MONTHLY CHALLENGES
All our Challenge images can be seen at Amersham Beyond Group on Flickr.
For APS Members only, this month's images are also available for viewing and commenting on Facebook here.
Please spend time viewing and commenting on the images - this is our primary source of feedback at the moment. Authors are also encouraged to provide commentary on their creations.
We were back on Zoom again but plan to experience meeting in the new Chiltern Lifestyle Centre next month.
The current Challenges are;
#26 ROYAL ACADEMY SUMMER EXHIBITION
For those considering an entry to the 2022 Summer Exhibition, the entry will close on 2nd March or when 16,500 entries have been received, whichever is the sooner. It’s important to claim a space on the list and you can do this by registering and making your payment online. It’s £38 per item. Maximum of two. It’s not necessary to choose and submit digital images of the actual artworks until the deadline.
The theme is ‘Climate’ but there is no need to adhere to this at all and most entries do not, although it might improve the chances of being shortlisted.
#27 BOKEH
and the latest;
#28 DECAY
The Decay challenge proved to be popular, as expected – we all love a bit of picturesque decay. In total over 100 images were submitted this month and I had to make a selection for the time available in the meeting. All are online. Some of the decay images were more documentary in nature, although the group is primarily aimed at creative imagery and photo-art.
The next Challenge is;
#29 BOOK COVER
The Challenge is to produce a book cover which should include simple bold imagery, a title and an author’s name. These may be entirely fictitious or you could choose to re-imagine an existing book. It could be any subject, fiction, non-fiction, cookery, travel, textbook, photobook etc. Additional text such as genre, tagline or a ringing endorsement could be included.
Normally the title is the largest text unless by a very famous author or part of a popular series. Choice of typography is very important. Unusual fonts should normally be avoided but the title on a book cover could be an exception, where justified. The text needs to slot into the image or illustration where it will not clash.
Colours should be harmonious overall and certain colours are indicators of the genre – especially red for danger, blood and murder!
The aim is to make the book leap out from the shelf, encourage a scan of the synopsis and make the purchase.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held on Thursday 3rd March 2022.
BACK OF BEYOND – DIARIES
Dust. If you are hearing the fan on your computer more often than before (especially on a laptop) you should check the fans and grills for a build up of dust. Over time this can cause overheating and random crashes or shutdowns. Canisters of compressed air are available to blow out the heatsinks. Be careful with mains powered vacuums as these can create static discharges that can kill chips. Make sure that the computer is fully off before cleaning.
Screen Resolution. I am in the process of replacing our two external laptop screens. High resolution is not necessary and HD (1920px wide) is by far the most commonplace. However these are mostly 1080 px tall which makes for a very wide shallow screen for office applications and photography. I prefer 1920 x 1200px but these are not so commonplace. I also prefer a narrow bezel and Dell and Iiyama make attractive models with fully adjustable stands. Having purchased a Dell I plugged it in and was disappointed in the sharpness of the text. I soon realised that this was because the resolution was being scaled up from 1920x1080 to 1920x1200px. All attempts to force the laptop to the correct resolution failed until I changed the video cable from DVI to HDMI. The problem was immediately resolved automatically which led me to wonder how many people just accepted a fuzzy screen without realising that it is not being used at its native resolution. Right click the desktop (in Windows) and select Display Settings. Check the screen specification if you don’t know what the native resolution of you screen actually is.
Cheers, Steve