The end of year talk was given by our local professional photographer, John Deed. The topic was “Photographing the natural world”, where John talked of ways how we can improve our images. After retiring from his job in the car industry, he has devoted all his time to photography, from portraits, websites, events and commercials. John explained that we don’t need expensive equipment, iPhones do a good job but there are some restrictions.
In order to take a photo he has two “rules”. 1. Be there 2. Have a camera. Look out for opportunities and have patience. Stop and think about composition, seize the moment, editing can be done at a later stage. He talked a lot about how lighting greatly affects the final image. For example, very early morning sunshine will give very good results creating shadows. Direct sunshine on an image may be too harsh, so a backlight can be used. When thinking of composition, which will look better, portrait, landscape, panorama or square.
Decide what you want the eye to capture, with the main image only being in focus and does not need to be central. Other criteria to think about is the framing of the image and the surrounding area, geometry, patterns and reflections. He encouraged us to play around with light sources, like placing cards to block background light. Throughout the talk John showed us examples of images he had taken over the years demonstrating how different conditions affect the final image.
John would like us to experiment with compositions, layers, focal points, horizon lines, and finally to enjoy the hobby. You don’t have to travel too far to capture nature in your photographs. There is an abundance in our gardens.
The evening ended with the club’s delicious Christmas buffet and a raffle in aid of the charity Perennial.
Hanna Roberts
