School of Photography Newsletters

For the second year in a row Anupam Pal has won the School of Photography.com Photographer of the Year Award. He fought off some stiff competiton this year but consistantly high quality images have helped him regain the title. There looked as if a late flurry by a few contestants could beat Anupam to the post. However only one contestant, Miron Mikita showed any sort of threat.

For his trouble, Anupam wins our grand prize; a Nikon D50 digital SLR camera. Congratulations and good shooting Anupam!

Of course we cannot forget the winner of the final competition; Gerry Priest. His fine black & white study of a ruined Cathedral stood head and shoulders above what was a very good show of images.

Second place went to Mark Anthony Kathurima of Kenya with a very strong close-up portrait.

Third place was won by Marija from Latvia with a nicely constructed abstract image.

Congratulations to all and we hope to see your work again in our competitions next year. 

You can see all the winning images for 2006 at http://www.schoolofphotography.com/results2006.html

Competition 5 Results:

1 Gerry Priest, St Andrews Fife U.K………………………………100 points
2 Mark Anthony Kathurima, Nairobi, Kenya………………………92 points
3 Marija, Daugavpils, Latvia…………………………………………84 points
4 Vanwalleghem Frederic, Bavikhove, Belgium…………………..76 points
5 Tilly Meijer, Spijkenisse, Netherlands……………………………68 points
6 Milos Hlinka, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland………………………60 points
7 Hugo C. Cardoso, Amsterdam, Holland………………………..54 points
8 Marsha Barritt, Upton, WY, USA………………………………..48 points
9  Liesbeth van Dalen, Leeuwerikstraat…………………………..42 points
10 Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland…………………….36 points
11 Suzanne Wheeler Price, Northampton, UK…………………..30 points
12 Beel Wout, ROESELARE, Belgium……………………………..24 points
13 Anupam Pal, State College, PA, U.S.A………………………..18 points
14 Wendra Ajistyatama, Jember Jatim, Indonesia……………..12 points
15 Patty Nieuwenburg, London, UK………………………………..6 points

Photographer of the Year Final Results
1 Anupam Pal, State College, PA, U.S.A………………………….254 points
2 Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland………………………226 points
3 Gerry Priest, St Andrews Fife U.K……………………………….192 points
4 Milos Hlinka, Ross Road, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland……….162 points
5 Anna Herrington, London, UK……………………………………160 points
6 Raymond Widawski, Brussels, Belgium………………………..158 points
7 Tilly Meijer, Spijkenisse. the Netherlands………………………146 points
8 Yolande Scheepers, Al Ain, U.A.E……………………………….144 points
9 ANDREAS BUDIWIDJAJA, Jakarta LFCN, Indonesia………….132 points
10 Eduard Maydanik, Fellbach, Germany…………………………100 points
11 John O’Neill, Waterford, Ireland…………………………………92 points
   Yoran van Leeuwen, Gouda, The Netherlands…………………92 points
   Tom Martens, Riemst, Belgium……………………………………92 points
   Mark Anthony Kathurima, Nairobi, Kenya………………………92 points 
12 Anton Bredell, Brackenfell, South Africa………………………84 points
   Michael Lewis, Vancouver, BC. Canada………………………….84 points
   Marija, Daugavpils, Latvia………………………………………….84 points
13 Marsha Barritt, Upton, Wyoming, USA………………………..76 points
   Patty Godsalve, Silverdale, WA.USA…………………………….76 points
   R.C. Jenkins………………………………………………………….76 points
   Vanwalleghem Frederic, Bavikhove, Belgium…………………..76 points    
14 Lia Gunster-Schröter, Westerbork, The Netherlands………68 points
   Boris Michalicek, Poprad, Slovak Republic………………………68 points
   Carolien Willems, Rotselaar Belgium…………………………….68 points
15 Caleb Foster, Pittsburgh PA. USA………………………………60 points
Keep a close eye on our website and this ezine for details of next years School of Photography.com Photographer of the Year competitions.

 

Student Gallery - Stefan Edwards and Julian King

Here are two more project photos taken by students and selected for their outstanding quality for our Student Gallery.

National Museum Roof: Stefan Edwards, U.K.

Stefan recently completed our Digital Photography Course and this image was part of his last project. What makes this image stand out is the perfect symmetry of the glass framed roof. This may look easy to take but it takes a good eye and photographer to get it right, as Stefan has done.

Clown Fish: Julian King, Tuffley, Gloucester, U.k.

Rich colours are one of the strongest forms of impact you can use to catch the viewers eye. Julians image has this eye catching quality in full with this colourful fish. Julian is a Basic Photography Student who recently submitted this image as part of her Project 3 entry. This image was of great advantage to her as the compositional quality plays a major part of the final grade for Project 3.

 

You can view these images here:
http://www.schoolofphotography.com/gallery/gallery12.html

The popularity of our competitions is really starting to take hold as the number of entries are increasing with every round, this one being no exception. Also one might expect with quantity the overall quality of entries might suffer, but this is not the case as in general, the quality of images was very high, making our judges job a tough one.

One point we have made in the past is the significant number of entries disqualified because the rules of entry were not followed. This still seems to be a problem as there was quite a few images that were disqualified, in particular for not following the instructions regarding the specified image sizes when emailing.

However on with the results and the winner is Eduard Maydanik from Fellbach, Germany. Eduard won with an eyecatching photo of dancers taken using a slow shutter speed creating motion blur.

Second place went to Gerry Priest St Andrews Fife U.K with a photo of a dirt biker. The movement was enhanced in the photo by using zoom burst to perfection. 

Third place was won by Michael Lewis Vancouver, BC. Canada with a photo using a slow shutter speed of a moving train. The static figure of a photographer stood well next to the blurred train.

One final fact to note is the top seven people who placed in this competition have not scored points in the competition so far this year. Therefore even though he didn’t gain points in this competition, Anupan Pal still holds a comfortable lead on the photographer of the Year table. If Anupan wins the Photographer of the Year 2006 title, he will have won his second in a row, the first person to achieve this.

With only one competition to go, there are still four other contestants with a realistic chance of making that final sprint to overtake Anupan. These contestants include; Miron Mikita, Anna Herrington, Raymond Widawski and Yolande Scheepers. Hopefully these five contestants will pull out all the stops with their entries in the last competition to really make it a “Photo Finish”!

You can see these and past winning images at

http://www.schoolofphotography.com/results2006.html

Do you want to take photos like the images that won this months competition? Then simply enrol in our Basic Photography Course. For further information go to -

http://www.schoolofphotography.com/basic_photography_course.html
You can enrol today at http://www.schoolofphotography.com/fees/

Movement Results

1  Eduard Maydanik, Fellbach, Germany………………………..100 points
2 Gerry Priest, St Andrews Fife U.K…………………………..92 points
3 Michael Lewis, Vancouver, BC. Canada………………………..84 points
4 R.C. Jenkins……………………………………………..76 points
5 Carolien Willems, Rotselaar Belgium…………………………68 points
6 Caleb Foster, Pittsburgh PA. USA……………………………60 points
7 Richard Eyley, London, UK………………………………….54 points
8 Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland………………….48 points
9  Lenny Dorodny Brooklyn NY, USA…………………………….42 points
10 Iris Mager, Groningen, Netherlands…………………………36 points
11 Milos Hlinka, Ross Road, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland……….30 points
12 James Tockuss, Sydney, NSW, Australia………………………24 points
13 Bram Huvenaars…………………………………………..18 points
14 Tilly Meijer, Spijkenisse, Netherlands……………………..12 points
15 Raymond Widawski, Brussels, Belgium…………………………6 points
 

Photographer of the Year table after 4 competitions
1 Anupam Pal, State College, PA, U.S.A………………………..236 points
2 Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland…………………190 points
3 Anna Herrington, London, UK………………………………..160 points
4 Raymond Widawski, Brussels, Belgium…………………………158 points
5 Yolande Scheepers, Al Ain, U.A.E……………………………144 points
6 ANDREAS BUDIWIDJAJA, Jakarta LFCN, Indonesia…………………132 points
7 Milos Hlinka, Ross Road, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland………..102 points
8 Eduard Maydanik, Fellbach, Germany………………………..100 points
9 John O’Neill, Waterford, Ireland…………………………….92 points
  Yoran van Leeuwen, Gouda, The Netherlands……………………92 points
  Tom Martens, Riemst, Belgium…………………………………92 points
  Gerry Priest, St Andrews Fife U.K…………………………..92 points
10 Anton Bredell, Brackenfell, South Africa………………………84 points
   Michael Lewis, Vancouver, BC. Canada………………………..84 points
11 Tilly Meijer, Spijkenisse. the Netherlands…………………..78 points
12 Marsha Barritt, Upton, Wyoming, USA…………………………76 points
  Patty Godsalve, Silverdale, WA.USA……………………………76 points
  R.C. Jenkins……………………………………………..76 points   
13 Lia Gunster-Schröter, Westerbork, The Netherlands……………..68 points
   Boris Michalicek, Poprad, Slovak Republic……………………..68 points
   Carolien Willems, Rotselaar Belgium…………………………68 points
14 Caleb Foster, Pittsburgh PA. USA……………………………60 points
15 Cheryl Mazak, Ottawa, Canada………………………………..54 points
   Andre Gilden, Haarlem, Netherlands……………………………54 points
   Richard Eyley, London, UK………………………………….54 points

 

 

For information on further competitions, rules, prizes etc see our competiton page at http://www.schoolofphotography.com/comp.html
 

What does it take to get your photo on the Student Gallery? The photo would have to be of perfect technical quality and would need to stand out from a crowd. Take Caroline Whittaker’s image titled “Night Gull”: Here we have a bright white bird against a dark and brooding sky. The image is conjured through a digital editing program by adding the bird to the monochromed sky but all this is carried out perfectly.

The other latest image to hit our Student Gallery webpages is Stepping Stone by Tim Wilson. This is a straight forward image but it stands out. Technically it is top drawer as it is so sharp and well exposed, you can feel the water, leaf and flower. Every detail is perfect and the colours of the leaf, ripples in the water and the nice shadow patterns all blend to make an image you can almost taste.

You can view these images here:
http://www.schoolofphotography.com/gallery/gallery12.html

What is the definition of confusion? Shopping for a printer. They come in all shapes, sizes and formats and trying to choose the right one can be mind boggling. However here we will come to the rescue, at least be of some help to hopefully point you in the right direction.

Printers can be loosely divided into a few categories.

Firstly there is the enprint sized photo printer. These print photos of a similar size (approximately 6″x4″) to what you would get from your photo processor when developing film. They often can be acquired bundled with a camera and nearly all can be used without a computer. The camera or memory card can be plugged straight into them and out pops your printed photo with a minimum of fuss.

The advantage of these printers is they are simple to use and you can get your images printed in an instant. The disadvantages though are; they can only be used for printing small prints and the ink and paper is expensive. In fact more expensive then having your digital images printed by your local processor who has digital printing facilities.

Then there is the standard computer inkjet printer which has evolved drastically over the recent past. Most inkjet printers boast photo quality printing with various degrees of quality depending on the ink, paper and settings used. A good quality inkjet printer will print up to A4 size and borderless. Some are now even capable of printing directly from a memory card without the need of using a computer. Some will even have an editing screen built into the printer for previewing and sorting through the images on the memory card.

There are a few advantages to an inkjet printer. One is the printer can be used for general purposes, not just photographic images. Another is you can vary the size of your prints. And thirdly, though printing using these types of printers is still expensive, there is more scope for shopping around for the best deals on paper and inks.

Finally there is the combination printer/scanner/copier. These all round machines are very versatile and can achieve some good results. However some sacrifices are bound to be made in comparison to the dedicated printer in order to facilitate the other options in the machines. 

There is a lot of technical aspects regarding printers, as is the case with all digital appliances. However when comparing printers look at these few capabilities:

1. Resolution - The higher the resolution capabilities the better. Sharpness and colour saturation is better with high resolution printers, even if you don’t print your images at the highest available resolution on the printer.

2. Inks - In theory, the more colour inks that are used, the better the colour quality that can be produced. Printers usually have between four and six colours, including black. Some may have all the colours included in one cartridge while others will have each colour in individual cartridges. Which is better really is splitting hairs but economically in the long run, fewer colours in separate cartridges probably works out cheaper.

3. Speed - Not the most important aspect where printing photos is concerned. Some printers are faster at printing than others and the makers tend to put a lot of stock in this. However for most general purposes, speed is the least concern as long as the finished product is of good quality. Speed is more important when printing documents, in particular when large quantities is concerned.

Want to know more about digital printing?  Learn all about it in our Digital Photography Course. See full details at http://www.schoolofphotography.com/digital_photography_course.html

Do you want to start shooting for our next competition “Movement”? Then have a look at our latest Infocus Phototips installment. Shoot blur, freeze movement, it is all here at http://www.schoolofphotography.com/if/infocus35.html

UPDATE: 7th October 2006: This position has now been filled.

Applications are invited for the following position:

Photography Tutor: Part-time (ref:pt806)

Online Photography Courses

• Applications are invited to undertake tutoring via email students following the various photography courses at the School of Photography.com website.
• Applicants are required to hold suitable life experience in photography and/or a relevant photographic qualification.
• Applicants should preferably have some experience of teaching.
• You must have a valid email address and access to your own computer.
• Suitable applicants will be shortlisted and required to write a critique of a standard project.

Renumeration:

• The successful applicant will be employed on a self-employed tax basis and will be required to submit a monthly invoice.
• Renumeration is paid at a set rate per project completed.
• Payment is made once a month against a submitted invoice showing completed projects.
• Payments within the Republic of Ireland are by Euro-Cheque.
• Payments outside of the Republic of Ireland are made via PayPal.

Closing Date: Fri, Sep 15th, 2006, 17:00 :

Applications with an up-to-date Curriculum Vitae are to be mailed to

HR Dept, School of Photography.com, PO BOX 314, Tralee, Co. Kerry, Ireland.

with the subject Tutor Position Application ref:pt806.

School of Photography.com is an equal opportunity employer

Thank you

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.