What is in a name?

What is in a name?

Nothing, if you accept that the title of an image is not disclosed until the score for the piece has been determined by a judge.

I consider that the name, title or caption of an image is a vital part of any particular piece of work.

While judges are not supposed to weight the title in scoring, it is possible that a particularly good title or a really bad title may influence the result.

I suggest that a title is a very small part of the many things that any judge may take into consideration. A good image with a poor title should be downgraded – that is justice. A poor image will not be improved with the best title ever.

As a member of the audience I have a strong preference for disclosing titles before display. The judging of the abstract set topic has shown that titles do help a judge in determining what author intended.

Lew Brown

No More Kodachrome

The Para Camera Club cannot let the passing of a photography legend without comment.

Eastman Kodak have announced that they will cease production of Kodachrome film after 74 years.

I would think that there is hardly anyone who has been or is a member of the club who has not used Kodachrome at some stage in their photography. I know there must have been countless Kodachrome images projected in the monthly competitions since the club began. I know I have cupboards full of them!

I remember well sending my film off to Kodak in that yellow envelope and then waiting patiently for a week or more to get back my slides to see if any were worth putting in the next Competition. Mostly there were none but heres a couple I have just scanned - Kodachrome 64 from 1991.

Boats

Nets

Paul Simon was right when he sang
"they gave us the nice bright colours
they gave us the greens of summers"

For more on Kodachrome visit:
http://homepage.1000words.kodak.com/default.asp?item=2388083
http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/06/death-of-kodachrome-belies-the-technological-advance-it-represented.ars
http://www.kodachromeproject.com/pages/contents.html

Dennis Wetherley

Para Wirra Outing - 13 September 2009

Hi All

Please find below a map of the Park Location and the Park with all walking tracks. (Click on the image to view then save and print the image for you own use)



I thought it might be best to meet outside the front entrance as that is the easiest place to find at 9:30. We will then proceed to the Mack Creek car park to hopefully find lots of orchids out. We will then walk along the track adjacent to the road as this has a good variety or orchids and other flowers. There will be plenty of other flowers out.

It has been suggested we have a barbeque lunch. Up to you if you choose to stay for lunch. There are free gas and electric barbeques located around the park. Two nice spots are by the lake or for the little kids a better spot is on the North Oval where there is some playground equipment. It is also less of a worry looking after the little ones so that is my suggestion for the barbeque location.

There is an entrance fee of $5 per car to enter in the front gate. I am going to see if I can hopefully get that waved for us.

I will stay at the park all day and if in the afternoon anyone would like a guided tour around the park to my favourite spots I am happy to do so.

I am attaching also an article I wrote for our newsletter which gives a table with when and where I have photographed orchids. Flowering times will vary over different seasons. Most of the native orchids are quite small so have your close up gear.

There are quite a few emus in the park and we may be lucky to see some with babies. There is also a heritage site - Lady Alice mine which you may also like to visit. If you like landscapes the best walk is the Devils Nose walk.

Please remember we are in a bush environment and wear appropriate clothing - long pants, appropriate covered footwear and long sleeves, hat, water and sunscreen. I do not want to scare you but there are snakes in the park (I have only seen 2 in 4 years ie 1/2 a snake per year over hundreds of visits) but they are there. If they see you first they will make sure they get out of your way. However when they first come out of hibernation they are often very slow, sluggish and their poison is much stronger and they are easier to step on so make sure you look where you are putting your feet. If you do come across a snake moving keep perfectly still and it will just keep going on its way. Many native plants are also very thorney so long pants is a must.

When photographing flowers please check around to make sure you are not stepping on other plants while taking photos.

I am looking forward to a great day with the sun out. The sun orchids only come out when a certain temperature is reached however there are still lots of others orchids.

Please email me ( kathmat@aapt.net.au)if you have any queries.

Kath Matthews

Please remember It is an offense to pick or remove native plants.
They are for everyone to share their beauty

ORCHIIDS

Below is an orchid list of orchids I photographed in the park, the month and the section of the park where I photographed them.

Flowers can be at many other locations and will flower over several months. Many orchids have recently undergone a name change but I have used many of the older names as there are what most people are familiar with.

Month photo taken	Photo Location	Botanical Name	Common Name
April - May	Gate 6	Eriochilus cucullatus	Parson's Bands
May	Gate 11 and many other places	Acianthus puscillus	Mosquito Orchid
May	Gate 12	Corunastylis rufa	Red Midge-orchid
May	Gate 11	Diplodium alatum	Tall Shell-orchid
June	Gate 6 right track along fence line	Brunochilus smaragdynus	Tall Greenhood
June	Gate 6 turn right track along fence line	Pterostylis sanguinea	Blood Greenhood
July	Lady Alice	Pterostylis nana	Dwarf Greenhood
Aug	Hamlyn gully, Mack Creek often at base of Xanthorrhaea	Corysanthes dilatata	Common Helmet-orchid
Aug	Hamlyn gully walking loop from Devils nose car park	Corysanthes incurva	Slaty Helmet-orchid
Aug	Hamlyn gully gate across from Mack Creek gate	Pheladenia deformis	Bluebeard Orchid
Aug	Mack creek	Cyrtostylis reniformis	Small Gnat-orchid
Aug	Gate 11, 6, Devils nose	Diuris pardina	Spotted Donkey-orchid
Sept	Gate 12	Caladenia leptochila	Narrow-lip Spider-orchid
Sept	Gate 11	Caladenia reticulate	Veined Spider-orchid
Sept	Gate 6	Caladenia rigida AUS:E SA:E	Stiff White Spider-orchid
Sept	Devils nose	Diuris aff. Corymbosa	Wallflower Donkey-orchid
Sept	everywhere	Glossodia major	Purple Cockatoo
Sept	Mack creek	Pterostylis nutans	Nodding Greenhood
Sept	Hamlyn gully, Mack creek	Pterostylis pedunculata	Maroon-hood
Sept	Mack Creek	Caladenia behrii AUS:E SA:E	Pink-lip Spider-orchid
Sept	Mack Creek	Caladenia carnea var. carnea	Pink Fingers
Sept	Gate 6 turn right track along fence line	Plumatichilos plumosum	Bearded Greenhood
Sept - Oct	Mack creek, Gate 11	Thelymitra antennifera	Lemon Sun-orchid
Sept - Oct	Gate 12, Mack Creek	Thelymitra luteocilium	Yellow-tuft Sun Orchid
Sept - Oct	Hamlyn gully	Thelymitra nuda	Scented Sun-orchid
Sept - Oct	Hamlyn gully	Thelymitra pauciflora	Slender Sun-orchid
Sept - Oct	Gate 11, 12, Mack Creek	Thelymitra rubra	Salmon Sun-orchid
Oct	Mack Creek	Caladenia tentaculata	King Spider-orchid
Oct	Mack Creek	Calochilus robertsonii	Purplish Beard-orchid
Oct	Hamlyn Gully	Leptoceras menziesii	Hare Orchid
Oct	Mack Creek	Microtis unifolia	Common Onion-orchid
Oct	Gate 11 and 12	Thelymitra grandiflora	Great Sun-orchid

Football Outing.

A healthy group of photographers had eagerly gathered in front of the main entrance of the “Mighty Gawler Central Football Club”, awaiting late comers (me). When we were ready, we staggered towards the gates loaded with enthusiasm and gear. The attendant on the gate let us all through at no charge, probably intimidated by all our equipment.



After carefully finding a spot on the fence, we started showing off our tripods and cameras and just as we were ready to take the first shots the “Bloke” out of the red Commodore told us off for standing in his way so we packed up and moved along the boundary holding our tail firmly in between our legs.



We didn't let it discourage us, in fact pushing on further (some watching our back) we settled against the fence closer to the midfield, with a better light angle. Some eventually chose to scatter around the ground, others stuck together. Regardless we all found ourselves in the end, just before leaving.

It was an excellent learning opportunity and another great excuse to be with friends taking photos. I really enjoyed pushing myself and my equipment in an action packed environment. I really hope that all that attended had as much fun as I did and thank you for those involved for making my family and my international guests feel welcome.



Stefano, the Italian chap, still hasn’t figured out what he saw......

Thanks to Michael Tapping for the photos.

See you out there next time.
Alberto Giurelli

SNAP-A-THON - 30 AUGUST 2009

Due to popular request and some prior commitments by club members the Sanp-a-thon scheduled for Sunday 16 August at Hahndorf has been rescheduled for Sunday 30 August 2009.

Meeting place, meeting times and other details remain the the same.

Categories for the snap-a-thon may change this year so come prepared with your camera and imagination.

Please mark your calendars to reflect the above changes.

Cheers
PCC Committee.

THE MONTHLY OUTINGS LIST:

Sept 13th - Sunday Morning - Kath Matthews - 9am Mac’s Creek, Parra Wirra Conservation Park. More details soon.

Oct 25th - Malcolm Siddal - Garden Island. Yatch Club - 9:30 am start

Nov 14th - Saturday Morning - Moira - Xmas Pageant. Meet at South Tce and King William Street. The Christmas Pageant starts at 9:30am, so times will be worked out at a later date. Website for the 2009 Xmas Pageant: http://www.cupageant.com.au/WhenandWhere.aspx

Dec 12 th - Saturday Afternoon - Xmas Picnic get together. Details to be announced later.

SALA Youth Photographic Exhibition

Thursday night 6th of August at 6 pm The SALA Youth Photographic Exhibition was launched at the Munno Para Library.

The Para Camera Club was invited to represent our club on opening night, a table was supplied for us to display some of our photos and to give out pamphlets, Gary, Dave, Steph and myself represented our club on the night.

The young people of the Playford Council were given disposable cameras and were asked to take 24 shots in 24 hours of their interpretation of what living in the Playford area means to them.

The winner was presented with a gift from the Mayor of Playford

Martin Lindsell, Dave Lamplough gave a short speech on behalf of our club and presented an achievement award to the runner up. This was a years subscription to our club next year 2010 and an invitation to attend a meeting on the first Wednesday of the month to meet club members.

The exhibition will run for two weeks, from the 7^th - 14^th August at the Munno Para Library, and at the Playford Civic centre from 16^th-28^th August. All are welcome to take a look at the work of our Youth of today.

Pat Tapping

Before & After by Neil Gray

At the Para Camera club recent “Blue Sky Thinking” meeting, the subject of Photoshop© image editing was discussed. Also discussed, it seems the club is encouraging members to prepare “before & after” examples from club outings. So, on a half day photo shoot with a fellow member to the SA Rally in Mt Crawford Forest, I thought I would share this photo with you.

The subject of Photoshop© editing is contentious which opens up many questions and healthy discussions.

Top of the list is:

• “Is this photography”?
  
• “Is it art”?
  
• “Does it go beyond reality”?
  
• or just simply “Does it improve an image”?

Good Evans by Neil Gray

Clearly a lot has been done to this image, personally I certainly would not enter the original photograph in a club competition. I would be happy though with the final result after Photoshop© editing.

The editing process only took about one hour, removing distractions (yellow tape & spectators), motion blur the whole image then masking back the car, adding a heavy vignette and boosting the saturation of “reds” in levels.

What do you think?

Cheers
Neil Gray