Damian Smith - Drogheda Photographic Society, Steel wool, Bridge of Peace, Drogheda
Night Photography

An introduction to one of our new special interest groups by Damian Smith

I first became interested in night Photography in April 2011 when myself & Marina signed up to a ‘free’ group that went out once a month to take photos of a particular subject.

Armed with my trusty Canon Compact IXUS980IS & a newly acquired tripod, we met the group on the steps of Barlow House. We headed down to the car park at the Garda station to take photos of the monument that is on the banks of the River Boyne. I soon found myself with a case of extreme ‘lens envy’ when I saw the equipment that was was being set up around me. Paul was over to me quickly to assuage my fears by telling me that ’size’ doesn’t matter. Its all about how you use your equipment.

With tips from Paul & a few other members, I became engrossed with shooting at night, the different exposures, aperture settings & ISO numbers and the countless possibilities of combining all three. Myself & Marina both knew that to improve, we would have to get some proper guidance so we signed up to a couple of Paul’s courses & we haven’t looked back.
We are both more confident with our cameras (& yes, I upgraded to a DSLR) and our interest in photography has blossomed.

I still love shooting at night & have discovered the phenomenon of ‘Steel Wool Spinning’ & enjoy trying that out with a few other like-minded individuals.
I discovered the spinning on Instagram, a photo sharing app, where you follow & get followed by people worldwide, comment & discuss photos that you like. I found this a great way to share information & techniques with people from different backgrounds & cultures.
Projects for the future are star trails & light painting. And whatever else comes my way through Instagram & the people we’ve met through the Society.

Regards,
Damian Smith

Steel wool spinning under the Bridge of Peace in Drogheda - Damian Smith -Drogheda Photographic Societyamian Smith

Steel wool spinning under the Bridge of Peace in Drogheda – Damian Smith -Drogheda Photographic Society

 

 

 

 

Bokeh
Competition Information

Competition Time – It’s that time of year again!

It’s that time of year again!

We will be running two separate competitions for club members
which will be broken into Beginners and Higher level.

The attachments below from Paul Murray give some details on what will be required from entrants, and we will have more information soon.

DPS – BEGINNERS LEVEL COMPETITION – APRIL 2014

DPS – HIGHER LEVEL CAMERA USERS PHOTO COMPETITION

 

 

 

 

john-stanmeyer- World-Press-handout-via-BBC
Articles of interest

African migrants near Djibouti city by John Stanmeyer

This striking image above shows men trying to get a phone signal from their homeland of nearby Somalia as they stand on a moonlit shore in Djibouti across the bay.

Djibouti is known to be a stepping stone for migrants from Somalia and other countries nearby, who may try moving on to Europe or the Middle East to improve their lives.
This picture represents their last efforts to try and connect with loved ones via their phone provider in Somalia before embarking on their separate paths.

Below  is a short video from John Stanmeyer on how it happened

http://vimeo.com/87132182

Uncategorized

DPS is one year old!

Tonight, we are celebrating our first year as an amateur photography group, which has grown to 26 members and we would like to extend to you an invitation on this evening.

Venue: Barlow House / Narrow West Street / Drogheda
Day: Thursday
Date: 3 October 2013
Time: 8.00 pm
Guest Speaker: Colin Bell of Maher’s Chemist
Paul Murray will also deliver a demonstration of his Pinhole Box Camera, Exposure and processing procedures.
Photographs taken with the camera will be displayed by projector also.

All are welcome!
DPS Paper Ad

Articles of interest

Beach photography tips!

There are rumours that Summer might arrive near the end of August!
If this is indeed the case, or even for those lucky enough to be going on holidays abroad, some tips for beach photography below….

www.lightstalking.com/beach-photography-tips

DPS-BLC - DEIRDRE HYLAND - 2nd prize competition winner 2013
Articles of interest

Move it from the middle!

Amateur photographers are notorious for their instinct to center everything. Unfortunately centered pictures aren’t terribly dynamic or interesting.
Instead, learn to move your subject away from the middle of the frame. A simple way to frame a photograph in this way is to follow the rule of thirds. To do this, simply divide your frame up like a tic-tac-toe board and place your subject at any of the intersecting lines.
This may seem a bit awkward at first, but once you see the results you’ll wonder what you were thinking placing all of your subjects in the center.

Courtesy of Lifehacker http://ow.ly/mv0aa &
Kodak.com http://ow.ly/mv0c4

Move it from the Middle from Kodak.com