Vinegar and Chips

16 September 2009

Club Report 16/09/09.

On 16th September the Club commenced its new season of evening meetings with a virtual supper of ‘Vinegar and Chips’ presented by long standing club member, Ken Holland.

Ken is well known for his photographic prowess and his presentation was all about this, having nothing to do with cooking. The vinegar related to the smell of chemicals in the darkroom where he started some twenty five years ago, working his way through straight black and white photography to enhancements with sepia toning, infra red and other special effects. Later he embraced the digital age and the ubiquitous silicon chip.

Thus, his talk, well illustrated with projected images, was about his transition from the traditional darkroom to digital photography.The presentation demonstrated how the old darkroom techniques are still used, albeit on a computer, with the original image being cropped and otherwise enhanced with dodging (lightning) and burning (darkening) etc. In that connection it was illustrated how an ordinary colour picture could be turned into a more eye catching sepia toned image by adjusting the light levels, desaturating the colour, sharpening the image, darkening the background, lightning the main subject and adding a sepia effect. Advice was also given on how achieve good results by keeping the processes of processing and printing simple and consistent. Above all, the use of good quality paper and making small test prints were considered a necessity.

The audience, which included five potential new members, were treated to a wide range of images of different genres, including candid photography in Exeter and New York, commissioned portraits, landscapes on Dartmoor, features of buildings taken on holiday, still life and local dereliction.

Ken Holland is an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society, being a member of the local Contemporary group. His most recent project with this group has involved photographing abandoned and derelict structures on, or just off the roadside, in the West Country. These images were featured in his talk and are about to be published, with accompanying verse and prose, in a book named 'Transient Witness', Ken's section being called ‘By the Way.’