Edenvale July Newsletter

FOCUS CERPS WINNERS 2018 AND 2019

Edenvale Photo Club Newsletter - JULY 2020

Sharing Visual Art since 1950

02 / JULY 2020 COVER IMAGE BY DES ALEXANDER Story behind the shot: This portrait picture of Robin was taken at the photographic workshop at Cecil Mayhew’s house.

It was a single light setup Shot at F5 and 1/125s.I did not do much post editing except for brightening up the eye’s and a dash of contrast.

I chose the navy blue scarf with a burgundy background to separate my subject from the background.

CONTRIBUTE TO FUTURE ISSUES ANY MEMBER CAN SUBMIT MATERIAL FOR CONSIDERATION IN FUTURE PUBLICATIONS PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT IMAGES HAVE A MINIMUM RESOLUTION OF 1080 x 1925 pixels.

Of course, we also have to adhere to the regulations for data protection and the rights of use according to the copyright law, therefore, we ask you to supply a declaration of consent of the person or website that you extracted your submission from.

Please use the following email address to send contributions and consent letters hanlis54@gmail.com Proof reading of this magazine Kindly done

by Heidi Broschk

EDENVALE PHOTOGRAPHIC CLUB IS A PROUD MEMBER OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA

03 /JULY 2020

DEAR MEMBERS Once again, greetings from behind the lockdown curtain.

I was really hoping that by August we would be able to resume club meetings again. Alas this is not to be and will probably continue into the foreseeable future. Hopefully, I can find the projector again. Just joking, I know where it is.

Chairman: David Wolstencroft 083 229 8066 davewol@gmail.com

On that note, the Zoom meetings are working well. We have on average around 20 attendees at each meeting. The meetings are recorded and the links to the videos are sent out. I am not sure is this is partially the reason why attendance is not higher as this format also allows for our distance members to join who normally would not normally be able to.

This format is very convenient, especially in winter. There is no need to leave home and travel at night in the cold. All your creature comforts are at hand and (as long as your microphone is muted) you can make as much noise as you like. That being said, I would still prefer a normal club evening. I miss the social aspect, interacting and talking to people.So, people, please, you are welcome to join the meeting earlier and talk. Let us put some social aspect into the meetings. Even switch on your webcam if you have one and let us see each other again.

It may take some getting used to, especially for those where this is a new platform, but let us give it a bash.

I would really like to increase attendance at these meetings.

I know there are restrictions such as data requirements, so I can understand that members with limited data can find it difficult to participate. If anyone needs assistance in setting up their computer or laptop and any related advice, please reach out to the committee.

We are more than willing to pop over and help you get setup or even offer some guidance over the phone if that is that is required.

In general, we would love feedback regarding these meetings, especially on ways to make them more interactive and interesting.

Basically, we have just “electronified� the regular club meeting. I am sure there are ways to improve things.

Looking forward to your suggestions, no pressure.

Shoot what you can, when you can, and who you can.

Just keep shooting.

Dave

04 / JULY 2020

Committee Members Chairman:

MEETING TIME AND PLACE 2ND AND 4TH WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH AT 18H30 FOR 19H00 EDENVALE COMMUNITY CENTRE COR. VAN RIEBEECK & 2ND STREET, EDENVALE

David Wolstencroft 083 229 8066 davewol@gmail.com

Salons, Judges and Outings: John Coumbias 079 1732 825 jcoumbias@telkomsa.net

Marketing and Secretary: Natasha Bird 082 920 8898 mnktrad@mweb.co.za

Newsletter Editor & Graphic Design: Hanli Smit 083 253 1034 hanlis54@gmail.com

Treasurer: Ted Kinsman 083 461 2350 tkinsman@global.co.za

Certificates & Awards Des Alexander 083 226 1452 neoncomp@webmail. co.za

New Members, Social Media & Website Clare Appleyard 083 234 0247 clare.appleyard@gmail.com

Scoring & Promotions:

Training:

Jorge Borralho 082 337 9575

Robbie Aspeling 082 309 7470 rob@raphoto.co.za

Jorge.borralho@vodamail.co.za

IN THIS ISSUE PETER BEARD PAST MASTERS Page 6

JOHN COUMBIAS FAMOUS IN NEW YORK Page 14

05 /JULY 2020

10 JUNE- Winners Page 16

COVID 19 BY NATASHA BIRD Page 40

MEMBER FOCUS DINO BOTTEGA Page26

On a Lighter Side Page 44

24 JUNE - Winners Page 28

SET SUBJECT TIPS ON PHOTOGRAPHING TEXTURES Page 46

06 / JULY 2020 PAST MASTERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY

PETER BEARD I usually get my info of the Past Masters from Wikipedia but this month’s Past Master and his life was best summed up in his obituary.

Obituary by the Washington Post Peter Beard, uninhibited artist and wildlife photographer, dies at 82 Gored by an elephant, charged by a lion and accompanied on two continents by flocks of reporters, artists and celebrities, Peter Beard was “half Tarzan, half Byron,” as the writer Bob Colacello once put it, an artist and photographer whose unrestrained appetites for drugs, alcohol and beautiful women gave him a reputation for being as wild as the animals he photographed.

An heir to tobacco and railroad fortunes, Mr. Beard abandoned a life of wealth and privilege to live at Hog Ranch, a 45-acre encampment outside Nairobi, where he embarked on expeditions to document the “wilddeer-ness” of East Africa. In photographs, collages and diaries that he turned into works of art, he chronicled the destruction of savannas, forests and wetlands, and the deaths of thousands of elephants and other animals who called those habitats home.

“What amazes me most,” he once said, “is that we are so willing to lose things that we can never get back — even further, we appear hellbent on our own destruction.

It’s riveting.

Mr. Beard, who split his time between Kenya and the East End of Long Island, was found dead April 19, not far from his home in Montauk, N.Y. He was 82, suffering from dementia and the effects of a stroke, and had been missing for nearly a month.

His family confirmed the death in a statement on his website, writing, “He died where he lived: in nature.”

In an email on Sunday, they said the cause of death had not yet been determined. A spokesman for the East Hampton police told reporters last week that neither foul play nor suicide was suspected.

At home in both the bush and the city, Mr. Beard went barefoot in Kenya, wore a saronglike cloth known as a kikoi and once surprised a Vanity Fair reporter when he emerged from his tent accompanied by “four or five” women. (“We were very cozy.”) In Manhattan, he partied at Studio 54, befriended Salvador Dalí and lunched at the Algonquin Hotel with artists Andy Warhol, Jonas Mekas and Jerome Hill, his cousin and mentor.

07 / JULY 2020 Peter Beard Handsome, energetic and disinclined to monogamy, he was married three times, including to model Cheryl Tiegs. Declaring that “the last thing left in nature is the beauty of women,” he was also romantically linked to women including Lee Radziwill, the sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski, a model and Warhol associate who called Mr. Beard “one of the most beautiful men in the world.”

Mr. Beard supported himself partly through magazine assignments, photographing the Rolling Stones on tour and taking pictures of Naomi Sims on the back of a crocodile and Veruschka von Lehndorff roping a rhino.

But his primary focus was animals, including elephants and rhinos that he studied at Murchison Falls in Uganda; crocodiles that he researched at Lake Rudolph for the Kenyan government; and elephants he photographed by air and land, showing fields of bones that resembled abstract marble sculptures. Mr. Beard had been obsessed with nature ever since he was a young man, taking outdoor photographs on a Voightländer camera. He made his first expedition to Africa in 1955, at age 17, and a decade later he published his best-known work, “The End of the Game: The Last Word From Paradise” (1965).

Significantly revised in 1977, the book captured what Mr. Beard viewed as the changing face of Africa, including the decline of the “great white hunters” and the animals they had long pursued.

Sanctuaries such as Tsavo East National Park in Kenya had emerged as “overpopulated, overgrazed wasteland,” he argued, as elephants and rhinos struggled to find food and eventually starved by the thousands.

The book began “as a sort of corny homework assignment,” Mr. Beard said, written while he was still a college student at Yale. He had been fascinated by the work of Danish author Karen Blixen, whose 1937 memoir “Out of Africa” was published

under the pen name Isak Dinesen, and later acquired Hog Ranch in part because it neighbored her former coffee plantation.

While his pictures featured animals that Mr. Beard championed in interviews and on safari, he positioned himself as something more than a conservationist, insisting that he was interested more in questions of existence, mortality and the fate of humanity than in issues of breeding and habitat management. “Conservation,” he told Vanity Fair in 1996, “is for guilty people on Park Avenue with poodles and Pekingeses.”

In elaborate collages, he layered his photos with handwritten notes, strands of horse hair, flattened insects, small bones, pebbles, cigarette butts and newspaper clippings. Many of his works were smeared with blood, from cows and other animals and sometimes from himself, and were developed out of enormous leather-bound diaries in which he chronicled his days and attached found objects. Some of the diary pages were hung in gallery shows. Others were featured in his books, as documents that preserved or repurposed a past that he said he sometimes wanted to leave behind.

“I’m an escapist,” he told Vanity Fair. “I’m not a planner; I’ve never made a decision about anything in my life. The good thing about Africa is that you can escape forever.

You can do what you want, without someone looking over your shoulder.”

He added, triumphantly, “I’m the most irresponsible person you ever met.”

The middle of three sons, Peter Hill Beard was born in Manhattan on Jan. 22, 1938.

A great-grandfather, James Jerome Hill, had founded the Great Northern Railway, and a step-grandfather was tobacco magnate, Pierre Lorillard V. His mother “suffered from lack of education and the disease of conformity,” Mr. Beard said, and his father was a stockbroker who served in the Army Air Forces during World War II, leading Peter to spend part of his childhood on a military base in Alabama.

Mr. Beard studied at the Buckley School in Manhattan, the Pomfret School in Connecticut and Yale University, where he enrolled in a pre-med program before switching to art. By the time he received his magnate Pierre Lorillard V. ,He was reportedly on safari when he met Mary “Minnie” Cushing, a Newport, R.I., socialite whom he married in 1967.

Their marriage ended in divorce, as did Mr. Beard’s second mariage, to Tiegs. In 1986, he married Kenyan-born, Nejma Khanum.

She survives him, in addition to their daughter, Zara Beard; two brothers; and a granddaughter. Mr. Beard had his first major solo show in 1977, at the International Center of Photography in New York. That same year, one of his crocodile photos was included on the Voyager spacecrafts’ Golden Records, designed to introduce humankind to the cosmos. His photo, along with more than 100 other images and audio recordings selected by a NASA committee, is now traveling through space somewhere beyond the solar system. His treatment of African animals and culture sometimes drew criticism, notably from the Somali model Iman, whom Mr. Beard claimed to have discovered. “He ‘loves’ Africa,” she told Vanity Fair, “but we always have an argument about what Africa really is. Is it the animals and the landscape, or is it the people? He has no respect for Africans, but it’s their continent — not his. For him, there are no people involved; they get in the way of his myth.”While Mr. Beard maintained a charismatic and swashbuckling persona in interviews, he could also turn harsh and ugly, telling New York magazine in 2003 that homosexuality was “a societal ¬illness of every single species in nature” and that Africans are “primitive” and “the only racists I know.”But he remained a popular and near-legendary figure in the art world, with some of his works selling for more than a half-million dollars, according to a 2013 New York profile. His books included “Eyelids of Morning: The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men” (1973), with Alistair D. Graham; “Zara’s Tales” (2004), a memoir he wrote for his daughter; and “Peter Beard” (2006), a monograph published by Taschen.

Mr. Beard continued working even after an elephant speared his left thigh and crushed his ribs and pelvis, nearly killing him in 1996. He was airlifted to a Nairobi hospital, arriving in the operating room without a pulse, but said he held no hard feelings against the creatures he had spent so many years trying to save.

08 / JULY 2020 Peter Beard

“I’m not a sentimentalist — I’m a dedicated fatalist — but I do feel I was very lucky,” he told People magazine. “I have no problem with that elephant hitting me.

I just thank God it didn’t do a better job.

Elephants are like humans.

They are very smart, very logical.

She owed human beings a real heavy debt, and she paid it to me.”

09 / JULY 2020 Peter Beard

Mr. Beard supported himself partly through magazine assignments, photographing the Rolling Stones on tour

10 / JULY 2020 Peter Beard

11 / JULY 2020 Peter Beard

12 / JULY 2020 Peter Beard

13 / JULY 2020 Peter Beard

Handsome, energetic and disinclined to monogamy, he was married three times, including to model Cheryl Tiegs.

Declaring that “the last thing left in nature is the beauty of women,�

14 / JULY 2020 OUR VERY OWN MASTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY

JOHN COUMBIAS

Once again, EPC must congratulate the amazing photographic achievements of John Coumbias, this time based on the New York Photo Fair 2020. Not only did John receive 11 acceptances, he also received a PSA Gold Award for his photo titled: The Watch Man. John received a 2nd award from this salon - the GPU Ribbon, for his photo titled, Team On Duty.

Congratulations, John, your photographic abilities and skill both nationally and internationally are astounding, impressive and extremely motivational.

Keep up this excellent photographic work!

IMAGES BY JOHN COUMBIAS

The Watch Man

Team On Duty

15 / JULY 2020

16 / JULY 2020

ONE STAR WINNER 8 July

Too close for Comfort Linda Carter

17 / JULY 2020

ONE STAR WINNER 8 July

Bee-ing Around

Linda Carter

18/ JULY 2020

TWO STAR WINNER 8 July

Gemsbok on the hill

Andrew Mayes

19 / JULY 2020 COMPOSITION 101

TWO STAR WINNER 8 July

Abstract Kingfisher

Andrew Mayes

20/ JULY 2020

THREE STAR WINNER 8 July

Morning Drink

Brian Kleinwort

21/ JULY 2020

THREE STAR WINNER 8 July

Let us Save the World

Stephen

Kangisser

22 / JULY 2020

FOUR STAR WINNER 8 July

Dead of winter

Clare Appleyard

23 / JULY 2020

FOUR STAR WINNER 8 July

Going Up

Clare Appleyard

24 / JULY 2020

FIVE & 5 STAR HONOURS WINNER

8 July

Something off

Dino Bottega

25 / JULY 2020

FIVE & 5 STAR HONOURS WINNER

8 July

Three Stars

Gary Andrew Peck

26 / JULY 2020 MEMBER FOCUS DINO BOTTEGA

Member FOCUS

DINO BOTTEGA When I was 8 years old at school in Italy, my teacher read a sentence about the men toiling in the depths of the gold mines in South Africa ! The name Johannesburg sent a shiver down my spine and I remember as if it was yesterday the sense of déjà vu !

14 Years later, at the age of 22, I landed at Jan Smuts Airport outside Johannesburg, at that stage it was still the real Africa.

In 1972, I visited the Kruger National Park for the first time and my love of wildlife was born. It soon became apparent that a camera was a necessity, not only to immortalise those amazing moments for myself but to share with others.

My first camera was a Yashika but you needed a magnifying glass to make out the subject , so I upgraded to a Nikon fe with a Vivitar 600 lense .

Through my business I met Jack and Steven Weinberg, who strongly recommended that I join the Edenvale photographic club. That was more than 20 years ago ! I remember John , Giulio and Dave Gordon being there at that time, apologise if I’ve left anyone out. I worked my way up to 5 star in slides and then the digital era was born and for my generation, a new mission began.

My current digital equipment is a Nikon D300S with a Nikon 500 F4 lense. The computer is another story, it’s like buying a book of a 1000 pages and only being able to read 3 .Nevertheless, I have managed to attain my 5 star Honours Gold, I have won several medals with salon entries, both here and abroad, plus some certifcates which have given me tremendous encouragement.

My crowning achievement was attaining my APSSA in 2018.

27 / JULY 2020 MEMBER FOCUS DINO BOTTEGA My favourite genre is wildlife but birds have become my priority mainly because of the convenience of the nearby wetlands and I have consequently fallen in love with them.

My next wish is to achieve an FPSSA in the near future.

I have been very fortunate to have as my role model and friend, one of the best wildlife photographers in the country, Jack Weinberg . We still go out at every given opportunity and I never stop learning from him.

I would like to thank each member of the committee for their tireless mostly unseen work , in keeping Edenvale photographic club among the top in the country .

Thanks must also go to all the judges who put themselves in the firing line!

One of the reasons I like to sit next to the judges is because I always learn something of value.

Dino Bottega

Hopefully as I grow older, if travelling becomes less convenient I would like to concentrate on micro photography.

28 / JULY 2020

ONE STAR WINNER 22 July

I love my mama Peter Fine

29 / JULY 2020

ONE STAR WINNER 22 July

This Little Light

Tahlita Verster

30 / JULY 2020

TWO STAR WINNER 22 July

Babbling Brook

Linda Carter

31/ JULY 2020

TWO STAR WINNER 22 July

Imminent Storm

Linda Carter

32 / JULY 2020

THREE STAR WINNER 22 July

Giant Kingfisher

Stephen

Kangisser

33 / JULY 2020

THREE STAR WINNER 22 July

Portrait of Lady with Flowers Stephen

Kangisser

34 / JULY 2020

FOUR STAR WINNER 22 July

Cave Waterfall

Clare Appleyard

35 / JULY 2020

FOUR STAR WINNER 22 July

The stare

Des Alexander

36/ JULY 2020

5* & 5 Star Honours Winners 24 June

Feather preening

Dino Bottega

37 / JULY 2020

5* & 5 Star Honours Winners 24 June

Shattered Beauty

Natasha Bird

38 / JULY 2020

SPECIAL SUBJECT “Water” Winner

Water drop Ferris Wheel Natasha Bird

39 / JULY 2020

SPECIAL SUBJECT “Night Lights” Winner

Downtown Jozi

Robbie Aspeling

40 / JULY 2020 CONTRIBUTION BY NATASHA BIRD

COVID-19 LOCKDOWN As I pen this article, we are currently in Stage 3 and on day 124 of the National Lockdown in South Africa. The first few months were definitely harder when we had to remain at home and rethink our entire way of working, shopping and connecting with others. Not being able to have freedom of movement to visit one’s family and friends and being housebound certainly affected our photographic content creation.

From furiously stocking up on grocery supplies and copious bottles of hand sanitisers, one could easily have thought we were entering a stage of Armageddon and all was doom and gloom.

Surely this was the end of times…

From a photography club perspective, the EPC committee decided from the outset that club meetings would proceed, we would just explore different ways in which to keep our members motivated and enthusiastic about their photography.

Fortunately, many of our members have access to broadband connectivity so we started virtual judging sessions in April.

Once members uploaded their images to Photovault, David would compile the files and then share with the judges for critique.

The one interesting aspect that came of this was that we could now invite judges that weren’t limited to living close by and could invite new judges that resided in other provinces too.

This proved to have its benefits and challenges but we remained open-minded and servicing our members best remained our priority. Remote judging was held in April and May and once David received the judges voice note critique, he would then spend hours trying to sync the imagery to the judge’s commentary and create videos per star rating.

We were all appreciative of this new approach, the country members especially as they were getting judging feedback on their submissions.

We then upped the ante and hosted the first “LIVE” virtual judging via Zoom app on the 27th May and all EPC members locally as well as around the globe were able to join the meeting and view same while the remote judging took place.

In the world of technology, it is remarkable how we have all embraced a new “normal” and our business, family and recreational meetings are now taking place via communication platforms such as Zoom, Teams, Google Meet and Discord. As long as you have data, a stable internet connection and sufficient bandwidth there is no reason not to stay connected. A good number of our members are joining the live Zoom judging sessions but for those that are still working and under time restraints, they appreciate being able to watch the recordings at their leisure.

41/ JULY 2020 CONTRIBUTION BY NATASHA BIRD Several members joined Robbie’s Foto Fanatix Lockdown Challenge and posted images daily on Facebook.

Others opted to take a short sabbatical and recharge their creative batteries but this has turned out to now be several months (since the start of the lockdown on 26th March 2020) and far from short so we are slowly coming out of this “creative hibernation” and exploring new genres that we can accomplish and shoot from our homes and gardens.

Several of our members fall into the high risk for Covid-19 infection (over 60 years of age and/ or with comorbidity risks in addition) and have expressed their anxiety at the possibility of contracting same and have followed the lockdown rules with discipline and have stayed at home completely isolated from friends and family.

This isolation has been particularly difficult and they are missing normal meetings at the Edenvale Community Centre tremendously.

In May Robbie (raphoto.co.za) hosted our first online Zoom learning webinar, “Learning layers & layer masks” which was very well received.

This was followed up by another webinar which focussed on composites and built on the previous techniques learned.

The finished image was perfectly suited to our Covid times as Robbie taught us how to composite a person sitting on toilet rolls and create realistic lighting and shadows. A good reminder of the stockpiling many did of loo rolls (especially pre-lockdown) but more importantly we learnt how important it is to upskill and never stop learning in order to grow as photographers.

Many of our members made full use of the time away from work to read photography magazines, watch tutorial webinars and YouTube videos for inspiration as well as to learn new editing techniques.

These are a few that members are watching and following as well as the photographers and channels they are subscribing to: Magazines: Picture Correct and Digital Photography School are both Facebook groups that offer handy tips and newsletters for beginners. Photoshop Café hosted

by Colin Smith covers editing.

He posts tutorials on YouTube twice weekly. The Thursday night tutorials are new, and he is inviting people to submit their pics for his editing take and he shows you as he is doing it. He does run paid courses but also puts out a lot of free content too.

The Magzter Gold subscription (currently R449 annually) is a real bonus as it covers so many types of magazines including Nikon and Canon magazines, Digital Camera, Landscape Photography and Outdoor Photography to name a few.

Software Tutorials: One of the main advantages of YouTube tutorials is that you can watch them over and over if needs be which is a great asset for beginner and intermediate users of Photoshop.

DXO Nik editing is a firm favourite among several members https://nikcollection.dxo. com/ Karl Taylor https://www.karltayloreducation.com/karl-taylor-photography-new-website/ Steve Arnold also covers various aspects of photoshop techniques, eg. Layer masking, luminosity masking etc.

42/ JULY 2020 CONTRIBUTION BY NATASHA BIRD B&H Photo and Video – covers all aspects of photography on YouTube Piximperfect hosted by Unmesh Dinda also cover photoshop tutorials and have worthwhile content. The presenter talks really fast and with quite a strong accent, so sometimes it needs a rewind.

Phlearn – Aaron Nace – takes things slow and covers all PS aspects from novice to advanced Dave Cross https://online. davecrossworkshops.com/ Tony & Chelsea Northrup https://www.youtube.com/ channel/UCDkJEEIifDzR_2K2p9tnwYQ Follow Adobe Creative Cloud on YouTube – lots of tutorials on all their applications so you are able to choose the ones that interest you

The following landscape photographers are worth looking up as they share online content: Thomas Heaton (UK) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfhW84xfA6gEc4hDK90rR1Q Nigel Danson https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkJld-AoXurbT2jDnfM8qiA Gary Gough https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UUY0ceNJ1gybHYUmGjoz0YsA

Joe Allam https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgaqvHn_b2LX3uHXl3C-xhA These landscape photographers are all on Instagram or Facebook and have a strong following: Brendan van Son Killian Schoenberger Mads Peter Iversen – check out his awesome pics of Iceland and Faroe Islands.

He has also started doing the occasional video.

Kyle in Capetown (Local) https://www.kylegoetsch.com/ Jon Kerrin – Where the light is (local) Nisiglobal https://www.instagram.com/nisiglobal/?hl=en

Flash/ Lighting: Danial Kordan Stefan Baumann’s videos on lighting setups are helpful even Louis Botha (Louisphotographer – local, now based in Prince Albert in the Western Cape.) though he can be blunt!

Follow the Godox community on Facebook. They post videos showing lighting setups and have many tutorials on YouTube.

Landscape Photography: For those who have the Photopills app, you will be receiving their tutorials but its worth investigating if you haven’t downloaded this app as yet and are serious about ‘scapes.

Hougaard Malan (local) https://www.hougaardmalan.com/

Martin Osner - Fine art landscape photographer. Check out his website and that of his photography school. His work is truly “Art” – in his words the camera is just another tool in the artists hand.

He has a really different approach to photography.

He runs his own photo/fine art school in Cape Town, sells from his own gallery and is now offering remote courses by zoom in some of the classes he teaches.

43 / JULY 2020 CONTRIBUTION BY NATASHA BIRD Wildlife: Denise Ippolito WildEye – Gerry van der Walt Steve Perry – also does videos, but not very often.

He has some eBooks for sale on his website.

Wildweb Africa Wim Vorster http://www.wildwebafrica.com/ Africa Geographic (Weekly newsletters and annual photographic competition) Michael Tucker (Big 5 Photos) http://www.big5photos.com/ David Yarrow – awesome wildlife, known for his B&W portrayals of animals (He shoots elephants with a wide-angle lens which he leaves on the ground and then triggers the cameras remotely, resulting in amazing, different shots) Photojournalism: Steve McCurry https://www.stevemccurry.com/ Fashion/ Portraiture: Nino Batista (Provocative, shoots for playboy, but very skilled) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr8z-4lwsnoVoqUgmuAf5pw Annie Leibovitz https://www.masterclass.com/classes/annie-leibovitz-teaches-photography Judy Host https://www.judyhost.com/ Kristina Sherk of Shark Pixel https://www.instagram.com/shark_pixel/?hl=en Julia Trotti https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxbCDVe8TuzLbPFnxlC55Nw Dance: Andrew Appleton (UK specialist in dance movement, especially ballet) has been a firm favourite for many members and will be missed following his recent passing Creatives: Anya Anti – challenging accent but very creative https://anya-anti. com/events Cheva Madoz https://www.instagram.com/chemamadozphotographer/?hl=es General: Jared Polin https://www.youtube.com/user/JaredPolin The Art of Photography https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7T8roVtC_3afWKTOGtLlBA

Several of our members are students of Robbie and have continued with Zoom mentorship lessons and socially distanced studio workshops more recently, which allow for a limited number of attendees. Gary Peck, one of our overseas members has had other challenges having resided in Dubai for several years. Whilst most attractions and parks remain closed, they are having to cope with soaring heat of 45 degrees outdoors so subject matter has been limited for him too. He is enjoying the virtual judging as its good to hear the judges voice and tone and he feels as though he is getting far more benefit from the Zoom meets and judges’ critiques on his images.

For some it has been a case of, flatten the curve or fatten the curve. As restrictions have eased up somewhat, we are now allowed to buy take-out food and support restaurants but visiting relatives and the purchase of alcohol and cigarettes remains restricted.

We are allowed to take a day trip to Marievale, Rietvlei and SANParks game reserves but we are still not allowed to stay overnight. As time passes and we find that we have squeezed every “club-worthy” image out of our archives, members are once again planning day excursions to the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens, The Wilds, The Lion & Cheetah Park and the likes in order to capture new imagery for upcoming club meets.

44 / JULY 2020 Thanks to the ever diligant Natasha for the article and information supplied as well as a few funny clips collected from the social media platforms.

Thank you Natasha

45/ JULY 2020

SET SUBJECT CALENDAR

12 Aug

Odd one out

26 Aug

TEXTURES

9Sept Tools

Son: ” Dad come home!!!”

Dad: “ I cant I am in Hospital” Son: “ Mum is selling your Lens for the .price you told her you bought it for”

23 Sept

PEOPLE AT WORK

14 Oct

Candle light

28 Oct

DOMESTIC ANIMALS ANY MEMBER CAN SUBMIT MATERIAL FOR CONSIDERATION IN FUTURE PUBLICATIONS PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT IMAGES HAVE A MINIMUM RESOLUTION OF 1080 x 1925 pixels.

Of course, we also have to adhere to the regulations for data protection and the rights of use according to the copyright law, therefore, we ask you to supply a declaration of consent of the person or website that you extracted your submission from.

Please use the following email address to send contributions and consent letters hanlis54@gmail.com

11 Nov Ice

46 / JULY 2020 This information was extracted from photographylife.com

https://photographylife.com/how-to-photograph-textures

How to photograph Textures

Texture Photography can sometimes be challenging, since composition, light and depth work differently than in, for example, landscape photography. In texture photography, it’s all about patterns, colors and depth, and every single detail of a texture plays a significant role in the overall perception of the photograph. The combination of these intricate details, interesting patterns, vibrant colors and a good depth – all contribute to a beautiful texture.

Obviously, to be able to photograph a texture, you first need to find it. Finding simple textures is very easy. They are all around us and you don’t have to go far to find them – you could photograph everything from a brick wall to grass in your backyard. Finding unique, beautiful and eye-catching textures, on the other hand, is hard. But once you start looking for patterns and textures, you will start noticing them a lot more all around you and you will eventually start encountering textures that are more unique and beautiful than others and you will soon get a feel of what is going to look good in a photograph.

Create a Texture If you are too lazy to find a texture, create one! You could try oil painting with vibrant colors or find pebbles of different colors and textures or experiment with sand and water…you get the idea! Just find something that can create a texture and experiment over and over again until you get a good result. Do not forget about the importance of having depth in your textures – in comparison to uneven and rough surfaces, straight and smooth surfaces rarely look good in photographs!

Shadows communicate depth and dimension of a texture, so make sure that your textures have shadows. Without shadows, your texture would look like something drawn on a piece of paper. At the same time, watch out for very dark shadows and overexposed areas, as those might actually spoil the texture.

Equipment

Ambient Light or External Light

I recommend photographing textures on a tripod. Unless you are taking a picture at an angle, you will need everything to be in focus.

In order to get everything in focus, you will need a high aperture number such as f/8 or more. A high aperture number means slow shutter speed and the last thing you want is to introduce camera shake on texture photographs. In some rare cases it might be a cool effect, but in most cases, you will need your textures to be tack sharp – that’s why you need a tripod. In almost all cases, using a built-in pop-up flash is not desirable, as you might actually ruin the texture by introducing a flat-looking direct, harsh light that will have a negative effect on your shadows.

You might also need a remote camera release, if you are working with very slow shutter speeds.

If you do not have one, see if you have an “MLU” (mirror lock up) setting on your camera or a timer – basically, anything that helps to reduce camera shake. If you do not have a tripod and you can only shoot hand-held, I recommend reading this article about taking sharp photos.

In terms of lenses, the type of lens you should be using really depends on what you are taking a picture of. If the texture is small in size, a macro lens might be necessary to bring out the detail. If you are taking a picture of a wall, a simple wide-angle lens such as the Nikon 18-55mm might do the job. Just keep in mind that wide angle lenses might introduce distortion, which might be a problem if you are photographing straight lines.

If you are outside, sunlight is one of the best light sources for textures, especially close to sunrise and sunset, when the light rays hit objects at an angle. Bright sunny days are the best, whereas cloudy days can create a soft, diffused light that will eliminate or soften up the shadows, removing the sense of depth and dimensionality from your textures. For indoor texture photography, an off-camera light is pretty much a must, unless you have another light source that can light up the texture (such as a large window). By placing your light source at an angle on the side of the texture, you can imitate sunlight. You can also experiment with gels to add a color to your texture. Most of the time, a single light source is sufficient, but there might be situations when you want to add multiple shadows, in which case more external lights might be needed.

47 / JULY 2020 Play with Angles and Depth of Field A straight picture of a texture might be boring, so try to play with the angles. Open up the aperture of the lens to its maximum value (on prime lenses it can be as large as f/1.2, while on zoom lenses it is typically between f/3.5 and f/5.6), which will make the depth of field very shallow, shoot at an angle and see how you like it. Play with the depth of field by simply increasing the aperture value Mix and Match Textures of the same color and pattern can sometimes be boring. Try to mix your texture with other colors and patterns by either adding them yourself, or by locating a boundary of one color/texture colliding with another. Those collisions can look amazingly beautiful and they introduce an interesting twist to your picture. umber.

If you are lucky to have some beautiful curves and patterns on top of that, you will definitely end up with a really nice-looking texture!

Look for Uniformity and/or Straight Lines Repetition of patterns is what creates a uniform texture. Those patterns can be everything from curves to straight lines. While working with curves, circles and other shapes, try to locate the ones that look somewhat similar or the same. The below image of Sand Dunes, for example, is not very uniform, but the lines still run from top to bottom in parallel, making it look interesting.

8) Look for Shapes and Reflections In some cases, you might find a pattern that resembles something – whether it is an everyday object or a living being. If you notice such resemblances anywhere, don’t forget to take a picture! In some cases, you might even encounter shapes that might look like multiple objects, making the photograph even more attention-grabbing. Still water or a mirror can also create stunning results with reflections, so I would definitely experiment with those, if you can.

Take Lots of Pictures While experimenting with different angles, light and subject distance, don’t forget to press that shutter! Every time when you change your setting, don’t forget to re-acquire correct focus before taking a picture as well. You never know which one of those images might turn out to be better than others and what you saw in the rear LCD of your camera might not look the same as what you see on your PC monitor during post-processing. Better be safe than sorry!

Experiment More in Post-Processing Don’t be afraid to straighten up and crop your photographs, if needed. In some cases, flipping your image vertically or horizontally might yield great results, so definitely experiment with that as well.

Textures are not people or landscapes, so go ahead and add some more colors and saturation to make them look more colorful, vibrant and vivid. Eliminate imperfections by using the spot removal and clone tools and sharpen up the image. In texture photography, you can do everything from swapping colors to adding patterns and fake reflections. That’s why I believe that post-processing is an important part of texture photography. You can make multiple images from a single texture by simply experimenting with your images in Photoshop!

Finding and photographing textures can be quite rewarding, so definitely give it a try!

48 / JULY 2020 A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

Sharing Visual Art since

1950 This year is a very special year at

Edenvale Photographic Club....

We are celebrating our 70th year of existence, we would love to publish relevant and interesting historical clippings and any news that has transpired over the past 70 years.

Send any contributions to hanlis54@gmail.com

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE EDENVALE WAS ALSO WINNING IN 1996

Look what you could get at the Spur for R32.95 in 1996

49 / JULY 2020

50 / JULY 2020

CONTRIBUTED BY CLARE APPLEYARD

IMPALA TROPHY RESULTS Back in 2017 when I joined EPC, I remember having a conversation with Natasha, where she was throwing out names of South African photographers in the context of the Impala Trophy. Not only did I not know what the Impala Trophy was, but I didn’t know what a salon was either. Wasn’t a salon where you went to get a haircut?

Sadly, we all have a habit of bandying about terminology without stopping to think if other people understand us, and at EPC, we often forget that junior club members don’t necessarily know what we’re talking about.

So, with the announcement of the 2019/2020 Impala Trophy results, let’s give a bit of background as to what the trophy is, how you achieve a result on the Impala Trophy scoreboard and, perhaps most importantly, how EPC and our members fared.

To compete in the annual Impala Trophy, a photographer should enter images regularly into national, and if s/he so wishes, international salons. National salons are competitions held by camera clubs across the country, where photographers enter images into up to 6 categories. These images (Projected Digital Images, or PDI) are judged anonymously and on average, approximately 25% of all submitted images score highly enough to achieve an “acceptance”.

Of the accepted images, approximately 10% of these will be awarded a Certificate of Merit (or COM).

The Impala Trophy is awarded annually to the PSSA member (non-members are not scored) who has accumulated the highest number of salon points in the annual 1st July to 30th June competition period. Points are awarded as follows:

Award Type

National Salon

International Salon

4 3 2 1

8 6 4 2

Winner Runner-up COM & other awards Acceptance

Remember, an image can receive a maximum of 3 acceptances (including Wins, Runner-up and COMs) before it must be ‘retired’.

Any acceptances after the 3rd one will NOT be counted. It’s also worth noting that a colour version of an image and a mono version of the image count as the same image – you cannot accumulate 3 colour acceptances and 3 mono acceptances for the same image.

So, how do you stand a chance of winning the Impala Trophy? By consistently entering salons, with images of an exceptional standard.

This means a photographer must constantly be creating new images and honing his/her craft to the highest standard.

The winner of this season’s Impala Trophy is Trix Jonker from Bloemfontein Camera Club, with a whopping 384 points!

Congratulations Trix!

How did EPC members fare?

Jorge Borralho

is our top-ranking member, coming in at number 25 on the overall log!

Congratulations Jorge, this is a remarkable achievement!

In the Top 50 we have our chairman David Wolstencroft and Natasha Bird, and in the Top 100 we have Hanli Smit and Lourens Durand. Congratulations to these 4 photographers on their outstanding results for the year!

What about EPC as an overall club?

The PSSA also rates individual clubs on the basis of their overall member salon acceptances. Top of the pile for the 2019/2020 calendar year is Southern Suburbs Camera Club. We are very proud to announce that EPC has placed 6th nationally on the PSSA leaderboard.

With over 100 PSSA affiliated clubs nation-wide, 6th position is an outstanding achievement!

Congratulations EPC! Any member who received even a single salon acceptance this year has contributed to our 6th position – thank you for your passion for photography!

In our local CERPS (Combined East Rand Photographic Societies), EPC was the top ranked club, beating Boksburg Camera Club into second place. Well done to every single member of our club!

51 / JULY 2020 CONTRIBUTED BY CLARE APPLEYARD

PSSA Interclub competition 2019/2020 Entries have also now closed for the annual PSSA Interclub Competition, which recognises images submitted to club nights in the 1st July to 30th June period. Each PSSA club is permitted to enter a maximum of 15 junior (1 – 3*) and 15 senior (4* and above) images to the competition for anonymous judging.

Obviously, it is advantageous for a club to submit the most outstanding images from the junior and senior sections and to do this, veteran club judges at EPC must sort through hundreds of phenomenal images to choose the best of the best.

Congratulations to the following members who had images selected for submission to this year’s Interclub competition, listed in alphabetical order:

Junior Members

Senior Members

Linda Carter Guto Gavino Kyle James Holborn Stephen Kangisser Brian Kleinwort Atholene Liebenberg Caryn Wilson Tony Wilson

Des Alexander Clare Appleyard Natasha Bird Jorge Borralho Dino Bottega John Coumbias Gary Peck Hanli Smit Vicki Street David Wolstencroft

In some instances, multiple images from an author were selected. Given that some of the PSSA Interclub judges will be reading this newsletter, we’ll be keeping the names of selected images private so as not to bias judges.

Results of the PSSA Interclub Competition are normally announced at each year’s annual congress, but with Covid-19 challenges there is no annual congress.

Rest assured we’ll announce the results to our members as soon as we have them!

Good luck and once again, congratulations on having at least one of your images selected!

52 / JULY 2020

Closing dates for upcoming Salons 2020 find the information brochures on the PSSA website

We want to encourage all or members to support these Salons in return for all the support we had with the EPC Salon 2020-07-11 4th Westville CC National Salon (Results available) 2020-07-18 3rd Pietersburg FK SALON (Brochure available) 2020-08-01 15th Krugersdorp national (90 year anniversary) (Brochure Available) 2020-08-08 PSSA National AV salon (Postponed until further notice) 2020-08-15 1st Bethal National (Brochure Available) 2020-08-29 6th Bosveld National (Brochure Available) 2020-09-05 5th Southern Suburbs National (Brochure available) 2020-09-12 9th AFO National (Brochure Available) 2020-09-26 PSSA Up and Coming Competition (18th) 2020-10-03 8th Swartland Intl (Brochure available) 2020-10-11 International-circuit Camera Obscura 2020 2020-10-17 1st Eden Photographic Society Salon (Brochure available) 2020-10-31 2nd SAVAS National 2020-11-07 Midlens 1st Nature National 2020-11-14 6th Centurion National