The salon has been cancelled.
E-Mail v. Phone!
Lithium-ion Batteries — all the info you ever wanted
Peter Smith forwarded some info he was sent after a discussion on camcorder battery life. He thought that this might be of interest to our members. I found that the text was an excerpt from the Wikipedia entry on Lithium-ion batteries so rather than duplicating it here I’ll simply give you the link to the entry. It has a lot of technical info but scan through it and you’ll find guidelines for extending the life of your batteries.
On Special Offer at Picture Works, Stellenbosch
Herewith the list of special offers for February:
| Pentax KM with Pentax 18-55mm lens: | R6399 |
| Fuji S5 Pro Body
(This is a Nikon D200, but with the sensor replaced with a 12 Million Pixel Fuji Super SR Pro CCD, giving over 13 stops dynamic range, which is 40% higher than the Nikon D300 or Canon EOS 5 & 50. Uses Nikon lenses and accessories) (I use a S5 Pro myself and would not change it for anything else) |
R12999 |
| Sigma 70-300 DG Macro (All mounts) (1/2 life size macro, HSM motor for Nikon D40 & D60) | R1799 |
| Pretec 4GB SD Memory Card | R219 |
| Pretec USB Flash drives | 2GB R105 4GB R165 |
| Manfrotto 190X tripod with 804 pan-and-tilt head | R2549 |
| Hahnel TC Compact charger with 4x 2700MaH AA batteries | R155 |
| Tasco Space Station 76×700 reflector telescope | R2699 |
| Bushnell 8×42 Excursion binoculars with free 3watt LED rugged metal torch | R3399 |
| Pentax 8×40 XCF Binoculars (30 yr guarantee) | R769 |
| Gretag Macbeth Huey monitor calibrator | R2095 |
| A number of members were interested in the Lowepro Photo Trekker we had on special last month, but found it to be too big. We therefore have 3 smaller bags on special in February | |
| Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW | R689 |
| Lowepro Flipside 400 AW Backpack | R1200 |
| Lowepro Mini Trekker AW Backpack | R1300 |
Your Complete Guide to Photo Backups
Your Complete Guide to Photo Backups
Backing up photos is one of the most critical (ongoing) tasks for photographers, both amateur and professional. The “computer age” has been a blessing, allowing us to store and share huge amounts of digital photos. But that blessing has created the need to protect those delicate digital files, and many people have learned the consequences of not doing so.
No Matter How Little You Know About Technology, Someone Will Always Know Less
How to Dodge & Burn in Photoshop
How to Dodge & Burn in Photoshop
A video showing you how to non-destructively dodge and burn on a layer in Photoshop.
Free 10-Week Photoshop Course
CreativeTechs Tips » Free 10-Week Photoshop Course.
I’d like to take a break from our normal tips format to announce something big. In two weeks, CreativeTechs is kicking off a free, 10-week, worldwide, Photoshop course.
Jason Hoppe, our Adobe Certified Instructor, has designed a comprehensive course that covers Photoshop CS4 in detail. If you’ve been meaning to improve your Photoshop skills, now is the perfect opportunity:
Week 1, Feb 26 – Interface, Tools, and Shortcuts
Week 2, Mar 5 – Photoshop Layers
Week 3, Mar 12 – Selections
Week 4, Mar 19 – Advanced Selections
Week 5, Mar 26 – Masks
Week 6, Apr 2 – Pen Tool / Shape Layers
Week 7, Apr 9 -Drawing Tools / Brushes
Week 8, Apr 16 – Retouching
Week 9, Apr 23 – Color Correction pt 1
Week 10, Apr 29 – Color Correction pt 2
Visit the link to enroll or read more about this.
HPS AV Corner 2009
Welcome to all HPS members who enjoy creating audio visuals or are curious about this wonderful, expressive medium!
Let’s start with our monthly AV meetings…
AV MEETINGS
Our monthly meetings take place on every last Wednesday of the month at 19:00 for 19:30 at the Library Hall in Somerset West.
This year we’ll be setting a task for each AV evening. We want to encourage you to think of AV sequences while you’re photographing. It’s a challenge, it’s fun — and it’s a foundation for creative audio visuals.
An AV sequence is a series of photos that form a unit, connected by a subject and/or a photo technique.
In preparation for each AV evening you’ll be given a set subject for an AV sequence. Whenever possible we’ll be showing an example or a short demo at the preceding meeting.
Then all you need to do is put your sequence together and bring it along to the meeting as a Wings clip. You’re also welcome to include sound.
We hope that you’ll find participating and sharing experiences to be a stimulating and challenging way to enrich your understanding and grow your skills.
EVENTS
Our Gala Evening will be taking place in October. We hope you’ll all have something special up your sleeve?
This year’s set subject for an AV is “Living from the Sea”, to be shown in November.
The One Day Workshop takes place on 15 August in Stellenbosch. It’s going to be a great experience – if you have any suggestions or requests for subjects to cover, please let us know!
ANNUAL PHOTO/AV WEEKEND
The annual Photo/AV Weekend will be taking place in Jacobsbaai from Thursday 24 to Sunday 27 September 2009.
Where?
Jacobsbaai is a quiet little seaside village on the West Coast, still unspoiled, with mostly dirt roads and no shopping centers or amenities.
What to photograph?
I’ll stick to a few brief outline (otherwise I’ll go on forever), but please feel free to do some research of your own.
Jacobsbaai
- At the end September the fynbos flower season creates a wonderful contrast with the ocean
- Unspoiled sand beach and rocks just a minute’s walk from the cottages
- Sunset, sunrise over the bay and the ocean
- Fishermen, their activities and boats
- Variety of sea birds
Within 40 km of Jacobsbaai
- Saldanha – panoramic view of steel works
- Langebaan – kite surfer, boats
- West Coast National Park – wildflowers, turquoise lagoon, beautiful views, game
- Velddrif – Berg River mouth; flood plains with bird hides; bokkoms; Fossil Park with guided tours
- Paternoster – fishermen and their activities – and lots more!
Accommodation?
We’ve booked two self-catering cottages (sleeping six people each) and a conference room at the ‘Weskusplek’ in Jacobsbaai for that long weekend.
Each cottage costs R900 per night taken. In addition a cottage for two can be booked at R580 per night, not including breakfast.
There is a little restaurant – the only one in Jacobsbaai – with a beautiful view over the bay.
The conference room will be ideal for AV workshops and get-togethers in the evenings.
This outing from Thursday 24 – Sunday 27 September is planned for all HPS members! Please ensure your place by an early booking with Paddy!!! A % deposit is required.
More detailed information will follow later.
Examples of “third images”
Content for this post supplied by Irmel Dunaiski.
Message from Dr. Johan Kloppers, new Western Cape Director of PSSA
Dear Chairpersons,
It has been week since I have been elected as your regional director. Firstly I would like to thank you for the entrusting me to fill this very important position and for your overwhelming positive response.
In the past there has been very negative vibes towards PSSA, and my aim is going to be to clarify all of this. I personally have been a member of PSSA for the past 35 years and will continue to be a member for as long as I live. I am not shy to say that through the PSSA I made my mark in photography. I don’t think we always appreciate the immense work that goes into running a society as the PSSA and for all those people who give a lot of their time organizing congresses, workshops and lectures, and that all to our benefit and the photography we do.
I believe that without PSSA we might as well pack away our cameras. Let us rather support PSSA by becoming full members and work together to make photography an even greater success. If there is any unhappiness or queries I would like to know about it, so we can work together to solve the problems for you.
On the 11th Feb. Hermanus and Helderburg are having a joint meeting which I will attend along with some of our members from Fish Hoek. I think this is a great idea for clubs to meet during the year and not only see each other at the interclub. I can’t help to think back to the years when we were like one big family of photographers.
We had our last interclub at Paarl, but there is some confusion of who is going to host it this year. We have lost track, and if we could get some indication who should be next, it will be appreciated. There has been a suggestion that we should have our interclub meetings if possible at a venue like Sanlam. They have all the facilities and I am sure that we, with a bit of help from our friends at Sanlam secure this venue.
It is encouraging to see how the standard of photography has improved and how the numbers in the clubs are growing again. After doing photography for more than 40 years I am glad that I can still participate in such a great hobby. Photography has always been a passion and a great part of my life and if I could encourage more photographers to feel the same I would have achieved my goal as your regional director.
I am looking forward to working with you.
Kind Regards,
Johan Kloppers
Helderberg Photographic Society 