2018

Posted on 29/03/2018 by admin

The image above, by Noelle Lowney, was the overall highest scoring image in our recent competition whose theme was 'Cork' and by a clear margin of 33 points to boot!

With another good entry of 29 images, the competition was intense but when the final votes were counted, this is how the top three in each Grade looked:

It was an outstanding performance in Grade B with the top two overall points going to Noelle Lowney and Remi Boron respectively. Grade C also was an interesting finish with Neil O'Carroll taking first place for the second time on the trot while a newcomer to the Group, Jim Corbett, took second place with a very interesting 'mini world' image.

Well done to all our winners and everyone who entered, especially to those entering for the first time.

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

See also:
How I took that Shot - Kevin Day
How I took that Shot - Noelle Lowney
How I took that Shot - Neil O'Carroll
Winners Presentation Photos
Competition Results and 2018 League Table

If you are interested in photography and would like to know more about East Cork Camera Group, click the 'Contact Us' link above.

How I Took that Shot – Zane Llewellyn

Posted on 06/05/2017 by admin

In our recent 'Perspective' competition, Zane Llewellyn took first place in Grade A, for the third time in a row this year, with the clever image (left).

This is how he made the image:

When I think of perspective, I immediately think of the "Small, Far Away" scene in Fr. Ted.

I really wanted to use this as my inspiration, but unfortunately there weren't any cows out in March and I was also missing a priest costume.

Plan B...

The first step in taking this photo was to move all the furniture out of the way, as this was the only floor that would look like a wall.

I took the photo in landscape so it would be in portrait when rotated which would help to emphasise the vertical lines and make it more believable. I positioned the table and chair while checking the framing, once I was happy with the basic composition I set up the books, picture and lamp. I only thought afterwards that I should have tried turning the lamp on!

I had to handhold the camera as I was backed up into the corner to try and get everything into frame, I tried the flash directly and bouncing it off the ceiling but the dark floor was proving difficult. So, I ended up using a white umbrella just out of shot.

I tried to coax my dog into the photo, but she didn't want anything to do with it, so I grabbed the neighbours cat!

Then the fun began, the cat was walking around wondering what was going on, while I shot a handful of photos. My model son?, my son the model played a blinder and he really made the shot. So a big thanks & some biscuits to him for that 🙂

I used the following settings for the final shot,

24mm 1/180s @ f/8 ISO100

Flash - ETTL mode shooting through a white umbrella.

Fantastic shot Zane. Well done!

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

If you are interested in photography and would like to know more about East Cork Camera Group, click the 'Contact Us' link above.

ECCG ‘Perspective’ Competition – 18/04/2017

Posted on 30/04/2017 by admin

Zane Llewellyn's clever shot (left), took the overall top score and first in Grade A in our recent competition with the theme, 'Perspective'.

It was Zane's third win in Grade A on the trot this year which surely shortens his odds to win this year's Photographer of the Year competition, a title he holds from 2016.

Look out for Zane's 'How I took that Shot' post which will explain how he made this image. It will be posted here in the next few days.

While Zane had a convincing winning margin of 61 points, the rest of the results were very close with positions altering frequently as the scores were counted. This is how the top three in each grade finished:

Only 4 points separated John Tait and Finbarr O'Shea for second and third in Grade A while Eileen Upton equalled Finbarr O'Shea's score to take first place in Grade B, squeezing past Colm McSweeney and Noelle Lowney who were just a few points adrift.

In Grade C Sonja Eisenberg mirrored Zane Llewellyn's feat by winning her grade for the third time in a row with Andrew Foley and Dominic Griffin close on her heels to take second and third places.

Well done to all 22 competitors.

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

If you are interested in photography and would like to know more about East Cork Camera Group, click the 'Contact Us' link above.

How I Took that Shot – Zane Llewellyn

Posted on 13/03/2017 by admin

Taking his second, First Place of the year, Zane Llewellyn won Grade A in our latest competition, themed 'Motion' with the compelling image above. This is how he made the shot:

I’d missed the previous weeks ECCG shoot to Pilmore beach, near Youghal and after seeing some great shots I headed down with my dog, Holly, for a recce. It was a grey, damp, foggy day with the tide way out, a far cry from the dramatic scene that my fellow ECCG members had experienced only days before.

While I may have been underwhelmed, Holly was very excited so we headed off down the beach while taking random grey photos. It wasn’t looking good for getting any decent photo, but it’s all practice I told myself.

Holly - My ever faithful model

Remembering that there was a motion theme for the next competition, I tried to get some panning shots of Holly running along the beach, but she would only run towards me or away from me, never across. W.C. Fields saying, “Never work with Children or Animals”, was ringing in my ears!

As we rounded the corner, I noticed a large gathering of birds down at the waterline, so keeping my camera in the settings I’d had for the previous failed shots, we walked slowly towards them. About 50 metres away from them and without warning, off they flew. Luckily they flew past me rather than away and I managed to get a few shots panning left to right at the same speed as the birds. They didn’t look much on the camera, but it was impressive to witness all the same.

It was only when I opened them on the computer that I saw one photo looked like it might be a keeper. I cropped it to a panoramic format to try and emphasise the sense of motion, while keeping the horizon and birds on the horizontal thirds. The sea and sky were very grey and dull because of the fog, so I added a gradient to reduce the exposure and add some contrast to the sky. I did the same with the foreground to hide the messy seaweed and bring the focus to the birds.

The camera settings were 1/40 sec @ f16, ISO 100.

Well done Zane. Just goes to show that even in the worst of conditions, a great shot is never far away.

ECCG ‘Motion’ Competition – 07/03/2017

Posted on 08/03/2017 by admin

With 28 entries, our recent internal competition, themed 'Motion', drew the biggest entry in a while with a wide interpretation of the theme. The image above by Zane Llewellyn won Grade A and also took the overall highest score of the night across all Grades.

The breakdown of the final results was as follows:

Grade A was a tightly contested affair all through the voting process but Zane Llewellyn won out by 9 points in the end from Gráinne Davies in second and Finbarr O'Shea in third.

Grade B saw Jim O'Neill once more in first place winning with 23 points to spare from Noelle Lowney in second and Eileen Upton in third.

Sonja Eisenberg came first for the second time on the trot in Grade C followed by Jim Curtin in second and Karina Leeson.

In the overall scores across all grades, Zane Llewellyn and Jim O'Neill had equal scores but the tie was split by the number of higher scores received giving Zane the edge and first place while Gráinne Davies took the third spot.

Well done to all concerned.

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

If you are interested in photography and would like to know more about East Cork Camera Group, click the 'Contact Us' link above.