Club Meeting, Landscape in a Different Light - Tuesday 14th November 2023.
On Tuesday 14th November, Morpeth Camera Club was pleased to welcome guest speaker John Thompson ARPS EFIAP
CPAGB, one of the club's most accomplished photographers, with a print presentation entitled ‘Going Local - Landscape
in a Different Light.’
John opened the evening with an example of what most people assume to be infra-red (IR) photography in which the sky
was jet black and the foliage resembled snow. He went on to show more of his work and the audience gradually realised
that the original example print was not what he was hoping to achieve in his IR work and he set out to explain the subtle
differences and show the results that can be achieved in this genre of photography.
John uses a camera specifically converted for IR images that lets infrared light through. This conversion produces sharper
IR images that aren’t bound to a lens filter’s equipment requirements. IR conversion also removes the need for very long
exposures and external filters, and is used like a normal camera.
A series of night images followed where he learned that the camera should be set at the absolute minimum settings and,
after experimentation, he realised that the camera could pick up unexpected detail. He then went on to show his prints of
graveyards. With phenomenal tree detail interspersed with atmospheric dappled light, his cameras’ response to foliage
produced the impact and energy that he was looking for.
He challenged himself to find images that work in terms of geometry using his favorite aspects of black and white coming
through. He then went on to explain positioning to achieve good light. In some areas, it is hard to find different points of
view to acquire shape and geometry but he displayed scenes taken at Plessey Woods, with its swathes of garlic, copses
and textured tracks through the woods demonstrating what he wanted to achieve. Skies are important to the picture he
said, they add interest and provide rewarding possibilities; contra-jour can create light beams and shadows for a well
based picture, accepting light in a different way.
He went on to display three different images, one of which was not taken with an IR camera and we were asked which
one it was. The answer was revealed when John explained that infrared light picks up the chlorophyll in greenery which
turns grass silver, resembling snow, whereas, in the none infra-red image the grass was detailed and relatively dark.
The paper used when printing is also a factor of success, a semi gloss paper will catch the light on trees and gives the
scene a three-dimensional quality whereas a matt paper would flatten the image. There are times when he sees a view
and just knows that it will be a good one and he gets excited by the experience. He avoids taking coloured photographs
in the Cheviots in high summer when the hills are different shades of green but prefers to photograph in IR which brings
out the textures, and depth, providing a sense of space and is enhanced by the detail in sweeping clouds.
John loves to capture the joy of the area with sheep in the fields under big skies, where he experiences the feeling of
what he believes infrared photography should be. Throughout the evening he included anecdotes on his experiences
of being approached by a herd of sheep, of an organist playing in a remote church, meeting some friendly fishermen,
grumpy landowners, and of his getting lost in tall nettles.
Chairman Peter Downs thanked John for an excellent presentation where we had enjoyed him showing us and talking
about more than seventy of his high-quality infra-red prints, introducing an alternative take on our lovely countryside,
which we have now seen '...in a different light'.
Steph.
CPAGB, one of the club's most accomplished photographers, with a print presentation entitled ‘Going Local - Landscape
in a Different Light.’
John opened the evening with an example of what most people assume to be infra-red (IR) photography in which the sky
was jet black and the foliage resembled snow. He went on to show more of his work and the audience gradually realised
that the original example print was not what he was hoping to achieve in his IR work and he set out to explain the subtle
differences and show the results that can be achieved in this genre of photography.
John uses a camera specifically converted for IR images that lets infrared light through. This conversion produces sharper
IR images that aren’t bound to a lens filter’s equipment requirements. IR conversion also removes the need for very long
exposures and external filters, and is used like a normal camera.
A series of night images followed where he learned that the camera should be set at the absolute minimum settings and,
after experimentation, he realised that the camera could pick up unexpected detail. He then went on to show his prints of
graveyards. With phenomenal tree detail interspersed with atmospheric dappled light, his cameras’ response to foliage
produced the impact and energy that he was looking for.
He challenged himself to find images that work in terms of geometry using his favorite aspects of black and white coming
through. He then went on to explain positioning to achieve good light. In some areas, it is hard to find different points of
view to acquire shape and geometry but he displayed scenes taken at Plessey Woods, with its swathes of garlic, copses
and textured tracks through the woods demonstrating what he wanted to achieve. Skies are important to the picture he
said, they add interest and provide rewarding possibilities; contra-jour can create light beams and shadows for a well
based picture, accepting light in a different way.
He went on to display three different images, one of which was not taken with an IR camera and we were asked which
one it was. The answer was revealed when John explained that infrared light picks up the chlorophyll in greenery which
turns grass silver, resembling snow, whereas, in the none infra-red image the grass was detailed and relatively dark.
The paper used when printing is also a factor of success, a semi gloss paper will catch the light on trees and gives the
scene a three-dimensional quality whereas a matt paper would flatten the image. There are times when he sees a view
and just knows that it will be a good one and he gets excited by the experience. He avoids taking coloured photographs
in the Cheviots in high summer when the hills are different shades of green but prefers to photograph in IR which brings
out the textures, and depth, providing a sense of space and is enhanced by the detail in sweeping clouds.
John loves to capture the joy of the area with sheep in the fields under big skies, where he experiences the feeling of
what he believes infrared photography should be. Throughout the evening he included anecdotes on his experiences
of being approached by a herd of sheep, of an organist playing in a remote church, meeting some friendly fishermen,
grumpy landowners, and of his getting lost in tall nettles.
Chairman Peter Downs thanked John for an excellent presentation where we had enjoyed him showing us and talking
about more than seventy of his high-quality infra-red prints, introducing an alternative take on our lovely countryside,
which we have now seen '...in a different light'.
Steph.