Report: Moutain Bike Outing, Paarl, Sunday 15th Feb ’09

Ten HPS members arrived (as well as 10 mountain bikers) at the gate to the Taal Monument on Sunday morning.  We scrambled down the slippery track and found positions where we could shoot the bikers as they launched themselves over hills, along ‘walls of death’ and down steep overhangs – it was a ‘leap of faith’ every time!  Eric installed two flashes perched on tripods in strategic places, and these were set off by him with a remote control. We panned, we zoomed, we did slo-mo, we did freeze-mode, we used wide-angles and telephoto … and it was great fun!  Thanks Eric, and to your rider friends for providing us with some breathtaking tricks which were amazing to photograph!  Here are a few pics …

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Helderberg Evening Outing to the Strand 21st Feb. 5pm

Strand Sunset by Caroline Hartley.

Image of Strand Beach at sunset, by Caroline Hartley

Due to the fact that  the Jonkershoek fires have devastated the landscape, we will instead be starting our outing at the Life-Savers’ Hut on Strand Beach at 5pm on Saturday 21st February.  We might move along to the Gordon’s Bay coast and beyond.  Bring some nibbles, and drinks; plus tripod and the usual equipment!

Helderberg/Hermanus Joint Evaluation Evening

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-13

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50 Wonderful, Inspiring Photoblogs

50 Wonderful, Inspiring Photoblogs | Inspiration | Smashing Magazine

A photoblog is a very specific type of blog. Its focus is photography, and there are typically few words beyond a caption and comments. Photoblogs are easy to set up and maintain, and they make great photo galleries for photographers who are put off by the complexity of HTML coding or installing a CMS such as WordPress.

It’s because of this simplicity, not to mention the development of free yet sophisticated tools like Pixelpost, that photoblogging has exploded in popularity over the last few years. Photoblogs.org, for example, lists over 32,000 photoblogs! That’s a lot of photos, and a lot of photographers vying for your attention.

Dedicated as ever to making your life easier, we’ve handpicked over 50 brilliant photoblogs for your viewing pleasure. There’s a little of everything, including photojournalism and nature, landscape, street, portrait and travel photography. We’ve also listed some of the best photoblogging solutions, articles and other resources at the bottom of the post.

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.

Lithium-ion battery – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.