Another meeting has come and gone. For those who don’t know (or those who just want to review), here’s what’s new. Warning: This is going to be a long one. But that’s good. Because there’s been plenty going on lately.
I’d like to welcome the new members who joined us tonight. The meeting room was packed and we found ourselves pulling out extra chairs to make room for everyone. Also, it was encouraging to see how many veteran members entered prints for the museum display.
Our display at the museum is mostly up and members were able to preview it tonight. Photographer information sheets will be added to the display soon. This could be a great way to get your name out there if you’re trying to be recognized by potential customers/subjects.
Friday the 6th is the Pittsfield Artwalk! From 5-8pm, people can enter the Berkshire Museum for free and check out our display. Feel free check it out, along with the rest of the Artwalk. If you submitted something to the display, you stop by and some questions people have. Rumor has it there will be cheese and crackers. CHEESE AND CRACKERS! I don’t know what kind of cheese and crackers, but come on. That alone makes it worth the trip to the museum. Add to that the display itself and you’ve got plenty of reason to invite friends/family to come see what the fuss is all about.
If you didn’t get anything displayed, have no fear. Next month we will be displaying submissions from this month’s theme “Volunteering and Giving in the Berkshires.” Prints from the competition will be accepted when the time comes. If you submitted a digital, you can still have it in our display, but you have to get it printed first. If you’re not sure about how to mount/frame your prints, feel free to ask anyone who’s already done it. Most of us will be glad to talk you through it.
Michael’s. This isn’t an ad, but frames are 50% off at Michael’s until Saturday. Anyone wanting to display in the museum, re-read the previous sentence.
Tonight we accepted pictures for “Volunteering and Giving in the Berkshires” and Howie Levitz of TGL Photoworks spoke about the topic he’ll be judging, “Portraiture.” Whereas most judges present dozens of photos to look at, Howie brought only two. He focused instead on providing a very in depth discussion about portrait styles and a brief history of photography itself. The briefest of summaries is below, but the discussion was so well thought out, I won’t even attempt to go into every detail.
Howie talked about the dials on top of your camera. The “little green lady”, “the flower”, AV, etc… He encouraged people to know why they are using the setting they are using. Shooting in Aperture Priority mode, for instance, to select the Depth of Field you want for a shot. He skimmed through wikipedia’s description of portraiture and different types of portraiture. He laughed at the classic school photographer setup where there’s a long line of kids standing in wait for their picture, the photographer doing the same tilt of the head, same lights, same pose for every child regardless of any actual thought into the subject matter (the child).
Basic advice:
- Focus on the eyes. Literally. Make them sharp. Catchlights help.
- “80% of your job is to make the subject relax.” Figure out what settings you want or just put your camera in “green lady mode”, then put your efforts into bringing out their essence. “Standard” portraits work as a starting point, but don’t really capture the “essence” of the subject. Think about them and what they bring to the portrait. Plan the portrait using that information.
- Make sure your highlights are not burned out. Make sure you have a full range of bright to dark, where appropriate.
- He also made the offer that people can contact him by e-mail or on Saturday at TGL Photoworks.
I’ve included a self-portrait to demonstrate how easy this is going to be. Notice, my eye is in focus. Also, I most definitely appear to be relaxed. I do think I’ve captured my essence quite nicely. Not to mention, I’m thinking outside the box. Woah. That was a bad pun. Just thinking about it makes me shutter!
On a more serious note, another post is coming soon, along with NECCC and other information. Also, our next meeting is on the 17th, when “Volunteering” gets judged.