On May 22, 2012, the Lancaster Photography Association presented a  workshop on workflow. The scheduled presenter became ill and without missing a beat, Helen Henry stepped up to the plate and knocked her presentation of workflow and Light room out of the park.

Helen who is a celebrated photographer in her own right, provided an outstanding presentation on her workflow process and how she processes her photos by giving your images that extra pop to that make them process that award winning feel.

By using a combination of programs such as Photoshop, Light room, Nik and Topaz, she instructed her fellow photographers on what makes  for better images and how get the best out of your image processing experience.

I think a good time was had by all who attended and speaking for the members of the LPA, we would like to take this opportunity to thank Helen for sharing her expertise and knowledge with the rest of her fellow photographer and look forward to more informative presentation from her in the future.

Amazing Light- Anytime, Anywhere

On March 27th, we began this workshop at 5:30pm because the content that Scott Robert’s was offering could fill up many hours. We only had the Senior Center until 8:00pm. Scott offers a program that is five days long, so condensing five days into 2-1/2 hours made the evening full of information. This workshop was open to all camera clubs and individuals. Over 75 people in attendance.

Scott presented how to control light anywhere and at anytime. He explained how he uses manual flashes and simple radios. Using a manual flash, you set the output strength. Using radios is how you trigger the flash to fire without cords or a preflash like some camera manufacturers.

Ovcr 35 LPA members brought their cameras for a hands-on portrait workshop organized by Bonnie Matthews, with the assistance of Douglas Wade, Glenn Olson, Kurtiss Humphrey and Dwight Franke.  Each had a “photo studio” set up for us to practice with lighting setups, posing models and working with our settings on our cameras in various modes.

Douglas and Glenn set up studios with constant lighting in which the fluorescent lights were on continuously.  Douglas had a photo backdrop constructed out of PVC and fabric.   Glenn had a Chromakey/ Green Screen set up.

Forty-two members signed in for a slide show of PSA’s Best of the Best images from the Color Projected Image Division’s interclub competition from last year.  Selected images were critiqued by LPA members Arliss Dawson, David Wilkins, Lyle Trusty, Pat Ware, Dale Ware and Tylene Trout.  Many of these images were truly stunning and showed what really works in an image. There were leading lines, symmetry and strong use of color in some images; landscapes exhibited the use of foreground, middle ground and background objects.  Other pictures showed the peak action attainable with burst mode photography.  There were many images that broke the so-called rules of photography and yet delivered a stunning image.

Many thanks to all the LPA members who gave critiques!

For those interested in what PSA has to offer photographers, contact Nan Carder, our PSA representative, email her at nancarder310@msn.com.  The LPA competes in PSA interclub competitions and all members are encouraged to submit images.  Nan has all the details and will help you submit images.

Nov 22, 2011

LPA Member Lee Garner took us on tour of the LPA website, beginning with the basics, including how to log in, how to reset your password if you forgot your login, how to edit your profile, and how to upload photos for competitions and for your own personal galleries.  We had a demo on how to use/post on the forum, and about RSS feeds with Firefox.

Your personal photo is needed on the LPA website, and is displayed under “Our Members” and when you post on the forum.  Optimal size is 64x99 pixels.  Personal storage space for photos on the website is 75M.  Any large photos you upload are automatically resized to less than 600x800 megapixels and display well on the web, but are not of a high enough quality for someone to copy and print.

Tylene Trout presented on October 25th the workshop “Basic Photography and How to Use Your Camera”. There were forty-five in attendance, and Brian Hudson introduced our guests. She started the presentation with a slide show contrasting photographs, first one not so exciting, then a second representing a better example. She showed us contrasting two images to subjects such as composition, depth-of-field, crooked horizons, bulls-eyes images, shooting at the wrong time of day, and not getting close enough to your subject. She went over common mistakes such as red-eye (and how to correct it), and hardness of bare flash and explained how to inexpensively correct it using a diffuser. She explained how to use a DSLR and point-and-shoot cameras. She showed her equipment; bag, tripod, monopod, flash, and remote shutter release cord and most importantly, the manuals. Being a master photographer, she explained that she still refers to the manuals often.

Workshop Expert Series, Knowing Your Camera

September 9/27/2011

The workshop “Knowing your Camera” was a great workshop for beginners, on up.  It relied upon on using some of the most knowledgeable members, like Dave Anderson (Nikon), David Wilkins (Nikon), Nan Carter (Canon), Sue Craft  (Canon), and Glenn Olson (all others brands) who all volunteered to explain what all the buttons and screens are for on the  cameras. The members were reminded to bring their cameras and manuals. They were encouraged to ask any question and the teaching members answered all questions with great patience. Questions ranged all over from focusing issues, to bracketing. Below, is a short list of items that were discussed.

This month's workshop was presented by Oak Color, a local business and professional digital lab that specializes in printing and mounting. They are located at 42207 6th St W, #104, Lancaster. There phone number is (661) 949-3347 or online at www.oakcolor.com. Their pricing on the web site is very out of date, but they did bring a printed version to hand out to everyone. Phil and Charlie came to talk about their processes and front end software. They calibrate their printers each day, which most other companies may do weekly. They allow you to download Express Digital the Photographer and Studio, a front end to set up your printing needs. The software gives you complete control over all aspects of the print, like cropping, color changes, and effects like vignetting and allows it to be submitted to the lab.

Both Phil and Charlie answered lots of questions, on subjects of paper textures, gammas and color ranges, to pricing. They are aware of the printing needs for submission of prints to the AV Fair, and can assist in getting great looking prints.