Cape Camera April 2016

CAPE CAMERAApril 2016Official Newsletter of the

Cape Town Photographic Society

From the council 2

News flashes 3

Spier outing 4

Forthcoming outings 5

E&D Dan Swart 6

E&D May 7

Competition news 8

Winning images 9

Danie Coetzee profile 11

What is Abstract? 12

Tips for making an AV 13

AV News 14

In this issue

April 2016 - 2 -

www.ctps.co.za • Copyright CTPS • Cape Town Photographic Society

On the cover

News from the council

Publications TeamEditor: Anna EngelhardtAudio-Visual: Joy WellbelovedCompetitions: Lesley ParolisCouncil & PSSA: Nicol du ToitE & D: Kim StevensFacebook: Steffne HughesLayout: Trudi du ToitOutings: Richard GoldschmidtPhoto genres: Margaret CollinsSnapshot: Andre MoutonContributions for Cape Camera are welcomed. Please submit any contribu-tions to editor Anna Engelhardt at email [email protected].

The cover image is Abstract Shadow Play by Jean-ette du Toit. This was also our senior entry for April in the PSSA monthly club competition and the winner in the PDI Set category (Abstract), Salon, of the CTPS April competition. This is what judge Antenie Carstens said:“Well seen by the photogra-pher — this is a highly successful abstract image. It is totally dependent on lines, shapes and light to create the effect we see. Our attention immediately goes to the right middle section where most of the lines are meeting.

“The changes in shape that take place from the top left hand corner towards the middle of the right hand side create much interest.

“The only small improvement that could make this a near perfect image is to darken the left bottom cor-ner just a fraction.”

We are now moving into the next phase of our strategic planning session to make CTPS an even better society

for you. Several task teams will now start meeting to plan a course of action on how to address specific issues raised at the stra-tegic meeting in March.

There had been a slight delay in the fol-low-up, because only a few people who so enthusiastically took part in discussions about what we can do better, actually vol-unteered to come and help us to imple-ment the suggestions.

After the first call only eight members volunteered for the six task teams. Luckily, after the second call we received enough people to start most of the jobs, but some will have to stand over for later until we can manage to do it.

Four task teams will now tackle the is-sues members identified at the meeting grouped in four task teams. The teams are as follows:

Judging, scoring and getting judges: Kim Stevens, Lesley Parolis, Carin Hardisty, An-tenie Carstens.Membership diversity: Anna Morris, Rob-ert Maginley, Trudi du Toit, Carin Hardisty and Richard Goldschmidt.Interest groups: Lambe Parolis, Joy Wellbe-loved, Mike de Villiers, Vic Els, Anna Mor-ris, Robert Maginley.Store room/archives: Richard Goldschmidt, Detlef Basel, Nicol du Toit.

Nellian Bekker was the only person volun-teering for AVs and she’ll try and put a team together from the AV enthusiasts.

Melanie Neethling was the only person who volunteered for a task team to inves-tigate Photo evaluation/discussion as an activity and we have decided not to ap-point a team to do that. Instead we’ll dis-cuss on council how to proceed with this suggestion.

So, now the discussions and brainstorm-ing will start. I am looking forward to the

ideas that will come out of these taskforce meetings!

How well do we communicate? We are currently asking you to tell us if you are happy with the way CTPS is communi-cating with you by completing our online survey, as well as completing the surveys that will be handed out at meetings.

Please participate, because we wish to get the views of as many members as pos-sible. So far, respondents seem to be happy with all our online communications.

Yet, when the Cape Camera editorial team called for help last month, nobody came forward to assist (see next page).

The problem we have is how to interpret this lack of action. Is it because people are not really interested in certain things, de-spite what they say about it? Or do they think they cannot make a real contribution?Looking forward to hearing from you!

Nicol du Toit

Council members from the back left: Richard Goldschmidt (vice-president), Jacoba van Zyl (secretary), Melanie Neethling (treasurer) and Nicol du Toit (president). Seated are Kim Stevens (E&D), Nellian Bekker (AV convenor), Detlef Basel (property), Lesley Parolis (website and competitions) and Anna Morris (public relations). Photo: Anna Morris.

- 3 - April 2016


Monthly meetingsMeetings are held in the St Stephens Church Hall, Central Square, Pinelands, at 7pm.1st Wednesday: Competition ;2nd Wednesday: Audio-visual; 3rd Wednesday: Education & Development.

CTPS Contact details:Contact person: Jacoba van ZylEmail: [email protected]: www.ctps.co.zaFacebook : Cape Town Photographic Society

President Nicol du ToitVice-president Richard GoldschmidtHonorary Secretary Jacoba van ZylHonorary Treasurer Melanie NeethlingProperty Manager Detlef BaselEducation & Development Kim Stevens Competitions Convenor Lesley ParolisAudio-visual Convenor Nellian BekkerPublic Relations Anna MorrisWebsite Lesley Parolis

CTPS council members

CTPS news flashes

ACCORDINg TO 96% of the members who’ve so far completed our survey on how well CTPS communicates with members, they always read Cape Camera. What’s more, 71% say they read everything in our monthly newsletter.

We’d love to hear your views, and there-fore urge you to please complete the on-line survey on www.surveymonkey.com/r/57LYWQH — it will take you less than a minute. We’ll also be handing out printed survey forms at meetings, as we’d like the views of as many members as possible.

From the responses received so far it would appear that members do want to continue receiving Cape Camera in its pre-sent format. But, producing a quality prod-

uct requires a lot of work from the edito-rial team, who are all volunteers with other responsibilities. This is therefore a heartfelt plea: if you want Cape Camera as is, please volunteer if you are able to help with any of the following tasks:Reporting on members’ achievements: We need somebody to write short news reports on members’ achievements and other news of importance to fill at least a page for News Flashes. These would in-clude short introductions to new members, reporting on salon acceptances, etc. Please contact Anna Engelhardt on [email protected] if you’ll be able to help.Layout of next Cape Camera: Trudi du Toit is desperately seeking somebody who is

Forthcoming meetingsMonth Competition AV Education & Development

May 4th — Archi-tecture 11th 18th: Michael Groenewald,

Stage photography

June 1st — On stage 8th 15th: Martin Osner on High Key photography

July 6th — High Key 13th 20th tba

Jeanette entered the 2nd Lowveld National Salon and gained five ac-ceptances, one in the Human Portrait section with this image titled Gregory Franz.

Please remember that the early bird registration special for the PSSA Congress in Langebaan will end on 31 May 2016. If you reg-ister before that date the cost of attending the congress will be R2 250 — instead of R2 800 — plus R250 for the banquet on the last evening for non-PSSA members. To register go to www.pssa.co.za then follow the links to the Congress pages. Also read more about the congress in the Cape Camera of March 2016.

Langebaan PSSA Congress 26th August — 1st September 2016

The Marike Bruwer visual art award Members are encouraged to enter the Marike Bruwer visual arts photography competition to honour the memory of this talented and active PSSA member who played a major role in developing an alternative and conceptual view of photography.

Images entered must represent a personal statement, convey a mood or emotion and display creativity and imagination. Further details are on the PSSA website.

Help, please! If you still want a Cape Camera able to assist with the layout of the next Cape Camera and (hopefully!) eventually take over the layout completely. Her prior-ity is currently to complete the commemo-rative book on CTPS’ first 125 years and get it ready for printing. She simply does not have the time to do justice to the layout of the next Cape Camera.

If no member is proficient in InDesign or any equivalent design program, she is will-ing to train anyone willing to assist, using a simpler program like Microsoft Publisher.

Please contact [email protected] if you can help — even just for the next issue.

Last orders, please!This is the last call for orders for the book to commemorate CTPS’ first 125 years — covering all aspects and activities that made it such a great society to be-long to, as well as the interesting, famous and hard-working members who made contributions. Past activities will be com-bined with coverage of last years’ 125 Year Celebration activities. The final print or-der, which cannot be repeated, will cover the orders received. The cost will be R160. Order from [email protected] be-fore May 16th, please.

April 2016 - 4 -


It was a photographer’s sight to behold when CTPS members arrived at dawn at the Spier car park: most of them had their longest lenses attached to their cameras, eager to master the art of taking images of birds in flight in early morning light; and eve-

ryone hoping to get that perfect shot of a soaring king of the sky.Eagle Encounters is a wildlife rehabilitation, education and eco-

tourism centre, based at the historic Spier wine farm. It is a non-profit organisation that raises money by giving the public an oppor-tunity to see and interact with some rescued birds of prey up close and attend educational talks that include spectacular interactive flying shows.

CTPS had arranged for a private and early flying session, so that we could move around at will with our cameras and not be restrict-ed to the public grandstand seating.

The first bird to fly was a kestrel. Jaws dropped as he seemed to hit the sound barrier across the field and then did swooping loops over the head of the handler. We soon realised that we had taken on quite a challenge, says Richard

Then, out came a golden eagle with a mean streak. It did some great flying for us but seemed to prefer sitting on the handler’s glove because that is where the food came from. Next came an eagle owl that seemed to be more sedate in his fly passes, but pre-ferred sitting on a perch rather than flying. The cute little barn owl came next and performed admirably until he got tired and decided rather to sit on the heads of various photographers.

Birds in full flight at SpierRICHARD GOLDSCHMIDT organised another successful outing in April, when 21 members of CTPS met at sunrise in the chilly Spier Wine Estate parking area to photograph birds of prey in full flight

Left to right: Judith Dodds providing a perch to two bearded dragons, photo by Robert Maginley; Richard Goldschmidt captured Lambe Pa-rolis ‘in flight’ and Pat Scott photo-graphed Joyce Gold-schmidt interacting with a barn owl.

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Zip Zap Circus in MayWE HAD to change the date of our next CTPS outing to Saturday 14th May, to coincide with the next Zip Zap Circus performance, as the following performance is only in mid-June, says Richard Goldschmidt.

This will allow members to take photos of performers in time for the June competition with the set subject On Stage, but be-fore the E&D talk on stage photography on 18th May.

Interested club members are invited and encouraged to come along to the school performance of the Zip Zap Circus at 3pm on Saturday 14th May at their tent in the garden (open space)op-posite the Artscape in the City. The cost of a ticket will be R100, which you will have to buy at the door. There is no overall CTPS booking or seating, so it is up to individual members to find seat-ing, says Richard.

Outings in May and June

THE OuTINg to Betty’s Bay has been rescheduled for June 4th, after the initial weekend outing had to be cancelled in mid-March due to accommodation shortage caused by the school holiday.

Members can either go out to Betty’s Bay on Friday 3rd and stay over until Sunday 4th, at their own discretion, or simply come out for the day on the Saturday.

If staying over, people must make their own accommoda-tion bookings in the area, says Richard. “I intend to create a programme of activities for the Saturday only, but participants should make a full day of it in order to catch the good light early in the morning and just before sunset. Those staying over will have more sunrises and sunsets to work with.”

Richard will email the final plans directly to members who initially indicated their interest to take part in this outing. Any other members, who are now able to participate because of the changed dates, must please email Richard at [email protected].

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When eventually the Cape vulture was taken out of his cage, pho-tography became much more successful, as he was more graceful, although with his massive wings he could be likened to a cargo plane. He was much more obliging with the handler, but flew close to the ground, thus making it difficult to exclude structures in the background.

After two hours we had our fill of flying birds and went off to take photos of the other birds that were on static display, reports Richard.

Much to our consternation, our handler appeared with a boa constrictor and wrapped it around three of our bravest members. The snake was very slow and docile, having feasted on a rat a week prior to our visit. After this reassurance, quite a few had the cour-age to touch his smooth scales.

To everyone’s amazement, Judith Dodds was the only one who was happy to have two bearded dragons sit on her shoulders.”

Quite a few members enjoyed breakfast at the Hog House before heading off home after 11h00.

Marleen la Grange captured ‘Christo (La Grange)and snake’ as well as Pat Scott communicating with a barn owl (below).

Below: CTPS members photographed by Richard Goldschmidt.

April 2016 - 6 -


Dan Swart addresses the eternal question:

Art or just photography?DAN SWART, a long time teacher of art and photography in Johannes-burg, was invited to present the JAP session in April. CTPS contributed to the costs and he generously agreed to address our April E&D even-ing. His talk was most inspiring, reports KIM STEVENS.

D an Swart started his presentation by trying to explain art photography and had to admit that the term has no universally agreed meaning or

definition: rather, it refers to an imprecise cat-egory of photographs, created in accordance with the creative vision of the photographer.

The basic idea behind the genre is that in-stead of merely capturing a realistic rendition of the subject, the photographer is aiming to produce a more personal – a more evocative or atmospheric – impression.

One might simplify this by saying that fine art photography describes any image taken by a camera where the intention is aesthetic — that is, a photo whose value primarily lies in its beauty, rather than scientific, commercial or journalistic aspects with news or illustrative value.

“For me, an art photograph is more easily defined by what it is not; and even the most well executed images are not necessarily art. It is usually a supercharged image with a mes-sage that evokes an emotional response and resonates with the viewer and expands and deepens their experience and opens a win-dow of imagination.

“These images are usually relevant and con-temporary and capture a decisive moment. They often also contain symbolism and meta-phor,” he said.

Dan stressed that a fine art photograph needs to be a tangible object, profes-sionally printed on archival paper that can be presented as part of a collection, displayed in art galleries, or books. He cautioned any aspiring fine art photogra-pher that the art market market is a de-manding judge and that the leap afrom an amateur photographer to profession-al fine art artist is a giant one.

He then went on to discuss various images of earlier and contemporary art photographers and opened the discus-sion to the floor, encouraging a most lively debate about the artistic pros and cons of the individual images, as well as our emotional responses to them.

Among others, he discussed works by Roger Ballen, Koudelka, Ansel Adams, Philippe Halsman, Diane Arbus, Nan Goldin, David Goldblatt and Herman Potgieter.

It was the general consensus of the

members who attended this fascinating session that it could have easily continued for another hour, and we hope to have Dan back in Cape Town in the not too distant future.

Dan Swart would like to encourage clubs to discuss art photography as a way to attract members.

Dan says that this photograph Nan Golding took of a young drug addict is “one of the most moving and sensitive portraits I have ever seen”.

Fine art photography de-scribes any image taken by a camera where the intention is aesthetic

“A very powerful image,” says Dan Swart of this work by the Iranian artist Shirin Neschat.

- 7 - April 2016


Taking to the stageOur May E&D speaker is Michael Groenewald, whose talk will centre on ballet and the techniques and art involved in stage photography, includ-ing during rehearsals, dress rehearsals, backstage and outdoor. This will help members prepare for the June competition set subject ‘On stage”

KIM STEVENS, who manages to find us new and inspiring E&D speakers every month, first met Michael Groenewald when photo-graphing dancers before a rehearsal for the spectacular full length ballet Spartacus at the Artscape Theatre Centre.

He impressed her with his lighting setup and the wonderfully textured grey back-stage wall as a backdrop. This, together with his engaging personality, had the dancers lining up to be photographed by him.

She therefore asked him to talk about stage photography at our E&D meeting in May, to give members guidance to enter

their images in the June competition set subject category, namely stage photography.

To fund his ever increasing passion for photography, Michael works as an IT man-ager at a company that is for some reason named after one of the larger rain forests in South America, Michael told Kim.

When not doing early morning shooting stints around Cape Town, he finds immense satisfaction in trying to figure out how to photograph the dancers at the Cape Town City Ballet in a way that celebrates their skill and dedication.

His other photographic interests (besides

boring his kids to tears with light experi-ments) are finding a way to become an of-ficial photographer for AfrikaBurn.

Kim urges members to have a look at his wonderful portraits, especially of Afri-kaBurn attendees — although surprisingly, he says that he has to feel really brave to ask somebody for permission to take their portraits.

For more information about Michael and his images go to www.1imagined.com; In-stagram: OneImagined; or Facebook: htt-ps://www.facebook.com/oneimagined/

Michael Groe-newald (right at AfrikaBurn) excels at photographing dancers from the Cape Town City Ballet, as these examples of his work shows.

April 2016 - 8 -


News from April competitionSet subject: AbstractThe April competition judge was ANTENIE CARSTENS, who is not only a CTPS life member, PSSA director, member of the PSSA Honours Judging Panel, and holder of various honours awards, but also organises the monthly judg-ing appreciation (JAP) courses in the Western Cape. He also received the PSSA Service Medal and the President’s Award for his nearly 50 years of service to photography in South Africa, reports ANNA ENGELHARDT

PSSA Entries Every month we select two images to be entered into the PSSA National Club Winners competition. The chosen image for the junior section entry (Beginner and In-termediate) was The Dome by Paul Nuttall (left), winner PDI Set Intermediate, which scored 22 points.““Well seen and exposed in difficult lighting conditions as the photographer was shooting into the light,” said the judge, Antenie Carstens. Just enough detail on the inside is visible to give some anchor points. My first impression was to suggest cropping the image into a square, but I feel it is best presented this way, as the landscape format gives horizontal ‘space’ to the image”.

The senior section entry (Advanced and Salon) was Abstract Shadow Play by Jeanette du Toit (on the cover), which scored 28 points. See p2 for the judge’s comments on this image which won the Salon PDI Set Subject category.

Remember to enter images for the April competi-tion — set subject Abstract — by March 30th. The judge will be Antenie Carstens.

A t the start of the April competition evening judge An-tenie Carstens gave us an introduction to the art of ab-stract imagery.

“Let me start by saying that, as in life, there is not al-ways a handbook to explain what is only right and what is only wrong,” he says.

“These perceptions depend on many factors and most of us know them. The same applies to the set subject this month. We can only execute the assign-ment by using our creative brain and the techniques available to us.

“All this will differ from person to person. As I have mentioned in my short presenta-tion, there are a few pointers to what can be classified as abstract and to those that are not — and then there are the grey areas.

“I counted that 27 out of the 40 images (PDI's) presented can be classified as truly abstract — and where some kind of tech-nique was used to create the image, wheth-er it was shutter speed, soft focus, move-ment, reflection, or the angle of view.

“But this still leaves us with some images which I would say fall into the grey area. I usually try to be objective and try my best to understand what the photographer saw, so that I can give my best opinion about the image. No judge can really reject an image because he/she does not understand it. But keep in mind that the impact of an image is still a huge factor when images are judged. We cannot really get away from impact, whether it is a soft or a very high contrast

image with striking shapes or lines.As can be expected from such an experienced and highly regard-

ed judge, he was consistent and most constructive in his critique, leaving us with a better understanding of what is abstract photog-raphy and how to create successful abstract images.

“My overall impression of the images was very good. I feel that most of the entrants tried to convey what they saw and understand of abstract pho-tography and create images accordingly. Some had more impact and others less.

He was quite lenient, but at the same time critical of using somebody’s art for a record shot, without any additional and personal interpretation, or not placing it within a so-cial context that gives the image a different meaning.

“Be aware that when an image is created by means of a controlled technique — for example, a Photoshop filter, as in a few cas-es submitted — care must be taken not to create an image which does not contain the elements of design using line, colour, shape and texture.

“At least some of these elements in combi-nation must feature in your image to take it to the next level of creativity.

“The possibility of taking the image to the next level by applying a simple, but ef-fective, technique was neatly illustrated by the entry titled ‘Inanimate Object’ (by Anna Engelhardt), which I gave 24 points. ”.

There are a few pointers to what can be classified as abstract and to those that are not — and then there are the grey areas.

- 9 - April 2016


Remember to enter images for the April competi-tion — set subject Abstract — by March 30th. The judge will be Antenie Carstens.

Left: Winner Print Set, Salon — Bohe-mian Rhapsody by Jeanette Brusnicky. “The combination of movement and slow shutter speed works very well here to cre-ate this colourful abstract image,” said the judge. “The placing diagonally in the frame gives ‘movement’ to an otherwise static image. The extension of the red col-our towards the bottom left of the picture helps to fill the largely dark space and even gives the impression of intrusion into the ‘darkness’. A very nice creation!”

Above: Winner Print Set, Advanced — Glass flow-ers III by Anna Morris. “This image is well seen and well composed,” said judge Antenie Carstens. “The technique used works well by shooting through textured glass with the colours at the back of the glass creating small shapes of colour like green and orange. A slightly less orange tint, I feel, would have helped the image to look more neutral in colour”.

Winner Print Set, Beginner — Out of Or-der Fountain by Lee-Ann Kriel. This im-age has potential, said the judge, but un-fortunately a small, but important, detail was neglected, namely straightening the ventilation shafts. “I would suggest ways to improve it is by correcting the leaning shafts, cropping out the top area of the picture down to the top of the ventilation shafts and to crop most of the water at the bottom as well.”

Left: Winner PDI Set, Advanced – Abstract by Ar-iane Jenssen.“Well exposed soft lighting was used to create this image,” said Antenie. “It could be la-belled a partially abstract image, because we are still able to identify the subject matter, as well as the approximate scale of the tree bark. The photog-rapher used the curved lines as well as the darker colour of the bark to create a movement from left bottom to the top right corner. Very important is the little round (darker) circle in the bottom right third breaks the rather large monotone area”.

Below: Winner Print Open, Advanced — Kalk Bay by Jacoba Van Zyl. “This image is well composed and very good soft light-ing is used,” said Antenie. “Very strong lines lead in towards the figures and their placement (the viewpoint of the photogra-pher) is well done”.

Right: Win-ner Print Open, In-termediate — Sleep-ing Beauty by Mike de Villiers.“An image that is basically a record shot of an-other per-son’s art,” said the judge. “Al-though the light is from the top (back) there are hardly any shadows, thus not produc-ing a three dimensional effect. The direct sun just right and towards the bot-tom of the head is distracting. The background could be slightly darkened.”

Right: Winner PDI Set, Be-ginner — Above the sea by Ingrid le Roux. “As an entry in the set subject category, the only section of the im-age that can be considered abstract is the bottom half of the picture. I would have preferred had the photog-rapher focused on that particular area to work on. However, the use of a slow shutter speed to cre-ate an abstract image has worked well”, said Antenie Carstens.

April 2016 - 10 -


Winner Print Open, Salon — Early Morning Glow 2 by Jeanette du Toit. “The image has a beautiful soft pinkish colour of morning light, I suppose,” said Antenie. “The success of the image lies in the use of light, shapes and the detail on the sand dune visible in the fore-ground. The two dark grass patches are vitally important to create a focal point. The image could be improved by cropping half the sky which would place more emphasis on the texture of the dune in the foreground, but still have enough impact to draw the eye to the main area of the image.”

Winner PDI Open, Begin-ner – What’s up there by Alison Bull. “This is a diffi-cult shot as the subject mat-ter is highly reflective. The success of the image is due to the well composed pic-ture to tell the story. At first the statues on the left seem to be distracting, but in fact it is not. It forms an impor-tant line leading from the left to the right and drawing our attention to the left front figure facing the camera. The large empty space at the bottom left seems to be distracting, but not much can be done with that”.Winner PDI Open, Salon — Setting sun by Neels Beyers.“This is an

extremely dramatic picture created by strong lines, colour and shapes. The leading lines from left (in the water) and right (the wall) as well as the clouds moving from left top to middle right. All this creates a strong flow towards the junction point on the thirds but more towards the middle right of the image.”

Winner PDI Open, Intermediate — In your Face by Paul Nuttall. “This could have been a great ‘action’ shot, but the walkers seem to be too casual as to what is going on! It is, however, well seen. The movement of the water is frozen by means of the shutter speed and the placement of the figures is well done.”

Winner Print Open, Beginner — Si-lent Art by Lee-Ann Kriel.“This type of photography is generally labelled as a photograph of other people's art. Apart from the light used at the time and the angle of view of the art-work, there is very little that a pho-tographer can do in terms of a crea-tive approach. To a large extent the success of these images (as far as I am concerned) lies in the inclusion of the environment to see the work within that context, or the social en-vironment of a culture. The light is nice and soft in this image although the bottom seems to be a little dark, so that the letter work becomes less prominent,”said Antenie Carstens.

Some April stats and figuresTo see more great images by members entered in the April competition, visit www.ctps.co.za.In April 88 images were entered: 47% were from Salon workers, 40% from Advanced, 6% from Intermediate and 8% from members who are Beginners.Gold was awarded to 51% of the images entered, 47% re-ceived silver awards and only 2% got bronze awards.

More winningimages from April

- 11 - April 2016


Danie Coetzee’s Het Wijnwinkeltje was the April competition win-ner Digital Open, Advanced. “This image is well exposed and the illumination gives a very pleasing feel — creating a natural atmos-phere. The strong arch above the steps, as well as the people on top of the steps, assist the composition, although I feel that the shoppers at the bottom far left corner take away a bit of the attention. Prefera-bly, they should have been cropped out or the front left figure should have faced into the picture. Unfortunately, it is difficult to create a ‘spontaneous’ picture of this type in this type of environment, with-out giving some direction to people. For similar pictures look at the work of photographer Gregory Crewdson,”suggested the judge.

Danie Coetzee only joined CTPS in October last year and already stands out by winning top awards every time he enters the monthly competitions, reports ANNA ENGELHARDT. She talked to him about his approach to photography

Since Danie Coetzee joined CTPS in October last year as an Advanced worker, he has been winning just about every competition he entered

with high scores. His first entry in a CTPS competition,

Grandeur decay in December 2015, started it all off with 26 points and great comments from judge Stanwell Slater. His February en-try, A Pier with a View, won him not only 28 points — together with being featured on the cover of Cape Camera — but the image was also chosen as the senior entry in the PSSA monthly competition.

In March and April, Danie continued his success story by winning top marks for Pur-ple splendour (27 points) and Het Wijnwin-keltje (24 points, see above) respectively.

Surprisingly, Danie only became serious about photography five years ago when he bought a Cannon 7D. He joined Helderberg Photographic Society (HPS), but because he wanted more feedback on his images, also joined CTPS last year. This was because he had heard such glowing reports about us from fellow HPS member Neels Beyers.

Until he bought the Canon, he used a cam-era only to point and shoot and always on

automatic. “But this all changed radically.” He started to read the manual from front to back, became almost obsessive and never went anywhere without his camera.

“Although I mainly focused on bird-in-flight photography in the beginning, I shot anything and everything that caught my eye,” says Danie. “I tried different angles and different camera settings. If I didn’t know how to do something, or I was un-happy with a result, I would just Google it and learn from the experts.

“About two years ago I upgraded to a Can-on 5D Mark III … what an amazing piece of technology!”

He is out and about nearly every weekend, regard-less of the weather, looking for special moments and interactions.“I love street photography. I also like land and sea scapes and have started to include the hu-man element more and more in my images. For the past two years I have also been shooting ballet and dance shows, something

that I find extremely challenging and reward-ing … there are so many things still to learn in this genre and my best is yet to come.

“I always aim to create a visual and emo-tional experience or response from my pho-tographs, in other words I am looking for that special impact. Although I like to be dif-ferent to others and like to stand out from the rest, I stick to the golden rules of photog-raphy, but when the image lends itself to a different view, I will break the rules.”

“If I have to spend more than five minutes in Lightroom, I rather delete it — but then I take lots of images, from all angles and with numerous settings”.

Yellow is the colour of …

gold Silver BronzeSalon 24 20 16Advanced 22 18 14Intermediate 20 16 12Beginner 18 14 10

There were two ranking promotions this month: congratulations to Paul Nuttall, who is promoted to Advanced, and to Steff Hughes, who is promoted to Salon. The following are the requirements to be promoted from one level to the next:• Beginner to Intermediate: 3 gold awards & 30 points• Intermediate to Advanced: 5 gold awards & 40 points• Advanced to Salon: 5 gold & 30 points in club competitions & 30 points in salon acceptances / or 50 gold awards.

Points needed to get an awardRankings and promotionsGold = 3, Silver = 2, Bronze =1. Salon acceptances = 3 .

Right: Danie’s image titled This is my world.

Focus on a winning member: Danie Coetzee

April 2016 - 12 -


Exploring abstract photography

EMMA WILLEMSE, an art lecturer at UNISA, gave an informative, relevant and engaging presentation on abstract photography at the Western Cape Judging Appreciation (JAP) Forum last year, reports MARGARET COLLINS

E mma Willemse describes herself as a conceptual visual artist who dab-bles with photography as a concept. With a masters degree in Fine Art

and currently lecturing on art at UNISA, she is well qualified to present an informative and insightful talk.

She covered the development of abstract photography, its relationship to art and provided five pointers as to the nature of abstract photography.

During discussions, it was highlighted that in PSSA and Salon judging, there is a distinc-tion between Altered Reality and Abstract photography, which does not exist in art.

In the Middle Ages painters, unconcerned with proportions or perspective, told sto-ries through their work, rather than trying to depict reality. During the Renaissance artists started referring back to Greek art and artistic ideals and greater realism in art became evident. By the 1700’s, arbi-trary scenes of daily life and people were depicted by artists such as Rembrandt and Vermeer. The latter used the camera obscu-ra to project and trace images and thereby created very realist paintings These paint-ings did not necessarily tell stories or re-

stricted themselves to the beautiful.In 1826, at the height of realism in paint-

ing, the first photograph was taken. Though it took 70 to 80 years to develop the pho-tographic process sufficiently to compete with art, painters were forced to respond and explore alternatives. They tried to ex-press more than what could be captured in a photograph.

Impressionist painters like Monet and Degas painted fast to capture movement and the character of fleeting moments; and post impressionists began to explore the ideas of abstraction.

This is when the three main strands of art making and art ideas emerged: Gaugin was interested in spiritual ideas; Cezanne in the breaking up the images, from which cubism was developed, showing the three-dimen-sionality of the object (Picasso 1910); and van Gogh explored the painting of feelings and emotions.

Pushed by the development of photog-raphy, abstract painting developed rapidly, and early abstract photographers followed suit. In particular those working at the time of WW I, when there was a lot of upheaval and change and ideas developed quickly.

The nature of abstract photography1. Abstract photography can relate to an

altered reality Alvin Coburn used a physical intervention the vortoscope, a kaleidoscopic arrange-ment of mirrors, to create what is consid-ered to be the first entirely abstract pho-tograph. His images express the ideas of cubism, viewing objects from all sides. See the Portrait of Ezra Pound above. 2. Abstract photography can relate to

making strangePaul Strand did not physically intervene, but changed the object through his point of view, focussing on tones, light, placement, composition — see example Abstraction, Twin Lakes Connecticut above. Taken out of context his images could also be considered making strange.

Unlike Strand, whose work was almost entirely formal, contemporary artists are interested in issues: using the making strange approach to highlight social, en-vironmental, political issues we are faced with. The issue is identified through the title and relates back to the

Alvin Coburn Portrait of Ezra Pound (1917). Lakes Connecticut by Paul Strand (1917). Le Violin D’Ingris by Man-Ray (1924).

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Don’t miss the May & June AV meetingsALL MEMBERS are invited to submit an AV for constructive comments from all present for the next AV meeting on May 11th. Completed AVs as well as work-in-progress AVs are welcome. Please email Joy Wellbeloved ([email protected])with the name of your AV and its dura-tion — no more than 6 minutes please.

Some of the acceptances for the PECC AV Salon will also be shown in May, as well as the balance of AV makers’ Salon acceptances.

Every meeting will include some train-ing on AV related matters as well.

In June Antenie Carstens will be giving us a talk about how important sound is when making AVs.

All CTPS members are invited to join these meetings. Please contact AV con-venor Nellian Bekker at [email protected] for more information

P rint and PDI workers should be aware of the importance of work-flow when editing their images, and the difference between having

an organised vs disorganised flow.In making AVs, getting your images per-

fect is just one small step that must be re-peated for every image in your show — and you can have from 30-60 images in an aver-age show.

So my advice to you is to get organised — right from the get-go.• Organise your Planning• Organise your Taking• Organise your Making

Organise your planningIt is well-known that bs baffles brains, so let me clarify a few terms that are designed to confuse the uninitiated. In increasing or-der of complexity, you have the following 3 broad groups that all qualify as Audio-Visu-als (AVs) only in so far as they all have sound and pictures.• Slide Show refers to images presented in

any old order (often in the sequence the author took them) with a music accom-paniment. There is often no reason the piece of music was chosen, other than the author liked it.

• Photo Harmony is similar to the above, but care has been taken in grouping the images so that they flow seamlessly, one into the other. The music has been se-lected with care, so that the music en-hances the images, and the images en-hance the music.

• Audio-Visual refers to a highly organ-ised, carefully planned, meticulously se-quenced, photo harmony that also con-veys a message, or tells a story.

Forget the old adage that you submit your best images for judging, and make an AV with the rest. ALL IMAGES in an AV should be able to earn you a Gold award.

Having clarified these terms, decide what you want to create, and go out and get the images you need.

Organise your takingYou want the best quality images possible, so set your camera to the best quality you can — RAW if possible, as you can do so

much more with raw than with jpegs.When shooting with an AV in mind, as

well as aiming for perfect shots, look for continuity images — packing your car at the start, a road sign to show where you are going, a hotel name, a sunset series to end off with.

Finally — where possible take your images in landscape mode as they project better.

Organise your makinguploading: Once you get home, upload your images into meaningfully named fold-ers as follows -• Create a folder for your AV project with the following sub-folders • Audio• Pictures• Video• Backups

Batch convert all your images to Tiff, and select the best images for your AV, and copy those to the pictures folder that you have just created. If you need to crop any imag-es, crop all images to the same aspect ratio — but keep the uncropped images in case.Sorting: Getting your images in a sequence that is both logical and pleasing is perhaps one of the more difficult aspects in mak-ing your AV. Without doubt, the hardest is pruning your images to the bare mini-

mum so that your AV will not be too long (3-4mins recommended) so that the viewer will have time to appreciate each image.

Here is how I get my images into my cho-sen sequence using Faststone (free — Win-dows only). Step 1: Using Faststone light box view (or

similar software) shuffle images into cho-sen sequence.

Step 2: Using Batch rename select all im-ages, select Batch rename, use File name template, then Run rename. NB reset dis-play into file name sequence afterwards.Step 3: using slide show viewer with 1 sec-

ond per image, see what the sequence looks like in renamed sequence. Repeat steps 1 – 3 as often as needed.

Your images are in the correct sequence when they flow to your satisfaction.

Popular AV software for Windows are:• Wings Basic (free forever)• PTE Essentials ($69.00)• Proshow Gold ($69.95)• Pictures to Exe deluxe ($129)• ProShow Producer ($249.95)

Tips for making a simple AVAt the April AV meeting JOY WELLBELOVED gave a short presen-tation to give newcomers some tips on making a simple AV

Joy Wellbeloved (standing) and Nellian Bek-ker setting up for an AV. Photo Johan Greeff.

April 2016 - 14 -


pictorial. The same image would be judged differently if the title did not make a state-ment — in that case, only formal elements would be considered.3. Abstract photography can be a meta-

phor for the ideas and emotions of the photographer, expressing their internal world

The work of Alfred Stieglitz (see right) typi-fies this method of abstraction, as does the work of Abstract Expressionists field paint-ers, Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko. Though they may seem to be largely for-mal, the greater meaning is in the feelings they invoke through the manipulation and use of line, colour, shape and tone. 4. Abstract photography can question

and debate the real by denying all re-lationships with the real

Photographer Man Ray does this by de-contextualizing his subjects (see Le Violin d’Ingris previous page), and this is also found in the work of Alfred Stiglitz. This raises the question of what is the artwork and what is real? 5. Abstract photography can focus on

the formal elements and principles of

composition, rather than the pictorial content

If the pictorial is absent, only the formal elements of artwork remain, e.g. Mondrian.

It was noted that, in the context of PSSA judging, a distinction is made between Al-tered Reality and Abstraction, although the two may overlap, depending on what is presented, and that Altered Reality may contain principles of abstraction.

In art there is not a distinction between these two.

There was also debate on whether a pho-

tograph should be unrecognizable in order to be abstract. For example, are Stiglitz’s clouds abstract or not, even though he didn’t identify them as clouds and refused to acknowledge them as such when asked?

In a partial abstraction, one can interpret the ideas and concepts behind the image, through what can be recognised. In a total abstraction, formal qualities dominate.

Mood and symbolic use of elements can be interpreted, but not much more. Judg-ing is based mostly on formal qualities and feelings invoked.

Abstract photos cont. from p12

Forthcoming AV salons

Salons With Patronage

22nd RPS International FIAP Patronage.Closing Date: Submissions Between 1 August 2016 and 27 August 2016Entry Fee: TbaRules and entry: www.av-Group.org.uk/

Citta Di Garda Fiaf 16Avf01, Fiap Patronage 2016/239.Closing Date: 15 May 2016Entry Fee: €18 per sequenceRules and entry form: www.fiaf.net.

Salons & competitions with-out patronage

55Th Epinal InternationalClosing Date: 16 August 2016Entry Fee: €15 Any Number Of AvsRules and entry form: http://diapim-ages.free.fr/AV Makers SA Theme: WaterClosing Date: 1 November 2016Entry Fee: FreeRules and entry form: http://av-makers-south-africa.wikispaces.com/Water

SHOWINg AN AV on the competition night is paying off: it was a pleasure to see some new faces at the April meeting, including a few existing CTPS members who were new to AVs who were inspired to attend by what they saw.

Before the competition evening in April a moving AV by Adri van Oudheusden was shown, called Le Chant du Violon, which was placed 3rd in the CTPS 125 Celebra-tions AV Salon. Dedicated to the memory of the Roma (Gypsies) in Bohemia and Mora-via who perished in the wholesale genocide during WW I I it showed that AV is a very powerful medium.

When our speaker for the E&D evening got lost and ended up in Bellville, a short AV made by Ingrid Gane promoting AVs that was scheduled for next competition night was screened, and went down very well to a large appreciative audience.

The result was several new faces at the April AV evening.

The evening started with the showing of some members’ AVs: Stella Coram showed Breede River Reflections — a place she loves dearly and often visits; Karyn Parisi

AV group news showed an AV highlighting the beauty of Alaska, concentrating on the bears and en-vironment of Lake Clarke.

Then Joy Wellbeloved showed how easy it was to make an AV, specifically touching on some tricks and pitfalls (see previous page).

Training session in JuneIn June Antenie Carstens will be sharing a few of the tricks that he picked up during nearly 50 years of making AVs starting back in ouma’s time when you needed up to 6 slide projectors, a tape recorder, and devic-es to automatically change the slides at the precise moment required. In his opinion, making a digital slide show these days, is so easy, it is just not fair.

Antenie will demonstrate how to edit your selected piece of music to make it longer or shorter to fit your images in such a way that the listener will be unaware that anything has changed — with a particular emphasis on avoiding just fading out the music when the images end.

He will also explain the use of different Ramps and nodes in making your AV.

JOHAN GREEFF and JOY WELLBELOVED report on the April AV meeting and what to expect in June

Documents

Cape Camera April 2016