HPIC Annual Competition - Oscars Night 16/06/21

Wednesday night was Oscars night and what a night it was. The annual prize giving evening is always a real highlight of the year for our members. We awarded our photographers trophies and certificates for their winning and runner up images in our upcoming Annual Exhibition.

Unlike previous awards evenings, this year was once again run virtually, so members supplied their own wine and nibbles as we perused the finalists' images. Although virtual, the evening was still full of excitement and anticipation as those shortlisted members waited to hear if they had won a coveted trophy or had their work recognised with a certificate.

Tony led the proceedings and we were lucky enough to also be joined by guests in the form of some of our judges, which was great to see.

The first half of the evening took us through each of the individual categories and prize giving. Then, after the break, we revisited the winning images with each author taking us through a brief description of how they had captured their image and what had inspired their creative process in editing and producing the final piece of work.

All in all the evening was an excellent precursor to our upcoming exhibition which will commence in Huddersfield on Thursday 8th July to Saturday 14th August. We hope to see you all there as we share our work with the wider public.

Competition - Ted Coleman Digital Image Knockout 01/06/21

19 clubs took part in digital image knockout run by Rochdale Camera Club on 1st June 2021. HPIC entered this long-standing knock-out competition after a break of several years. It is run in memory of former Rochdale CC club member, Ted Colman, and this year 19 clubs took part including 3 from Yorkshire.

Our 13 images had been selected from those which had done well in external competitions and salons. The four for the first round were identified in advance with the aim of ensuring we progressed to the second round. Experienced judge, Richard Speirs from Northern Counties, gave a critique of each image and scored them out of 20.

After the first round we surprised ourselves by being in pole position. The HPIC team (Richard Fulcher, Harry Wentworth and Alan Stopher) entered their own ‘break out room’ to determine which images should be put into rounds 2 and 3.

We got into the third round by two points, coming 6th out of the 13 clubs then remaining. In the final round we came a creditable 6th and were the last of the four Yorkshire Clubs in the competition.

The play off for first was between Chorley PS and Bury PS and Chorley ran out the winners. Particular credit goes to them for choosing 13 images from 13 different authors. That’s strength in depth for you.

Our highest scoring images were Richard Fulcher’s Jetting in and Paul Campbell’s The Dancer, each with 19. Well done to them.

Talk - The 'Art of Composite Photography' 09/06/21

Over 40 members witnessed another stunning Zoom evening, arranged by Sue Gibson, entitled: The 'Art of Composite Photography'' presented by Sharon (MFIAP, MPAGB, ARPS, FIPF, ABPE, EFIAP/p) and Robert Prenton Jones (EFIAP/p BPE5, AWPF)

Both presenters were very generous and open with the tips they gave to members throughout the evening and made it clear that their philosophy was to share the knowledge they had acquired through their work.

Robert batted first and gave a detailed account of the tricks of the trade he deployed in the creation of his master pieces e.g., hidden light sources, lighting techniques inspired by classical artists such as Rembrandt and Vermeer.

Sharon, who only took up photography in 2012, also told us about past Welsh and Irish Celtic myths and legends that inspired her magnificent creative composites. Sharon too, took us though examples of her compositing techniques, live, from start to finish.

For a real appreciation of the evening’s content, you must watch the recording downloadable from the Members’ area on the club’s website when it becomes available. However, from notes made during the meeting here is a list of some of the tips from Robert. 1. It is the artists job to direct the viewer’s gaze. 2. The composition must tell a story, all the elements must be compatible with the story. 3. The direction of the light falling on the elements of the composite must come from the same direction. 4. Paint faces brighter than the light source. 5. If the dark side of a subject’s face is to be partially illuminated the light must come from a believable source. 6. Use a big light source near the face for soft lighting. 7. The secret of soft lighting lies in the diffusion of the light from the source 8. Light sources can be occluded in the composited scene. 9. Don’t let the environment catch the eye and become a distraction. 10. Shoot windows from a shallow angle to avoid the scene beyond the window being a distraction. 11. Shoot your models from a variety of angles. 12. Apertures in the range f8-f11 usually induce fewer optical errors. 13. The black on black technique: When creating a composite it is easier to blend foregrounds and backgrounds if both have black backgrounds