Derek Forss landscape photographer

Meeting Report

Tonight we had a welcome return visit by Derek Forss. He has been a professional landscape photographer for many years working for, amongst many others, the National Trust and Ordinance Survey. Derek also teaches photography at Earnley (south of Chichester) and leads photographic walking holidays for HF holidays, who have a house locally - Abingworth  Hall at Thakeham. I have attended both locations and have been on a holiday in Yorkshire with Derek as tutor (not that he remembers that!). Derek showed us some of his books including a couple which are published on line with www.blurb.com where they can be obtained.

Firstly Derek went through all the Olympus camera gear that he uses for his work (he is sponsored by Olympus).

Next he showed us a collection of his landscape images together with an indication on a small OS map of the exact location and direction in which the image was taken, together with the camera and lens used and all the exposure settings. Derek underexposes by between 1/3rd or 2/3rds of a stop to increase the colour saturation. All his shots are taken in Raw, so of course  the exposure can be ‘tweaked’ if necessary using the histogram during processing on the computer. But he emphasised that getting the shot right in the first place is very important and he does very little adjustment to the image later apart from the odd 'tweak'. He also pointed out that publishers generally want images taken with the lowest possible ISO – usually 100. He generally uses 'aperture priority' to control the depth of field but when taking water shots he uses 'shutter priority' to freeze or blur the water as appropriate. He also judges his exposure by spot metering, but again he generally uses the ‘central weighted’ exposure on the camera which mostly gives the correct answer.

Derek’s bedtime reading before a job consists of doing research using OS maps noting in which direction his shot will be taken bearing in mind the light which will vary with the time of year.  As a professional, his time is money and this homework pays him in terms of its efficient use.

After the break Derek showed us 3 short slide shows set to music, which is his other great passion. The first show was set to Debussi’s 'La Mare’ (the second movement) and showed wonderful seascape shots.

The second was of steam engines and trains set to Charles Williams ‘Rhythm on Rails’.

And finally we were treated to some internal shots from Kings College Chapel, Cambridge (which totally bans photography). The accompanying music was ‘I was glad’ by Hubert Harry (always used at Coronations). Derek was commissioned in 1970 to photograph a concert given by the choir using a Nikon film camera. He has scanned his original slides (which had faded with time) and with the aid of his computer has restored the original colours. We saw views of the magnificent general architecture of the building with its glorious ceiling and huge colourful windows. I loved this slideshow as my housemaster took me and a fellow member of the school choir to the Nine Lessons  Carol Service at Kings College when I was about 14 years old – an unforgettable experience in my life.

We thank Derek for another very interesting and informative evening, during which we saw some amazing photographs.