Over the last few months a number of respected photographers have released some quality e-books and e-resources for photographers.
We thought it might be a great time to do a wrap up of some of the e-books that we recommend the most here at DPS.
Here they are, listed in no particular order of quality or preference as each will meet different photographers needs in different ways.
Create Compelling Photographs
If you’re in need of a photographic creative boost, you’ve come to the right place. Enjoy the following ideas and tips that come from my latest book, Visual Poetry: A Creative Guide for Making Engaging Digital Photographs (www.visual-poet.com).
Creating an HDR-like Image From a Single RAW File in Lightroom
If you have been anywhere near the photography world in the past couple years, I am sure you have heard of HDR by now as there have been countless tutorials floating around on how to create HDR images using 3 bracketed exposures in programs like Photomatix and Photoshop. However what if you don’t have your tripod or if you are shooting a scene with moving subjects, yet you still want to create an HDR type shot? Well, good news, it is possible.
This tutorial will teach you how correct and produce a single RAW image into an HDR-like masterpiece using only Lightroom! That’s right, Photoshop skills are not even needed for this tutorial.
Creating an HDR-like Image From a Single RAW File in Lightroom
Transcend and Transgress
Artist Leon Botha, one of the world’s longest surviving Progeria sufferers, and photographer Gordon Clark embark on a collaborative and artistic adventure, exploring the questions of destiny and immortality to bring us this powerful photo series Who Am I? Transgressions.
Free Photography Book
I received this from a newsletter I subscribe to.
Rolando Gomez has re-released his fifth book for FREE. Totally FREE. You can download it and print it on your home computer. Yes, this was first made available late last year but now it’s expanded from 77-pages to 105 pages, full-color, new images, a new chapter and expanded chapters. It’s also now totally printable at home in color by anyone who downloads the free PDF file.
The book and it’s website, http://www.freephotographybooks.com are totally redesigned and you can now preview the book before downloading. Totally FREE! No gimmicks, no spyware, no adware, clean, safe site to download your free book now! Again, if you have the original PDF, trash it and download the updated version, ten times better!
February and March 2010 Outings
Please make a note of the following outings, organised by Paddy:
‘OLD CARS’ (Wijnland Auto Museum) next to the Cape Garden Centre on the N1 on the way to Paarl – take Exit 34. Meet there at 9.30 am on Saturday 27th February. R50 entrance fee payable at the museum. This is an ideal opportunity to do abstracts, graphics (set subject), macro. Bring bottled water – it tends to get hot!
RALLY : Saturday 13th March meet at 9.30am in the parking area of the Afrikaans Taal Museum in Paarl. Directions: once you turn off to enter Paarl (the Main Road exit) from the N1 (60kmh!), take care in looking for a road to the left (not really well signposted) which weaves through a residential area before getting to the parking area. The rally takes the form of ‘clues’ which you have to photograph … in the good old days of slides we were allowed to make only one shot of the subject … these days, a digital camera allows you to surreptiously delete an image which you think is not successful, and take another one! But you are earnestly requested to not do this! There is a possibility of particpants receiving a free ‘throw-away’ camera (with film!) which JJ will process – thereby allowing only one shot per subject! You will be kept informed!
CAPE TOWN FESTIVAL/CARNIVAL takes place over the weekend of 20th March. We plan to meet at the Adderley Street entrance to the Company Gardens, between St. George’s Cathedral and the Cultural History Museum, at 2.30pm, on Saturday 20th March. Remember one of our set subjects is ‘Carnival’.
Please diarise these dates! See you there!
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009
Iziko Museum, Company Gardens, Cape Town. Until 13th March 2010.
I visited the exhibition recently and marvelled at most of the photographs. Being a bit of a photographic purist, I could not appreciate the 2008 and 2009 winners receiving accolades for photographs that had been ‘organised’ by the setting off of trap-beams, instead of physically pressing the shutter.
The winner this year ‘Storybook Wolf’ has now been disqualified because it is believed that the animal was a ‘tame’ one … an explanation follows:
Wildlife Photographer’s storybook
wolf has sad end
The Natural History Museum has disqualified the winner of the Wildlife Photography of the Year 2009 prize
LAST UPDATED 11:45 AM, JANUARY 21, 2010
The stunning picture of an extremely rare Iberian wolf jumping a gate, which won the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award in 2009, has been disqualified after judges decided a Spanish photographer had staged it.
In a statement, the Natural History Museum said: “It saddens us to confirm that after a careful and thorough investigation into the image, ‘the Storybook Wolf’… the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide have disqualified the winning entry of the photographer José Luis Rodríguez.”
The move confirms what a dossier of evidence sent to the judges by a group of rival Spanish photographers had claimed: that the wolf in the photograph was probably a tame model. Specifically, they said the wolf is called Ossian and lives at Canada Real, a zoological park near Madrid.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition rules clearly state that photographs of animal models may not be entered into the competition. Louise Emerson, a spokesperson for the competition, said the judging panel had reconvened and determined that the wolf in the photograph was likely an animal model that could be “hired for photographic purposes”.
Rodríguez strongly denies the wolf in the image is tame.
The disqualification means that for the first time in its 46-year history, there will not be a winner for Wildlife Photographer of the Year and that ‘Storybook Wolf’ is to be removed from the exhibition. Rodríguez will not get his £10,000 prize money, but he will be allowed to keep the £500 he received for winning his category, animal portraits. This is in lieu of the royalty payments that would be due to him for the use of the photograph in memorabilia relating to the competition.
The news is particularly unfortunate for the annual photography contest, which this year has been criticised for a lacklustre selection of entries. For the first time in several years, the overall winner was clearly the standout best photograph – even if it was “too good to be true”, as one of the judges, Mark Carwardine put it. 
However, there are many more wonderful photographs to view. Lee Slabber from Fish Hoek has a portrait of a leopard accepted – Congratulations, Lee. Do make the effort to get there. Parking is generally available in Queen Victoria Street – about R10 per hour …
Full Moon Outing Sat.30th Jan.2010
Despite it being incredibly windy – and later, very cold – quite a few members ventured to the top of Signal Hill – Bernard, Irmel, Paddy, David and Celine, John and Liz, Marius, Caroline, Harry and Susan, Marisa and Neil, Rosie, Kina, and Nettie. Neels was also there with a small group from CTPS. Those who met in the BOE carpark first went to the top of the building to shoot a few cityscapes; after that it was onward and upward to Signal Hill. Lions Head was inundated with climbers carrying torches … they looked like fireflies on the way down later on. Following two huge Golden Arrow busses – who then disgorged their many passengers while blocking the road – was not my idea of fun, but we eventually found some parking and settled down with cameras and tripods. There was a fair amount of dramatic cloud around Table Mountain, and enough interest in the sky to obtain good sunset shots. Some of us spent all our time overlooking the Waterfront where we could make pictures of the Stadium, the lights coming on in the city, and eventually the full moon rising above a bank of cloud. I still am not able to shoot the moon without it looking like a yellow splodge – all I know is that Bernard was doing some amazing stuff with his Nikon! Eventually the cold got the better of us, and we all ran for our cars and a comfortable ride home! Thanks everyone, for making the effort – it was fun!
3 Ways to get Better Control of Autofocus
Sometimes autofocus can be really annoying. For some shots it’ll focus on the right part of your subject, but then the very next shot it may choose to focus on something far and away into the background.
Sure, you could avoid this problem by always using manual focus, but autofocus is great when you need to focus quickly or when you’re photographing a landscape and you need to focus on a certain spot in the scene.
Well, autofocus doesn’t have to be annoying anymore, because here are three ways to get better control of it.
Captured Experiences Photo Competition
Captured Experiences Photo Competition – 10 Categories – 120 prizes – and an additional 7 special prizes
Visit any of the 6 Arid Parks in the Northern Cape throughout 2010 and share your special moments in nature with us to win great prizes! Winners of each round will have their photos published in an upmarket hard cover coffee table book, and the finalists will be invited to a gala evening on the dunes of the Kgalagadi desert to be awarded the grand prizes.
The 6 Arid Parks:
- Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
- |Ai|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park
- Augrabies Falls National Park
- Mokala National Park
- Tankwa Karoo National Park
- Namaqua National Park
With 5 rounds and 10 categories in each round throughout 2010, this competition is a great opportunity to get the recognition you deserve for your photos! For more information and to enter, please visit www.capturedexperiences.com
Helderberg Photographic Society 