Sharp Focus April 2024

MESSAGE FROM YOUR CHAIRMAN

March 2024

Hi all

On Tuesday  we received a WhatsApp message from Geora Zadok stating that he had witnessed the eclipse while in the United States. Peter suggested that he wrote a short article for Sharp Focus,  and being a lazy slob – and not having a lot to write about – I thought it would be a great idea to submit Geora’s article in place of mine.

Thank you, Geora, for going along with Peter’s idea, and taking the time to put an article together.

Kind regards

Geoff

 

My time with the solar eclipse

On Monday 8 April I was fortunate enough to be in the United States at a place right in the path of the solar eclipse. Before I left Cape Town on Friday the 5^th I had already done the research and acquired the information I needed about when and where the eclipse would occur in my area, Pennsylvania.  The time spent in checking the details was well worth while, as we experienced a 95% plus solar eclipse.

 

 

I edited all the photos in Lightroom with small adjustments in exposure, temp, whites, blacks, clarity and vibrance. Then I cropped to size, to make a better frame.

 

Geora

 

FROM YOUR EDITOR’S DESK

Photography and the Weather 

Given the storm that we’re enduring at the moment, the fires that were allegedly started by an arsonist (he’s in jail at the moment, thank goodness), the howling black south easter, threatening rain – I could go on, but this should be enough to dissuade anyone who’d been thinking of heading out to the Kalk Bay harbour to see what might come over the wall at high tide.

ee, she said!!  The last after having loaded my images onto my computer and seeing NOT ONE in focus!!  NOT ONE from about 50 pictures. This damn wind, she said as she pressed the Delete button!!!

Oh well, one lives and learns.

Maureen

 

Judges’ corner

Here is a quote that I have found to be be very true, on the role of the viewer in completing the image:

“I remember once naively believing that photography, on its own, without text, could reveal something of the person photographed, that I could actually know something of a stranger’s life by looking closely and carefully at her/his image … I was initially quite disappointed to finally realize the only one I would ever learn anything about through photographs was myself. This doesn’t mitigate in any way the knowledge that can be gained through looking at photographs, but rather it is to underscore the greater potential for self knowledge. The narcissism of the viewer in this endeavor … should not be trivialized” (Barbara DeGenevieve, 2003).

A challenge to those of you drawn to portrait-taking would be, in what way can one break out of this constraint? Is it even possible?

Think about ways in which you can address the photographic subject’s seeming “muteness”, and allow the sitter to address the viewer more explicitly. If it is true that the final reading and interpretation of the “text” (and this includes visual “texts”) lies with the viewer, can one reach a compromise where there is a balance between intentional communication and subjective interpretation?

I hope to continue this discussion, with some interesting examples, in the next issue of Sharp Focus.

 

Winners of Digital Image of the Month (April 2024)
Please click on images to see titles and photographer names

EVALUATION OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Digital Entries
Title	Category	Author	Star	Score	Award	Points
7 at sunset	open	Geora Zadok	1	12	COM	4
Beached	Open	Margaret Silk	1	10	Gold	3
Colours of nature	wildlife	marielouise cardwell	2	12	COM	4
Crested barbet	Open	Maueen Miller	3	11	Gold	3
Crossed bills	wildlife	patrick cardwell	2	12	COM	4
Dawn swimmer	portrait	Peter Brandt	MB	12	Gold	3
Determined to land	sports	Peter Brandt	MB	12	Gold	3
doggy bag take aways	wildlife	Lorne Sulcas	4	13	COM	4
Family gathering	open	Mike Wesson	3	10	Gold	3
focused	wildlife	Lorne Sulcas	4	12	Gold	3
Gliding in flight	open	Derek Goldman	4	10	Silver	2
Interesting	Nature	Lynn Toms	3	10	Gold	3
Just Settled	Macro	Ceridwyn Jamieson	4	11	Gold	3
King of the Kalahari	Wildlife	Johan Kloppers	MB	12	Gold	3
Kites in flight	open	Derek Goldman	4	11	Gold	3
Leap	Wildlife	Didi Franklin	3	11	Gold	3
Lions Fighting	Wildlife	Johan Kloppers	MB	11	Silver	2
lions mating	open	Mike Wesson	3	10	Gold	3
Meet me on the bridge	Open	Peter Franklin	3	12	Gold	3
Perfect symmetry	wildlife	patrick cardwell	2	11	Gold	3
Protected Building	Open	Kate Graham	1	10	Gold	3
Red eye frog	Nature	Lynn Toms	3	9	Silver	2
Schools out	Open	Peter Franklin	3	12	Gold	3
Seeking Nectar	Macro	Ceridwyn Jamieson	4	10	Silver	2
Sequin poser	Open	Marian Shinn	2	10	Gold	3
Snacking	Nature	Geoff Jamieson	4	10	Silver	2
Stream reed fringe	Landscape	Marian Shinn	2	10	Gold	3
Sunset specks	Open	Kate Graham	1	9	Gold	3
Taking it easy	Open	Geoff Jamieson	4	10	Silver	2
Tongue in cheek	open	sharon crowther	1	9	Gold	3
Touchdown	Open	keith Lyle	4	11	Gold	3
Valley of Desolation	Landscape	Maureen Miller	3	11	Gold	3
view from the rocks	landscape	Geora Zadok	1	11	COM	4
Waiting for bees	open	marielouise cardwell	2	12	COM	4
White water	sport	Keith Lyle	4	12	Gold	3
Winter Dawn	Open	Didi Franklin	3	12	Gold	3
Wisp	open	Margaret Silk	1	12	COM	4

Winners of Theme Image of the Month – (March 2024)
Please click on images to see titles and photographer names

 

EVALUATION OF THEME IMAGES – IN FLIGHT – MARCH 2024
Theme Entries
Title	Category	Author	Star	Score	Award	Points
Airborn	Theme	keith Lyle	4	12	Gold	3
blurred motion	Theme	Lorne Sulcas	4	9	Silver	2
Dog flight	Theme	sharon crowther	1	7	Silver	2
Flight of the Hadadas	Theme	Mike Wessson	3	9	Silver	2
Flight over Langebaan	Theme	Johan Kloppers	MB	10	Bronze	1
Floating	Theme	Margaret Silk	1	10	Gold	3
Found Supper	Theme	Ceridwyn Jamieson	4	10	Silver	2
He thinks hes a seagull	Theme	Maureen Miller	3	8	Silver	2
Hunting in flight	Theme	Derek Goldman	4	9	Silver	2
I said there is no room	Theme	Lynn Toms	3	10	Gold	3
Long Legs	Theme	Geoff Jamieson	4	11	Gold	3
Mid flight	Theme	patrick cardwell	2	13	COM	4
Powerful soarer	Theme	marielouise cardwell	2	13	COM	4
splashback	Theme	Peter Brandt	MB	12	Gold	3
Surge of power	Theme	Didi Franklin	3	13	COM	4
Swooping in	Theme	Peter Franklin	3	12	Gold	3
Target Aquired	Theme	Kate Graham	1	12	COM	4
touching down	Theme	geora zadok	1	11	COM	4