RA Photo Club Blog

Being the Blog Editor has some privileges including taking a little space to say a special goodbye and thanks to a longstanding member and friend of the RA Photo Club. David Clow is leaving Ottawa and taking a new position in Toronto. (What is he thinking!). Many of us have gotten to know David because of his wonderful photographs taken over the years and for his outstanding service to the Club. (I understand he is going out with a bang tonight as one of our Competition Judges for this month’s competition).

But on at least one occasion David went above and beyond the call of duty and helped out a fellow member who found himself on a Nature outing in considerable distress. I will always be thankful you were there that day David. I hope things work out well for you in Toronto – I understand they even have a few photo clubs. Whenever you’re in Ottawa please come by and see us.

Mike Howarth

Blog Editor

Last Saturday (21st) I had the opportunity to attend a workshop on Table-Top Photography (along with six other club members) given by Robert Laramee. It was the best five dollars I’ve spent in a long time. On these cold winter days when I really don’t feel like going outside to shoot snowflakes Robert provided me with a whole new world of possibilities – inside my own house. Needless to say I was very impressed and came away with a  new appreciation for the work of one of our own club members. Robert provided what I would call the “thinking man’s approach” to Table-top Photography. I
can’t wait to set up my own in-house table-top studio. If you see Robert offering this workshop again -take advantage. It’s five dollars well spent.
Mike Howarth
Blog Editor

The Association for Bright Children Saturday Take-off program is seeking
instructors/courses for the Spring 2012 program. ABC Take-off, enrichment workshops for bright and gifted children, is offered by the Association for Bright Children Ottawa chapter, a charitable organization that advocates and supports bright and gifted children and their families. www.abcontario.ca/ottawa
The Spring 2012 ABC Take-off program dates are March 31 – May 12, with no classes on April 7; six Saturday mornings – at St. Paul’s High School, off Greenbank Rd.(near Ikea). Classes are offered at two times on Saturday mornings, 9-10:30, and 11-12:30.
The intent of Take-off is learning for the joy of learning and bringing together like-minded children, with a like-minded, knowledgeable, and interested adult. Take-off is not intended for remedial support or anything like school (homework, tests, quizzes (though some courses do require a little work on something at home as 6 weeks can be a short time)) – it is based on the idea of – learning for the sake of learning, exploring new interests, ideas, and hobbies.
Courses offered at ABC Take-off are designed entirely by the instructors who teach them. Interested instructors should consider the subject that they would like to teach to be something challenging, fun, and different; and the instructor should be very knowledgeable and passionate about what he/she is offering- be it a lifelong hobby or professional work and/or academic interest. The course you teach is your creation!
Instructors, interested in teaching a course (or two) at ABC Take-off, are invited to offer their classes at the times listed above. Some instructors offer 2 different subjects, or a single subject for 2 different age groups, or the same subject and age group at both times. Some instructors, if it is their first time offering something, opt to offer only one course to see how it goes. There is some flexibility with this time schedule, and with the 6 week schedule, though it is best to keep a course running similar to the
rest of the courses/ program as much as possible.
Children who attend the program range in age from approximately age 6 to age
14, though we occasionally have some 5 yr olds and 15 year olds. Classes are grouped by age, as example- forensics course ages 10-14, fabric art ages 6-8. We try to keep age ranges close when possible. Classes are small in size, with fewer than 15 (the very max) or 12 children per class (average class size is 10), to as few as 6 (sometimes 5) kids per class- depending on instructor’s preferences and what is required to offer the subject.
Instructors are offered an honorarium for each course that is taught; and the materials required for a course/student are the cost of the student. Materials fees are collected upon registration, and reimbursed to the instructor as needed with receipts.
To get started with offering something for the Spring program, these are some of the items required as soon as possible:
1. a course title,
2. a brochure description, (please see the Fall 2011 Take-off brochure for
some examples)
3. an informal, general outline of what will be covered for the 6 weeks (1.5 hours each week),
4. an approximate materials cost for each student,
5. an age range,
6. an ideal class size with minimum and maximum number of students needed/wanted,
7. a cv/bio about yourself with complete contact information
(phone/email/mailing address).

Contact: Christina Comeau (Coordinator) cmcomeau@magma.ca or 613-834-5596

Six Seconds by Robert Laramée

Studio Workshop – Tabletop Photography with Robert Laramée

A presentation on tabletop photography by Robert Laramée in May 2011 was very well received and several club members manifested an interest for a workshop on that topic. You have been heard!

The workshop will begin with a short presentation on this type of photography: what it is, why we do it, types of subjects, photographic equipment, non-photographic equipment, continuous lighting versus flash, etc. This will be followed by a demonstration on finding the best point of view for a subject, preparing a set, setting up the lighting and taking the picture. Then, YOU get to work! We hope to have two setups in the RAPC studio and you will have the opportunity to create your own prize-winning photos.

Robert Laramée

The workshop is not intended to be a full blown course of professional product photography. Instead, the emphasis will be given to the kind of photography you can do at home, using minimal equipment and accessories. Although it is possible to make tabletop photography with a point and shoot camera, an SLR or DSLR camera is much better suited for the job. A tripod is almost essential. If you wish to photograph small things (smaller than an egg), you may need close-up or macro capabilities. Do not forget to bring your flash if you have one.

See the Studio forum for more details: http://www.raphotoclub.ca/smf/index.php?topic=2763.0

The Feedback group meets on the second Wednesday of each month Sept – May, and all RA Photo Club members are welcome to attend. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, January 11, at 19:30 in Bytown A (on the second floor of the RA building) All participants are invited to bring their work for comment within this informal group. The club has many excellent photographers with varied opinions on what is “good”, and members are encouraged to express their opinions. Group members respond by highlighting what they like about an image and to suggest ways in which it might be improved. The goal is to help each other develop an eye for what makes a compelling image. Feedback is always given in a sensitive and supportive manner, and provides an excellent opportunity for learning how
others view your work. Bring in up to 6 of your images in digital format on a CD or USB memory stick. The files should be full sized to allow for cropping and adjustments. In case there are too many entries to go through in the evening, please number your images so that the group has a chance to comment on the ones that are
most important to you. The files should be named “1-yourfilename.jpg”, “2-yourfilename.jpg”, etc.
Please bring your images starting at 19:00 so that we can get them loaded up in advance of the meeting
at 19:30.

The T&T Group is pleased to announce that RAPC’s own Kevin Backs will
present a session on January 25th, starting at 7:30 pm, entitled: Mobile
Workflow – Incorporating Tablet Computers Into Your Creative and Business Process. In this presentation Kevin will do a live workflow, covering:
- image capture
- import
- review
- selection and creation of proofs (crop, some colour correction, etc)
- display of proofs in a projected slideshow.
And all of these workflow components will be accomplished using a tablet
computer (the Motorola Xoom). Time permitting he will also take a quick look at a number of photographyrelated apps available for Android/Google-powered phones and tablets.
Although he will be using an Android tablet, the Motorola Xoom, the
examples will generally apply to iPad and Windows tablets as well. All
three platforms have well-developed market systems with hundreds of
thousands of applications. Each phone/tablet platform has its own strengths
and weaknesses.
All RAPC members are invited to attend Kevin’s presentation – there is no
charge for participating in T&T sessions.
Glenn Bloodworth
T&T Group Leader

Hello All Club Members,
This is an advance notice of the Ottawa/ Outaouais Interclub Photo Competition for 2012.
The theme this year is ’TRANSPORTATION’’.
Members can enter up to three images in either print or digital slide format. The competition administrators may choose to eliminate one of the three images submitted if there are too many images in the competition. Please see the attachment for submission instructions.
Key dates are as follows:
· All entries (digital images & digital copies of prints) must be received in digital form by midnight, April 2, 2012
· Print media must be received by the RAPC club representative by 8 PM, Tuesday April 3, 2012
· The website will be open for submissions as of March 5, 2012
· The results of the competition will be presented on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at the RA Centre.
Please consult the attached guidelines for complete details.
Regards
Bob Matyas
2012 RAPC Interclub Representative (See attached Guidelines) 2012 Interclub_RAPC

The Feedback group meets on the second Wednesday of each month Sept – May, and all RA Photo Club members are welcome to attend. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, December 14, at 19:30 in Bytown A (on the second floor of the RA building)
All participants are invited to bring their work for comment within this informal group. The club has many excellent photographers with varied opinions on what is “good”, and members are encouraged to express their opinions. Group members respond by highlighting what they like about an image and to suggest ways in which it might be improved.
The goal is to help each other develop an eye for what makes a compelling image. Feedback is always given in a sensitive and supportive manner, and provides an excellent opportunity for learning how others view your work.
Bring in up to 6 of your images in digital format on a CD or USB memory stick. The files should be full sized to allow for cropping and adjustments. In case there are too many entries to go through in the evening, please number your images so that the group has a chance to comment on the ones that are most important to you. The files should be named “1-yourfilename.jpg”, “2-yourfilename.jpg”, etc.
Please bring your images starting at 19:00 so that we can get them loaded up in advance of the meeting at 19:30

Tuesday, December o6 – 19:30:00 — Club Meeting

Twenty Insights into Being a Photographer by Mike Heffernan
Everyone has a camera at the ready these days, but a camera does not a
photographer make. Mike distills twenty concise principles on being a
photographer to enlighten and entertain.
From the technical to artistic, the practical to the nebulous, there will be something
for everyone in this presentation.
 Mike’sBio
Mike Heffernan (aka Binary Rhyme) is a photographer, painter, musician and
multi-media artist located in OttawaCanada. A former member of the RA
Photoclub and one of the founders of the Urban group, he has lectured on
photography and art often and is a frequent guest at the RA Photo Club.
Professionally he is a computer scientist who is in demand as a conference speaker
on software technology. His blog can be found at www.binaryrhyme.com

Tuesday, December 13, 2011 7:30PM – 12:00 AM
LAST CHANCE to buy your tickets at the December 6th meeting.
MEMBERS $10
GUESTS $15
Light Snacks , coffee and tea will be available. Cash Bar.
Our very own DJ, Ron Lavoie, will provide background and dance music.
Come for a casual evening with friends, new and old. Celebrate the Holiday Season.
There will be Games! (relax, you don’t have to participate, you can just be an old grouch!)
We will present Awards for “People’s Choice” (from the Open House), the Fall Challenge, and the Urban Group’s Scavenger Hunt.
We have some neat Door Prizes, including a $75 gift certificate from BLURB
There will be an auction for a full version of Adobe Photoshop
Don’t forget to enter the Humour and Best Shot Competitions.
You may enter 2 images for Humour but only 1 for Best Shot (there is after all only 1 “best”)
These are fun competitions with no points given and they do not count towards advancement, so you may use your images in future competitions (or from past ones).
Part of the fun is that you are the judges. You may enter these competitions even if you cannot be present (but it would be much more fun if you were there!)
To enter you MUST go to the Competitions Entry link at the RAPC web site. The deadline is 22:00 on Dec 12th.

Santa will be coming soon, but the RA Photo Club’s Christmas Party will be
coming even sooner!
Clark Hall on Tuesday, December 13, from 7:30 PM – 12:00AM
Various activities, including:
Revealing the winners of the “People’s Choice” from the Open House, the Nature “Fall
Challenge”, and the Urban Group’s “Scavenger Hunt”.
Our Traditional Competitions for “Best Shot” and “Most Humourous Shot” where you get to be the judges.
Auction for a copy of “Photoshop”.
Door prizes
Background and Dancing Music provided by Ron Lavoie
Cash bar, Light Refreshments will be served
You must pre-purchase a ticket to attend. Tickets may be obtained
from the Social Committee at the back of the room every meeting
night until Dec 6th.
$10 for members/ $15 for non members.
Questions, comments or suggestions are always welcome. See us at the back (Tuesday’s Meeting) or
e-mail Izabel at ibkaday@sympatico.ca