If anyone knows anyone who would like to join our club, please have them take a look at our blog and read this from our president.
Laidley Camera Club Inc 2014
Welcome to our new members.
The Laidley Camera Club was formed some 10
years ago and has operated continuously since. It has recently undergone some
major changes to its structure with the appointment of a committee and being
registered as an Incorporated club.
The club is affiliated with the Queensland
Photographic Society and pays an annual fee for our members. This provides a
level of public liability while engaged in club activities.
The club provides for all levels of skill
with an emphasis on learning though social interaction and participation in
club activities.
However we are
not a university with unlimited teaching resources just a small social club
with members of mixed experience.
You will learn new skills in our club but you do need to
help by joining in all our activities.
You will be
surprised just how much you can learn while having fun and being in good
company. It's a matter of asking questions and doing some home work .
We will run
short teaching courses if we have sufficient numbers of like minded people and
have the necessary skilled instructors.
We will
certainly have very experienced people giving talks and sharing their
experience at times throughout the year.
The club meets on the last Monday of the
month in the Lutheran church hall Mac Gregor St Laidley at 7pm
Annual club membership is $15.00
There is an attendance fee of $5.00 per
couple per night.
Executive committee
Garry Watson Pres ph 54651904
Cath Walker
Sec/treasurer ph 54279177
Ann Bichel
Tom Byrne
Darryl Green
Club Email
laidleycameraclub@gmail.com
Garry has also written this ...which I think is impressive.
The
first steps to photography
With
the Laidley camera Club
What do I need?
By G R Watson
A
camera! . Borrow one if you don’t have
one. Come along with your camera and
instruction book. That and a willingness
to learn is all you need to get started with the club.
Any
camera will do and until you fully grasp the all the basics don’t even think
about buying a new one. A bigger/better
camera will not improve your photographic prowess, just drain your pocket and
earn some salesman a fat commission.
Worse than this you will probably end up with the wrong camera meaning
another purchase down the line.
Anything
else? Yes there are a few things that
will help your photographic journey. These you will only need to buy once,
provided you choose quality over price.
Memory
card One for the camera plus a spare
. Don’t skimp on quality! These things
have a high failure rate. Try to get at
least a class 10 from a reputable supplier as there are a lot of fakes about
(E bay)
Battery Carry a fully charged spare or at least a
car charger, at times you’re going to
need it
Camera
bag Big enough to carry your gear a
note book (paper) and pen plus a water
bottle and any other essentials.
That’s
it! Following on from here are things
you may wish to add to your list later but they are not necessary right now.
Filters The salesman’s favourite add on. ”You’ve got
to protect the lens from scratches or dropping it”.
No
you don’t, it’s your choice! (This is a
contentious issue with very polarized views)
About
½ of the top pros do but they don’t use a $30 filter, theirs cost hundreds of
dollars. Do you want a bit of glass
between you and the perfect picture? If you do consider investing in a good CPL
filter. This is a polarizing filter that helps with blue sky and better
contrast in bright sunny conditions.
Choose one to fit the largest size lens you have and use $5 step down
adapters for your other lens. It still offers the same protection as any other
glass filter.
Lens
hood Will not only prevent lens flare
but will offer similar protection to a lens filter and much cheaper too.
Tripod Essential if you want to do low light,
landscape or portraiture but get a good one. It’s very unlikely you will find a
stable one under $150 in fact you could pay $500, it would last you a life
time. Make sure its high enough to bring
the camera up to your eye level.
Head Ball or Pan try them both at one of the
club outings or in store and get the type that suits you best. Again probably
$100+for a good sturdy quality unit
Photo
editing software Please defer this
purchase until you are far enough down the learning curve to make an informed
choice. Some software requires more time
and effort to learn than the photographic skills you need to take the picture.
Bear
in mind no program is going to make a bad photo look good.
There
is an unending list of things I could add here but I’ve tried to keep it to the
essentials.
As
your skill level progresses you will be far better equipped to make informed
choices as to not only the gear you need but the direction of your photographic
journey.
Most
people seem to develop a favourite field
be it landscape or macro, portraiture or birds and this will determine their
choice of equipment. Paying $20.000 for
a specialist lens is not unheard of.
There
is an abundance of information and learning resources on line (good and bad)
use it!, read everything you can.
Look at sites like 500px for inspiration but
above all ask questions and take lots of photos.
Your first 10,000
photographs are the worst
Henri Cartier-Bresson
And
that was in the days of film
Most
importantly get familiar with your camera .
Know
how to change all the cameras settings, get familiar with all the menu options.
In
other words READ THE MANUAL, it’s your camera, know enough for us to help you
because we cannot know how to operate every camera out there.
