Cairns Photographic Society Inc Newsletter, October 2017 Hello CPS members and friends,

From the feedback I have received, everybody had a great weekend at Cooktown. Good food, drink, fine company and plenty of photo opportunities. There were some who travelled far and wide and others who were content not to venture far from their motel room. Either way, Cooktown did not disappoint. From the panorama of Grassy Hill to the Top Pub Hog Hunt, there was plenty to see and do.

I was particularly keen to do some panoramas and night shots, but when I set up my tripod to take the pano above, guess what? I’d left my adaptor plate at home! There is a lesson here – check your gear before leaving home. Fortunately, I remembered that I had packed my big 500mm lens which has an adapter attachment and by a miracle it fitted my tripod – problem solved. The pano above was hand held and stitched on Photoshop.

Outings – Herberton & Irvinebank Our next outing is scheduled for Sunday 29th October. An early stopover in Herberton is recommended for those who want to photograph the flowering trees – Jacaranda and Flame Trees (Brachychiton aceriflorius) which will be in full bloom.

Herberton is 97km from Cairns via the Gillies Highway and you would need to allow 1hr 50m for the trip. Irvinebank is a further 25km from Herberton and the road is mainly gravel. One of our members has recently travelled this road and reports that it is in good to fair condition. Some members have expressed concern that Irvinebank may be too hot for an October outing. The township is 750m above sea level (about the same as Atherton) and as such, we should expect temperatures about 5 degrees cooler than Cairns. No guarantees, of course, but I checked the EXIF data for my image below and found that it was taken in late October. As I recall it was a very pleasant day out and not unduly hot.

There is a lot to photograph in and around Irvinebank and I am confident that the visit will not be a disappointment. The history of the mine and township is also very interesting and for those who want to learn about the area beforehand, I have attached a document giving a full history of the area. The Loudon Town House Museum will be open on the day (entry $5 or $7 depending on your concession status). In addition the Irvinebank Pub has offered to put on a BBQ for us. I will need to know numbers so they can organise the food. If you are planning on coming please let me know by reply to this email or at out next general meeting.

November 26th Mossman & Port Douglas We haven’t been to Port Douglas for several years and this will be a chance to see what has changed as well as a nice meal at one of the many Port eateries. Details in the next newsletter.

Christmas Party – Thursday 14th December Larry has booked the German Club for our Christmas Party this year. Those who attended last year will remember that is was a great evening and the club personnel went out of their way to make us comfortable. Cost of the meal (buffet, coffee & cake) will be about $30 per head. The German Club is located at 57 Winkworth Street, Bungalow. It is not easy to find if you are unfamiliar with the back streets of Bungalow, so make a note of the address. More details will be given in next month’s newsletter.

Workshops

12/10/17 Zoom Blur Venue - Cominos House Start 7pm. No charge One of our future competition topics is - Zoom Blur. For those wanting to master this interesting technique this is your chance to learn how it is done. The workshop will be led by Alex and Tim and you will be expected to try to capture some lens blur images. Bring your cameras and tripods

9/11/17 Critique – Your Best Shot Venue - Cominos House Start 7pm. No charge Bring along your best shot for critique by one of our experts. Suggested changes will be carried out in Lightroom and projected onto the TV monitor so we can all see the results and, hopefully, the improvements.

Competitions North Queensland/Central Queensland inter-club competition (ICC). As mentioned in the September newsletter, ten images from our members have been submitted to the North Queensland/Central Queensland ICC November competition. The images will be printed and put on display at the Photography Society of Queensland (PSQ) Mini-Convention to be held in Townsville on 11th and 12th of November. All of our members have been invited to attend this convention and several of our members have already indicated that they will attend. So, if you feel like a weekend away combined with an opportunity to learn from the experts put you name down. Registration forms and the proposed program is attached. Future Competitions Themes have been selected for all future competitions to give everyone as much preparation time as possible to prepare. The themes have been kept purposefully broad so we are not restricted to a narrow interpretation. Hopefully this will encourage greater participation in competitions. October 2017 – Digital – Monochrome November 2017 – Digital – Humour/Funny December2017 – Print – Open January 2018 – No Competition February 2018 – Digital – Song and Dance March 2018 – Print – Signs and Billboards April 2018 – Digital – The Letter “C” May 2018 – Print – Symmetry June 2018 – Digital – Zoom Blur Portfolio Competition – A reminder Don’t forget to bring your sixth portfolio entry to the August meeting. It is probably a bit late for most of us, but I have been researching portfolio preparation on the internet. And guess what, it is not a matter of throwing together some similar images. The experts talk about creating theme, style and design, making an artistic statement, selecting the photos in a logical sequence and finally, making a big splash at the end. You didn’t do any of that! Well, neither did I, so perhaps this is a topic for a future tutorial night and maybe we will get it right in next year’s portfolio competition.

October Meeting - Thursday 19th Australian Bird Week this year will be held from 23rd to 29th October and to celebrate we hope to have an ambassador from Birdlife Australia to attend our meeting as guest speaker. I know that many of you are interested in bird photography but did you know that there are 450 different species of birds found in our immediate backyard. Of these, some 150 are found nowhere else. The Cairns region is unique when it comes to birdlife and this is a chance to find out what to look for and, hopefully, how to capture that stunning bird image.

And finally, a big welcome to our new members. Hope to see you soon:

Rick Wong,

Lindsay Almond, and,

Justine Smith

Grant Phillips President, Cairns Photographic Society