Date/Time
Date(s) - Tuesday, October 27, 2015
7:30 pm - 10:30 pm
11 Harbourview Cres, Lavender Bay. – BAY ROOM, Ground Floor
What is nature photography?
What is allowed:
– Cropping is allowed, as are clone tools to fix problems in the image
– Using imaging software such as Photoshop or Lightroom to optimise the image
– Techniques that remove elements added by the camera, such as dust spots, digital noise, and film scratches
-Use shutter speed to make the sea appear silky or to freeze a wave or the motion of a beetle’s wings, using flash to light a subject
-Colour images can be converted to grey-scale monochrome
-Subject matter: landscapes, geological formations, weather phenomena, and living creatures as the primary subject matter. This includes images taken where the subjects are either in the wild or in controlled conditions, such as zoos, game farms, botanical gardens, aquariums and any enclosure where the subjects are totally dependent on humans for food
-Techniques including HDR, focus stacking and dodging/burning
-All allowed adjustments must appear natural
What is not allowed:
-Photos which include the ‘hand of man’, with the exception of where it forms a very minor part
-Family pets
The definition of “nature photography” is strictly a personal one, at least partially dependent on aspects of our existence that are difficult to comprehend and impossible to define. In the final analysis, perhaps what truly defines “nature photography” is based entirely on what we as individuals bring to it spiritually and intellectually, thus rendering the need for a universal definition pointless.
The point of this definition is to open up the subject and to take the ownership away from a small number of ‘Nature Photographers’ who think that their definition is the only one. The beauty of nature should be enjoyed and shared, and not restricted just because of some closed-shop definition that says that an image isn’t eligible because it looks like it may have been taken in a zoo or that the lion is so scratch free that the photo must have been taken in a zoo and is therefore ineligible. We’ve all heard these comments from judges and this type of comment isn’t appropriate for this competition.
It is important to make sure that the ‘hand of man’ is avoided in the image, but if it is a minor part of the image and has no affect on the beauty of the subject, then it’s allowed.
Nature photography is the joy of viewing a beautiful flower through the viewfinder, the inspiration of a majestic scene coming into focus, the emotional connection made when the eyes of the subject make contact with the photographer’s eyes through a telephoto lens. For those brief periods of time behind the camera, when life’s trials and tribulations give way to something more fundamentally significant, it matters not where you are or how the subject got there.
If cropping is allowed, which it is, then so should be clone tools to fix problems in the image. If you’re allowed to take images of animals in African game parks, then you can take photos of animals in zoos (as long as the ‘hand of man’ isn’t visible). The difference is the size of the enclosure. If you can use flash to light an animal, then you can use imaging software such as Photoshop or Lightroom to bring out the image to its fullest extent. If you can use a high shutter speed to freeze the motion of the wings of beetle, then you can use shutter speed to make the sea appear silky or to freeze a wave. If image stitching is needed to create the image that you saw, then that is allowed.
If you have an expensive camera and the dynamic range of the scene can be captured in one image successfully, that’s great, but if the dynamic range of a subject is too high for a cheaper camera to capture in one image and image blending is required to achieve the result of what your eye saw, then this method to create an image is okay. In other words, using Photoshop skills to create an image that shows what your eye saw or what the camera captured is okay.
Techniques that enhance the presentation of the photograph without changing the nature story or the pictorial content, and without altering the content of the original scene, are permitted, including HDR, focus stacking and dodging/burning.
Techniques that remove elements added by the camera, such as dust spots, digital noise, and film scratches, are allowed.
All allowed adjustments must appear natural.
Colour images can be converted to grey-scale monochrome.
Images entered in Nature sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above can include landscapes, geological formations, weather phenomena, and living creatures as the primary subject matter. This includes images taken where the subjects are either in the wild or in controlled conditions, such as zoos, game farms, botanical gardens, aquariums and any enclosure where the subjects are totally dependent on humans for food.
The main aim is to enjoy all aspects of what nature brings to our eyes.