What Are You Up To?
 

Thought I would start a thread where we can share our plans/projects/tasks that we are doing/planning photography wise.

Today, I am off on a boat trip from Seahouses, Northumberland to the Farne Islands and I'm hoping to nail some great wildlife shots such as seals, cormorants, shags, puffins etc. A couple of years ago when I was a new photographer, I got a lovely shot, great composition but just not very sharp, of a tug of war between a puffin and a gull, over a sand eel. I hope to get a similar composition only sharper this time, now I have better lens and tripod and a better DSLR and more knowledge.

What are you guys up to?

Theres not much going on in here......no reply to my thread.....

My trip wasa failure, i was too early, the puffins aren't nesting yet! grrrrrrrr wasted journey

I was out doing family stuff today so just snaps of the kids for me... I am trying to spend more time getting out and taking bird photos, currently trying to get some nice shots of local common species. In the next few weeks I will be back out with the macro lens shooting the insects in my garden and I have a spider day planned with a friend which should be interesting.

Nothing dramatic and new, however the wife has just picked up her new Sony RX100 which I'm dying to get my hands on.

Apart from that, having recently arrived back home from SE Asia, I enjoying potting a few new places in the Lake District for a while.

I am not doing much shooting at the moment, just an occasional walk to my local river for a sunrise shot...I am off on holidays for 6 weeks starting on the 16th May so have lots to do re getting ready for that, I will be in the UK for 2 weeks...look forward to catching up with Graham & wife Liz, and also meeting AlTee....look out world here we come!

Interesting stuff. Im out later to try to take an inage to fit the theme of 'power'

What else are you guys up to then? My next project is to try photostacking. Need the software and a decent subject though. Don't want to do flowers or plants or insects. Any suggestions?

Some interesting stuff on stacking in this thread http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...ead.php?t=3337

I am off to a newly established photographic group shortly to try and explain how shutter speed, aperture and ISO relate to each other and what effects each has on the photos they are taking. Should be good, and is making me think of ideas to illustrate the effect of varying shutter speeds and aperture.

Definitely need to start carrying my macro lens again as I didn't have it with me the other day when I found a posing lizard. I am also hoping to have a crack at shooting some more sports soon, might give cricket a try.

Im wanting to start a local club but no idea how to start.

I have never started a club but the first thing I would do is check how near the nearest clubs are. Will anyone want a more local club. Then find ways to tell people about your club idea. Camera shops, free adds in local papers, local shops etc. If anyone is interested arrange to meet in a pub and have a good idea / plan about what you want the club to do, how it will work.

Thanks Arthur - will start investigating, but I believe my local club is very musty and full of older, more settle in their way people.

Where about in the country are you - there are already many clubs around. If there's nothing local you might try contacting the local paper and running a competition to generate interest.

In my experience having been the president of our local camera club, and chairman of the national Triumph Stag Owners club in the past, small clubs of this sort can be very political and are very hard work on the organisers - tread carefully would be my advice :)

Im in North East England

Quote."Thanks Arthur - will start investigating, but I believe my local club is very musty and full of older, more settle in their way people."
Then I would go to your local club and find out if its as musty as you think. If it is then you will know for sure and what you don't like about it. You could find a non-musty group within the club and not need to form a club of your own.
Don't try to pinch non-musty members. However if you start a non-musty club you may find they like your club more.

I only have a little experience of camera clubs (I have only ever been involved with one club and that was only for a year or so). The club I joined was a new one which sounds like it could be a ready good place to meet some other local photographers and share ideas. However I quickly found that it was all about competitions and had a real 'I'm better than you' attitude. I think if you do set something up you need to work hard to avoid it becoming another such club (speaking to other many camera clubs end up the same way).

The new group that I am now involved in is focusing on being a photography group rather than a camera club. The aim of it is to be a place to share knowledge and ideas and to help each other to develop. We are trying to avoid competitions entirely and making it about techniques and useful tips rather than just seeing who has the biggest and best gear. Once the group is more established we are planning to set up a mentoring scheme to help the newer photographers in the group. If you do try and set something up then expect it to take a while to get going, and be prepared to be flexible in your ideas. Also be prepared for potential bad feeling from the existing club.

Thanks Arthur, I understand your sensible advice, and sorry if my use of musty was offensive, maybe it was the wrong word.

What are you all up to over the wekend with your cameras?

DigiDiva. I did not find the use of "musty" offensive. I know what you mean. I looked at joining a club some years ago where digital was almost a swear word. I did not join.

I've been spending a lot of time settng up my photography website - the images are the easy bit, having an archive on digital and scanned negatives going back 15 years. It's the words that really take the time...
Once it's ready, I will post on here for reviews.
Otherwise, I have been out to some local venues for early spring flowers, and a sunset shoot up on top of the Pennines last night - very windy, and the promised underlighting didnt materialise as I hoped, but I made one worthwhile image which I will post on the gallery here. Looking ahead, I'm planning a day trip to the Farnes for the puffins at the end of May (a much better time for them!) and a coastal sunset shoot.

Thinking about camera clubs and photography groups - I have never been attracted to the camera club idea. Too much of it is about competitions, which dont really interest me. A photography group - yes, that's much more fun. I am part of a very informal 'group' which consists of people who have met on Digital Dawn landscape courses. We meet up for photography trips in various parts of the country a few times a year - it makes what can be quite a solitary passtime much more sociable, and keeps the motivation to get out and shoot going in poor conditions.

This week I am going to try to master photo stacking - 1st attempt was a jumbled mess!!!

Going to the camera club meeting in about an hour. We should have been out on a photo shoot to poppy fields. Non around yet due to cold winter.

Not added to this thread in a while so here goes. This week I need to take a photo for the fortnightly comp "Rocks". Have my idea, just need the time to do it. I also intend to take a long shutter speed image of some water at dusk. I have the location, just need to right light. I am also playing with an effect called "Dragan". Its fun and you can do it as subtle or as exaggerated as you like.

Got my rocks photo Sunday. Had to go early to avoid the tourists and the heat of the day.
Thursday going to photo club meeting to show a new member how to use Shutter priority. As it hot Aug-Sep we just meet socially in a beach side bar. Life is hard.

Just seen you are in Spain. I love Spain. What area are you? Mainland, Balearics, Canaries?

I travel to Spain (usually Canaries) 4 times a year. I don't do resorts but stay in more remote, more traditional places. I eat/drink the Spanish way hate anything touristy. My plan is to retire there in a few years time.

Had all of my stuff stolen from our hire car in July. But luckily I was fully covered by my contents insurance and received new replacements like for like in 2 weeks of returning home.

I am in Nerja, Costa del Sol 52KM from Malaga. Touristy in the summer but not too bad.

Im very envious!!

Im going up to the Northumberland Coast in England at the weekend, and hope to get some lovely shots on and around Holy Island/Lindisfarne. Does anyone know where the upturned boats are that are often photographed?

Have a look at this site here ...I think it may help.

Graham

I am not doing much at all photographically, except for buying new toys! My main interest is wildlife photography but my youngest has hit the stage where he isn't happy to be in a pushchair all day but cannot be trusted out of one, so I haven't manage to take a wildlife shot in months. I have been spending too much money on stuff I don't need and have finally realised that retail therapy is only a short term fix... Though I doubt that will stop me, but it might slow me down a bit.

I have worked out that there are some areas of photography that I am really useless at so need to stick to what I really love (wildlife, macro and portrait/lifestyle) and concentrate on those. I am supposed to be putting together a program for the next year for a photography group that I am involved with but keep putting it off.

I do have plans to get back into wildlife by setting up an area of my garden to attract stuff in and allow for some shots. It is a big project and will take a while to sort but the plan is to clear out all the weeds from the area and then set up an area of big rocks and small pools. Then just behind this to set up a feeding station using as many natural materials as I can so as much of it as possible would give natural looking shots. I would then like to set up a blind near it so that I can just go out and shoot as and when I get the opportunity. I would love to think that I might get this done before winter sets in but suspect I won't.

That was brilliant Graham, thank you. I searched for ages and found nothing.

Well, I'm back - had a lovely time. Stayed on Holy Island until sunset then was back over again for sunrise. I was so lucky with the tides. My little B&B was lovely, however I did spill red wine on the carpet and I apologised most sincerely and offered to clean it but the hostess was ok about it! Just downloading my RAW files, then will convert to DNG (a pain but I have no choice) and pick the best to PP. They looked great in camera however, on screen may be a different matter!

What have you guys been up to this weekend?

Went to look for ospreys transiting Poole Harbour on their way South but found I was too late. I have seen them as late as the second week of October but this year it seems they mainly passed through at least a month earlier.

Apart from that just finished pp-ing my shots from a Busmans Holiday in southern Italy last week touring the 1943/44 battlefield sites around Monte Cassino. First couple in the gallery.

This year has bern weird all round for birds.....the puffins were weeks late on The Farne Islands....icouldnt time it right

It was a pretty good weekend. Glorious weather, fabulous country show at Eskdale (got a nasty attack of photographic incontinence) and also a great hike the next day to see a remote historic site.

Autumn's on its way, photographically - that's a bonus too!!

Well, here's one of my weekend attempts. I really like it.

Ahhh... you found the boat sheds :-D Well done.