School of Photography Newsletters

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Have a very Merry Christmas from all at School of Photography.com

Here is the top fifteen entrants for our Expression Competition.

1 Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry,Ireland…………………..100 points
2 Ben Simmonds, Wellington, Somerset, UK…………………..92 points
3 Merel Schoneveld Den Haag, The Netherlands……………..84 points
4 Raymond Widawski, Brussels, Belgium……………………….76 points
5 Brianna Williams ……………………………………………….68 points
6 Andreas Budiwidjaja, Jakarta Indonesia……………………..60 points
7 Sandesh Dhagle, Yavatmal, India…………………………….54 points
8 Liesbeth van Dalen, Amsterdam, Netherlands……………….48 points
9 emma Bartlett, bracknell tasmania……………………………42 points
10 Jennifer Smith, Livermore Falls ME, USA……………………36 points
11 Kelly Morgan, Haysville, KS, USA……………………………30 points
12 Marta Azevedo………………………………………………..24 points
13 Ginger Attaway, Pacific Palisades, CA. USA……………….18 points
14 Rebecca Herren, Harrisburg, IL, USA……………………….12 points
15 Harjono Djoyobisono, Northcote, Vicotoria, Australia……..6 points

Photographer of the Year 2007 Table
Totals after three

1 Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland…………………..260 points
2 Raymond Widawski, Brussels, Belgium………………………168 points
3 Anna Herrington, London, UK………………………………..148 points
4 Andrea Dudasova, Svidnik, SLOVAKIA……………………..144 points
5 Ben Simmonds, Wellington, Somerset, UK………………….128 points
6 Liesbeth van Dalen, Amsterdam, Netherlands……………..116 points
7 Tilly Meijer, Spijkenisse the Netherlands……………………108 points
8 Harjono Djoyobisono, Northcote, Victoria, Australia………106 points
9 Gerry Priest, St Andrews Fife Scotland…………………….102 points
  Celeste McKenzie, Villieria, Pretoria, South Africa…………102 points
10 Andreas Budiwidjaja, Jakarta Indonesia…………………….96 points
11 Ivano Adversi, Bologna Italy…………………………………92 points
12 Merel Schoneveld Den Haag, The Netherlands…………….84 points
13 Brianna Williams ……………………………………………….68 points
14 Willems Heidi, O.L.V.Waver  Belgium…………………………60 points
15 Marsha Barritt, Upton, WY, USA……………………………..54 points
   Sandesh Dhagle, Yavatmal, India……………………………..54 points
   Ginger Attaway, Pacific Palisades, CA, USA…………………54 points

Totals after two competitions

1. Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland…………………….160 points
2. Anna Herrington, London, UK………………………………….148 points
3. Andrea Dudasova, Svidnik, SLOVAKIA……………………….144 points
4. Tilly Meijer, Spijkenisse the Netherlands……………………..108 points
5. Gerry Priest, St Andrews Fife Scotland……………………….102 points
    Celeste McKenzie, Villieria, Pretoria, South Africa…………..102 points
6. Harjono Djoyobisono, Northcote, Victoria, Australia………100 points
7. Raymond Widawski, Brussels, Belgium………………………..92 points
    Ivano Adversi, Bologna Italy…………………………………….92 points
8. Liesbeth van Dalen, Amsterdam, Netherlands……………….68 points
9. Willems Heidi, O.L.V.Waver  Belgium…………………………..60 points
10. Marsha Barritt, Upton, WY, USA………………………………54 points
11. Kamila Decyk, Tralee, Co. Kerry, Ireland……………………..42 points
12. Ben Simmonds, Wellington, Somerset, UK………………….36 points
     Ginger Attaway, Pacific Palisades, CA, USA…………………..36 points
     Andreas Budiwidjaja, Jakarta Indonesia………………………36 points
13. Milos Hlinka, Ross Road, Killarney……………………………..30 points
14. Naomie L. Slinn, Saskatoon,Sask. Canada…………………..24 points
15. Megan Stewart, Enid, Ok, USA…………………………………18 points
     Christian Denes, Chicago, IL USA………………………………18 points

 

1 Harjono Djoyobisono, Northcote, Victoria, Australia……………100 points
2  Ivano Adversi, Bologna Italy………………………………………….92 points
3 Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland……………………………84 points
4 Andrea Dudasova, Svidnik, SLOVAKIA………………………………76 points
5 Liesbeth van Dalen, Amsterdam, Netherlands……………………..68 points
6 Willems Heidi, O.L.V.Waver  Belgium………………………………..60 points
7 Celeste McKenzie, Pretoria, South Africa……………………………54 points
8 Anna Herrington, London, UK………………………………………..48 points
9 Gerry Priest, St Andrews Fife Scotland……………………………..42 points
10 Ginger Attaway, Pacific Palisades, CA, USA……………………….36 points
11 Andreas Budiwidjaja, Jakarta Indonesia…………………………..30 points
12 Tilly Meijer, Spijkenisse the Netherlands………………………….24 points
13 Christian Denes, Chicago, IL USA………………………………….18 points
14 S. KATHIRESAN, RUSAYIL, OMAN…………………………………12 points
15 Lai Jun Wei, Singapore, Republic of Singapore……………………6 points

The amount of images submitted for projects are quite substantial and sometimes a few will stand out from the crowd. These are the types of images that make it into our Student Gallery. Here are two photos that stood out from the crowd and have been chosen for the Student Gallery.

Pencils by Jacqueline Georgiou

Jacqueline is currently doing our Digital Photography Course and had previously completed our Basic Photography Course. This image was chosen from her first Digital Photography Project. There is no need for explanation as to what caught the eye in this image. The strong colours and simple shapes are an immediate eye catcher.

City Reflections by Merran Jones

It can be quite difficult to isolate a subject in a city environ. However Merran has come up with a nice clean photo of this building and the reflection. No digital enhancements were carried out in this image and the distortions were created by the glass. Merran is a Basic Photography student and she entered this photo as part of her second project.

You can view these images here:
http://www.schoolofphotography.com/gallery/gallery11.html

 

When you are shopping for a digital camera what is the most important feature you look for? Is it how many exposure functions the camera has? The type of memory card it uses? Is it compact or are you looking for a SLR camera? Whatever the answer to these three questions, the first question you may ask or more notably the first detail you will be told, either through advertising or the salesperson, is how many megapixels the camera is capable of producing. However is this the most important consideration for most amateur photographers?

Just a few years ago this was a very important consideration as digital cameras generally had a very low resolution. Every extra pixel available counted toward the ability to produce reasonably sized images and fine detail rendition. Now even the most basic of compact cameras that have recently hit the camera market has at least 4 megapixels of optical resolution. This is more than enough to produce a decent quality image of up to A4 (11″x8″ approx.) in size.

There are many compact digital cameras now using image sensors that can produce 5, 6 and 7 megapixel images. But is this really necessary, particularly for the occasional snapper who may only blow the dust off their camera at certain times of year? Not really, but there is an advantage to all these pixels for certain uses.

Even though cameras now seem to have more pixels than is needed, there still is the factor of choice in the size a person chooses to enlarge an image or how finely recorded their subject must be. For the serious enthusiast and for professional purposes, the more megapixels the better as this makes the image more versatile, though not necessarily of any better image quality.

So one fact has now changed regarding the image quality of a digital camera. No longer is the pixel resolution the main factor that it was when choosing a digital camera, as they nearly all have adequate resolution to produce a good quality image for most purposes.

We as consumers can now start looking at the other features in a digital camera and give them more consideration when buying. Most digital cameras are now packed with real photographic features that seemed to have been considered added bonuses rather than important features in the camera. Now that megapixels is no longer of too much significance, we can look past the usual advertising indicators and see what these cameras are really made of.