In Focus WORK APRIL 2016

Issue 53
April 2016
Photographer of the Month………..
Jane Walker
In This Issue
President’s Musings
……
Page 2
From the Editor
……
Page 5
Annual Photo Exhibition …… Page 6
Membership Renewals …… Page 8
Competition Committee …… Page 9
Photographer’s Journal …… Page 10
Photographer of the Month … Page 19
Jane Walker
Page 1
We slowed down going through Cincinnati for a visual distraction. A
semi flipped on its side in the northbound lanes, backed up three
lanes of traffic for seven miles. About forty miles north of our first
overnight in Knoxville, we noticed that there were no vehicles
approaching in the northbound lane of I-75. A rock slide earlier that
day, closed the highway, creating long delays for the cars and trucks
stuck and unable to move. We heard later that our southbound lane
was also closed for a few days and the northbound lane might be
closed for a few weeks. That confirmed that we would take an
alternate route home.
Our second day included a stop for an early dinner in Savannah, GA.
We found a parking spot in the historic district and proceeded to find
a place to eat. Taking the advice of a local resident, we decided on
The Treylor Park, but it did not live up to his accolades.
Jekyll Island Club Hotel on Jekyll Island, GA, a barrier island off the
east coast, between Savannah and Jacksonville, was our destination
for a fabulous champagne Sunday brunch.
Who’s Feeding Who?
On February 26th, Nick and I left for Florida with our GPS,
affectionately nicknamed, “Peaches”, programmed for our itinerary.
We figured the safest route south in the winter, would be to go
through Windsor, but Peaches kept trying to turn us around to take
the Buffalo route. She finally relented and accepted our choice of
routes long after passing London. For that reason, I always have all
the maps, tour books and a Triptik from CAA when we travel as a
check on where the GPS is sending us.
“Built at the turn of the century, tycoons, politicians, and socialites
flocked to Jekyll Island to revel in their own luxury and America’s
burgeoning wealth. The historic Georgia Club was described in the
February 1904 issue of Munsey’s Magazine as “the richest, the most
exclusive, the most inaccessible club in the world.” Its impressive
members included such luminaries as J.P. Morgan, William
Rockefeller, Vincent Astor, Joseph Pulitzer, William K. Vanderbilt,
and other recognizable names on the roster were Macy, Goodyear,
and Gould”.
The dining room hostess told us that the Legend of Bagger Vance
starring Will Smith and Camilla, starring Jessica Tandy, were filmed
in the hotel dining room. In 2010, Nick and I took a landscape
course on Jekyll Island where I took the Driftwood Beach photo and
where we had our first dining experience at the hotel.
Page 2
our netted mosquito jackets especially in case the many mosquitoes
we encountered, were infected with the Zika virus.
On Marco Island, south of Naples, we found Burrowing Owls.
These 9 ½ inch tall birds, nest in the ground on vacant subdivision
lots. Short fencing ropes off the area to protect them and you wait
for cute little heads to pop out of the ground.
Driftwood Beach
The next couple of days were spent in Titusville, FL, revisiting
birding locations that we found last year. One such place was a
sanctuary for the Florida Scrub Jays, who are very tame. Last year
we ate a couple of times at El Leoncito Mexican and Cuban
Restaurant and we arrived for a late lunch on Monday. The parking
lot was surprisingly full and the sign outside indicating, 2 for 1
Margaritas all day, was self-explanatory. The food and Margaritas
definitely did not disappoint.
After stopping at several birding locations over the next few days,
we arrived at Everglades National Park. At Anhinga Trail, signage
above a bin of blue tarps, instructed us to cover our vehicle while
walking the trail. Black Vultures were known to snack on the black
rubber seals around windows, doors, wiper blades and sun roofs.
Six vultures were feasting on the sun roof of an uncovered camper
when we arrived, so we heeded the advice and covered up. The
owners of the camper will probably have a big surprise the next time
they are out in the rain. In other locations, we were happy to wear
Burrowing Owl
Page 3
After visiting friends in Naples, and a disappointing side trip to Ding
Darling Nature Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, we headed to Nick’s
brother’s recently built winter home in Venice, FL.
We toured the
neighbourhood in his golf cart and enjoyed having a spacious home to
ourselves for a couple of days.
Many years ago while driving home from Florida, we discovered Muriale’s
Italian Restaurant in Fairmont, WV where we stopped for lunch our second
last day. Forgetting the size of their meal portions, we left with doggy bags
which we had for dinner at our hotel when we reached Grove City, PA. Our
hotel was across from the Outlet Mall, but with the exchange on the dollar,
no shopping took place. In fact, our only purchases for the whole trip, other
than food, tolls and gas, were from the Duty Free Store at the Peace Bridge
in Buffalo before crossing back into Canada. The US gas prices were very
good. The cheapest price was in Knoxville where we paid $1.389 per
gallon.
Overall, the bird populations in Florida were greatly reduced. Locals said it
was due to the high volume of rain this year. Regardless, that will be our
last trip to Florida for the foreseeable future. Currently, we are looking
forward to our two-week trip to Iceland in June.
Page 4
In the February issue of ‘In Focus’ I mentioned an App. for use
on Android or IOS mobile devices called The Photographer’s
Ephemeris, which gives accurate details regarding times of
sunrise, and sunset, including the direction or position of the
sun or moon at any given time, on any given day, at any
location on the globe.
This App is very handy for those photographers who are
planning a trip and are interested in landscape or architectural
images.
The cost of this App. was approximately $13.00.
Since then I have discovered that there is a FREE version of
the App. available for download to Desktop computers.
When using the software there is a choice of viewing regular
road maps, or switching to topographical maps or satellite
imagery. Included on the screen is a 24 hour timeline on a
sliding scale allowing you for example, to see the trajectory of
the sun throughout the day.
In this screen capture showing The Regent Theatre in
Oshawa, you will see that on April 1st, 2016 at precisely
7.02am, the sun, represented by the light orange line, will be
shining from the East across the face of the building.
Later in the afternoon, as the sun moves towards the West,
and is in the South, there would be danger of shadows being
thrown by the buildings on the south side of the street.
For more information on the advantages of using this App
check out the following link to a short YouTube video by an
Architectural photographer.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E84-5tnPlnY
If you would like to download the Web App. (Browser Based)
and save to your bookmarks, click the following link.
http://photoephemeris.com/tpe-for-desktop
Page 5
Oshawa Camera Club Annual Photographic Exhibition
“Simply Our Best”
Thursday May 12th 6:15 to 9:15
Regent Theatre Oshawa
50 King Street East
To all photography lovers
The Oshawa Camera Club cordially invites you to share photographs of excellence at our annual display of talent in video, prints
and images. This year promises to be the best ever, including humorous presentations and images that will “rock you”.
Please join us in honouring our craft and those individuals whose work will take your breathe away. The is an event for all including students.
Tickets are $10 each and $5 for students. Seats can be reserved by sending an email to [email protected]. Tickets can be
picked up and paid for at the door.
Evening Presentations
Over 22 individual shows linked with upbeat music and humour.
6:15 Doors Open
Print Exhibition / Entertainment
7:10 Start
Part One Presentations
8:00 Break
8:00 - 8:15
Observe prints on stage / Drinks
8:15 - 9:15
Part Two Presentations
Please join us.
Page 6
Page 7
O.C.C. Membership Renewal 2016 / 2017 Season
We have opened a link on our website for membership renewals for the 2016-17 season and we hope everyone will be back for next
year. Membership renewal remains at $65. and are due to be paid by June 30, 2016. Our membership is capped at 130 members for
2016/17, and our existing members must renew before the June 30th cut-off, in order to secure their spot, as memberships will be
offered to the general public after that date and the process will be on a "first-come-first-served basis".
Please complete your renewal form and payment by June 30th. The membership renewal link will
be provided in the announcements at our April 13th meeting.
We offer the following payment options:
On line PayPal payment, via our OCC website, right up to the deadline June 30th, 2016.
Cash or cheque. Bring to our next 2 regular meetings (April 13 & 27th).
After April 27th, Members who object to PayPal can simply pay prior to the end of April or after that date by contacting Jenn
Langworth, our Membership Director to arrange payment by cheque before the deadline of June 30th.
We would like to remind everyone that in order to use PayPal one does not need a PayPal account only a credit card via our club
secure website. The process is just the same as buying from amazon.ca or any other online store, only easier.
Oshawa Camera Club Executive
Page 8
From the OCC competition committee.
We are pleased to advise our members that Moria Fenner has
been added to the OCC Associate pro Member List. This list
is on the website under Members > Competition >
Competition Advisors.
Members on this list of Judges and Pro Members are deemed
to be qualified to help other members with camera techniques,
composition and post processing skills. They are also a good
resource to help with pre submission advice for competition
images.
Moira Fenner
Page 9
C
A P T U R E
S
H A R P E N I N G
•
Part 1 - “Capture Sharpening” is typically performed using
As a fine art printer I often receive great images that could be so
much better if they were properly sharpened.
You can’t easily see the ‘correct amount’ of sharpening on the
screen - so its difficult to determine how much sharpening to
apply and we look for guidance - and various myths have
become popular. For one thing, there is no magic formula or
setting that you can apply to every image.
Figure 1 - Michelangelo - Sistine Chapel - Hand of God
common tools such as Lightroom / Adobe Camera Raw
(ACR) or even the software that came with your camera.
Photoshop can be used to perform capture sharpening as
well and this article would apply.
Since Output sharpening
(step 3) is so easy and superior if using Lightroom I will tack
that on to this article as well.
Sharping settings are largely based on the resolution of each
camera, the ISO setting and especially the detail within each
image.
There can be no magic formula and as camera
resolutions increase, the settings change. This subject will be presented in two articles: the basics are
covered in this article, while a subsequent article will be for
advanced sharpening techniques. •
Page 10
Part 2 - presented at a later date will address Advanced
Creative Sharpening using Photoshop.
Visual artists have been sharpening artwork for hundreds of
years. Sharpening film was performed during the
enlargement/printing days and now Photoshop Unsharp
mask is a digital representation of that film process, so really
nothing much has changed.
W
H AT
I S
S
H A R P E N I N G
?
Sharpening is an increase in the contrast at an edge. Edges
occur along the sides of objects.
As computers are yet
unable to independently comprehend the true nature of an
‘edge’ they look for an abrupt change in tone (brightness/
darkness) or hue (the colours of the rainbow) and increase the
contrast of pixels in those areas. This creates a small “halo”
which at normal viewing distance is not visible (when
sharpened correctly) to create an illusion of sharpness. T
H E
G
O A L
O F
S
the side of under-sharp than over-sharpen and ruin the
image. W
H Y
D O
W E
S
H A R P E N
?
As the real world is converted to digital, continuous tones are
recorded as square pixels. Diagonal Lines can produce digital
stepping stones as in Figure 2:
Using various filters, cameras blur the edges (Figure 3) creating a softening that the eye notices.
Humans are
actually quite sensitive to sharpness - we use it to interpret
and determine distance. Figure 2
H A R P E N I N G
The goal of good sharpening is to avoid haloes the eye picks
out, yet produce a strong enough sharpening effect so the
image does not look soft. Over sharpening creates such large halos, changing the edge
contrast to the point where the halo itself is visible to the
naked eye when viewing the image at a normal distance.
Excessive sharpening will make objects appear unnatural as
if they are covered in ice or “crunchy”. Under-sharpened
images look soft or slightly out of focus. Its better however to
err on the side of under-sharpened, you can always add more
later even in subsequent steps in your workflow. Since there
is more to a great image than sharpness , its better to err on
Figure 3
In the real world, distant objects are not as sharp, therefore
we interpret them as further away. Keep this in mind if you
want to create a sense of depth in your image. Mountains in
the background should not be sharpened to the same extent
as a subject in the foreground.
Page 11
B
A S I C
S
H A R P E N I N G
C
halo on the top of the black bar (left red circle), and a black
line below the white bar (right circle). Grey lines are then
O N T R O L S
Observe the contrast of the dark and light bars in Figure 4. Figure 4
The light bar on the top of the dark bar has more contrast
(difference in brightness) on the left side while the right side is
lower in contrast (circled in red). We perceive the left side to
be sharper while the right side looks softer.
added to smooth the transition and make it look more natural.
Depending on which software and sharpening technique is
used, the halos vary but the same basic approach is used.
Note as well the tendency to sharpen what is already sharp
Figure 5
Now observe the same image after sharpening - Figure 5 at
600% zoom so you can see the halo. The left side has a
white on the left side of Figure 5 while unfortunately the right side
gets less sharpening. Depending on the image, that may not
been desirable - we need the opposite. More on that in the
next article. Page 12
C
O M M O N
S
H A R P E N I N G
W
O R K F L O W
First of all, don’t try to sharpen an image in one step - a multipass workflow is easier and more effective. The first step is
Capture Sharpening and its not difficult, although this is
where most photographers go wrong. It may be a good time to debunk the myths - you can not use
a formula for Capture Sharpening as it is totally dependent on
the your camera sensor and the ISO the image was shot at
and to a lesser extent, the lens. The subject matter influences
these settings as well. Therefore there can be no magic
formula for landscape or portrait but once your determine
these settings for your equipment, you can reuse them on
many shots.
Most of the sharpening tools use four adjustment settings. I
will use the Adobe terminology, other vendors use different
terms but most of the tools work in a similar manner.
Amount: - selects the contrast level to be considered for
sharpening. In Figure 4 above - choosing a low ‘Amount”
would create a halo on the left side where the contrast is
already high, as the “Amount” is increased the halo is
extended to include lower contrast edges circled in red.
Adding “Amount” increases sharpening to low contrast areas
where sharpening is really needed and unfortunately will over
sharpen the high contrast areas that don’t need sharpening.
At this point in the workflow, every pixel in the image is
eligible and considered for sharpening - not just the edges,
ignore that for now, that will be addressed in the Masking
setting.
Start with a very high Amount so you can see the sharpening
as your proceed with the next adjustments- I choose 100
then make other adjustments and come back and reduce the
Amount setting at the end, I include this as a last step in the
workflow (just don’t forget it, as I sometimes do).
Radius: - this is the most important setting to get right. Radius controls the width of the halo. The correct setting is
dependent on the amount of detail within each image and to
a lesser extent, your camera’s pixel count on the sensor.
Images with fine detail need a low Radius - such as trees. If
you use a large radius then each leaf will have a halo around
it and we want to accentuate the tree, not each leaf. Portraits
like many images - have areas of high and low detail and
need a low radius setting for eyes and hair, and a higher
radius setting for the outline of the head and nose. I will
discuss this further but for now, if the radius is too high, it will
create too wide a halo and the image will be over-sharpened. Page 13
When setting radius, zoom to 200% or more. ( If you have a
small window in the detail panel I suggest you get rid of it by
hitting the ◀. A “!” appears if you are not zoomed to at least 100%.
Although hitting “!” zooms the image display to 100%, I
recommend 200% since it’s only at that zoom level or higher
that sharpening should be visible. Now hold the {Windows Alt key} {Mac Option key} and drag
the Radius slider to the right. You will see a B&W brightness
display of your image and will start to see the light and dark
halos around object edges. Observing the main subject of your image, increase the
Radius until you see the edges halos, then back off and fine
tune the adjustment moving it back and forth - error on less
not more.
Sharpen the key subject of your image and
increase the viewer’s attention to it.
Ignore the image
background and non-essential image elements - just focus on
the key subject to increase it’s sharpness and reinforce your
storyline.
Detail: while still holding the {Windows Alt key} {Mac Option
key} drag the Detail slider to the right.
Small worm like
squiggles will appear when the detail setting is too high.
Back it off until the squiggles are not very visible on the
subjects edges. Masking: - while still holding the {Windows Alt key} {Mac
Option key} drag the Masking slider to the right which
removes all sharpening from surfaces (non edges) and
smooth backgrounds such as the surface of a car hood or the
sky. The default for masking is 0, this is never the correct
setting, but the computer has no idea where to start so its up
to you. This setting varies by image (even for the same
camera), there is no magic number or default setting
possible.
You will see an “Edge Mask” as the Masking slider is moved
to the right. White areas of the mask reveal the sharpening
adjustment while dark areas prevent it. Grey areas of the
mask apply some of the adjustments (more adjustment as the
mask becomes lighter).
Surfaces require noise removal while edges require
sharpening. Lightroom is smart enough to work this out
based on the mask setting. The Masking delineates where
the boundary between and edge and surface meet. Problems: Setting the Masking too high creates - well for lack
of a better word - “fluffy pixels”. These are little blobs of
sharpening surrounded by areas without sharpening - often at
the edge of a face or fold in smooth skin. Back the Mask off
to sharpen more of the adjacent areas. Ignore (to some extent) squiggles in the image background,
they will be eliminated in the next step using a mask. Page 14
N
O I S E
R
E M O VA L
Colour noise consists of pixels with random colours (usually
magenta and green - see Figure 6 red circle. Luminance
noise consists of pixels with random brightness, especially in
the shadow areas. Noise is an artifact of digital processing
and becomes worse as the ISO is increased. Adding Luminance noise reduction will conflict with the Detail
setting - if you adjust one, check the other as both settings
will need to be balanced. Luminance noise reduction: - this slider is quite destructive
don’t use it aggressively — as it blurs the pixels to remove
random brightness. (white areas of the mask are edges and
not blurred to the same extent). As you may have gathered, sharpening is an iterative
process, slowly targeting the best balance of several settings.
A little noise can look good since we are used to seeing the
grain of film (perhaps not all judges would agree however). If
you are working in Photoshop, remove the noise before
sharpening otherwise you will sharpen the noise.
In
Lightroom it does not matter which order you sharpen/
remove noise because Lightroom will first remove noise then
it will sharpen the edges all based on the Mask setting. The Detail and Contrast noise settings do not have any effect
for many images. If they do have an effect, as these sliders
are pushed to the right, noise reduction is not be applied to
the higher contrast areas such as the edges. In other words,
noise reduction occurs in surface areas such as backgrounds
and shadows, while edge sharpness is protected. I find that with noisy images (high ISO) its easier to first
remove at least some of the noise so I can see whats going
on with subsequent sharpening steps.
Slide the Luminance slider to the right until shadow areas do
not have random pixels of brightness. Adding a Luminance
adjustment will conflict with the Detail setting - if you adjust
one, check the others both settings will need to be balanced. Page 15
Continued ………….
Figure 6
Colour Noise Reduction: - this slider when increased looks
for adjacent pixels of random colour and blurs them with their
neighbours to remove the random colour noise. (See figure 6)
For noisy images, increasing this value does little damage to
the image. Apply it until the colour noise disappears. Pushing
it too high could, in unusual circumstances, create a colour
fringe on an edge (back off a bit).
Final Adjustments: If you followed my suggestion earlier, the
Amount setting is still way too high so go back and reduce
the Amount while holding the {Windows Alt key} {Mac Option
key}. Reduce the value until the image begins to look soft,
moving it back and forth until its sharp without seeing the
halos at 100%. At 200% the halos should be just visible.
Now tweak the other sliders confirming they are reasonable,
remembering not to overdo it.
brushed. Better than nothing but not by much as Radius is
the change that is most often required.
C R
LIG
I have alluded to the need to sharpen areas of low contrast
while avoiding high contrast areas.
The Clarity Slider though not officially part of sharpening does this to some
extent. For soft images that have a lot of mid-tones - try
increasing the Clarity slider and the image will pop - thus the
illusion of increased sharpness. S
/ADR
E A T I V E
H T R O O M
H A R P E N I N G
-
Lightroom and ACR are not the best sharpening tools for the
second step of a sharpening workflow (Creative Sharpening).
If a single image has differing amounts of detail such as a
portrait of a woman (smooth skin vs sharp eyes) then these
tools offer little help to correctly finesse
and manage
complex sharpening. However if you are using only Lightroom/ACR then as a last
resort you can always use the Adjustment Brush - using the
Sharpness slider.
Brushing areas that require more/less
sharpening changes the “Amount” slider in those areas O
U T P U T
S
H A R P E N I N G
Output sharpening is the third and final stage of a sharpening
multi pass workflow (the second step will be my next article).
Output sharpening relies on Capture (and optional Creative
sharpening) to create “a tooth” by which the next sharpening
step can latch on and adjust the halo to match the physical
Page 16
size of a print or computer display. Output sharpening is a
mathematical process that can either be performed manually
(if using Photoshop) or by mechanized tools. Lightroom is one
of the most capable products in this field and totally
automates the process. P
R I N T
O
U T P U T
S
H A R P E N I N G
:
S
C R E E N
O
U T P U T
:
When exporting to a web site (for screen display) or OCC
competition when viewed on a screen, you should sharpen
the image for the screen display. You never will know how
the viewer actually sees the image (viewing distance,
resolution, brightness and even colour) vary. Print Sharpening: Adobe assumes you have not been
aggressive in your sharpening (or you retained the defaults) so
Print Sharpening is somewhat strong. Low may be a better
setting, but Standard may work depending on what settings you
sharpened with. I never have used High.
Media type: Matte applies more sharpening because the ink
bleeds more into the paper, while Glossy applies less
sharpening (less bleed). Page 17
Output sharpening: should be set to Screen. Amount
should be set based on how aggressive your previous
sharpening steps were performed.
Once again Adobe
assumes you were not aggressive and therefore they are.
Review the output file and if you see the halos then back off
output sharpening and try again. In the next article I will discuss Creative Sharpening using Photoshop Noise and Sharpening Filters
along with custom Edge and Surface Masks.
Jeff Gardner - comments welcome - [email protected]
Bharat Mistry
New! sses
Tel:
905-430-3169
Cla
-On-1
[email protected]
1
Let’s Make Photography Fun!
Want to upgrade your skills but with private tutoring? I offer
personal training in my studio or onsite in the comfort of your
own home or on location. I’ll personally teach you at your
own pace and answer all your questions.
OCC Members can start classes at $100 for 2 hours.
•Camera Fundamentals – Beginner & Advanced
•PhotoShop – Beginner & Advanced
•Lightroom – Beginner & Advanced
•ProShow – Getting Started
•Studio Lighting – Beginner & Advanced
•Flash Lighting – Beginner & Advanced
•Field Workshops – Nature, Landscape, Architecture, Urban
•Customgroupsessionsalsoavailable-pleaseinquire.
Visit us online at www.q-visionstudios.com
Page 18
With very little photography experience and not knowing anyone in
the Oshawa Camera Club, I was invited to join in 2010 after waiting
over a year on "the list".
Jane Walker
As a child, I owned a little Brownie camera and liked taking
pictures. As an adult, unlike many of the other "senior" members of
the club, I had no experience with a 35 mm. film camera. Grasping
the technical side of photography without that experience has been
and continues to be somewhat of a challenge. Over the years,
presentations by advanced photographers as well as hands-on help
from fellow members on team outings, have given me many more
tools to improve my photographs. With a better camera and a range
of lenses (my favourite being my Canon 100 - 400 mm) and by
attending workshops, club outings and enlisting the help of friends,
I can see a lot of growth in my photography.
Submitting entries in all of our club competitions and the GTCCC
has sometimes been a humbling experience but I have to admit, the
marks and the suggestions have been an impetus for me to improve.
Wood Stork in Florida
Living on a crop farm outside Newcastle, close to the Lake Ontario
shore provides me with many opportunities and lots of subjects for
my nature and landscape shots. My love of birds, owls and other
wildlife has grown along with my passion for photography. I am
pleasantly surprised at being asked to share a few of my favourite
photographs with readers of our In Focus newsletter.
Page 19
Female Red Winged Blackbird
Red Necked Grebe
Page 20
Tunnel Vision
Peregrine Falcon
Page 21
Winter at the Canabrae Farm
Page 22
Oshawa Camera Club
email: [email protected]
web: www.oshawacameraclub.ca
facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/331347436878/
Members of the Oshawa Camera Club meet on the second and fourth
Wednesday of each month at 6:40pm from September to May, at the
Woodview Club, which is located in Oshawa at 151 Cadillac Avenue
North, between King and Adelaide.
Visitors are always welcome at our regular meetings.
This newsletter would not be possible without the time and effort put in by
a very talented team of writers and photographers.
A special thanks to Bharat Mistry at Q-Vision who developed the graphics
throughout the publication.
Published by Alex Robertson on behalf of the Oshawa Camera Club.
The articles and photographs in this publication are copyrighted and are
not to be reproduced or modified without the creator’s written permission.
For more information or a release please contact the editor at:
[email protected]
Page 23