumulated over time, during one’s journey through life.

The thoughts, comments, opinions I express are simply a personal point of view from my own ‘Life’s Journey’.  If during developing knowledge and skills, one seeks inspiration outside of the immediate environment they practice in, a thought to ponder when listening to comments and critiques of any art is the question, ‘When, where, why, how, does mentoring begin and/or end?’.

To me, the answer is:  ‘Any comment is always a new beginning – mentoring never ends.  No matter who makes a statement, if the listener is prepared to keep an open mind to all comments, it’s amazing how little snippets of information can help to improve and shape the destiny of one’s endeavours’.

But while practising that, we also need to appreciate that everyone has an opinion and in a democratic society of free speech, we are all entitled to own our own opinion.  That includes not only yourself but anyone viewing the art you make, such as guest judges invited to offer their own thoughts on your efforts.

Brisbane at Dusk 2012

Brisbane Celebrates NY 2013

Alone at Riverside

So remember, just because one person may or may not like what they see at any point in time, it does not mean to say that everyone else will have the same opinion.  But, if comments are similar, then it’s perhaps time to think about: - “Whose advice should one follow that will help advance my knowledge, skill and methodology?”

In competitions, any capture and editing decision one makes has an effect on the result one gets back for their efforts.  Club judgings include an adjudication that supplies the reward for your effort and for some (usually more experienced members) that’s all they want.

The more important to most though, is the feedback via the critique.  There are many ways one can create and present their images, and the purpose of making the Image will determine that in most circumstances.  My efforts are aimed at helping to create Images for competitions only.

Looking Desirable

With written critiques, time and space probably precludes whether one receives enough.  I’ve always had difficulties with understanding anything, so I’ve matured with that in the back of my mind whenever I offer my thoughts in any forum, and as a result as a judge I’m told, “You say too much”.

My thought on that view is a reflection from my own past experiences, such as if it’s not explained properly/clearly, one will not learn what they need to know.

For the Subject Category of ‘OPEN’ there is no need for a DEFINITION but for SET Categories always refer to the definition supplied for each different category.   For competitions, I’m looking for a strong point of interest (POI),  in a creative composition, and hopefully a good story - something that makes an artistic statement compared to just a pretty image.

Windsurfer

Turbulant Ocean

Competitions don’t allow wording to be included, so in my opinion, better images convey a strong story, based on the content and ability displayed with the framed real estate.

The Supervisor

Solumn Moments Shared

To me, the link below has great creative examples of the less is more philosophy, which stands out dramatically when compared to some other images that are included - which are not so subtle - and therefore have less of a WOW factor.

There are any number of subjects – not necessarily so small [minimalist] – that can be treated in a similar way.  It is just a simple matter of seeing, not just looking.  The secret lies in the way technical skill, lighting, leading lines, colour [especially complementary colours], subject, story and interpretation have been combined to create a strong composition.

Check out the following link and see if you agree with what the few examples demonstrate.

https://www.photopoly.net/24-eye-catching-ladybug-pictures/

You may have heard several quotes by icons of photography such as Ansel Adams.

One of his I often refer to is: - “DON’T JUST TAKE A PHOTO – MAKE A PHOTO”.

I’ve expanded that wording with this version: - “IF YOU WANT A GOOD ENDING – DON’T STOP AT THE BEGINNING”.

A broader explanation of that is the following: - “SIGNIFICANT PHOTOGRAPHY INVOLVES A TWO STAGE PROCESS – TO THE POWER OF TWO”.  The two stages are THE CAPTURE and THE POST PROCESSING.  The Power of 2 is the technical skills needed on how to use the tools of each, and the creative way to use those tools and interpret the kind of results you desire from the capture and editing of each image.  Interpretations come from the heart, mind, and soul of your ‘Journey through Life’.

A final tip that’s always worth keeping in mind: - Remember the 7 ‘Ps’ ...PRIOR PROPER PREPARATIION PREVENTS PRETTY POOR PHOTOGRAPHY.

Many thanks for the invitation to Mentor and for your interest.

I hope the comments help.

Cheers.

Bob Britcher

Mentor of the Month

As Mentor of the Month, Bob Britcher is available for you to contact during the month of September.  Bob’s photographic strengths are nature, people, landscape, macro and action.

The types of enquiries which you may wish to make include, but are not limited to:

• Critiques and feedback on images for competitions.

• Judging advice – what a judge looks for.

• Entering national and/or international competitions.

• Photographic equipment for specific photographic genres and types of images.

• Camera settings and techniques for specific photographic genres and types of images.

• Postproduction techniques, tips and tricks.

On the QCG Virtual Couch with Nick Lefebvre

I was born in Johannesburg. My wife Jenny was born in the then Salisbury, Rhodesia and we emigrated to Australia in 1989. I trained as a geologist, but morphed into the mine site environmental guy when working up in Central Queensland. From there, I worked in the MIM (Mount Isa Mines) head office and then consulted to mining companies specialising in environmental auditing, sustainability reporting, data gathering and analysis

My most interesting shot taken during this time is probably this aerial shot of the Grasberg  copper/gold mine on the island of New Guinea (Papua province of Indonesia). Grasberg is the biggest gold mine and second biggest copper mine in the world and is 4,270 metres above sea level.  A small glacier is situated adjacent to the mine along the ridge line.

Grasberg by Nick Lefebvre

Pets: We don’t currently have any pets as we still intend to travel once it’s safe post Covid. Our last pet, Keea, was a fox terrier.  We have although, house-sat a number of other people’s pets and farm animals in the last five years. This menagerie ranged from cats in Devon, an Airedale in a small village in Scotland, a collie, horse, chickens, goats and two grouchy alpacas in Milton NSW, two collies in Bray, Ireland and dogs and cats in Christchurch NZ, including these two:

Nick and Jenny’s ‘house sitting’ pets, above and below.

What gear do you shoot with? My dad was a Nikon man and although I flirted with other film camera makes, I now have two full frame Nikons, the D600 and the D750. I have the Nikon 24-120mm, Nikon 70-200 vr 2 and a Tokina 100mm portrait/macro lenses as well as a 1.4 x converter. 

The earliest pictures taken by me, that I still have, were from the mid-seventies, but I only became really interested in photography when I bought my first DSLR (a Nikon D80) in 2005.

Preferred style of photography: Probably better to ask what I don’t really prefer which would be still life and macros otherwise I’ll shoot anything that interests me. We recently travelled extensively overseas and in Australia and thus I have many landscapes, architectural, travel, events, street and candid shots.  Since we have settled back in Brisbane I have been keen on improving my portraits, learning a lot during Gaye’s excellent portrait shoots and also looking around for good value or free (TFP) modeling shoots in Brisbane. I am keen to try astro photography when I am next away from ambient light. Thus, I am not sure what my style is, I will leave that to others to decide.

A shot by Nick, taken recently on a photo shoot in the Valley, Brisbane.

Editing and Internet: I edit mostly in Lightroom Classic, occasionally dropping into Photoshop to try a few things that I’ve learnt along the way.

I have some of my pictures on 500px, Viewbug and Instagram (@nicklef99) and occasionally challenge other photographers on Gurushots.

Best holiday: I was retrenched in 2013 and couldn’t find a job, so after gloomily observing the other grey hairs sitting around Kenmore Village doing nothing, and contemplating a similar fate, I proposed to Jenny that we sell the house and car, put our furniture in storage, and travel as cheaply as possible (in part through house-sitting).

She nervously agreed and we started in South Africa and then camped for six weeks in Namibia. Jen wanted to look for poppies in Tuscany so we went there. We spent time in England, Scotland and Ireland then flew to Vancouver going inland to stay with friends in Kalowna. They lent us their vehicle to drive through the magnificent Jasper-Banff National park and on to Calgary. We flew back to Lisbon and drove, (carefully, on the wrong side of the road for me) for six weeks around Portugal and then repeated the exercise in Spain. After flying home to Brisbane, we explored New Zealand for three months and then spent time in Victoria and NSW

If you are bored being ‘locked down’ and feel like following our adventure I have a photoblog (not too many words) of the trip. Jenny occasionally contributed.

If you decide to have a look: To start you need to make your way to the bottom of the main page using the older posts link at the bottom of the page until you get to Melbourne where we started. Use the next post link at the bottom of an individual post to navigate to the next post

https://nickbrisbane.zenfolio.com/blog

Favourite song: I am a 60’s tragic and there are many great songs from that decade that I love but I’ll choose Fleetwood Mac’s Albatross as it invokes memories of many beach holidays at the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXeKi6ZkbOw

I have a 2020 favourite song that I think most will like - so if you haven't been to Africa, time to go when you can. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qlx6D2E1UA

Favourite meal: My favourite meals are probably crispy chicken wings (Jenny's speciality) or lamb chops (pretty basic!). I’d start the evening with Droewors with a cold beer (Droewors is dried thin sausage, an Afrikaans staple).

Favourite image from another member: I like two of Ray Shorter’s many great shots.  The play of light on the landscape in both images is just excellent.

‘Storm Over Grand Canyon’ by Ray Shorter.

‘Neist Point Lighthouse’ by Ray Shorter.

Favourite Image of My Own: Southern Namibia blew me away with rolling deserts, mountain ranges and silence. There are very few people in the south of the country and I couldn’t get enough of it. This picture captures what I feel for the place; deserted, silent and peaceful.

Nick’s favourite image of his own, taken in beautiful Sothern Namibia.

What am I doing during lockdown: I seem to be doing a lot more about the house than I have ever done before!  I’m not really motivated to take many photos but I am learning more editing tricks and editing the photos taken during our Australian travels. Plus, as I learn more about editing I realise I’ll have to go back and start at the beginning, re-editing photos and finding pictures that I originally discarded.

Nick at home.

On the QCG Virtual Couch with Anne Pappalardo

Name:  Anne Pappalardo, although if you know me via my husband you’ll call me Annie.  The Pappalardo part really belongs to my husband, Alf, who is first generation Australian (his parents are from Sicily) and we have a daughter, Sophie and a son Thomas.

Pets:  This is Chocolate Swirl.  He is a Ragdoll cat, so named because the breed goes floppy like a ragdoll when you pick them up.  He is like our third child and like Cathie Kato’s dog, Ruby, Chocs LOVES having four people home 24/7 (Sophie is his favourite).

Chocolate Swirl. Portrait by Anne Pappalardo and showing effective use of the QCG white background and portrait lights, in her Ashgrove rumpus room.

What gear do you shoot with:  I have a Sony a6500 (crop sensor) and three lenses: a 50mm (portrait), a 100-400mm (birds), and a 10-18mm (wide angle - still making friends with it).

What is your favourite genre of photography:  When my son was too old for his mum to be lurking around with a camera at his sporting fixtures I switched to bird photography, which I love.  Max Biddlestone forwarded an article to Jane M and me about how COVID-19 has unintentionally turned us all into birders.  It’s a brilliant story (thanks so much, Max) and talks about how many more people now have the opportunity to spend time looking out a window or being present in nature, which I thought was lovely.

Sunshine Coast: Little Corellas at dusk.

Favourite Restaurant:  We love Indian and have just discovered 50 Spices which is near our home.  Don’t bother eating in – just order takeaway (they also deliver). Inexpensive and delicious.

Favourite Song:  Of course it’s Zoom by Fat Larry’s Band but anything with a disco ball, smoke machine and a turned-up satin lapel in the film clip goes alright with me.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMo6Ju8SJ8o.

Best holiday you ever had:  Last year we went to London as a family.  The boys went to watch the Aussies at the World Cup Cricket.  Soph and I went more as an afterthought, but I am so glad we went.  The joke is that I’m not allowed to attend any fancy cricket games until I understand LBW.  I’ve been watching Tom play cricket since he was in preschool and I still don’t understand LBW (he is now 19) so there was no chance Alf was going to fork out for a ticket for me to go to Lords.  Didn’t stop Soph and I tagging along on the Tube out to St John’s Wood to soak up the atmosphere of Australia playing England with the return of Smith and Warner from the ball tampering scandal, Sandpapergate. 

In between the cricket we did the sights and sounds of London.  We each had a UK sim card which meant for the first time the ‘kids’ were able to go off and do their own thing. I’ll never forget travelling back from Lords with Soph on the Tube, and Soph turned to me and said ‘This is your stop, mummy,’ and I got off the train and watched her go off without me.  Without me.  Or when Tom messaged us ‘What’s for lunch?’ and we all navigated our way from separate points for a catch up at lunch, then headed off again for an afternoon doing different things.  I found it quite surreal to watch our ‘children’ behave as adults in another country but it was this new level of independence that made the holiday that so much more special.

Australia didn’t make it through to the finals (New Zealand played England) but the game itself was history-making and while the boys headed back to Lords to watch it, I went to Trafalgar Square with what seemed like every Kiwi currently installed in London to see it on a big screen.  Again – the atmosphere was electric and I had to pinch myself that I got to be there.

Trafalgar Square: Kiwis celebrate a boundary in the 2019 World Cup Final. They’d soon be crying. She’s a tough old game.

Favourite image by another QCG member:  I very much admire Jane McMenamin’s bird photography and Jane’s “Commotion in the Nest” is one of my all-time favourite images. When it comes to human portraits I can’t go past Roger Bartlett’s “The Musician”. I absolutely love looking at members’ images and my enjoyment is enhanced because of our connection through QCG. Away from the camera club scene and because they know I love photography, people often try and show me their images on their phones and I feel like telling them I have a whole posse of people whose images are the ones I’d prefer to look at any day of the week. But you can’t say that out loud.

Commotion in the Nest by Jane McMenamin.

The Musician by Roger Bartlett.

Favourite image of your own:  I love the puffin photos I took on the holiday I mentioned above. You cannot be in a bad mood while looking at these adorable birds. 

Puffins on Skomer Island, Wales.

How has life changed for you during COVID-19.  Well along with Photoshop and bird books on the desk there is now a copy of the Corporations Law as my husband works from home for probably another couple of months.  Tom is doing uni from home and Soph’s job – miraculously – has continued albeit with fewer hours.  I have missed my brother and my parents terribly but as I write this the restrictions on the number of people who can visit each other has been raised to 5, and guess how many my four plus my brother make?  5!  So that’s made my Mother’s Day for this year and more importantly, my mum’s Mother’s Day.

Phoney photo by Soph. Chocs not really getting into it. Can you see my photo frame with (most) of you in it? Best present ever. And no, my desk is never this tidy.

On the QCG Virtual Couch with Kathie Cato

Pets: I have a dog called Ruby and five chickens. Social distancing has also been a dream come true for Ruby who used to give me the sad eyes each morning as I left. The chickens really just think of food every time they see me and at a time when the eggs section of the supermarket is usually empty, the girls are not exactly pulling their weight. When they do lay though, I am pleased that my eggs come from happy, healthy chickens with room to run around.

Ruby.

What gear do you shoot with? There was a photography competition for staff while I was a PhD student at the Translational Research Institute (TRI) in Woolloongabba in around 2014. I was struck by the fact that the entries were submitted not by professional photographers but my colleagues, and so many of them. It was a few years later that I bought my first interchangeable lens camera. I seriously considered purchasing a full-frame camera but eventually settled on the Fujifilm X-pro2, a mirrorless camera with an APS-C sensor. The deciding factor in the end was weight. With no previous photography experience, my priority was ensuring that I never hesitated to take my camera out for the day based on weight and inconvenience. I use an 80mm lens for macro work with 1.4 teleconverter, a 23mm for street and when I’m wanting something very light and a 16-55mm for everything else. I don’t have a good telephoto lens yet. That’s something I’m working towards. I have recently added a Fujifilm X100F with a fixed 23mm lens that I carry with me every day, so I never miss an opportunity.

Preferred genre/style of photography. I don’t really have a favourite genre yet. I currently do a lot of macro but am mostly experimenting with a bit of everything and generally just opportunistic. I think I am leaning towards social documentary and plan to return in the next life as a photojournalist. I’d also like to do a little more with black and white and see where that takes me.

Favourite song. Really, everything by Billie Eilish. If I had to choose, it would be ‘My Strange Addiction’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBFfclLlc6o.

Favourite restaurant. It’s not a restaurant. I can’t go past the fresh, warm pastries straight out of the oven at the Powerhouse Farmer’s markets on Saturdays.

Best holiday you ever had. In February 2016 I visited my daughter and her partner for 2 weeks who live in Vancouver. In addition to sightseeing around Vancouver we went to Whistler, Banff and Lake Louise. Absolutely amazing and beautiful! I didn’t yet have my camera, so my photos from that trip are just holiday snaps. That means there will have to be a return trip at the same time of year to photograph everything I saw the first time. Of course, there will also have to be a trip at the opposite time of year to see the bears in British Columbia and Lake Louise in summer when it’s not frozen over.

Favourite photo of a QCG member. Harvey Kramer: Wilderness train.

Wilderness Train by Harvey Kramer.

Working from home during a pandemic. Working from home in my current role during the pandemic is a dream come true for me. I save two hours a day by not travelling to UQ in peak hour traffic. I love to hear the birds calling all day and see the sun shining through the windows while I work. Two of my adult children still live at home so I also enjoy some company. They both work and lead busy lives which is really the perfect combination of company and alone time. We laugh a lot together and there’s never really a dull moment.

The temporary home office during COVID-19.

On the QCG Virtual Couch with Ray Eisenmenger

May I begin by congratulating the QCG for its brilliant organisation and gathering of quality photographers.  As a relatively new member (after visiting the exhibition in 2018) I am impressed with the dedication and passion of so many keen and creative artists.

My history as a cameraperson is rather spasmodic. In the early 80’s I joined the Dalby Photography Club and discovered that there was good value in being part of such a hobby group. However, since the Dalby days I have been just a holiday and travel snapper. Only since my recent retirement have I challenged myself to do more with the interest I have in this medium.  Needless to say I have learnt heaps from the competitions, outings and guest speakers organised by QCG. 

What gear do you shoot with? Currently I have a Nikon 750D camera and two lenses – the Micro-Nikkor 105mm and a Sigma 35mm Art. I am pleased with the results these precision items produce.  I have no particular speciality that I focus on. I like to look for good pictures anywhere and try to capture them digitally.

My best holiday?  I like to tell people that in retirement every day is a holiday. In the last 6-7 years my wife and I and the miniature schnauzer have travelled many kilometres in a motorhome, seeing the sights along most of the main highways and roads of this huge country. For two consecutive winters we went gold prospecting in Western Australia. Recently we enjoyed a few weeks in Norway and on the waterways of Russia. It was great for photography, except for the crowds.

Saxon

The Wealth of Russia, by Ray Eisenmenger.

Favourite music? In music I have two major interests. I love the music and songs of the sixties – Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Dusty Springfield and many more; but I also listen to a lot of classical works by all the great composers. Two of my favourites pieces are the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah and “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen. For a few years now I have tried to better understand and appreciate the life and works of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 to 1975).

One very different orchestral piece which I often view on Youtube is found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enuOArEfqGo. Let me know what you think!

Favourite Restaurant: My favourite restaurant has to be the Long Paddock in the main street of  Lindenow, Victoria (near Bairnsdale.) Our son, Anton and his partner Tanya own this small café. They serve up the best pies and salad and irresistible gnocchi with prawns. The NY Times has even given them a write-up.

See:  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/dining/long-paddock-review.html

Favourite image by another QCG member: “Two Bridges” by Gaye Slade on the Group’s home page is one photo that impacts me whenever I go online. But there are many similar quality shots stored in the gallery that I find very pleasing

Two Bridges by Gaye Slade.

Favourite image of my own: I finish with my “Bridges” photo which is not quite as impressive as the one mentioned above. Thanks for reading.

Indooroopilly Bridges by Ray Eisenmenger.

$20 beer in Bergen, along with Ray Eisenmenger.

On the QCG Virtual Couch with Judy Greer

About me: I work fulltime as an Accountant for the Convention Centre and love my job.  No pets - I had two cats that made it to nearly 20 and I cannot do that again. I work to travel so no pets makes this easier. This is the first holiday/break from work that I have not flown away for a long time.

Camera Gear:  I only have one camera and one lens - Nikon D3100 with a Tamron 18-270 mm lens (known as a traveller’s lens). I am this sure will change in the future and since joining QCG I am looking at what else would work for me. 

Style of Photography: I love taking photos of people so I guess Social Documentary and Travel photography.  I am trying out Macro stuff now as Jasmine has showed me an area that I find really interesting. 

Anterior, multi-award winning macro image by Jasmine Westerman.

Best Holiday:  Where do I start? China/Mongolia/Russia on the Trans  Mongolian then the Trans Siberian was a big trip but so was South America.  Galapagos/Peru (the Inca Trail)/Bolivia/Brazil/Argentina. I never thought I would make it but am so proud I did. I have just come back from India at Christmas.  Not sure I loved everything I did, but it did tick off some of the bucket list. 

Image by Judy Greer

Image by Judy Greer.

Judy’s holiday memories.

Favourite image by another QCG member: Too hard to choose but I love Anne's Puffins and lots of Jasmine's macro stuff. I also like Martin and Elizabeth's travel photos. 

Puffin with sand eels by Anne Pappalardo

Water for Elephants by Martin Riley.

Favourite image of my own: I am too tough on myself but I love taking photos of people when travelling.

Food: I love Asian food - mainly Vietnamese. I am Coeliac so Asian is easy for me.

Favourite Song: I am a Meatloaf tragic 😊 so "I'd lie for you (and that's the truth)".

What am I doing at the moment (because of Covid-19):  Apart from writing this my kitchen has never sparkled so much. OMG the things you do when you can't travel. I have also done some gardening and walking daily. Now I am into a photo book (or more hopefully).  I am currently on stand down from work for 3 weeks. 

Judy’s workspace, sans Judy but with a cake replacement which is sweet enough.

Judy Greer (below). Portrait by Gaye Edwards.

On the QCG Virtual Couch with Gaye Slade

Name: Marilyn Gaye Slade [you know me as Gaye]. Long story short I was named Marilyn Gaye but from the start was called Gaye. Who would do that to a kid?

Pet's Name: My beautiful girl Lola is a 2 year old black and white Cavoodle. She is the joy of my life and I don't know what I'd do without her during these troubling times. She is a gentle girl who greets everyone like they were her best friend. She has a little King Charles Cavalier friend we often walk with but since social distancing we are going by ourselves. She was never very naughty except for seven pairs KMart rubber thongs. I just love her!!  Covid 19 restrictions mean I also cannot take her to the beauty parlour but I am learning to give her a hair cut myself, like many of us who are stuck at home.  Reminds me of parents giving their kids a bowl cut!

Lola

Working or retired?  I am retired now and loving it.  I did obtain an IT degree back in 1989 and in 1990 was recruited to Australian Customs for the first part of my working life then the Department of Foreign Affairs for the second part.  I knew absolutely nothing about IT when I started my degree – the lecturer on the first day opened up the back of a computer for the benefit of the class and I said, “There’s nothing much to it, is there?”.  Famous last words!

What gear do you shoot with? I started seven years ago with a SONY A57 and an 18 - 135 lens and then purchased a 70 - 300. A couple of years later SONY went to mirrorless and the size of the A7r suited me. My first lens was a 24 - 70 F4 Zeiss lens. Then a 90mm 2.8 macro G Lens fell into my camera bag and became my favourite lens. My other lenses are an F4 16 - 35 and a 1.8 50 mm. A couple of years later I also purchased an A6000 which I have now upgraded to a A6500 with an 18 - 105 mm lens. My flash is a GODOX, Filters are NISI and tripod of a SURI.

Preferred genre/style of photography.  I love night scapes, mono, social documentary and travel photography. Now I have joined Queensland Camera Group as a full member I am finding the love of portraiture.

Best holiday you ever had. I've never had a bad holiday but the three I loved most were heading up the coast of Norway on a cargo ship in early winter, travelling around Vietnam and my latest trip to Morocco.  Into the future I’ve decided to stay in Australia and travel locally and do my bit for the country.

Market Day by Gaye Slade

Favourite song. There are many songs I love but the one I find much joy listening to is Hallelujah written by Leonard Cohen but the rendition I love is sung by KD Lang, my favourite singer. I also love Sarah Brightman and have all her CDs.

Favourite restaurant.  I don't have one as I don't dine out but I love Indian and Mexican food which I cook at home.  I love chicken burritos, tacos and enchiladas – anything with a curry or cumin flavour.

Favourite image by another QCG member.  There are so many wonderful photographers in the club.  Gaye Edwards and Gosh Slomenski portraits are supurb. Anne P is also doing fabulous work.

My favourite image since becoming a full member is Afternoon Stroll by Nick Lefebvre. I was privileged to have been asked to judge the Photoshoot Outings images for last year the one that especially comes to mind is Brisbane River Bend by Elizabeth Riley.

Afternoon Stroll by Nick Lefebvre.

Brisbane River Bend by Elizabeth Riley

Favourite image of my own:  A Shining Light, a photo of the Carillon, Canberra.

A Shining Light by Gaye Slade

What are you watching?:  I love Brittish dramas and crime shows including Doc Martin, Fearless and Shetland.  I also love Australian drama on the ABC like Mystery Road, Secret City and The Code.  Lola loves watching TV with me too – I crochet and she enjoys barking at other dogs and the odd cow, which she also thinks is a dog.

Girls together on the couch - all is right with the world

How has COVID 19 changed your life:  Well like many people I see a lot less of my family.  I used to have breakfast weekdays with my granddaughter, Eliza, before dropping her to school – that has not happened for weeks now.  I have a brand new granddaughter who I’ve seen only once and she is now three months, so I am missing watching her grow.  Lola is a blessing but I do miss not being able to catch up with friends and even simple things like visiting Bunnings or Spotlight (for wool).  I miss seeing the kids in our street – there are about 14 of them – but they did yell out to me the other day that “We’re still here!”, which was pretty funny but also quite heart-warming.

The truth is, we’re all in this together and we’re all doing our a bit for the country and that’s the main thing.

Gaye’s beautiful granddaughter Eliza at a QCG photoshoot. Image by Gaye Edwards.

On the QCG Virtual Couch with Ray Shorter

Thanks, Anne, for inviting me to share a little about myself with other QCG members.

My natural inclination is to stay under a bush and let my images and activities speak on my behalf, rather that write this self-blog which, metaphorically speaking, feels a bit like being asked to stand on a table at a QCG meeting and open my kimono (don’t over think that …). Anyhow, let’s crack on and see how it goes.

Pet's Name. Jenny and I have had pets for almost all of our 50 married years, generally cats with occasionally a dog in the mix. Apart from the four years we lived in the USA where we had just barn cats, we have usually had Siamese, Tonkinese and Burmese, often two out of these three at a time. Our current boss is a Burmese, ‘Tartufi’ (Italian adjective for truffles as she is little, brown and often hard to find); we are fortunate in that early on, she let us know that we would be acceptable staff members of her management team!

Tartufi

And that is not counting the horses that have also been a constant feature of our life together (do horses count as pets …. they are certainly tamed animals that have also been companions). Currently we have only one, ‘Avril’, a Hanoverian/Thoroughbred mare that Jenny still rides almost daily for dressage training.

Avril, ridden by Jenny Shorter

What gear do you shoot with? I started out as a teenager with a Praktica SLR, then successively a Minolta SLR, several Olympus SLR’s (OM1 & 2), back to a Minolta, then for a while just several simple Canon point & shoots digitals, before going more seriously digital with a cropped sensor Nikon D300.

Currently my main camera is an ageing full frame Nikon D800 that probably still knows more about photography than I do. It’s complemented by the few lenses that I still have left: Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8, Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 and Nikkor 24mm f/3.5 PC-E (tilt shift). I have had other Nikkor lenses that I either sold (Nikkor 105mm macro, Nikkor 70-200 tele) or ‘damaged’ (a fantastic Nikkor 14-24 f/2.8 wide angle that I dropped down a gorge in Karijini National Park last year … note to self: zip up your camera bag before pulling it onto your back!).

This kit is complemented by a compact fixed lens Sony RX 100 Mk 3 camera, several Nikon Speedlights, several PocketWizard remote triggers, several Formatt-HiTech neutral density filters, a Gitzo carbon fibre tripod, some Kenko extension tubes and a Really Right Stuff L-bracket.

Because of my youthful three score + ten + more years, I’m looking to move to a lighter Nikon mirrorless system (maybe the upcoming Z8) when my super fund recovers some of its lost value!

Preferred genre/style of photography. Starting with photographing family holidays when growing up, I gravitated to landscape photography as opportunities arose during and after high school. Those were the days of colour slides, so ‘exhibiting’ them was mainly to family and friends. Magazines gave me pointers on photographic technique, lighting and colour (in the pre-internet age).

While at UQ doing my Master’s degree in the early’70s, my lab was opposite the Department’s darkroom … I was able to convince the darkroom manager to let me use the darkroom on weekends, so that started my lifelong journey into black & white photography. To save money, I bought my film in bulk and rolled my own cassettes. After shooting whatever I could in and around Brisbane, I would develop my film and then print the better shots (using my own chemicals and paper). It was always exciting to see the image come to life on the paper in the developer trays … and it started me on the journey of image manipulation with dodging and burning etc and some fun experimentation with stuff like quasi bas relief (high contrast prints with restricted tonal range – mainly blacks and whites with minimal greys). Weekend trips to the Department were also handy as I was brewing my own beer in 10L vats (labelled as “Experiment in Progress – Don’t Touch”) in a constant temperature room down the hall in order to save money as a newly married post-grad student. So, I was able to bottle off a few dozen bottles (often with my dad coming in to help) while my film strips were drying, away from the prying eyes (and mouths) of other staff and students!

After my Master’s degree, and having survived the first couple of years of married life, Jenny and I sailed off to the United States at the end of ‘72, on the P&O liner Arcadia, where I would undertake my PhD degree (In ’72 I had managed to snag the one annual P&O scholarship for a free return passage for a student travelling to the US for post-grad study). Prior to this, our biggest overseas trip had been across the Hornibrook Highway to Redcliffe, so this was an exciting adventure for two young people with no money! I’ll never forget the morning we arrived in the US, sailing into San Francisco bay just after dawn, under the Golden Gate Bridge with sunlight streaming through the fog shrouding the upper pylons … I think this firmed up my desire to be better at landscape photography.

These days I still enjoy taking visually appealing landscape images, but increasingly I am trying to take and process digital images that are a bit different from the multitude that are out there on the internet … different perspectives, angles of view, light, simplicity and a strong subject … such as this aerial shot from above Lake Eyre taken last year …

Aerial shot, Lake Eyre by Ray Shorter

…and Neist Point lighthouse on the Isle of Skye …

Neist Point lighthouse, Isle of Skye, photographed by Ray Shorter

These days I continue to enjoy black & white landscape photography, and also architectural images that are a bit different and that, hopefully, have more impact, e.g. “Twisted Torso”, the Cayan Tower in Dubai …

Twisted Torso by Ray Shorter

Best holiday you ever had. A difficult one as there have been so many: annual ski trips to Colorado for the past couple of decades, trips to south west USA and the Yukon, and to quite a few countries in Europe … Two safari trips to Kenya and Tanzania in 2012 and 2014 provided some exceptional opportunities for wildlife photography:

Stunning wildlife: image by Ray Shorter

For the past 15 years, I have also enjoyed, as somewhat of an introvert, 4WD camping holidays in outback Australia, which have provided plenty of landscape photography opportunities. Here are a lot of the sometimes quite remote tracks I have travelled over:

Favourite song. Even though I have as much musical talent as a plank of wood, I do enjoy listening to classical music as I find it relaxing and calming as we (in normal times) move through our busy lives. I particularly enjoy listening to 4MBS Classic FM 103.7 where QCG member Margaret Whyte hosts various programs.

Favourite restaurant. For a casual lunch, Jenny and I enjoy going to The Flying Nun Café in nearby Samford. A favourite Italian restaurant, near where our son lives at Newstead, is Beccofino. Having to been to France on holiday five times over the last 20 years, we enjoy French cuisine and our latest place is La Cache a Vin (Thierry Galichet is our favourite French chef in Brisbane).

Favourite image by another QCG member. I really enjoy the quite different photography of Ross Miles … particularly those taken while he is waving his camera around at fireworks or capturing movement, e.g. at horse trials or bike riders in the city. Ross has the ability to look and find unique scenes even in mundane locations. He has been an inspiration to me.

Favourite image made by myself. Not sure it is my all-time favourite, but one of my most memorable as it was the first that won a major prize ($3000) – worldwide Amateur category winner of the 2013 International Loupe Awards …

What am I doing during the Covid-19 crisis? For a long time, I have considered taking photos and post-processing them either in the darkroom or now on the computer as two parts of a continuous whole, aiming to produce images with visual impact that evoke some emotional response in viewers. Increasingly over the past few years I have been trying to find ways to produce images that are a little different and a bit more creative. As a left-brain logical scientist, it has been an interesting challenge to try to develop some right-brain creativity. As an artist, Jenny has been particularly helpful. So, during these times of social isolation, I’m trying to improve my post-processing Photoshop skills and image creation by watching webinars, doing on-line courses, looking at art by famous painters and well-known photographers and practising on my own images. Here is one from last week: "Windmills of My Mind - I" .... after a long day driving in outback Oz .... through the Great Victoria Desert along the Connie Sue 'Highway' ... with aerial visions of Shark Bay appearing in the third eye ....

Windmills of My Mind - I by Ray Shorter

Ray Shorter’s ‘Cave’

To see a bit more of my work, I invite you to cruise over to my website (which I’ll be updating soon to include my photography projects over the past few years, including two from 2020 where the exhibitions have been postponed): www.shortershots.com.au.

On the QCG Virtual Couch with Ross Miles

Ross Miles may be unknown to some of our newer members but he is a stalwart of the club and a former president. As a retired teacher and with the patience of a saint, Ross has made enormous contributions to Queensland Camera Group, teaching us about Photoshop, In Camera Movement and the importance of staying true to yourself photographically. Read on to learn a little more about this humble, talented photog:

Thank you Anne for inviting me.  I was a little puzzled as I have been notable by my absences from QCG in recent years.  I am beholden though to Martin Reilly who encouraged me to be more active last year by inviting me to the Focus Group on a couple of occasions. I was also beholden to David Bullock who informed me that it was my turn as a past President to do the judging for Three Related Images at the AGM and to Anne Pappalardo for agreeing to tag team me at that task.  I really enjoyed the on-line meeting last night (Thursday 2 April) and feel that I might exceed my meeting attendances while this situation continues.  Congratulations to the team who have got this all up and running so quickly.

When I retired my, daughter Karen asked why I don’t join QCG and do photography.  What do I want to do that for, I replied, and the rest is history as the saying goes.   People often say how their photographic interest was started when they were quite young.  Mine started after I retired and 99% plus of the photos I’ve ever taken in my life, have been taken after I joined QCG in 2004.  I had done more videoing at school as a teacher than I had done still photography.

What is your pet’s name?

When I retired and our dog finally succumbed to old age, we decided not to have another pet so as to give us the freedom to travel.  However, time and circumstances changed that.  One of our three daughters was based with Border Force in Carnarvon in Western Australia.  She had a dog but also took in a cat which was a rescue animal from a local community over there.  Her name is Disney and she’s a pretty little cat. Her name comes from the fact that this daughter is a Disney fan and the cat is black and white with markings on her hind quarters which are reminiscent of Mickey Mouse’s head and ears.  Hence, the name Disney.  This daughter received a transfer to Norfolk Island with Border Force for a couple of years.  Owing to the environmental concerns of a cat on Norfolk Island, Disney came to live with us in 2016, and she hasn’t left here. 

‘Disney’ with Mickey and his mouse ears on her flank.

What gear do I use?

I was an avid Canon user only because my daughter Karen, who joined QCG first, was a Canon user.  I bought a Canon 350D, upgraded to a 5D and then when that broke, went to a 5D2.  I had a pile of lenses including five L series pro lenses.  In 2015 Irene and I did a trip to Canada and Alaska.  The Canon and just the one general lens was a struggle to carry around so I vowed to downsize when I got home.  I bought a Fuji off Zameal from QCG and he gave me another Fuji and so now I have a brace of Fujis.  With Canon, I had one camera and a pile of lenses.  It meant taking a heavy camera bag everywhere.  With Fuji I changed tack.  Instead of buying one camera and a pile of lenses, I have bought three cameras for different purposes.  One a Fuji XPro2 is an interchangeable lens camera and I have just 4 lenses to go with it.  I have two smaller fixed lens compacts one for travel (X100F) and the other (X70) goes in my pocket when I’m with the family.  For two months in the UK and Ireland a couple of years ago, the X100F was all I had with the X70 as a back-up.  Nowadays I go around with a small handbag size camera bag with two cameras and three lens and seemingly less weight and space as one Canon and one lens.  For street shoots I only use the X100F which has the same sensor as the XPro2 in any case but just a fixed 23mm lens (35mm equivalent).  The only thing I’m disappointed with is that I can’t take my distinctive fireworks photos with the Fuji gear as it’s all electronic and I need a manual focus mechanism to do them with.  At least I can use my old canon 5D2 as I gave it to my daughter-in-law and I just borrow it back for the occasion. 

Preferred genre/style of photography.

Aaaah! Now it gets tricky. Some people would say that I have a ‘wave the camera all over the place’ style. When I started with QCG, I was told that I would develop a style.  No, no, no, I said, I don’t want to develop a style. I want my style to be eclectic.  It seems though that I have developed a style.  Probably the easiest description is ICM (In Camera Movement).  I actually object to this description. If moving the camera is ICM why aren’t photos taken on a tripod called NCM (Non Camera Movement).  Anyway, my own description of my style is serendipitous opportunism.  I studied art at high school and my favourite period was the impressionist era.   ICM often produces images which have that same feel about them so I sometimes describe my style to people as impressionistic.  Teaching language at school, one of the sub skills of reading is Visual Closure in which the brain completes something we briefly see.  That’s why we can read a passage with with a double up of words and barely notice.  To me ICM images have the capacity to make the brain work just that little harder to interpret the image and thus hold the viewer’s attention for just a little longer.  At least, that’s my theory.

Serendipitous opportunism is attractive to me as a name for my style as I love pushing the envelope trying to provoke unexpected outcomes that the camera can see but my eyes can’t.  I am inclined to view my camera as some sort of electronic paintbrush.  I’m not strong on storytelling.  I see photography as a visual medium and therefore am looking for visual interest rather than a story to interpret.  Horses for courses I guess.

The photo below was a happenstance.  I was photographing with a couple of QCG people on the pedestrian bridge at Indooroopilly. These bike riders came by and I started panning but realised they were going to be too close and hit the camera.  I swung the camera away just as I clicked. I looked at the image ready to scrap it.  When I saw it, I thought “Wow”. I wondered what I’d done, and how could I do it again.   So I’ve have been experimenting ever since. What I love in images are the swirls, shapes, patterns and colours.  Some people are uncomfortable if they can’t understand what they’re looking at.  Usually, the more I don’t understand it, the more attractive I find it.   This particular image is one of the first I took, and remains my favourite image, other than images of my kids and grand kids.

‘Ride Like the Wind’ (2005) by Ross Miles.

Best holiday I ever had.

I don’t know about the best holiday, but I do know my favourite place for a holiday and that’s Norfolk Island.  We had a holiday there once and then, when our daughter was based there we spent four months total on Norfolk in the one twelve month period.  As a photographer I love the scenery, the old convict ruins and the bird life there.  I love the weather as we’re having about now. I can’t believe that I can walk outside to a beautiful day but sense this black cloud hanging over everything.   Back to Norfolk, I wanted somewhere in the world where the weather was much like this all year round.  Norfolk Island seems to me to come closest.  It’s a combination of its latitude and marine environment moderating the temperatures.

Favourite song.

I don’t know that I have a favourite song but I like country, and ballads in particular, as I do like my songs to tell a story.   I always wanted to play a musical instrument.  Missing a few fingers on one hand tends to limit the number of instruments I could play.  At school as a teacher I used an Autoharp and played that for sing songs in the classroom.  The trumpet always interested me and only needs one hand for the notes but I never quite got around to learning how to play one.  I like instrumental music.  The first record I ever bought was in Queen Street when I was a teenager.  I was walking past a record shop and heard this instrumental music being played. I stopped, went in and bought the record which was Bert Kaempfert’s ‘A Swinging Safari’.  My favourite track on this is ‘Happy Trumpeter’. 

Favourite image by a QCG photographer.

I looked at the current crop of images which appear on QCG albums.  I miss lots of meetings and so don’t see the all the images at the judging but, those images I do see, have been blowing me away.  Every grade is producing great stuff.  I have admired the old stalwarts, Ken Butler’s way of seeing, MaxBiddlestone’s landscapes, Ray Shorter’s black and whites, Gaye’s portraits but also images from newer members like both Martin and Elizabeth Riley and Joy Melchiori. Tony FitzGerald and Anne Pappalardo have also developed into wonderful photographers and I admire their infectious enthusiasm which I think filters right through the club.    However, even though I don’t have a favourite image, I do have a favourite photographer.  Rodney Nancarrow has been my favourite for some time.   I like nearly everything that Rodney produces.  I like his thought processes, his willingness to experiment, his sense of colour shape and pattern and his ability to take quite common household things and turn them into thought provoking images that dazzle the eye and mind.  Well, mine anyway.  Rodney is my inspiration to get back inside during these times to do some ‘table photography’ as Rodney calls it. 

One of Rodney’s images which inspires Ross.

What am I doing during the Covid 19 crisis? 

My days seem to be very full.  I am very involved in my church St David’s Anglican Church at Chelmer, and that takes me most of every morning maintaining phone contact with parishioners, admin meetings and searching for appropriate images for the Rector to use in the on-line worship services.  That’s been a bit of a trip down my photographic memory lane trolling through all my images.   I’m finding images that I had totally forgotten about.   The rest of the day is taken up catching up with family and friends, with DIY projects, yard work and our daily walk around the block.  I am just starting an eight week on-line pulmonary rehabilitation program for my Pulmonary Fibrosis which will take up six hours of my week on-line plus off-line exercises.  This photo is of me at my computer finding images.  What I’m not getting time for is taking photos so, this week, my goal is to take a photo every day.  Now I find myself envious of the home studio that Gaye E. has, and the beaut light box Ken Butler has for his still life images. 

Preparing images for online church services

Take care and stay safe.

Ross Miles

On the QCG Virtual Couch with Suzanne Mulligan

Ever wonder what your QCG members look like in their home environment?  In our ongoing series of chats with our members, this week we talk to Suzanne Mulligan.  In this story Suzanne shares with us her not only her photographic interests but also her other passions.  Read to the end for a tiny window into Suzanne’s daily routine and the touching ‘crossing the bridge’ reference that will leave you with a little lump in your throat.

What gear do you shoot with?  My camera is an Olympus Stylus 1s which is an ideal camera for almost any situation, especially for travelling. It’s compact with its 28-300 zoom.  I use an Olympus Electronic Flash FL-36R for indoor people shots.  I received my first camera as a birthday present when I was 10 years old.  It was a little black plastic camera which used 127 film equipped only with a shutter and a winder.  I loved taking the photos and it was so exciting when Mum brought the packet of photos home from the chemist.  What a joy to see those photos!  I then became the “family photographer” and it’s so good to look back on many of those “primitive” photos as a window to the past.  My first 35 mm camera was an Olympus OM-10, bought in the 1970s.  It was so exciting because I could use colour film.  Gradually I added a collection of Tamron lenses, filters, and flash, all this fitting inside a huge camera bag – remember those!!  Twenty years on and did some travel in New Zealand with a compact Olympus so I didn’t need all those lenses.  In the late 1990s we went on a cruise in the Whitsundays and there was an American gentleman travelling with his wife and a teddy bear.  He had a digital camera and his daughter, a teacher, had asked him to photograph Teddy in front of any interesting sights and email the photos back to her so she could show her pupils.  How awesome was that!  A few years later I bought my first digital camera and the revolution in photography began.  Two cameras later I now have the Stylus 1s.  Since my OM-10, I stuck with Olympus.

Preferred genre/style of photography.  I don’t really have one preference.  I do enjoy taking candid photos of people if I can get them in a good pose when their face is looking natural, not forced.  I have my camera on “silent” so subjects can be unaware they’ve been taken.  I also like to get people with a “real” smile when they know I’m taking it.  I like taking good travel photographs to remember the places I’ve seen.  I don’t do “still life” and I admire the work of those who can do this well such as Tony FitzGerald’s “Balanced Diet”.

Tony FitzGerald’s ‘Balanced Diet’

Best holiday you ever had.  I’ve enjoyed many wonderful holidays.  Terry and I explored the North and South Islands of New Zealand in the 1990s.  In 2006 we drove down to Adelaide via Broken Hill then caught the Ghan to Alice Springs.  We joined a 4WD tour of all the iconic places around there including Uluru then back on the Ghan to Darwin and drove to Kakadu.  This is such a beautiful part of Australia.  We went to Europe for the first time in 2008 where I met my cousins in Germany and Poland in person for the first time.  I also met the last of my father’s 10 siblings.  We travelled by train for the first couple of weeks of our holiday.  We experienced the beauty of Switzerland with its snow-capped peaks.  We saw Prague with its beauty and history.  We caught the train to Gdansk, Poland where the ticket collector had to find an English speaker to tell us we were in the wrong carriage as the train was due to split.  We met my Polish cousin in Gdansk and we were overwhelmed by her hospitality.  She showed us around Gdansk and took me to the small town where my father was born.  We visited the cemetery where my grandparents and many aunts and uncles were buried in beautiful well-kept graves.  We got the train to Berlin and then to Amsterdam to board the River Duchess to cruise down the Rhine and the Danube rivers.  This was a beautiful way to see so much of Europe.  As the boat cruised further east, we could see a stark contrast with the places we had seen in the first half of our trip.  These countries were at war in the previous decade and the evidence of this was everywhere.  From Bucharest we flew to London where we saw as much as we could in the week we were there before flying home.  I took thousands of photographs on this holiday and took many weeks to sort through and file them.  Unfortunately, within days of our return home I realised that there was something wrong with my body.  However, it was three months before I was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis, which left me an incomplete paraplegic.

I thought my travelling days were over but one of my oral history interviewees who was also a friend persuaded me that we could still travel.  This was Peter Marsh, a Paralympian who taught me – you just have to plan it well.  So our next overseas holiday was to Italy where Terry coached a men’s eight crew at the International Masters Rowing Regatta.  I took my sister, Sharney, a nurse as an additional carer.  It was a fabulous holiday around northern Italy.  Since then we’ve travelled to Canada and Alaska, also the Kimberley coast and the rest of the West Australian coast. 

This photo of me with the bear was an international competition which had all these bears painted by an artist from their country. Ken Done did the Australian one.

Favourite song  “Beautiful Day” by U2.  Love going to U2 concerts.  I enjoy most musical genres including rock ‘n roll, classical, and musical theatre.  I love listening to Pavarotti, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Borodin.

U2 - photo by Suzanne Mulligan

Other hobbies:  I belong to two book clubs.  One is a Crime & Mystery Book Club which meets at the Library on the first Wednesday of the month.  Sadly that has been suspended.  My favourite crime authors – Ruth Rendell, Henning Mankel, Christian White, Chris Hammer, Michael Connelly, and Michael Robotham.  My other Book Club meets on the first Monday of the month, also suspended.  We take turns hosting our Book Club when we each buy $150.00 worth of books to add to the boxes of books and remove the books bought the previous year.  This Book Club has been great for opening up our reading to new authors because at each meeting we report on the books we’ve read in the previous month and if we like the sound of a book, we can then take it to read ourselves.  My favourite book last year was A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

I do enjoy photography.  I take photographs but I am not a photographer.  I also play the violin but I’m not a violinist.  However, I am an oral historian.  I’ve been an oral historian for more than 20 years since I graduated from University of Queensland majoring in Journalism and then doing an oral history workshop.  I’ve enjoyed meeting some really wonderful “ordinary” people who have done extraordinary things.  You can find my collection at https://mulliganoralhistory.info/  It’s been a privilege to collect their stories.  Most of my collection can also be accessed at the State Library of Queensland.  I’m interested in how people used to do things.  One of my interviewees is Bill Smit who told me about the birth of Queensland Camera Group. 

Favourite image by another QCG member:  In 2007 I participated in a competition organised by the Centenary Suburbs Historical Society www.cshsoc.org.au of which I’m a member.  QCG members and others were asked to take photos of nominated historical sites and they were then judged by an independent person.  I was surprised to win an award in a couple of the categories and then I was invited to join QCG.  I am in awe of the top photographers in QCG since I joined the club, particularly Gaye Edwards, Phil Lawrence, Max Biddlestone (love his travel photos and AVs), and Ross Miles.  My favourite photo is Gaye Edwards’ photo of Sarah “Patience Perfected”. 

2019 Print of the Year, ‘Patience Perfected’ by Gaye Edwards

The photo I’m most proud of is “Harmony”.  This is a photo of my violin teacher at the time. 

Harmony by Suanne Mulligan

I used to attend QCG meetings regularly for some years after I joined thanks to David Bullock who drove me to the meetings.  Now I attend occasionally.  It’s a very welcoming club with everyone willing to share their images and how they created them.  We all learn from each other.  I’ll look forward to when we’ve all “crossed the bridge” and we can get together again at Bardon.

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Suzanne at home: I did my exercise on my MOTOmed, practised my violin and spent some time on the computer.  I’ve been working on the transcript of an interview I did last year during our holiday in WA.  Terry and I were in Carnarvon on 20 July which was the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.  Then an elderly walked in wearing a NASA jacket.  My eyes lit up and he was caught.  I usually take my small MP3 recorder when we go on holidays – just in case.  The sound quality is not ideal but it gets the story.  So I arranged to meet him when we were staying in Perth later that week.  He was an engineer at the Tracking Station at Carnarvon during the moon landing.  They were having a reunion at the space museum on the outskirts of Carnarvon.  We had a look at it on our way out of town and it is definitely worth seeing.  Anyway, that’s what I’m working on at the moment.

On the QCG Virtual Couch with Rodney Nancarrow

I LOVE our QCG meetings but there’s never enough time to get to know your fellow members. Have you ever wondered what our members look like in their natural environment (at work and at play), what their favourite things are - stuff like that? Well our new normal has given us the opportunity to create a tiny window into members’ homes. In the first of a new series featuring some of our most loved members, read on and learn a little about QCG’s Rodney Nancarrow:

Thank you Anne for giving me the opportunity to invade my fellow QCG members’ computers and devices with trivia all about me. I hope these few words will provide a bit of distraction from the crazy world we have found ourselves in. Let’s get started!

What is Your Pet's Name: Jennifer and I don't have any dogs (yet) nor cats, birds or fish but I do treasure our four hives of Australian native bees - 2 hives of Tetragonula Carbonaria and 2 hives of Austroplebeia - so I probably have a few thousand pets that require names and I ran out of patience when I got to Charlie Carbonaria. Charlie is the one on the top right in the photo below which I’ve called, "Charlie coming home from work". 

Charlie Coming Home from Work, by Rodney Nancarrow

I know that we shouldn't have favourites when it comes to your children and pets but I can't help it when it comes to our bees - Tetragonula Carbonaria wins hands down for their shear cuteness and amazing engineering skills evident in their beautiful spiral brood comb structures. A few years back we didn't have any Austroplebeia but unbeknown to me, a gang of Austroplebeia bullies attacked one of my Tetragonula Carbonaria hives, had a bloody and violent war defeating the Tetragonula Carbonaria, and taking over their hive enclosure. It wasn't until I split this hive (splitting divides the hive into two) that I was confronted with the puzzling sight of the random brood comb structure of Austroplebeia instead of the expected spiral brood. I contacted Tim Heard, a local entomologist and expert on native bees and he told me about the bee wars and the drama that had occurred in my front yard. Nature is cruel but fascinating.

We occasionally harvest a bit of honey from the Tetragonula Carbonaria hives, it is a sweet syrup with a tangy finish in the mouth and is wonderful on ice cream or drizzled on scones - ask John Edwards if it gets the thumbs up. 

What gear do you use? I have been a Canon user since I started taking photography seriously. I still have and use when on my kayak, my original entry level EOS 600D with my old Sigma 18-250 zoom. I think this camera lens combo can still produce a reasonable photo and I have included "Dog Paddle", a recent shot taken while kayaking at Lake Manchester. I had some reasonable success with a number of images from this camera taken at Somerset Dam a couple of seasons ago. I often think that the subject matter is more important than the camera quality.

Dog Paddle by Rodney Nancarrow

For the last few years I have been using an EOS 80D crop sensor that I still have and use as my second camera (but I am considering selling if anyone is interested, free plug). Recently I invested in an EOS RP mirror-less full frame and an RF35mm F1.8 mirror less close up prime. This is the compact Canon full frame and so far I am pretty happy with it but time will tell as it is still early days. The other lenses I am using are the Tamron 100-400 Di VC USD F4.5-5.6 that I am very happy with, Sigma 105mm Macro, a nifty 50 EF50mm F1.8 and for the 80D APS-C cropped body I have the lovely little EFS 35mm F2.8 macro and a Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 wide angle zoom (that are also up for sale and are guaranteed to be virus free). For lights I use a couple of off camera flashes and triggers and a couple of LED panels that are great for still life type works in conjunction with a variety of LED torches and work lights. For post processing I use Lightroom 4 and Afiinity Photo (Photoshop alternative) and also the NIK plugin collection from DXO.

Preferred genre/style of photography: I will have a crack at most genres though I struggle with the necessary people wrangling skills required for portraiture. Probably the genre I like the most is macro still life and as some of you know I have a bit of a bent for putting things in water and freezing them. I do like to experiment with out of camera and out of computer processes to add abstraction to a subject. I am always looking for different ways to add a natural filter to my images but I am happy to combine these abstractions with work in layers in Affinity Photo. 

My attached profile photo "Troubled in a Bubble" is an example of this combination of techniques. The self portrait was taken in a domed mirror (like the ones you see on carpark walls) that was lit with LED lights with a blue colour filters. The rest of the image was a jelly ball (used in clear vases for floral arrangements) sitting on a stack of CD's, sprayed with water and lit with LED lights fitted with colour filters. I then compositted the self portrait onto the jelly ball. I think this image pretty much represents how I am feeling about the situation we have all currently fallen into, looking out from our private bubbles with more than a hint of fear and concern in my eyes. I intend to spend some of the downtime in the coming months experimenting with this and a few other table top type ideas that I have been considering.

Troubled in a Bubble, a self-portrait by Rodney Nancarrow

Best holiday you ever had: The Cook Islands and New Zealand was pretty good, a couple of trips to Tassie were both excellent and other Aus locations have been great as well, but probably the one that sticks out the most was six weeks in the New Ireland and New Britain Provences of Papua New Guinea. This was my second trip to PNG but the first trip was the Kokoda Track walk and should not be confused with a holiday. 

For my second trip in 2007 Jennifer and I were lucky to be invited by my good friends Rhonda and Troy, to a family reunion at Medina Village on New Ireland. Rhonda was born on New Ireland and then went to school in Rabaul on New Brittain so she was an excellent guide and has a handy command of tok pisin (PNG Pigeon English) enabling her to introduce us into areas where tourists rarely venture and by introducing us in the the wantok system (one talk, speak the same language). We gained access to many villages that rarely see a whitefella, making us a real novelty especially with the kids. These places are so remote that when they heard our 4WD approaching they would all run out of their houses and wave and cheer as we passed. Stopping along the way we were given an insight into a whole other world, a genuine subsistence lifestyle.

I was lucky enough to be in Medina Village for a State of Origin match, because of the atmosphere by far the best one I have seen. We all gathered at the school that had a generator and satellite dish and about a hundred locals crowded around a 12" portable TV. I was given a front row seat as a guest of honour, the only white fella present as Troy and Jennifer had opted out of the night. In PNG rugby league is taken very seriously and you support the state where you have the most relatives living and given PNG's location the crowd tends to be weighted towards Queensland. Once the game got going the crowd became increasingly animated and the harder any player was tackled the louder the cheer. Gaye, you should have been there - the facial expressions are still firmly etched in my memory and when Qld won the game. For some reason I was treated like a hero, odd considering I have never played a game of rugby league in my life but they knew I was a Queenslander. 

The craziest thing we got up to in PNG was climbing the active volcano Tuvurvur in Rabaul New Brittain. After seeing what happened in New Zealand last year I now realise just how foolish this little trek was but I suppose we survived. It was a unique challenge and volcano climbing is now off the bucket list. The 2 hour walk around the base of the volcano cone through smashed up coconut plantations that are littered with refrigerator sized rocks that had recently been spat out by the volcano would be a warning to the more sensible trekker. But who would want to miss the 40 minute slog up the windward side of the crumbling ash cone, beneath the equatorial mid day sun with heat rising from the ash that was crumbling beneath your feet - two steps up and one step sliding back down. This was the hardest thing I have ever done by far and even harder than the highland climbs of Kokoda track, so I have chosen this image "Toasted" of Troy and I standing triumphantly on the rim of Tuvurvur bathing in our glorious act of stupidity (Photo by Mathew our rubber thonged shod Tolai volcano guide).  

New Ireland and New Britian are the wildest and remotest places I have ever ventured to and I would love to go back, especially now that I take photography seriously as the photo opportunities are unlimited with stunning scenery and beautiful welcoming people.

Toasted, by Rodney Nancarrow.

Favourite song: Now this is a tricky one as it can change from day to day. If the Blue Mountains Music Festival hadn't been cancelled due to Covid 19 then I would probably have a whole other list to choose from. I think at present just about anything from Scottish singer Karine Polwart or multi instrumentalist and singer Canadian Basia Bulat would be towards the top of the list. YouTube will be my saviour in the coming months so I am going to give these lovely gals a plug and suggest, in the words of a great Australian to "do yourself a favour" and YouTube Karine Polwart’s version of "The Whole of The Moon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi4BKoEsvjg and if you want to know more about the wonderful Donald Trump then Karine's "Cover Your Eyes" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELeZmPDdFPE always leaves me thinking about how much better the world would be if....? 

On a lighter note anything from Basia Bulat makes my heart soar, a nice intro would be "Gold Rush" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_yKUJqI-OA  If you like Leonard Cohen songs Basia was chosen by CBC music to perform some tributes both on his birthday and for his memorial, my favourite is "Dance Me to the End of Love" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDPoFUdZj08 a special treat for the lovers of black and white. If you want more the black and white the documentary of her concert at "Live at Massey Hall" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stsClmHLlkc&t=204s is a must see with with beautiful footage on stage and of the architecture of a grand old art deco theatre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stsClmHLlkc&t=204s . At the last Woodford Folk Festival I had the good fortune of meeting and chatting to this very talented lady of song, attached photo "Starstruck" by Jennifer Chenery. Basia is the pretty one on the right, the ugly mug is just a besotted fan.

Star Struck by Rodney Nancarrow

Favourite Movie:  This is dead easy as I do love the ridiculous and although Buster Keaton in The Navigator comes to mind, the king of slapstick for me would be the French comic genius Jacques Tati and "Mon Oncle" and can be streamed for free on Utube don't be put off by the subtitles, he didn't need much dialogue to get his stories across and the cinematography and sets are a real treat. Sorry I don't have any photos of Jacques and I but I might work on a self portrait in Tati style.

Favourite Restaurant: I think it may be some time before Jen and I will be going out for dinner again and I do hope the many great Brisbane restaurants survive this crisis. If it is simple fish and chips then Sea Fuel at Milton and West End is pretty dam good so we will be able to keep supporting them with take aways. 

The fine dining experience we have most enjoyed was Fleet at Brunswick Heads https://fleet-restaurant.com.au/ and the great thing about it besides the Michelin star quality food is it only seats about 22 people, no doubt they will have to reduce that number but it may be social distancing workable. The menu is set by the chef and is based on the best produce available at the time. Last year Jen and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary there with our friends Janette and Barry who we shared our double wedding with. We all agreed this was the best food that had ever been served up to us. I would give it five stars.

Favourite image by another QCG member: As there are so many talented photographers in QCG that to choose just one will be difficult. I play a little private game on judging nights, I try to predict the maker of the images as they are displayed and it is surprising how often I get it right, Gaye Edwards’ superb portraits, Tony FitzGerald’s stunning black and whites, Martin and Elizebeth Riley’s vivid travel photos just to name a few all have their unique styles that I often recognise. But the one image that I have decided to settle on is Joy Melchiori's "Moroccan Magnificence". I was lucky to have this image at home for a few days before delivering it to River City Prints and we put it up on the piano and admired it for a few days. Although this is not a large print the visual impact goes a long way even when viewed from a distance, a really fine artistic work.

Moroccan Magnificence by Joy Melchiori

I do hope this little insight into has been entertaining enough to bring a smile to your face and provide a short distraction from this ungodly mess, so please stay away from crowds wherever you can and don't forget to wash your hands. 

Stay safe and well

Rodney

PS: “This is me at my "workstation" as per your request. Yes this is where I answered all your questions from, in my favourite recliner with my faithful old Asus laptop perched upon my Lappytab MKIII with the all improved ergo wrist support for comfortable mousing (my own invention) and a glass of red wine in my hand.

Tips for a Great 'Action' Image

Our first COVID 19 Blog Post – who would have thunk it!

I did miss not seeing my QCG pals at Bardon last night, but am full of admiration for the club’s committee and quite a few non-committee members who are working so hard behind the scenes to make sure we stay connected.

Accordingly, we have to acknowledge our wonderful judge of Action and Open, Margaret O’Grady, who is also negotiating this brave new world of social isolation in her voluntary role as a camera club judge.  Margaret – a talented photographer and extremely experienced judge – graciously and quickly agreed to be the first judge to use my MyPhotoClub as a tool to remotely deliver our results and ensure that our March competition went ahead with feedback provided to all participants.

I chatted to Margaret before the results went live to get her overall impressions of Action and to get specific feedback on three of her stand out images. 

Margaret said that what she judged in the set category of Action was done very well.

“Overall, there was a very high standard.  Every image met the definition overall. 

“The images that did best were the ones that had a simple background which allowed the action to be the focus of the image.  In the same vein, images that had a little bit of action on a very uncluttered background also did well for the same reason.”

Margaret’s takeaway message on action:  keep the subject, and your background, simple.

Margaret also provided feedback on three images where she thought the set subject had been captured particularly well.

The first is in B grade and is called ABC 7-2 by David Cain which received an Honour.

ABC 7-2 by David Cain, which received an Honour in B Grade in the March Set Subject of Action

“This is a very well thought out image of a reflection of action at Southbank.  Captured so that there is still colour in the sky.  The colour in the reflection of the window is nice and crisp.  The fact that it was a reflection was a real bonus.  The whole story can be seen,” Margaret said.

The second image is Dressed to Impress which achieved an Honour in AB grade (Set Subject) for new member Mandy Watson.

Dressed for Success by Mandy Watson, which received an Honour in AB Grade in March Set Subject, Action

“This is a very simple panning image with one figure in it, dressed in red.  The placement of the cyclist in red keeps the eye moving forward, as does the little bit of red in the background which really lifted the image up.  A beautiful image.”

The third image which Margaret wished to share with all members was A grade photographer Ray Shorter’s ‘Drafting the Steer’ which received an Honour.

Drafting the Steer by A grade member Ray Shorter. This image attracted an Honour in March Set Subject, Action.

“Simple and powerful message,” said Margaret.  “The fact that the steer and horse are on the same angle is excellent and they contrast well with some trees in the background.  The dust too adds to the image – handled very well.”

Ray’s comments on his image are below.  What is interesting is Ray had not read Margaret’s feedback when he emailed these thoughts through, yet his comments absolutely echo Margaret’s general thoughts on an effective Action image:

“Rosanne Casu's presentation at QCG on photo restoration gave powerful examples of the value of learning to use Photoshop.  I think my action image is another example : I created a "dust brush" in Photoshop to hide a distracting background which would have lessened the impact of the main elements.”

As a general comment, Margaret also said that with regard to surfing shots, be careful of the horizon. 

“The horizon can cut through a shot and even the subject, creating two large blocks of colour.  Try to shoot so that the horizon is not in the image at all, avoiding large colour differences in the shot.”

What to do with your competition prints

Competing at Queensland Camera Group is fun and a great way to improve your photography. 

At QCG, the print is supreme – we strive to promote the printing of images as the superior way in which to enjoy and appreciate a photo.  There’s also no hiding in a print – the good, the bad and the ugly are all there to see which is why a faultless print is something after which we all strive!  And there’s so much to consider – colour, black and white, stock, matting, size, orientation – the list goes on!  Printers themselves aim to deliver the best blacks and the widest array of printing styles and products.

After you’ve been in the club for a while you will, like many of us, begin to accumulate some beautiful prints.  We’ve put together these ideas on what you might like to do with them:

• Home gallery – it’s obvious, but needs some thought and a little planning.  If you find yourself printing the same sized images for competitions it makes creating and maintaining a home gallery so much easier to organise.  Just pop out your images from their mats, and into a frame.  Hang, and admire!  Gallery systems can be purchased online as well as at Bunnings.  Here are some examples from some of our club legends!  

Phil Lawrence’s home gallery.

Phil Lawrence’s work space and surrounding gallery.

Tony FitzGerald’s work up on the walls at home.

Gorgeous home gallery by Tony FitzGerald. This is a gallery-style set up where the images are hung from a sliding mechanism above and just out of shot. A similar system is used in many galleries, including Percolator Gallery where we will host Collections 2020. Beverage, anyone?

• Photo swap – a personal favourite!  Do you have an image that you admire over and above any that you have seen in club competitions?  If so, why don’t you ask the maker if they would like to do a print swap with you?  You choose the print you so admire, and they choose something from your collection.  I have David Bullock’s beautiful ‘Egg and Bowl’ still life in my kitchen and David has a portrait of his friend Sarah which I took a while ago.  ‘Egg and Bowl’ bring me so much happiness every time I look at it in my kitchen, plus I was absolutely thrilled that another club member liked an image of mine so much that they were keen to hang it in their own home.  The practice of print swapping is not new, but it was to me when David first proposed it to me.  My image of Sarah is part of a gallery which David has curated for his home – a mixture of his own images and the images of others -  and I asked David how he made his selection.

  “My own (images in my home gallery) are all time favourites where I achieved exactly what I intended in my mind’s eye,” David said.

  “The others are images that have blown me away in the capturing the moment perfectly and appeal to my particular preferences and affect me emotionally. Almost always prints.”

  Many of the professionals who participate in the AIPP APPA (Australian Professional Photography Awards) competition often swap their entered images with each other.  It’s a lovely compliment to pay to another photographer.

Egg and Bowl, by David Bullock.

Sarah, by Anne Pappalardo.

Swapsies! Phone photo of David Bulock’s home gallery, which features his own images and prints by other makers.

• PSQ Salon of Excellence – the Salon of Excellence is a club vs club competition that is held annually as part of the Photographic Society of Queensland’s annual conference.  It is open to any member of a camera club, and you participate as a member of the Queensland Camera Group.  There is a cost to participate, but it is not expensive, and, you enter a digital thumbnail of your print via My Photo Club, with which we are now all experienced!  There are four categories in which you can enter including Nature, People, Social Documentary and Mono and you are able to enter four prints and four DPIs in each category.  The competition is graded, so you will compete against others in your own grade, but still representing the club.  QCG has taken home two Salon of Excellence trophies in 2018 and 2019 because of both the strength of our images and the number of members who participate, particularly in the area of prints, where we are one of the strongest clubs in Queensland.  Please consider entering as a way of giving back to your club!  It would be great if you could look through your portfolio of prints and consider entering them in this competition.    A coordinated delivery of print entries will be organised by the club, so you will not have to worry about getting your images to the Gympie Camera Club (who coordinate the judging).  For more information contact Esther Andrews from Queensland Camera Group.  The link here will take you through to the winning entries from 2019 https://psq-seq.myphotoclub.com.au/.  Entries close Friday 27 March, so there is plenty of time to look through your existing catalogue and maybe print one or two new images!  Good luck!

A couple of years ago, John Edwards and David Bullock would set up a display of our competition prints outside the front doors of Frontier Digital.  Not only did the customers at the shopping centre enjoy viewing our images, it also led some foot traffic into the Frontier store, which was great for Frank.  We’ve also for the last couple of years had exhibitions at libraries in the western suburbs as well as a long stint in the gallery at Brisbane Square Library.  If members have any other ideas or contacts that would allow QCG to hang its prints, please let us know as providing a gallery experience to our members is one of the goals we aim to achieve.

Good luck finding new homes or uses for your competition images – don’t forget to tell us how you’ve given them continuing life. 

What to do when you're asked to be 'The Photographer'

On joining a camera club, something many people will find is that their photography improves to the point where they begin to receive requests to photograph an event or important milestone. 

It is such a wonderful compliment but can be fraught with one or two downsides, particularly if you are not charging for your work or are asked to contribute to a charity event or similar, purely as a volunteer.

We chatted to a couple of our senior QCG members for their tips for when you are asked to shoot for free.

“It is very easy to ask someone to be an official photographer, but what is it they want a photographer for?”, writes QCG vice president and competition grader Tony FitzGerald. 

“As we all know, there is a bit more to photographing an event than just turning up with a camera and taking some snaps.

“I have done a bit of this style of work in both a paid and volunteer capacity and have found that for every hour at the event, there is typically 2 to 3 hours required behind the scenes in sorting, post production and resizing.  So there is potentially quite a bit of time and effort required.  Just ask Gaye Edwards about the backroom work she does on the multiple birth photography activity (and the club get some value for this activity).  Potential volunteers should be aware of this.”

Tony makes the following points in deciding whether or not to take on either a voluntary or paid job: 

1.     How long is a photographer required for?  Note: again from experience you need to be there at least ½ hour before the function commences to meet the key people, get the lay of the land and to orientate yourself.  Could easily be a 3-4 hour total site activity.

2.     What photos are the photographer expected to take?  These could include people arriving, random individuals and groups prior to formalities commencing, MC and speakers at a rostrum, people at tables, formal photos of dignitaries and special guests, large group photos.

3.     What is the requirement in respect of the number of final photos to be provided? This could range from 6 -10 samples for social media to 50 -60 photos for archival purposes.

4.     What is the expected turnaround time?  Some want images on the night to post on social media straightaway.  This could be problematic for cameras without Wi-Fi etc.  If not straightaway, when? Two days or two weeks?

5.     What is the expected application for the photos?  Social media, website, archive, printing.  This will have an impact on post production, resolution, file sizes etc

6.     How are the images to be provided?  Email, memory stick, Dropbox etc.

Former QCG president and leader of the club’s portraiture special interest group, Gaye Edwards says that like for a wedding or any important event, a shot list is absolutely essential.

“The event organisers should be able to supply one, particularly if the event has been held before,” Gaye said.

“Ask if the organisers only need jpegs, and what sizing is required, and how quickly are they needed!

“Although it's exciting to be asked to volunteer, keeping your time to a minimum is essential.  Ben Hur sized jobs take the shine off any glory.  You don't want to feel you've been taken advantage of,” Gaye said.

“And if the event is indoors it will likely require flash, so that's a specific skill and an expense (batteries, rechargers, backup flash etc.).”

Gaye says consideration also needs to be given to ensuring the source of the request for volunteer services is legitimate.

“Family and friends are one thing, but if you have been approached by an organisation, make sure they are both legitimate and reputable.  Ask for full details of the charity, organisation or business – your personal safety is imperative.”

QCG member Nick Lefebvre also recommends understanding your legal obligations as a photographer as well understanding public liability issues, particularly with regard to people you are posing.  If you are working for money, consider organising a contract signed by both parties, and if you are looking to turn your photography into a business, get professional business advice aimed at protecting your assets.

Shooting an event or special occasion is a great responsibility and can challenge even the most experienced professionals.  Planning, questioning and forethought will be key to your success.

A final word from Tony FitzGerald:  “As you can see there is potentially more than you might expect by simply agreeing to be a volunteer photographer.  Having said that it is a really good experience and may lead to bigger things if that floats your boat.”

Image by Tony FitzGerald. Jean Kittson was guest speaker at a women’s forum, where Tony worked as a volunteer photographer. This event later led to paid gigs.

Image by Tony FitzGerald.

Image by Tony FitzGerald.

Gaye Edwards took this shot of ‘Archie’ for a pet rescue organisation. Her challenge was to take promotional images of animals who were having troubles finding their ‘furever’ homes.

Gaye says Archie was quite the poser once he relaxed!

Gaye made sure she did not travel alone to her photography shoot.

Seeing is believing in Landscape Photography

Over the Christmas holidays I ran into QCG member John Kelly at Shelly Beach, Caloundra.

John said he had been out shooting some landscapes and I lamented to him that I took terrible landscapes and that I admired John’s work.  John’s beautiful ‘Reflections on Louise’ and ‘Diamond Beach’ have both done extremely well at club level and have also been awarded Highly Commendeds at the 2019 Mono Awards held by Australian Photography Magazine.

Reflections on Louise

Following our chance meeting, John very kindly sent me through this summary of his landscape workflow so that I could get a feel for his approach.  It was so interesting that I asked his permission to share his insights on the creation of the following image.

As John says, “My eye for composition is greatly assisted by a camera that shows exactly how the image will look when you use the appropriate art filter.”

John shoots with an Olympus OMD EM1 Mark 2, which comes with built-in filters.  The effect of the filter can be seen through the electronic viewfinder, so what you see in the field is what you get.  The filter John used in this instance is called Dramatic Tone II.

A précis of John’s workflow for this particular image is as follows.

Initial ‘let’s see what we’ve got’ shot looked like this.

John then tried (in camera) art filter (Dramatic Tone II) to visualise. “OK,” he thought. “Might work....”

John then takes bracketed portrait panoramic images, combines and processes to achieve the desired outcome. 12 frames, portrait orientation, -1,0,+1 bracketing, HDR Pano in LR, no pre-processing of frames.

Off to Silver Efex, stock preset plus stock film type, no local adjustments. Minor straighten, foreground custom brush stroke, global Texture, Vignette & Sharpen adjustments on return to LR.

Crop to suit – three options above. Fiddle with variations to process with local adjustments to correct any over/underdone areas after judging feedback perhaps?

Scapes and Open are our first competitions for 2020, with entries due February 6. Happy shooting everyone!