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We’ve all taken snaps at friends’ and family weddings with the resulting photos falling far short of those the professional photographer. So what can you do to improve your photos beyond looking like offhand snaps?

The secret is in positioning – either yourself or the subjects.

Of course the professional has the benefit of prime position, top class gear and control over positioning of the happy couple. But there’s plenty of scope for the keen amateur with dramatically improved photos achieved by applying just a few simple tips and putting in a little extra thought and effort.

As most wedding photography is of groups of people (i.e. the wedding party) and of the bride and groom showing off their outfits the primary requirement is to take full body shots. To achieve the best result when taking full body shots of 1 – 4 people:-

(i) turn your camera on its side into the portrait position and either zoom the lens or move yourself to a point where the viewfinder is filled with the subjects – stay within 4 metres of the subjects

(ii) make sure the in-camera flash is turned on

(iii) kneel or bend down to bring the camera level with the mid area of the subjects body and focus on the midriff region

(iv) take your pic.

(v) for larger groups turn the camera to landscape and apply the same techniques

This process will give the most natural perspective of the subjects in the final print and avoid deep shadows.

Inevitably the best opportunities for taking photos is outdoors before or after the formal ceremony, where light and shadow can be detrimental to getting a great shot.

Try to take your shot with the sun slightly to the side and rear of the couple to avoid squinting and deep shadow.

(i) choose an angle where the subjects are not looking into the sun, bright lights or reflections as they will cause squinting and washout the detail in light fabrics such as the wedding dress.

(ii) once again, make sure to use the camera’s flash to light up any shadowed areas. (iii) watch for mottled shade from trees as they will take away from the detail in your shot.

Something different in perspective or character makes for great shots.

The best shots are those from unique angles and of casual situations nobody else has captured.

(i) look for a position where you gain a unique perspective – higher or lower or from further back.

(ii) look for something pleasing and different as a background (try to avoid ‘messy’ or ‘busy’ backgrounds)

(iii) frame the subject in an archway or garden setting

(iv) if you get the chance ask the couple to pose just for you for a minute.

Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the process of getting great images.

Handy camera tips
By Ash Jamieson, Vizzisign Digital Design

These handy pointers will help keep your camera in good condition and ensure you are
well placed to capture the best possible images everytime.

1. In cold weather allow your camera to adjust to the ambient temperature for a few
minutes before taking photos to avoid fogging of the lens.
2. Store your camera away from direct sunlight and excess heat. Electronics and
memory cards can be damaged when exposed to high temperatures – 40 degrees
is considered a high temperature.
3. Lens cleaning is best done using a silk cleaning cloth as sold for cleaning eyeglasses.
Make sure the cloth is kept in a clean, sealed container (zip-lock plastic bags work
quite well) and use only gentle pressure on the lens with the cloth on the pad of
your finger tip.
4. Batteries should always be removed from your camera if it’s not being used for more
than a couple of weeks. Ageing batteries can cause corrosion and permanently
damage your camera.
5. Formatting of memory cards periodically helps maintain a clean file system on the
card, reducing the potential for corruption of image files and maximising the
storage speed of new images.
6. The optimum distance for shooting with an ‘on-camera’ flash in dull conditions is
about 3 metres.
Using the flash too close over exposes light subjects such as faces. When used
from too greater distance subjects will be under exposed and dark photos result.
7. Regularly download your photos and save them on to one or more CD/DVDs or
memory sticks and store them in a safe place. Preferably duplicates should be
stored at separate locations.
8. When not in use store your camera equipment in a sealed, padded bag to avoid
damage and stop dust and sand from getting inside.
9. Don’t place memory cards close to a mobile phone in your bag or pocket as
electromagnetic fields can corrupt the image files.
10. Double check your camera settings regularly as they can be easily changed by an
accidental bump. Important settings to check include the auto/manual program
switch, macro/normal, flash on/of/auto and the auto/manual focus switch.
11. Take care to keep your fingers, hair and the like from covering the lens or flash
when shooting.

Fishing Our Local Creeks – Dandenong Ranges

Our area is threaded with a multitude of streams ranging in size from quite small up to large creeks in the larger valleys and most harbour fish life of some sort.

What you can expect to catch in our local streams is a mix of native and introduced fish species including southern blackfish, eels, redfin (English perch), trout (primarily brown trout) all of which are excellent table fish. Of course there are some less desirable species such as European carp, Tench and Roach each of which has been introduced from European countries over the years and are of questionable eating value though fun to catch. You might be lucky enough to catch the unusual freshwater ‘flathead’ the Tupong though these are best released.

The most productive parts of the stream to fish are the deeper pools which are usually located at the bends or at the base of small falls and ideally have some form of obstacle in them like a fallen tree or large rock which both provides cover for the fish and breaks up the stream flow bringing food items past the waiting fish.

Following a few golden rules will greatly enhance your chances of success:- evening and early morning or after heavy rain are by far the best fishing times, approach the fishing spot quietly and preferably from downstream, use fresh bait, as light weight line and sinker as possible, don’t disturb the water any more than absolutely necessary.

Blackfish and eels are most usually caught at and after dusk with worms being the favoured bait. The bait is best left on the bottom of the pool as near to logs or sticks as possible as this is where the fish are most likely to be – which can make an interesting challenge to land the fish!

Trout and redfin can be caught throughout the day (also carp, tench and roach)  however late in the afternoon is best. Best baits include worms, mudeyes and grasshoppers. Use the smallest sinker weight possible (a split shot or none) and cast the bait to the top end of the pool and allow it to move ‘naturally’ into the pool as these species react well to a moving bait.

You may require a recreational fishing licence if you are aged between 18 – 70. (Check the DSE website for details)

Have fun and good luck!

As digital photos are typically in a 4:3 ratio from the camera they almost always ‘blow out’ in width when displayed on wide screen digital screens.

Digital photo frames display images in a wide screen format – most in a 14:9 ratio – and the integral display software attempts to fill the screen by expanding/compressing the images disproportionately until either of the height or width image edges touch the screen perimeter. Usually, in the case of landscape images, it is the height of the image that reaches its maximum extent first and the longer edge (width) simply stretched within the physical constraint of the display at the cost of losing its aspect ratio to the height. The resulting image appears squashed and stretched.

In order to achieve a screen filling image in proper proportions requires a little trickery with the image file in a photo editing program. It is easy to accomplish with a minimum of software skills.

Adjustment Steps

1. Place a copy of your images into a new working folder away from the originals so as not to overwrite your master image files.
2. Open your copy image in an editing program (e.g. Photoshop)
3. Select the ‘image size’ function  which usually allows images to be resized by % or by measures such as pixels or mm. Resizing can be done either with ‘constrained proportions’ or not. (Constrained proportions applies the same ratio adjustments to both height and width at the same time)
4. For this project the image height and width will be changed independently using the % adjustment. Once % is selected the image dimensions will both be displayed as 100%
5. At this point to achieve a 14:9 aspect ratio the width (top) measurement is changed to 140% and the height (side) is changed to 90%
6. The image will now look very wide and squat.
7. When loaded into the digital photo frame the frames software will force the image to fit the screen causing the image to be displayed with a near normal aspect ratio.

The aspect ratio of your screen can easily be determined with a quick calculation – divide the screen longest edge by shortest, the result closely denotes the screen aspect ratio i.e. 1.78 = 16:9, 1.75 = 14:8, 1.56 = 14:9.

Note: Due to slight variations in screen sizes and display software minor tweeks in the image size percentages might deliver better results.

Each band is made to withstand outdoor conditions at club gymkhanas and events days. We discovered early by experience many bands are made with cardboard stiffeners and held together with craft hot glue, neither handles the outdoors very well. Hot glue softens in warm weather and loses adhesion while in damp weather cardboard simply falls apart.

The ribbon and other materials are all top quality clothing grade products and hand sewn.