Photonews Celebrating the Postal Photographic Club and its Members
Autumn 2020 - TE Results Special
Autumn 2020 - TE Results Special 3.
FROM THE (ENGLISH) RIVIERA
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Some words of welcome from your General Secretary
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All the results from the PDI Competition, showcasing the Award winners, the Certificate of Merit awards and listing the full results from this years competition.
EDITORIAL
30. The KODAK P880
The usual non-sensical contribution from your Editor
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A wander down Memory Lane with regular correspondent David Ridley
CONFESSIONS OF A JUDGE
Pat Couder has not only been judging locally but more recently has been doing online judging for clubs
MEET THE JUDGE
This years PDI Judge, Paul Dunmall CPAGB, QCP
PDI RESULTS
34. PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
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Based on the total points scored by individual club members in the competition.
42. CYANOTYPES Stuart & Mary Carr, look at one of the oldest and simplest (Stuart’s words) of the alternative photographic processes.
ON THE COVER: East India Dock - Pat Couder. As with last year I have chosen one of my favourite images from last years competition as the cover for this years Results Special. Editor’s prerogative :-) Don’t forget if your Club is looking for an online judge Pat has the expertise you need!
From the (English) Riviera PPC News, Views and Updates from Mission Control, Torquay The easing of lockdown and the rise of the “staycation” has seen Torbay busier than it has been for months. Strange after the quiet and relative isolation of the past months, but welcome for many local businesses. Not all good news, of course, with Living Coasts, a major Torquay attraction failing to reopen. Personally, we have been getting out and about a bit more on foot at first, discovering bits of our town that we’d never visited before, but venturing further afield by car and even enjoying a subsidised lunch! And so to matters PPC – This is traditionally the TE Edition of Photonews and, despite the absence of a print section and consequent loss of a Travelling element, the DPI section went ahead. There were over 300 images judged and the results are contained herein. My congratulations to all who have had images accepted and also to those who gained awards. The quality of work in the club remains as high as ever and this year’s TE once again showcases the talents of our members! The accepted entries will be made available as a slideshow downloadable through the main club website. With many local clubs remaining closed and moving to online meetings, please let your programme secretary know! Of course, none of that would be possible without the work of Graham Harvey, our DPI Competition Secretary. Thank you, Graham! Those of you who were due to attend the Rally this year will already know that the decision has been taken to cancel this year’s event and rebook the same venue for 2021. Print circle secretaries have already or will be consulting their circle members on returning to normal, and I’m sure the flexibility of our circle structure has been a great asset in these times allowing circles to continue functioning online being a prime example. And finally, I must take this opportunity to thank Dave Whenham, for all his efforts with the Lockdown editions of Photonews which has inspired, entertained and generally kept us all in touch with our hobby. And not forgetting, of course, those who contributed the articles and images.
Roger Roger Edwardes General Secretary PPC 3
All trophy images © John Kay
Photonews - the 2020 TE Results Special
Well, what a year this has been so far! As Roger has already mentioned, this is a very different TE to usual which also means that this issue is also different from the now-traditional Autumn issue which is usually dedicated solely to matters TE. I would not normally include any members articles in the TE Results Special but in a break with tradition there are two items penned by members David Ridley and Stuart Carr, the latter with the help of Mary. An incredible amount of work goes in to organising and running our annual competitions and so as ever I would like to thank our hard-working Competition Secretary for bringing this years competition to a successful conclusion. Don’t forget that each year we have two Founders Cup competitions, the TE competition and also the Photographer of the Year award based on a member’s overall success in the annual competition. So, a lot to do! Thank you then to Graham our PDI Competition Secretary without whom the PDI Competition would not have happened. Thanks also to Alan Phillips who once again has quietly and unobtrusively supported Graham behind the scenes and whose automation is saving countless hours in the management of the PDI Competitions. We take for granted things like the certificates that we hand out, but they all have to be personalised and printed and this too takes time, so Alan’s skills have been very much appreciated once again this year. It is therefore particularly gratifying to see the sucess that Alan achieved in this year’s competition - thanks again Alan and well done! Finally, a big thank you to everyone that entered and of course congratulations to the award winners. If you did not enter this year then I hope the following pages will inspire you to do so next year. We send out the initial invite around six weeks or so before the competition entry window opens so there is no excuse; if you will be away during the entry period then get everything prepared and ask someone else to submit it on your behalf, or speak to one of the Competition Secretaries, we will do everything we can to enable you all to participate. Don’t leave it to the last minute! Finally, before you rush off to check out the results from the TE, spare a thought for the judge, as in this report from Pat Couder - who asks me to remind you all that she’s available for online judging too! Stay safe - stay creative!
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Confessions of a Judge
I have been involved in club photography for 13 years and always said “who would want to be a judge!” after listening to members mutterings when their images didn’t quite make the grade. That is until a good friend of mine who has been a judge for many years encouraged me to go for it. So I did! I have now been judging for approx. 18 months in the Kent and Surrey area. I did the initial training, was given a mentor to accompany with his judging bookings and we subsequently went out together about 5 times, sharing the critique/scoring before he agreed that I was ready to go it alone. Shortly afterwards I received my first booking for a small club with an open themed digital competition. It was already dark when I left home for the 30 minute drive and the lovely Sat Nav took me on a short cut…….down a single track lane! I already felt sick with nerves , now I had the added worry about meeting another car!! (I cant reverse down dark lanes!) Luckily I didn’t and I arrived in plenty of time. I was made to feel welcome then had to wait for the members to arrive, looking at me and possibly thinking “whos that?” and “a female!” “young……probably inexperienced” all the time my stomachs churning, palms sweating whilst trying to maintain an air of confidence! Then we start. Lights out. Images run through on the screen in front of me. Just a few seconds each. How am I going to do this? I want to study them for hours! A real mix of ability, all in one group. The (what I considered to be) best images immediately stood out for various reasons: impact, the photographers input, technical ability etc whilst those that appeared to be lacking in camera work, lack of interest etc. needed to be commented on giving encouragement and suggestions for improvement. The evening ended having given my critique and scores on all the images and chosen those deserved of certificate/highly commended etc. A vote of thanks and then the drive home. I couldn’t sleep that night, going over and over in my mind if I slipped up, did I score them correctly, what if the very complimentary vote of thanks was an outright lie and what if the members were muttering about me on their way home! Needless to say I received an email the following day reiterating the Chairmans vote of thanks and have had subsequent return bookings. All that worry……… Needless to say, I still feel the nerves but I think that’s a good thing as it shows I care and want to do a good job. We are all in love with our own images and the last thing I want to do is put someone off entering their clubs competitions. We were all beginners once and how you deliver critique is very important. I always try to be encouraging and offer tips on what I might do if it were my image. What I don’t like is the dark, wet, cold evenings when I have to get the car out and drive for miles there and miles on the way back, getting lost with night time roadworks and perhaps not getting home and into bed til 11.30pm. But, judging…..I love it: meeting people, seeing other clubs work and being inspired by the images. I am always looking at photographs, online, in galleries, exhibitions etc to fuel my passion and desire to be an “all round” judge who can appreciate all genres and creativity. Pat Couder CPAGB BPE1
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The PDI Competition Judged by Paul Dunmall CPAGB, QCP
My first camera was an Olympus OM-10, that I used to take motorsport images, I never knew about camera clubs or competition’s then. Life takes over when you are in your 20’s so it ended up just coming on holidays. I still have the camera today and used the 50mm lens on my digital Canon. Motorsport is still my passion, if it has an engine and races, I probably know something about it. But I have dabbled in most style to get a better understanding and to learn new things. Fast forward some years and a divorce, my new partner (now wife) saw some of my pictures and said these are good and then made by a camera, a Canon 350d. The internet had arrived and I found my first camera club to see how good/bad I was, the competition bug hit. Then I found that what judge’s were saying about images was not very positive or encouraging to improve, so I looked at how to become a judge and try to do it differently. I was very lucky to find a mentor that had the same idea and vison as what I saw and soon was very busy across Kent, Sussex, Surrey and the occasional visit in to Hampshire. After a few years I was the asked to assist with judge’s training with my mentor and I set about to change the way judges viewed images and encouraged club members rather the negative style many are used to. 2018 brings an opportunity to move to Cumbria and any self-respecting photographer with half an interest in landscape would struggle to say no. First job is to get on the L&CPU judge list, but I have to start at the bottom, even after 10+ years of judging, the federations do not take what another one says, so here we are starting on the road to changing how judging is viewed in the north. 6
The PDI Competition Judged by Paul Dunmall CPAGB, QCP
It was an honour to be invited to judge your exhibition, Graham had seen me judge at his club and felt I was the judge for this competition. Therefore, I hope my comments on the images come across how I would say in person.
And the Winner is …
I would also like to thank Graham for agreeing to make some changes to how the images are awarded, as I felt I was being pushed a certain way to fit the award. This would have meant one image winning 3 awards, when there were others, I felt more deserving of an award. I trust that you would all agree that this works more fairly, certainly for those who have now gained an award. 302 entries were a litter lower than expect but then we are in strange times at the moment and people may have been drawing on back catalogue’s for images to enter, of which I think some fell short of the standard that this competition would normally be. This would also be the reason for not being able to find 120 images, as I didn’t feel just filling for number’s sake was best for the Exhibition. I have picked a wide genre of images for the exhibition as I believe that it should represent all style of images, I hope you enjoy the range, as expected the natural history images were among the strongest, with any of the top 5 being capable winners on another day. The one issue I did have was getting down to the maximum number of 30 certificate of merits, so some have just missed out, I could not ask Graham to make any more changes. I also felt that just making comments on 6 winning images, leaves those with the merits wondering how close they were, so I elected to make some comments on all the merits, they may be short but I hope you find them useful. The last thing is to say a big thank you to all those that entered, I never tire of looking at other peoples images and if I can say something positive and encourage you all to continue then my task is nearly done, plus looking at your images inspire me to learn and improve from the things you try. Paul Dunmall
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The Dorothy MacDowell Salver for Best Projected Image Salver for Best Portrait Who’s calling - Graham Snowden “It has that just caught moment as the right time, will never seen another image like, a great connection almost like he now has God on speed dail or Whatsapp, such a great story, made stronger by taking away the distration of colours.”
Barbican Undercover - Stuart Roberts Salver for Best Monochrome “So many digital images in B&W seem to be so sharp, not over sharp just sharp, this has the feel of film, so it is sharp but just has that softness and grain that you only get with film, which could be scanned image or subtle post processing, the subject walking away works for me, it just ouses a feel and mood� 9
Autumn - Alan Phillips Salver for the Best Colour Image “So simple yet strangely not a lot of colour in the whole image, I don’t think it would have worked with any other leaf with its range of colour, a very delibrate image in the compostion”
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Misty Sunset over the Lakeland Hills - Gary Barton Salver for the Best Landscape Image “Just love the way the light creates the layers of colour tone and the regression of dark to light going the opposite of the colour, so simple but effective �
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Blue Tit Nesting in a Signpost - Stephen Yates The Thomas Langley Trophy for Best Natural History “What can one say, not only a great capture, but it also has it's only little story with the way the head is tilted looking at you if though it has been papped� 12
PDI CERTIFICATES OF MERIT Hyperspace - Alan Phillips “An abstact as it should be, I have no idea what it is, nor do I want to know, as this keeps me looking; was in the running for best colour”
Dipper on the Walkham Maxwell Law “A great image, was in the running for best nature with its low angle ”
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PDI CERTIFICATES OF MERIT
Street Artist - Len Downes
Magic Paint - John Kay
“The way the artisit smile matches the smile of the painting and ther pressing of the can to let the paint out,the only small thing that lets down was the focus point was on the can, making slighter sharper than the face”
“A great image in the running for best colour, just felt I wanted the person to be either more static or a bit more movement ”
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PDI CERTIFICATES OF MERIT
Snowdonian Winter - Richard Walliker “I like the light dancing on the hill side, suits the B&W conversion”
Twr Mar Lighthouse - Graham Harvey “The compostition just works, I felt the light on the foreground rocks was brighter the light house at the end, which is where you want to lead me with the path, but I keep copming back to the brightest part”
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PDI CERTIFICATES OF MERIT
Lowry Bridge - Michael Freeman “The symetry makes it a very strong image, while it is B&W I would like the sky to be a tad lighter”
Dragon Bridge - Stephen Yates “Great colours throught the image, I wonder if the boat is just of centre because what we judges say, but felt it would much stronger if the boat was dead center.” 16
PDI CERTIFICATES OF MERIT Jumping Spider eating a Gnat - Stephen Yates “A cracking image, it is the only the smallest thing that for competition you have to separate, the foreground on the right is little distracting”
Black Kites - Maxwell Law “A well timed, sharp, exsposed image, nature is hard subject with a lot of quailtity in the section not all can win”
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PDI CERTIFICATES OF MERIT
Origin of the Species - Harry Wentworth “I have seen similar as a single image but the first as tryptich the first thing came in to my head was Beatrix Potter, it is well thought out and good”
Painted lady on scabious - Cliff Ferguson “Yet another very strong image that could well win on any other day”
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PDI CERTIFICATES OF MERIT
Never too old for a ciggy - Richard Bown “Love the character study, just felt the hand movement, whilst it works, would have suited being lower”
Alluring - John Hughes “The lighting is good, the connection with you works, just the hands, it would better to not have the back of hands flat to camera, they pick up a lot of light and then distract, if they can turned side on”
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PDI CERTIFICATES OF MERIT
Normanton Church - David James “Another image that on another day could be the top image, great tones, lovely light sharp on the building ”
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PDI CERTIFICATES OF MERIT
Forest Shieldbug - Stephen Yates “This was in the running for best image, I just felt the borrom left did not need the dark spaces and if it could been cropped to just the green, but it is a small thing in such a strong section”
Male Stonechat - Gary Barton “Yet another very strong image that could well win on any other day”
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PDI CERTIFICATES OF MERIT Nuthatch - Gary Barton “This was in the final 2 for best natural history, a great image that on another day could be the winner”
Fighting Hares- John Hughes “A strong image well captured, this was just such a strong section not all be the winner”
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PDI CERTIFICATES OF MERIT
Dyserth Fall - Andrew Ripley “I think you could be braver with crop from the left making it more portrait in style, I think it may give the waterfall more height”
Pick of the Crop - Keith Hughes “A good compostion, the main reason for not being in contention was the texture of the wood being a bit to strong and competing with the viens of the mushrooms”
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PDI CERTIFICATES OF MERIT Yorkshire Dales Viaduct - Andrew Ripley “A good landscape needs light to make it stand out, this has great light with good range of tones giving a warm light, but with the dark stormy sky about to make the light go”
Northern Wheatear - Maxwell Law “Yet another very strong image that could well win on any other day”
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PDI CERTIFICATES OF MERIT
Timepieces - Graham Dean “A very clever blend of timepieces and while we know it is a composite it is not obvious ”
Open Door - Andrew Ripley “This was a close second to the winner just losing out; I felt it just needed a little off the left hand side.”
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PDI ACCEPTANCES & AWARDS - these images would ususally form the PDI Travelling Exhibition
Alan Phillips Alan Phillips Alan Phillips Alan Phillips Alan Phillips Alan Phillips Alan Phillips Alan Phillips
Hyperspace Iron Triangle Ex Origo Panel Red Droplets Autumn Light of Other Days Broad Bean
Certificate of Merit Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Salver for thr Best Colour image Accepted Accepted
Andrew Ripley Andrew Ripley Andrew Ripley Andrew Ripley Andrew Ripley Andrew Ripley
New Brighton Lighthouse Well Trodden Stairs Goit Stock Falls Yorkshire Dales Viaduct Dyserth fall Open Door
Accepted Accepted Accepted Certificate of Merit Certificate of Merit Certificate of Merit
Ann Millen Ann Millen
Shoes & Tattoo Orange Flower with Bug
Accepted Accepted
Barry Roberts Barry Roberts
Christmas cactus Grass
Accepted Accepted
Basil Gunn
Wibter Rose
Accepted
Bob Rawlinson Bob Rawlinson
Abbysinian Roller Kingfisher
Accepted Accepted
Cliff Ferguson Cliff Ferguson
Welsh ponies Painted lady on scabious
Accepted Certificate of Merit
David James David James David James
Fading Glory Delicate Normanton Church
Accepted Accepted Certificate of Merit
Gary Barton Gary Barton Gary Barton Gary Barton
Misty Sunset Over The Lakeland Hills Nuthatch Male Blackcap Male Stonechat
Salver for Best Landscape Certificate of Merit Accepted Certificate of Merit
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PDI ACCEPTANCES & AWARDS - these images would ususally form the PDI Travelling Exhibition
Graham Dean Graham Dean Graham Dean Graham Dean
Ladies who Lunch Spring Tide Timepieces Plaice Mat
Accepted Accepted Certificate of Merit Accepted
Graham Harvey Graham Harvey Graham Harvey
Twr Mar Lighthouse Cyber Andy Souldn't I be Up Front
Certificate of Merit Accepted Accepted
Graham Snowden
Who's Calling
Graham Snowden
St Paul's Station and Dome
Salver for the Best Portrait The Dorothy MacDowell Salver for the Best Image Accepted
Harry Wentworth Harry Wentworth Harry Wentworth Harry Wentworth Harry Wentworth
Unrepentant-A Handmaids Tale Origin of the Species The Disciples Charlie Escape to the Country
Accepted Certificate of Merit Accepted Accepted Accepted
John Hughes John Hughes John Hughes John Hughes John Hughes John Hughes John Hughes
Flyover Mating bee eaters Focused Fighting hares Rollers Michael Dunlop Alluring
Accepted Accepted Accepted Certificate of Merit Accepted Accepted Certificate of Merit
John Kay John Kay
Magic Paint A French Classic
Certificate of Merit Accepted
John Pattison
Petronas Towers
Accepted
Jon Allanson
Peacpck Tree Frog
Accepted
Keith Hughes Keith Hughes
Pick of the Crop Window seat a la Ronde
Certificate of Merit Accepted
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PDI ACCEPTANCES & AWARDS - these images would ususally form the PDI Travelling Exhibition
Kirsty Railton Kirsty Railton
Splash Ghost of the Pier
Accepted Accepted
Len Downes Len Downes Len Downes
Vintage Fairy Tale Street Artist In The Picture
Accepted Certificate of Merit Accepted
Maxwell Law Maxwell Law Maxwell Law Maxwell Law Maxwell Law
Dipper on the Walkham Black Kites Grey Wagtail Northern Wheatear Curlew
Certificate of Merit Certificate of Merit Accepted Certificate of Merit Accepted
Michael Freeman Michael Freeman
Lowry Bridge Liverpool city centre new with old
Certificate of Merit Accepted
Mick Pleszkan Mick Pleszkan
Mechanical not Digital A sublime moment
Accepted Accepted
Pat Couder Pat Couder Pat Couder Pat Couder Pat Couder
Panic Buying Dancer In Blue Egg & Beans Ignored Tulips 1200
Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted
Peter Bagnall
Rare Little Bittern
Accepted
Peter Redford Peter Redford
Burnam Lighthouse Manchester by Night
Accepted Accepted
Richard Bown Richard Bown Richard Bown
Never too old for a Ciggy Racing in the Rain Venetian Backwater
Certificate of Merit Accepted Accepted
Richard Walliker Richard Walliker
Snowdonian winter Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
Certificate of Merit Accepted
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PDI ACCEPTANCES & AWARDS - these images would ususally form the PDI Travelling Exhibition
Roger Edwardes Roger Edwardes Roger Edwardes Roger Edwardes Roger Edwardes Roger Edwardes
Blue Skies Thinking Ars Longa, Vita Brevis Skyline Reflections Heading Home Tranquil Morning Light of the Arctic World
Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted
Shurle Woodhouse Shurle Woodhouse
Trains Torn
Accepted Accepted
Simon Rhodes Brougham Castle
Accepted
Stephen Yates Stephen Yates Stephen Yates Stephen Yates Stephen Yates
Dragon Bridge Jumping Spider eating a Gnat Foraging Red Ant Blue Tit Nesting in a Signpost Forest Shieldbug
Certificate of Merit Certificate of Merit Accepted The Thomas Langley Trophy for Best Natural History Certificate of Merit
Stuart Carr
A tulip
Accepted
Stuart Roberts Barbican Undercover Stuart Roberts Asymmetrical & Brutal! Stuart Roberts Curved Waiting
Salver for Best Monochrome Accepted Accepted
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Living with EIGHT megapixels The Kodak P880 Bridge Camera David Ridley LRPS
Now as many of you know I’m quite a fan of bridge cameras and the Kodak P880 was my first venture into digital bridge cameras and is I’m pleased to say a camera I’ve still got although it doesn’t get a lot of exercise these days, but it did accompany me to Wales in 2017 alongside my more modern Leica bridge and was used for a few landscape shots. Times have moved on since the introduction of this digital camera in 2005 but for my purposes it can still satisfy a lot of what I require a camera to do! So what do I require? Well uppermost in my mind is the actual results which of course includes well exposed and sharp images that I can expect will give good resulting prints (even after allowing for a little cropping) up to A4 which is the maximum print size I do, and I’m pleased to say that is exactly what I get from this particular camera. Now I know not everyone would consider a bridge camera of any make or specification but as I’ve laid out many times before the attraction for me is the weight advantage combined with a wide ranging fixed zoom lens and of course most newer offerings have (arguably perhaps) most of the features of DSLR bodies in the starter & mid ranges. At the time of it’s introduction Kodak had already some digital camera offerings but this of course was what we now refer to as a bridge camera where it looks not unlike a DSLR and of course sports many features that weren’t usually found in more compact cameras of the day. It is a lot smaller than many current bridge cameras and carries really comfortably in the palm of my hand but is a little on the large side to sensibly fit into any of my pockets, so a small bag for transportation was the order of the day which also allows it to be accompanied by 2 or 3 filters, a couple of spare memory cards, a spare battery and even the compact charger which neatly disassembles into two parts for ease of storing. Before moving on to the various modes etc., it’s worth mentioning that the fixed zoom lens is a Schneider Variogon that is manually zoomed and has the equivalent optical range of 24mm/140mm (5.8X zoom) in 35mm terms combined with an easily accessible digital option of 1.4X & 2.0X extension, and accepts 52mm screw in filters. The aperture is f2.8 to f4 range. 30
At the time of its introduction a wide angle of 24mm on a fixed zoom lens was a rare feature and this was in part what initially interested and attracted me to this camera combined with the fact it had an 8 mega pixel sensor when many cameras at the time had a lot less, and of course as I’ve said looked similar to a DSLR. On the top plate there are four quick access buttons, one for digital zoom options, one for focus options, one for drive modes and one for a programme setting which I have set to picture size. Also on the top plate is the on/off lever which surrounds the shutter release button and of course there is the dial for selecting the exposure modes which include the usual PASM with auto option & some set modes together with video recording which I haven’t used as I only do stills and therefore will not be mentioning this, save that it does have this feature. Situated slightly off centre is the raised housing for the EVF eyepiece which offers an eyesight adjustment facility and the built in flash which is housed on the top with the hot shoe to the rear of the built in flash. To the left of the housing is the adjustment wheel which is used for dioptre correction of the EVF if required. One nice touch which I particularly like is that the EVF is surrounded by a very large area of soft rubber type compound which ensures that the lens of my spectacles can’t come into contact with any hard surface but still allows me to view the whole of the displayed image. The rear of camera has a 2.5 inch fixed LCD screen which is nice & clear even in bright lighting with the option of brightness adjustment, but being of a fixed screen type doesn’t therefore offer any sort of tilting facility which I personally don’t find a great restriction as serving my early years on film SLR’s I almost always use the EVF except when reviewing images. To the left of the screen are five quick access buttons, one for switching between the EVF & LCD options, one for activating the built in flash, one for metering options, one for ISO selection and one for colour balance. I find that the white balance produces very pleasing results. To the right of the screen are situated buttons for reviewing and deleting images, full menu access, AE/AF set, a ‘set’ button for altering shutter speeds & apertures used in conjunction with the wheel housed above it and the joystick which we still see on a few current cameras for navigation. The battery compartment is situated in the small but deep handgrip and accessed from the base plate where there is also the usual screw thread for a tripod/monopod whilst the memory card (SD type) compartment is situated on the right hand rear corner near the joystick.
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I consider the general layout to suit me well and has a comforting familiarity to my current bridge and compact which of course I mainly use these days, but also worth mentioning is that when I first acquired this camera is that the general feel of it did have a certain familiarity to a SLR. The P880 offers capture modes of three JPEG settings, RAW & TIFF and has a 1/1.8 4:3 CCD sensor and is of 8.3 mp (effective 8.0 mp) although reducing to 7.1 mp when shooting in 3:2 proportion. ISO sensitivity of 50 to 1600 is available although I haven’t used anything above 400 ISO. These specifications are less than many current bridge cameras of today have but I find are still more than satisfactory for my usual 7x5 prints and as mentioned up to my maximum A4 print size, and since A4 is my maximum I obviously can’t offer any observation on any larger size prints above that. The available shutter speeds are 16 secs. to 1/4000 sec. whilst the apertures are f2.8 to f8. At around 1.3 frames per second in continuous drive mode it is somewhat pedestrian by today’s standards and as such I wouldn’t personally use it for fast moving action situations but I have no hesitation using it for landscapes, cityscapes etc., in fact I can say I find it a joy to use for landscapes and when possible I use an ISO setting of 50 and find the resulting images really good. The metering consists of multi-pattern, centre weighted & spot and in practice I’ve found all of these provide good results. Overall I find the camera well balanced & easy to use. Whilst I was writing this article I came across a reader’s letter in the Amateur Photographer Magazine from someone who had attended a wedding where the ‘official photographer’ who was an amateur photographer, was using a 6 mega pixel Nikon D40 DSLR and the writer was remarking that upon seeing the resulting prints which he stated were beautifully composed, razor sharp and some of which were A3 in size, that the photographer had displayed one of the best examples of ‘It isn’t the camera but who’s behind it.’ OK, he was talking about a Nikon which would have a larger sensor and perhaps the photographer was using ‘professional lenses’ but at the end of the day the camera was only 6 mega pixels. Whilst the Kodak only gets used occasionally it’s a camera that I really like and wouldn’t part with, I’ve promised myself that whilst on holidays I’m going to make a point of taking it with me once again and use it on static subjects like landscapes. David Ridley LRPS
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Did you enjoy the EIGHT Lockdown Specials? Are you enjoying this Results Special? Why not put pen to paper (in a virtual sense!) and submit something for a future edition. The Winter edition is looking doubtful at the moment and without the Rally to provide me with an opportunity to enlist support directly I will be hard-pressed to put together enough for a newsletter let alone a full-sized Photonews. Don’t be shy - I will supply as much, or as little, help as you need.
The President's Salver for the Highest Overall Score in the Annual Projected Image Competition Photographer of the Year: ALAN PHILLIPS
With a margin of just 6 points between 1st and 2nd, the winner of this year’s PDI Photographer of the Year Award is Mr Alan Phillips. The 2020 PDI POTY Leaderboard looks like this: Alan Phillips - 41 points Stephen Yates - 35 points (three years running for Stephen in the runner-up slot) John Hughes - 34 points Andrew Ripley - 33 points Maxwell Law - 29 points 34
Broadbeans
PDI Photographer of the Year: Alan Phillips 35
Iron Triangle
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Panel Red
PDI Photographer of the Year: Alan Phillips 37
Light of Other Days
PDI Photographer of the Year: Alan Phillips 38
Ex Origo
PDI Photographer of the Year: Alan Phillips 39
Droplets
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The President's Salver for the Highest Overall Score in the Annual Projected Image Competition Photographer of the Year: ALAN PHILLIPS
Hyperspace
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Congratulations Alan!
The Cyanotype Process Stuart and Mary Carr
The Cyanotype process is one of the oldest and simplest of the alternative photographic processes which was discovered by John Herschel (the astronomer) in 1842 when he was trying to find a new way to copy his notes. Very soon after Herschel’s discovery the British botanist Anna Atkins, who has been described as the first woman to produce a photographic book, used the process to illustrate specimens of algae in Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions in 1843
Within the world of photography, cyanotype photograms were then re-discovered during the avant-garde movements of the early 20th century by Man Ray and Lazlo Moholy-Nagy and we are all no doubt familiar with the blue prints which architects used to use for their architectural plans before modern technology came along. These are the results of our own cyanotype project done in the sunshine of the May 2020 heat wave during the lockdown. Above: Bamboo leaves on fabric Right: Fungi from digital negative 42
Cyanotypes can be produced in different ways – as photograms where objects are placed directly onto a treated piece of paper or fabric and then exposed to sunlight. Or using digital negatives by printing out an image onto an A4 piece of film used with overhead projectors. The image used needs to be fairly contrasty and it also needs to be transformed into a negative image. Although you can achieve interesting effects using the positive version! You can also have combinations of objects put top of the digital negatives. After you have made the cyanotypes you can also tone them in tea!
Dandelion clock from a digital negative, with grasses added then toned in tea! To hold the items in place we used old picture frames using the glass and a piece of card using bulldog clips to hold everything together. You don’t need full sun but the brighter the sunlight the shorter the exposure you will need. As in darkroom work you can produce a test print which you gradually expose to determine the optimum exposure time. If the weather permits you could leave the items loose on top of the treated material for the breeze to move around and trust to serendipity – or move them around yourself during the exposure. 43
A collection of feathers
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The process has echoes of the darkroom (bringing back lost memories of those long days spent in the dark when time stood still and the hours just slipped away!). The cyanotype solution is a mixture of two chemicals ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide. To get our stock solution we made 200ml of each. Thus 24 grams of ferric ammonium citrate dissolved in 200ml of de-ionised water (used for steam irons and batteries or distilled water could be used) and 12 grams of potassium ferricyanide dissolved in 200ml of de-ionised water. To make a working solution we mixed a small quantity of each in equal quantities in an old margarine container – enough for painting onto a few sheets of paper (we used watercolour paper) or fabric. After painting the paper/fabric in subdued light the pieces were dried with a hair dryer. Then, still in subdued light the frames were set up with the paper/fabric first then the items or negatives on top then the glass was clipped onto the frames. A cover was put over the frame to take into the daylight and then removed to expose for the chosen length of time.
Barley 45
Dandelion clock from digital negative
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Four different photograms framed and mounted
After exposure the print needs to be rinsed off in cold tap water then dipped in a bath of 3% hydrogen peroxide (the amount is not critical – we used a tablespoonful of the hydrogen peroxide in a litre of water). This is where the magic happens! A very quick dunk brings the cyanotype to life as the cyanotype pings into life from a fairly muted blue to a stunning electric blue. Then the pieces are returned to a bath of water to wash for a few minutes.
Cyanotypes from digital negatives to be included in a fabric collage. The text is merely typed onto a blank page in Photoshop (Elements in this case). 47
An arrangement of bottles from a digital negative 48
Beach scene (tea-toned, see next page)
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Tea Toning: For a different effect the cyanotype, once dried and left for 24 hours (or more) can be toned brown in tea. For the toning solution we used 8-10 cheap tea bags (which have more tannin in them – the tannin causes a chemical reaction with the iron in the cyanotype solution) and left them to brew for about 10 minutes, the tea was then left to cool. Skeleton leaf cyanotype toned in tea
Firstly the cyanotype is placed in a bleaching solution – we used soda ash (sodium carbonate) 1-2 teaspoons in about 1 litre of water. The soda ash has to be fully dissolved before submerging the print (otherwise you may see speckles). We left the print in the bleaching solution (agitating intermittently) until the image was beginning to fade – different amounts of bleaching will create different final images.
Then, before transferring the print to the tea it needs to be rinsed with tap water. Then you can either put your print straight into the neat tea or dilute the tea a bit. The results are always variable - that’s the beauty of the process and the toning can take anything from a few minutes to 24 hours. All the chemicals mentioned can be purchased on line – Ebay lists various suppliers.
Stuart and Mary Carr 50
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Photonews Celebrating the Postal Photographic Club and its Members
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