1. 1
2015 Issue 6
July
Viewfinder is the official Publication of the Christchurch
Photographic Society
PO Box 1789
Christchurch Mail Centre Christchurch 8140
President: Bruce Jensen president@cpsnz.com
Please submit articles for publication by the 22nd of the
month to Belinda Carter viewfinder@cpsnz.com
If you are interested in finding out more about CPS, you are
welcome to attend our weekly meetings held on Wednesday
nights at 8 pm at the Riccarton Community Church 44 Eliza-
beth Street, Riccarton.
Our website www.cpsnz.com contains a complete list of Offic-
ers, programme details, field trips, competitions and previous
issues of Viewfinder available to download in PDF format.
All aboard for a field trip
It’s not easy chasing
trains in a car and taking
photos in the middle of
the day but a dozen or so
CPS photographers were
up to the challenge, cop-
ing with high contrast. A
midwinter dash to pho-
tograph the A428 steam
train, travelling from
Glenmark (Waipara) to
Waikari via Weka Pass
may have softer light
with the 2pm - 3.45pm
trip. For a $30 return
ticket, travel on the train
instead. The train stops
mid-journey, disgorges
passengers, backs up and
steams towards photog-
raphers.
Frog Rock may be pho-
togenic, with its famous
Photojournalism was the main topic in June, with
two tutorials and a field trip to Weka Pass.
Frank Green started the ball rolling on June 3
with a brief history lesson, saying that the first ex-
amples of photo journalism were probably five-
second long exposures taken during the Crimean
War ( early 1850s). Later examples include the
Depression-era, dustbowl photos of Dorothea
Lange, blurry World War II D Day landing im-
ages, and some frequently reprinted Vietnam War
images that helped sway the American public
against US presence there.
It’s a category that has some overlapping with
street photography, travel, social documentary
and sports photography.
To take a good PJ image, suitable for newspapers
or for competitions, the photographer needs to be
selective and to tell a story, hinting at what hap-
pens next.
Being able to anticipate what happens next and to
find the decisive moment is a handy skill to have,
especially for sports photographers.
Two weeks later Robbie Barratt, who is making
a name for herself with edgy street photography,
talked about influence on her photography, in
particular Henri Cartier-Bresson. Famous for his
photos of 1950s street urchins, Cartier-Bresson
said photographers should look at paintings by
grand masters.
Photos need to tell a story, she said. Other use-
ful "tools" to bear in mind when taking PJ shots
(or other photos) were shapes, geometry, vertical
lines, diagonal lines, curves, shadows, symmetry,
colour contrasts, rule of thirds, broken reptitions,
framing using doorways and so on. Robbie fa-
vours a small camera, like Fuji X20, because it is
easy to use for street photography and travel.
limestone outcrops and
the tiny railway “sta-
tion” but it’s not easy
to clamber up the bank
to get close to the train
without attracting the ire
of the train driver (as one
bearded photographer
did). There are other easy
access spots, particularly
beyond Frog Rock where
the road and tracks are
side by side.
If you tire of trains:
power lines leading over
hills, abandoned barns
and vineyards offer other
opportuntities.
The train runs monthly
on Sundays, with suffi-
cient time at Waikari for
a quick lunch. if catching
the 11.30am to Waikari.
Photojournalism

2. 2
Club news and views
to explore a particular area. At-
tendance at The School is a chance
to spend a weekend away, devoted
entirely to photography, and to
enjoy great camaraderie with fellow
photographers
A highlight of the Winter School is
always the guest tutors who pro-
vide inspiration, motivation and
new approaches to photography.
This year’s School will be held at
Flock Hill, July 31 – August 2. Ap-
plications have closed, so if you
haven’t signed up, look out for next
year’s event!
President’s
Column
Bruce Jensen
Laurie Thomas Winter School of
Photography
The Laurie Thomas legacy to CPS
is used by the Club for two major
events. My May column highlight-
ed the Laurie Thomas New Zealand
Landscape Salon. This month, we
look at the Laurie Thomas Winter
School of Photography.
The Laurie Thomas Winter School
is run annually for CPS members,
and some of the expenses of running
this event are covered by his legacy.
The Winter School is held at vari-
ous locations throughout the South
Island, and provides an opportunity
Bear essentials
Kath Varcoe and Elizabeth Burtt from the Nature
Photographic Society visited and gave a slide
show talk on June 17 about photographing mainly
bears, north of the Artic circle in Canada, Alaska,
Norway and Russia. For the most part they went
on expeditions organised by companies such as
Heritage Expeditions but one of the trips was
customised for them. These trips are measured in
weeks rather than days, and come with large price
tags. Nevertheless it was an interesting insight
into northern hemisphere fauna.
Paul Furborough hosted a Lightroom tutorial
at his Ilam home in mid June. It turned into a
four-hour long, comprehensive overview of a
useful piece of Adobe software and some related
plugins. A large flat screen TV relayed what was
on his computer screen. Paul suggested googling
videos by Scott Kelby and Adobe digital imaging
evangelist Julianne Kost. From some brief notes:
• We have all heard of the rule of thirds for cre-
ating grids to align objects in a photo. Light-
room has that plus some other organising
shapes like the golden mean (spiral shape)
and a series of intersecting triangles.
• Lens correction built into Lightroom can fix
distortions created by particular lenses or cre-
ate deliberately distorted images.
• Use Flickr to find out what to photograph in
a particular area you are heading to. Chances
are someone has already checked it out and
posted an image or three.
• Lightroom has some slider-based tools to
bring out details in highlights and shadows
and others for reducing noise or sharpening
images in post-processing.
• Use HDR to bring out the detail in high con-
trast images. Involves merging photos taken
with different exposures.
• Focus stacking - take multiple photos of the
same object and merge in Lightroom for
greater depth of field. Useful for macros.
• Remove stray photographers and other bits
with an enhanced spot removal tool.
• Create webphoto galleries quickly, and or
template-based books of photos.
• Plugins: Photomatix is useful for HDR and
OnOne Suite (Perfect Photo) is good for skin
tones. Sometimes they do things better than
Lightroom. These also work as separate ap-
plications.
A trio of photographers
Erik Norder, Keith Sycamore and Renier Figuara-
cion talked about their photography on June 10.
Erik Norder, reputed to have a large collection of
lenses, talked about birds, abstracts and shoot-
ing in colour and converting to black and white.
Keith Sycamore got into a bit of banter with San-
dra Hobbs over her mentoring style. Philippines-
born Renier Figuracion talked about collecting old
lenses and entering and finally winning a street
photography competition in the Philippines. Just
get out there and shoot was his motto.
Out of the dark and into Lightroom

3. 3
Club notices and news
This month
Help wantedUp ahead This club runs on volunteers.
Don’t leave the organisation up to other people.
July focuses on landscape
With the landscape salon in July it is timely for a
focus on landscape photography during tutorial
sessions. The first session on July 1, run by long-
time member Phil Schroeder, covers useful equip-
ment, composing images on site, lighting and how
to simplify complex subject material. There is a
followup session on July 15.
Paul Daly rescheduled
Paul Daly's postponed talk will be given on July 8.
Some of our members know him as a tutor on the
photography course at Hagley College.
Laurie Thomas Landscape Salon
The salon is being held on July 15 with members
of other clubs invited to attend, so a supper is also
on the menu. An AV of the winning images will be
played and trophies/medals presented to winners
if they are present. The New Zealand landscape
competition, commemorating a former member,
attracts (digital-only) entries from all over New
Zealand. The salon was judged by West Coast-
based photographers Elizabeth Passuello, John
Reid and Peter Robertson.
Laurie Thomas Winter School
The Laurie Thomas Winter School is being held up
at Flock Hill near Porters Pass from July 31 - Au-
gust 2. Enrolments have closed. Those going can
expect dramatic landscapes eg: Castle Hill, snow
(maybe), photo tips, good speakers, good food and
good company.
Matting photographic prints
Fewer people are entering prints into competi-
tion, partly because of the cost and not knowing
how to mount photos so the CPS committee hopes
by showing people how to matte their own pho-
tographs, more might do so. A session has been
scheduled for July 29.
Feedback on sets
Sets of photographs are required when apply-
ing for PSNZ honours. Ian Walls has organised
someone from outside the club to give feedback on
those who submitted sets of print images in June.
The feedback session has been scheduled for July
29.
Monthly digital challenge
The topic for July is Black and White, so there are
bound to be a few monochromatic images among
those entries. Enter online through the website
before the clock says August.
Committee vacancies
Two more committee members (ongoing) for 2015.
Note, the committee will be scouting around in
the next couple of months for willing hands to join
the committee for 2016, or take up other roles in
the organisation.
How to get involved
The person in the job at the moment won't stay
there forever and may be still doing it because they
can't find someone to take over. The best person
to ask is probably secretary, Nelson Boustead as
he can tell you who to approach. There is always
work to be done - suppers, competition secretaries
and so on.
Natural history focus in August
August focuses on natural history, which can cover
birds, fungi, caterpillars, spiders, trees and so on.
Natural history photographic competitions have
their own set of rules and they tend to be stricter
than other areas of photography and restrict the
amount of modification or manipulation of images
to resizing, cropping and selective lightening. The
rules were relaxed a little earlier this year to bring
them into line with PSNZ rules. Find out more at
August 5 and 19 tutorials. There's also a fieldtrip
associated with this on August 8.
Mid winter dinner
The date is set for August 12, the menu is Thai and
the venue is, we have heard, a restaurant some-
where in Hornby. It has been a couple of years
since CPS held the last mid winter dinner. Totally
social event, no tutorials, no competitions and no
photobombing.

4. 4
Field trips and photowalks
October 16-18
Friday evening - Sunday after-
noon trip to Oamaru and Mo-
eraki. Plenty of opportunities to
explore Steampunk, white lime-
stone buildings and Victoriana in
Oamaru, the Moeraki boulders
and of course the sealife of the
coastline, especially the pen-
guins. Expressions of interest
are now invited so James Gibson
can start looking for suitable ac-
commodation. (Updated details
provided on CPS facebook page).
If you can't make that weekend,
Oamaru throws a party a month
later, celebrating its Victorian
heritage and residents dress up
in elaborate costumes. The best
time to catch the penguins is at
twilight as they come ashore.
Oamaru is also the hometown
of Janet Frame and her family
home is open for viewing.
July 3-5
Contact: andrews.diana@xtra.
co.nz or 021 288 6877
Annual mid-winter field trip
to mid-Canterbury lakes in the
mountains: Lake Heron, Maori
Lakes, Lake Emily, Lake Camp
and Lake Clearwater. Take pho-
tos of sunrises and sunsets and
maybe catch some icicles. There's
bunkroom accommodation for
10 at Castle Ridge station and
other places at the lakes. BYO
food, camera gear and warm
clothing. Friday to Sunday or
just come for the day. Two hours
drive from Christchurch. Some
driving on gravel, but nothing a
standard car can't handle. Come
for a fun, photographic week-
end.
Frostie Freezies
Weekend in Oamaru
This year we have had some
fantastic trips away around the
South Island, and it's now time
to start planning events for the
coming year. I would love to re-
ceive feedback from people who
have come and also those who
didn't- it'll help us tailor the field
trips to cater for as many mem-
bers as we can.
I think it would be great to see
people organising impromptu
local day trips using the events
section of our Facebook page -
it's a great way to invite others
along to all sorts of events and
can really help get the mes-
sage out at short notice, and it's
worked very successfully for all
sorts of sports events, lightroom
tutorials and sunset expeditions.
This year we have set a general
structure for the longer (week-
end or longer) field trips. Gener-
ally these have used this struc-
ture:
• Shared transport costs
• Group accommodation using
the vast array of kiwi baches
spread around the country
for approx. 8+ people per
house
• Friday evening pot-luck din-
ner, which seems to last all
weekend ;)
• Sunset and sunrise locations
(and motivation)
• Either a specific goal for the
trip or a selection of interest-
ing venues to explore during
the day/night
• Sunday mid-morning final
coffee and gradual drift
home
This structure keeps the costs to
a minimum (the only up-front
cost payable by members is to
secure the accommodation) and
hopefully ensures a social and
flexible experience.
Now please give us some feed-
back:
What did people like / dislike
about the trips? Accommoda-
tion? Costs? Venues? Dates?
Number of trips? Too hectic?
Not hectic enough? Too distant
locations? Not remote enough
locations?
What would you like for the
coming year - Locations? Tutorial
style trips or more informal?
Would anyone be prepared to
offer their skills as an informal
tutor/trip leader for weekend
workshop trips? What themes
would people be keen on for
aweekend workshop?
What else have I missed?
Finally, I would like to thank all
the participants and organisers
for helping make the trips into
great experiences over this last
year - here's to more to come!
Remember: No feedback means I
get to pick venues again mwaha-
hahaha <evil grin>
James Gibson, field trip co-ordinator
Next year's field trips
Not slumming
it: West Coast
bach, Carter's
Beach, Easter
2015 field trip
$30pp per
night. Photo:
Belinda Carter

5. 5
Brief Snapshots
Other clubs and events
Southern Regional Salon open
Entries to the Southern Regional Salon are now
open and remain so until August 18. The com-
petition, for individuals and for clubs, is being
organised to co-incide with the Southern Regional
Convention in Gore in early October. Print and
Digital Categories are Open, Nature, Photojour-
nalism and Portrait. To encourage more print
entries, the names of all entrants who enter one
or more of the print categories will go into a draw
to win a book printing voucher from Momento.
Go to www.southlandphotographicsociety.com/
southern-regional-salon and follow directions to
the online entry form. Please email Stephanie at
rsforrester46@gmail.com if you have any queries
or phone on 03 217 3447.
Southern Regional Convention
As we shiver in the winter temperatures, now's
a good time to look forward the spring flowers
and warmer weather in early October. The Gore
Camera Club is hosting the Southern Regional
at the Heartland Hotel from October 2-4. They've
rounded up the speakers (Scott Fowler, Roger
Wandless and Kevin Tyree) and hooked some
good deals on accommodation (from high school
hostel to upmarket motels). Field trips have been
arranged to the ice rink, Hokonui pioneer village
and an aviation museum. Good excuse to stay a
day or too longer - the Catlins are nearby. The fee
to attend: $195 per person, payable online. Check
out the website gosouthernregional.weebly.com
for the main details and their facebook page for
any updates.
Creative Focus competition
Pukekohe-Franklin Camera Club is running its
Creative Focus competition again this year. There
are four sections: create focus, beautiful blur,
colour harmony and mirror image. The competi-
tion closes on August 9. For more information visit
www.pfcc.co.nz.
Canon online placements
Newell Grenfell's Face in the Crowd and Clive Col-
lins' Fantail with Fly were among those picked out in
Round 3 of the Canon online competition, a year-
long contest organised by PSNZ. Round 4 is due on
August 24.
Manual control
A course aimed at those who want to know more
about the manual controls on their DSLR (or
compacts) is being offered on Monday nights by
commercial and documentary photographer Giora
Dan from July 27. Involves 6 evening sessions and
a 4 hour field trip at a date to be decided. Enrol
through Risingholme in Opawa but the course is
being held at Riccarton High School. The course
will be repeated in October for those who prefer to
go out in warmer evening weather.
D'Light in the Botanic Gardens
The Botanic Gardens will be illuminated during
the early evenings for a week from July 8, offer-
ing opportunities for some night photography.
Begin at Rolleston Avenue next to the museum or
Armagh Street car park footbridge. Parking off Ric-
carton Avenue only while the Armagh St Bridge
is repaired. Entry is by gold coin donation with
proceeds going to the Botanic Gardens Children's
Garden development. 8 - 12 July, 5.30 - 8.30pm.
New Zealand Geographic
The 2015 New Zealand Geographic Photographer
of the Year, which closes on July 15, also includes a
timelapse category for multiple images. So charge
your intervalometer and win public notoriety and
industry backslaps.
Arachnophotography
I don’t know whether there is such a thing, but
the macro photographs of some of New Zealand’s
many spider species is gracing the walls of an
upstairs room in Canterbury Museum till next
Waitangi Day. Apparently, there are 2000 different
species, with 700 still to be named and 93 per cent
of them are unique to New Zealand. The exhibi-
tion co-incides with the publication of a book A
Photographic Guide to Spiders of New Zealand. The
text is by curator Cor Vink, and those close ups (in
the book and on the walls) were provided by Bryce
McQuillan. Not for the squeamish or arachno-
phobes as these images are many times the size of
the tiny beasties.
Maja Moritz running workshops
Maja is running her small (four people or fewer)
courses on Thursday evenings (theory) and Satur-
day afternoons (practical) in June and July, cover-
ing the basics (exposure, aperture, shutter speed
etc). A workshop on photo creativity is planned for
September. For more information visit majamoritz.
photoshelter.com

6. 6
Open Projected Image #4
Judge: Alex Browning
Accepted
Ron Willems Yellow Commands
Nataliia Krupka Tauranga bay sunset
Alan Moore Motukiekie Rocks
Les Armon Tayne at his best
Stephen Laird
Golden stream to sunset
under the bridge
Andrew Thomson Kea
Gavin James Easy boy
Clive Collins Crab Breakfast
Steven Carpinter Seagull
Carolyn Elcock Punting on the Avon
Patti Madsen Stream Design
Anita Kirkpatrick Out to pasture
Helen McLeod Southern Blues
Sandra Hobbs Fishing boat 63237
Carolyn Jenson Young Man
Nola Sumner Gallery shadows
Christopher Lagria Boatsheds at sunset
Sebastian Krebs
Milky Way above Castle
Hill
Paul Willyams Flow
Honours
Lan Zhang
An aerial view of Temple
of Queen Hatchepsu
James Gibson Motukiekie
Tsumuki Taniguchi
Best in show
Ben Birkenhake
James Gibson's Mo-
tukiekie, top, Lan
Zhang's Aerial view
of the Temple of
Queen Hatchespsu
and Tsumuki Tanigu-
chi's portrait of Ben
Birkenhake

7. 7
Open projected image #5
Judge: Errol Kelly
Accepted
Sandra Hobbs Before sunrise Kaikoura
Brian Milner Wharariki
Les Armon It is my race now
Helen McLeod Last rays from White Rock
Kelvin Aird The pon within
Clare Roberts Paddling in purple
Carolyn Elcock Countdown started
Kathrin Affield Godley River
Andrew Thomson Morning colour
Richard Cooper Early surf - Taylor's Mistake
Newell Grenfell Looking back
Sue Newport Thames boat shed
Kevin MacMillan Sunset swans
Clive Collins Just perching
Geoff Trotter Stonehenge for real surreal
Peter Curtis Torlesse Stream
Ron Willems She devil
Keith Sycamore Sawcut Gorge
Alan Moore Duck plant
Carolyn Jenson Fleeing the monastery
Heidi Anderson Light clearing fot
Anita Kirkpatrick Rally car racing
Trevor White Tongariro from Desert Road
Paul Willyams Night sky over Castle Hill
Annette Preen Flying into the dusk
Irene Ferguson On holiday
Honours
Alistair Phillips Bicycle made for two
Jo Curtis Ocean Beach
James Gibson Whispered memories
Michael Molloy Concentrate
Nelson Boustead
Best in Show
Bush Road
Nelson Boustead
Bush Road
Mike Molloy
Concentrate
Alistair Phillips
Bicycle made for
two.
Jo Curtis
Ocean beacn

8. 8
Tips, tricks and gadgets
This collection covers tips and tricks that photographers might find handy. It’s a grab-bag for items
on taking photos, using computer software, webpages with useful information, apps for smart-
phones and any other clever devices that come out of Apple or Google. Contributions welcome.
New Lytro camera
The first version looked like a rectangular cube or
cylinder, if there is such a thing. The latest ver-
sion, the Lytro Illium looks like a zoom lens with
a small, sloping back attached. Pricey, at more than
USD 1300. The camera lets you alter focus planes
after the image has been
taken, create 3D images
and more from a single ex-
posure. For more informa-
tion visit: www.lytro.com
Noise reduction v detail loss
Petapixel .com had a good article on what causes
noise, how to prevent it (use lower ISO, wider ap-
erture, faster shutter speed) and what to do when
you’ve got it. It says there are two types of noise,
colour and luminance and it suggests dealing
with colour first using the sliders in Lightroom's
Develop module and adjusting the amount in the
threshold. “Noise reduction is all about the bal-
ance between noise and sharpness.” the article
says and that balance depends on the individual
photographer.
Light painting toy
Pixelstick is the latest toy for those who like light
painting to try out at night. Although still in kick-
starter phase (fundraising), it runs on AA batteries,
and plays images off an SD card, enabling colour,
even animations to be projected onto a scene, line
by line. For more information check out: www.
thepixelstick.com
Beware: tempting gadget site
Someone get me a paper bag; I'm hyperventilatin'.
Thegadgetflow.com website contains all sorts of
gadgets relating to photography, including go pro
and various smartphone options. There are drones
everywhere, including the tiny skeye nano drone
that lands on the palm of a hand, clip on lenses for
smartphones, camera cases and sliders for those
who have more than one camera and no time to
change lenses, tripods, external media for storing
petabytes worth of photos, external light meters,
popup studios for smartphones and much more.
And some camera brands you may not have heard
of, like the Bonzart. It's a retro-looking, twin lens,
digital camera that is tilt shift capable and available
in the US for less than $200.
Some of the fun ones...
• go pro harness for your cat or dog
• white plaster moulds of cameras or perhaps a
dozen decals instead as wall decoration
• a stool in the shape of an oversize zoom lens
• old film canisters used as magnets or alterna-
tively salt and pepper shakers
• The cheekiest gadget has got to be the Polaroll
toilet paper holder, followed at a close second
by the vintage camera pencil sharpener
Twelve new items are added daily and photogra-
phy is not the only field where gadgets are aplenty.
Lock up the credit card. You have been warned.
Monthly
digital
challenge:
Abstract
Maxine Cooper's
lightly twisted - but
beautiful was
April's winner.