Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Don’t forget your Round 3 Competition entries on the 6th Jan and submissions for the Battle of the Clubs which we are hosting in February.

See you all in 2011!

LensHero

Every now and then I find a website and think "that would be a good place for club members to visit". We'll I've discovered a site that may come in handy for those of you wanting to splash the cash on a new lens for your dSLR but aren't quite sure which lens is best for the pictures you want to take. Sorry those of you that don't use dSLR's I'll find something great for you soon.

If your wondering what lens you should buy next or feel that your current lens just doesn't work for the type of photography you like to do then go take a look at the LensHero website. They've come up with a great idea and it's so simple I wonder why no one else has thought of it before. We'll OK someone might have but I haven't seen it.

When you first get to the site your asked to enter your make & model of camera. So for me it would be "Canon 400D". Then you simply move the slider to correspond with the amount you wish to spend on the lens.
It looks as though the site uses B&H photo (it's a USA based store) for their prices and converts those prices into the viewers local currency (if I'm wrong then let me know). You just need to understand that the prices will probably not be correct for us in the UK. Unless they figure out a way to show prices from a good reputable UK distributor the site will probably be best used as a guide to help you decide on a lens that suits your style of photography and you should then shop around for the best UK deals for that lens.

The next step is just as easy. You can either use the yellow boxes with the arrows in them to select a specific type of photography (e.g. Macro, Portraiture, Wide Angle) or you can click the zoom tab and choose the minimum and maximum range of the lens you want. There's one other box which is labelled  "Suggest" and you can enter a lens that you already own and it will suggest others that compliment it. My only complaint about the selection process, and it really is a minor one, is when you choose the zoom tab and increase the maximum range of the zoom. The picture zooms in but becomes blurry and out of focus. In my view that's a little off putting. I know the picture has nothing to do with the lens you are trying to decide on but it kind of gives the impression that whatever lens it suggests will do the same.

Once you've entered or selected all the options on this screen you just hit "Go" and your presented with a selection of lenses and their specifications for you to peruse and choose from at your leisure.

The information for each lens is presented clearly and is easy to follow. If your not sure what something means there is a small 'i' next to each bit of information just click that and it and your given an explanation that is relevant to that section.

For those of you that need help choosing a lens this is probably one of the best and, more importantly, easy to use sites. You don't need to have spent ages researching the various lenses. Good suggestions are given to you in just a few mouse clicks.

Yo Ho Ho

Thursday night was the last meeting of the year and as it’s Christmas we had our usual fiercely fought Christmas competitions.

Starting off the night we had our lovingly titled “Bucket Competition”. It earned its name in the mists of time when Slides were used. To ensure fairness and to spread out the slides between each team they used to be placed into a bucket and each team would take it in turns to pick one until they were all gone. Nowadays of course we don’t have many people that still shoot slide film so we use prints. Each team member was supposed to bring along six prints to use. I’d love to say the rules were strictly adhered to but only one team stuck to the six prints per member rule! Amazingly at the end of the competition, when all of a teams prints are supposed to be used up, one team still had about 20 left on their table! Never mind though, we’ll get our own back next year.

Next up was the part some of us were dreading. The Yo Ho Ho competition. It’s just strange, funny and weird pictures you’ve taken recently. Now I knew Ian had something planned, as usual. It was just a case of wondering who was going to be the target this year. Unfortunately it was me again! I really am going to have to stop wearing that pigeon costume in public.

Thanks to everyone who brought along some food and to all our members that turned up to make it a great evening full of Christmas fun.

I’d like to finish this post by saying Farewell to Dominique. She’s leaving us to go back to Holland. It’s been great having you in the club and I hope it’s not a permanent move and that we’ll see you again soon. Keep in touch.

Thanks from Luis

Luis Bustamante, our guest speaker last week, has sent us an email in which he thanks each and everyone of you who came along to the talk. He wanted to let you all know that he was very impressed by the way in which you not only listened to what he had to say but also the questions that were asked. Actually I think I'll quote him as he put it so much better than I could;

I was really impressed with the way you organised my contribution. The hall was just right and just a bit bracing. The show was perfectly managed despite a non-cooperating remote. The audience were encouraging and alert, with an inquisitive edge.

I think the "just a bit bracing" comment was his way of saying it was bloody freezing. Despite the radiators being on full for an hour before the meeting started!

One of his pictures was chosen as a favourite of the decade by the Guardian newspaper and was published last weekend you can take a look at it HERE.

Last meeting of the Year

Reproduced with Permission. ©Luis Bustamante

First off I want to thank Luis Bustamante for a fantastic talk last night which was very insightful and interesting. I know some people went away mulling over what they had heard and thinking about the way in which they approach their photography. Also you should look out for some of his work being published in the Guardian this weekend or go take a look at, and maybe buy, his book "Brief Encounter".

This Thursday.

It's time to show your funny and strange pictures to add a bit of cheer to the proceedings. If you've taken a picture that makes you laugh, smile or is just of something weird, strange or stupid, bring it in. Share the humour with us. It doesn't have to be sized, mounted, framed or anything special, just bring it in. If it's a digital file you can also send it in via email or our preferred method, Dropbox.
If you keep hearing Dropbox being mentioned and want to use it then just follow THIS link to sign up, it's free. Once you've installed the software, as long as you use the link supplied here, I will get an email telling me when you've signed up and installed it. Which means I can send you an invite to share a folder with the club and that's all you really have to do. Ask me if you want to know more.

We're also going to have a fun little competition so bring along some prints, any prints. Don't worry about the subject's, just make sure they don't really have anything in common. So do NOT bring all portraits, or all Landscapes. Mix them up. we just need you to bring up to 6 prints and all will be explained on the night.

Also, as it's the last meeting before Christmas, if you feel like bringing along some nibbles or snacks so we can make it a bit more of a social event than a normal meeting that would be great.

Don' forget Thursday 16th is also the last day for entries to be submitted for Round 3 of the Open Competition. Prints need to be brought in on the night and Digital Files can either be emailed or sent via Dropbox to me by 10am on Friday 17th.

Luis Bustamante

This week is the Chair’s evening and he’s decided to invite Luis Bustamante around to
give us a talk on his photography.
If your into street photography then this could be your favourite night of the season.
If you’ve always wanted to give this style of photography a go or wondered what sort
of reaction you would get if you started walking around the streets and taking pictures
of strangers then come along and listen to what he has to say. It’s also a chance to ask
him any questions you have about his style or pictures. You can also see a preview of his
book "Brief Encounter" by visiting THIS link

 
Photographs copyright Luis Bustamante and reproduced here with permission.

Day Release

This Sunday several of Reflex Camera Club managed to get a day release pass and took a trip to Stonehenge.
Braving freezing fog, blizzards and worst of all Ian’s jokes we all arrived safely only to find hardly any snow on
the ground but a fairly thick fog making visibility pretty poor. Luckily though the sun soon broke through and we
ended up with glorious blue skies. Loads of pictures were taken and a good time was had by all. Check our Flickr
group over the next few days for more photo's.
Afterwards several of us decided to carry on and take a trip to Avebury. Of course the first stop was the pub for
a spot of lunch. We even managed to order some food which was pretty good although Alison couldn’t resist
trying to make everyone wish they had chosen the fish despite the T.V. in the background mentioning shark
attacks.

On day release were (left to right) Kev, Geoff, Roger, Eddie, Rich, Barrie, Ian, Mark and trying to hide behind her camera was Alison.

Worrying Phone Call!

So I'm just about to walk into the school playground to pick my daughter up when my phone rings. I answer and the guy asks for me by name. Then he tells me that he's from the Avon & Somerset Police Federation and I immediately think OK what's going on, have I committed a murder in my sleep or something! So then he tells me that the latest Police Handbook is about to go to print and an advertising opportunity has arisen. Would the club like to take out an advert. I politely declined. Not that great a story but I just thought I would share it with you all. They must have been desperate for the revenue considering the attitude most police forces in the UK have towards photography lately.