Jul

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2015

Club member Andrew Ammendola doing his best ‘minion’ snow

man impression during the snow at Macedon on 26 July 2015.

Thanks to Andrew for the image.

In Focus —July-August 2015

Page 2

Greetings All,

For those brave enough to ig-

nore the cold, they were treated with a

winter wonderland on Mount Mac-

edon for the annual mid-winter lunch.

Yes it snowed! Some of us less ad-

venturous just turned up to the toasty

warm restaurant for a hearty lunch.

Huge thanks to Pam for organising

another great outing. Our next out-

ing, Sunday 23rd August, will also be a

chilly one; Strath creek in the wee

hours of the morning can freeze a

good looking beard solid.

Congratulations to the mem-

bers of the 2015/16 committee on

their appointment. It is wonderful to

have ten of the eleven committee

members continuing on from the last.

Welcome to Carmen Caruana who is

our eleventh and newest committee

member. Thank you to Alix Basham

for her time and energies on the pre-

vious committee.

The new committee met this

week and has begun the process of

planning the syllabus for 2016, which

will also be the ECC’s 60th Year! We

are looking for set subjects topics,

activity night ideas and outings you’d

like to see next year. Please email or

hand me any written ideas. This is

your club, so the more suggestions

you offer the better we can plan to

cater to your interests.

The committee has also begun

reviewing the Monthly Competition

Rules, with several areas for improve-

ment being highlighted. A sub-

committee will be working on amend-

ments and will present their recom-

mended changes to the membership

in September for discussion and feed-

back.

The End of Year (EOY) Com-

petition rules will be circulated soon

and further explained at next week’s

club night for the benefit of newer

members. If you have any questions,

please don’t hesitate to ask as they can

be a bit confusing.

At this month’s activity night

(24th) we will be hosting our annual

interclub with Geelong. With a little

luck we will be able to pull off our

first interclub competition win for the

year. Please bring along a small plate

of goodies for supper on the night.

August 17th is the next Master

Class. The topic is Digital Processing

Tips & Tricks. The session will look

at image resizing, especially for our

newer members, High-pass Sharpen-

ing, new Panorama & HDR functions

in Camera RAW and a few other bits

and pieces.

September (21st) Master Class

will be on model posing. This is just

one week prior to the scheduled Sep-

tember 28th ‘Bring your Camera’ activ-

ity night. This will give members the

opportunity to learn some model pos-

ing techniques and then a week later

put them into practice on the activity

night.

Recently I read this article on

the internet and thought some of the

suggested photography exercises to

get you thinking more creatively were

quite good. Have a read, and let me

know if you try any of them out. I

particularly like the idea of exercise 1.

Entries for the September

monthly competition are due SUN-

DAY 23rd of August. The theme is:

B&W Streetscape. ‘The image

must be black and white (not monochrome)

and depict the visual elements of a street,

including the road, adjoining buildings, street

furniture, trees and open spaces, etc, that

combine to form the street’s character.’

Look forward to seeing you

soon. Until then, be creative.

Alex vH

President’s message

In Focus —July-August 2015

Page 3

Editor’s message

Hi,

I rarely make an editor’s message but this month I felt a need to.

Firstly, you may have noticed that there was no July newsletter. There are a pleth-

ora—well maybe just a few—reasons for this, and I will not bore you with them all.

Personally, I had an interesting July and the month snuck by without any newsletter.

So, for that transgression I apologise.

Secondly, I want to thank the 50 members who completed the Newsletter Survey. The results will distributed

in a separate document with the newsletter.

The results and feedback was wonderful and supportive of the newsletter and the various contents and features

I have developed. For that I am grateful.

A number of you offered to provide material for the newsletter. As the survey was anonymous, I do not know

who you were. I would appreciate you making contact at the editor@essendoncameraclub.org.au.

Now for this month. I have been provided with photos of the mid-winter lunch, and an article by our treas-

urer on her recent trip, plus Vivian’s wonderful meeting reports. So, this month the issue may be a little bigger than

normal. But, it will still be worth reading.

Cheers

Brian

With the theme of ‘Member’s Travel Photography’, we were treated to a trip to many

places around the world, through the wonderful images of three of our Club members.

President Alex vH started by showing us some of the images he took while on a recent

family holiday, driving from San Francisco to Tuson in the USA. Although hampered by rain

and dull weather, he managed to capture some beautiful scenery of National Parks and the

Grand Canyon.

Next was another adventurer, Neil Anderton, who showed us some of his work from his cruise to the Antarctic

Peninsula via Falkland Islands and South Georgia, last November. Apart from capturing some great scenery, Neil was in

his element shooting wild life. We saw different types of penguins, seals, birds, etc. Although it was very cold, Neil liked

the trip so much that he’s going to do it again.

Last but not least, happy traveller Clem DeSilva, showed us some of his interesting images from his tours and

cruises to Canada, Alaska, England, Germany, India, Sri Lanka, Brazil and New Zealand.

We thank Alex, Neil and Clem for sharing such lovely memories with us. I echo what I overheard some other

members saying – that we should have more interesting evenings like this, where we see some of the inspirational work

of other talented ECC members like these three.

Vivian Sammut.

REPORT ON ACTIVITY NIGHT OF 22nd June, 2015.

In Focus —July-August 2015

Page 4

Kate Fletcher—ECC Treasurer

1. Your name? Kate Fletcher

2. How long have you been a member of ECC?

2 1/2 years

2. How did you become involved in photography?

I always enjoyed taking photos even in high school. But in

2009 Kevin Rudd gave everyone $500 to spend on the economy and work had asked everyone to take annual

leave so I booked a seven week trip to Africa, and bought my first SLR and a 70-300mm zoom lens.

3. What is your favourite style of photography?

I like taking nature shots, wildlife and landscapes and after every trip I make a photobook of my favorite photos.

4. What is your best photographic story?

I was down the great ocean road near the Cape Otway lighthouse taking koala and joey pics and one Koala decided to

move trees. I was taking its photo when it leapt from one tree to another and then descended the second tree. I was to-

tally unprepared for the quick movement that the koala made but managed to get off three shots unfortunately given the

movement only one of those was in focus. The one with the koala arms and claws outstretched mid leap. I like to tell

visitors it's a drop bear.

5. If you were able to travel anywhere to take photos, where would you go?

Given that I have already travelled to Africa, Egypt and a lot of Europe and just got back from South America. I would

have to say Antarctica and one day I hope to have traversed all seven continents.

7. If you could have dinner with anyone (living or dead) who would it be and why?

Queen Elizabeth the first as she really interesting life.

8. What is your favorite meal?

I love lamb. So either roast lamb or lamb cutlets.

9. What activities did you participate in when you were younger?

I thought I was still quite young! But at school I use to compete in swimming.

10. What advice would you give other club members.

Don't be afraid to take bad photos and learn from your mistakes everyone starts out as a novice, and I'm sorry to those

of you who will be horrified at the thought but I think the best camera is the one you have with you at the time you see

that great shot and occasionally for me that is a phone. Infact I got a HC a few months back for an image shot with my

phone.

In Focus —July-August 2015

Page 5

Our judge for the night was Michael Jones, a Pre-

ston Photography Club member with 20 years’ experience

in photography. This is his second year of being a judge. He

gave constructive comments while judging the competi-

tions. He said there should be something for the eye to fall

on to, at the end of a leading line, for example a path, road,

fence, etc. The eye goes to the sharpest and brightest object

in an image, so this should be its subject.

We thank Michael for judging our competitions

and hope to see him at our Club again.

The competition results were:

PRINT – NOVICE:

H/C - A dark sky behind a tree with sheep near it by Dee

Prince

4th - An old timber fence with trees behind it by Cathy

Aisbett

3rd - Leading line through a wall of trees by Maria

Kouppas

2nd - A large bright red, camp fire at night by Andrew

Russell

1st - A partly burnt tree trunk lying on the ground by

Maria Kouppas

DPI – NOVICE:

H/C – Lots of dropped leaves under a yellow tree with

reflections in a pond in front of it by Terry

Frankel

H/C – A tree full of red blossoms, shot from below by

Dee Prince

H/C – Bubbles on water with ripples by Sue Cromie

4th - A misty seascape with beautiful sunset tones by

Doug Ramsay

3rd - Tall trees by Terry Frankel

2nd - A waterfall and fern trees by Mark Busuttil

1st - A B&W portrait of a lady in a top hat by Pam

Kreuger

PRINT – OPEN:

H/C – A Flame Robin by Neil

Anderton

4th - A lady with red hair by Steve Sheddick

3rd - A long exposure of rising tide flowing in between

rocks by Roger Frost

2nd – A Great Egret in the water by Neil Anderton

1st - Columns of light descending over mountains and

forests below by Roger Frost

DPI – OPEN:

H/C – A hilly road through a vineyard, with strong col-

ours and good sunset by Kevin Phelan

H/C – A tattooed lady sitting in a car by Ineke Struk

H/C – Canoes near houses built on piers by Clem De

Silva

4th - A boathouse with reflections in the lake by Jan

Hannasky

3rd - Foggy hills at Strath Creek by Levin Barrett

2nd - Melbourne cityscape with a bridge on the left and

river in the foreground by Allan Hine

1st - A bunch of small mushrooms on the grass by

Monica Bonnici

PRINT – OPEN: SECTION 2:

H/C – A pink rose with 3 blooms by Lynn Hart

4th - A green parrot by Ineke Struk

3rd - A small row of rounded rocks in the mist by Mar-

garet Greenwood

2nd - A B&W woolshed viewed from an open gate by

Jan Hannasky

1st - A lighthouse with 2 red stripes by Margaret

Greenwood

(Continued on page 6)

REPORT ON COMPETITION NIGHT OF 13 July, 2015 ~ By Vivian Sammut ~

In Focus —July-August 2015

Page 6

PRINT – SET SUBJECT: TREES:

H/C – A tree with roots resting on rocks by Ineke Struk

H/C - New growth on burnt trees by Jon Sparrey

H/C – A large tree in reddish light by Margaret Green-

wood

4th - Green roots of a ?Moreton Bay fig by Steve Shed-

dick

3rd – Rows of huge redwoods, with a lady in a red jacket

near them, to give scale by Kevin Phelan

2nd - Dappled light through autumn trees on a curved

path by Levin Barrett

1st – New shoots on tall trees, among some dead ones

by Kate Fletcher

DPI – SET SUBJECT: TREES:

H/C – Trees in a valley by Clem De Silva

H/C – Colourful snow gum branch with moss by Mary

Logar

H/C – Trees with snow on branches by Levin Barrett

H/C - Cazneaux Tree with mountain in the background

by Ian Cust

4th - Autumn leaves on branches by Drazen Basar

3rd - Snow on a tree trunk by Levin Barrett

2nd - Looking straight up through a canopy of trees,

shot in B&W by Rosemarie Federle

1st - A twisted looped tree trunk taken in B&W by Car-

men Caruana.

(Continued from page 5)

Oh the weather outside is frightful

But the fire is so delightful

And since we've no place to go

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow

Members who braved the weather and attended the mid-winter lunch, were met with a slight dusting of snow. Nice, but

cold.

Thanks to Andrew Ammendola for the image.

Mt Macedon with a dusting of snow

In Focus —July-August 2015

Page 7

As many of you know I am just back from a six week vacation

to South America. I spent the first two weeks in Ecuador first in the

Amazon with a local family and then in the Galapagos Islands. Then

I met my mum in Lima and we spent the next two weeks travelling

Peru where I managed to hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu.

After heading to the Amazon jungle we headed to Easter Is-

land before finishing in Santiago when Chile won the America cup

soccer tournament.

My trip had several mishaps early on.

First my flight out of Melbourne was delayed and I missed the connection in Sydney and my flight onto Quito

(Ecuador), Qantas did put me up in a hotel but due to the fact that my flights were not connecting they did not rear-

range my Santiago to Quito flight, that was left up to me and once changed my

two direct flights became two indirect flights the first via Auckland and then via

Guayaquil in Ecuador, but that wasn’t the worse thing that happened on the way

over.

It was when I went to take a photo of the room I had been put up in only

to discover the LCD screen of my camera was broken (meaning not only could I

not see the photos I was taking, I couldn’t have any idea what settings my camera

was on as it doesn’t have a heads up display). Three camera repair shops later with

no success I ended up at Ted’s and decided due to the fact that Sony have com-

pletely changed their cameras I would switch to Nikon so I could share lens with

my dad. So I now own a Nikon d7200 and a Nikkor 18-300mm lens. Which has

some really nice features like Wi-Fi, so I can use

my phone as a remote.

My first week I was in Quito and out in the Amazon, outside a town called Tena, as it

was secondary rainforest, there were no animals. I did go to a rescue centre while

there and managed to capture a blue Macaw on a lamp on the way [see image at right]

and some cute squirrel monkeys which had been released in the reserve.

The second week I went to the Galapagos

Islands and managed to get myself sick

enough to require a trip to hospital to be put on a drip to be rehydrated, so I

was very slow for the next few days but I did manage to see two species of

boobies, the blue footed and the Nazca, two species of sea lion (the larger of

which likes to just hang out on the benches on the shore of San Cristobal),

brown pelicans, several varieties of finches, marine and land iguanas and little

lava lizards.

There were also several varieties of parrot fish, giant tortoises as well as

turtles, but my favourite was the Galapagos hawk.

Next I went to Peru where I met up with mum and we went to Puno (at

3800m above sea level, so breathing and walking uphill was quite difficult) and

(Continued on page 10)

Kate’s South American Adventure

Blue footed Boobies Galapagos Hawk

In Focus —July-August 2015

Page 8

Mid-Winter Lunch Images (26 July 2015)

The mid-Winter lunch is a long-standing tradition in the Essendon Camera Club. It provides members with a reason to

go out in the cold weather and chat, rather than snap (images that is). Here are those brave souls from this year’s outing.

Thanks to Alex vH and Andrew Ammendola for the images.

In Focus —July-August 2015

Page 9

REPORT ON ACTIVITY NIGHT OF 27th July, 2015.

The AGM did not take long as the whole committee was re-elected unopposed, for

the coming twelve months. The only exception was that Alixandra Basham ; we thank Alix

for her help during her time as a committee member and wish her the best of luck in her

ventures. The new member taking her place is Carmen Caruana. We thank all the committee for their work last year

and look forward to another successful year under their leadership.

For the next part of the meeting, 2 new members and 2 others with a long membership, talked about their views

on photography and showed us some of their work.

Matthew Wings has been in the Club for less than a year; and is our ne web master. He said he has learnt a lot

since joining, by seeing members’ work and judges’ comments. It motivates him to go out and find subjects to photo-

graph. He showed us some images he took from around Australia and Iceland. Matthew reckons photography brings

peace in a busy world.

Brendan Schoenfelder has been a member for quite a few years. He is very interested in trams and is very happy

to be a tram driver. He carries his camera wherever he goes and he shoots trams with different city and suburban loca-

tions as backdrops, whenever he can. Where possible, sometimes he even stops his tram for a quick photo. He showed

us quite a few shots of different types of trams.

Drazen Basar who joined ECC 2 years ago, has been trying out different types of photography – portraiture,

music, city and sea scapes, etc. ‘to find where he’s at’. He prefers seascapes. He is going back to certain places where

he took photos before, specifically to take the same photos again, with a better knowledge of how to do it, this time.

He showed us some images on various subjects. I’m sure his parents appreciate the collection of family photos he took

for them.

Jean-Claude Rowland has a long 45 year association with our Club. His first love was making movies, but when

he came to Australia from France, his interest in still photography increased too. He says photography adds quality to

our lives because it opens our eyes to what’s around us. Jean-Claude showed us a video of a Night Safari he took in

Singapore last year. It started with a stroll around a market, with the rain pouring down, and ended with a boat ride on

the river. There were well lit buildings, hotels, roads, bridges, etc.

We thank Matthew, Brendan, Drazen and Jean-Claude for sharing their thoughts and work with us and wish

them enjoyment and success in their hobby.

REPORT ON ACTIVITY NIGHT OF 27th July, 2015.

Try and guess which member sent this in?

In Focus —July-August 2015

Page 10

from Puno out to the floating islands of Uros and funerary temples of

Sillustani.

Then to Cuzco and down to the scared valley, through Ollantay-

tambo and then onto hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu. Which was a

once in a lifetime trip and even though I had some sore muscles I did

manage to make it the whole way and got some nice photos of the ruins

along the way, but many of the really nice views such as the highest

point (dead woman’s pass) were surrounded by fog.

After Machu Picchu we spent a few days in Cuzco watching the

solstice celebrations and then we headed to Puerto Maldonado and the

primary Amazon jungle, where we saw caimans, river turtles,

brown agouti, capybara and much more.

Then we headed down to Easter Island and saw the fa-

mous Moai [see image at right].

Last of all we went to Santiago and out to Valparaiso to

look at the street art and the houses built on the hills.

I did have a good trip even though it was a rough start

and I do like my new camera, although I would have liked to

take it on a test run before my trip. I hope you enjoy the pic-

tures.

Cheers

Kate

(Continued from page 7)

Dead Woman’s Pass

Easter Island Moai

Squirrel Monkeys Marine Iguana

Valparaiso Street Art Valparaiso Street Art

In Focus —July-August 2015

Page 11

Your Committee - 2014/15

Position Name Contact

President Alex van Harmelen president@essendoncameraclub.org.au

Vice-President Adrian Tattersall vicepresident@essendoncameraclub.org.au

Secretary Alan Wilson secretary@essendoncameraclub.org.au

Treasurer Kate Fletcher treasurer@essendoncameraclub.org.au

Committee member

(Competition Co-ordinator)

Steve Sheddick competion@essendoncameraclub.org.au

Committee Member

(Interclub Co-ordinator)

Jon Sparrey interclub@essendoncameraclub.org.au

Committee Member

(Facebook Co-ordinator)

Andrew Ammendola ttl.creations@yahoo.com.au

Committee Member

(Outings)

Jane Dorian janenray@bigpond.com

Committee member Pam Kreuger pkreuger@iprimus.com.au

Committee Member Tony Zorzi tzorzi@outlook.com

Committee Member Carmen Caruana TBA

IN FOCUS is the official newsletter of the

All original material remains the property of the Essendon Camera Club Inc.

Individual contributors retain copyright of their individual work; and consent must be obtained

from them before reproducing their work in any part

Where known, any third party copyright material in this publication is attributed.

All correspondence should be addressed to:

Mr. Alan WILSON

Secretary, Essendon Camera Club P.O. Box 103, Essendon, Vic 3040

E-mail: secretary@essendoncameraclub.org.au

Website: www.essendoncameraclub.org.au

Blog: http://essendoncameraclub.blogspot.com.au/

Schedule of Events

10 August 2015 — Competition

Night

17 August 2015 –- Master Class.

The topic is Digital Processing

Tips & Tricks.

24 August 2015 — Interclub

with Geelong at Essendon

** Bring a plate for supper **

14 September 2015 — Compe-

tition Night

21 September 2015 — Master

Class - on model posing.

28 September 23015 — ‘Bring

your Camera’ activity night.