W Bruce Shanks Hon PSNZ FPSNZ ANZIPP the story of my Photographic career Part 1

W Bruce Shanks Hon PSNZ FPSNZ ANZIPP

awarded with Honorary Life Membership of the Photographic Society of NZ . [ Hon PSNZ ]

The Citation reads .....

Bruce joined PSNZ in 1966, became an accredited Judge for Pictorial and natural history prints as well as projected images in 1968, and served on Council from 1972 to 1975.

He chaired the Northern Regional hosted by Manurewa in 1972 and was a keynote speaker at the 1975 PSNZ Convention.

Bruce was a founder member of the Manurewa Photographic Society in 1961, and became a life member in 1978.

He gained his PSNZ Associateship in 2000 and Fellowship in 2002.

He was appointed to the PSNZ Honours Board in 2010 and served with distinction for six years up to 2016.

He has judged PSNZ International Salons 3 times, PSNZ Salons many times, and club competitions numerous times.

Bruce is an inspirational teacher, an encouraging coach, and has run workshops on Nature Photography for PSNZ and club members all over the country.

He has given outstanding service to photography in New Zealand- most particularly through organisation, judging and teaching - for more than fifty years.

In his retirement, he remains a 'go to' person for all seeking advice, help and encouragement in the field. His contribution to photography in New Zealand has been in every way truly outstanding.

The Photographic Society of NZ, on the recommendation of the Honours Board is proud to award the distinction of Honorary Life Membership to Bruce Shanks FPSNZ

My Years with PSNZ

Born 1938 Educated at Helensville District High School & Otahuhu College Qualified as a Pharmacist 1959 Photographic Society of NZ Councillor 1972-75 Pioneer in home Colour Processing. Retired member of NZ Institute of Professional Photographers. Winner of many awards in both PSNZ & NZIPP an Amateur Ornithologist Avid devotee of the digital age of Photography Tutor in Photography particularly in relationship to bird photography at Miranda Shorebird Centre . retired in 2011 after 57 years in Pharmacy. Other interests, are gardening and family history or genealogy. Having traced one branch of the family back to 688 AD in France via John of Gaunt and the Plantagenet's of England.

My Family Tree. in photographs Maternal Side

My Family Tree. in photographs Paternal Side

Born 1938 Helensville 1943-44 Primary School Papatoetoe 1944-1950 Primary School Waimauku 1951 High School Helensville District High School 3rd Form 1952-1955 Otahuhu College 1955-1959 Pharmacy Apprenticeship at Papatoeto1959 Qualified as a Pharmacist 1959 Joined Tauranga PS and learnt How to Judge, and Home process Ferraniacolor 1959 Presenter at Northern Regional in Tauranga. How to Measure Mix Photographic Chemicals.

1961 Attended the 10th PSNZ Convention at Taupo 1961 Founder Member Manurewa Photographic Society 1962 Founder Member Papatoetoe Camera Club 1963 Acceptance in Natural History & Pictorial Slides in NZ International Exhibition 1966 Joined as Member of PSNZ 1968 Gold Medal Honours Ribbon and acceptance in Experimental Prints One Honours and 3 acceptances Experimental slides, at Invercargill Convention 1968 Appointed to PSNZ Panel of Selectors in Pictorial and Natural History Prints and Slides 1969 Winner of Medcalfe Gold Medal at the Wanganui Salon 1970 Print exhibited in the International Exhibition of London conducted by RPS 1972 Elected to PSNZ Council until 1975 1972 Chaired Manurewa PS Committee to Run Northern Regional 1972-75 Sales Manager "Camera" PSNZ Bimonthly Magazine 1975 Keynote Speaker at PSNZ Convention Auckland " A Beginners Approach to Colour Printing" as Sales Manager of "NZ Camera" the bi-monthly Magazine of PSNZ " edited by Peg Singleton. Every two months John Reece PSNZ Secretary at the time (he served 13 years in that position before going on to be PSNZ President and then Editor of NZ Camera ) and I would hand address envelopes for the I think about 1100 individual members and 125 Clubs enough for their affiliated members. Quite a task in a voluntary organisation, that PSNZ was in those days. Eventually we acquired the addressograph machine from Auckland Electric Power Board. , which saved writing but I think it took longer, as we had to type all the addresses onto the Aluminium plates, and maintain the changes of Addresses, and Club secretaries, which was a substantial task. The magazine was a full A4 Journal which I tried to market through Gordon & Gotch to the wider readership of photographers in NZ. As life was getting busy and complex for me I did not seek re-election to Council in 1976.

I was very pleased looking back that two major developments took place during the time I was on Council. We established the PSNZ Honours system with its independent Board, and petitioned Government successfully to have Photography Included as a School Subject.

Later I was invited along with Jack Sprosen to go to Tauranga and Select the Ilford Schools challenge images, and in the 1990s to see 4 Pukekohe pupils gain bursaries in photography. Little did I realise what we had started in the early 1970s.

I was also invited by Joan Blundell during her tenure as Honours Board Convenor to assist the Board with Natural History deliberations, as a "call in" specialist, 1977 Workshop at National Convention in Tauranga. "How to Print Colour using Cibachrome or the Beseler Negative System " 1978 Appointed Life Member of Manurewa Photographic Society 1978 Joined the N Z Professional Photographers Association 1979 Along with Ron Willems was instrumental in getting PSNZ to accept Trade Processed Colour Printing acceptable for the National Salon.

1982 9 acceptances, including 2 Bronzes and 2 Honours Ribbons in the National Salon all in Pictorial Prints 1982 Awarded Associate of NZPPA now the NZ Institute of Professional Photographers For 15 years deeply involved with NZPPA ( NZIPP) 1996 Joined Franklin Camera Club Pukekohe 2000 Gained my Associateship with a Set of transparencies. at the Gisborne National Convention.

2001 Won an Epson Stylus Photo 890 Printer for a Portfolio of prints taken during the weekend of the Northern Regional at Hamilton 2002 Gained a Fellowship in Creative Pictorial Prints with a set on Sky Tower at Queenstown 2003 Keynote Speaker Northern Regional conducted by Thames Camera Club Using Digital Projected Images with Data Projector

I presented a series of Digitally created Audio-Visuals using Pro Show Gold I have a favourite place ....Was a program introducing Miranda, the Seabird the Migratory birds of the Shore line there.

Coast, and

Also a program of 50 years of my Photography A program from Kaikoura from an Ocean Wings "Albatross encounters" trip deep water Sea Birds that congregate there

to watch the

and one on Whale Watching also from Kaikoura Digital had arrived.

Over these many years of PSNZ involvement I had been a guest judge in many clubs in the Northern Region and further a field. My Mentor Des Howard got me to go to Waiuku as my first experience of outside Club Judging, and to Franklin Camera Club in Pukekohe in 1961-2 or thereabouts. My Optometrist friend Neil Ritchie a PSNZ Panelist Judge had me go to Henderson about that time too.

These 3 clubs I have judged at on a very regular basis almost yearly, ever since. Seeing the clubs move premises, many times I have judged by travelling there and back in the one evening from as far away as Matamata in the South and Whangarei in North, with most clubs in between Many clubs are no longer in existence. Warkworth in the days of Geoff Moon, Tom & Clisty O'Rourke was a very live wire club holding a very popular "at home" with a slide battle, between all the Auckland area Clubs, and a day out at a private beach for judges and their families. Northshore had two Clubs Northshore PS , which is still going but there was also a slide and Movie Club. Onehunga Camera Club was a very strong club and held a very successful Northern Regional at the High School there in the early 60s.

Dawn Kendall and Russell Waite were two of the leading photographers there. Auckland PS was very strong and had such notable photographers as Rich & Peg Singleton, Derek & Joan Blundell, Eric Young Father Martin, Phil Barclay, Olaf Peterson, Laurie Mansell, Harry Robinson, and many many more fine photographers. The Apex Group of Blundells and Singletons produced and hosted many wonderful Sound-Slide Shows, and it was a great joy for me to belong to APS for a Number of years in the early 70s Otahuhu-Mangere was another club I judged at, that sadly is no more, as to are Pakuranga, Papakura, Manurewa, Warkworth, Huntly.

Judging or Critiquing .. I patterned my style of Judging on that of Bill Robb a former PSNZ President, and have always tried to be constructive and helpful and educational in my deliberations, using the process to advance the cause and improvement of photography, rather than to belittle the Author, I am not sure I have always been successful, but I gauge the results, by the fact, that I still get invited back Also quite a bit of critiquing has been done by written comments, taped comments etc. postage couriering and now drop-box to obtain the images. How computers, and digitising has expanded our abilities of communication. So in 2014 I have been involved in Club Judging since 1959 , making 55 years and I am still as enthusiastic today in helping people how to appreciate and create and interpret good images. I have judged the National Salon on quite a few occasions, both in Pictorial and Natural History , Many International Salons, the reason PSNZ set up a Judging Panel in the first place, the Wiltshire, The Bledisloe, Ilford Shield, and many outside Competitions Such as Tramping Organisations, and the Tiritiri Matangi Annual Calendar challenge. Visiting so many Clubs gave me an overview of changes and trends within Photography and in the early 2000s the trend was to digital.

Pukekohe-Franklin was slow to incorporate the challenge, so I elected to change clubs to Howick Camera Club in 2004 2004 Joined Howick Camera Club 2005 Gained 2 Fellowships in Natural History Prints at Howick National Convention 2006 Silver Medal Natural History Prints and Honours Ribbon Christchurch 2007 2 Honours Ribbons NH Prints and Honours ribbon Pictorial PIs New Plymouth 2007 Dunedin Festival Salon Champion Nature Print and Honours Ribbon 2008 Timaru Honour Ribbon in NH Prints 2009 Panelist Selector for Natex NH 2010 Appointed to Honours Board 2011 Panelist Selector for Natex NH , I had been requested to join the Honours Board in 2010, a very great honour and privilege indeed, an experience I have thoroughly enjoyed. I completed my two terms of 3 years in Nelson March 2015 2016 50 years continuous membership in PSNZ.

National Exhibition of Photography Panel Selector Pictorial Slides 1973..1975....1979 Pictorial Prints NH Slides 2009 2011 NH Prints 2009 2011 NZ International Exhibition Pictorial Prints Pictorial Slides NH Prints 1976 1983 NH Slides 1976 1983 and again at Napier later with Noel Manning in both prints slides I have forgotten the year, but it may have been the last International PSNZ held

and

Northshore Salon Panelist Slides 2001 Northshore Salon Panelist Prints 2008

and so my years with PSNZ have been an absolutely wonderful and rewarding passion, and although my exhibiting days are probably over, I will continue to judge as long as I am required, and or able and competent/ My First Convention was the 10th in 1961 and the 59th in 2011 possibly my last saw me attending Conventions for 50 years, having gone to a great majority of them taking my caravan back and forth across Cook Strait on many many occasions.

Attending a majority of Northern Regionals as well throughout these years National Conventions attended I attended 32, that I remember and possibly many more Northern Regionals during the last 50 years

A dissertation on my years with PSNZ Initially I started to write this as an essay on "Impressionism" and then expanded it to leave a dossier for my children on my experiences within PSNZ A slide I came across the other day . Which I took in the late 1960s at a Rodeo event at the Pukekohe show, at night, by lights, using Ferraniacolor 25 ASA and home processed. Using a tripod of course.

Solomon said many ages ago "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."

I will post another couple taken from this period.

Which just proves that "Impressionism" is a classical style of photography, that has been around for a long time, and although it is going through a resurgence of interest currently as a trend, this is not a "fad". Fad items are rarely expected to endure, but trends tend to survive . By pursuing the style of "Impressionism" another string is attached to your personal photographic bow, or perhaps another arrow in the quiver of photographic skills.

Yippee !!

I have been sorting old images recently, and came across these two which were taken in 1963, they both made The National Salon of Photography ( Natex... these days.) Taken when we toured the South Island in the Ford Prefect complete with Ferraniacolor processing kit. Photographed during the day, and processed at night, (the fore-runner of chimping. ) So I knew what I had, I couldn't wait the 3 weeks, that it took for Kodachrome to be processed in Australia. they have lasted well, being glass mounted. In those days I was keen on derivations, and landscapes.

"Solitude"

"Autumn Harvest" These two prints (following) were the first two I ever entered in Camera Club Competition at the Tauranga Photographic Society in 1959. They were taken on a Flexaret 6cm x 6cm format. Using FP3 Film 64ASA and probably a 2x yellow filter. Enlarged to 15 inches by12 inches on an Agfa Portriga Rapid White Art Rough Matte paper PRN114E, and mounted on 20 x 16 Mount boards. .

Although showing the signs of storage for 55years . I am still thrilled I have them .

The little old colonial farmstead was on the main road opposite West Rd at Clevedon ( my hometown then), and disappeared shortly after I took this photo. I made the error of levelling the photo by the spouting on the hip-roof and ignoring the verandah support at left, so the image appears to have a tilt.

The old wagon wheels were taken on a trip to the South Island in 1958 somewhere on the Canterbury plains

.

"At the Close of Another Day"

"Relic of Early Days"

After deciding my handwriting was not suitable for doing the "Titling" I discovered "Letraset" a drytransfer lettering system from England. This system I used for many years. It was only released in 1959, so it was a brand new method. The idea soon caught on.

These two prints were my next pair entered in Tauranga. They were taken in my home church. St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Clevedon. It was a brand new Church in 1959, and not long before these images I had been commissioned to take the photographs of the opening ceremony. I was a member of the Bible Class, and had the Honour of ringing the bell, on a Sunday Morning at the start of service. ..

For the image hand titled "Light through Darkness." I cut a mask to lay over the print after exposing the negative, I then flashed the area outside the mask with a torch, to create the dark "overlay" and lightened the cross, with Potassium Ferricyanide bleach, a process that was applied after fixing the print. It then required further fixation after this bleach process to prevent later staining. It was a fairly standard practice in those days, to slightly over print the print, then run through a tray of this bleach, to lighten ( brighten ) the highlights, then fix again, and of course the secret in the longevity of these

prints was the thorough washing. Water was cheap in those days, so I would wash prints in a cascade of trays in my driveway over night with the garden hose supplying the feed.

Farmer’s Reducer for Prints Stock Solution A: Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250.0 ml Potassium ferricyanide . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64.0 g Potassium bromide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.0 g Stock Solution B: Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500.0 ml Sodium thiosulfate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120.0 g For use normal use, mix 1/4 ounce (7.5 ml) of solution A with 6 ounces (180 ml) of solution B and add water to make 16 ounces or 500 ml. This solution works quickly, so reduction must be carefully monitored. For a slower reducing action, increase the amount of water or reduce the amount of Solution A. In the print "Light through Darkness" rather than dip the whole print, to brighten it, I just painted the wooden (varnished ) cross area, to increase the contrast in this area, so that the eye could go to the area of greatest contrast within the image, A ploy which aids the author's story line.

Being a pharmacist, chemicals were my thing, and I was able to mix my own chemicals.

The print "Father Forgive them" (the first I titled with "letraset") was taken in the same church at the session as the first using the pulpit as the dark base at the bottom. Because the pulpit was on the left of the church, I reversed the final image to create a better Pictorial composition. The dark segment of the ceiling, and the dark base of the pulpit and surround echoing one another's shape helps hold the eye in when viewing. When printing the image, to help overcome the converging-vertical syndrome, I had to tilt the easel under the enlarger, and stop the enlarger-lens right down, to keep the image in focus across the tilted paper.

Once again FP3 was used, exposed in the Flexaret Camera on a sturdy Linhof Tripod. Using the available Fluorescent light in the Church. Negatives Developed in Kodak D-76. and the prints in Kodak Dektol print developer. Using May and Bakers Amfix ( to speed up the fixing times) Later in the 1960s I was to standardise on Microdol-X as my Film Developer, D-163 as print Developer, and 4 Trays in the darkroom. Developer, Stopbath, First Fixer, Second Fixer, Then Wash (Thoroughly) I am trying to document here the processes used over the years, for the old timers to reminisce upon and the later members to understand, that what can be done in post digital processing, was often able to be done in the darkroom, although messier and more time-consuming.

It was at this time I introduced my trade-mark, Black Borders , I had a Steel Tray which I laid over the exposed enlarging paper, and flashed a narrow and a long side ( simultaneously) with a pencil torch, then turned the paper around and did the other two (remaining) edges. Initially so that the reviewers could see a true black on the paper for comparison. Much later I added a white edge as well (examination technique ) once again as a reference if you are looking for a true white and a true black in the image, it is there, as the border!.

"Light through Darkness"

"Father Forgive Them " LAYERING in the DARKROOM In the print entitled "Hurrying Home " I printed the sky in from another negative.

I mounted a sheet of glass about 50-70 mm above the photographic paper beneath the enlarger, cut out a cardboard mask , in the shape of the sky-line, exposed the sand dune pattern with its bald sky then carefully placed the mask in place, being 50 -70 mm above the sensitive paper a feathering effect was achieved twixt land and sky, I then inserted the sky negative and re-exposed the unmasked portion of the print to that negative. Then I duly printed my black edge on, and processed as normal. With retouching dyes, the skyline was enhanced ( called spotting ). It was pain-staking work.

In the image titled, "On The Beach" after Neville Shute.

It was the occasion of Auckland Reaching its 500,000 population, in 1961 a fireworks display from on top of One Tree Hill, was arranged. Unfortunately the night was breezy, but I captured the fire-works, wind blown.

Here I layered in the foreground. as per above.

Colour prints were not introduced to PSNZ exhibitions until 1976. So to get that wow factor, and a bit of colour, I toned this with a Blue-Toner. made up from a Stock solution A & a Stock Solution B which were mixed together at the time of use.

A was Potassium ferricyanide 1.7 Gms Concentrated Sulphuric Acid 3 mls and Water to 1 litre

B was Ferric Ammonium Citrate 1.7 Gms Concentrated Sulphuric Acid 3 mls and Water to 1 litre This toner intensified the print so one had to print a bit on the light side. The yellow stain on the paper had to be thoroughly rinsed off.

At first I titled this "On the Beach" but none of the judges were aware of the story of Neville Shute's book written in 1957 and filmed in 1959. The novel details the experiences of a mixed group of people in Melbourne as they await the arrival of deadly radiation spreading towards them from the northern hemisphere following a nuclear war.

So I had to add "after Neville Shute" A valuable lesson I learnt in titling. Not every one knows what you know, The dockyard scene "At rest" Is a thio-carbamide toned print (similar to sepia-toning) but less smelly.. The mount has not weathered the years all that well Taken on the Auckland wharves. The layering in here, is the bird so conveniently placed on the upper right intersecting third.

I simply cut a stencil from the black photographic paper envelope, and flashed through the hole, thus avoiding a somewhat barren area of the image, and adding a stronger focal point, to the maritime scene.

Cheating ? Well people say that about "Photo-shopping" and this was over 50 years ago.

"Hurrying Home"

"On the Beach after Neville Shute"

"At Rest"

Reversing Black and White film to make transparencies from normal negative film. Throughout the 1950s although available, Colour Transparency" Film was rationed and was not cheap. A roll of Kodachrome 1 Film was sold with processing included for 31/7 and a 36 exposure was 47/4 i.e ₤1-11-7 and ₤2-7-4 . Quite expensive at the time my wage was about ₤10-0-0 a week in 1958. So I learnt how to reverse Black and White negative material to make projectable monochrome images, which could of course be toned etc.

Occasionally, however, a black and white positive image is required for projection to screen rather than the usual negative images for printing purposes. In this case, reversal processing enables black and white transparencies to be produced directly from high quality film materials such as PAN F or, FP4 When exposing films for print generation, exposure is not that critical because any variation in negative density can usually be compensated for in printing. When a film is to be reversal processed, exposure must be accurate if good quality transparencies are to be produced. For general indoor/outdoor use, first adopt the published ISO setting and vary this, by trial and error, to determine the best exposure for your particular taste. The slower the film the better the contrast .

This is a slide I made from Pan-F film taken at Waiheke Island Probably the summer of 1958-59.

The reversal process starts with the development of the negative image. this leaves the unused silver halide untouched, but it is not fixed out, as it will later be used to form the positive image.

After the negative image has been developed, it is totally bleached away using an acid bleach. This leaves the remaining silver which is light-fogged and then re-developed to produce the positive image.

Between the various stages of processing, washes are used to prevent contamination of each new processing solution by the previous one.

The process was First Developer to which some Hypo is added Between 8 and 12 Gm / litre according to film type 7 mins Bleach

1 ½ minutes

Clearing Solution

2 minutes

Take lid off tank and expose to light then Redevelop in Second Developer

7 minutes

Hardening Fixer.

5 minutes

With 30 second rinses between, and a normal good wash finally These slides depicted a greater amount of detail and a wider range of tones than expressed in a traditional print. Because Film has a wider tonal range than paper.

Having mastered this, it was a small step to home process colour reversal film. So one winter's night in 1959 at Frank Gray's Mandarin packing shed at Brookers Rd Otumoetai, some of us keen Tauranga P S members gathered to learn how.

It was a 17 step process taking 2 hours with the necessity of keeping the temperature accurate to 68 degrees F. Plus or minus 0.5 degrees.

1 First Developer 15 minutes 2. Wash 30 seconds 3. Stop bath 30 seconds 4 Wash 2 minutes 5. Tropical Hardener 3 minutes 6. Wash 10 minutes 7 Expose 1 foot from 100 W Bulb for 2 minutes each side of film.

8 Reload damp film back into tank spirals !@#$%?? & wash 30 seconds 9 Colour Developer 8 minutes 10 Hardener (No Rinse) 2 minutes 11 Rinse 2 minutes 12 Tropical Hardener 3 minutes 13. Wash 15 minutes 14 Bleach Hardener5 5-7 minutes 15 Wash ( to remove stain) 2 minutes 16. Fix 4 minutes 17 Final Wash 15 minutes.

A large water bath to hold the bottles of chemicals could be kept at the 68 degrees, and another large vat of wash water, was ladled into the developing tank, agitated and poured out 2 changes for each minute required, was the easiest way I found.

Here is a shot from that first roll I developed, sadly it has suffered the ravages of dust and mould.

Interesting that at the Mount, one could have a donkey ride on a Sunday afternoon. (1959)

and so from there on I used Ferraniacolor and always processed it myself.

It was once again in 1959, an important year in my life, I was 21, newly qualified as a Pharmacist, managing a Pharmacy in Tauranga, and free from study, was able to join the local Photographic Society. Debates were ranging, as new clubs were formed. Photographic Societies, were taking the high ground, purist, arty, large format pushing monochrome as their "Raison d'ĂŞtre". Camera Clubs on the other hand were seen, as keen enthusiasts, entertaining one another with "slides" taken on overseas trips on recently purchased "duty free" rangefinder cameras, at ports such as Suez and Aden.

A little bit similar to the recent transition from film to digital imaging. It was thought, there could be a lowering of standards, and quality, I will talk more on formats and negative sizes later in this series of discourses.

Into this environment I came, and because of my skills in Chemistry, I was asked to do a demonstration at the Tauranga & District Photographic Society my home club, on how to weigh and mix photographic chemicals, this was so popular, that I was asked to repeat it, at the Northern Regional, being hosted by Tauranga that year.

So started my involvment with the wider world of PSNZ.