RSS Feed club summer outings 2007 ..
This page is dedicated to notes and links to members website galleries of photographs taken during our Summer Outings Programme. If any member has a website link with galleries, please send details to the Webmaster.
Although the official weekly programme finishes about the end of April or beginning of May the club’s activities do not end. For example, some members continue to collect at the club-house each Wednesday and Friday evenings. The discussions, sharing of information and informal demonstrations especially of computer enhancement of images can be even more helpful than the planned winter programme.
David Best plans outings are for the first Saturday of each of the summer months. This year he planned four outings.
may ...
In May we went to the “World of Owls” followed by a visit to the “Patterson’s Spade Mill”.
Photographing the owls was quite a challenge as they were confined to their cages on that day. To get a photograph which eliminated the grill meant getting the lens as close to the wire as possible, focusing on the bird and pressing the shutter. This would have been a relatively simple technique except that there was a physical barrier preventing the public from getting close to the grill.
Some adventurous photographers in their enthusiasm stepped over the barrier only to be warned of the risk they were taking- evidently some owls have a very powerful grip with their claws, they literally squeeze the life out of their victims, and could do damage to an expensive lens or hand.
The spade mill had an open-day when we visited with all sorts of stationary engines, a ploughing demonstration with an old Fordson tractor, stalls selling a variety of antiques and a mobile blacksmith demonstrating his skills. A rich mixture of objects events and people for a bunch of amateur photographers.
june ...
June saw us at the Irish American Folk Park outside Omagh. Here there were static exhibitions with very evocative lighting giving opportunities for practising skills in low-light photography. On that day the Park staged an Irish wedding as it might have been in the 1850’s and an American wedding of about the same time.
july ...
In July we visited the Peatlands in Co. Armagh. Bog-cotton, strange plants, very clear reflections in the bog water and the bog landscape all provided opportunities to practise camera craft.
On the way home we stopped at the Catholic cathedral in Armagh city. A variety of techniques were experimented with to photograph stained glass windows and retain detail in the surrounding architecture. Perspective, low light, contrast of light and dark corners all presented challenges. No doubt during the winter programme we will see how individuals tried to solve these problems.
Peatlands and St Patricks Cathedral Armagh, July 2007 Sean Barten Mark Allen http://www.almark.net/photos/markallenphotography_ccout_0707.html http://www.flickr.com/photos/almarkphotography/sets/72157600735375998/ august ...
The last visit was to the North East Coast of Antrim. Club member Terry Mallen led this trip. Terry is a keen walker and leads various walking groups all over North Antrim. Cushendun, Cushendall, Torr Head, Fair Head were all visited. At one point on Fair Head Terry wanted to take us to a particularly interesting feature. What most of us did not appreciate was that Terry’s “just a short way” and “easy walking” were relative terms and in our vocabulary translated into “at least three miles” and “up hill and down dale through heather and over bog”.
One insightful member however recognised the problem and decided that after a few hundred yards he would try out his tripod and zoom lens. Some people have no stamina! Brains perhaps but on stamina.
North Coast, , August 2007 Mark Allen http://www.almark.net/photos/markallenphotography_ccout_0708.html annual exhibition ...
The annual exhibition of prints will be on show in the Flagship Shopping Centre from Saturday 11th August. The new formal program starts on Friday 7th September 2007 at 7.45pm.
New members are welcome and details of the club and programme can be seen on this website.
