COMAS Meeting July 14, 2007-Minutes- 

The July meeting was held at UCO and started at 7.30pm. This month’s topic was Photography Basics with an emphasis on shooting aquariums. The topic was presented by the Oklahoma Camera Club. There were approximately 40 members present for the meeting. 

General Discussions:

President Paul Whitby dispensed with the usual order of business and went straight to the introduction of our guest speaker & representatives from the Oklahoma Camera Club. The President of the Oklahoma Camera Club is Jan Lee. Members from the OCC included Wally Lee, Jaci Finch, Doug Finch and Ed Lamb. President Paul Whitby reminded the membership that after the general meeting there will be a breakout session with the members of the camera club for one on one assistance with their photography needs. 

Prize Winners:

Kelly Linton won a $50.00 gift voucher to Premier Aquatics in Tulsa.

Jason Anderson won a $25.00 gift voucher to Aquariums in Edmond.

Stephanie Bekkelund won a $50.00 gift voucher to Aquarium Oddballs in Tulsa.

Kevin Bekkelund won the “cash raffle” prize for July, a Hydor Koralia 4 (1200gph).  

Topic of Meeting:

This month’s presentation by The Oklahoma Camera Club was titled “Basic Photography”, and included a power point presentation. The orator from the Oklahoma Camera Club was Ed Lamb.  The meeting focused on six main points; 

1. Subject Selection – What is the story you are trying to tell? What is the best angle for this shot? Is the lighting correct for your shot? The purpose of photography is to take a photograph interesting enough that other people want to see it. 

2. Composition – The picture should lead the eye to a centre of interest. Your subject will be lost if there are too many objects cluttering up the background (good rule here: less is more). Do not have the subject dead centre of the picture. Use depth of field control to keep the background out of focus if you can't find an angle or framing to isolate your subject. Remember one subject; the rest is the supporting cast. Avoid distractions that take the viewer away from the subject matter. It is best to leave space in front of a subject that is capable of moving. Then it will appear to be moving into, as opposed to out of the photograph. 

3. Apply the rule of thirds - The rule of thirds is a principle taught in photography which is based on the theory that the human eye travels naturally to a point about two-thirds up the page. Imaginary lines are drawn dividing the image into thirds both horizontally and vertically. You place important elements of your composition where these lines intersect. Using the Rule of Thirds helps produce nicely balanced easy on the eye pictures. 

4. Lighting – Always see how your subject is lit. Ask where your main source of light is from. Do I have enough light? Do I need to supplemental lighting (flash, etc)? Bright sunlight at midday is the worst kind of light for photography. The light colors are washed out and the contrasting shadows are too dark. To avoid this, wait for the sun to go behind a cloud or take the shot earlier or later in the day. The light will be much softer and will result in a better photo. On camera flashes are simple and easy to use, but sometimes camera flash is the harshest light cast onto the subject. If you have an off camera flash, you can bounce the light for a softer effect or use diffused or side lighting. 

5. Shutter & Aperture - The aperture is just a hole whose size can be varied to allow more or less light to pass through it. The sizes of the apertures are expressed in f-stops. The smaller the f-stop is, the larger the aperture is and the more light it will pass. The f-stop is also used as a guide to the light gathering abilities of a lens. Lenses with large maximum apertures (small f-stop) are described as being 'fast'. Each step increase in the aperture setting will result in one half the amount of light entering the lens. For example; an f-stop of f-16 will pass half as much light as f-11. The aperture controls the depth of field as well. Usually the depth of field is generally deeper in the background than in the foreground.  The shutter speed scales are an indication of the duration at which the shutter opens and closes during an exposure. They vary from a very fast 1/8000s to 30 seconds. Both the shutter & aperture work together to regulate the amount of light entering the camera and expose onto the image screen (digital cameras) General rules of thumb (Aperture):a). The smaller the aperture (large f-stop), the deeper the depth of field. b). The shorter the lens focal length, the deeper the depth of field. For example; comparing a 28mm lens with a 50mm lens at the same aperture and shooting distance, depth of field is deeper with the 28mm lens. c). The greater the shooting distance, the deeper the depth of field. General rules of thumb (Shutter):a). Use a fast shutter speed for action shots without blur, 1/500s or faster. b). Use a slow shutter speed (tripod, or support recommended) for low light conditions or to blur moving objects such as water, traffic, birds in flight, etc. c). Lowest shutter setting for hand held camera without blurring is; 1/lens focal length. For example; a 50mm lens is ~1/60s, 28mm lens is ~1/30s. (This can change due to the age of the photographer). If you want a lot of depth of field you will have to select a small aperture. To counter this you have to select a shutter speed that will;a). Give you the correct exposure.b). Be sufficiently fast enough to freeze movement within the scene.c). Be fast enough to prevent camera shake. If you want to capture fast movement you will have to select a fast shutter speed. To counter this you have to select an aperture which will;a). Give you the correct exposure.b). Be small enough provide sufficient depth of field.