May 2013 - Aquatic Image Makers

AIM Meeting Info
• Our meetings are normally held at 7:00PM
(social time 6:30) the 4th
Wednesday of the
month.
• We meet at Round Table Pizza, Madison &
Greenback.
• Call 989-1133 to order in
advance and don’t forget
to ask for the AIM discount.
May 19, 2013
This month at AIM—May
• New members and
guests are always welcome.
Our second Mini-Comp of
the year and is on tap and
the theme is “Black &
White”. Have you sent
Carol your images?
There’s still time!!
AIM Calendar
the Black Chasm Cavern
Tour. Please bring some
of your favorite images on
a jump drive to share with
the group.
General Meeting -
Several AIM Members returned from a trip to the
Philippines last week.
There will be a slideshow
from Dumaguete and Tubbataha.
See pages 4 and 5 for
more information.
May 22
Business Meeting-
We will also be sharing
stories and images from
June 6
Tri-Club Garage SaleJune 22
Got gear to sell?
General Meeting-
HUGE GARAGE SALE!!!
June 26
General Meeting-
Three Sacramento dive clubs; Dolphin Divers of Sacramento, Aquac Image Makers and Sac-
July 24
ramento Seahorses will be hosng a BIG GARAGE SALE next month. Some of the used items
offered for sale will include, Scuba Diving and Free-Diving Equipment, Camping, Boang &
Kayak Gear, Underwater and Topside Photo Equipment and a number of other Ocean - Dive -
Inside this issue:
Camping related goods.
Trip Report from
Howard Homler
2
Black Chasm Cavern
Trip Recap
3
Black and White
presentation recap
4
Garage Sale will be held JUNE 22, 2013 8am - 2pm
1500 Van Ness Avenue - Sacramento CA
For addional informaon you may contact:
Craig Brookey - [email protected]
Tom Moorse - [email protected]
Mini-Comp Info
5
David Whiteside - [email protected]
Check out the AIM website for detailed info ~ h3p://www.sacaim.org/
Divers Alert Network 73rd Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine Course
By Howard Homler
I attended the DAN conference in St. Lucia earlier this month. DAN selected the
Anse Chastanet resort for this conference and had a great line-up of speakers. Participants came from as far away as Sweden and included nurses, emergency room
physicians, vascular surgeons, anesthesiologists and folks like myself, in primary care.
The 4-hour/day lectures occupied our mornings and covered topics such as diving
fitness, decompression illness–manifestations and treatment, technical diving issues,
hazardous marine life, remote injury management, breath-hold diving issues, body
temperature regulation, cardiovascular disease and diving, seafood harvesting dangers and case studies of fatal diving incidents.
In addition, there were two special night ‘fun’ presentations – One on raising the Civil War ironclad ship, the Monitor. The other was on deep wreck diving. The speaker actually dove 600 feet down to identify an Australian unarmed hospital ship that was
torpedoed during WW II with the loss of over 300 medical personnel. His story actually was on an Australian version of ’60
Minutes.’
Naturally, you don’t hold a diving medicine
course in a dive resort without having time
set aside for diving! They had our group
divided into different levels of experience
and onto different boats. We dove daily,
and had a night dive option, too. I unfortunately tore my Achilles tendon trying to
play racquetball a couple of months before
the conference, but I was able to hobble
along and enjoy the lectures and diving.
The water was 80 degrees F, and visibility
was about 60 feet most of the time. The sites included a modest ship wreck and several,
fairly typical reefs. Every so often, we’d see a lion fish (invading this territory as in other
Caribbean areas). Nitrox was provided, although their oximeters were not very good and the mixes were generally no higher
than 29%. The dive crew were clear on instructions, but not very keen on pointing out sea life or suggesting what we should
keep our eyes out for.
The resort Anse Chastanet is on the side of a cliff, overlooking the
small beach and bay. I found some challenges in climbing the large
number of stairs to get to and from the beach and lecture hall (no
elevators, but there was a car shuttle one could call for). The food
was truly impressive and the meals, which were included in the
course fee, were superb!
2
BLACK CHASM CAVERN TRIP RECAP
By Ken Martin
A group of eleven made the trip to the Black Chasm Caverns on Sat.
the 18th. The weather was nice if a little cool. The office/gift shop is
surrounded by trees. We entered the cave at 11am and descended the
stairs to three different rooms, all of which had superb cave formations
(stalactites, stalagmites, etc.) In the second chamber we were able to
look down 80 feet to see a lake down below. After looking around the
third chamber we had to reverse ourselves and go up the "Stairmaster
100" 165 steps back to the surface. A good climb but worth view.
After the cave trip we ate our picnic lunch on tables they had set out
there, and then everyone departed.
3
Black and White Mini-Comp WEDNESDAY MAY 22nd
From pointers shared at the last AIM Meeting please select a fitting UNDERWATER IMAGES
SHOT ORIGINALLY IN BLACK AND WHITE , or CONVERTED ..it is the digital world. J
** SEND ORIGINAL & CONVERTED IMAGES FOR SHARING & LEARNING SESSION
3 categories: (the more who participate the more fun we have & the more we learn new techniques from all.)
Still images: 1 each per member with Resolution 125; size 1200 X 900 pixels
**Send still images (original and converted) to [email protected] by WEDNESDAY 12mnt MAY 21st
Slide Show: still images in a 1 minute slide show with music.
Bring to meeting on flash drive or CD; or send to Carol or other member to bring.
Video: total time 2 minutes…. 30 sec is OK…. 60 sec OK.. does not have to be full 120 sec.
Tells a story/theme/think… commercials. Bring to meeting on flash drive or CD; or send as above.
RECAP Key POINTERS for BLACK & WHITE: from Joe Herrlie’s presentation 4/24/13
1
Shoot in RAW: Whenever possible, or use highest .jpg resolution to gather most data to work with.
2
10
Think in mono: “monochrome means that a color is placed on a neutral background”. Even when capturing in color,
think of and look for subject with mono shots in mind.
Mono HDR: Ansel Adams (1902-1984) was a master mono photographer; developed the zone system so he could get
details in both the highlight and shadows of his scenes. Today “we cheat” by taking several images of a scene at different
exposures that you combine using HDR (High Dynamic Range) software (ie Photomatrix) to get an image with full tonal
range. CAUTION: Do not go over the top… that being said.. it is all a matter of your artistic twists that makes it creative.
Lines, shapes, shadows/contrast: To visualize in black and white pay attention to these components to add the necessary features to enhance the image; It is often the shadows that define shape and form, so pay attention to areas of
darkness as well as light. One of the fundamentals of B&W is that your whole composition relies on contrasts: look for
subjects that feature simple, strong lines and shapes.
Find wide range of grays/tone: Having black and white in an image will add interest to a picture, but if other areas do
not have a wide range of varying tones of gray, the photo will most likely look dull. By using flash to throw highlights and
shadows you can achieve a wider range of grays.
Watch for texture/details: As long as texture is not front-lit, it will show contrast in fine details which makes it a
compelling subject for black and white. Think, side lighting to highlight textures.
Patterns: interesting because of their ordered repetition. Color can distract us from giving the pattern our attention.
Patterns in B&W can be far more compelling. Patterns (topside) to consider may be cars in a parking lot, shoes of people
lined up, a row of bushes. Now, think underwater?
B&W isn’t a replacement for bad lighting, but it can soften the blow: If an image is only so-so in color because
it was not lit properly try converting to B&W. Joe’s examples showed how incredible a so-so color image was when
converted.
Filter effects: red filter: generally increases contrast polarizer: cuts the reflections of the sun’s light especially around
reflective surfaces such as water or leaves. When color is removed from a photo, these specular highlights can be distracting (less applicable for underwater) Post-production filters in many software programs can give different affects…
experiment…. Be creative !!
Lighting: Critical aspect in all photography: ambient, front-lit, side-lit, fill flash. Esp. key with B&W
11
Long exposures love black and white: Try it with above pointers in mind. See what happens.
12
Portraits: People or marine life where adjacent materials (clothing, hair, reef life) can clash, B&W can draw attention to
subjects features. Avoid desaturating facial skin tones as they may become flat. Use “dodge and burn” techniques to
boost contrast in specific areas.
Silver Effex Pro 2: Photoshop/Lightroom plugin used to make B&W extra stunning. $$$ but ? value?
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
13
14
PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE… GET OUT THERE AN SHOOT and COVERT YOUR COLOR IMAGES
These 14 points taken from: http://improvephotography.com/832/black-and-white-photography-tips/ and
http://www.digitalcameralworld.com/2011/02/10-quck-black-and-white-photography-tips/ and
http://www.digitalcameralworld.com/2012/05/13 black-and-white-photography-what-you-need-to-know-for-perfect-mono-pictures/
Above: edited and complied by Carol and Joe Herrlie with the hope of providing inspiration and some helpful tools for all..
4
Carol Herrlie will accept the assignment of conducting the mini-comps.. putting together, showing at the meetings and new… will retain all
entries for showing at the end-of-the-year party to recap… and for future years of enjoyment.
FEBRUARY: Topside with water (anything with water: landscapes, still life, snow, pool, drip,
etc.. endless options !!)
MAY: Black and White
(Taken in B/W encouraged or
adjust fitting image)
JULY: Something without a fish
(diver, abstract, wrecks, corals,
tunicates, plants, etc)
NOVEMBER: The color red
AIM Mini-Comps for 2013 : Participate: 1 point; 1st: 3 points; 2nd 2 points 3rd: 1 point. Ties: Split Points
Month:
Plan ahead… you do not need
to wait until the deadline to
send your entry.
Topic: AND Categories
3 categories: 3 winners in each: 1st, 2nd and 3rd
with gift certificate $$ prizes
Still Image: 2 classes:
Beginner/Novice
Advanced
Still slide show: (NEW THIS YEAR)
1 class;
1 minute with a collection of
images put to music or narration
Video:
1 class
Max 2 minutes
Contains mostly video with
maybe a few stills to complement story.
FEBRUARY 27
th
Above water with water
Deadline for sending STILLS .
Slide shows and video entries to be
brought to the meeting BEFORE
the start of the meeting or sent
electronically to Carol at any time
Reduce the size of the image to:
Resolution: 125
Around 1200X900
Do not send 300 resolution, or HUGE
files.. everyone will be the same OK ??
Label image as follows:
NameMonth2013Novice or
NameMonth2013Advanced
Send to: [email protected]
Sunday Feb 24th
MAY 22nd
Black and White: try to shoot in black and
white first vs post image adjustment.. either is
fine.
Tuesday May 21st
JULY 24th (4th WED in July not
the last this month.. )
Something without a fish
Sunday July 21st
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 19th
The color red
Sunday November 17th
NOTE: this is the TUESDAY before Thanksgiving and not the last
Wed of the month.
5