Sherry L. Smith & Xavier Gomez-Smith
To open our Show&Tell page, we are proud to present you our only mother & son team here in the club .. Sherry and Xavier Smith.
Sherry L. Smith
All of the photos I am submitting were taken with a Canon PowerShot A-95.
I like to travel, so a lot of my photos include memorable moments from the places I visit, such as the shot from St. Ives, (Cornwall, UK), …
Cornwall Beach
… after the tide went out, …
St Ives
… or the scene on the Falmouth River (also Cornwall, UK), where I was taking a boat cruise with some relatives of my mother whom I had just met for the first time.
River Falmouth
The polar bear shot was taken at the Berlin zoo. I did not even realize until I downloaded it later that she was pregnant. As I took the picture last fall, I am assuming that she Is the mother of the now famous “Knut”.
In general, I like to take landscapes, nature shots, including animals, scenes with atmospheric skies …
Mother of Knut
Duck
… or interesting scenes that have a bit of irony or paradox to them, like the one of the horse and carriage next to the bus waiting at a red light in Glasgow.
Glasgow Past and Present
I’m still fairly new to photography and know that I have much to learn, both aesthetically and technically. The PhotoClub UIT-OMPI has helped give me incentive to learn more!
Xavier Gomez-Smith
These photos were taken with a Canon A1 film camera using Ilford ASA 400 black and white film. I was using a variable 28-200mm zoom set to around 120mm with an aperture setting of 5.6. The shutter was set to the maximum speed allowed for by the low light conditions, probably 1/250. They were taken without a tripod and at irregular intervals of time.
I enjoy above all black and white photography and I prefer taking pictures outdoors, these ones were taken beside the lake in Geneva. I enjoy capturing amazing landscapes forever on film, but a moving subject is difficult to seize and I feel great pleasure when I am able to catch it. These are among my favorite photos precisely because of the difficulty I had in taking them. When photographing an uncontrollable subject, timing and observation become more important than settings or equipment.
Equipment is important though. An added difficulty was using a traditional film camera without an auto focus. However, the cost and storage limitations of film help me concentrate on thinking my photos through before I start. To my surprise the six photos I took of these birds turned out exactly as you see them without any need to crop or edit. I enjoy digital photography and am an amateur photoshopper. I would like to improve my skills in these two areas because digital photography is the wave of the future, and to a large extent, the present.
As a member of the dying species of film photographers, I must bow down before the digital medium because of its technical excellence today, but especially because it allows the fast and easy sharing of photos. I am very glad to be part of a photo club where the members specialize in digital photography and where the organizers make full use of the digital format to run this much appreciated home page. My only wish is that one day you all get to experience the unforgettable odors and stimulating atmosphere of the dark room.
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