Helderberg Photographic Society » Hermanus

HPS Meeting Wed. 13th May 2009

nettie28 — Sun, 17 May 2009 18:33:50 +0000

We were happy to welcome guests, as well as several new members who signed up during the evening. It was good to see Johan Beyers once again – we have missed him. Thomas Niemeyer is another member who travels from far, so it was good to hear about the progress of the PSSA Congress/Av Convention he is organising for October in Hermanus. Please check the PSSA and/or Hermanus websites (www.pssa.co.za and www.hermanusphoto.co.za) for details which will be updated regularly (put them under your ‘favourites’), and seriously consider attending the Congress, even if you can manage only one or two days. The speakers are excellent and there is a full program which will re-charge your batteries!

Appropo Thomas’s visit, I await (with huge interest) the result of his ‘Mexican wave’ request – if I know Thomas, it will be different.

The competition ‘City Life’ drew about 40 prints and images, whilst the projected images numbered at least 50. All members are encouraged to make the effort to take part – don’t be discouraged at what you might think is a low awarded mark – be assured that every image is judged and evaluated with respect. Judges are not perfect – they have their opinions – and in the end if you are happy with your image that’s all that matters. Being a member of a club and having your images evaluated may lead you to making images you never thought you could make!

Remember, Interclub (Sat. 31st october) will be on us soon, and we would like to be able to choose the 12 prints and 12 projected images which will represent the Club, from the widest base possible – so please join in!

After tea, Steve showed a technical audio-visual presentation on RAW workflow which informed me of aspects I did not even know about, but am assured that the more experienced photographers understood!

We were once again treated to apples from Andre du Toit’s farm – thanks Andre!

Our meeting in June promises to be a special one – watch this space. Suffice to say that entering your best landscapes in the Open Section (Set Subject ‘Vertical Lines’), will be a recommendation!

The 2009 PSSA Congress / AV Convention

Steve Crane — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:23:58 +0000

The 2009 PSSA Congress / AV Convention will take place from Sunday, 11 October through to Friday 16 in Hermanus.

What do you know about Hermanus?

Did you know that it boasts the best land-based whale watching in the world ? The Southern Rights visit Walker Bay each year between July and December in ever increasing numbers. They can invariably be seen from the Cliff path, a 12km foot path which hugs the coast from Grotto Beach in the east through to the New Harbour.
Alternatively, these behemoths of the sea can be approached by boat or even from the air. Hermanus has several licensed boat operators and even one commercial flight operator who will be happy to take groups for flips along the coast and over the mountains that provide the characteristic and scenic backdrop to the village.
Were you aware that about 40kms east of Hermanus, is Gansbaai ? From there, operators launch their high speed crafts for the most exciting experience of your lives – diving with the great whites. If you have a good underwater camera, it’s a must. If you don’t but just want to enjoy an adrenaline rush, you can’t do better.
What about the village of Betty’s Bay, to the west of Hermanus ? It has one of the only two breeding colonies of African Penguins in SA. The best times to view the birds are early in the morning or late in the afternoon when they return from their 20 kilometer fishing expeditions. Also sharing the breeding site with the penguins are the endangered Whitebreasted and Cape Cormorants and the vulnerable Bank Cormorant.
You’ve surely heard about the floral kingdom around Hermanus ? It is one of the richest in the world and the Fernkloof Nature Reserve provides endless opportunities for anyone interest in fynbos or in macro photography.
In October, visitors will be able to see pincushions, oxalis, chincherinchee, cliff lilies, keurblomme, pelargonia, fountain bushes and many others; all in full splendour and visited by the Cape Sugarbird and various sunbirds
And the waders? Hermanus is flanked by two lagoons – the Klein Rivier lagoon on the east and the Bot Rivier lagoon on the west. Both provide good opportunities for birding with waders predominating and frequently even flocks of flamingos and pelicans. Hides and canoes offer the best opportunities.
And the wheat fields? In October they don their golden hues which, combined with the contour lines left by the harvester make for truly inspirational images.
Of course the beaches and rock pools around Hermanus suggest endless photographic opportunities. The creative photographer will be overcome with the way in which nature can be abstracted into a portrait of glorious beauty.

What about the inner man?

The Hemel en Aarde valley and the road to the village of Stanford and on to Caledon are home to some of the finest wineries – Newton Johnson, Bouchard Finlayson, Raka and Hamilton Russel are just a few of the many well known names.
So, once you’ve finished photographing the wheat and canola fields, pop in and try before buy.

Almost forgot to tell you about the Congress!!!

We promise top class lecturers, workshop leaders and stimulating activities such as;

George Hallett – people photography. A Cape Town based photographer, George began his career as a street photographer and subsequently became a staff photographer with a local newspaper
Kathryn Smith – unorthodox approach to photography A senior lecturer in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Stellenbosch, Kathryn’s work is actively shown and collected in South Africa and abroad.
Strijdom van der Merwe – Landart Strijdom is an established land artist who creates landscape sculptures with natural materials and then documents these photographically
Peter Pickford – African wildlife Peter and wife Beverley are renowned wildlife photographers whose many books have sold extensively both in SA and abroad
Audio Visual enthusiasts can participate in an AV Challenge with set subjects and open themes. We will expect you to share your productions and thoughts about them in SHOWTIME
Outings to the wheat fields; the beaches for still-life or the photography of models; to sites chosen specifically for bird photographers; to the whales, sharks or penguins
And the wine farms — for tasting, buying and photography of cellar or vineyards We will be welcome at galleries, artists’ studios and can photograph craftspeople at work
The Birkenhead Brewery in nearby Stanford

Last but by no means least!!!

We will look after non photographing spouses and guarantee to make their stay a memorable one.

More Information

Visit the Hermanus Photographic Society’s congress page for the latest information as well as programme, event and accommodation details.

Helderberg/Hermanus Joint Evaluation Evening

nettie28 — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 19:00:07 +0000

Wednesday 11th February, 2009; Somerset West

Hermanus Photographic Society joined Helderberg for a joint Evaluation Meeting, which proved to be relaxed, friendly and most beneficial. Some 80 – 90 people attended the meeting. We were happy to also welcome the new PSSA Director for the Western Cape, Johan Kloppers, who was accompanied by Michele Slater (chairlady of Fish Hoek) and her husband Stanwell. Ronnie Hazell headed the contingent from Hermanus. Max Leipold and Nicole Palmer were the evaluators, and were kept on their toes with about 70 prints and images to crit. Resulting feedback has indicated that the honest, positive, as well as sometimes hardhitting evaluations, taught members a lot about good composition, over-use of Photoshop, image titles and focussing – to name but a few. This was the first time that we have attempted such an evening, and in retrospect, we will, in future, restrict members to the submission of one image only. Time ran away with us, and we still wanted to enjoy tea, conversation, and scheduled audio-visuals planned for after the break! Hermanus showed four excellent av’s and Helderberg contributed two, by which time it really was time to go home!

All those who contributed towards the success of the evening, are thanked for their continued support, with special appreciation to Hermanus and Fish Hoek for driving out all the way to Somerset West.

HPS/Hermanus Joint Evaluation Meeting Wed. 11th Feb.’09 7.30pm

nettie28 — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:44:07 +0000

Our joint Evaluation Meeting promises to be a ‘not-to-be-missed’ event, and I hope that many of our members will take part. Provisos and logistics are a little different from what we normally do, so please read the instructions carefully, and do not enter your images later than noon Friday 6th February!!!! All the digital images are going to be sent by Steve to the two evaluators (Nicole Palmer – Helderberg and Max Leipold – Hermanus) on the Friday afternoon before the meeting, so that they have time to evaluate the images in the comfort of their own homes! Slides and Prints will, however, be evaluated at the meeting.

Please read carefully …

1) Up to two images each from only those members who are physically present at the meeting.

2) The images may be prints, slides or digital images, and may be a mixture of these, if desired.

3) Prints and slides should be brought to the meeting in time for them to be hung up or placed into slide trays. The hall opens at 7.00pm.

4) AV’s should be brought on flash sticks and will be loaded either before the meeting starts (if there is time) or during teatime.

5) The Helderberg evaluator will be Nicole Palmer, the evaluator for Hermanus will be Max Leipold, and the facilitator for the evening will be Nettie Warncke.

6) All digital images should be sent to Steve Crane at the followinging address by noon on Friday 6th February. helderbergphoto+entries@gmail.com No late entries will be accepted. Steve will mix the entries up so that there is no pattern in the projection of the (anonymous) images. The evaluators will evaluate alternately.

7) The following instructions refer to how members should submit their digital images.

‘Image files must be submitted in JPEG format and must be no larger than 1400 pixels wide and 1050 pixels high.

When saving the resized image, an appropriate JPEG compression ratio must be selected in the photo editing software to ensure that the file size does not exceed 350 kilobytes.

The club uses IrfanView to display the images at meetings It is freeware and may be downloaded from the IrfanView web site if you would like to use it to test the displaying of your images prior to sending them.

The following file naming format must be used;

DX_name_title.jpg where:

D is E for evaluation on evaluation evenings.
X is the number of your entry in the section, 1 or 2.
_ (the underscore character) is a separator.
name is the author’s name, maximum 12 characters including spaces.
_ (the underscore character) is a separator.
title is the photograph’s title, maximum 18 characters including spaces.
.jpg is the file extension, indicating a jpeg file.

The name and title need not contain spaces but each word must be capitalised. If the lengths of 12 and 18 for name and title are insufficient, you may use abbreviations; in which case you must include the full names and titles in the text of your e-mail message. These full names will be used on the scoring sheet.

Example:

D1_Mike Smith_Golden Gate.jpg

8) Our club will provide tea, coffee and substantial snacks during the break.

9) Audio-visuals from both clubs will be shown after the tea break.

10) Our evenings generally end at 10pm.