Boksburg Camera Club Newsletter May 2016

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BCC is affiliated with PSSA

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Index From the chairman 2 Committee 2016 3 Events 4 Feedback on outings 5 Tip cards (NEW FEATURE) 8 Set subjects and inspirations 9 Spotlight on Leatitia Kenny 30 Members list 33 PSSA feature 34

Winners PSSA results 16 April club evening e-photography winners 22

Features How to photograph startrails: The ultimate guide 11 Photography for kids 19 Discover these creative lighting techniques 25

Photo by Leatitia Kenny BOKSBURG CAMERA CLUB www.boksburgcameraclub.co.za Photo‐Vault‐Online‐Entries www.photovaultonline.com https://www.facebook.com/groups/ BANKING DETAILS First National Bank Sunwardpark Branch: 201209 Current account no: 62482721406

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From the chairman When we correct, manipulate and enhance images in

Photoshop, we must deal with questions of both ethics

and aesthetics. This discussion is not only limited to

digital manipulation, but also includes conventional

darkroom methods.

Ethics are a set of rules that we invent that define what

we think is good and bad. The dictionary says ethics are

"a set of moral principles or values" and that ethical

means "conforming to accepted professional standards of conduct".

The fundamental fact that we usually forget is that when we take a picture we do not make

a perfectly objective recording of reality. What we make is an interpretation of reality.

Photographers interpret what they see in a myriad of ways. The choice of lens by focal

length and working f/stop alter spatial relationships between objects in the frame.

The important questions when we manipulate an image are, why are we doing this, and

what are our purposes and intentions? Where do we draw the line? What is ethical in the

digital manipulation and enhancement of a photo? To answer these questions we must

consider why we took the picture and what we are going to do with it. If the picture is taken

for artistic purposes only, then pretty much anything goes because only aesthetic

considerations come into play. If the photo was taken for documentary or journalistic

reasons, then another set of ethical considerations come into play.

Because of the ease in manipulating digital images with Photoshop, some people are

questioning whether images are "real" or "art", and wondering if they can believe anything

they see anymore. But people have been faking photos since the invention of photography

- this is nothing new.

I leave you to ponder on this!

Until next time, happy shooting.

Percy Mitchell

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Committee 2016

Percy Mitchell

Chairman

082 575 7401

Errol Wagg

Vice Chairman and

Competitions

Manager

082 491 8710

Denise Smith

Secretary/admin

076 731 1980

Nico Grobbelaar

E-photo coordinator

082 448 4299

Jacques Taljaard

Treasurer

083 654 4614

Annemi Taljaard

Catering/Editor

079 499 5281

Erich Schober

Equipment

manager

083 447 8014

Steve Koekemoer

Workshops and

outings

082 572 3065

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Events

May Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

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2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

June Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30

July Mon tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

May

2- Esme Bruwer

7- Vanderbijlpark Salon

16- Club evening

14- Erich Schober

Rustenburg Salon

18- Steve Koekemoer

Tafelberg Salon

27- Ettienne van Niekerk

Gregg Lund

Swartskop Airshow

28- Karl Seidel

Bikes- Moto X- Rally

29- Magda van Vreden

June

3- Armand Wessels

8- Sandra Mc Callum

13- Club Evening

14- Willie Pieterse

24- Johan Botha

25- Christine Janse v Rensburg

27- Advanced Landscape workshop

28- Waheed Petkar

30- Michelle Venter

July

9- PECC 125th Anniversary Salon

11- Club evening

10-14- Namibia outing

23- Reef steamers winter photoshoot (R750.00)

Beginners all day workshop

MFFC salon

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Feedback on outings

Photo by Steve Koekemoer

Clarens (29 April- 1May 2016) I was unfortunately not one of the lucky people to attend the trip to Clarens but gathered

from the tears of the ones left behind (me included) and the beautiful pictures and positive

feedback from those who went, I can only say... next time. Don’t leave Clarens from your

travel plans.

Photo by Marie Botha

From the members who went to

Clarens:

It has been a wonderful weekend

so far. Now doing sunsets.-

Denise

Thanks for a marvellous

weekend.- Steve

Thanks to everybody for a

fantastic weekend & especially to

Percy & John for all the guidance

tutoring & travelling around

scouting for places for us to take

those awesome photos.- Kerry

Thanks to everyone. It was

awesome.- Marie

Truly enjoying our time in

Clarens.- Owen

From the unlucky who stayed behind and saw

the sneak peek photos:

Wow!- Lynn

This is officially torture!- Ronel

Lyk stunning en na n prys wenner!- Edwin

Stunning.- Charmaine

This went with a lot of crying and downcast

faces

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Photo by Percy Mitchell

Photo by Steve Koekemoer

Photo by Denise Smith

Photo by Percy Mitchell

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Feedback on outings Fast moving objects workshop (25 April 2016)

A great workshop was held with a panel of the more experienced photographers on

panning and fast moving objects.

The panel was chaired by Steve Koekemoer and Percy Mitchell, Errol Wagg and Theo van

der Merwe were the selected “masters”.

It was an open discussion with questions and answers and much was learned by all

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Photography tip cards We will be adding in tip cards that can be printed out and taken on workshops and outings

to help young and old with their journey to better their photographs. Tip cards will be

adapted from the Digital Camera magazines.

Indoor still life

Shooting indoor gives you control over the subject

and lighting. You’ll get the best results with a low

ISO and small aperture, so use a tripod to keep

everything sharp. Use manual exposure and

focusing for total precision.

Exposure Manual

Focus Manual

Shutter speed 1/60 or slower

Aperture F16

ISO 100

Lens 50-105mm

Drive mode Single shot

White balance Daylight

TOP TIP: Lighting is key to successful still-life

images. Experiment with different light sources

such as diffuse window light, flash and reading

lamps.

Sunsets

It’s hard to resist the colours at sunset but watch

your exposure to make the most of them. Exposing

for the sky gives you the colours, but foreground

will become very dark. Use an ND grad filter to

balance the exposure.

Exposure Manual

Focus Manual

Shutter speed 1/30 or longer

Aperture F16

ISO 100 or lower

Lens 18-24mm

Drive mode Single shot

White balance Daylight

TOP TIP: If you don’t have a ND grad filter, shoot

twice- once exposed for sky and another for the

land. Combine them in Photoshop

Tripod free pics

Many locations prohibit tripods, but using a high

ISO and VR/IS, you can get successful shots of

interiors, even in dim lighting. Even so you need to

watch out for camera shake, so try using a pillar or

wall to help steady the camera.

Exposure Shutter priority

Focus Single or one shot

Shutter speed 1/15 or longer

Aperture Set by camera

ISO 400-1600

Lens 12-24mm

Drive mode Single shot

White balance Auto

TOP TIP: Watch out for bright areas like windows,

as they may cause the camera to underexpose the

main interior of the building.

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Set subjects for 2016

February- Nature - no scapes

March - Monochrome

April - Panning/movement

May - Portraiture

June - Autumn

July - Scapes

August - Still life/ tabletop

September - Low light photography

October – Sport/PJ

January 2017 - Macro/close up

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Set subject inspirations for June:

Autumn

Autumn is a great season for photography. Whether you're a professional photographer or

an amateur taking pictures with your potato-quality smartphone camera, anyone can

capture the season's rich colours.

No matter how good or bad you think you are at photography, we want to see your

favourite autumn views! In this list, you can submit your own photos, vote for other

people's photos (to rank them), and share your photos with your friends.

If you don't yet have any autumn photography yet, this list will probably have some good

ideas for you. Once you've been inspired, get out there, get snapping, and show us the

wonderful colors of autumn!

http://www.boredpanda.com/autumn-photography-2014/

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How to Photograph Star Trails: The

Ultimate Guide July 10, 2015 by Christopher O'Donnell

Photographing the night sky can be a surreal experience, and star trail photography is

highly rewarding if you have a bit of patience. Those 2 hour long single exposures can turn

an otherwise mundane day shot into an otherworldly image.

Racing Stars

Photo by Andrew Stawarz

When photographing star trails, your goal is to allow your camera to pick up light it

wouldn’t normally by using extra long exposures. Working under the night sky means that

the amount of available light is severely limited – most likely, you’ll only be able to capture

the stars in the sky depending on if there are other light sources around, unless you’re

planning on spending a few hours for each exposure.

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Behind the Rocks at Night

Photo by Scott Ingram Photography

With that being said, it’s very important to utilize proper long exposure techniques: locking

your mirror, mounting your camera on a secure tripod, and using a remote cable release for

your shutter.

However, there are additional things to consider when photographing star trails that will

set your night images apart from the crowd – how do you get those fantastic lines of light?

Star Trails

Photo by Robert Hensley

There are two methods popular with star photographers – using one very long exposure

(long enough to register some noticeable star movement; at least 30 minutes) OR taking

many shorter exposures and stacking those images in a way that shows sequential

movement.

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One Long Exposure

To capture star trails using one long exposure, there are a couple important things to

consider. You need to let as much light into your lens as possible for those stars to register

(the why’s of this are explained below) – this means using a fast lens, preferably in the f/2.8

range.

When photographing stars under one exposure, you need to do it during a new moon night

– meaning that the moon is nowhere to be seen. If you have anything more than a crescent,

your exposure will be limited to the 10-minute range because of the ambient light, which

won’t do much for star trails. For this kind of photography, darkness is your best friend.

Ultimately, you’re aiming for your environment to be illuminated by the stars themselves –

yes it’s possible! However, this entirely depends on the length of your exposure. The image

below is the result of an 80 minute exposure taken under a new moon – you can see that

the foreground is exposed nicely and the star trails are outstanding.

The vortex in the sky

Photo by .Bala

When calculating your exposure, it would be

best to do a shortened test shot so you’re not

waiting a ridiculous amount of time just to see

if your settings are correct. Many night

photographers will jack up their ISO as far as it’ll

go and shoot wide open – you’ll rarely find an

instance where you’ll be taking a photo shorter

than 30 seconds here. Of course the test shot

will be entirely unusable due to noise and lack

of trails, but it will give you a base to calculate

what settings are needed with an ISO of 100.

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Image Stacking Shorter Exposures

An alternative to waiting an hour or more for your exposure to finish is to take sequential

images and stack them together in post process to get your star trails. In short, your

exposure should be just long enough to register your stars as bright objects in the sky

before moving onto the next one. It’s not uncommon to have several hundred images to

stack taken over the course of a few hours.

Post process software such as ImageStacker and DeepSkyStacker will automatically throw

all your images together and produce a stunning star trail.

Another benefit to image stacking is that you have all the necessary photos to make a time

lapse video.

Tip: Between shots, try waiting a few seconds to let your sensor cool down a bit as a hot

sensor = more digital noise.

Aperture: Wide Open or Narrow?

A common question – or rather misconception – with star trail photography is why

wouldn’t you use a small aperture (say f/8 or above) for a sharper image rather than shoot

wide open? You’re already shooting hour-long exposures so the timing isn’t a

concern….surely it’s better to have a sharper photo; especially if you have other focal points

(foreground interest, etc).

The issue with photographing stars is that they move – this is why we want to photograph

their trails in the first place. With that in mind, there is a delicate balance to find with your

exposure that’s more than just how long your shutter is open.

Wider apertures allow for shorter exposure times because they let more light in than

narrow apertures. Focus on that last part – they let more light in. Considering that stars are

constantly moving, you need to make sure that they’re registered on your sensor before

they move – otherwise your star trails will be very dim, perhaps even non-existent

depending on your chosen f/stop. Imagine doing a two-hour shoot where your foreground

is lit nicely, but your star trails look no more than a slight variation in tones on the night sky.

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Considering this, it’s a good idea to have a lens that’s capable of very wide apertures – such

as f/2.8 or even wider. The wider your aperture, the brighter your star trails will be.

Finding the Poles

As you may have noticed, several of the example images used here have a circular pattern

around a more central location- also known as the north and south poles. In order to

replicate this, you need to locate the poles first and aim your camera for it.

If you’re an astronomy beginner like me, this may seem a bit daunting – not to worry

though. If you’re shooting towards the North Pole, the Polaris (a.k.a. the North Star) is what

you’re aiming for – it’s the last star on the handle of the Big Dipper, so if you locate that

you’re good to go.

The South Pole is a bit more difficult to eyeball as there’s no prominent bright star near the

pole to help like the Polaris.

More Tips

Light Pollution – Whether from a nearby city or the street lamp at the end of your driveway,

light pollution can greatly affect long exposures. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though –

in fact, it may add to the ambiance of your photo, such as a star trail image that begins

during the blue hours. Experimenting with atmospheric light can be a creative way to make

a unique star trail image – just be aware that the lighter your sky is, the less contrast your

star trails will have.

Clear Skies and Dry Air – Obviously you don’t want to photograph star trails under a cloudy

sky, but other atmospheric filters can interfere with your night photography – air pollution

and humidity being the top annoyances. The best locations for a clear sky would be high up

and away from any congested cities, and take on a night with very low humidity.

http://www.lightstalking.com/how-to-photograph-star-trails/

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Winners

PSSA results 2nd Lowveld Salon

Nature excluding birds - Colour Acceptance Stalking leopard Kenny Laetitia

Nature excluding birds - Colour Acceptance having a sip Viljoen Kierie

Nature excluding birds - Colour Acceptance and the winner is.... Viljoen Kierie

Nature Birds - Colour Acceptance Swallow 3915 Kenny Laetitia

Nature Birds - Colour Acceptance surprise visit Viljoen Kierie

Open - Colour Acceptance dressing room Kenny Laetitia

Open - Colour Acceptance Tree of life Kenny Laetitia Sports - Colour Acceptance the split Viljoen Kierie

Human Portraits - Colour Acceptance The spirit Kenny Laetitia

Human Portraits - Colour Acceptance Dena 2 Kenny Laetitia

Human Portraits - Colour Acceptance Study in green Kenny Laetitia

Open - Monochrome Acceptance Fire chief Kenny Laetitia

Open - Monochrome Acceptance Three Dancers Kenny Laetitia

Open - Monochrome Category Winner PSSA Silver Medal Spiritual moment Kenny Laetitia

Nature Birds - Colour Certificate of Merit this look can kill Viljoen Kierie

Open - Monochrome Certificate of Merit violin still life Kenny Laetitia

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Southern Suburb Salon

Wildlife - Colour Accepted Dont mess with me Preston-Whyte Mark

Wildlife - Colour Accepted having a sip Viljoen Kierie

Wildlife - Colour Accepted the battle is on Viljoen Kierie

Scapes - Colour Accepted Solitude Kenny Laetitia

Scapes - Colour Accepted Paradise awakes de Klerk Renee

Scapes - Colour Accepted Storm brewing over the Drakensberg de Rouwe Mavis

Photojournalism and Sport - Colour Accepted Brushing my teeth Murray Vivienne

Photojournalism and Sport - Colour Accepted one hand stand Viljoen Kierie

Photojournalism and Sport - Colour Accepted yankie 644 Viljoen Kierie

Open - Colour Accepted In the forest Kenny Laetitia

Open - Colour Accepted telling the time Kenny Laetitia

Open - Colour Accepted The Enterprise has landed Preston-Whyte Mark

Open - Monochrome Accepted How a camera really works Kenny Laetitia Open - Monochrome Accepted violin still life Kenny Laetitia

Open - Monochrome Accepted White and Black Murray Vivienne

Open - Monochrome Accepted Poetic Performance Murray Vivienne

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PCCC Salon

PDI - Creative - Colour Acceptance ghost Kenny Laetitia

PDI - Creative - Colour Acceptance In the forest Kenny Laetitia

PDI - Creative - Colour Acceptance painted princess Kenny Laetitia

PDI - Human Portraits - Colour Acceptance steam punk lady Kenny Laetitia

PDI - Human Portraits - Colour Acceptance The swing Kenny Laetitia

PDI - Open - Colour Acceptance the roundhouse kick Viljoen Kierie

PDI - Open - Monochrome COM going for the kill Viljoen Kierie

PDI - Open - Monochrome Acceptance Water Nymph Kenny Laetitia

PDI - Open - Monochrome Acceptance exotic dancer Kenny Laetitia

PDI - Open - Monochrome Acceptance Witch docter Kenny Laetitia

PDI - Open - Monochrome Acceptance earth child Kenny Laetitia

PDI - Open - Monochrome Acceptance langtoon Viljoen Kierie

PDI - Open - Monochrome Acceptance the crossing Viljoen Kierie

PDI - Scapes Colour Acceptance Storm brewing over the Drakensberg

de Rouwe Mavis

Prints - Nature - Colour COM Lynx portrait Arnott Ditta

Prints - Nature - Colour Acceptance Monument Valley Single Reginald Owen

Prints - Open - Colour Acceptance Lady in red Arnott Ditta

Prints - Open - Colour Acceptance Humility Single Reginald Owen

Prints - Open - Colour Acceptance THE MAHARAJA Single Reginald Owen

Prints - Open - Monochrome COM Water swirl Arnott Ditta

Prints - Photojournalism - Monochrome Acceptance

The Blind Beggar Of Varenasi Single Reginald Owen

Vanderbijlpark Digital and prints salon

No results yet

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Photography for kids: Activities they can do!

COURTNEY SLAZINIK

One of my friends wants to give her son a project and thought a photography one would be

fun! I love this idea and wanted to give you some ideas to do photography for kids. You can purchase a child proof durable camera or if your children are older and a little

more responsible you can purchase an inexpensive point and shoot.

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Photography for Kids: Ages 3-5 You may not be able to teach them as many skills at this age but you can familiarize them with a camera and give them different activities they can do. Activity ideas: – Learn their colors – Have the child walk around the house or outside and look for things of a certain color and photograph them. – Starts with… – Ask them to find objects that start with a certain letter and photograph them. – Their name – They could either find objects that start with the letters in their name or they could look for things that look like letters to make their name. Photography for Kids: Ages 6-10 You can teach this age range even more about photography. Start with some basics in composition. – Rule of thirds – Limb chops – Leading lines – Fill the frame – Negative Space You can tackle lighting as well. – Catchlights – Backlighting – Low light – Window light Activity ideas: – Skill building – Before you give them an activity you can have them practice the skills you want them to learn. If you want to focus on composition, have them read the above posts. They can choose one skill a day. Ask them to create 3-5 images displaying that composition guide. – Story time – Have them take a photograph of anything and write a story about it. It could be of children at the park. Name the children and create a story behind them. This will help their language arts skills as well as their creativity – Scavenger Hunt – Create a list of 20 items they need to find in the house or in the yard. Hand over the camera and have them photograph the options as they find them. Be sure to throw in something of a challenge. – ABC’s – Have them photograph something that starts with each letter of the alphabet

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– Create a blog – You could give them their own corner of the internet. Feel free to keep their blog private for only family to view if you choose. They can post their images, add captions, and record what they are learning.

http://clickitupanotch.com/2012/07/photography-for-kids/

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Winners

May e-photography results

1 Star: Ronel Myburgh

Giraffe Silhouette

3 Star: Marie Botha

The moth and the zinnia

2 Star: Sivu Matsiliza

Fight club

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4 Star: Vivienne Murray

Wild Afro

5 Star: Tony Stacey

Finding direction

1-3 star Set subject winner

Tracy Hopley

MB

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1-3 Star Set subject runner up

Wilma Fratter

Rooikop

4-5 star Set subject winner

Theo van der Merwe

Drummer

4-5 Star Set subject runner up

Vivienne Murray

Delhi Traveler

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Discover These Stunning Creative Lighting Techniques That Will Electrify Your Photos By Robert Bradley (publishedJuly 3, 2013)

Light is photography..

Photo by Anastasia Volkova

Without it, photographs would make for some of the dullest looking objects; as pointless an activity, as that of watching a documentary on the beauty of rainbows on a black and white television set!

Many first time photographers struggle with the fundamentals of lighting, I certainly did, as there are so many options and choices available to add illumination to a subject, it’s hard to know where to start and even harder to know what to experiment with.

Light is everywhere, as photographers we need to pay attention to it, study it, and understand how it coats everything, as only then can we master it.

Below you’ll find some of the best examples of lighting used creatively. These creative lighting techniques and diagrams are from some of the greatest names in photography, featuring their methods and techniques so that you can try them yourself; or perhaps you’ll find inspiration and go on to construct your own awesome original lighting set ups! But first..

Natural light is your Best Friend

Natural light is the best source of lighting any photographer will ever get to work with, mostly because for 12 hours of any given day you have a vast abundance of it; and it’s completely free!

Natural light is always best worked between the first few hours of a morning and the last few hours of the evening. This is because the light dims slightly adding a cool or warm natural defuse that clears the air and makes an awesome glow.

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Peter Lik is regarded as one of the worlds greatest landscape photographers, you’ll see here that this photograph was either taken first thing in the morning or at early sunset, the air is clean and crisp and the glow of the sun casts it’s beautiful rays across the landscape.

Almost all of the best landscape photographs are captured, during these hours of the day.

How You Can Use It

Reflecting It – the natural light is reflected to cast the light on to the opposite side of the subject

Bouncing It – here the light has been bounced directly at a diffusing shield that casts a brilliant yet even cast upon the subject

Diffuse It – Here the light of the sun is naturally diffused by the haze of the evening air casting a rich yet powerful glow over the subject and surrounding back drop

These are just a few ways that natural light can be manipulated, you can also blend it with other light sources.

Mix it – Both the sun and an outdoor flash are used here to create a truly stunning image of feminine beauty

Fluorescent Lighting is your Enemy, but you know what they say about those!

As a rule, photographers hate using fluorescent

light, which is basically light that comes from a

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domestic light bulb. The light is usually harsh and hard to contain, it’s also very yellow.

But so what! If you want to give your photographs some grit and a moody narrative, then you can’t go too far wrong with fluorescent light sources:

Strong florescent lights emit a very ugly glow, but in the right kind of environment, and the right kind of narrative behind the image, they can make a photograph complete.

Simple image of the source and the subject, yet highly effective

Standard Photographic Lighting Set-Up

A standard set up, with soft boxes, reflectors, beauty dishes and a good source of natural lighting

Standard lighting is the tried and tested method. If you want your photographs to look and feel highly professional, then follow the rules and stick to these types of set-ups, but I warn you; Photo editors and agents are not looking for just another photographer that can rig up and copy the set ups of other professional photographs, trust me, they have tons upon tons of these photographers on their books. You have to be creative and you have to be original.

Here the lighting has been set up high above the subjects, and another light directly behind them and one in-front to bring them out of the silhouette

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Here the back ground has been lit from a distance behind the subject, there is also a light directly above and reflector positioned just under the camera

a diffused spot light is positioned directly in front of the subjects slighting above them and it casts a brilliant glow over each of them

The spot light setting on your DSLR in a darkened room with one small source of natural light can create such an image as excellent as this

Another way to do this is when the greatest light source of them all, silhouettes your subjects

Painting with your flash gun is another great way to work with light creatively, here the subjects are stationary making it perfect to set a long shutter speed and to approach them with bursts of light, but don’t forget to keep moving otherwise your camera will pick you up in the final image.

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his photographs, this gives him complete control over his subjects and the lighting that will fall upon them

Painting With Light

The best way to approach your experimentation is to imagine that light is your paint, it casts over everything and you can control this through knowledge of your camera and also by investing in a clever light meter. All DSLR’s have light meters built in and all are pretty good, however if you want the best that gives you every type of reading under the sun, then here is the one you buy…

Welcome to the best light meter on the planet

Only with such tools and preparation, you’ll generate the best results from your shoot.

You also don’t have to paint with light directly on to subjects, sometimes the light itself can become the subject

So What Are You Waiting For?

Allow yourself to become inspired, try out some of the set ups above, move some things around, introduce different light sources. Then below let’s discuss your favorite set-ups I cant promise I wont steal a few ;) !but most of all have fun with your experimentation.

Robert is a surrealist visual artist, photographer and journalist. Many of his photographs are exhibited throughout the world in private and corporate collections. Taken from http://photodoto.com/discover-

these-stunning-creative-lighting-techniques/on

2016/05/16

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Leatitia Kenny

Tell us a bit about yourself, where you are from and where your interest for photography

started?

I have always enjoyed creative hobbies and I guess it was natural that photography would

capture my attention. It has been the hobby that lasted the longest.

I started shooting film and had my own makeshift darkroom, the study and the bathroom.

My family were thrilled when I advanced (???) to digital.

I still enjoy painting in oils and am currently trying to merge oil painting and photography.

When did you join the photography club and what star level are you now?

I started photography about 20 years ago and am now in 5 star.

How did your first photo entered in a competition do?

The first photo I entered at club was a 5x7 inch print of a ballerina and it got gold at club. I

was absolutely thrilled.

What is your favourite genre and why?

I have always enjoyed photographing people so I enjoy Portraiture. I love manipulating

photos so the Altered Reality genre is something I particularly enjoy.

It gives me an opportunity to merge photography, drawing and painting. I also love

photographing birds.

Please share your favourite photo you took so far and why is it your favourite photo?

I don’t think that I have a favourite photo. Will include some that I like

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What inspires your photos?

I love reading art books and going to art and photography exhibitions. It is good to be

exposed to current genres and styles.

The cherry on top is if you can enter an International salon. Some internationals print

magnificent coffee table books of acceptances. Incredibly inspirational.

What is your highlight of photography?

I think my photographic highlight was getting my FPSSA. I received it on the same day as I

spoke at a National PSSA congress for the first time. Terrifying but exhilarating.

The cherry on top that morning was being awarded a gold medal on and International

salon. I have had some achievements since then but nothing has topped this very special

day.

What advice would you like to give to someone taking up photography or just starting

photography?

When I started photography I never dreamt that it would turn into a career. When I got my

5 star Master at Boksburg the committee contacted the Boksburg Advertiser.

This got me a write up in the column “Personality of the week” which was a weekly column

in those days. I was then approached by somebody to do a wedding and this was the start

of my business.

Turning my hobby into a career has had a negative effect on my hobby.

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When you do something every day of the week, and too many weekends, it is no longer a

leisure activity. Photography is also a very cut throat business as some photographers work

for minimal rates.

This negatively impacts on the industry as you can either compete at lower rates or not

work at all.

The most important advice I can give is that you shoot for yourself and not the judges. Just

go out with your camera and have fun! Don’t let a negative comment demoralise you.

It is after all a very subjective hobby.

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Members list

Alan Driver Kerry Mellet Waheed Petkar

Alan Rankin Kierie Viljoen Wallace Hayward

Alex Pawley Laurence Keulder Willie Pieterse

Alta Neto Laetitia Kenny Wilma Fratter

Andre Koekemoer Magda Van Vreden Yolanda Taljaard

Andrew Metcalf Margaret Single

Anna Ireland Marie Botha

Anneke Watt Mark Preston White

Annemi Taljaard Mavis De Rouwe

Armand Wessels Mel Walsh

Charmaine Zietsman Michelle Venter

Chris van den Berg Nico Grobbelaar

Christine Janse van Rensburg Noma Matsiliza

David Macintyre Odette Small

Denise Smith Paddy Abrams

Deon Mostert Pam Eley

Ditta Arnott Paula Rutherford

Eddie Mtsweni Percy Mitchell

Edwin Hawthorn Reginald Owen Single

Elmarie Swanepoel Renee de Klerk

Erich Schober Ronel Myburgh

Errol Wagg Rowland Hopley

Esme Bruwer Sandra Mc Callum

Ettienne van Niekerk Sharon Naude

Frans Grotius Sivuyile Matsiliza

Gail Zaaiman Sonja Nel

HP Van Zyl Steve Koekemoer

Jackie Cilliers Suzanne Morshead

Jackie duPlessis Theo van der Merwe

Jacques Taljaard Tony Stacey

Jasper Van Eden Tracey Haw

Johan Botha Tracy Hopley

Karl Seidel Ulandi Wagg

Karen Seidel Vivienne Murray

34

What is PSSA?

The Photographic Society of South Africa (PSSA) is the officially recognised body presenting photographers

in South Africa. The aim of the society is the promotion of photography in all aspects through individual

membership, affiliated clubs and other photographic groups.

Vision

As the internationally recognised Society, the PSSA actively embraces the future in its services to all

photographers.

Mission

To bring together those interested in photography.

To promote the highest possible standards.

To embrace the future of photography while continually supporting the present.

Benefits of joining PSSA

Become part of the world-wide photographic community.

Nationally and internationally recognised Honours and Awards.

Diamond ratings for achievements at National and International salons.

Receive a quarterly glossy A4 magazine, “IMAGE”.

Access the online newsletter and members’ section of the website.

Publish articles and images in “IMAGE” and on the website.

Evaluation of members’ photographs on the website

Learn new skills through workshops, tutorials and training DVD’s.

Attend workshops to obtain accreditation as a judge of photography within the Society.

Discounted entry fees to photographic salons recognised by PSSA.

Awards for service and excellence in photography.

Discounts given to PSSA members attending national and regional congresses.

Join today!

Membership of PSSA is open to all photographers

For application forms and other information, access the website: www.pssa.co.za.