Edenvale Newsletter

FOCUS CERPS WINNERS 2018 AND 2019

Edenvale Photographic Club - NEWSLETTER Sharing Visual Art

October 2019

Committee Members

Chairman:

David Wolstencroft 083 229 8066 davewol@gmail.com

Vice Chairperson:

Chairman’s Chat I’ve written before about how far would you go for a photograph. Well, how far would you go? Would you die for a photograph?

There are many photographers that put their lives on the line for that shot. Yes, they are usually photojournalists and they are getting paid, but sill, is a photo worth a life?

Scoring & Promotions

Heidi Broschk 079 886 8515 heidib@uj.ac.za

Treasurer: Ted Kinsman

083 461 2350 tkinsman@global.co.za

Marketing: Natasha Bird 082 920 8898

mnktrad@mweb.co.za

Salons, Judges and Outings: John Coumbias

079 1732 825 jcoumbias@telkomsa.net

Certificates & Awards Des Alexander

083 226 1452 neoncomp@webmail.co.za

New Members, Social Media & Website Clare Appleyard 083 234 0247

Newsletter : Hanli Smit

083 253 1034 hanlis54@gmail.com

Please email any contributions to hanlis54@gmail.com

They venture into dangerous zones, where no one should be, to get the shot in order to tell the world what is happening. It is a story that must be told, and these are special men and woman that use photography as a medium to communicate on a whole other visual level.

Look at the work of James Nacthwey (http://www.jamesnachtwey.com).

His imagery tells a sad and bitter story about man’s inhumanity towards fellow man. He quotes on the main page ““I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony.

The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated.”

Powerful words. If we could all live up to this, the world would be a much better place.

Photography (and photographers) have the power to change the world.

I admire these people. They have the courage and conviction to face the ultimate end in order to tell their story.

James is considered the greatest war photographer ever. A documentary was made about him called “War Photographer”. He says in the film “For me the strength of photography lies in its ability to evoke a sense of humanity…used well it can be a powerful antidote to war.

In a way, if an individual assumes the risk of placing himself in the middle of a war in order to communicate to the rest of the world what it is happening – he is trying to negotiate for peace.”

James was shot in Thailand in 2014. The wound was to his left leg. With no bones hit, Nachtway went immediately back to work.

These people are an inspiration, the select few that fill that important role that no one else will.

Driven by passion and the need to make the world a better place, they are our heroes.

e Dav

Content

Page 4

Winners from the second and the fourth Wednesday Club meetings.

Page 9 Definitions of different categories Page 10 - 13 Focus on one of the past Masters of Photography: Dorothea Lange

In 1940, Lange became the first woman awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Page 14 - 17 Travel Photography Tours....by: Picsofasia.com Page 18-21 Understanding Adjustment Layers Page 22 Member Focus...Adrian Style Page 23-24 Feedback on Cerps by Natasha Bird Page 25 Upcoming Salon Dates Page 27 Cover Story by Guto

MEETING TIME & PLACE 2ND &4TH WED OF THE MONTH 18H30-19H00 EDENVALE COMMUNITY CENTRE COR. VAN RIEBEECK & 2ND AVENUE EDENVALE

DEFINE CATEGORIES

1 Star Winners

Jaisalmer Desert India Stephen

October 2019

Kangisser

Cheetah and her Cub Stephen

Kangisser.

Boulders Linda Carter

Autumn Reflections Stephen

Kangisser

2 Star Winners

October 2019

portrait of a leopard Guto

Tranquillity Tony Wilson

The morning after Tony Wilson

Donna Tony Wilson

3 Star Winners

October 2019

Jackal Morning Drink Brian Kleinwort

Firemen Brian Kleinwort

Egyptian Geese Goslings Brian Kleinwort

Whats That Brian Kleinwort

4 Star Winners

October 2019

Ill be home in 30 minutes

Clare Appleyard

Seagull Silhouette

Clare Appleyard

Ocean Dreams

Clare Appleyard

5 & 6 Star Winners

Portrait of Favory

October 2019

Natasha Bird

Grey heron ready to fly John Coumbias

Snake in Abstract Natasha Bird

All hyped up Dino Bottega

FOCUS on Definitions

The Do’s and Dont’s, when entering images on the club evening into these categories Nature: Restricted to depict observations from all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archaeology, in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and to certify to its honest presentation Human elements shall not be present, except on the rare occasion where those human elements enhance the nature story The presence of scientific bands on wild animals is acceptable.

Nature

Pictorial Altered Nature: As above, except that compositing, multiple exposures and double exposures are allowed, provided that the image remains realistic.

Altered Reality: A creative, experimetal, imaginative and/or a departure from realistic representation. An image created by altering reality in an obvious manner. It can be created digitally or in camera. The intention is the creation of a new image that conveys a feeling or message or tells a story.

Human Portrait: A likeness, personality and mood of a person, where that person is dominant in the image. Portraiture is not restricted to head and shoulders and may include just a part of the face, a back view or even a full length study.

Animal Portraits: A likeness, personality and mood of an animal, where that animal is dominant in the image. Portraiture is not restricted to head and shoulders and may include just a part of the face, a back view or even a full length study.

Manipulation includes but is not limited to adding or removing any element by means other than cropping.

Compositing, multiple exposures, sandwich/montage and double exposures are not permitted except for digital techniques such as HDR, focus stacking and stitching where the end result is a faithful representation of the original scene.

Still Life: An image depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, includes table top and floral arrangements.

Scapes: Any scape, whether nature or pictorial, may be entered in this category and the subject matter is not limited, so may include city, sea, sky or landscapes. Maninpulation is allowed, but should be such, as to enhance the scene and not change it.

Manipulations which drastically alter the reality should be entered under pictorial.

Photographs of artificially produced hybrid plants or animals, domestic and farm animals, mounted specimens or obviously set arrangements are ineligible as is any form of manipulation that alters the truth of the photographic statement.

Photojournalism: Newsworthy/story-telling pictures, includes sports. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography by the qualities of: Timeliness— the images have meaning in the context of a recently published record of events. Objectivity—the situation implied by the images is a fair and accurate representation of the events they depict in both content and tone. Narrative—the images combine with other news elements to make facts relatable to the viewer or reader on a cultural level. Manipulation is not allowed.

Open Colour: All photographs not covered by the above sections. Images which should be in any of the other categories must not be entered in this category. Any image entered in this category which should be in any of the other categories will be disqualified. Colour Only.

Open Monochrome: all photographs not covered by the above sections. Images which should be in any of the other categories must not be entered in this category.

Any image entered in this category which should be in any of the other categories will be disqualified.

Monochrome only.

FOCUS Dorothea Lange

... on Past Masters

was a photographer whose portraits of displaced farmers during the Great Depression greatly influenced later documentary photography

During the Great Depression, Dorothea Lange photographed the unemployed men who wandered the streets. Her photographs of migrant workers were often presented with captions featuring the words of the workers themselves. Lange’s first exhibition, held in 1934, established her reputation as a skilled documentary photographer.

By 1918, Lange was living in San Francisco and soon running a successful portrait studio. With her husband, muralist Maynard Dixon, she had two sons and settled into the comfortable middle-class life she’d known as a child.

Change of Focus Lange’s first real taste of documentary photography came in the 1920s when she traveled around the Southwest with In 1940, she received the Dixon, mostly photographing Guggenheim Fellowship Native Americans. With the onslaught of the Great Depression Early Years in the 1930s, she trained her caOne of the preeminent and piomera on what she started to see in neering documentary photograher own San Francisco Just before Dorothea reached her neighborhoods: labor strikes and phers of the 20th century, teen years, her parents divorced. breadlines.

Dorothea Lange was born Dorothea grew to blame the sepaDorothea Nutzhorn on May 26, ration on her father and eventually In the early 1930s, Lange, mired 1895, in Hoboken, New Jersey. dropped his surname and took her in an unhappy marriage, met Paul Her father, Heinrich Nutzhorn, mother’s maiden name, Lange, as Taylor, a university professor and was a lawyer, and her mother, her own. labor economist. Their attraction Upbringing.

Her parents were both was immediate, and by 1935, both Johanna, stayed at home to raise strong advocates for her education, had left their respective spouses to Dorothea and her brother, and exposure to creative works be with each other.

Martin. filled her childhood.

Following high school, she attended Over the next five years, the couple When she was 7, Dorothea the New York Training School for travelled extensively together, doccontracted polio, which left her Teachers in 1913. Lange, who’d ne- umenting the rural hardship they right leg and foot noticeably ver shown much interest in acade- encountered for the Farm Security Administration, established by weakened. Later, however, she’d mics, decided to pursue photography as a profession after a stint the U.S. Agriculture Department. feel almost appreciative of the working in a NYC photo studio.

Taylor wrote reports, and Lange effects the illness had on her She went on to study the art form photographed the people they met. life. “[It] was the most important at Columbia University, and then, This body of work included Lange’s thing that happened to me, and over the next several years, cut her most well-known portrait, “Migrant teeth as an apprentice, working for Mother,” an iconic image from this formed me, guided me, instructed me, helped me and several different photographers, period that gently and beautifully including Arnold Genthe, a leading captured the hardship and pain humiliated me,” she said. portrait photographer. In 1917, she of what so many Americans were also studied with Clarence Hudson experiencing. The work now hangs White at his prestigious school of in the Library of Congress. photography.

Dorothea Lange

Citation Information Article Title Dorothea Lange Biography Author Biography.com Editors Website Name The Biography.com website URL https://www.biography.com/artist/dorothea-lange Access Date October 17, 2019 Publisher A&E Television Networks

If you join a Pics of Asia photo tour you’re guaranteed to get good photos.

Why? Well, because we know the very best locations and we take you there at the very best times. We’re nice like that.

But – and this may surprise you – getting great photos is not actually the main priority of the tours we run.

No, the main priority is learning and enjoying the experience of travel.

Genuine travel.

What I mean by genuine travel is that wonder of going somewhere completely new, meeting people you would never, ever encounter otherwise and having an experience that no guidebook or Trip Advisor review could ever lead you to.

Each to their own. But if you (and 14 of your friends) are all taken by a guide directly to photograph a pre-arranged subject (say, a certain blue-eyed girl in Vietnam), then you remove all the randomness and serendipity from travel.

And travel – real travel – is all about random, unplanned events Last month, for example, while on and encounters. When we arrive tour in North Vietnam, an in a village, we have no idea what unexpected rainstorm led to us we will find. Which is what makes it sharing a shelter with a bunch of extra exciting.

Ha Nhi farmers. While waiting out People skills are more important the downpour, we shared tales than camera skills Getting lost is the goal about our lives… and of course, Being able to take a technically Now, I don’t want to give the took photos. good photograph is very different impression that our tours are from being able to take a photo completely random. We’ve put a We couldn’t have planned it. that captures the mood of an lot of research into finding amazing But it’s a moment that I will individual or situation. locations for you. Plenty of coffee never forget Knowing your exposure triangle and countless early mornings have by heart isn’t going to help you get gone into scouting out the best invited into the home of a little old time to visit these locations, in Randomness is fun Sri Lankan lady in the winding lanes terms of light and action. of Galle. For travel photographers, So don’t worry: we’re not just You may have read my rants against people skills are far more import“winging it” or leaving it up to the plague of staged photos that ant than technical skills. chance! in my opinion, is ruining the once This is something we work on good name of travel photography. constantly during a Pics of Asia But when you come on a POA tour, I may have mentioned it once or tour. We will put you, the student, you will find that whatever the twice (OK, maybe every day). But in situations that are way out of stated itinerary is, it’s very, very one of the reasons it offends me your usual comfort zone. Situations flexible. so much is that the joy of travel – where you have no choice but to and of real travel photography – is make a connection with someone So if a photo opportunity presents meeting new people, and making you probably share no language itself, if we get a hot tip from a local, unexpected friends. with, in order to get the shot. or even if our driver takes a wrong Many photo tours that bill And guess what? That’s what travel turn, we embrace all these opporthemselves as “travel” tours are is all about! Being out of your tunities and run with them. basically just a series of stagecomfort zone, putting your trust in As a photographer, luck is hugely managed shoots involving paid the kindness of strangers and findimportant… but you have to allow locals. It’s not travelling and it’s ing common ground. Finding some yourself to be open, to take even less “adventure”. way to break the ice and make a advantage of serendipitous Which is fine. connection. opportunities whenever and wherever they arise.

This article was taken from the picsofasia.com web page

This randomness is something I think has been lost in the world of smartphones, Google Maps and online reviews. So it’s something that we at Pics of Asia are trying to put right.

In short, our workshops are as much (if not more) about travel than they are about photography. And that’s how we like it!

Top tip: In these situations, playing the clown tends to work. So if you want to make friends quickly with a bunch of burly brick workers or fishermen, try tripping up in front of them!

Slow travel is better travel Whether it’s cooking, sipping coffee, drinking beer, or taking photos, everything’s better when you take your time and really savour the situation. It’s that mindfulness thing that everyone’s talking about nowadays.

I meet a lot of people in my hometown of Hoi An in Vietnam, who are trying to see the entire country in two weeks, and guess what… they are having a shit time.

They also tend to look a little bit worse for wear. My advice: don’t bite off more than you can chew.

On a Pics of Asia tour, we like to take our time and really get to know a location.

We find that this way, we have more fun – and importantly, get better photos – if we go to fewer locations but spend more time there.

It’s also part of the reason I love to go back to locations over and over again. Because each time I do so, I find something new and fascinating – and, luckily for you, I can then share this information with you!

Making friends is more important than getting the shot Some photographers I’ve encountered are so focused on getting the ‘perfect’ shot that they seem to forget the people they are taking photos of are in fact real people and not just props in a play.

It can be painful to watch. And it doesn’t make me feel too good about my chosen profession.

Fortunately, not many of these people come on our tours. And if they did we would soon teach them that having a memorable and genuine interaction is always more important than getting a good photograph.

I mean, it’s obviously better if you can combine the two but given the option, making good friends and making good memories is always better than getting good photos.

At least it is to me and the POA team .

Smart travel = better photographer = better traveller I know one thing for certain: learning to travel smarter will make you a much better travel photographer.

At the same time, being a photographer (at least one with the right attitude) tends to make you a better traveller.

It’s a great feedback circle to be in.

Also, being a photographer tends to mean you are naturally quite curious. You like finding new things and going to new locations. I also think that being a photographer gives you an extra reason to explore further and deeper.

Why? Well, if you were just on holiday, you’d very rarely have a reason to go down that smokefilled alleyway, or to the shipyards – being a photographer, you do.

Because that’s where the pictures are. And in exploring these places – where no tourists ever go – you find out so much more about a country than you ever would on a regular holiday.

For more information on photo tours & tutorials visit this site :

www.picsofasia.com and you can also sign up for their newsletter!

https://www.picsofasia.com/putting-the-travel-back-in-travel-photography/?mc_cid=c2ee833d18&mc_eid=5ad9e661bd

5-day Central Vietnam ....SOUTH EAST ASIA

An extended version of our popular central Vietnam photography workshop, starting and ending in Hoi An. An intensive course that teaches you how to capture a story in every…

Hoi An Street Photography Workshop SOUTH EAST ASIA Join us in our home base of Hoi An for our first full-on street photography workshop! Andy and Etienne will show you the best locations in and around Hoi An for street photography…

Get hands on experience in our first ever street photography workshop in Hoi An! #Hoi An Street Photography Workshop

PHOTOTOUR 2020 Join us in our home base of Hoi An for our first full-on street photography workshop! Andy and Etienne will show you the best locations in and around Hoi An for street photography while helping you developing your photographer’s intuition for candid shots With Etienne Bossot

#Vietnam Duration:

5 days

Starting In:

Hoi An

Ending In:

Hoi An

Participants:

8

Skill Level:

Intermediate

Comfort:

Medium

DATES & TOUR LEADERS Mar 14 – Mar 18, 2020 Etienne Bossot, Andy Barker

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:

This tour begins with Hoi An old town, which is bustling with tourists, color, and movement. After a while exploring the old town and the best villages in the surrounding area, we will head to Danang city to refine our skills in busy urban streets.

PREPARATION WHAT’S INCLUDED In all our tours outside Vietnam we strive to make things easy so everyone can focus entirely on photography. This is the reason why our rates include everything during the tour: accommodation, transportation, all meals, and even tips to local people.

What is not included is your international flight, Visa, travel insurance, and souvenir purchase.

GROUP SIZE & WORKSHOPS Like in all our tours outside Vietnam led by two photographers we limit the number of participants to 8, for a better and more personalized coaching.

As it is the case in my tours, we will mostly focus on people and ways to take their photos, in travel or street photography style. As we are doing photo critiques and Lightroom tutorials, make sure to take your laptop / iPad.

ACCOMODATION & TRANSPORTATION We will be staying in 3- to 4-star hotels for most of the tour. All our meals will be in local restaurants and hotels. All our transportation between cities will be made by plane and we will use local transportation through the cities.

8 Pax 1450 usd per Person

Please Note the following information was obtained from the picsofasie website with permision from Etienne Bossot Please confirm and book via their website.

For any updated prices and information go to www.picsofasia.com

Please note that these tours include everything (hotels, transportation, all meals) but excludes your international flight and Visa.

Discover Learn how to make an amazing variety of effects with Adjustment Layers and Blend Modes

...THE POWER OF LAYERS One of the best ways to enhance a composite, or any image for that matter, is to add tonal effects with Adjustment Layers.

They work by changing the tones in all the layers underneath them in the layers panel, which means that they can be edited independently of any other elements that make up your image.

This is a great help when building a composite, because they trick the eye into thinking that the seperate parts belong together.

Crucially, you have the option to tweak any Adjustment Layer at any time by double clicking the thumbnail icon in the layers panel.

What’s more, you can alter the way they effect the layers underneath by lowering the Opacity, chanching the Blend Mode or painting a Layers Mask.

You can also build up combinations of adjustments.

The original image was taken in the studio The white balance was set on Tungsten in order to get the blue tone in the image The reason I did that was to counter act the models orange skin tone due to her instant tan.

THE FINAL IMAGE ON THE RIGHT AFTER SIX ADJUSTMENT LAYERS WE HAVE A RETRO FEEL AND WE MANAGED TO NEUTRALISE THE ORANGE TAN WE ALSO LIFTED THE TONAL VALUES WITHOUT LOSING CONTRAST

Start with your original image

6

Then add an adjustment layer by clicking on this icon

5 4 3

LAYER 1) Starting image

2 LAYER 2) Curves 1

1

LAYER 3) Photofilter LAYER 4) Color Balance LAYER 5) Curves 2 LAYER 6) Texture

Layer 1 Open your image in Photoshop then click on the icon to choose from a list of adjustment layers.

Layer 2 Select curves and it will automatically name itself CURVES 1.

Curves is the most powerful Adjustment Layer. Plot points along the curve line and drag them up or down to manipulate the tonal range.

Shadows are on the left side, Highlights on the right.

An S-Shaped curve lightens highlights and darkens shadows, resulting in extra contrast.

Layer 3......PHOTO FILTER As the name suggests, Photo Filters replicate traditional lens - mounted filter effects, and introduce shifts in colour. Here we show you the effect of a cooling filter and a warming filter chosen from the list of presets, with the strength set to 25%.

To match the blue texture I have chosen as a final layer I am going to work with the cooling filter

Layer 4...COLOUR BALANCE Colour Balance enables you to introduce colour shifts in the midtones, highlights and shadows.

We’ve set the Cyan/Red to (-13) Yellow /Blue to (+5) Magenta /Green to(+3) Just like the Curves Adjustment a boost in Cyan is simultaniously a drop in Reds, wich is why the sliders are linked in this way Layer 5...CURVES 2 Curves 2 allows you to make some more changes, in this case it needed to be a bit lighter, so only lift the top of the curve slightly.

Layer 6...TEXTURE A Texture image gives the image a degraded retro feel.

Go to File> Place and navigate to texture image.

Once the layer is in place, click the Blend Mode menu at the top of the layers panel and experiment with different modes.

We used Overlay here, with the opacity lowered to 71%.

I do not want any texture on the model’s face so with a soft brush and the eraser tool I removed some of the texture over her face.

At this stage you can adjust any of the layers by altering the level of opacity...until you are completely satisfied.

Flatten all the layers and save as a JPEG.

Member

Many moons ago I belonged to the Edenvale photographic club.In those days of 35mm slide film I had Minolta cameras.I was into wildlife photography and had telephoto lenses, a Cosina 100-500mm zoom lens and MTO 1000mm mirror lens(Made in the USSR).Both lenses were very sharp!

Jack Weinberg used to tell us when shooting wildlife you only have half an hour after sunrise for your best light!

We we did not shoot birds in flight because the lenses were manually focused.After about two years I left the club to focus on raising our two children.

In 2005 I was working for Wesbank.

All of us were given a HP735 mik and druk 3.2 mega pixel camera.The camera lay in my cupboard for six months because I was to scared to use it because of the new technology.

I went to Mkuze game reserve the same year.Every morning at the hide I spoke to a young photographer.

He had a Canon DSLR camera and 3 Canon lenses.He showed me his images everyday.I was very impressed.I could not afford to buy into the Canon DSLR system at the time! I eventually bought my first Canon camera a 7d mk1 and a 100-400 mm mk1 zoom lens at the end of 2011.Ive since moved on to the 7d mk2 camera and the 100-400mm mk2 lens. I now also have a canon EF 24-105mm F4 lens and a canon EF 100mm F2.8 macro lens.Because im still crazy about the bush my main photographic interest remains wildlife.I did enjoy the model shoot we had earlier this year and hope we can do another shoot next year! I hope to catch up on some macro photography as well in the new year!

...

FOCUS

Adrian

Style

by Natasha Bird

Combined East Rand Photographic Societies (CERPS) 19th October 2019 Natasha Bird Do you have a favourite event on your photography calendar? Perhaps it’s the start of a new club season, the Annual Prize Giving or maybe its your birthday or Christmas when you may find a new piece of equipment in your (shrinking) stocking.

CERPS 2019

For me it’s the CERPS Congress which is hosted by a different club every year.

CERPS is comprised of five photography clubs based within the East Rand - Benoni, Boksburg, Edenvale, Kempton Park and Springs. This year we were welcomed to the event which was hosted

by Benoni Camera Club and what a terrific job they did!

From the outset we were engaged in advance by the circulation of a dramatic “movie-styled poster” advertising the Eastern Region Congress and all the many activities to be included.

As part of the event each club was tasked to submit a panel of 15 Junior and 15 Senior images to be entered into an Inter-Club competition with three categories namely:Nature, Macro and Open/ Out of the Box. These images would be pre-judged and all the entries would be displayed throughout the day with winners announced at the very end of the CERPS programme.

There were several excellent presenters sharing their knowledge and exposing photographers to new equipment.

Nikon SA donated fantastic goodie bag gifts ncluding reflectors, peak caps, golfer shirts and the most adorable custom-made Nikon Camera USB’s.

Steve Castings presented the new Godox AD200, AD400 and AD600 flashes and modifiers range and all the benefits of same. He also did a live demo which included tethering directly to his computer which allowed immediate visual inspection of the captured images. This gives a photographer time to inspect the image and make fine adjustments to the lighting and poses of the model in real time without having to wait to get back to the post processing desk after the shoot.

Charismatic Steve then invited congress attendees to shoot not one but two stunning professional models, Nikki du Plessis and Alma Wampach while testing the super-fast recycling flashes and the AD600 with a 120cm parabolic octobox (which gives a very controlled, directional soft light) using HSS techniques (with shutter speeds between 1/800 and 1/4000) wide-open at almost midday. The results speak for themselves in the images - Godox have excellent equipment at affordable prices if you are a portrait photographer demanding superlative quality.

There were two other engaging presenters, Peter Moray (Moolah in Photography) and Meghan McCabe (Benefits of Mirrorless) who shared their trade experience and insights into these relevant topics.

Aside from the informative presentations, numerous shooting stations had been setup in a side hall and this was where a lot of fun was had by those togs that took their cameras along and managed to grab a few pics and learn from the likes of Peter Dooley (plant and flower photography) Photowalkers - Mark Straw (miniature toy world) and Africa Photo Safari’s Leen van Der Silk (macro and Little Critters) Annelize and Corne’ from LEA Extreme Pets brought along several reptiles and arachnids from their rehabilitation centre and regaled those that were a tad weary to shoot them with interesting facts about these somewhat-feared creatures.

As if this wasn’t enough already Benoni Camera Club had secured two fantastic weekend away prizes and there were many smiley faces when the winners were announced So, to recap we had a full day of all things photography - outstanding images in each of the categories, both Junior and Senior; top class guest speakers with informative topics and hands-on presentations; a diverse range of shooting stations and let me not forget, excellent catering (with all the above happening we got hungry and thirsty fast!) As a busy and wonderful day drew to a close everyone assembled in the main hall for the results announcement of the of the 2019 CERPS Inter-Club competition. It was so meaningful to share in the camaraderie and spirit of friendship as we reconnected with old friends from different clubs, mingled with those photographers whose work inspires us and to make a few new friends too.

“…and the winner is… ” PHOTOGRAPHY of course!

CERPS 2019, a truly well-planned and executed Congress that had something for everyone.

Congratulations Benoni Camera Club

PSSA Salons What are salons and why do we do them?

Wikipedia: “From the seventeenth century to the early part of the twentieth century, artistic production in France was controlled by artistic academies which organized official exhibitions called salons.”

To be able to exhibit your work on a salon, you had to obtain the approval of the judges.

Today it is still the same in photography that all entries received are evaluated by the jury and only those found acceptable will be exhibited.

And this is how we think of a photographic salon today – an exhibition of photography.

Photographers are invited to submit their images in various categories for possible inclusion in the salon exhibition. A panel of judges scores all the submitted images and chooses approximately 20% for exhibition. The images that are chosen are known as “acceptances” and these are the “salon acceptances” that are required for Club promotion.

The acceptance rate will be different for each event and is set by the jury but within the parameters set by the organisations which approved the exhibition (salon) and lend their name to it (patronage).

In South Africa, PSSA as the national organisation representing amateur photographers, uses a guideline for acceptances for PDI (projected digital images) salons at between 20 and 25% and up to 35% for prints and Audio Visuals. Overseas you may see rates between 25 – 45%!

The prime reason for presenting a salon is to see work that you would otherwise not see and share that with all our members and the public.

The entry fee is there to cover cost and if there is a surplus that is a bonus.

Salons are either National ones where only photographers from South Africa (as well as all members of PSSA worldwide) may enter or International ones where photographers from all over the world compete.

A list of salons is published on the PSSA website, in Club newsletters and entry for SA salons is generally via PhotoVaultOnline.

Current list of Salons as per PSSA Webpage Get the Salon Brochures on Photovault or www.pssa.co.za

2019.11.02 - 16th PSSA Up and Coming Competition (Brochure Available) 2019.11.09 - AFO PDI Salon (Brochure Available) 2019.11.23 - Bloemfontein PDI Salon (Brochure Available) 2020.01.09 - 8th Miroc International Salon (Brochure available) 2020.01.18 - Tafelberg National PDI Salon (Brochure Available) 2020.01.25 - Madiba Bay National (PECC & UCC) PDI & Prints Salon (Brochure available)

2020.02.15 - 5th PSSA International Salon (Brochure Available) 2020.02.15 - Alberton PDI Salon 2020.02.29 - Western Cape Photo Forum INTL PDI Salon 2020.03.14 - Benoni National PDI Salon 2020.03.28 - Kriel PDI Salon 2020.04.11 - Edenvale PDI Salon 2020.04.18 - 17th PSSA Up & Coming Competition 2020.04.25 - Boksburg PDI Salon 2020.05.09 - Magalies Foto Fun Club PDI Salon 2020.05.23 - Paarl PDI Salon 2020.06.06 - Heigel PDI Salon TBA - PSSA Youth Div PDI Salon

UPCOMING SALON CALENDAR

2020.02.06 - 4th PECC International Audio Visual Festival (Entry Forms Available)

Specifications for submission of High Definition “E” Photography

RECOMMENDED PROCEDURE Maximum Pixel Size = 1080 x 1920 Maximum Data File Size = 2000 Kilobytes (2mb) Jpeg We use 2 Categories at Edenvale for our club submissions 1) NATURE...”na” 2) PICTORIAL....”pi” The image must be named as follows Star Rating_Category_Image Name_Persons Name EXAMPLE:...2_na_hornbill_joe blog (all lowercase)

1.

Select Canvas [Frame] Size under the heading “ Image” in Photoshop if you wish to add the border to the image and make your adjustments. If you do not wish to add a border, go to step 2 2.

Select Image Size under the heading “Image” in Photoshop – tick the following boxes : Scale Styles, Constrain Proportions and Resample image.

3.

The maximum size of the image must not exceed 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels high 4.

When resizing a horizontal image ( Landscape ), enter 1920 pixels in the Width box and the vertical size will be adjusted automatically if you have ticked the “ Resample Image” box . If the vertical size is 1080 pixels or less, the resizing is correct. If the vertical adjusts to a value more than 1080 pixels ( say 1096 pixels ) then adjust the vertical size to 1080 pixels and the horizontal size will automatically reduce below 1920 pixels if you have ticked the “ Resample Image” box.

5.

When resizing a vertical image (Portrait), enter 1080 pixels in the Height Box. The value in the Width Box will change automatically to match the original image if you have ticked the “ Resample Image “ box.

6.

The maximum image data file size is 2000 (2MB) Kilobytes in the JPEG format . Note that if a border is added to the image, this must be added before resizing and reducing the file size to a maximum of 2000 Kilobytes to ensure that the image remains within the specified 2000Kb (2MB).

7.

It is recommended that the image be displayed in the sRGB Colour Profile. This can be selected in the camera or changed in Photoshop under Edit/Convert to Profile.

Portrait of a leopard by

Guto took this photo in Pilansberg at Rathlogo hide, the Leopard came to drink very close to the hide and he only had time for 3 shots and Leopard was gone.

Guto used a Canon 5D Mkiv with a Sigma 150 to 600mm lens.

COVER STORY

Guto