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Study Group 11
Betty Billingham

January - Resting Under the Tree

How I did it -

This started off as a photo of candle smoke which I thought looked a bit like a tree so using Selective Colour, I made it green. From a club picnic, I cut out this person and placed him resting under the tree. A blue sky behind and some grass underfoot completed the picture..

COMMENTS:
Angelo Meini .Betty, my compliments for the beauty and originality of the image.
Very harmonious composition, balanced colors. Very interesting.
Anne Davey .This image is very cute. It reminds me of Mary Poppins. .
Bill Thompson .I haven't tried your smoke system yet, but this pushes me to get to it. I can picture the man saying to himself "What am I doing in this fantasy world?" I assume you used blending modes to get the sky And clouds behind the smoke tree..
Bob Feinberg .Very cool image, I like it a lot. My only suggestion is not to center the image. I would like to see the tree and man moved to the left 1/3. .
Kathy Potter ..
Mark Southard .I always enjoy  your smoke images and this one is especially attractive and creative. The nice balance with the grass against the sky completes it so well.  .


Member's Biography
Betty Billingham FDPS, APSA, AFIAP, ARPS,

I began seriously taking photographs during WWII with a Zeis Icon with bellows and later with a Rollei but became seriously involved with photography in 1947 at the Prince Rupert (a British Army) School in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. They were interesting times, as equipment was in such short supply that we had to share cameras and manufacture our own darkroom equipment. The next step forward took place in Trinidad, West Indies.

Here we bought a Konica F, one of the first new-style SLRs, in order to take pictures of the wonderful butterflies in which we became particularly interested.

But it required huge packs of ice to keep darkroom temperatures down long enough to develop a film. Colour, in the form of Kodachrome I, had to be sent back to England for development. With its faster speeds, Kodachrome II was a luxury.

On returning to the UK in 1963, I acquired a Yashicamat TLR and yet another darkroom and began supplying photographic support for articles in regional newspapers. But by 1967 we moved to South Africa where my husband had accepted a post as Sub-editor on the Johannesburg Star. I continued press photography for the Star and Pretoria News and others, and attended Pretoria Tech where I received a Certificate in Photography and subsequently opened my own studio. By then I had also bought a Horseman 6x9cm field camera.

I left all my equipment with my son in South Africa when we returned to the UK in 1992, thinking my days with photography were over. But it was like being without my right arm and I quickly acquired an Olympus AF300, and, for want of a darkroom, attended a Professional course on Photoshop. Went on to restore old and damaged photographs for the Genealogy Society. Joined the Royal Photographic Society and earned my LRPS in 1998. A variety of cameras soon joined the stable.

During this time I found greatest pleasure in the enhancement of photographs for artistic effect. The techniques involved proved popular with digital photographers and I quickly found myself giving demonstrations to the RPS Digital Imaging Group as well as many local clubs.

My earlier experience with the newspaper industry and later the publishing of Technical magazines stood me in good stead when I was asked to produce first the Sodbury & Yate Photographic Club's newsletter, Snap Shots, followed by the Kingswood Photographic Society quarterly magazine, and later the Newsletter of the Western Counties Photographic Federation.

In January 2001, I joined the PSA and soon found myself involved with the Study Groups. It wasn't long before I joined Group 13, also began hosting Group 9 and soon after took on the Creative Group 11 and the Gallery of Nations as well.

In 2003, I was asked to judge the Web Site Competition run between PSA affiliated Clubs and organisations. This was followed by taking on the monthly Digital News for the PSA Journal. I am now President of my club, Sodbury & Yate PC, have been invited to judge at international salons and exhibit my pictures .

I work on a PC and input pictures via both slide and flatbed scanners. Once I had tasted computer imaging, a digital camera became a necessity and I now use Nikon 8800 and Canon G11 exclusively.

PSA stars in EI***, CS*, SCP***


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