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.