WORD FROM THE CHAIR
Greetings all, and commiserations on our return to level 4 Covid lockdown! I am sure all the travellers among us are champing at the bit to get out there and bring home some more award-winning photos. Not to forget our Swallows, who never thought they would be away from Africa for such a long time! It is difficult for all of us to keep up the gees(spirit) and keep on shooting. But I would encourage all members to attend our monthly Zoom meetings as a means of motivation.
Sometimes, during judges’ feedback sessions, it is mentioned that an image has “dust bunnies” and has therefor lost points. If you are lucky, a good lens clean will do the trick, but that shot has been ruined and might well be irreplaceable! Or the sensor has dust on it! Horrors! What to do? This means a schlepp over the mountain to Orms for a, hopefully free, cleaning! Well, I recently had reason to suspect my sensor was dirty and decided to investigate the “self-help “method, and consulted the ever useful YouTube for help! The tutorial I chose made this operation sound as easy as pie, but it did involve the application of a specific lens swab, that you may only use once! I did have fleeting thoughts of substituting said swabs with earbuds and standard issue lens cleaner, but decided that in this instance, the sensor being the heart of the camera, I should follow the rules! So off I went to Orms’ website in search of a sensor cleaning kit, which they did not have! Next stop, our good friend, Takealot, who it must be said, must have trebled their turnover in the past year, and lo and behold they had such an item in stock! Three days later the product arrived, and I am a happy chappie! I am relating this to let you know that sensor cleaning is a piece of cake, and every serious photographer should have a cleaning kit in their bag. It really is a simple procedure, just like the changing of a lens, which causes the problem in the first place!
Cheers for now.
Keith
Winners of Image of the Month
Winners of the Theme Image of the Month
| Evaluation of Digital Photography | ||||||
| Digital Entries | ||||||
| Title | Category | Star | Score | Award | Points | Pic of Month |
| A Cautious Quick Drink | nature | 4 | 4 | 11 | Gold | 3 |
| Ambushed | wildlife | 2 | 2 | 13 | COM | 4 |
| By the River | Portrait | 3 | 3 | 9 | Silver | 2 |
| cape fox and pup | wildlife | 4 | 4 | 12 | Gold | 3 |
| Cape Winter | Open | 2 | 2 | 10 | Gold | 3 |
| Catch a wave | photo journalism | 4 | 4 | 10 | Silver | 2 |
| Chubby cheeks | Wildlife | 3 | 3 | 9 | Silver | 2 |
| Climber Cub | Nature | 4 | 4 | 10 | Silver | 2 |
| Clovelly sunrise | scapes | 4 | 4 | 10 | Silver | 2 |
| Come, make a dash for it | Open | 3 | 3 | 10 | Gold | 3 |
| Contemplation | Artistic | 4 | 4 | 11 | Gold | 3 |
| Deep in the valley | Pictorial | 3 | 3 | 9 | Silver | 2 |
| Elan Valley Bridge | Pictorial | 3 | 3 | 8 | Silver | 2 |
| Gemsbok Sunrise | nature | 3 | 3 | 11 | Gold | 3 |
| Just can’t catch them | Wildlife | 2 | 2 | 11 | Gold | 3 |
| Lunch | Nature | 3 | 3 | 9 | Silver | 2 |
| Mesmersing Bubbles | Open | 4 | 4 | 10 | Silver | 2 |
| my lockdown muse | portrait | MB | MB | 11 | Silver | 2 |
| Precious Memories | Open | 4 | 4 | 11 | Gold | 3 |
| Ready to fly | Nature | 4 | 4 | 10 | Silver | 2 |
| safely watched | wildlife | 4 | 4 | 10 | Silver | 2 |
| Shady Hide | Monochrome | 3 | 3 | 10 | Gold | 3 |
| Sunrise on Sea | Abstract | 4 | 4 | 10 | Silver | 2 |
| Swarthy soarer | nature | 2 | 2 | 11 | Gold | 3 |
| The Red Devil | Macro | 3 | 3 | 11 | Gold | 3 |
| Tidal titbits | nature | 2 | 2 | 9 | Gold | 3 |
| Wait for me | wildlife | 2 | 2 | 10 | Gold | 3 |
| wearied | portrait | MB | MB | 12 | Gold | 3 |
| Where Skaters Dare | Monochrome | 4 | 4 | 12 | Gold | 3 |
| Evaluation of Theme Photography | |||||||
| Digital Entries | |||||||
| Title | Category | Author | Star | Score | Award | Points | Pic of Month |
| Blorange | Theme | Derek Goldman | 3 | 11 | Gold | 3 | Yes |
| Brenda | Theme | Coral Surtees | 4 | 9 | Silver | 2 | |
| Butterfly yellow | Theme | John Engle | 1 | 11 | COM | 4 | Yes |
| California Poppy | Theme | Lynn Toms | 3 | 10 | Gold | 3 | |
| Cat Nap | Theme | Evelyn Lyle | 4 | 9 | Silver | 2 | |
| Complementary Diagonals | Theme | Karyn Parisi | 4 | 11 | Gold | 3 | Yes |
| hearts in darkness | Theme | Peter Brandt | MB | 10 | Bronze | 1 | |
| Karoo colours | Theme | Didi Franklin | 2 | 11 | Gold | 3 | Yes |
| Open doors | Theme | Peter Franklin | 2 | 11 | Gold | 3 | Yes |
| Ruby Red | Theme | Geoff Jamieson | 4 | 10 | Silver | 2 | |
| seeing red | Theme | Lorne Sulcas | 4 | 10 | Silver | 2 | |
| The Yellow Flash | Theme | Ceridwyn Jamieson | 3 | 9 | Silver | 2 | |
| Waiting for the sun | Theme | Betzi Pierce | 3 | 10 | Gold | 3 | |
Salons
Salon dates for 2021 Salon dates for the following year are available from the PSSA website under the tab Salon Calendar and Results for the Year Ending June 2021, or from www.photovaultonline.com
All the brochures containing details are available on both the PSSA and Photovault websites.
Themes and Outings
Click here to view our themes and outings for 2021.
Formats and sizes of photo submissions, and naming conventions
Click here to find see the specifications for digital and print submissions.
Our committee
Click here to view our 2021 committee or to get hold of them.
