The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Camera Club will open “Doors”

By Rex Dolby

WoodlawnDoorThe Van Wert Area Photography Club achieved a major goal at its meeting Thursday, February 9.  That goal was to decide what the 5 categories would be for this year’s photography exhibit at the County Fair.  Various members suggested 11 possible ideas and the 5 c receiving the most votes became the list submitted.  The categories for this year are:  Expressions/Emotions,  Macro/Things Up Close,  Reflections,  Water,  and  Weather.  We understand that these categories are the ones that will appear in the fair book and will apply to both Color & Black/White and to the Junior & Senior Divisions.  This understanding means that you can get a head start on looking for just the right place and time to find your best scenes.

In other business, acting Treasurer Rex Dolby reported on recent transactions and how future bank statements will be received. He also said that federal and state agencies had confirmed receiving the club’s tax documents.

The club’s next meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 9, at 114 S. Race St.  “Doors” was selected as the competition theme.  If you think doors might be an interesting subject to photograph at some point in time, you might find the following suggestions helpful.

  1. Since doors are usually set in a frame and/or under a roof, select a day when it is cloudy bright instead of sunny.  That way you can eliminate the harsh shadows that are cast across the door.
  2. If the door is on a residence, (I can speak from experience) it is a good idea to notify the homeowner what you want to do to avoid any misunderstanding about your intentions.
  3. Select a higher aperture (8-12) to make sure the framework and the door are in sharp focus.
  4. Since we associate doors with straight, vertical and horizontal lines, get back farther and use a longer focal length lens to prevent the top of door from appearing to be curving in.  For the same reason, keep the camera body parallel to the door in order to avoid the appearance of the door being wider at the top or bottom, depending on which way the camera body was tipped.
  5. Some doors may become more interesting if you either include some clues about the structure where the door is located or wait till a person or animal are passing by.
  6. The door’s condition,  hardware, or construction can provide some opportunities for interesting close-up compositions.
  7.  Provide extra space around the subject to allow for straightening or other post production corrections.

 

 

POSTED: 02/15/17 at 3:08 pm. FILED UNDER: Camera Club News