Wednesday, December 14, 2011

JUDGING PHOTOGRAPHS by Evelyn Gibson

I read an article recently in the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain’s Magazine and I wanted to rush out and give it to all our judges. I just found it so interesting and I learned a lot from it.

I have taken some of the salient points from it, and I hope by sharing it, it will also be a great learning for many other judges as well as an understanding about judging photographs.

The author of the article was Ken Holland from England and he opens the article by saying “My first entry into a camera club competition was a slide of the Red Arrows in full flight. The judge’s comment was “I’m not really interested in aeroplanes. Next slide please” It was after that I started to take a keen interest in photographic judging”

He has since then been asked to run a series of seminars for new judges. He did a lot of research on it, did some myriad checklists in use by American camera clubs and found almost nothing on the subject had been published. From this his series that he uses for his seminars grew into a book “Looking at Photographs” and it is from this book that the extract on his article was taken.

 

How to judge

When presented with a set of photographs, look at all of them briefly, and perhaps note your initial reaction. Then look again in some detail. Ask yourself basic questions about them: consider the message of each photograph, its technical competence and presentation. We all know that in South Africa the time restraints put on us as judges, this is not always possible.

Also if there is time to compare them, this of course can be done when judging prints but not with projected images unfortunately until of course when it comes to selecting a final winner in each category or overall.

Once you have made your decision, it is as well to stick with it. While it may be tempting to look at the pictures again and change your mind, photography is often (but certainly not always) about initial impact. If this was sufficient for you to decide to award a picture the winning place, it is unlikely that you will change your decision later.

 

What to look for

In general terms, what to look for in a picture is one of the most difficult things for a judge, but it is what lies at the heart of judging. How does a judge compare, say, a good landscape with a good portrait, and decide which is best?

Very simply: any photograph conveys information. A Judge’s job is to decide how well that information has been conveyed. The effectiveness of a photograph depends on the eye of the photographer, and the skill they have employed in its production.

Although a photograph may be technically perfect, it can be quite dull if the subject matter or approach is boring. A judge could look for the sort of photograph which has impact because it is out of the ordinary, and is something that many people would not notice in everyday life.

 

What’s it all about?

A photograph is really about three main things: the subject, its purpose, and its interpretation.

The principal subject of a picture should be clearly defined and draw the viewer in. If it is unclear, or if it is in conflict with other dominant parts of the picture, or if there are several main subjects scattered about the picture, then a picture may lose some of its message. A simple picture is usually more successful than a complicated one.

The purpose of the photograph is all-important. A judge should decide whether the photographer has achieved this purpose. Ultimately, this is where a judge decides on the relative merits of two very different, but possibly very good photographs.

The interpretation of a subject is very personal. The photographer decides on the interpretation by using a variety of methods: lens choice, viewpoint, recording medium, lighting, shutter speed, printing, format and so on.

A judge must decide on whether the interpretation does the subject justice, and enhances the picture. Don’t say how you would have taken the picture: everyone has their own approach.

Each of these three ingredients contributes to a complete photograph. They can be combined in a variety of ways, and it would be impossible to define the optimum balance, as each photograph might require a different approach.

 

Photographic seeing

However when making a decision about the relative success or failure of a photograph, a judge could consider the following aspects and perhaps comment on them when presenting :

Choice of format. Does the particular subject benefit from a landscape or portrait format?

Exposure Although we all have our own thoughts about what looks natural, there is no such thing as “correct” exposure. A photographer may have deliberately gone for an approach that is either dark or light, or high or low in contrast : the judge must try to decide whether it enhances the image.

Placing of the subject within the image Again, there is no correct place, but some are more successful than others. Often, a centrally placed subject place on the “intersection of thirds” seems more acceptable. Don’t expect every photograph to abide by the “rule of thirds”, though, as a judge, you must decide whether the arrangement suits the subject.

Depth of field The area of a photograph that is in sharp focus affects its impact. Some subjects require a great deal to be in focus; others might require just the main subject to be in focus, with the background thrown out of focus to add depth. In general, every photograph needs some part of it to be kept in focus, but there are exceptions to this.

Psychological links and contrasts. This involves the subject, and the use of “photographic seeing” For instance: a clown and a nun picture together would provide an interesting contrast, and inevitably create impact. Two people looking at each other would provide a psychological, but not physical, link.

Visual contrast Again, this will provide impact; perhaps a bright red tractor in a green field, or a smooth glass bowl against rough wood. This is often more difficult to achieve in black and white than in colour.

Eye scan This is the way in which the eye is encouraged to “read” the picture. Is it easy for the viewer?

A whole picture is not necessarily a sum of its parts. Try not to dissect a picture into small pieces. You could apply these thoughts to any photograph: “Why was this image made?” and “What is the photographer trying to show me?” Try to get into the mind of the photographer.

 

Making your comments in public

The way in which you present your comments is vital; you whole approach and attitude can make a tremendous difference, his advice was :

  • Give the appearance that you have enjoyed judging the photographs, it reassures the audience, even those members whose work has not been received too successfully!
  • Be confident in everything that you do. In this way, you will appear to be sure of your decisions.
  • Try not to fall into the trap of describing the picture when the audience can see it for themselves, as this wastes time.
  • Don’t lecture: you will have only a certain amount of time to discuss each picture.
  • Be totally honest. After all, you have been invited to judge these pictures, which applies that your opinion counts for something, and that it is respected. Be bold enough to say what you think: the audience will usually respect you for it.
  • Don’t attempt to say how a picture has been taken; you can often get it wrong, invite an explanation from the photographer later.
  • Try not to let yourself become prejudiced by what you have seen before. Often a judge may comment that they have seen a similar picture, and that somehow it makes the present one seem inferior. Few images are ever truly original, and a successful picture will always be successful, even if it has been done 1000 times before.
  • Remember it is a competition, and therefore the best or strongest image, in your opinion, is the winner! 10 judges given the same task may come up with different winners. All you can do is give your own opinion.
  • Talk about a picture as though you were a “critical friend” of the photographer.
  • Keep an open mind. You may have very strong feelings about many aspects of photography. Judging a competition is not an arena for you to present them in.
  • Above all, speak with modesty and humility.

 

Photographic interpretation

It is extremely difficult to teach photographic interpretation: it can really only be encouraged. As a judge, you will be doing your bit to encourage good photography. Your comments about the technical aspects will be virtually without dispute and are easily explained. Therefore, your comments about technique may be more forthright than comments on subject matter, creativity, and whether you are attracted to the image.

If you cannot appreciate another photographer’s work, don’t assume it is their fault. It just may be that you have missed the point of the photograph, and all judges may be guilty of this.

Keep you words kind and encourage a positive approach, never be scathing or negative. Keep your comments in perspective. You are addressing a friendly camera club, so keep your approach friendly, humorous and lighthearted.

Treat others’ work with respect, photography is something we all enjoy, and to take it too seriously may not be helpful. Keep the emphasis on praise: judging should be evaluative, not critical.

These were the thoughts of Ken Holland ARPS, they are not hard and fast rules. Judging photographs will never be an exact science and that is good. This for me was extremely thought provoking and I learned a lot as a judge. Thank you Ken, I have sent him a message through Facebook and I will buy his book when in the UK in February. Check out www.lowenna.co.uk.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

2011 Bloemfontein Salon resultate

Geluk aan al die lede wat suksesvol deelgeneem het aan die 2011 Bloemfontein Salon.  Hier is ‘n verkorte lys van resultate soos deur ons lede verwerf is.  Die volledige lys resultate, met al die ander deelnemers, kan op die PSSA webblad afgelaai word.

Lede moet asseblief onthou om nog steeds, soos gewoonlik, die resultate in te stuur op die voorgeskrewe formaat vir EMMA, al verskyn die resultate op die lys.  Hierdie resultate lys is slegs van lede wat onder Centurion Camera Club ingeskryf het en lede met dubbele lidmaatskap se uitslae mag moontlik onder die ander klub sew uitslae val.

Result Title Surname Firstname
Acceptance Spoelsand 2 Coetser Maartin
Acceptance Sneeu by Van Reenen Coetser Maartin
Acceptance Klipkoppies Coetser Maartin
Acceptance Sosus in Blom Coetser Maartin
Acceptance Blou Reier net Paddahappie Coetser Maartin
Acceptance Oranje Veldblommetjie Coetser Maartin
Acceptance Uitgelate Coetser Maartin
Acceptance Gebreekte Wynglas Coetser Maartin
Acceptance Nr 42 in Draai Coetser Maartin
Acceptance Vlieende Skieer Coetser Maartin
Acceptance Life in a box Coetzer Riette
Acceptance Vuurvoet de Jager Esta
Acceptance Cartwheels de Jager Esta
Acceptance Eenvoud de Jager Esta
Acceptance BALLITO Dagbreek Du Plooy Bennie
Acceptance Witsieshoek winter Du Plooy Bennie
Acceptance Twin feeding Du Plooy Bennie
Acceptance Odd Leaders Du Plooy Bennie
Certificate of Merit Middel Paaltjie Du Plooy Bennie
Certificate of Merit Rooi Harvard Kotze Francois
Runner-up Bloemfontein Club Medal Glasses in Red Mulder Chris
Certificate of Merit Wynglase deur die kamera se oog Mulder Helouise
Acceptance Beauty and the beast Mulder Helouise
Acceptance Golden Arrow Niemand Cornelia
Acceptance Everything has a place Norris Andre
Acceptance Dry Norris Andre
Acceptance Muslim kids Richard Bernard
Acceptance Colourful Mess Richard Bernard
Acceptance Cobra Parade Richard Bernard
Certificate of Merit Sweet Sweet Wine van Niekerk Michelle
Acceptance Klein Bietjie Wyn van Niekerk Michelle
Acceptance River sunrise Venter Francois
Acceptance Varsity cup Tuks Venter Francois
Acceptance Only in Africa Wilson Charles
Acceptance On the edge Wilson Charles

Inligting oor die volgende salonne is op die webblad kalender aangebring.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Time Lapse Photography–Nico Strydom

I have been interested in time lapse photography for quite some time after seeing it in action on both television shows and on the internet, but I have always been a little hesitant to try it out. After reading a very interesting article about time lapse photography on the internet I decided to finally give it a go.

Time lapse photography is nothing else but to take a bunch of pictures of the same thing over a period of time and then put it all together to create a video that plays back in a shorter period of time.

The first thing I had to do was to purchase an Intervalometer. It is a device that you connect to your camera that triggers the camera to take a certain amount of photos at a set interval. The device can also be used as remote shutter release and is a must have.
Then it was as easy as to follow the 6 basic steps:

Step 1: Choose a subject
I attended a 24 hour mountain bike event over the weekend that requires that you spend the night camping at the event. I knew that I will be awake the whole night and saw it as the perfect opportunity to give time lapse photography a go. What I was looking for, was to capture the sun rise in the morning and to see the rest of the camp site becoming “alive” during the morning. However, I was not so lucky and the weather turned on us over the evening and we woke up to a grey overcast day with no sun in sight. I still wanted to give a bash and I decided to capture the camp activity as the day was starting.

The question that you need to ask yourself is how much time you have to commit to the project. Some time lapse photography subjects need a commitment of days, weeks, months or even years.

Step 2: Figuring it out, in other words, doing the maths
This is all about how many photographs will you require to produce your time lapse movie. It is about the length of time of the event and the length of time of the final product. Most movies show around 20 – 30 frames per second. The more frames per second, the smoother the movie will play back. Now we use the magic formula to determine how many photographs we are going to need and what the spacing of those photographs needs to be.

In my example I knew that I wanted to use 26 frames per second. The event I was photographing really did not have a determined amount of time, so I was not too worried about that. I wanted to create a video that will be about minute long. So, I knew I needed about 60 seconds of photographs and at 26 photographs per second; I had to take in excess of 1500 photographs. Seeing as I was not constrained by time, I decided to take each photo one second apart. Now that I have a plan, I was ready to get to the fun part.

Step 3: Shooting the stills
The secret is to go as manual as possible.

  1. The first thing I did was to set my camera to record medium quality jpeg files. You don’t need to take RAW or large jpeg files as the output will be very small in video format and anything bigger will just consume memory space with no benefit.
  2. Set the camera’s white balance to manual. Auto white balance can change and fluctuate, especially in a changing light environment. Setting it to manual helps to ensure that the photographs keep a reasonably same look.
  3. Set the exposure manually. I did a reading using auto metering and then changed the camera to manual mode and set the aperture and time value manually. I also used the camera’s exposure lock to make sure that the exposure change as little as possible.
  4. Now make sure that the batteries are all fully charged and there is enough room on the memory card. Set the camera on a sturdy tripod and start taking those pictures.

Step 4: Edit the photographs
All that is left is to download the photos to your computer, edit them if you want, and, assemble them into a movie.  I used Adobe Lightroom for my photo editing and it makes batch editing of a large amount of photos so much easier. Maybe the exposure or levels could use some work, or you want to adjust the saturation a bit. Try to automate everything and remember to apply the same edit to all the photos.

Step 5: Start making the movie
Again I used the Lightroom Slideshow module for this step, with the preset that was designed and developed by Sean McCormack. It was as easy as to put all the photographs into a collection and using the 24 frames per second preset to export all the photos as a movie. I also added some music to the show in Lightroom, but I still need to learn to do titles and effects. That will come with time.

Step 6: Upload and share
Finally it is just a case of sharing your creation with the world, either through the internet or on some other media that you prefer.  I can’t wait for my next attempt at time lapse photography and it will be a learning process as I go along.

Follow this link to the video on Facebook.

Nico Strydom

Monday, December 5, 2011

Amarula / Wild Photographic Competition

Are you wild about photography? We’re looking for the wildlife image that best captures the spirit of Africa.

Wild magazine would like to invite Centurion Camera Club to take part in our 2012 photographic competition. You could see your image featured in Wild magazine – plus stand the chance to win photographic equipment and outdoor gear.

This year’s competition is titled "Capture the Spirit of Africa". With our sponsor Amarula, we invite you to send in your best wildlife images (pictures of mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, etc). We’ll select ten finalists who will each win a R1 000 Cape Union Mart voucher. The grand prize is R15 000 photographic equipment plus another R10 000 voucher from Cape Union Mart – just what you need for your own photo safari!

Click here for full rules and to upload your photograph. Entries close on 8 February 2012.

We look forward to seeing your wild, imaginative, exciting wildlife images.

Best of luck!
The Wild Team

(Published on the blog by request of the organizers)

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Photo club Novi Sad entry date

For those who wanted to enter but didn’t make the deadline of 30 November 2011 – GOOD NEWS!

The entry date has been extended till the 8th of December 2011. 

                  Photo club Novi Sad

                                1st INTERNATIONAL SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY "ANIMALS"

A)  ANIMALS (color/monochrome digital)

B)  CREATIVE (color/monochrome digital)

C) FREE/OPEN COLOR (digital)

D)   FREE/OPEN MONOCHROME (digital)

The entry fee is unique - 20 Euros for all four section (16 photos)

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

2011 Awards and Trophies

After an exciting 2011, it was time to judge the best achievements in the various categories. A total of 85 Members participated in the club events through the year.  A total of 1575 photos were entered into these events.

The best photos from the club were judged by an external judge and all the points were added to determine the winners. These were awarded as follows:

  • Most Salon Points [Overall]
    • Bennie du Plooy
  • Most Salon Points [Senior]
    • Evelyn Gibson
  • Most Salon Points [Junior]
    • Andre Norris
  • Photographer of the year [Overall]
    • Bennie du Plooy           
  • Photographer of the year [Senior]
    • Maartin Coetser
  • Photographer of the year [Junior]
    • Andre Norris
  • Most Club Points [Overall]
    • Bennie du Plooy
  • Most Club Points [Senior]
    • Helouise Mulder
  • Most Club Points [Junior]
    • Michelle van Niekerk
  • Photo of the year [Senior\Overall]
    • Evelyn Gibson
  • Photo of the year [Junior]
    • Llewellyn Louw
  • Photo of the year [Special Mention]
    • Evelyn Gibson
  • Chairman Trophy
    • Roelie Oelofse

Congratulations to all these members, as these are indeed exceptional achievements amongst stiff competition.

Bernard Richard

Junior Winner - Reims Cathedral - Llewelyn LouwJunior Winner – Reims Cathedral - Llewelyn Louw

Senior Winner Enjoying his kill - Evelyn GibsonSenior Winner Enjoying his kill - Evelyn Gibson

Up there - The Sunlight Kid - EGUp there - The Sunlight Kid – Evelyn Gibson

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Incomplete Spiral – Helouise Mulder

I've walked up and down these stairs a "million" times before; to go to work in the morning or to go home at night. I was looking for a picture to take for our LOOKING UP or LOOKING DOWN theme, when one evening on my way home I looked down to see if it could possibly make a good theme photo. I immediately realised the potential and took my camera along the next day.

After I took several photo's the hospital security stopped me and said that I wasn't allowed to take pictures. I said sorry and stopped. Fortunately I had a few that I could process. I've used two of the photo's in different theme entries at the club and also entered one of the photo's into salons with good results.

Incomplete spiralThis specific photo got a Gold award, Theme winner, 4 star Class winner, Snr. winner and evening winner at the November 2011 club evening!

The lesson that I've learned from this experience is that we walk past a lot of winning pictures every day. Stop and look around you. You will be surprised at what you find.

Technical information

  • NIKON D5000 . 18 x 200mm lens
  • Aperture f/ 8
  • Shutter 1/50s
  • ISO 800

Helouise Mulder  (4*)

Friday, November 18, 2011

The Harlequin – André Norris


My wife and I were on vacation in June 2010.  We used Clarens in the Eastern Freestate as our base to explore the area. 
 
One afternoon after some retail therapy (my wife loves this) or after an outing to one of the to-do’s we returned to our guesthouse for a little afternoon nap.  Upon our return I spotted the little lady bugs outside our room in the garden.  I grabbed the tripod, fixed the flash (it was a little overcast) and started shooting.  Not sure how many shots I took, but there was many!  I spent about two hours shooting (these little bugs don’t sit very still) and because of this had a stiff back the next day.

The harlequinIn the end I kept about 10 pics that were sharp enough and this ended up as the final product.  I did do some cropping, but otherwise there was very little post processing, a little sharpening, noise reduction and removing one or two dust spots.
 
When back at home from holiday I did some investigation into the lady bug and found that it was called the Harlequin lady bug, from there the name for the photo.  The beetle has been described as an "invasive monster beetle that gobbles up practically everything in its way". 
 
Technical information:
 
·         Canon EOS 550D
·         Canon 100mm L Macro IS USM lens
·         Canon 580EX II Speedlite
·         f/9.0
·         ISO 100
·         Club: July 2010, COM, 2* winner, Junior winner, Best of event
 
Cheers

André

Monday, November 14, 2011

Foto Uitstalling: Atterbury teater

 

100134 Preparing for the flightAan almal wat so baie hard gewerk het om hierdie uitstalling ‘n sukses te maak - baie dankie!   Die fotos is uitgestal in die voorportaal van die Atterbury Teater vanaf 25 Oktober 2011.

Ons het 71 foto's gedruk en het baie goeie terugvoer vanaf besoekers ontvang.

100107 Leader of the PackAan die wenners baie geluk, hulle is:

  • 1e plek:  Preparing for the flight, Chris Mulder
  • 2e plek:  Leader of the pack, Bennie du Plooy
  • 3e plek: Save Water, Zoe van der Spuy.

 

Die foto van Zoe het ook die aandag van die redaktrise van die tydskrif: "Spilpunt" getrek en verskyn as voorbladfoto op die volgende uitgawe - dis n groot pluimpie vir die uitstalling en baie geluk aan Zoë!   Verder was daar ook ‘n artikel in By, bylae van die beeld oor die poging.

100112 Save WaterDie fotos is natuurlik saamgevat in die fotoboek wat te sien is by klubaande.

Ons gaan ‘n uittreksel van die uitstalling by die jaareindfunksie uitstal vir die wat nog nie kans gekry het om hierna te kyk nie.  Kyk uit daarvoor en volgende jaar maak ons natuurlik weer so.

Groete

Arnold Theron

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Gotcha – Annelie Potgieter

I was on holiday in Swakopmund and decided to do 'The Little Big 5 of Namibia' tour.  While driving up and down the dunes, our tour guide spotted the chameleon from a distance.

We had the opportunity to stretch our legs and watch how this chameleon catches 'tok tokkies'.  I tried 7 times to 'freeze' the movement of the tongue but failed terribly!! Only when I downloaded the photo's I realised that the second last photo, the 'tok tokkie's' in the mouth of the chameleon and you can actually see the saliva in it's mouth!!

GotchaThis photo was also selected by Africa Geographic as "Photo of the day - 13, May 2011, and also as "Photo of the month" and they used it for the on line edition as the front page for the submission of photographs. It was also published in Africa Geographic, July edition 2011.

I still use my Canon Powershot S2 IS when I do hikes, trailling ect.

  • Club: April 2011, 1* Winner. Junior Winner. Best of Event.
  • Exposure 1/1000 sec 
  • Aperture 4
  • Canon Powershot S2 IS

Annelie Potgieter
Centurion Camera Club (3*)

Sunlight Kid–Evelyn Gibson

This image was taken at one of my grandsons birthday parties.  It is a genuine action shot which without any of the manipulation is a great image.  I converted it to Black and White and added some funny strokes around the ball and his arm.  With him wearing a T-shirt that said Sunlight Kid, I decided to call the image by that name.

gibson-e-1933-B3It was taken with the Nikon D3s, on motor drive, at F8 and probably a shutter speed of around 1/1200 of a sec or faster, ISO 400.  I continually shot the image and got this one with great action.

I am 6 Star at Centurion Camera Club and this image received 2nd Place in a Salon in France.

EVELYN GIBSON
FPSSA,EPSSA,AFIAP,ARP.
NATIONAL DIRECTOR/PRO – PSSA
Web Site: Click Here

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Happiness (Pictorial)

This picture is of my best friend.  I had just finished the renovations on my studio and asked her to pose for me in order that I could test my lights with the new background.  I set up my studio lights  in a butterfly lighting setup and we just had a whole lot of fun.  I always use the manual setting on my camera when I shoot in my studio.  I was not trying to take pictures for camera club, but rather pictures of her that she would like.  HappinessWhen I looked through the shots after completing the shoot I decided to enter this photograph as I loved the colours of her dress and I also liked the pose.  I did minimal post processing to this photograph.  I cropped it, checked the levels and sharpened it a bit.

Technical information:

  • Canon EOS 500D
  • 18 – 55mm canon lens at 58mm focal length
  • F/11
  • ISO 200
  • Manual setting
  • Location: My studio
  • Club: Nov 2010, COM, Best 3*, Best Junior

Zoe van der Spuy

I’m watching you (Nature)

The Nyala are fairly tame at Sondela.  Management of Sondela leave Nyala treats in the chalets, we were feeding three Nyala and I decided to take a few pictures.  This little bokkie was a greedy pig and kept stealing the food from under his friends’ noses.  I sat and waited until he looked directly at me.  I selected this picture from a burst of about 10 photographs as there are catch lights in the eyes, the pic is in focus and I liked the composition.  I did minimal post processing on this photograph, I cropped it and checked the level.

na_04020072_Im watching youTechnical information:

  • Canon EOS 500D
  • 100 – 300mm sigma lens at 195mm focal length
  • F/5.6
  • ISO 200
  • Normal setting
  • Location: Sondela Nature Reserve
  • Club: October 2011, COM, 3* Winner

Zoe van der Spuy

Thursday, October 20, 2011

CCC Website – Using the calendar

Introduction

Our web site makes use of an online calendar.  The advantage of this feature is that it allows the committee to update our club calendar regularly without interaction by the webmaster.  The calendar is hosted under Google which has the added advantage that members can access the calendar via a web interface but the calendar can also be imported into your email program and your active calendar.

This blog shows how to access the calendar and how to import the live calendar into Outlook.  A similar process can be followed by users with tablets and synchronization on your phone.  Please don’t be intimidated, give it a try!  Use the calendar in the way that works best for you.

Choose a calendar access option that works for you

cal01Normal calendar view

The calendar can be viewed or printed directly from the web site.  Once you have your browser open on the CCC website, simply click on the Calendar button on the left and the calendar page will open on screen, loading the Google calendar into the window.  You can select a month here and print the calendar if required.  This calendar is up to date in real time as changes are made to the calendar.

View next to your Google calendar

cal02If you are already using Google calendars, you can choose to display the CCC calendar data together with your personal information.  This is very simple process.  Login with your Google user name.  Select the calendar page (this might be hidden under the “more” button) to display your personal calendar.  You will notice an option on the left for “Other” calendars open this and type ccc.webalbums in the space “Add a friend’s calendar’.  You will now notice that the CCC calendar items will display next to your personal items, in the colour assigned to the CCC calendar.

Set calendar notification

After you have completed the steps above, you can request Google to send you notifications by email or sms.  These notifications can include a number of options that you would prefer.  The steps are very simple once you have found the window.  The trick is to hover your mouse over the Centurion Camera Club calendar name in the left column.  A down arrow will be visible, click on this arrow and anew menu will be visible.  One of the options is “Notifications” select this and complete the questions on the window that will open.  Save these changes and you will now be notified as requested.

Import the CCC calendar into Outlook

This description is for Outlook 2010, but the process is very similar on other clients with this feature.  You need to start again on the calendar page of the CCC website.  Note the ical icon on the bottom of the page.  This icon will allow you to download the calendar link to your PC.  The first option is to download the file and open it.  This will import the calendar, but it might be static.  This means that you will have to manually repeat the download from time to time to incorporate changes in your calendar.

It is better to define this link as a web calendar in Outlook, which will update automatically.  This is done by entering the calendar link:

https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/ccc.webalbums%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics

Into your Outlook configuration.  Go to File | Account Settings.  Select the Internet Calendars tab.  Select New and copy the text above into the required field of the pop-up window.

cal03

When you select “Add” change the calendar name away from the default “basic” to a more user-friendly name.  In this example I have used CCC.

You can get more information on this: Microsoft Page

Conclusion

This feature is very powerfull and can be used in a number of ways by members.  It is however not the place to expand on these here and members are welcome to explore other options and give us some feedback.  There are also many links on the web as to implement this feature on other devices.  Most devices provide an App that will allow this synchronization.

I trust you managed to read all the way to this point and that you did not get lost.  Enjoy this feature!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Centurion kameraklub fotouitstalling 2011

Atterbury teater, Dinsdag 25 Oktober om 18:30
Die idee van ‘n fotouitstalling spruit uit die inisiatief om belangstelling in die klub vir hoë gehalte fotografiese afdrukke te bevorder. Aangesien afdrukke nie meer as medium vir die beoordeling van foto’s in die klub dien nie, sien ons glad nie meer afdrukke nie en sterf dit as’t ware uit.
Die uitstekende gehalte wat huidige inkdrukkers behaal op spesialismedia maak dit aantreklik om jou eie werk op papier te sien en bly die beste manier om jou werk te vertoon.
As eerste poging loods die klub ‘n fotouitstalling om die belangstelling in afdrukke as medium te toets. Afdrukke word deur spesialisdrukkers “Wet Ink” gedoen op ‘n uniforme mat oppervlak gedruk, vereers ongemonteer sodat alle foto’s dieselfde formaat en grootte het.  Die foto’s op die uitstalling gaan teen R200 stuk te koop aan die publiek gebied word. 'n Beoordelaar sal aangewys word om die beste van die foto’s ten toon gestel aan te dui.
Die uitstalling word by Atterbury teater gehou vanaf Maandag 25 Oktober tot Sondag 31 Oktober.  Bywoning vir lede en gaste by die openingsaand is gratis maar moet aangedui word by die klub vir logistieke redes. Daarby word kaartjies by die deur teen ‘n afslagtarief aangebied vir die vertoning: “Vive La France”, ‘n Franse vertolking van afrikaanse liedjies.
‘n Fotoboek gaan gepubliseer word met alle uitstalfoto’s in en sal as verwysing dien by die uitstalling vir besoekers en fotograwe. Eksemplare sal op bestelling te koop aangebied word.
Ons hoop hierdie eerste poging om ons werk vir n breër publiek ten toon te stel sal n nuwe ywer by klublede aanwakker om die waarde van gehalte afdrukke te erken as medium vir die beste van Centurion Kameraklub se fotografiese talente.
Groete
Arnold Theron.