Guest Speakers John and Sue Baker
On Thursday 23rd March 2017 we were treated to a talk from Landscape photographers Jon and Sue Baker. The couple clearly share a passion for photography but also are clearly dedicated to each other. Jon described himself as a photographer who walks and Sue a walker who photographs.
Jon began creating digital composites in 1994 but quickly found himself taking pictures to be used as parts of images and began to increasingly realise that he was unsatisfied with this style of photography. He had some success with composites and people images but was drawn to the challenge of landscape photography.
After a number of years shooting slide film, they changed to digital cameras in 2006. They concentrate on composure and composition, trying to reflect the emotion and beauty of the scenes that they see. However, they shoot in RAW colour which gives them leeway to adjust parts of images to balance exposure or convert to mono later. They try to do as little as possible to images, but use a mixture of camera raw, Nik FX and Topaz.
We were treated to photographs from around the world including U.K. Scotland, Chamonix – France, Norway, Iceland and Wales.
They provided a very entertaining dialogue to accompany their images plus giving tips about how the images were taken.
Highlights of their tips were:
• Take photos for pleasure and for memories not to impress people.
• Take pictures in bad weather, you can always dry your lens.
• When walking in mountains give priority to water and food rather than a tripod.
• Listen to judge’s comments, but take pictures for your own pleasure.
• Give consideration to leading lines and pleasing shapes.
• You don’t always need to walk for miles, a shot from a car or a hotel balcony can often be successful.
We saw lots of beautiful images and were entertained throughout the evening.
Darrell