On a cold afternoon most of our group managed to make it to the January meeting where we were discovering how we got on with the theme of the previous month “Close up Curiosity”. Some absentees were able to send in Photographs for the theme and there was a lot of variety to see. We did agree, as a group, that this meeting, being so close the festive holiday, made taking photos a bit rushed. Consequently, we are thinking of cancelling the January 2027 meeting to avoid that. We briefly considered some possible venues for a trip out in May. Further afield than last year, the Yorkshire Wildlife Park and Brodsworth Hall were suggested. Let us know next month if you have ideas.

Photos sent in on a theme of CLOSE UP CURIOSITY!

This section was in two parts. First, we looked at the Photo Quiz selection. Here we saw close up or Macro photos of a wide variety of subjects. For each one, members were invited to say what the subject was, and this promoted involvement from all, until it was finally ‘revealed’ in the wide shot of the subject. This was a fun session which we all enjoyed, and in many cases kept us guessing. We saw lots of objects, mainly found at home and taken indoors. I’m not giving anything away, as I want those who didn’t make it to the meeting to have a look first.

Well done to all of those who had a go. I’ll put these on to the website soon, once I’ve decided how best to do that, but it will be the quiz shots so check that out later on.

Secondly, we viewed those photographs which were single close-up images. There were fewer of these, but some we had to guess what they were anyway! Andy T had experimented with his phone macro setting, which produced some very clear photographs including a model tank, and Ken had showed some of his, (these fit better in this category) including a walnut. Maureen told us that she had been up at 4.00 am photographing a spider, which looked very large on the image! Maureen also completed a diptych (two photos side by side on one image) of a large fungus found in her garden on the bird feeder. The wide & close images, side by side were very effective. Worth remembering for future tasks perhaps?

Shots of the Month

The number of entries were fewer than usual, possibly because we were being busy with other things in December. However, Andrew T showed us two photographs taken whilst in Rotterdam of the striking horseshoe-shaped Markthal, the world’s first covered market hall with residences built above it. “Designed by Dutch architects, this landmark stuns inside and out, especially with the enormous ceiling artwork ‘Horn of Plenty’ by Arno Coenen and Iris Roskam.”

Others included those by Andy B of animals. A polar Bear and two ‘big cats’ were all shown, looking to be in a very natural environment with not a fence in sight! (They were in fact taken in a zoo!) Ken had a group of night shots taken at Christmas lights displays at Belton house which looked great!

Demonstration of Photo stacking using the FOCUS MERGE facility in Affinity Photo 2.

I had tried this out when taking a close-up shot of a circuit board. The technique requires taking macro shots where the focus is very shallow. Using a tripod keeps the camera still as does using a timer or shutter release. Each photograph is then adjusted slightly for each shot to get a series of photos with different focal points throughout the object being shot. Five were taken like this. Then the photos were added to the Affinity Photo programme by using the ‘NEW FOCUS MERGE’ option. The programme then selects all the sharp sections of each photo and merges them together to form one final photograph of the image that is sharp throughout.  Having cropped and changed the image to Black and White it was completed and saved. However, whilst this technique is very useful, I decided that for this image, some blur would actually have been better! Maybe next time if the subject is the right one! It is often used in macro photography so here is a written example explaining it all:

Focus Stacking In Affinity Photo - Lenscraft

Next Months theme: Miniature Photography

We attempted this some time ago in 2022 I think, although I can’t find any photos that we did then. My computer crashed about that time so maybe I lost them!

We went through the slideshow from 2022 again which reminded us of the sort of things that can be achieved, and many useful tips of how to achieve good results, as well as many ideas of things you could tackle. The ideas were taken from the internet. These and others are linked below.

Miniature Photography Tutorial: 10 Tips for Taking Small World Toy Photos

Guide to Miniature Photography: 29 Tips & Ideas!

Miniature Photography: Guide for Making Creative Photos

Creative Miniature Photography: Tips & Ideas from the Experts

Miniature figures can be used from any source, such as Lego people or you might consider buying a set of general figures or a themed set such as workmen. They are reasonably priced on Amazon and can be used more than once as long as you consider how the setting is changed.

 Reading up on these websites above before you get started or consider buying anything!

A quick search on Amazon is here:

Amazon.co.uk : miniature figures painted for photography

However, consider the scale of figures shown. Really small ones are often used in model railways and might be difficult to handle!  We finished with two short videos. One is linked here but there are many others online about this type of photography!

Mini Figure Photography: The Secret to Creating Stunning Images

Best of luck. Do have a go!

See you in February, Wednesday 4^th. Judith and Terry