Loading...Images from the Id – Public Speaking, or do I Really Do This?
I have been teaching individuals in Photoshop and Lightroom and doing simple presentations to various groups and photo clubs for quite a while. Probably an off shoot of many years in a high school science classroom but this was all new.
I had been invited to speak at a small local camera club last Monday. Topic – “Focus Stacking for the Real World”. My plan; arrive 6:30 pm, half hour before the club members. This is because the set up includes, computer, projector, two computer-projector connecting cables, tripod, camera, focusing rail, two small studio lamps plus a lot of small parts and attachments. When presenting, I usually have a Keynote (Apple’s form of PowerPoint) presentation and a demonstration of the topic or procedure.
Have talked about focus stacking before but this is a different lesson, Be Prepared! Doing so many presentations has left me with little fear of audiences but if you panic all bets are off. Panic is the point where entropy takes over and everything falls apart. Now we all have learned in our Science classroom the entropy is that natural state of the universe where everything is going, where randomness over takes order. The only slowing of this inevitability is to add energy and work in the “organized direction. It’s a losing battle at least for a lifetime some sense can be made to our existence. Makes no difference what you do in photography, success depends upon being prepared. I the case of a presentation, I spend a lot of time going over the slide show and even more important, making sure I have done the procedure enough so it will go smoothly and if any problems come up (they always do) I can overcome them. Other examples would be. Make sure you know how to work your camera. I am not kidding. Read the camera manual. Practice the things you want to do photographically. I like to take shots of birds in flight and Raw image files. I use the manual to study the various modes of focusing and image capture and I shoot flying birds all the time. I, as I tell my students, go to a local radio control air field and shot the planes for practice. For the focus stacking, I spent about five hours over two days shooting for preparation.
The result, was a near prefect presentation. I had not realized it was advertised as part of a Meet-Up Group and about 80 people showed, standing room only. The largest group I have spoken to. Another thing nice is with a Meet-Up you get all those wonderful comments.
Image #1 – Practicing for the presentation, A focus stack of 27 images. Taken using Helicon Remote processed with Helicon Focus. 1/5 sec (tripod), f/9.0 best sharpness for the Nikor 105 mm Macro Lens, ISO 100.
Image #2 – Practicing for the presentation, A focus stack of 9 images. Taken using Helicon Remote processed with Helicon Focus. 1/8 sec (tripod), f/14.Actually not the best sharpness for the Nikor 105 mm Macro Lens, ISO 100.
Image #3 – Shot during the presentation, A focus stack of 23 images. Taken using Helicon Remote processed with Helicon Focus. 1/10 sec (tripod), f/7.1 best sharpness for the Nikor 105 mm Macro Lens, ISO 100.
