Welshot Focus - Issue 3 - October 2017

issue 3

FOCUS ON...
COVER IMAGE:
by Sue Mannings
Taken at Welshot Does Venice
Chris Couchman
Hello &
Welcome
LEE IGGULDEN DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
EMAIL: lee@welshotimaging.co.uk MOBILE: 07765 461324
EIFION WILLIAMS MANAGING DIRECTOR
EMAIL: eifion@welshotimaging.co.uk MOBILE: 07990 680175
What’s an average day in the Couchman household
look like?
Busy… With a full time job and three teenagers in the
house there’s always something going on! Family is really
important to me, and I think that’s probably reflected in my
photography.
Finally issue three is here. With
October's arrival and the summer
holidays relegated to the memory
box we thought it was about time we got
"Focus" out to you to provided some Autumnal
inspiration to keep you going over the soon to be
darker days...
WELSHOT HQ: 01248 719126
Welshot Imaging Ltd – Plas Lon Las, Brynsiencyn, Anglesey LL61 6TQ
We've made a few changes over the summer to how we
work at Welshot - we've separated our Business & Blogger
Membership package from the Welshot website and it now has it's
very own place over on "The Kiwi Social" - this will be the place we help
those who's aim it is to learn all things Social Media - from starting a blog,
to creating a website, from learning WordPress to understanding SEO, from
helping those who are launching a product or service online to getting the best
from their camera to make great photos to help promote what they do in business or in
their blog.
When did you first hear about Welshot?
I was looking for work-placement opportunities for my
eldest when Welshot popped up; I’d met Lee and Eifion
previously through an e-photozine gathering, but my
photography had been mothballed for a couple of years
while I was studying and I’d lost touch. I took a chance
on calling Lee to see if she could help out, she invited us
to join them during the annual ‘Longest Day’ event to talk
about it, and I walked away as a member!
So you’ve been around long enough to see the Welshot
community grow to what it is now?
Indeed - many of the people I met at that first event are still
a part of the Welshot community and have become firm
friends! It’s always great to meet new people who share
our interest too :)
Of all the photos you’ve ever taken, describe your
favourite in less than 30 words.
That’s difficult! An early attempt at off camera flash;
daughter’s 16th birthday shoot with a venetian mask, very
dark and moody, but most of all an emotional connection.
This issue, we are focusing on personal projects - it is one of the best ways you can improve your
photography - make sure you checkout Will Cheung's article, it really is a great read. If you decide to
start a project of your own, don't forget the Welshot forum or the Personal Projects group on Facebook
- you can show them off there.
Gill McGowan - Welshot Does Seascape
During a normal week, do you find yourself taking more
photos with your camera or your phone?
robably my camera - but that said, I’m happy to use my
phone if it’s what I have to hand!
Well, that's it from me, issue four is already being prepped and will be ready for distribution in early
December.
Lee x
Take care, happy snapping.
Designed by L29 Creative
tel: 01248 490 141
email: Lynsey@L29creative.co.uk
As one of Welshot’s team leaders, what’s been your
funniest or most embarrassing moment? I’ll give you
the choice which one you answer!
I can’t pinpoint anything specific but I do love the BTS
shots that follow most events… I have a great image of
Jason Edwards demonstrating how to model and several
of people in undignified poses!
Who or what is the biggest influence on your
photography?
Education - I was fortunate to study at Derbyshire College
of Higher Education in the 80s where we were taught
everything from history and philosophy to technical
aspects like the zone system and darkroom techniques…
Happy days!
And something completely off-topic to finish. Jaffa
cakes – cakes or biscuits?
Cakes of course!
PAGE 3

YOUR IMAGES
We NEED
One of the questions I are commonly asked is “it looks fine
on screen, why won’t it be ok to print?”. The technical answer
to this is that a screen will only display a document at 72dpi
where when printed you will see 300dpi. dpi (or ppi) stands
for dots per inch or pixels per inch. Generally images and
graphics are made up from small dots (pixels). Dpi refers
to the number of these dots per inch in four colour (CMYK)
printing and is how the Focus newsletter is produced.
To help you out, the table below is based on printing a
portrait document at 300 pixels per inch which will give a
high quality result. When measuring a digital image there is
no defined size in cm or inches, this is determined by the dpi.
For example an image that is 1748 x 1240 pixels would be A6
size at 300dpi or A4 size at 150dpi. (An A4 document is twice
the height and twice the width of an A6).
by Derek Buick
SIZE NAME Size in mm Size in Pixels 300dpi Size in mm Size in Pixels 300dpi
(without bleed area) (without bleed area) (with bleed area) (with bleed area)
Business Card 85 x 55mm 1004 x 650 91 x 61mm 1075 x 720
DL / Comp Slip 99 x 210mm 1169 x 2480 105 x 216mm 1240 x 2551
A6 148 x 105mm 1748 x 1240 154 x 111mm 1819 x 1311
A5 210 x 148mm 2480 x 1748 216 x 154mm 2551 x 1819
A4 297 x 210mm 3508 x 2480 303 x 216mm 3579 x 2551
A3 420 x 297mm 4961 x 3605 426 x 303mm 5031 x 3579
A2 594 x 420mm 7016 x 4961 600 x 426mm 7087 x 5031
A1 841 x 594mm 9933 x 7016 847 x 600mm 10004 x 7087
A0 1189 x 841mm 14043 x 9933 1195 x 847mm 14114 x 10004
The best image format for printing is a TIFF (tagged image file format) it is lossless and is perhaps the most widely supported
image file format. It's happy being imported into almost any application that accepts images. The TIFF image format supports
multiple layers as well as RGB and CMYK colour spaces.
The other image format that is acceptable for printing and the one that most people will be familiar with is JPEG. However,
even at the highest quality levels, JPEG compression causes some alteration in some pixels, but at the highest quality setting,
the alteration will be very slight and should not be visible even in contrasty areas. This compression does mean that file sizes
are considerably smaller than TIFF files, so easier to send either by email or ftp transfer such as WeTransfer or Dropbox.
In the last edition of Focus I talked about how we are
trying to build up an image bank of members work taken
at academy evenings and events for use in various media.
I also touched on the size of images we need for use in
the Focus newsletter and for photo books. In this article
I am going to go into a little more detail by giving a basic
explanation of resolution, supply you with a handy image
sizing chart and the best formats to supply your images in.
PAGE 4
As a graphic designer I tend to get images supplied to
me directly from clients in a number of formats and sizes,
quite often not ideal for what we need. It can be extremely
frustrating and time consuming, having to go back and
ask for better quality images, especially when they arrive
embedded in Word documents or are only printable to the
size of a postage stamp. This is usually a case of a client
simply not understanding exactly what is required of them,
as it is not an area they have experience in. Once it has been
clearly explained, they know for future reference how to send
images to us, at what size and in what format.
Eifion Williams - Welshot Does Venice
105mm 99mm
A6
148.5mm
DL
210mm
210mm
A5
148.5mm
A6: 105 x 148.5mm
A5: 210 x 148.5mm
A4: 210 x 297mm
DL: 210 x 99mm
297mm
A4
210mm
PAGE 5

WELSHOT JOURNEY
My Portraiture
My interest was piqued, and I enthusiastically attended every Welshot event
I could in my local area, not merely portraiture, although that was the area I
really wanted to learn, but anything on offer, as it was so pleasant to spend a
friendly evening with welcoming, like minded people.
In the early stages I was content to await my go, watching techniques in
between turns but merely using the lighting arrangements Eifion and the Team
Leaders had expertly set up for up. I used this phase to learn more about
composition, posing and processing.
However curiosity took over, and I needed to learn how to use lights myself. I
quickly realised that this is something you never stop learning! But everyone
starts somewhere, and I started to ask about what the knobs and buttons
on the lights did, and to change the distance and angle of lights where this
fitted in with the event, and Eifion was more than willing to share his extensive
knowledge.
Eventually I acquired my own lighting – initially similar equipment to that used
by Welshot, but changing to a battery powered pair of lights which I could use
anywhere without the need to plug in. Now I was free to experiment on my
own. However having the confidence to do so was a whole other matter!
by Gill McGowan
My first shoot using the techniques I learned with Welshot was with a model
I had met at in their workshops, the lovely Bethany Cammack. I was assisted
by the supportive Roj Smith, who kindly moved my lights around at my
request, and gently made suggestions where necessary. I was hooked, and
the shoot went well, but I knew I still had a lot to learn.
I continued to attend Welshot events of all kinds to absorb as much as I could,
including a workshop led by photo magazine editor Will Cheung on how to get
published, which was fascinating and informative.
So you've gone about as far as you can flying solo as
a photographer. In my case I'd been at it since I was a
child – it was a family passion. But I'd moved away from
my home area, and my husband and son were neither
interested in photography, nor willing to be my subjects.
I was vaguely aware photo training was out there, but
had this idea that it would be everyone standing in a line
creating the same shots, and my independent spirit didn't
like that idea.
I took Will's wise words on board, started to shoot unassisted, and tentatively
submitted my work for publication. Will is a consummate professional, and
I have no expectation that my work will always reach the required standard.
However there have been occasions when I've hit the mark, and have been
delighted to be able to write articles to describe my process to accompany
my photos. Most recently I've been delighted to have an article published in
Photography News shooting with the fun and hardworking Phil Bruce, who I
also met through Welshot.
I had some limited contact with a few local photographers,
and so it was that the lovely Tim Charlesworth suggested
Welshot to me. Stupidly, it took 18 months for me to break
through my stubborn misconceptions and actually give it a
chance. It was portraiture which was appealing to me, and
in August 2011 I succumbed and booked onto an academy
evening with models in Llandudno. I was so far out of my
comfort zone, but I really needn't have worried. As well as
the knowledgeable Eifion and the warmly inclusive Lee, every
delegate there was pleased to involve me in their groups, and
were friendly and supportive. And so it was that I made my
first attempt at formal portraiture.
It wasn't perfect. The focus is a bit soft, the processing is
basic, and I'd set nothing up for myself, other than to pose
the lovely model. Now there was an area I hadn't foreseen
as an essential element of portraiture. There's so much more
to it than meets the eye. However I found it easy to talk to
the model as I took the shots, and Tim, who has supported
everything I do in photography then and since, was quick to
tell me I was a natural at posing my subject.
I would never have anticipated this was within my capabilities, and was
beyond anything I could have anticipated when I joined Welshot. However
if you have the passion for something, the willingness to learn, and the
confidence to apply it, anything is possible!
PAGE 6
PAGE 7

Indeed, it had been a busy time in Portugal’s capital city,
Lisbon, having spent most of the day photographing a
bride (Sadie) and her bridesmaid (Beth) around the busy
streets of this popular location. Our little team certainly
attracted the attention of locals and tourists alike when
we rocked up and started shooting with our off-camera
flash set-up.
You’re probably wondering why we were taking pictures of
a bride and her bridesmaid in Lisbon and to this day I’m not
sure there’s an answer other than ‘why not?’ After all, neither
Welshot’s bosstog Eifion nor I harbour any ambition to be
wedding photographers.
But that is the joy of digital photography: we do things with
our cameras that were unthinkable when all we had was film.
Now, it is because we can and in this case it did make for a
special birthday treat for Eifion.
As a photographer, I have always shot projects to keep me
inspired and now with a pocketful of memory cards I can
now obsess to a point where going for a walk with me comes
with a health warning. In Lisbon, I took the opportunity to
obsess on its trams. My projects mostly do not have any
predetermined end goal or preset time limit – they just
happen so when I saw the city’s trams I thought they would
be a good theme for the weekend to fill in the gaps when
Sadie and Beth weren’t around.
The trams proved fun and challenging. For example, I ended
up spending an hour in one spot waiting for a composition I
previsualised in my mind’s eye. I left empty-handed – well, it
wasn’t a complete bust but I didn’t get what I wanted. I got
close, but cars or tourists entering the scene at crucial times
ruined shots beyond the recovery of Photoshop’s cloning
skills.
I had greater success with one of my long-standing series:
my fascination for umbrellas. I am gradually building up
a collection of shots from various spots around the world
that would make a good book, in the same vein as Steve
McCurry’s On Reading featuring shots of people reading.
Our trip to Lisbon coincided with some grotty weather that
gave me the chance to hunt the brolly with the camera.
One day, it rained so heavily and for so long that it meant
that there were brollies everywhere which for me was photo
heaven. The conditions were so bad that it would have been
easy to sit in the hotel bar but having a reason to get out with
the camera meant I had purpose. Maybe too much purpose.
To be honest, the camera was better equipped to deal ...
Rain didn't STOP PLAY
Early in the morning I looked out of hotel window to check the
weather. The heavy rain told me to get back to bed, but looking
straight down I spotted a row of four stationery trams. Five
minutes later I was out on the street.
by Will Cheung
PAGE 8
You two girls have given Eifion
the best birthday present ever,
said Lee Iggulden to Team Creative’s Sadie and Beth, continuing
he’s exhausted but he’s got
loads of good pictures.
PAGE 9

poor but I got enough. Shooting from a lower viewpoint has
the advantage that you are looking up so there’s the chance
of capturing peoples’ faces. Come late afternoon, the rain
was so torrential that the usually busy streets of Lisbon were
empty of people and the poor light was making life a struggle
too. I’m happy to shoot at ISO 1600 and beyond on the X-T2
but with the gathering gloom, the lack of victims and my
unpleasantly damp trousers, I decide it is vino o’clock and
head back to the hotel.
Any morale to this tale? Yes, giving yourself as many chances
to use your camera is very much a good thing, whether that
is a city break or a little project. It will keep you enthused and
your pictures will only get better.
Above: Shot with the Fujifilm X-T2 with 56mm f/1.2 and 50-140mm f/2.8 lenses. My people shots were processed through Lightroom, then
Anthropics Portrait Professional and DXO FilmPack 5.
The tram, graffiti and nice side-lighting had potential. Better still, there was not a soul around. Fifteen minutes of waiting, trams on the
way, lovely. Tram gets to the right spot, behatted idiot and random tourists walk into shot. Doh!
Below: Shoot from chest-level means you get the chance of catching peoples’ faces as you are looking at. I relied on the camera’s
exposure and autofocus systems, and these shots were converted to mono using Google Nik’s Silver FX software.
with the weather than me. I had a waterproof jacket but didn’t
pack matching trousers which was a beginner’s mistake. The
camera, a weather-resistant Fujifilm X-T2, fared better than
me working fine all day without missing a beat. The camera
stopped autofocusing for a few minutes in the evening
and that was sorted with a lens swap, and there was some
condensation in the viewfinder eyepiece the next morning but
that soon went.
I shot my brolly snaps on three lenses, the 16mm f/1.4, 35mm
f/1.4 and 50-140mm f/2.8, only the latter being weather
resistant. The biggest challenge was keeping the lens front
water droplet free and the micro-fibre cloth from the local
outdoor shop helped here.
With its silent electronic shutter I could shoot at 14 frames
per second, which I did regularly trying to catch the decisive
moment. How Henri Cartier-Bresson did it with a manual
focus Leica wrapped up in his hankie and a couple of rolls
of film in his pocket, I’ll never know but that is why he is the
master.
Having the ability to shoot so many pictures very quickly is
a boon, but it comes at a price. One, it takes up memory, on
your camera’s card and on your hard drive back home, and
two, you have to at some point go through all your shots. On
the first point, with today’s large capacity cards there is no
excuse not to have enough memory for still shooting – shoot
hours of 4k video and that’s a different story. Many of you will
recall when a 1GB CompactFlash card cost around £1000 –
or £1 for a MB. Now £20 buys you a 64GB SD card - that is
0.03p per MB. I encourage people not to edit or chimp shots
until you are in a front of your computer and with large cards
there is absolutely no need to. Back home is when to look at,
rate and delete shots. I use Lightroom which is my preferred
workflow solution. Good firm editing to get rid of shots you
will never, ever use is important to save hard drive space.
Meanwhile, back in the pouring rain, I am stalking (obsessing!)
any photogenic brolly. I don't like brollies with branding logos
and those in Lisbon suited me very well. Much of the time
I shot with the camera at chest level, sometimes using the
camera’s tiltable monitor but mostly by pointing and shooting.
The hit rate with the latter technique was, as you'd expect,
PAGE 10
PAGE 11

UNPOSED
The Reflections in windows, a deep talk between
two friends, a young couple having a giggle fit, or a
significant scene that tells the world, “We’re not OK.”
What are the moments that pass you by? When you’re surrounded by
the familiarity of your local town or city, it’s easy to pass through the
streets without noticing the scenes unravelling beside you. Sometimes
these little moments of significance are worth recording — for history, for the
story, or for finding beauty in the mundane.
SmugMug teamed up with GuruShots to explore a project that encouraged
people from all around the world to pick up their cameras and seek out
the unposed moments that often go overlooked. This took shape in
the form of a photography contest run by David Dare Parker where the
winners had their photographs showcased at the Whitespace Gallery in
Edinburgh, Scotland, during the world’s largest arts festival: The Fringe
Festival. SmugMug were overwhelmed by how many thought-provoking
photographs were submitted, which resulted in 16.3 million votes!
The exhibition took place earlier this month, where attendees
got the opportunity to view the photographs and listen
to a talk by one of Scotland’s favourite candid street
photographers and SmugMug customer, Ami Strachan.
The exhibition showcased the top 400 photographs — 40
were printed by Loxley Colour and hung in the gallery, and
the remaining 360 photographs were displayed digitally
throughout the exhibition.
Of course, it was geographically difficult to give every
photographer their printed photograph after the exhibition,
so they kindly agreed to donate their photographs to a local
Edinburgh charity. Photographs are being donated to Big
Hearts Community Trust, who partners with local charities in
Edinburgh to provide a meaningful difference to families and
individuals that need their help the most.
SmugMug were so excited to reveal some of the winners
from this amazing contest, which helped to motivate
photographers from across the globe to engage in this
particular theme of unposed moments. Check out some of
the behind-the-scene photographs from this unique event.
Until next time...
STAR
In this issue Lauren
has chosen a photograph
by Robert Langton Davies.
PAGE 12
This is what Lauren has to say:
I think we can safely say that Summer is over and
we are definitely heading towards the Autumnal
and Winter seasons but I love the dispersed light
and low framing of Richards photograph which
evokes my memories and my love of light and
colours that only Spring time brings.
PAGE 13

welshot members
SHOWCASE
Dave Golding - Welshot Does Painting with Light
Gill McGowan - Welshot Does Off Camera Flash
Debbie Hunt - Welshot Does Seascapes
Steve Riley- Welshot Does Off Camera Flash
Louisa Crossley- Welshot Does Creative Macro
Sue Mannings - Welshot Does Off Camera Flash
Phil Newell - Welshot Does Motorsports
PAGE 14
Sue Hartley - Welshot Does Cityscapes
Kieran Metcalf - Welshot Does Seascapes
PAGE 15

Exposure Compensation
The light was very strong at times, and proved challenging due to the many
tall buildings and narrow streets. Many of the buildings are light in colour and
reflect the light back at the camera fooling the cameras meter. So, by using our
Exposure Compensation controls we could alter the camera’s settings, giving
us the exposure we wanted not what the camera selected for us.
White Balance
I shoot in both J Peg and RAW. I like to get my image colours on the camera
screen to look as I want. This is where altering the White Balance can help. I
often find that leaving the White balance on Auto gives my images a cool tone.
By altering it to match the conditions (Cloudy, Shade or Sunny) gives the image
more warmth and a more pleasing look. This way you can make your image
look the same as it did when you took it. This will only affect the J Peg image;
the RAW image is untouched so the J Peg serves as a guide when processing.
Level controls
Not familiar with these? Fitted to most cameras nowdays, I find these really
useful to help keep your image straight. These controls act as a type of
electronic spirit level, so your horizons should always be level.
Spare memory cards and batteries
Carry plenty of spare memory cards with you. You never want to run out of
space when away, and the same for camera batteries.
Adventures in VENICE
Welshot recently spent some time in the lovely City of Venice with a group of Welshotters. One thing which felt strange
to me was the lack of traffic as we know it, being a City of canals this made for some great photography navigating
the narrow streets with great Architecture and masses of history. Venice’s buildings are unique in their structure and
colour. Definatly a photographer’s paradise.
Here are a few general camera controls and hints we found useful whilst capturing our images over our time in Venice.
by Eifion Williams
PAGE 16
PAGE 17

PAGE 18
ACADEMY EVENINGS
ELLESMERE PORT
LONG EXPOSURES AND LOWLIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
Tuesday 14th November
Holiday Inn, Ellesmere Port: 6.30pm – 10pm Supper included
MANCHESTER
MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY
Wednesday 18th October
THEMED MODEL PHOTO-SHOOT - RE-CREATE A HOLLYWOOD IMAGE
Wednesday 15th November
fivefourstudios, Ellesmere Port: 6.30pm – 10pm Supper included
CHESTER
THEMED MODEL PHOTO-SHOOT – HALLOWEEN
Thursday 19th October
MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY
Thursday 16th November
Chester Crowne Plaza: 6.30pm – 10pm Supper included
ANGLESEY
THEMED MODEL PHOTO-SHOOT – HALLOWEEN
Wednesday 25th October
LONG EXPOSURE AND LOWLIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
Wednesday 29th November
Victoria Hotel, Menai Bridge: 6.30pm – 10pm Supper included
ROVING
LOWLIGHT LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY
Thursday 26th October
Conwy: 6.30pm – 10pm Supper included
SEASCAPE, LONG EXPOSURE, NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
Thursday 23rd November
Penmon: 6.30pm – 10pm Supper included
ACADEMY EVENTS
Mark Powell - Welshot Does Light Trails
OCT - NOV
WELSHOT DOES… THEMED MODEL PHOTO-SHOOT - NORSE DRAGON
Sunday, 15th October
Anglesey
FREE EVENT
WELSHOT OPEN DAY - AN INTRODUCTION TO WELSHOT
Saturday, 21st October
Crowne Plaza Chester
WELSHOT DOES… THEMED MODEL PHOTO-SHOOT – POLDARK
Saturday, 18th November
Crowne Plaza Chester
PAGE 19

MEMBER SINCE: SEPTEMBER 2015
Would you like to introduce yourself to the
readers?
Hi! I'm Sue Mannings (I'm only "Susan" if I've been naughty). I
was born and grew up in South Wales and came to Liverpool
to get my degree and train to be a teacher. I met my OH at
College after which we stayed in Liverpool, married, taught
or worked in education and have one brilliant son (not that
I'm biased) and wonderful daughter-in-law - oh and a granddog,
Philly, a beautiful rescue greyhound who has a penchant
for squirrels which has got us into a few painful scrapes ( but
that's another story). Next year, we celebrate 40 years of
wedded.......now, what's the word again?
How long have you been a member?
Ive been a member of Welshot since 2015 after attending a
Snapshot Day in Liverpool and was hooked! It was the best
move I've ever made in my photography journey.
What made you take the plunge and join?
My late father was a keen amateur photographer when I was
growing up and he used to let me help him in our converted
box room- darkroom. I remember watching the magic happen
as the images slowly came through and can still smell the
wonderful smell of the developing chemicals he used. Ive
always enjoyed taking photographs but after his death I
wanted to take it up "properly" in his honour and carry on
doing something he loved. Welshot gave me the opportunity
to live my dream! From the first second I was introduced to
great people who made me so welcome and who inspired and
supported me and gave me the opportunity to turn my dream
into a reality through so many photographic opportunities,
learning so much, making good friends and having great fun in
the process.
Have you ever given one of your photos to somebody as a
gift? (And did you buy them a frame, or did they have to fork
out for one themselves?)
Yes, a few times. It sounds a bit big-headed, doesn't it? Most
recently, inspired my images Ive seen elsewhere, I took a
close-up photograph of my wedding ring balanced upright
on an Bible open at Saint Paul's " love is...." reflection, lit and
shot in such a way to make the ring's shadow look like a heart.
I mounted it on silver card, added a couple of hearts and an
insert and gave it to my OH this Valentine's Day. It's still on the
mantelpiece. I was actually pretty chuffed with that!
member FOCUS
ACADEMY EVENTS:
WELSHOT ACADEMY EVENINGS
AT CHESTER & ELLESMERE PORT.
FAVOURITE GENRE: URBAN,
MACRO,
STREET,
CREATIVE,
PORTRATURE
Sue Mannings
From that, what would you say is your
favourite genre?
I keep asking myself that, but I really do
love all-things photography. I do enjoy
getting up close and personal (if you'll
pardon the expression) with Macro
photography so if I were pushed, I'd say
macro, though cityscapes and portraits
come a close second.
What’s been your favourite Welshot
event so far?
Oh my! There have been so many brilliant
events, but I think Dark Beauty which
took me out of my comfort zone and
really challenged me creatively and where
I took some of my favourite photographs
and I loved love loved Welshot Does
Shakespeare! The costumes, the models
and the venue! Wow!
What do you love most about your
camera?
That it enables me to capture a moment
in time.
PAGE 20
Somebody gives you a film camera and says you’ve got to
take a shot an hour for 24 hours. What would be find on the
film once it was developed?
Ooh. That's hard. One of two things - probably some of my
favourite creatures from Chester Zoo which would have to
include at least one close-up of a giraffe, elephants at play,
a meerkat and the obligatory macro shots of butterflies and
mini poisonous frogs. If not, Chester Zoo, then it would be
location shots of Liverpool near the Waterfront which is a
photographer's dream - usually from a bit of a quirky angle so
they're a little bit different.
And finally, as a Liverpool girl, are you a
blue or a red?
Haha!!! Neither. As a South Wales girl, I'm
definitely a red- as in the Wales Rugby
team. As an adopted Liverpudlian I
haven't a clue about football, I'm afraid.
PAGE 21

PAGE 22
Why Join the Kiwi Social?
At the Kiwi Social we realise running your own business can be a lonely affair - especially
if you are working alone from your kitchen table. Here at The Kiwi Social we are building a
community to help you to bounce ideas, talk with, and learn from other like-minded people.
The Kiwi Social community will be your office and the members will be your colleagues - but
with a lot more fun involved and a lot more relaxed and informal.
Our aim is to build a friendly, safe, non-competitive and affordable community, both online via our
forum, various Facebook groups and offline at our events.
The Kiwi Social fosters and encourages everyone to take part, from our session leaders to members
themselves.
You can expect to have:
Guidance
Support
Continuity – A lasting community which builds strong relationships, personal and
working collaborations
Sharing – of knowledge, resources and skills
Networking
There will be a "Focus on Social" Academy Evening - held on the FIRST Thursday of EVERY
Month and held at the Chester Crowne Plaza.
Previously these have been our Welshot Biz Bloggers Academy Evenings.
There will always be THREE "Focus On" sessions at these events:
Focus on Business & Personal Development - Presentation from an industry expert
Focus on Technique - "How to..." learning a technical, technique or software session
Focus on Imaging - Practical photographic "How to…” session and creating images that will
be useful for you and your marketing
A "Flat-lay" set-up with lighting that you can use to photograph your props and business products
will always be made available for your use - guidance, support and help if required will be provided.
The full day events will be more intensive – focusing on specific topics/genres – from Marketing
& Promotion to MailChimp, Software, Technology and Technique, photography (seasonal and stock)
– the list is extensive.
Social Media platforms include, but are not limited to - The Kiwi Social Website and Forum,
Facebook (including Groups), Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat.
Technical and Software platforms include, but are not limited to - MailChimp, WordPress, Adobe
(Photoshop CC, Lightroom, Elements, Spark) Canva, Typeform, iMovie, Snapseed and other various
photo editing and sharing apps.
The cost of this Membership package is £180.00 for 12 Months.
The Kiwi Social is a private membership organisation, we welcome visitors to all our events and
visiting delegates will be invited to join. Visitors may attend two events before Membership is
required. Events for Members will always be at least 20% cheaper.
www.thekiwisocial.com
Benefits include:
Professional headshot for social media, including website & blog usage 1
1 x Focus on Social Academy Evening 2
1 x Focus on Social full day event 3
1 x Half a Day - One to One session - Learn your camera / Use your camera 4
1 x 1hr One to One sessions for each of the following: 5
Brand Review
Social Media Review - Reach & Strategy
Website, Blog, Technical and/or Software Review
Business Coaching and/or Personal Development
Which camera / What lens is best for me
Invitation to a Facebook LIVE in The Kiwi Social Members Only Group
(Technique and Support sessions) - Last Monday of the Month at 8.00pm (BST)
with the ability to watch it on catch up if you can't make the live session
Free quarterly photo-walk meet-ups - no camera needed, bring only you and your phone 6
Monthly Email Newsletter
The Kiwi Social Community:
The Kiwi Social website - regular articles helping you to keep updated with best working practices,
latest trends, technology, software, business, marketing and promotion and social media 7
Members Directory - Promote your business / blog
The Kiwi Social Forum - Members only - with access to a growing library of online tutorials,
product, technology reviews and "How to sessions" 8
The Kiwi Social events - Academy Evenings / Full Day Workshop / Free Meet-ups
The Kiwi Social Facebook Group(s) - Members only and Open
Facebook / Instagram / Forum photo-challenges
Access to our Sister Organisation - Welshot Photographic Academy:
1 x Half-price Welshot Photographic Academy Evening - Worth £17.50
20% off all Welshot events
Welshot Focus Magazine - With the Kiwi Social section
Support and guidance from London Camera Exchange in Chester
Welshot Photographic Academy – Open Group(s) on Facebook
Email: Lee@welshotimaging.co.uk for full terms & conditions
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MACRO & ME
by Judith Bond
Our Kiwi Social member Judith Bond says...
Before I got into photography I knew how to
cook macaroni and I could make fairly good
french macarons, but now I have discovered
MACRO photography, and my eyes have been
opened to a whole new “tiny” world'
I’ve had my 50mm prime lens for 12 months. It takes really
great cake images for the website but the frustration is real,
I couldn’t get close enough for the tiny details - little sugar
flowers and delicate rose petals. I really wanted to get crisp
close-up images, but the prime lens just falls short (sorry
prime lens, no offence!)
At the top of my birthday list last month was a macro lens
and the lovely people at London Camera Exchange, Chester,
pointed me towards a Nikon 40mm macro which I happily
unwrapped from Mr Bond on my birthday morning and
haven’t looked back since.
So, imagine my joy when the opportunity came up for an
entire day photographing tiny things all over Anglesey with
the one and only Victoria Hillman, Nature Photographer of
Vikspix. I cleared my schedule - well, it was a Saturday
PAGE 24
so there wasn’t much to clear - waved to my husband and
headed off to Menai Bridge to meet with the group.
Our first stop was Penmon Point. You basically head for
Beaumaris and keep going. Puffin Island is so close you can
almost reach out and say hi to the residents. It’s the corner
of the Island where the Menai Straits meet the Irish Sea with a
quaint unmanned lighthouse - very photogenic with a bell that
tolls every few minutes. BossTog, seasoned Island dweller
and frequent night photographer - tells me it’s quite eerie
during the dark hours - for whom the bell tolls, and all that!
For a learner photographer, like me, the benefits of spending
a whole day with Victoria, macro queen, are indescribable. I
quickly learned the first and most important rule of macro
photography - get as low as you can. In fact, we all spent
most of the day laying on the ground, crawling through the
undergrowth like squaddies on a training op. The second
rule, which I’ll know for next time - is bring spare clothes - the
rock pools of Penmon left us all with multiple wet patches in
less than dignified places!
Victoria’s advice was invaluable and because we had plenty
of time, I got loads of 1:1 attention and advice on my new
lens. But to be honest I was most inspired by just watching
Victoria, listening to her stories and hearing her passions. Her
dedication to getting the perfect shot is mesmerising, and her
advice on how to find snakes in long grass quite memorable.
Small snakes, of course.
After a sunny pot of tea in the Penmon Cafe, we headed off
to South Stack Lighthouse on Holy Island for the next part of
the day.
We settled for the slightly less busy car park, gathered our
kit and headed off along the coastal path. The verges were
covered with spring squill (latin Scilla Verna), a pretty shrub
with tiny star like indigo flowers - all ready for their close-up.
They thrive in salty coastal environments along with pink thrift
and purple violets.
I learned how to use the natural light, how to create depth
of field, how to use the ground as a steadying tripod, and
how to photograph through the images to create texture and
variation.
I have also learned that time is as important as aperture
and patience more vital than shutter speed. It takes
perseverance, practise and lots of duff shots to get good at
this macro malarkey....
PAGE 25

The Kiwi Social ACADEMY EVENING
Focus on Social Academy Evening
Chester Crowne Plaza
Thursday 2nd November, 6.30pm
&
Thursday 7th December, 6.30pm
When I’m not snapping cakes for the business, flowers and
shrubs in the outdoors is probably my favourite place. I’ve
always appreciated natural photography - using editing
software to enhance rather than manipulate images. It was
good to be on the same page as Victoria who firmly believes
in spending time to get the image right “in camera” with
minimum editing. This naturalness shines through her images
and gives a realism that is not always easy to find in the
photographic world.
I am glad to have got to grips with my new lens but more
than that I have learnt that photography is not just about
ISO or exposure compensation (although I am quite proud
to know what those words mean!) but it’s about integrity in
my attitude, honesty in my approach and authenticity in my
images.
All these things would be hidden under a bushel if it weren’t
for the confidence that Welshot has given me in buckets.
So, thank you Lee and Eifion for encouraging me to try new
things, and to Victoria for sharing your day with me and
inspiring me to be better behind the lens.
Focus on Social
The Kiwi Social – FULL DAY EVENT
Getting Started on Social Media
Chester Crowne Plaza
Sunday 3rd December
10am
PAGE 26
www.thekiwisocial.com
PAGE 27

2HOW
What
by Jason Edwards
is a
FULL RESOLUTION
file?
Every so often, you may need to print your photos, or at least
send off the digital file for somebody else to either print it,
inclusion in a magazine, etc.
In instances such as these, you’ll most probably be asked
for the full resolution image. So what does this mean? Quite
simply, you’ll ideally need to provide the image at the highest
possible resolution that your camera gives you.
Let’s take a Nikon D800 with its 36.1 megapixel images as an
example. When an image is opened in Photoshop, you can
check how big the image is by selecting Image>Image size…
from the menu at the top of the screen. From there, a box will
pop up over the image with its dimensions:
Photoshop will remember what you’ve cropped out and still
retain that information. When you do this with a JPEG, any
areas you crop out will be lost forever.
With print, your resolution is very important. As can be seen
from the above image, it is set to 300 pixels per inch. This
means that when the image is being printed, the printer
will lay 300 dots of ink for every linear inch of paper, which
provides a far higher quality printed image than an image
printed at 72 dots per inch, for example. Again, this can be
checked with a calculator if we divide the width (7360) by 300,
which means the image would print at maximum quality up
to 24.53 inches. This can be seen by changing the dropdown
box from pixels to inches:
In this instance, we can see that the image is 7360 pixels wide
and 4912 pixels high. If we multiply both these numbers (with
a calculator!), we get 36,152,320, which corresponds with
the camera’s megapixel count (36.1 megapixels, a megapixel
being 1 million pixels). This means that the image has not
been reduced, nor has the image been cropped. This is a full
resolution image. Similarly, if we had a 24 megapixel camera,
we could expect the width to be in the region of 6000 pixels
by 4000 pixels; if we multiply these figures, it would give us an
answer of 24,000,000.
The important thing to remember in all of this is that a large
image will have a higher pixel count than a smaller image.
A quick way of seeing what an image’s pixel count is to hover
over the thumbnail and wait for a little box to appear with the
details, as can be seen below:
If you need to make a smaller version of the full resolution
image for uploading to the web, remember to change the
filename when you save it, otherwise it will overwrite the full
resolution image. If you shoot in RAW, the image shot will
always remain at the maximum resolution. Even if you crop it,
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