Amersham Beyond Group - 3rd Oct. 2019

Meeting Notes on Creative Photography and Photo-Art
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spb
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Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:04 pm

Amersham Beyond Group - 3rd Oct. 2019

Post by spb » Sat Oct 05, 2019 12:01 pm

The intent and organisation of the Amersham Beyond Group is detailed in this FAQ.

With some new members attending, we started with some background information;

EQUIPMENT FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
I have covered this extensively in previous meetings. See the following notes;
Equipment Generally – Digital Group October 2016.
Mirrorless Cameras – Digital Group October 2018.
Choice of Software – Digital Group November 2018.
Backups and NAS – Digital Group November 2018.
Epson Photo Printers – Equipment & Suppliers Summer 2019.

HEALTHY WORKING
After many visits to a chiropractor I have discovered a good physiotherapist! I have also learnt to;
- swap my mouse-hand regularly (it is surprisingly easy to get used to this, especially if you swap over the mouse buttons too). Symptoms – stiff neck, one painful wrist and arm.
- sit straight in a good chair, never again sit on my foot (apparently called the mermaid position), get up and move around regularly. Symptoms – bad back and/or hip.

MONTHLY CHALLENGES

#6 PHOTOBOOK

Many thanks to the 16+ members who brought Photobooks to the meeting and shared their experiences in producing them. There were a wide range of photobook companies represented including Photobox, Blurb, Bonusprint, Colorland and APS member Martin Warner’s AllstarPhoto. Prices ranged from £20 to £160 plus a custom professional portfolio costing £500 without the images!

Experiences were almost entirely positive with the following useful tips being shared;
- putting a finished book in the ‘basket’ but not completing the purchase for a day or two can sometimes elicit a discount voucher!
- if the above doesn’t work, periodic discounts can be heavy and worth waiting for
- check Settings for image enhancements and/or sharpening. You might want to turn these off and take control of this yourself at source
- text in your book can be smaller than you might expect. Compare with text in other books, magazines and newspapers before deciding
- font choice is important and never use Comic Sans!
- check the online help for maximum image file sizes, image pixel sizes and acceptable file types. JPG is always acceptable
- a lay-flat option for binding can be nice but can mandate a thicker paper and may cost more
- some companies provide downloadable software for the design and storage of the book locally but some work entirely online with no local copy whatsoever
- some companies may provide a local electronic copy (eg PDF) for an extra charge
- page design is critical to the perception of a book and simple designs often work best with limited variation page by page
- if you want a design feature that is not offered, you can always create entire pages in an image editor and load them complete. However this makes subsequent changes cumbersome.
- print one copy to check before committing to a big print run.

The stories behind the books were as interesting and varied as the technical feedback. Many thanks to everyone for their contributions.

Ava, a member of the AllstarPhoto team, came to the meeting to collect feedback on their product and announce the availability of an A4 landscape photobook option together with a generous time-limited discount plus additional volume discounts.

The next Challenge will be;

#7 PLAYING WITH PERSPECTIVE AND SCALE

Guidelines;
- an image in which perspective is distorted to create an optical illusion or the scale of different elements are mixed together
- any subject
- any treatment
- by post-processing or in-camera

This Challenge might seem more obscure than it really is, if you didn’t see the many examples that I showed at the meeting such as;

1. pretending to hold up a leaning object such as the tower in Pisa. Search online for ‘Forced Perspective’ images.
2. Father Ted to Father Dougal; “this (holding up a model cow) is small but the ones out there are far away”
3. full-sized people photoshopped into images of model cars (or vice-versa).
4. amazing scenes created with everyday objects by the Japanese photographer in Miniature Calendars (scroll down below the exhibition section for Archive and Themes). Thanks to Aidan O’Brien for this link.
5. simulated scale-model scenes created from real-life by tilt-shift effects which simulate a shallow depth of field. Search online for ‘Tilt-Shift Effect’ images. Mobile apps are available to create this effect with a suitable subject or it can be done with blur in an image editor. It is best to choose a model-village-style scene and shoot down from height.

BACK OF BEYOND – DIARIES

FLEA POWER
When I came back from a couple of weeks away, Sue’s Dell laptop would not start up. This was strange as it has been pretty reliable. First thought was a totally flat battery, but no. I then tried a forced reset by holding the power button down for more than 10 seconds. No joy.

Reading up about the problem, I came across a phenomenon called ‘flea power’. Despite the odd name this is a real thing and is even mentioned in the official Dell Service Manual. Static electricity can leave a charge on the motherboard which can have several symptoms, including lack of response to the power button. With luck the solution can be as simple as unplugging everything and holding the power button for 30 seconds. This did not work.

The next step was to disconnect the internal battery which requires a teeny tiny torx screwdriver (to remove the bottom half of the case) that I did not possess. Thanks to Amazon I now have an excellent and comprehensive set of 115 mini screwdrivers, spudgers and other tools for dismantling phones computers and other tiny stuff.

Unfortunately disconnecting the internal battery did not work either.

However, also disconnecting the little CMOS battery was the next step and this did work and all is now fine. I have ordered a new CMOS battery from ebay as it turns out that they only last about 3 or 4 years. The Dell is four years old.

MECHANICAL KEYBOARDS
OK, so I might be considered a nerd in some respects, although strangely I enjoy basic cameras, cheap lenses and wayward old printers. For me, photography is an ideal mix of art and messing about with stuff. It doesn’t have to be the latest stuff.

In another life I worked for the Post Office and as the typing pools were being phased out they paid for me to take touch-typing lessons. I have continued to touch-type ever since and I can be quite fast. Unfortunately I am also quite inaccurate and probably one in every 20 keystrokes is a backspace but not having to continually look between screen and keyboard is a major bonus. Accuracy is related to the quality, layout and familiarity with a particular keyboard and I have tried many over the years. Most recently I have used a Microsoft Sculpt keyboard which has a two inch gap in the centre. Whilst this is ergonomically good for the wrists, my accuracy has worsened and it never improved with familiarity. An online touch-typing course didn’t help. Furthermore the rubber membrane action is dead and requires firm pressure on some keys.

So, I began to investigate alternatives and discovered a whole world that was previously invisible to me; mechanical keyboards. These have a proper electro-mechanical switch under each key. They are marketed especially to gamers but also touch-typists. They can be expensive but at the cheaper end are a similar price to a good quality mass-market keyboard. They are mostly conventionally straight designs, not curved.

I then discovered that the switches come in as many as 12 different actions; clicky, smooth, clackety, quiet and everything in between. The problem is, you don’t know what switch would work for you until you’ve bought a whole keyboard. Luckily, you can also buy inexpensive switch testers which have one of each type in a simple frame. So my spare time is currently being taken up with auditioning switches (not to mention the optional O-rings that can also alter the feel and travel of the keys.

OK yes, I’m a nerd but just look at the patterns of pulsing rainbow colours I can have under the keys!

Cheers, Steve.

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