Thanks to all of those who have completed the Doodle poll mentioned in a previous post, the date for our next meetup has been chosen as Sunday, 25th August at the Blatterwiese park in Zurich. Members of Facebook can sign up for the event and discuss it on my Facebook page; alternatively, please feel free to leave a comment here if you’d like to know more details.
The meetup will be aimed at “keeping it simple” when taking portraits on location: although we’ll be covering the use of some basic flash techniques, the idea is to bring a fixed-lens compact (such as the Fujifilm X100), an SLR with a single lens, or even a photo-capable mobile phone. We won’t be using lighting on stands: if you have a small softbox which you can use hand-held, then that’s OK, but the idea is to practice taking portraits without much more than a camera.
As at previous events, I’m asking attendees to please contribute Fr. 20 towards expenses. Those who have kindly volunteered to model for us will be doing so on a “time for photos” basis and they would appreciate edited copies of any good photos you take.
The location contains a large park area with well-established trees, a lakeside walk, a Tinguely fountain and a large playground area. (The latter will probably be full of kids, so it’s important that you respect families’ privacy if photographing in this area. Also, beware of the sand!)
The oft-photographed circular jetty at Tiefenbrunnen is just nearby, but is within the lido and so probably won’t be accessible for photography.
The China Garden is also on-site, for which a separate entry fee is payable. (This isn’t included in the expenses fee for the day. Photographers using the China Garden must pay the model’s entry fee and, as in all other locations, should keep disturbance to a minimum and not disturb other visitors.)
The Heidi Weber Museum (also known as the Corbusier centre) is right next door, but I won’t be asking specifically for permission to shoot inside or outside. Attendees are welcome to ask the museum staff nicely though, if they really want to shoot in or around the museum.
The easiest way to get to the park from the city is via direct tram – ZVV lines 2, 4, 5, 9 or 11 – to Zürich, Höschgasse, from which it’s a five minute walk to the Blatterwiese playground.
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