When wandering through a museum or gallery, I rarely give much thought to the work that goes into preparing posters and display boards. Particularly in the case of an "amateur" museum staffed by volunteers, I tend to unthinkingly suppose that all that stuff is "done for them". By professionals. Or museum elves. Wrong again.
Did Michael say 157 layers in Photoshop? Or was it only 147? I think my personal record is eight- and that was a struggle. Anything over four and my brain begins to lose track of what goes where.
Even more amazing was the sight of a panoramic print draped over a winterdyke* as it continued to emerge from the printer, several feet away.
I will pay a bit more attention, next time I can visit the NB museum.
The "refraction " images were interesting , too. I particularly liked Lorraine's glass spheres and Skittles, but I am a bit of a sweetie addict. Grace's wine glass was rather elegant I thought. I could see a version of that doing well in competition.
I really enjoy the "5 favourite" photo spots. It's a pleasant change to see non-competition photography from club members. Not only does it give us ideas for things to try, but it brings home the fact that competition entries are not the kind of photography most of us do, most of the time. None of the pictures Gillian or Colin picked to show would do well in a competition, but they were all fun to look at- and, I think, to take.
At the end, we looked at some of the "17 scoring" images from the latest SPF competition entry DVD. Some great shots there, but there can be a downside to seeing too many high scoring images. There's a tendency to think that if those only got 17, what are the 20s like and how can I ever aspire to compete? Well, get out there and shoot is the only answer I know of. Your hit rate does go up with practice; and once in a while, luck will be on your side and the fish the Sea Eagle just grabbed will turn out to be a Great White Shark.
*Lanarkshire drying rack.