16 Mar 2021 – Digital Club Night
Welcome to our Digital Club Night
We tried a new format for the Club on Tuesday 16th March, not a chat, workshop or demo night; we called it a member’s Digital night. The idea is to encourage and then engage more of our members to get involved by making small videos, either a workshop tour or a project that they have made.
The evening was slightly delayed as the ‘tinternet’ tried to prevent us all from logging in, however, we won and watched a short introduction video of what you can use, pieces of equipment that you already have to hand, e.g. iPhone, android phone or tablet or digital cameras all have the capability to produce good quality video, this was not in depth but hopefully you can see that you already have the capability. Full support available if you are not sure, just get in touch.
Meet our turner slot with Chris chatting to Martin P, who guided us through his woodturning journey from inheriting his lathe and equipment from his dad and his rise, via various roles in the club to Vice chair.
Following a short comfort break although several stayed and chatted, we had a guide from Chris on how he removes the tenon from his work, he had videoed and then voiced over as if he were a third party which made it entertaining as only Chris can do.
Dai one of our prolific contributors to the show and tell feature gave us a video tour to his workshop, this inspired our usual banter, and during this, he described a ‘doughnut mount’ for removing tenons from bowl bases which he duly dashed to his workshop to ‘show and tell’ how it works.
Martin P back on screen with his workshop video on fruit turning, an apple from start to polish and all stages between. We have seen lots of methods recently for fruit turning which shows just how much we can all learn from others.
Finally, a shallow Yew dish from Zak who tried to atone from his failures on workshop night with wet Yew, this time all was well, and an acceptable piece was achieved.
Next Digital Club Night – Wed 5 May 2021
After the success of the meeting, we have decided to do another one on the Wed 5 May 2021. We therefore need your videos so we can watch someone else for a change. So this gives you plenty of time to grab your phone, video camera, etc and get filming in your workshops. Videoing yourself turning is actually also good so you can watch it back to watch your technique. As Zak has shown us, he had a wide range of old devices that he no longer uses and they all worked great. You also do not need any fancy camera mounts, get ingenious and make something out of wood and clamps. If you do want to take it further and get a bit more high tech, have a look at our YouTube channel, as Zak has done a series of videos on the software we use. Remember, we are here to help you so get in touch if you are struggling.
Once you have some video ‘in the can’ as they say, contact either Alan Buckle or Martin Pigott and we can then sort out getting a copy of your video ready to show at the next meeting. If you have any problems or queries on this just get in contact and we can help you.
Photographing Your Work
We have had several of you kindly providing photos of items you have made, which is brilliant and please keep them coming. We use them in various places, such as on this website, in the Show and Tell power point, Instagram and Facebook. Each one of those want a slightly different format, for example: Instagram needs a square photo, whereas most of the others work best with a landscape (6 x 4) type photo. Don’t worry, we can do any cropping as necessary, but if you have already cropped it down or taken a close up or a portrait photo, its then hard to use it, where we need a landscape picture. So can you please take the following into consideration when taking your photos:
- Try to use natural light where possible, as it makes wood turned items look amazing. It reveals the wood grain, the colours, and the smoothness of the wood better than any other light source.
- Take your photos outside on an overcast day. The light is diffused and the shadows are minimized. Overcast days gives great definition to show off the finish.
- Choose your background carefully. Remove anything distracting or use a piece of card as a background to create the clutter free backdrop to emphasise you item. A curved background works great.
- Take all photos in landscape and not portrait.
- Don’t crop them.
- Take the photos in a high resolution, in other words don’t reduce the the resolution, which reduces the file size. This keeps the quality of the photo.
And Finally….
Don’t forget we have an online demo by John Boyne-Aitken this coming Tuesday 23rd Mar 2021, so see you there.
Another great innovative idea that worked out well in the end encouraging more and more members to participate. A good informal friendly atmosphere 👌 congratulations to all concerned, organisers and participants alike. Always amazing at how tidied our workshops are when we show someone else. Looking forward to the next one
Great night, another first for the Club.
Nice to see others at work and their workshops.
Another great interview with Martin P.
The next one in May should be even better.
Well done to all concerned.
Thank you Martin ,
An interesting night
Well done all
Look forward to the next one
Success usually breeds success and we seem to be proving that, for those who come to our website via Instagram and Facebook get a great description of what to expect if the decide to join us. I really hope that we get some more members contributing to the workshop and digital nights; and when we get back to the hall we will all have a better idea of who we all are.
Really enjoyed the night. You can always pick up a few hints and tips. Hopefully we’ll see a few more workshops soon.
I reckon we did okay for a first attempt at a digital evening, yes there were a few problems, but we are learning all the time, and we are at the mercy of both Zoom and Broadband.
Hopefully we will now see other members taking part on these nights with videos they have made.
Our meetings seem to be a bit more relaxed with members joining in the conversation.
You’ve all done very well, as Mr Grace used to say.🤣🤣🤣
Yet another enjoyable evening created with a different format. Well done to all the hard working committee members. Everyone seems to be growing in confidence and joining in the chat and banter, long may it last !!
Another great evening despite the initial teething troubles with the technology.
More people seem to be joining in the conversation and it is becoming more like the face to face sessions we used to have but without the tea and biscuits!
With the weather improving and workshops warming up there is no excuse for not getting out there and recording something on your mobile phone or tablet. There are several members who can give advice on how to upload it so we can all share you recordings at future meetings.