MY ARCTIC EXPEDITION IN SVALBARD

July 2013

When my husband and I booked for this Photographic Experience last year, I think I was thinking it was going to be a cruise on a ship with some great opportunities to take images of Polar Bears, nice landscapes and of course other species of wildlife found in this part of the world. Maybe I had still in my mind our wonderful trip we had to the Antarctica in 2007. This was certainly different – this was an expedition, not a photographic holiday or tour. Not for the faint hearted or for the unfit person. If asked would I do it again my answer would be “Yes if I was 20 years younger” having said that, it is something that will live in our memories for many years to come and we will continue to talk about it also for a very long time. AN EXPEDITION OF A LIFETIME.

Did I prefer this trip to the Antarctica trip? Yes. Why? It was a very small ship, only took 24 people on board, which included the crew so the opportunities to go on land were more frequent. In fact we had at least two landings per day on the zodiacs for as long as it was necessary compared to one landing per day in the Antarctica and then we were only allowed on land for one hour – this is the difference of going on a cruise liner compared to a small expedition ship.

So does one give up the luxuries of a cruise liner – almost definitely to experience this part of the world and capture the beauty, feel the spirituality as you cruise in among the glaciers, pass the icebergs with different species of bird life all around you.

The Arctic is Polar Bear country albeit with global warming, they are moving further north due to the ice melting. Did we see Polar Bears, yes but only six and not on the floating ice as I think many photographers would like to capture. You are not allowed on land if the Polar Bears are near so all our sightings were taken from the zodiacs, albeit we were only 50 metres away from them and had of course the water between us which was our safety factor. One image that I managed to capture (attached for you to enjoy) was the one of mother and child having some loving moments together – I call this one “The Dancing Bears” – as I pressed the shutter, the tears were running down my cheeks, it was a very special moment. Unfortunately one of the photographer’s memory card ran out a few seconds just before this happened and he did not get his new one in on time to get this moment, he was very sad and upset. He offered to buy mine (ha ha), still waiting on his price offer.

There is plenty bird life, walruses, we did not see many seals, (perhaps this is also the reason we did not see as many polar bears as seals are their prey) some of the photographers saw the arctic fox and we saw one reindeer.

The beauty of the landscapes for me was very very special, perhaps due to my passion and forte with landscapes. I have attached a couple of landscapes hopefully showing you that beauty.

Camera equipment I used mainly the D800 with wide angle lenses for the landscapes and the D4 with an 80-400 lens for the wildlife. Tripod was used mainly from the ship or on land when photographing, as it was very difficult on the zodiacs to use a tripod. I also used various graduated filters for the landscapes.

It was a bit rough at times on the ship and we had to pop the pills every now and again for the nausea. The temperature was never below zero at anytime but the wind chill factor plays a role and yes I did feel very cold some days out in the zodiac and wondered if I had any fingers and toes still belonging to me.

I hope to be able to share with you at some stage the presentation that my husband and I are putting together on this wonderful trip. Yes it was expensive and our children are still worried that we spent their inheritance!!! The Expedition was organized and run by ODP in conjunction with Vega Expeditions (a Swedish company) and the ship Origo is a Swedish owned ship.

Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to share at this stage a part of this wonderful challenging experience.

Evelyn

Centurion Camera Club Prints Exhibition 2013

“A picture is worth a thousand words; A fine art print so much more.”

30 September –5 October 2013

Centurion camera club proudly presents our annual showcase photo exhibition at Nikon House, Louwlardia. For directions from the Nikon site click on: "contact us" or Click here for a map

As club members you are invited to make use of this occasion to exhibit your best works 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 and provided the images are of good quality.  Only full resolution files will be accepted (ie. Not resized) and in any case not less than 5 Megapixels per image. We prefer TIFF or alternatively JPG saved at the highest quality setting.
• Prints will be A3 sized and mounted ( it is ready to be framed as is ).
• Cost is  R100.00 per mounted photo. Payment is by way of direct bank deposit into the camera club account – please use your club membership number as reference, followed by “PRINT” ie 04020022PRINT.
• Photo's should be uploaded to the file sharing website utility: Dropbox (see entry form spread sheet for details) before midnight, 9th September 2013. (This is a regular club evening event)
• Detailed instructions are available on the downloadable Excel file on the website or directly from this link.

What do we do for you?

• Photo's are printed on heavyweight A3+ Premium Luster paper using the best of inkjet technology.
• Photo's will be mounted on 5mm foam core presentation board with surrounding 5cm border area.
• Author name and picture title will be embedded as part of the printed image in the lower right corner.
• We will set up a complete display of all prints at Nikon house.
• Pictures will be judged at the event and a bronze, silver and gold medal will be awarded.
• Pictures will be posted to an on line gallery, accessible from the camera club website
• Pictures will be exhibited at Nikon house for one week.
• A gala opening evening will be held on 30th September at 7:00 pm. The exhibits will be judged at this event and prizes awarded.
• The exhibition will be open to the public from 8am to 5pm during the week and closes on October 5th around 11am.
• There is no cost for this event – catering will be provided by facilities at Nikon house.

Direct all enquiries to:  Arnold Theron  arnold.theron@gmail.com
See you there!
Arnold

Verbyvaart – Beste voorgeskrewe onderwerp.

Ons was in November 2012 vir so 9 dae in Thailand met vakansie. Ons het die Sondagoggend ongeveer 06h00 in Bangkok aangekom en was so teen 09h00 by die Ibis Bangkok Riverside hotel waar ons 2 nagte oorgebly het. Die hotel is geleë op die oewer van die Chao Praya rivier. Ons het die middag verskeie tempels besoek en was nogal moeg met ons aankoms laatmiddag terug by die hotel aangesien ons maar min rus gekry het op die vlug na Bangkok wat so 11 ure deur die nag geduur het en ons die hele dag aan die gang was. Ek het uit ondervinding geleer dat as daar ‘n fotogeleentheid is moet jy dit dadelik aangryp want more is die geleenheid dalk nie weer daar nie. Ook maar goed so want die volgende dag het ons eers laat by die hotel aangekom na ‘n dagtoer en was die weer nie na wense nie en dit was ook al te laat vir nagfotos. Daar word in die algemeen gepraat van nagfotos maar die beste tyd vir nagfotos is egter net na sononder sodra die stadsliggies aangeskakel is. Later in die aand is die kontras te hoog en die lug kom swart uit i.p.v. blou wat beslis nie mooi is nie.

Ek het verskeie fotos geneem na sononder toe die stadsliggies mooi aangeskakel was. Daar het bote op die rivier heen en weer verbygevaar en ek het gedink dit sal dalk mooi wees om ook van hulle in die foto te laat beweeg behalwe vir fotos sonder bote. Dis altyd goed om alles te probeer en hierdie foto het toe goed uitgewerk. Die kamera was ‘n Pentax K5 met ‘n 18-250mm. Pentax lens op 35mm. teen f11, sluiterspoed 8 sek. en ISO 160. Ek het in RAW geneem met die witbalans op “Auto” alhoewel dit nie saak maak nie want jy kan in “RAW Editor” weer die kleurbalans verstel soos jy wil.

Redigering in Photoshop Elements 11 was “levels” verstel, met “skew” die geboue vertikaal gemaak “saturarion” so 10, hier en daar donkerder en ligter gemaak waar nodig en ook die kleur van die foto verstel sodat dit meer natuurlik lyk.

Maartin Coetser Meester – Goud APSSA

Klubinskrywing 8 Julie 2013 Goud - Beste voorgeskrewe onderwerp

Night Trails – Eddie Everson

Onlangs is ek saam met ‘n groep fotograwe deur na Messina toe om  fotografie, veral “Night Trails “ daar te gaan oefen.  Die gedagte was om in die Kremetart woud in te gaan en mooi bome daar uit te soek om as die middelpunt van die “night trail” foto’s  te gebruik.  Ek het baie gestap en gesoek tot ek tevrede gevoel het dat ek die regte boom of klippe het vir my foto’s.

Met Night Trails is die belangrikste beginsel om jou foto rigting suid te neem, met die sirkel van jou sterre regoor jou voorgrond onderwerp.  In hierdie geval die boom.

Ek het so te werk gegaan:

• Toerusting:  Ek het die foto’s geneem met ‘n Canon 7D en het ‘n 16 x 53 (2.8) wyehoek lens gebruik.  Die kamera  was laag op die grond opgestel.
• Die volgende baie belangrike ding in hierdie tipe foto’s  is om die komposisie te bepaal.  Dit vat baie geduld en tyd.
• Nog iets wat belangrik is om te onthou is dat daar geen lig in die omtrek moet wees nie.
• In die geval van hierdie foto het ek ‘n ISO van 4600,F8 en 30sekondes ”continuous shooting” vir een uur (120 fotos) gebruik.
• Met die eerste foto het ek die boom belig vir 1 sekonde (Painting with Light)
• Die verwerking kan in photoshop of lightroom gedoen word deur al die fotos deur “focus stacking” te prosesseer om een foto te maak.
• Die ander foto van die sterreruim was die ISO op 400, F8 en ook 30sekondes “continuous shooting” vir een uur (120 foto’s) gebruik.
• Ek het die foto’s met photoshop geprosesseer.
• GEDULD en OEFEN en AANHOU is die geheim vir sukses en op die end maak die mooi foto’s alles heeltemal die moeite werd.

Eddie

Black & White Portrait 8 Julie 2013 Klubaand

In Februarie vanjaar was ek lus vir 'n nuwe projek. Ek hou baie van kontraste tussen  'glad en grof'  of  'donker en lig'  en daarom wou ek 'n foto neem van iets wat verskillende elemente weerspieel.

Ek het my vriendin se dogter gevra om model te speel en sy het ingewillig.

Ek het my Studio by die huis opgeslaan wat bestaan uit 1 Canvasprint vir agtergrond en 2 Bowens Prolite 82  190-250v ligte. Die ligte was nie gebruik vir "flash" fotografie nie en dus net nodig vir stil "fill-in ligts". Ek het gekyk dat die sluiterspoed en ISO genoeg was om genoeg lig deur te laat vir die effek wat ek wou kry op my onderwerp en ook seker gemaak dat my model stil sit al was die kamera op die driepoot. Een lig het agter teen die backdrop verlig en die 2de lig regs, skuins van voor.

Die tyd van die dag was 3nm en binne 'n toe, donker vertrek. Ek het so 2 toets foto's geneem en die res van die model in verskillende posisies.

My kamera wat ek gebruik het was die Canon 5D Mark III; 'n 28-135mm lens met 'n 73mm vokale zoom; F13 stop; 1/50 sec sluiterspoed en  250 ISO. White balace was op 'Auto' gestel.

Met die verwerking het ek die foto monochrome gemaak en dit gecrop asook die brightness/contrast bietjie verstel en die 'Blur' tool gebuik om die foto sagter te maak met photoshop Cs4.

Sjarma Luff  3*

Waiting for the train, the test shot that ended up a winner

It was Wednesday morning and I just woke up and realised that the due date for submission for the club entries is that evening and I’ve not taken a long exposure photo. I went out in the cold and took some photos of cars travelling on the highway. While I was standing in the cold, I realised that the photos in not coming out as well as I was hoping. An idea than surfaced as to a shot I’ve wanted to take for ages.

I use the Gautrain on a daily basis to and from work. Always when I wait for the train, I imagine photos that I want to take. The one photo that seems to get stuck in my mind the most often is the one where a person is waiting for the train and the train passes them. It is one thing to think about the photo and another to actually get the energy to take the photo.

One of the biggest challenges for a photo like this is to find only one person to use as a subject, especially at the times I use the train. What I did was when I arrived at the Rosebank station at 7 o’clock in the morning is I used the other line that travels to Pretoria. It is not as busy that time of the morning.

I used my trusty little Canon Powershot G1 X pocket camera and set the exposure time to just less than a second and the ISO at 100. The resultant aperture value was then f/5.0 which is sufficient depth of field on the small sensor of the G1 X.

Because the security guards at the Gautrain station are a little over eager, I tried not be too obvious at what I’m doing.  I waited around 10 minutes for the train to arrive, the whole time hoping and praying that an interesting subject / passenger will arrive. I was in luck in that just before the train arrived, a young lady came and stood in front of me.

What usually happens is that the train on the further tracks arrive first, closely followed by the near train. As the furthest train arrived, I decided to take a test shot just to make sure that there is enough movement in the photo. I went down low on my haunches and kept the little camera close to my body to try and negate any movement in the camera itself as I did not have a tripod.

I saw from the test shot that there was sufficient movement and all I had to do was wait for the train to arrive. But that is when my luck ran out. As the train arrived, the lady started moving away and out of my shot. Because I was on my haunches I could not move fast enough to follow her and that left me with no shot. I wanted to cry.

When I finally imported the images from the mornings shoot on my computer, I saw that the test shot actually wasn’t that bad and quite useable.

In post processing I changed the exposure slightly. I also underexpose my image in RAW as I found that it is much easier to bring in detail in the shadows than it is to recover detail in the whites. I worked on the contrast, blacks and whites to make the tonal range a little greater. The actual monochrome conversion was done in Silver EFex Pro 2.

And that was it. I am a little surprised at the reception I’ve received on the image. It just goes to show that it is not always the well planned out shoots that work. I love street photography and this was a great learning curve for me.

Nico Strydom 4*

July 2013; Best of event, Senior Winner, 4 Star winner

Blou reier met paddavangs

Klubinskrywing 8 Julie 2013 - Meriete sertifikaat

Ons was vanaf 11 tot 19 Mei in Onder Sabie ruskamp in die Kruger Wildtuin. Sunsetdam is net buite die kamp geleë en daar is gewoonlik baie fotogeleenthede. Hierdie keer was daar egter nie baie voëls soos in die verlede nie. Ek ry nie baie rond in die wildtuine nie om verskeie redes.

Eerstens as jy iets kry wat die moeite werd is om af te neem is daar gewoonlik baie ander motors wat dit moeilik maak om in die regte posisie te kom vir ‘n goeie foto. Meestal is die agtergrond dan ook nie reg nie en die rigting van die sonlig is gewoonlik ook verkeerd. Dikwels is daar ook lang gras en bosse wat dit onmoonlik maak vir enige foto.

Ek ry altyd vroeg uit en gaan sit by ‘n watergat of dam waar ek met my voertuig so stop dat die lig reg sal val op ‘n dier of voël wat daar mag opdaag en ry so teen 10h00 of 10h30 terug kamp toe. Dan gaan ons weer so teen 15h00 se kant uit en doen dieselfde.

Ek het hierdie bloureier by Sunsetdam lank dopgehou met my kamera en lens reg vir aksie want ek weet as hy so in die water rondloop gaan hy een of ander tyd iets vang. Met die vangslag druk jy die sluiterknoppie en ek neem teen 7 fotos per sek. Ek het met tussenposes so 3 of 4 fotos elke keer geneem. Na ‘n tyd het hy egter weggevlieg met die padda. Ek het nie verwag hy gaan vlieg nie en het sy vlerke dus deur die raampie afgesny omdat hy met oop vlerke baie groter was in die raam en daar nie tyd was om terug te zoom nie. Sulke dinge gebeur soms en ek sou hom graag in vlug wou kry met die padda in sy snawel, maar ja dis weer een wat weggekom het.

Die foto is ongeveer 16h00 in die middag geneem met ‘n Pentax K5 en ‘n Sigma 150-500mm. Zoomlens teen f6.3, sluiterspoed 1/1000e sek. en ISO 280. Ek stel die kamera op outo ISO, kies die lensopening en sluiterspoed en die kamera moet dan die ISO kies vir die regte beligting.

Wat redigering betref het ek die “levels” effens verstel, asook die “saturation” na so 8 verstel, hier en daar bietjie donkerder sowel as ligter gemaak waar nodig en “gecrop” in Photoshop Elements 11.

Maartin Coetser Meester – Goud APSSA