Best Wishes from the Club

Nature Photography invitation

CCC Year End Trophies 2012

We had our function on Saterday and the following trophies were presented:

• Most Salon Points
• Most Salon Points - Junior - Tertius Kotze, Pieter Gravett, Jeno Diozeggi
• Most Salon Points - Senior - Evelyn Gibson
• Most Salon Points - Overall - Evelyn Gibson
• Most Club Points
• Most Club Points - Junior - Annette Odendaal
• Most Club Points - Senior - Evelyn Gibson
• Most Club Points - Overall - Evelyn Gibson
• Photographer of the Year 2012
• Photographer of the Year - Junior - Annette Odendaal
• Photographer of the Year - Senior - Evelyn Gibson
• Photographer of the Year – Overall - Evelyn Gibso
• Best Photo of the Year 2012 Yearend Competition
• Photo of the Year - Junior First Place (Gold Medal) Francois Kotze
• Gossip
• Photo of the Year - Junior Second Place (Silver Medal) Phillip Grobler
• Malachite Muck
• Photo of the Year - Junior Third Place (Bronz Medal) Pieter Gravett
• Honda 43
• Photo of the Year - Senior First Place (Gold Medal) Eddie Everson
• Bekvol
• Photo of the Year - Senior Second Place (Silver Medal) Chris Mulder
• Snoekertafel
• Photo of the Year - Senior Third Place (Bronz Medal) Andre Norris
• Autumn Awesome Leaves
• Photo of the Year - Overall (Groot trofee) Francois Kotze
• Gossi
• Chairmans Trophy 2012
• Tertius Kotze

Congratualations to everyone !!!

For all the other photos taken at the event Click here

Jaarlikse fotouitstalling

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” -Ansel Adams

Aan almal wat deelgeneem het aan ons jaarlikse fotouitstaling by Nikon-house baie dankie vir julle entoesiastiese deelname! Ook vir almal wat hard gewerk het om als bymekaar te bring op die openingsaand, dit het 'n regte spanpoging geneem om alles te laat gebeur. Alle aanduidings is dat dit n groot sukses was en die geleentheid het ons klub se fotografiese talent oortuigend ten toon gestel. Die foto's was in die algemeen van baie hoë standaard en het heelwat gunstige kommentaar van Nikon en ons gaste op die openingsaand uitgelok.

Baie geluk aan Helouise Mulder as goue medaljewenner met die foto: "Skadu's in die gang", Tertius Kotze vir sy silwermedalje met die foto: "Spook Trolley" en Evelyn Gibson met 'n bronsmedalje vir: "Jicana". Die beoordelaars was Toni Balotta en Gus Waschefort.

'n Versameling foto's van die uitstalling sal by die jaareindfunksie uitgestal word. Ons vertrou al die foto's sal meer permanent plek vind teen die mure van jul huise en plek maak vir meer in die toekoms. Ons maak natuurlik volgende jaar weer so - die keer by die Centurion kunsgallery.

Arnold Theron.

Visit the Print fotos Album or look at an Album of the event

PSSA Northern Gauteng newsletter

30 October 2012

Dear Northern Gauteng Clubs

Will you please be so kind as to send out the following newsletter to all your club members.

1. Salon Results:

Congratulations to all the individuals from the different clubs who are continuously achieving good results in the national salons. As a region, we can also be proud of our achievement in the 1^st BLUFF National Digital Salon. Herewith a short summary:

Between the 7 clubs in the region that participated in this salon, we managed to achieve 30 COM’s - 29% of all the COM’s awarded and 140 acceptances - 17% of all the images that got accepted. Well done to the individuals from AFO and MFFC who won the 2 medals. Well done to all of our members in the region.

2. Upcoming Salons:

The last salon for 2012 is still available:

· 1^st Witbank National Digital Salon – 17 November 2012 closing date

3. Upcoming Events:

1. The Centurion Camera Club’s print exhibition at Nikon House in Midrand is still on until the 2^nd November 2012. Please show your support by visiting the exhibition if you can – it is a truly amazing initiative from them with some stunning images.
2. Final Reminder of the AV Day hosted by the Pretoria AV Club on Saturday, 3^rd November 2012.

Final reminder: We invite all to a special day of Audio Visual with Howard Bagshaw ARPS MPAGB from England

Date: 3rd November 2012 from 09h30 until about 16h00, A light lunch will be provided
Costs: R50 for members, R100 for visitors payable at the door
Venue: Irene Homes Hall, Irene. Entrance at 2 Albert Road (between Nelmapius Drive and Alexandra road), Centurion.

Part of the day will be spent on “live” judging of our club competition entries by Howard and part on AV training, also by Howard. An opportunity like this will not occur again in the near future. Our speaker has arrived and is looking forward to meeting everyone.

Phone: Jeff Morris 082 840 5459

If there are any other events that you want me to communicate to other clubs, please send me the information and we can include it in this section.

4. Monthly Club Winners:

A number of the clubs in our region are committed participants to the monthly club winning image competition. How would you feel in sharing your monthly winning image with the rest of us in our region? In order to share these images, will you please be so kind as to send these to me to include in the newsletters.

5. News from the Region:

If you are organising an event, training workshop or excursion and you want me to share the details with the other clubs in region, please send me the information. Remember we are all involved in club photography to learn and to learn from each other.

6. Opportunities:

There are a number of photographers and organisations in our region that offer specialised services such as photographic trips to various parts of the country and to our neighbouring countries. If you have information about such events and you want me to share this with our clubs in the region, please send me the details.

• Please visit the Outdoorphoto website (www.outdoorphoto.co.za) for a variety of photographic safaris.
• Please contact Johan Greyling (Cell: 083 3002243) if you are interested in photographic safaris to Kasane, Botswana in November 2012.
• Please contact Henning de Beer (Cell: 082 4917733) if you are interested in photographic safaris to Dube and Giants Castle.

If you have any other interesting ideas or information that you want to share, please feel free to contact me.

Till next time, hope you have an abundance of good light.

Anton la Grange (APSSA)

Laaste 2012 Uitstappie

Die jaar se uitstappies is afgesluit op 'n hoogtepunt.  Die tema was mode fotografie.  Daar was om en by 15 fotograwe wat die geleentheid bygewoon het en ons 3 modelle het fasinerende uitrustings aangehad.  Dankie aan Elizna van den Berg van D3 design wat die uitrustings vir ons beskikbaar gestel het. Dit was waarlik ‘n fees om af te neem.

Ek maak dan ook van die geleentheid gebruik om julle vaarwel toe te roep en dankie te se vir almal wat deur die jaar my uitstappies by gewoon het.  Dit was harde werk maar ek het dit net so baie geniet soos julle (indien nie meer:-) )

Groete

Maryka

Foto deur Jan Potgieter.  Die volledige album is op ons  Facebook bladsy.

DRAMATIC SETTING ON THE STONES

(Correct name for the stones is Callanish Stones)

These stones are situated on the Isle of Lewis, which is part of the Western Isles of Scotland and they are one of the most complete historic stone circles in Europe.

About two million years ago the ice age came to Lewis. Glaciers engulfed the land and the sea, forming the smooth rocky landscape you can see today. When the ice melted twelve thousand years ago, the sea level rose – flooding river valleys. As the climate improved the land became alive, soil formed and plants and woodland returned. Peat developed on the poorly drained ground and extended upwards and outwards to cover large tracts of land. It buried natural rocks and the stone monuments that had been erected by early settlers. The layout is shaped like a distorted Celtic Cross, with five rows of stones radiating from the central circle.

Callanish is often called the “Stonehenge of Scotland” – but in actuality the persons who built Callanish simply didn’t have the resources that were used in the building of Stonehenge – but it has become obvious that they had a great understanding of the skies. The construction may have begun as early as 1800 BC – generally it is thought though to have been during the Neolithic period of between 2600-2900 BC. Unlike Stonehenge the circle is not “roped” off and it really is lovely to be able to be so close to it and even touch the stones and feel the atmosphere.

It was really an experience to be engulfed in this situation, every stone has a feature and with the lighting in that part of the world changing continuously the patterns changed dramatically on them. It does have a tendency to rain a lot in that area and you have to run for shelter quickly, sometimes behind one of the stones, covering up all your equipment. Then immediately the rain goes off, usually as quickly as it had come on, the lighting is so dramatic and the patterns in the stones have changed yet again. One would always like to get into a position where you can separate the elements of the stones but that is not so easy in this circle of stones but the variety of angles you can achieve with the stones is fantastic (beware you may be fed up looking at all my different approaches to these stones by the end of the year).

The skies in this part of the world are also continually changing giving different and dramatic formations all the time. I used graduated filters a lot on this trip, ranging from 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9, which gave great balance and contrast in the landscape.

This image was taken with the D800, 28-300 lens at 34mm, 1/500 sec., F/11, 320 ISO and on a tripod.

EVELYN GIBSON (FPSSA,EPSSA,AFIAP,ARP)
For more photos by Evelyn go to her web site: Click Here

Photo and film expo

Audio Visual with Howard Bagshaw from England

Pretoria AV Club

We invite all to a special day of Audio Visual with Howard Bagshaw ARPS MPAGB from England

Date: 3^rd November 2012 from 09h30 until about 16h00

A light lunch will be provided

Costs: R50 for members, R100 for visitors

Venue: Irene Homes Hall, Irene. Entrance at 2 Albert Road (halfway between Nelmapius Drive and Alexandra road), Centurion

Part of the day will be spent on “live” judging of our club competition entries by Howard and part on AV training, also by Howard.

An opportunity like this will not occur again in the near future.

Here is a short CV he sent us: "I have been a keen photographer since childhood, but it was only 6 years ago, when I retired, that I started to seriously make digital AV sequences. The AV community in the UK is strong and very supportive so my wife, Carole and I soon made a lot of friends who helped me make progress. I feel that it is important to share your sequences and get ideas from others, as well as critically looking at as many other people's sequences as you can.

I was encouraged to enter club, regional, national and, recently, international AV competitions. I am pleased that many sequences have done quite well, and some sequences particularly well. I was awarded medals in two MFFC AV Salons, but the highlight so far was winning the 2010 RPS AV International with 'Migrant Mother'. I have also got more involved with the Royal Photographic Society and received an Associate distinction, as well as a Masters distinction from the Photographic Alliance of GB. I am vice-chair of the RPS AV Group.

We are really looking forward to meeting you all, looking at AV sequences and sharing ideas."

To assist with catering, please indicate your attendance to: Email: Pretoria.av.club@gmail.com  Phone: Jeff Morris 082 840 5459

Website: http://pretoria-av-club.wikispaces.com

Electronic copies of this Invitation are available on our website.

Photo Tour opportunity

CENTURION CAMERA CLUB PHOTO EXHIBITION

22 Oktober - 2 Nov 2012

Centurion camera club presents our annual showcase photo exhibition at Nikon House, Brakfontein. For directions from the Nikon site click on: "contact us".

As club members you are invited to make use of this occasion to exhibit your best photo's of the year - simply upload your images and we do the rest.

The rules briefly are: 

• You may enter up to 4 images, of which we guarantee to print and exhibit at least 3 depending on available display space.  Only full resolution files will be accepted and in any case not less than 5 Megapixel. Format preferable TIFF or JPG at highest qualty.
• We do encourage prints to be mounted. This does raise the cost of prints, however, so we require at least one of your images to be mounted.
• Cost is  R100 per photo plus an optional mounting fee of R50 per print. Payment is by way of direct bank depost into the camera club account.
• Photo's should be uploaded to FileFactory (see entry form spreadsheet for details) before midnight, 30th September 2012.
• Detail instructions is available on the downloadable Excel file on the website.

What do we do for you?

• Photo's are printed on A3+ enhanced matte using the best of inkjet technology.
• Photo's indicated will be mounted on 5mm foam core with bevel cut matting surround. Pictures will not be framed.
• We print a label with the author's name, details and a sort paragraph on the picture itself.
• Pictures will be offered for sale to the public for R200 per print (unmounted) and R250 mounted. Public may discuss pricing with photographer for other copies or sizes.
• Pictures will be judged on at the event and a brons, silver and gold medal will be awarded.
• Pictures will be posted to an on line gallery.
• Pictures will be exhibited at Nikon house for two weeks.
• A selection of photo's will be printed on alternative fine art media and displayed to introduce other print media.
• An opening evening will be held on 22nd October at 7:00 pm. The exhibits willl be judged at this event.
• There is no cost for this event - snacks will be served, supplied by F-stop cafè.

Direct all enquiries to :     

Arnold Theron    arnold.theron@gmail.com

Cutting Edge

Time and place: I like to experiment with Altered Reality and keep every picture of interesting ideas from magazine, advertisements or the internet. Sometimes these pictures provide you with a concept that develops further into something else as you start planning and experimenting. I found this particular idea on the internet. I like this image because of the clean simple lines, but mostly because it makes you look twice before you realise what you are looking at.

This photo was done in a home studio.

A plain sheet of white paper was used for the background. The lighting provided the soft grey colours and shadows. I used toy blocks under the paper to provide the height and angle of the cutlery.

Equipment and settings: I used a Nikon D5000 camera, an 18 to 200mm zoom lens and a tripod. Shutter speed was 1/200, Aperture was F32 and ISO was at 200. I used a studio light with a soft box.

Processing: I used Adobe Photoshop Elements 10. The basic processing done on this image was to crop for good composition, sharpen, saturation and contrast.

I cut off the edge of the fork by duplicating the colour of the paper using the “Clone” function.

I then duplicated a portion of the original image to create the end of the fork so that it appeared to be cut off. Here I used the “Transform/Perspective” function to create the impression that it was lying flat as well as the “Clone” function to blend the duplicated portion into the entire image.

Cornelia Niemand 4*

Beautiful Bee

Time and place: This photo was taken in the garden of The Margaret Roberts Herbal Centre on the R513 near Zilkaatsnek. The centre is open to the public on Wednesdays from 8h30 to 16h00 and the first Saturday of every month. They also have a large veranda where you can have tea/coffee and a variety of baked goods.

The photo was taken during the late afternoon while the sun was still shining brightly. Light was therefore not a problem but I had to consider the possibility of shadows on the subject. There was also a fair amount of wind, which could cause the image to be out-of-focus. We visited the centre with a group of people who all showed an interest in photographing the flowers and insects, which made it a bit crowded. However, once the group departed to enjoy refreshments, I could take my time at taking photos.

The bees were active around the Echinacea purpurea flowers. I liked the round shape of the centre of the flower and wanted to emphasise it in the composition of the image.

The photo was taken at a short distance, which allowed for the subject to be sharp and the background blurred with all the beautiful colours of the garden.

I took about 12 photos of the subject, many of which were out-of-focus due to the wind and the movement of the bee. I admit that this photograph was the result of more luck than patience.

Equipment and settings: I used a Nikon D5000 camera, a macro lens with 85 mm focal length and a tripod. Shutter speed was 1/125, Aperture was F18 and ISO was at 200.

Processing: I used Adobe Photoshop Elements 10. The only processing done on this image was to crop for good composition, sharpen, saturation and contrast.

Cornelia Niemand 4*

Dads old Sax – Tema: Side Lighting

Elke fotograaf het dit seker ook al ervaar dat sekere fotos sommer net gebeur, en ander weer met meer beplanning gepaard gaan. Sommige fotos beteken vir jou as persoon meer as ander. Die foto “Dads old Sax” is my pa se saxofoon wat hy in die sestigerjare aangeskaf het toe hy in sy twintigs was. Hy is baie musikaal en bespeel ‘n hele paar instrumente. Van my klein dogtertjie herinneringe van my pa is waar ek op die mat sit in sy musiekkamer, en grootoog kyk hoe hy vriende en familie vermaak met die speel van sy klavier, trekklavier, orrel en saxofoon. Alhoewel hy nie nou meer so baie speel nie het hy nog onlangs met die Saxofoon “Stillenag” saam met die kerkorrel op Kersdag gespeel.

Ek wou graag sy instrumente “capture” omdat dit so groot deel van sy lewe uitgemaak het en nog steeds doen. Hierdie foto is een van hulle.

Die foto is nie spesifiek geneem vir die tema “Side Lighting” nie, maar het aan die vereistes voldoen.

Ek het gebruik gemaak van my “ lig tent “ asook een lampie wat slegs aan die linkerkant geplaas is. Ek het seker so 10 fotos geneem omdat ek eksperimenteer het met die hoeveelheid lig wat ek wou gebruik. Die foto is geneem met ‘n Canon EOS 50D, 50 mm lens, 2sec, f/22, ISO 160.

Michelle van Niekerk 4*

Dankie van Chris en Helouise

Glowing Dust – Beste tema foto in Augustus

In my gesin is modelle vir fotos maar skaars en as ek die geleentheid kry moet ek vinnig speel. Corli het vir die foto vermoedelik ingestem omdat sy nie vinnig genoeg aan ‘n verskoning kon dink nie en ek is ‘n 30 minute foto sessie toegestaan.

Die idee vir die foto was al vir ‘n rukkie in my kop en ek het geweet wat ek wou doen. Voor my halfuur met die model begin het, het ek al die voorbereiding gedoen. Ek ‘n swart agtergrond opgestel met een hoof flits in ‘n silwer sambreel aan die kant en ‘n wit weerkaatser aan die teenoorgestelde kant om die donker kant effens te verlig. Ek het die fokus en ander verstellings van die kamera en op die flits op “manual” gesit om te verhoed dat die groot kontras probleme gee. Ek het ‘n paar toetsfotos geneem, sonder die model, om die verstellings reg te kry en nie my toegelate 30 minute te oorskry nie. Hierdie foto is in RAW geneem met ‘n 105mm lens by f/8.0, 1/60s en ISO 100.

Toe my model gereed was het ons ‘n paar fotos geneem sonder stof om die lig weerkaatsing vanaf die Bybel reg te kry. Ek het dit gedoen deur die hoek waarteen sy die Bybel gehou het effens te verander. Daarna het ons bruismeel op die Bybel gegooi en die aksiefotos geneem terwyl sy blaas. ‘n Paar probeerslae was nodig om die tydsberekening reg te kry en selfs die model het dit nou begin geniet. Agt minute na ons begin het het ek gesien ek het die foto geneem wat ek in gedagte gehad het. Alles was vinnig verby en die model was tevrede!

Met die verwerking was daar min nodig om te verander. Die fotos was bietjie donker en ek het dit verbeter en ek het ook besluit om ‘n spieëlbeeld van die oorspronklike foto te gebruik. Later het ek so bietjie kleur in die “stof” gesit en ek was versigtig optimisties oor my foto se kanse in die “sybeligting tema”.

Die aksie/storie in die foto maak dat dit mens se aandag trek en ek het die positiewe kommentaar van mense wat die foto gesien het, hoog op prys gestel.

Bernard Richard 4*

“Abandoned”

The photo, “Abandoned”, entered for 13 August

I volunteered in Israel for the month of November 2011, and our first weekend was spent in Tel-Aviv. I am always fascinated by the cycling that happens overseas, and was puzzled by the fact that most of the bicycles that were chained to various posts, all had their saddles missing. I was told that was to stop the bikes from being stolen – in Israel, where they are so security conscious! This bike was definitely not going anywhere again – it had rusted as it stood, and the tyres were flat. So I took the picture with my Nikon D80, using a Nikkor 18-200mm lens and set at f6.3, shutter speed 1/60^th of a second, ISO on auto. I only took the one shot as the other volunteers were on the way to the old harbour in Jaffa, so I had to get a move on. I loved the rusted bike with its coloured plastic bags and the equally rusted bars it was attached to, with the turquoise canvas giving a textured and complimentary-coloured background.

At the old harbour there were huge artworks of children painted onto the peeling walls of some of the buildings, so I photographed them with their accusing eyes in their pained faces, and the lovely free broad strokes of their hair. Luckily there was a building opposite the paintings, so I was able to photograph at the same level as the paintings (2 storeys up) - one virtually straight across from me, and the other at a lovely angle – in fact there was a window ledge just above the child’s head, and there was a dove sitting there looking as though it was nesting in her hair! It was almost midday but remember it was winter, so not too bright, and I shot at f5.6 (a flat surface and at a distance), but this time at 1/500^th of a second. I also zoomed in to crop the artwork and avoid all the clutter. I took two shots of each of the artworks, and that’s when I included the word, ‘what’ on one of them as I took a wider shot.

Back home, working on Photoshop Elements 7, I wanted to add to the bicycle photo as it was lacking something once I’d done the usual manipulations. There had been a great many graffiti-like artworks in Israel, so I decided to use the pictures of the 2 children, knowing that on their own, they would just be ‘someone else’s art’! Working in layers, I cut and pasted the girl at an angle, and she fitted in perfectly to the left of the bicycle. I used the eraser tool and lowered the opacity so that she appears ghost-like behind the bars. But if you look closely, you’ll see that most of her is actually in front of the bars – it just gives a bit more depth to the photo. I did the same with the second photo, and she ended up with the handlebars and brake of the bike following the outline of her eye which I rather liked. The rusted chain seems to be coming from round her neck which adds to the pathos of the photograph. But it was still a little unbalanced, and that’s when I decided to add the word, ‘what’ – and that I placed firmly behind the bars, knowing that text tends to attract the eye and I didn’t want it too obvious or distracting.

So I think I achieved an evocative piece with lovely perspectives...

Ruby Braumann 5*

Impressive Roof – CCC “Best of Event” August 2012

This image was taken in Lyon Airport in France in 2009. I was visiting a cousin of mine from Australia who was working and living in Grenoble in France for a short spell.

I took about 30 odd photos of this roof from different angles, portrait format, landscape format etc. What really impressed me about this roof was the symmetry that could be achieved from all of the different angles. Also the shapes and patterns it formed. I was a bit worried that shooting up towards it all the time and the bright sky coming through I would not achieve the effect that I saw through the lens. It is amazing that all the 30 odd images that I have, I could use if I wished all of them as they all have a place in their own right with the exposure being OK, the shapes and the patterns also creating impact. To get the symmetry and the balance I have cropped in on the image to get the impact that I wanted to portray.

It was taken with the Nikon D700, which is a full frame camera with the 24-70, 2.8 lens at the focal length of 24 mm. Hand held, ISO 560, 1/15 sec. at F.11 on Aperture Priority. I chose to convert to Monochrome, which I do think has the stronger impact, albeit as taken it was quite monochromatic looking.

It has done well for me in National and International Salons and in an Architectural category has achieved a couple of COMs.

Evelyn Gibson 6* (FPSSA, EPSSA, AFIAP, ARPS)

A RIDE THRU THE GLOWING LIGHT

With my children being big into mountain biking, I end up at many of the mountain bike races throughout the country. This was taken in 2010 in Cullinan and I decided to take a walk through the woods to try and capture something different and with not too many people around. The mud and the water obviously caught my eye as a great potential for some action. Unfortunately the light was coming from the back of the cyclists, which is not ideal as it would have been preferable to have the light coming from the front. I could not resist the action, as I said of the mud and the water and decided to go for the image with back lighting. A few weeks ago while I was going through many images to find something new for the Salons both here and overseas, I decided that this had potential to do something with. I love playing around in photoshop and trying new things and I kept bearing in mind that I could not enter it into a sports category but could enter it into Pictorial. I tweaked the levels here and there, pushed up the saturation a bit, then I duplicated the layer. I then blurred the layer to get a soft feel about it but brought back in the cyclist to be sharp in the image. His face was also a bit dark so I dodged his face to bring more light onto it. After flattening the image, it still did not have impact so I then went through many filters to see what I could do to have some stronger impact. CS6 has a new feature of Colour Look up Adjustment Layer with many filters and I played around with some of them, plus adjusting sliders along the way. I eventually got the image as seen. A huge learning when doing things like this is to jot down exactly what you did or save the master as a psd file.

The original image was taken with the D3S – 70-200 lens at 70 mm focal length, 1/320 sec on F.7, ISO 500, hand held on Aperture Priority.

This image has done well in Salons here, getting COMs and also overseas to the extent now that I cannot use it anymore for Salon entries as I am over my limit of usage.

For me another lesson was go back and look at some of your old images, try new things with them, experiment and you can be lucky – what was it Gary Player said the more you practice the luckier you get.

Evelyn Gibson 6* (FPSSA, EPSSA, AFIAP, ARPS)

Dieretuin Uitstappie –Tirzah van der Merwe

Ons sal Maandag by die klubaand die wenners aanwys van die foto’s van ons dieretuin uistappie. Ons is baie nuuskierig om te sien wie gewen het.  Daar was 5 afdelings waarin fotos ingedien moes word nl: The eye, movement, self portrait, patterns, reflections.

Op die dag het ons ‘n entoesiastiese besoeker gehad wat self haar merk gemaak het in die kompetisie en ons het haar fotos ook ingeskryf.  Hier onder is die 5 foto’s wat Tirzah van der Merwe die dag geneem het en ingeskryf het.  Sy is 9 jaar oud en het die dag ‘n Canon SX-200 kamera gebruik.

Ek dink Tirzah kan baie trots wees op hierdie foto’s wat sy “raakgesien” het om in die 5 afdelings te pas.  DIt is egter duidelik dat sy ‘n onregverdige voordeel in die selfportret afdeling gehad het as ek kyk na die ander klublede wat die dag bygewoon het.

Groete

Bernard

August Theme – Explained

Maryka has again given us some valuable direction for the theme this month and prepared this information page.  I trust the samples and explanation below will assist you to take this challenge for our next club competition.

Picture of a Parking Area

Looking for some Architecture

I was driving around late one Sunday afternoon trying to find some interesting architecture to photograph. I could not find anything and after sunset gave up on my search. On my way home, I stopped for take-away coffee and for some reason I decided to drive through the underground parking garage at Lifestyle Center. I immediately saw the opportunity to take some photos. Armed with my camera, tripod and remote release I walked around in the garage looking for some interesting angles.

Scared and Lonely

Walking around alone in the garage and nobody around me made me feel uncomfortable and a bit scared and I wanted to take a photo that would express how I felt at that moment. My first attempt was a low and wide angle view with a drain cover in the left hand corner. The shot did not work for me as there was some distracting background and also did not give that "lonely" feeling.

Leading Lines

I eventually decided on taking position between two sets of different colour pillars. The pillars formed a leading line to the parking exit which I found interesting. I setup as low as possible on my tripod and took a first test shot. The final re-positioning was to centre the black line in the frame.

Looking for a Subject

Although the photo was already strong, I still wanted a subject that would stand out and basically portray the feeling of "lonely"...almost "left behind". The only subject I could find was a trolley. I positioned it roughly on the top left thirds position and took the photo. Although the setup and photo worked for me, I still wanted to capture a photo with some more contrast and almost "creepy" kind of look.

Remote Flash

I decided to place a remote flash on the ground, right behind the first blue pillar on the left hand side. The idea was to throw some flashlight onto the trolley which would allow me to play around with various settings to darken the garage and only highlight the trolley. The concept worked perfectly and I immediately realized that a combination of highlighting the trolley and various settings to correctly expose the natural light in the garage would be perfect.

Taking the big step - HDR

This was the perfect opportunity to try some HDR. I kept the same setup (tripod, low angle, flash behind pillar and remote release) and took several series each consisting of three shots at different shutter speeds. The final series that worked for me was this one,

6 seconds @ f22, ISO 100, 24-70 mm lens at 70mm

13 seconds @ f22, ISO 100, 24-70 mm lens at 70mm

25 seconds @ f22, ISO 100, 24-70 mm lens at 70mm

In all three cases, the remote flash behind the pillar was fired. The flash was set on manual 1/32 power and zoom 50mm. If you look closely at the final image later, you will notice the red handle of the trolley is almost over exposed.

Processing - Photomatix

I downloaded the photos and selected the above series which was imported directly into Photomatix Pro 4.2.
In Photomatix I played around with all the various default pre-sets and decided to apply the "Painterly 4" effect. It gave me the contrast and "creepy" feeling I was looking for.
The only adjustments I made in Photomatix was,

• Adjust the strength = 80
• Colour Saturation = 90
• Detail Contrast = 10
• Black Point = 1.196%

The final image was saved and imported into Light Room 4.1.

Processing LightRoom 4.1

The HDR image was looking good but had some terrible highlights which were caused by lights in the garage. The best way to get rid of this was to apply an almost panoramic crop to the image which further enhanced the leading lines of the photo. I then adjusted the final exposure of the image and cleaned a few spots, especially the wall left of the exit.

Equipment used

Canon 5DII, Canon 24-70 f2.8 lens, 580exII flash, tripod, remote release and Hahnel remote trigger for flash.

Software used

Photomatix Pro 4.2, Lightroom 4.1

Final Images

Two images stood out for me but the first one was my favourite and decided to submit it for the 9th July 2012 club evening. The result was a COM.

Final Image - COM

Another attempt and my original idea

Food for Thought

HDR is just another tool that we as photographers have. When applied to the right photo and in moderation it can give you something totally different. If you ask me what will I do different next time....take somebody with you, it is really creepy being alone in a parking garage!!

Francois Kotze

PHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

All in excellent condition, used very little. Lenses with front and rear caps and  clear filters put on in shop when bought. No scratchmarks or dents. Original receipts available  and in original boxes. Bought at ODP Pretoria and some from ORMS, Cape Town.

Reason for selling, old age (mine) and lost of interest.

1	Camera body: Canon EOS 50D with body cap	R 6500-00
	Sandisk & Leaxar Compactflash Memory cards: 16GB (1), 8GB(1), 4GB (4) to go with EOS 50D, also all cables, software etc
2	Lens: Canon zoom 24-105L IS with Canon Hood	R 9000-00
3	Lens Canon zoom 20-35L with Canon Hood	R 4000-00
4	Lens: Canon zoom 70-300 IS 11	R 4000-00
5	Lens: Canon 50mm 1.8 11 with rubber hood	R 500-00
6	Lens: Canon 100mm Macro 2.8 with Canon Hood	R 4000-00
7	Lens: Canon 85mm 1.8 with Canon Hood	R 3000-00
8	Electronic flash: Canon Speedlite 580 EX 11 with Gary Fong attachment and Canon Off-Camera Shoe Cord OC	R 4500-00
9	Tripod: Manfrotto 190XPROB	R 1600-00
10	Tripod Head: Manfrotto 804RC2	R 800-00
11	Camera Bag: Thinktank Retro 20 (Grey color) shoulderbag	R 1200-00
12	Camera: Canon Powershot G12	R 4000-00
	Two SD cards & software etc. with G12 camera
13	Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 Software in original box	R 500-00

Contact Onus Malherbe: 071 385 1562 and 012 332 1644. onus.malherbe@gmail.com

Dieretuinuitstappie (Tong in die kies)

Ek was donkiejare laas by die dieretuin, dus was dit met groot opgewondenheid dat ek Saterdagoggend by die groepie van 13 aangesluit het voor die ingang van Pretoria se dieretuin. So uit die perd se bek (Maryka) het ons, ons opdragte vir die oggend ontvang, om ‘n oog, ‘n selfportret, ‘n refleksie, beweging en patrone af te neem.

Met die aap uit die mou het ons die tog aangepak. Daar was ‘n slang in die gras wat die tyd aanbetref, want dit het gevlieg!  Daar is soveel fotogeleenthede, mense, diere, geboue, natuurelemente, wel, enigiets, noem dit, dis daar.  Ons het rondgeloop soos ‘n hoender wat nes soek, elkeen in sy eie rigting in, en met sekere tussenposes weer soos voëls van eenderse vere bymekaar gekoek om oor koeitjies en kalfies in die fotografiewêreld te gesels.

‘n Ou kan nogal die aapstuipe kry as die diere nie wil saamwerk en so staan sodat jy ‘n behoorlike foto kan neem nie, maar dit rol soos water op ‘n eend se rug van die diertjies af, hulle gaan maar aan met dit wat hulle besig hou.

Net ‘n hanetreetjie van die ingang af is die flaminke pragtig geklee in hulle pienk vere.  Dan die luiperd wat op en af geloop het met net ‘n dik glas tussen ons, geen kat om sonder handskoene aan te pak nie!

Dit was groot pret om te sien hoe die selfportrette geneem is.  Een het daar op ‘n eensame bankie gaan sit soos ‘n wafferse ou omie, ‘n ander het oor die pad gehardloop om by die waterval te gaan staan, terwyl die sekondes vinnig aftik, ‘n ander een het skelmpies op ‘n bankie wat op die brug staan, gaan sit en sommerso uit die hand ‘n vinnige foto geneem.

Wel so tussen renosters, olifante, kameelperde, leeus, katte, plaasdiere, voëls en wat nog kan ‘n ou nie glo dat die oggend se vinnig gevlieg het nie.  Ek het geen kat se kans om ‘n COM met enige van my foto’s te wen nie, maar ek sien dit as nog ‘n bietjie ervaring in die bank.

Esta de Jager

Kremetart – Elize van Rooyen

Ek was bevoorreg om deel te wees van ‘n groep van 18 persone wat Botswana besoek het gedurende die Junie vakansie. Ons was onder andere na Kubu eiland waar daar letterlik net soutpanne en Kremetartbome is. Ek het die vorige dag rondgeloop op die eiland om die ideale plekkie te kry om ‘n foto te neem met die sonsopkoms. Dinge het egter ‘n bietjie anders verloop want die volgende oggend was ons druk besig met oppak toe iemand vir my skree dat sonsopkoms oor 5 minute sou wees. Ek het inderhaas die kamera gegryp en gehardloop. Ek het kort-kort gestop om ‘n foto te neem. Die foto wat ek ingestuur het was toe nie op die uitgekose plek geneem nie want die tyd was te min om verder te hardloop. Dit was egter ‘n pragtige gesig met die wit soutpanne in die agtergrond en die son wat sy verskyning maak.

Alles was so helder en die lug was baie skoon.

Ek het die foto geneem om 7:00 die oggend op 26 Junie 2012

Ek is nog ‘n groentjie wat fotografie betref. Ek het my kamera (Canon 600D) einde 2011 aangeskaf en ‘n kursus in fotografie gedoen. Hierdie was my eerste inskrywings vir die klub. Ek was gelukkig dat dit nie nodig was om veranderings te doen aan die foto nie. Ek het die foto slegs “gecrop”

Kamera	Canon 600 D
Sluiterspoed	1/50s
Lensopening	f/9
ISO	ISO-100
Fokusafstand	24mm
Klub	Julie 2012 – COM ; 1* Wenner

Elize van Rooyen (1*)

Dieretuin Uitstappie –14 Julie 2012

Die Centurion Camera Club uistappie na die Pretoria diertuin is verby en self die koue weer kon nie die pret bederf nie.  Die fotokompetisie vir die dag sluit binnekort en dan sal ons weet wie die wenners was.  Hier is solank ‘n uittreksel van die dag se aksie fotos.

Langtoon 2 (ingeskryf by Julie Klubaand)

Ons was Kruger Wildtuin toe in April en het in Satara gekamp. Ek ry gewoonlik vroegoggend na ‘n watergat waar die lig vir my reg is en sit dan daar met my kamera gereed vir aksie tot so 10h00 en ry dan terug kamp toe.

Hierdie foto is geneem by Nkayapan so 18km. suid van Satara. Daar was baie water in die veld a.g.v. reen en die diere het nie eintlik water kom drink nie. Die langtoon en ander voëls het daar rondgeloop en ek het maar rond en bont fotos van hulle geneem.

Hierdie een is teen 7 raampies per sek. geneem en ek het die beste een uitgesoek om in te skryf. Dit was so 08h20 en die lig was nog mooi.

Beligting was ½ stop onderbelig om detail in die wit gedeelte van voël te kry.

In Photoshop: “levels” gestel, “Saturarion” so 8, Ligte gedeelte bietjie met “burn tool” behandel vir meer detail en ge”sharpen”

Kamera	Pentax K5
Lens	Sigma 150-500 HSM
Fokusafstand	500mm
Sluiter	1/1000s
Aperture	f/8
ISO	ISO-400

Maartin Coetser (Meester Silver, APSSA)

"Cathedral in Milano" - B Grobler 3* - Julie 2012

Ek het grootgeword in 'n Italiaanse huis waar ek die kultuur van die Italianers aangeleer het.  Ek is ook baie geintresseerd in argitektuur (veral ou historiese en our Romeinse geboue), groot konstruksies, geskiedenis en enigiets wat vir my 'n mooi foto maak.  Ek is later getroud en ons gesin hou van reis.

Ons het die geleentheid gehad om Milan te besoek, maar op daardie staduim het ek gebrekkige kennis van fotografie gehad. Die fotos wat ek destyds geneem het was baie swak. Derhalwe, het ek met ons terugkeer na Suid Afrika dadelik 'n proffessionele kursus bygewoon en vir my 'n beter kamera aangeskaf. Gelukkig kon ek terugkeer na Milan.  (My werksaamhede is van so 'n aard dat ek soms internasionaal moet reis.)  Ek ken die stad baie goed en neem graag fotos van minder bekende plekke wat nie altyd deur toeriste en raakgesien word nie en/of altyd prominent baie bekend is nie. Ek het weer tydens 'n werksgeleenthied in Milan die geleentheid gehad en my ou kamera Canon EOS 40D saam te neem.  (Ek het intussen die 40D ingeruil vir 'n Canon D5 Mark II.)

Elke oggend het ek deur my kamervenster gekyk met 'n uitsig oor die middestad van Milan.  Ek wou graag die die "Basilica of Saint Lawrence" in HDR afneem.  Ek het een oggend vroeg die kamera staangemaak op my hotel venster.  (Het nie driepoot gehad nie en een skoen moes gebruik word om die kamera te verstewig)  Dit was maar 'n bewolkte dag en was nie beindruk met die drie fotos wat ek geneem het nie. Die volgende oggend was 'n baie mooi oggend.  Op die ingewing van die oomblik het ek besluit om 'n monochroom foto te neem.  Ek het slegs die foto 'n bietjie "ge-crop" en die nodige groote gemaak met Picasa.

Fisiese adres van die gebou en sy omgewing:
Basilica of Saint Lawrence
Corso di Porta Ticinese, 39
Milan, Italie

Kamera	Canon EOS 40 D
Sluiterspoed	13s Met afstand beheer om beweging te verhoed
Aperture	f/10
ISO	ISO-100
Flits	Geen
Driepoot	Een nommer 12 linkerskoen, kamera met veter vasgemaak om skud/beweging te voorkom.

Beau Grobler (3*)

Fauresmith Uithouvyf (ingeskryf by Julie Klubaand)

Ons was Fauresmith toe begin Julie om die 200km. perdeuithouwedren te gaan beleef en natuurlik was my hoofdoel soos altyd as ek iewers gaan om fotos te neem. Ek het voorheen fotos gesien wat deur ‘n onervare fotograaf geneem was in die mis waar die perde hardloop en dit het my so geïnspireer dat ek van mening was dat ek wenfotos kan neem in sulke omstandighede. Nodeloos om te sê dat daar hierdie keer geen teken van mis was nie. Dit was nie koud genoeg nie en die voggehalte was laag. Ek was ook vertel dat die perde soms vroegoggend wasem by hulle neuse uitblaas. Dit het ook nie gebeur nie.

Die alternatief was dus om maar ander fotos te soek. Na elke 25km. is daar ‘n “Grooming point” waar die perde stop, voer en water kry, skoon gewas word en deur Veeartse ondersoek word of hulle verder kan hardloop. Daar is honderde voertuie wat heen en weer ry deur die ruiters se helpers en baie stof word hierdeur gemaak waar die perde langs die pad hardloop. Ek het hierdie geleentheid raakgesien en omtrent so 50 fotos geneem teen 7 raampies per sek. met ‘n skuins hoek teen die son om die stof te beklemtoon. Dit was reeds 09h30 en die stof het veroorsaak dat die lig sag was. Wanneer ‘n foto teen die son geneem word moet jy altyd sorg dat die sonlig nie direk op die lens val nie anders kry jy “lensflare” wat jou foto heeltemaal bederf. Hierdie foto is na my mening die beste een van die klomp.

Kamera	Pentax K5
Lens	Pentax 18-250mm
Sluiter	1/1000s
Aperture	f/6.7
ISO	ISO-560

Die Pentax K5 het ‘n funksie waar jy die lensopening en sluiterspoed kies en dan kies die kamera die ISO vir die regte beligting.

In Photoshop: “Levels” gestel, “Saturarion” so 10, donker gedeeltes ligter gemaak met “dodge tool”, ligte gedeeltes donkerder gemaak met “burn tool” en ge”sharpen”

Maartin Coetser (Meester Silver, APSSA)

This train has left the station

I am always looking at opportunities to do things I haven’t’ experienced before, and if these include a photographic opportunity, so much better!

With that in mind you can imagine my excitement when I received a circular from the club secretary in May 2012 about a Steam Train Photography trip planned for 8-10 June 2012.  I am not sure whether I asked my wife if she wanted to go or whether I just told her I booked us for the trip.  In any case, I’m sure I was the first person booked and paid.

So came the 8^th of June and I attended a briefing session @ 19:00 at the Hermanstad station, it was freezing.  We had the get together in one of the passenger coaches.  No air-conditioner, no heater, just like in the olden days, and even the door and the windows did not seal as well as one would expect.  In any case, I’m digressing,  but the writing was on the wall, it was going to be a COLD weekend.  PERFECT for steam train photography!

In short the trip was going to start at the Rovos rail sheds in Capital Park @ 5:45 on Saturday morning with some serious photography from just before sunrise where after we would leave for Cullinan around 11:00 from Hermanstad.  There would be various opportunities along the way where we would be dropped off, the train reversed and prepared and then the photographers would wait for the train to come along.   We eventually arrived in Cullinan just after sunset, and after booking into our accommodation it was back to the station for night shots.  Although the evening was cold, it was nothing compared what waited on us for early Sunday morning.  After the evening session we enjoyed dinner with Friends at our accommodation and then had a warm bath and went to bed, well my wife did I first did a bit of photo downloads…….

On Sunday morning we boarded the train well before sunrise as our “sunrise spot” was a few kilometres from Cullinan.  It was FREEZING!  The coldest I had ever experienced.  A family blog like this does not allow me to use superlatives to describe how cold I was.  Back to the photography.  The photo opportunity at sunrise was spectacular though and worth the suffering.  The rest of the morning was spent on opportunities making our way back to Cullinan.  Once we arrived at Cullinan again there was some “train-in-station” opportunities before we went to Harrie’s Pancakes for a milk tart filled pancake for breakfast.  Njammies.  After this we collected our baggage from our accommodation and boarded the train where we left just after noon for Hermanstad.  There were some more opportunities on the way back.  We arrived late afternoon at Hermanstad and after greeting some new friends we were homeward bound.  Diesel propelled Hilux, such a low after all the steam.

Other than the photography the trip itself was amazing with some good conversation on and off the train.  The whole trip was organised and run by volunteers from Friends of the Rail.  Truly amazing people with a passion for their hobby and many interesting stories about steam trains.  A highlight for me was when I was invited by one of the fireman(stoker) to board the locomotive to see how he prepared boerewers in the firebox using the stoking shovel! 

I suppose the only thing more to say is that the image “This train has left the station” was taken on the morning of 9 June 2012 @ 07:08.  On this morning the sunrise was @ 6:50, so the colours produced by the sun was just amazing twenty minutes later when this shot was taken.  The timing of the shot, showing the steam blowing off to the left and the angle at which the sunrays were hitting the billowing smoke from the locomotive were more awesome than this photo shows……..

Camera	Canon EOS 7D
Aperture	f/5.6
Exposure	1/250 s
ISO	ISO-200
Focal Length	70 mm
Lens	EF70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM
Club	Best Photo: July 2012

Regards

Andre Norris (4*)

July competition theme explained

Recording Salon results online

Introduction

We are now in a position where our members can capture their salon results online and much easier than before.  This new method has the advantage that it reduces the admin burden associated with salon administration of club members and will also provide club members with a detailed record of their salon results.

This document will show step by step instructions how to capture salon results once they were emailed to the member.  It is important to note that although this is an online process, it must still be authorized by a third party before the points will be allocated and the data will be recorded in the member totals.

There are a number of benefits and technical aspects associated with the processing of salons, which members are welcome to explore, but this instruction document aims to keep it simple in an attempt to make members comfortable with the online registration procedure.

To assist us, please do not register salon awards that were submitted by the older spread sheet method as this may result in duplicates on the system.  Members can however register all their photos that did not get any awards.  This will allow members to keep track of all the salon history even if a photo was not accepted, this is up to each member to decide for himself.

Quick Start

Members familiar with the web site will be able to enter their salon photos very quickly online.  Consider to even include the photos that were not accepted to build a detailed history of each photo.  Open the web site and follow the following steps:

1. Log on to the “Member Area” from the “Member Login” button.
2. Open the “Photo History” page on the top menu.
3. Select “Edit Salon Photos” that will open the window with all the salon options.
4. Select the Salon from the drop down box and press “Salon Maintenance”
5. You can now add the photos one by one for this Salon, check that you enter all the required fields.
6. If you make a mistake, select the delete button next to the photo and enter it again.

For more detail instructions read below.

Step by Step

This is the ideal opportunity for members that never logged on to their personal data on our web site. It is a very simple process and all you need to know is your Emma registration number.

Step 1: Log on to your personal data.

Open our web site: http://www.centurioncameraclub.co.za or Click here.  You will see the window below and must now select the “Member Login” Button which will open the login page.  Enter the Emma number.  This number starts with “0402” and you must enter the first “0”.  If you never changed your password, the default “cccpassword”

You can also request that a password must be sent to you by entering your Emma number in the space provided below the login field.  Your password will be emailed to you, using the email address provided in Emma.  Emails sent from the web, might sometimes end up in your junk mail folder or spam folder.  Remember to check these folders for the emails.  If this happens, please mark emails from centurioncameraclub as safe to avoid you missing other important emails.

Step 2: Open the history

When you have sucessfully logged on, the web page will open with a summary of the member information.  While you are here, please check what is available and update your information.  Did you notice your club ranking?  This is a fun calculation, using your year total points to rate your position in the club.

The next step is to move to the Photo History page from where you can start loading salon photos.

Select Photo History button shown above.  You can take a look at the history available on this page.  You can view photos entered in the club competitions as well as the salon photos already on the system.

To add or maintain photos in your database, select the “Edit Salon Photos” button as displayed on the top right of the page.

Step 3: Select the Salon

This will open the salon selection page.  You must select the salon that you want to work with followed by the “Salon Maintenance” button.  By default the salons of the last year will be displayed in the dropdown list, but you can change this by changing the “Salon Year Filter”.

Step 4: Adding a photo

You will now be on the window where the salon photos can be added. Take care when entering the title, as this is the only key we have to identify duplicates and show you how many times a photo was used.

Once all the fields are correctly entered, select the “Add Photo” button.  This will load the photo, awaiting authorization. The next sample below shows how to enter a photo which was not accepted on the salon, but is only recorded for your own records. 
As photos are added to a salon, they will be displayed on the web page.
Note the entry has a “Del” or delete button to delete the photo and add it again if you have made a mistake.  All the information provided will be displayed as well as the number of times this photo has been used and the number of awards received.

To select another salon for maintenance select the “Edit Salon Photos” button on the top right and you will be able to select another salon and repeat the steps above.

 

Step 6: Viewing the data

Return to the “Photo History” page as shown above.
Select the Salon radio button and then “Refresh List”  This will display a comprehensive list with all the information available in the database.

Note that this photo is not yet authorized and therefore the club points as shown in brackets, is zero.  Once this has been authorized, the zero will change to (3).

The End

Please use the system to improve your own records as well.  Load you data and verify the information, as there might be errors on the conversion between the systems.  Please use the form on the “Contact Us” web page and send any comments for the attention of “Points” .

I trust it will make your life easier and give you more time to take photos.

Bernard Richard