Get to know your camera outing — 2 May 2009

Around 2pm on Saturday 2nd May 2009, a number of us met up on Paddy’s farm for an afternoon of learning and teaching each other how to achieve various things with our cameras. Those present were Paddy herself, Irmel Dunaiski, Bernard Seymour-Hall, Liz Atkins, Noeleen Kutash, Steve Crane and Gavin and Denise Whiteford.

We spent some time around Paddy’s studio with the more knowledgeable/experience members answering questions from those less so. There was also much shooting of macro shots, both of flowers and various items that Paddy had set up under lights. Around 4pm we had some tea and coffee then wandered off down past an empty dam that is being raised. I took this photo on the way.

There were some earth-moving machines parked there and Paddy suggested this might be an opportunity to take some shots for the “Small parts of big things” subject that is coming up later in the year.

After a while spent around these monsters we continued on past the dam to a little bluegum forest where we were able to shoot some abstracts by panning our cameras at a slow shutter speed.

After leaving the forest we headed back to the house and stood chatting for a while as the sun was setting.

Audio-Visual Meeting Wed. 29th April ‘09

Nettie was not able to attend the April AV meeting so writing this has fallen to me, hence the delay in posting it. I didn’t make any notes that I can draw on for writing this so please excuse any omissions or errors I might make.

We started off watching an AV by Noeleen Kutash, her first one ever and everyone agreed that it was very well done for a first attempt. Neels Beyers brought along one or two AVs but the details escape me right now. Johan Beyers was visiting from Paarl again and I think many members hope he will continue to be a regular visitor. He showed us an inspiring AV made from landscape photos he took on a recent trip to the USA. It was full of buttes, mesas, canyons, arches and other incredible landscape features; also featured were some ancient cliff dwellings that Noeleen informed us were used by the Anasazi. André du Toit showed an AV made from images he took at a bird photography workshop in the Kalahari; he also brought us a box of his delicious apples.

After tea Irmel demonstrated how to incorporate movement into AVs using Wings Platinum. Although her demonstration used multiple picture tracks, she explained that the same effect can be achieved with the single picture track of the free basic version that many of us use.

8 Simple Free Photoshop Alternatives that are under 2 MB

8 Simple Free Photoshop Alternatives that are under 2 MB | MakeUseOf.com

There are hundreds of free image editors out there for your computer, many of which are known as “bloatware” since they are bloated with unecessary features. Sometimes you just want a light, simple program that doesn’t take forever to load and will let you do a few simple tasks. Well, here is a list of 8 simple free Photoshop alternatives under 2MB that will save you time and headache.

The Boys and Girls of Modern Days Railways

“The Boys and Girls of Modern Day Railways” prints by The Polaroid Kidd

Mike Brodie aka “The Polaroid Kidd” is a somewhat accidental documentary photographer. By photographing his friends, their homes, and lifestyles, Brodie has captured a marginalized segment of the American population that’s not so prevalent in main stream society. His haunting photos of hobos, punks, and squatters criss-crossing the country in boxcars are reminiscent of Horace Bristol’s Grapes of Wrath era pics that captured migrant workers on their way to California ….except now they have facial tattoos. They’re truly amazing.

Southern Cape Digital Workshop

Join well-known photographer David Rogers from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th July for a three-day workshop focusing on the coastal and floral treasures of the Southern Cape. The workshop includes accommodation at Bucaco Sud in the quiet coastal town of Betty’s Bay.

This area is the heart of the Cape Floral Region, which has such diversity of plants that it has been proclaimed a World Heritage Site. Our field trips, where we will be accompanied by a guide as well as David Rogers, will take us to Harold Porter Botanical Gardens, Kogelberg Nature Reserve as well as scenic stretches of the southern Cape coastline.

David will cover the following subjects in two lectures that will be held in the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens.

  1. Wildlife, landscape, macro and bird photography techniques
  2. Equipment and settings
  3. Managing your images with Adobe Lightroom software
  4. Working in RAW and tips for great results
  5. Various creative techniques including adding graduated filters and creating seamless panoramas.

There will be an opportunity for David to analyse images taken during the workshop. It is targeted at digital SLR camera users but partners are also welcome.

David Rogers is a professional photographer and writer specializing in natural history and tourism. He has a degree in Environmental and Geographical Science and English from the University of Cape Town. After starting his career as an editor at Reader’s Digest Special Books he became an award-winning photojournalist at Getaway magazine where he spent seven years. As a freelancer for the past 10 years he has featured in Africa Geographic, Conde Naste Traveller, Travel Africa, Sunday Times, Getaway, Geo, Travel and Leisure and many other titles. He now concentrates on photographing lodges, making books and running specialist photographic trips throughout Southern and East Africa. For more go to www.davidrogers.co.za

His most recent titles include:

Winelands in Style (Africa Geographic, 2009)
Classic Safari Camps of Africa (Hornbill, 2008)
South Africa in Style (Africa Geographic, 2008)
African Islands in Style (Africa Geographic, 2007)
Living Landscapes of Southern Africa (Struik, 2007)
East Africa in Style (Africa Geographic, 2006)
Zambia in Style (Africa Geographic, 2006)
Southern Africa in Style (Africa Geographic, 2005)
Zambia Landscapes (Struik, 2004)

The workshop price of R2,995-00 per person includes accommodation and all meals, comprehensive lecture notes, a guide and David Rogers.

Where applicable, entrance is free to Botanical Society members or those with Wild Cards, otherwise entrance fees will be payable by individuals.

IN ORDER TO ENSURE PERSONAL ATTENTION, NUMBERS ARE RESTRICTED TO 10 PARTICIPANTS.

TO MAKE A BOOKING PLEASE CONTACT JOHN TAYLOR:

EMAIL: john@bestcape.co.za
FAX: 086 5731371
CELL: 082 5646001

A MINIMUM DEPOSIT OF 50% WILL RESERVE YOUR PLACE.

BALANCE DUE BY NO LATER THAN 25 JUNE 2009.

Upscale and Out of Res!

Learn more about image dimensions and how to get the best out of your printed images.

Upscale and Out of Res!

Several concepts are important when discussing the characteristics of bit map images: pixel dimensions, image resolution, output resolution, and screen frequency. Another type of resolution, called bit resolution or pixel depth, is important when considering how color is displayed onscreen.

Ultimate Collection Of Useful Photoshop Plug-Ins

Ultimate Collection Of Useful Photoshop Plug-Ins | Developer’s Toolbox | Smashing Magazine

Can Photoshop do everything? Of course, it can. But one should have extreme skills, plenty of experience and a great deal of time before retouching images or creating graphics pixel by pixel. Photoshop is an amazing graphics application that has forever changed graphic, Web design and digital photo editing.

One should know how to use Photoshop to its full potential to get the most stunning results. This is where Photoshop plug-ins come in handy. (Plug-ins aside, though, if you have time to acquire extreme skills, we encourage you to do so because there is nothing better than learning something new.)

Featured below is the ultimate collection of useful Adobe Photoshop plug-ins that will make your work easier, faster and better and reduce the number of steps needed to accomplish tasks. They will also allow you to do things you just cannot do with the features built into Photoshop. Some of the plug-ins are collections of filters, whereas others are programs or utilities that you may find useful.