We endeavour to hold one major workshop each year for club members using club funds to subsidise the cost of attendance.
2023
Facilitated by Noelle Bennett APSNZ and James Gibson APSNZ, the workshop was held in Alexandra over a beautiful autumn weekend. James and Noelle presented two different perspectives on crafting a photographic story using the same building blocks. Below is a selection of images made by club members who attended the weekend. Also below is a report by
One club member’s perspective of the workshop –
I set off on Friday morning heading to Alexandra the long way round to capture the beauty of the autumn colours at Lake Hayes, Arrowtown and Cromwell, finally arriving at the Alexandra Holiday Park around 5pm, just in time to unpack and have a quick bite to eat before the workshop started at 7.30pm at the Alexandra Community Rooms
Friday evening started with Noelle Bennett and James Gibson giving a brief precis of their photography. We then paired up and in turn, introduced our partner to the rest of the group. This was a great icebreaker and helped Noelle and James get to know us a little.
Over the next 90 mins Noelle and James put up photographs in pairs for us to say which one we liked the most and why. It showed which of us were more into a reality style of photography or a creative style.
Saturday morning we were up early and headed out to Butchers Dam making the most of the misty morning for some stunning photos. (Some of us missed the turn off and ended up at the far end so had a different view to take pics). It was hard to leave as the mist was clearing and the sun was just peaking through and lighting up the poplars and reeds.
We met up back at the Community rooms around 9am for James and Noelle to talk about their different photography styles. James spoke about the reality style of photography and how to compose a photo to draw the viewer in including using shape, form, symmetry, colour and texture.
Noelle spoke about the abstract style of photography, with the basic elements being very similar to that of reality style: line, shape, form, space, colour and tone. She talked about Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) and Multiple Exposure.
We were given time in the morning and the afternoon to head out and take some photos using the different styles of photography. For those into reality photography this was a challenge to move out of our comfort zone and try something new. I was surprised at how much fun ICM was, and will definitely try some more of it!
The evening sun was just right for going to the river and taking photos of the bridge before heading to the Stadium Tavern for a meal, the food and company was fabulous. It wasn’t a late night as most were feeling a bit weary after an early start and busy day.
Sunday started at 9am again with Noelle and James putting up some of their photos for us to critique to make us reflect on our own photos when we are composing them and in processing them. They then took us through the programs they use for post processing (Lightroom for James, and Affinity for Noelle) demonstrating their processing order with some of their photographs.
This was very helpful to those of us less experienced in post processing and a suggestion from them that the club should think about having evenings/days for members to come together to process their photos, sharing their knowledge, is something I hope is taken up.
We were given two hours to process at least one photo from the weekend and were invited to share our image in a slide show. The variety and standard of photos was truly amazing! We look forward to sharing them with you.
We finished up at 3pm, and I headed homeward feeling on a high from such a fabulous weekend. Thank you to the committee for organising such a great workshop, thanks to Stephanie who kept us fed including with some delicious home baking.
Most of all thank you to James and Noelle for the relaxed and very approachable style of workshop which gave lots of opportunity for discussion and time for trying something different.
Robyn Kelly
2022
This was held in Queenstown and facilitated by landscape photographer Glen Howey.
Southland Photographic Society 