How I Took That Shot – John Tait

Posted on 26/09/2017 by Denis Barry

John Tait took first place in Grade A in our recent 'Vacation' competition with the shot above. This is how he captured the image:

As I had no brainwaves for our "Vacation" themed competition, I went on a trawl through my holiday photographs, taken last May in Lagos, Portugal. When we go to Lagos, I usually bring my 7D MK II, and my 100-400mm. I am usually looking for wildlife shots, so my birds usually have feathers rather than bikinis, and my nightlife shots are more likely to be of Owls rather than Discos and Bars. Not very fertile ground for "Vacation" shots!

However.. I also usually bring my little Sony RX100 "Pocket Rocket" when on walkabout around town. As I am still trying to get to grips with it's menus and creative modes, I had it set to Auto. ( I know I know....I should be shooting in manual...Sorry! ) As we walked thru' the old town, I was intrigued by a very long building, whose outside wall curved gently around to the right, following the curve of the street. Right behind this building stands a lovely medieval Church with a nice bell tower. On the opposite side of the street, there is a line of old traditional town houses. The whole scene looked very nice and typically Portuguese in the bright sunlight.

I stood looking at the scene, and decided that it had some potential. I composed the shot, putting the Church tower on the top right hand third, and used the street, the curving building, and both pavements as lead-in lines to the Church tower. As the street was empty of people, I waited until a lady pedestrian walked around the corner and into the lower right hand third of the frame. Bingo! I had my shot.

I took lots of shots on that trip, most of which were deleted later, but I kept this one as I really liked it. Thankfully, on competition night, a good number of club members seemed to like it too.

- John Tait

Well done John.

Click here to see a gallery of images from the competition.

ECCG ‘Vacation’ Competition – 05/09/2017

Posted on 11/09/2017 by Denis Barry

With summer already fading from memory, the first ECCG meeting of the autumn, held at the Midleton Park Hotel on 5th September last, featured the fifth internal competition of the year with the theme Vacation. In a departure from the usual projected competitions, entrants were required to enter prints for this competition. With twenty-three entries, competition was close across all grades but in the end, the image above by Noelle Lowney, got the best overall score at 566 points. The rest of the top-three places across the grades went as follows:

In an extremely close contest, John Tait won Grade A by just two points from Fidelma Read while Anthony O'Connor took third only three points adrift.

Noelle Lowney was first in Grade B with 566 points, the highest score of the competition with four points separating Remi Boron and Eileen Upton at 545 and 541 respectively.

Miriam Keogh had a a 43 point winning margin in Grade C from Andrew Foley,in second with 498 points and Paul Stack in third with 480 points.

The overall placings were Noelle Lowney (566), John Tait (557) and Fidelma Read (555),

Well done to all twenty-three entrants.

Click here to see a gallery of images from the competition.

John Tait LIPF

Posted on 28/11/2015 by Denis Barry

Awards Night 2014-5 Congratulations to ECCG member, John Tait, who obtained his Licentiateship of the Irish Photographic Federation at the IPF Distinction Sitting at Thurles, Co. Tipperary today.

Well done John!

Click here to see John's successful panel.

Murphy’s Laws of Photography

Posted on 10/07/2014 by Denis Barry

murphyslaw

Following on from John Tait's humorous encounter with 'Prof Murphy and his law' as outlined in his post on the SSV Corwith Cramer on 7/7/14, the article extract below on 'Murphy's Laws of Photography' was published recently on the DIY Photography site:

MURPHY’S LAWS OF PHOTOGRAPHY– MY NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST

1. If the test shots go perfectly, the real shoot will be a disaster.

2. The greater your excitement about a shoot, the greater the chance that something will go exceptionally wrong.

3. Success happens quietly when nobody is looking. Failure blasts the door off its hinges when the client is watching.

4. You really only need a tripod when you don’t have one with you.

5. The smoother the shoot goes, the greater likelihood that the card will be lost, corrupted, or stolen by werewolves.

6. The best photo ops of animals and children only happen when two very specific cosmic conditions are met– they’re ready and you’re not.

7. Perfect weather lasts only as long as it takes for you to set up the shot.

8. Perfect weather will return as soon as you finish packing up your gear and drive away.

9. The one thing you absolutely, positively MUST have on your shoot will be the one thing you either forgot to bring or is in short supply (e.g., batteries, memory cards, the aforementioned tripod, etc.).

10. The lens you drop will always be the one you could only afford because you stopped eating for six or eight months.

11. You will never drop this lens on a soft, pillowy surface.

12. Long-life batteries actually laugh at you when they run out. Seriously.

13. The one time you leave the camera at home will definitely be the time you miss the shot of a lifetime. Bringing the camera with you will ensure that nothing happens.

14. The lens currently attached to your camera will never be the lens you need for the first shot.

15. If you are the passenger in a plane, train, bus, truck, automobile, or any other mode of transport, the most stunning scene you’ve ever witnessed in your life will be on the other side.

16. You spent weeks, months, years– maybe even decades– searching the world and your soul for the perfect expression of your photographic vision. You practiced. You studied. You tried, failed, and tried again. You found a mentor. You honed your craft. You allowed your camera to become a true extension of both your body and your mind. The guy who just beat you in a photo contest did it in three seconds with his iPhone.

See the full article at www.diyphotography.net

SSV Corwith Cramer – 6/7/14

Posted on 07/07/2014 by Denis Barry

Berfore lunch, I took myself down to Carlisle Fort on the East side of lower Cork harbour, to see if I could get a crack at the Tall Ship “SSV Corwith Cramer”, an American sail training ship, en route from Cork City to Spain and further afield.

SSV Corwith Cramer--7

I was in position by the fort at 12:30pm, where I bided my time in glorious sunshine, while Fidelma Read and family took up position at Roche's Point. At about 1:30pm, Corwith Cramer rounded White Point in Cobh, and I took shots of her with a 500mm zoom.

Prof Murphy and his law struck, just as the ship came close enough to get a bit of detail in the shots. The heaven's opened, and I was copiously precipitated upon (That's the polite term) and a mad dash to the car ensued. The gear survived unscathed, but the photographer was a tad damp to say the least.

Fidelma and family retreated in face of this deluge, as I made my way to Roche's Point. By the time Corwith Cramer reached the point, the rain had almost cleared, but “the sky was on the floor”. In dull and damp conditions, I got a few more shots, as she cleared the point, and headed South East. She was a couple of miles off shore, before they raised the sails... Bah! Bloody weekend sailors!

As she disappeared into the mist, I made my way home to salvage the remains of my Sunday lunch, which had languished a bit too long in the oven. Ah well! We have to suffer for our art.

- John Tait

Mouse over the image below to activate the slide show controls. Enjoy!

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