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Magic of light on water
An evening of enlightenment
"The subject is nothing- light is everything" Leonard Misonne
13/09/2024
Understanding the nature of light is undoubtedly the key to good photography, and in the first face-to-face meeting of the new season NRPS members got the chance to explore a range of practical activities featuring a few accessories from the depths of my home studio.
It was a good turnout despite some late holidays and one or two little summer mishaps that are hindering the creative instincts of a couple. There was the usual high-quality cake, and invaluable help from two long suffering husbands willing to manipulate Christmas lights and glass globes with mobile phones in the dark.
The evening centred on reflections, refractions and illusions. It began with a quick recap of the photoelasticity technique, first introduced to members a couple of years ago, and back by popular request. This involves arranging and photographing a number of clear plastic objects in front of light generated by a computer screen and viewed through a polariser. The rainbow images created by the stress lines in the material are fascinating, and engaged many for long periods of time. There were other opportunities to bend light through prisms and capture abstract shapes and shadows, and to play with torchlight on the highly reflective surfaces of old DVDs using long exposures, extending the effects with judiciously placed water droplets. Many members were forced out of the comfort zones to consider how to utilise their cameras in perhaps less conventional ways., and to apply their knowledge of light and tone to create 3D illusions out of square, coloured paper.
There was much enthusiasm and we hope this will continue through the season, and that creativity will feature strongly in our competitions as a result of the evening. As Berger wisely observed, “the raw materials of photography are light and time.” and only time will tell what impact the evening has had!
Most of our evenings are quieter affairs that feature speakers and presentations as well as outings- all detailed on the website along with our programme September -June so take a look. We have decided to enter the Kingswood Salver Competition for the first time in several years and our Secretary, Jill Toman has skilfully combined the required images of three members into a triptych entitled “Hands”.
We are keen to increase our membership and provide creative experiences that will enhance the lives of local people in the coming months so do contact us through our website if you think it is for you.
Next week is a Zoom gathering featuring Julian Elliott’s presentation “Mongolia”.
Jenny Short. 12.09.2024
It was a good turnout despite some late holidays and one or two little summer mishaps that are hindering the creative instincts of a couple. There was the usual high-quality cake, and invaluable help from two long suffering husbands willing to manipulate Christmas lights and glass globes with mobile phones in the dark.
The evening centred on reflections, refractions and illusions. It began with a quick recap of the photoelasticity technique, first introduced to members a couple of years ago, and back by popular request. This involves arranging and photographing a number of clear plastic objects in front of light generated by a computer screen and viewed through a polariser. The rainbow images created by the stress lines in the material are fascinating, and engaged many for long periods of time. There were other opportunities to bend light through prisms and capture abstract shapes and shadows, and to play with torchlight on the highly reflective surfaces of old DVDs using long exposures, extending the effects with judiciously placed water droplets. Many members were forced out of the comfort zones to consider how to utilise their cameras in perhaps less conventional ways., and to apply their knowledge of light and tone to create 3D illusions out of square, coloured paper.
There was much enthusiasm and we hope this will continue through the season, and that creativity will feature strongly in our competitions as a result of the evening. As Berger wisely observed, “the raw materials of photography are light and time.” and only time will tell what impact the evening has had!
Most of our evenings are quieter affairs that feature speakers and presentations as well as outings- all detailed on the website along with our programme September -June so take a look. We have decided to enter the Kingswood Salver Competition for the first time in several years and our Secretary, Jill Toman has skilfully combined the required images of three members into a triptych entitled “Hands”.
We are keen to increase our membership and provide creative experiences that will enhance the lives of local people in the coming months so do contact us through our website if you think it is for you.
Next week is a Zoom gathering featuring Julian Elliott’s presentation “Mongolia”.
Jenny Short. 12.09.2024