Sharp Focus May 2023

MESSAGE FROM THE STAND-IN

Hi, All

What with Geoff and Ceridwyn galivanting all over the land of drizzle and pubs, it’s fallen on me to entertain you with my maunderings.

Thanks to all those who could make the earlier Zoom session at our last monthly meeting – and apologies for the short notice; unfortunately with the  Eskom situation we have no choice but to be nimble in our responses. The week before, we had an outing to Noordhoek beach to “draw with light” by swinging burning balls of steel-wool and taking slow exposure photos of the resulting tracer trails (see the banner photo at the top of this page). It wasn’t massively attended (again, apologies for the short notice), but judging by the photos that resulted from it and the enthusiasm of the participants, it may be a good idea to schedule a repeat – perhaps once the worst of winter has passed?

This month’s theme is “Altered Reality“. According to the PSSA definitions, Altered  Reality is “an image created by altering reality in an obvious manner, created digitally or in camera. The intention is the creation of an image that conveys a feeling or message, or tells a story“. We will be doing an Altered Reality workshop over Zoom on this Monday 5 June, where I will be demonstrating basic image-altering techniques in Photoshop, such as cutting out, masking, combining and blending, colour treatment and matching etc. Please do join us, bring any questions you may have, and have your computers on stand-by so you can find what I am talking about as we go on.

If you are unable to attend the workshop, we will be making the recording available. Meanwhile, here are some examples of altered reality, ranging form simple blends to fun collage-like effects and more ambitious projects:

While on the subject of workshops, I mentioned at the meeting that I gave a presentation on portraiture at CCC recently, for whihc I have received enthusiastic feedback. A lot of work went into putting it together, and so I would hate to see it go to waste – please indicate on the group or directly to me if you would like the presentation to be given to FHPS (via Zoom). While I did give a portrait workshop at Fish Hoek a few months ago that largely focused on lighting, this presentation uses a lot of my own images coupled with anecdotes on how they came about and issues that may have arisen, and ranges from street portraiture to home / studio portraiture and post-processing ideas / issues (with a side order of some famous portraitists).

On a sadder note, I also mentioned at club that Evelyn is unwell and fighting for her health. Our thoughts go out to her and to Keith during this difficult period: we miss you both! Our thoughts are also with her close friends from the club, Coral and Maureen.

Hope to see you all on Monday – till then
Cheers
Peter

Winners of Image of the Month (May 2022)

Evaluation of Digital Photography
Digital Entries
Title	Category	Author	Star	Score	Award	Points
Blue lagoon	Landscape	Maureen Miller	3	9	Silver	2
free ride	wildlife	Lorne Sulcas	4	11	Gold	3
Home Security	open	Derek Goldman	4	9	Silver	2
Into frozen waters	Wildlife	Peter Franklin	3	10	Gold	3
keep up	street	Peter Brandt	MB	9	None	0
Land of snow and ice	Landscape	Didi Franklin	3	10	Gold	3
Light ‘n shadow	abstract	Mike Wesson	1	9	Gold	3
Man from India	Portraiture	Johan Kloppers	MB	12	Gold	3
Moonrise	open	Derek Goldman	4	10	Silver	2
My Territory	Wildlife	Didi Franklin	3	12	Gold	3
not guilty	portrait	Peter Brandt	MB	12	Gold	3
Stairing eyes	Portraiture	Johan Kloppers	MB	11	Silver	2
stalking in the reeds	wildlife	Lorne Sulcas	4	11	Gold	3
Table Mountain morning	landscape	Mike Wesson	1	8	Gold	3
The age of innocence	Wildlife	Peter Franklin	3	10	Gold	3

Winners of Theme Image of the Month – Cityscapes (May 2022)