TPS Club competition - January 2020

Water drop fountain

Ok, so while my commitment to do more blog posts this year is still fresh in my mind, here we go.

Club competition night was held on Wednesday 22 January 2020. My favourite image out of the four submitted was the one at the top of this post. It was entered into the Print Open category, but unfortunately it only received a Silver award. The judge seemed to like it, and didn't have any negative comments, so not sure why it didn't score better.

I must say I also enjoy my other entry in the Open category, this time in the Digital category, which was another macro shot of a soap bubble (I submitted my first one in November last year), and this received a Gold award.

Planet Bubble

The set subject for the month was "City life". I found this to be quite a challenging task, and for my Print entry, I chose a photograph taken of the blind guitarist who plies his trade on the streets of Cape Town. He featured in a legal battle with the Cape Town City Council a few years back, and the case made headlines in the local newspapers. The one headline, "Blind injustice", is attached to the wall behind him and now features as part of his stage.

Blind injustice

This image received a Silver award. The judge liked most of it, but felt that the left hand side was extraneous and would have been better cropped away.


I am including a cropped version of the photo. You can make your own decision as to whether it is superior to the original or not.  Personally, if the subject had been Street Photography, then I probably would agree, but think the uncropped version also shows some of the vast differences so typical of City Life, with a talented blind man having to beg for his existence, whiile just a few metres away people pay R200 for acrylic nails. Anyway, just my thoughts. Win some, lose some!

My Digital entry for the Set Subject was taken at the top end of town, and features quite a common site around our City, namely tourists / citizens enjoying a guided trip around the City and surrounds while in and on top of a tour bus.

The major bus company in the Western Cape is Golden Arrow, and their slogan is "The bus for us". This image title is obviously a play on that, as not everyone has the time nor cash to make use of it. I decided to keep this shot in colour, as it is one of the bus' major characteristics.

The image also received a Silver award.

The bus for some of us

Till next time.

Tygerberg Photographic Society - 2019 Competition Entries

Bend it like Beckham

Hellooo - back again! Finally, after a break of over seven months!

But at least this job is done now - all my TPS entries for last year have finally been documented and published. To see the images, click on the "TPS entries" heading at the top of the page, and then on to the "2019" link. As is normal practice, click on any of the images to bring up a larger view.

The image above is the only one posted during the year that was placed first in its category, but unfortunately didn't make it as overall winner for the month. However, it is still supposedly my top image for the year, and hence gets pride of place above.

The shot was taken at the beautiful Cape Town Stadium, during a walk around during November 2018. The event was organised by one of my TPS colleagues, Karen Donaldson, and the time spent was thoroughly enjoyed by all who were there. This is the staircase leading down from the main area to the underground parking.

I also plan to do a few more posts this year, though they probably will only be fairly short in length. Well - that's the plan anyway - watch this space!

As usual, all comments are welcome!

2019 Holiday - Route 44 and Robertson

And so on to the last section of our break.

We decided to take the scenic Route 62 from George through to Montagu, instead of using the N2. While this set us back time-wise because of the numerous Stop/Go road works along the way, the views were worth the sacrifice.

Because of the time delays, we decided not to stop along the way for photographs, and eventually got to Barrydale just after 14h00. It was our first official stop since having coffee in the Wilderness earlier that morning, and it was definitely time for a break.

We followed the signs to the Blue Cow Cafe, and took a few photos of the beautiful areas around there, had a cappuccino and a visit to the restrooms, and then left for Robertson.

The R62 takes one through Montagu, and I must say I was really surprised to see the lack of progress that had been made on the mountain pass. We were there almost two years ago and it really looks as if very little has been accomplished since then. More Stop/Go interruptions there caused us to fall even more behind,  so when we arrived in Robertson itself, we decided to detour, found their Pick n Pay, and bought some provisions for a light supper.

From there it was straight to the Orange Grove Farm, where we booked into the most luxurious accommodation we had on the entire trip. The cottage that we had selected was almost as big as our current home! Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a dining room, lounge, and a huge kitchen, plus two patios (one with its own small swimming pool) that were fitted with built-in braais. Beautifully furnished and appointed, with everything one could ask for in the kitchen - gas hob, electric stove, large fridge, coffee-making machine, etc., etc.. An absolute dream and highly recommended!

View from the front patio

The facilities at the farm were truly excellent, and we spent most of the time at the cottage. Except for a tiny bit of exploring, and a trip to the Viljoenskloof wine farm for their boat ride along the Breede River.

We were quite sad to leave, but looking forward to being back home at the same time, and had a very pleasant an incident-free drive back to Somerset West.

A small selection of photos for this part of our journey can be seen here.

2019 Holiday - Garden Route

The second stage of our holiday was allocated to part of the Garden Route.

We spent two nights at the Heriot Manor Guest House in George - a really super stay! Great breakfasts, comfortable rooms, and beautiful gardens! While we were there, we took the opportunity to have lunch with one of our nieces who has recently got engaged, and some wonderful rain on the second day completed a delightful stay. The rain curtailed our activities a bit, but didn't spoil anything.

On the morning that we left (after the rains), we spent a short while at the Garden Route Botanical Gardens, which at this time of year were a touch disappointing. But been there, done that! Afterwards, we left for Plettenberg Bay, with a short detour into the Knysna Waterfront for some coffee and a walk around.

Once we had arrived in Plett, we drove around looking for a place where we could have lunch. After a Google search the night before, we were quite keen to try out the Corner Bistro, but after tracking it down, found that it was closed for lunch and only opening later in the day. So we ended up at the Lookout Deck, and had simple but beautifully prepared burgers - beef for Jacqui, and chicken for yours truly.

Then off to find our B&B - the Sea Breeze Guest House - another lovely find as a place to spend a few nights! Really great people, another beautifully appointed room, and again, more than one could eat at breakfast!

We spent most of our second day there at the Birds of Eden Sanctuary just outside Plett. The variety of birds species they house is just phenomenal, and every bird is a "rescue" bird! There were some interesting new entrants since our last visit some years ago, most striking of all being the Scarlet Ibis from South America. The bright red colour of the birds, as is the case with Flamingoes, comes from the carotene found in the crustaceans that form part of their diet.

Some of the images taken on this part of the trip can be found here. Click on the photos for larger versions.

Scarlet Ibis

2019 Holiday - Greyton

Jacqui and I are away for a few nights on our annual break. This year we are visiting Greyton, George, Plettenberg Bay, and Robertson.

While at Greyton we had the chance to walk through the Nature Reserve, and to attend their Saturday Morning Market. We also took a quick trip around Genadendal.

Some of the photos taken during the visit can be seen here. Click on the photos to see larger versions.

The photo below was taken at the Market. The lady in the picture is an absolutely amazing guitarist. The music she produces is soft and delicate - and haunting! I still can't get the tune of "Mr Bojangles" out of my head! The gentleman with the flute also plays other wind instruments, and we saw him later in the day performing at a restaurant for their guests.

The highlight of our market visit

TPS Entries - August to November 2018

The remaining photographs for 2018 have now been updated on the TPS page, in the 2018 section. Please note that there are no competitions in December each year.

Club advancement

One of the main reasons for starting and maintaining this Blog was to have a medium for recording all the images I have entered into competitions since joining the Tygerberg Photographic Society way back in February 2014.

All the images can be seen by clicking on the "TPS Entries" link at the top of the Blog, and then selecting the pages for the various years.

Well - last night I received official confirmation (see image below) that I had achieved my long-term main goal of achieving 5-Star status within the Club's structures. Needless to say I am incredibly proud of this achievement, and unbelievably grateful to the various Club members who have provided me with guidance and help over the years. And of course, to Daniel Rossouw, my very good friend who talked me into joining in the first place. And last but not least, to my wonderful wife, Jacqui, for her constant support and encouragement!

So now to setting the next target!

Lourensford Estate Sunday Market

First post for a long time! I have so many posts still to do, but while this is fresh in my memory I'm going to do it right now.

Sunday morning in Somerset West is Lourensford Estate morning market day. This post is not so much about the actual market, except to say that the Zorba's Specialised Samoosas stand is impossible to pass without making a purchase, as is the Fudge Kitchen stand, where the Swiss Chocolate Fudge is just so heavenly smooth it's unbelievable! And that's just two of a great selection of foods available.

But forget about the food for a moment - the main reason for the post is the Autumn gardens - they are absolutely spectacular! Here is a very small selection of images from the gardens, plus part of the driveway into the Estate. Well worth a visit.

All photos taken with the Fujifilm X-T2 and 18-135mm lens.

Tygerberg Photographic Society - August 2017

The set subject for the month was "Macro / Close-ups", probably my favourite photographic category, as I am fascinated by the whole new world that is unveiled when using a macro lens.

As Fuji haven't yet introduced an affordable macro lens into their range, I had to make use of my old faithful Canon 40D and 100ml macro lens for the macros. Each macro submission was produced by stacking nine different images in order to get an acceptable depth of field.

Also very happy with the results of the judging - three Gold award, and one Silver. These are the images submitted:

Inside a nastursium (Set print) - Gold

Viburnum flowers (Set digital) - Gold

Dry, dusty, and cloudy (Open digital) - Gold

Lighting the way (Open digital) - Silver

Till next month!

Tygerberg Photographic Society - January to July 2017

I have finally posted all of the photos submitted this year to the TPSA monthly competitions. Very proud to see that I had one overall winning image, plus three category winners!

The photos can be viewed by hovering your mouse over the "TPS Entries" link on the menu above, and then selecting "2017" from the drop-down box.

Those of you who have visited my blog before will see some subtle changes. I have tried to "clean up" the pages, and make them easy to view and follow. I have had to split up all the TPS photos into different years, as the page displaying all of them had grown too large. Finding a way of incorporating a drop-down menu was a challenge to say the least, but it is finally working.

I have also tried to make the comment box more accessible, and this has necessitated a change in the look of the landing or front page of the blog. To view, please click on the "Home" link on the menu. If you do have any comments to make, they are always most welcome and would be truly appreciated.

Tygerberg Photographic Society - July 2017

I've been a member of the TPS since February 2014, so am now in my fourth year of membership. In that time, I've been able to win the odd category at our monthly meetings, but this month, for the first time, walked away with the overall "Image of the month" award - plus the floating trophy to boot!

To say that I'm feeling very honoured doesn't even come close, and being able to hold the trophy during the month that I turn 70, makes it even more special!

Coming after a month of receiving two Silver and two Bronze awards, I wasn't feeling that confident, even though I really like the image that won this month - it's just the type of photo that I enjoy - simple and uncluttered. It took numerous visits to the local Sonstraal dam before I finally got what I wanted - it was either too cloudy, too windy, or too wet, but on this day it was reasonably calm and partly cloudy, and the gentle blue and white reflections on the water provided just the contrast I was looking for. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but for those who might be interested, here is the photo. Click on it to bring up a clearer and more defined version.

I will be catching up on all the previous 2017 TPS meetings over the next few days (am just a dash behind as my last post was last year!)

Villiera Wine Estate

Jacqui and I have been so busy regarding buying and selling homes that my blog has had to take a break for a while. However, on Friday 2 June 2017 we decided to do something completely different, and it's turned out to be worth my first blog post of 2017!

The occasion was a game drive and wine tasting at the beautiful Villiera Wine Estate in Koelenhof (click here for directions). It really was a delightful experience, starting off with information from and a booking with the very helpful Hannelie, a two-hour game drive with the extremely knowledgeable and informative Guillame, and a thirst-quenching finish with an equally knowledgeable and informative Daniel in the tasting room. The cost of the drive is R220 per person, and it includes the tasting.

Our drive started at 09h00 and I must say that the drive up the beautiful Autumn avenue and the view from the parking area set the tone for the day. This is just one of the views from the parking area:

The game reserve is set on 220 hectares,and while there are no predators in the reserve, there is an abundance of birds and antelope. Here are some of my favourite images from the day:

Eland

Young eland (foreground)

Burchell's zebra

Springbok front row? Normal, white, and black varieties.

Table Mountain backdrop

Blue crane

My final two images are of a Bontebok and then two giraffes caught in unusual poses:

Turn around a give us a smile!

Siamese twins giraffe?

After the drive we went back to the tasting room and were treated to tastes (decent-size tastes) of four different bubblies. Two were from their vineyard in France, and two of the local variety. Our favourite was the Villiera Tradition Rosé Brut, and six bottles found their way home with us!

I should also mention that by joining their wine club (quick and painless), you receive 10% off all wine purchases!

We will be back.

Tygerberg Photographic Society - November 2016

Ok - Final blog post for 2016! And the final TPS meeting for 2016. It wasn't the greatest way to end the year - three Silver awards and one Bronze award, but at least it's good motivation to do better next year! Again - please click on the images for the large versions.

Set subject for November was "Action". A really difficult subject to find something different to shoot. Both my shots were taken at the Zone 7 Speed Spot just off the N7. I quite like both images, but both received Silver ratings, mainly because the judge found the backgrounds distracting.

This was my entry in the print section.

And then this one in the digital section:

                                                                                                                                                                            For the open digital section, I chose two monochrome images. The first one was of a selection of sea shells. To get the reflections, I set them up on my iPad. I like the image, but can see why it didn't get Gold.

The final image was also taken at Theewaterskloof Dam. I titled it "Desperate for that rain", wanting to highlight the clouds and the fact that we get so many promises of rain without the rain materialising, as can be seen from the dam levels. Anyway, the judge wanted to see more detail in the sand in front (?) and didn't like the image at all, hence the Bronze rating. But you know what? - I like it anyway!



So all that's left now is to wish all you lovely people who have taken time out to read my ramblings this past year. I wish you all the most magnificent 2017 - may it be the best year ever! Take care.

Tygerberg Photographic Society - October 2016

October's set subject was "Reflections". We had three of our top photographers sharing duties as judges for the evening, and they did a fantastic job!

For my print entry, I chose a photo taken at the Theewaterskloof Dam. I really like the feel of the image, and luckily so did the judges. My first of two Gold awards for the evening.

My digital entry for the set subject section was taken at the Thesen Islands residential complex. It's a really beautifully conceived development and this image, taken from under one of the road bridges, reflects a typical scene there. This image received a Silver award.

My pride and joy for the evening, however, is this photo taken of one of Jacqui's beautiful display of Spring flowers. It is just a simple anemone, but the colours are absolutely amazing, and the stacking process (7 photos) worked really well. The image scored Gold and was the winner in the print open category.

My final entry, in the digital open section, was taken during a day trip to the Rawsonville area. Again, I really love the feel of the image, and it displays the incredible contrast in people's values. The housing and living conditions are by no stretch of the imagination the greatest, yet satellite TV has to be had! The judges found the image too "busy", and it received a Silver rating.



Just one more TPS meeting for the year to cover and hopefully I will post the commentary tomorrow and start 2017 off with a clean slate!

Tygerberg Photographic Society - September 2016

Wow - talk about a bloodbath! Not a single Gold submission - just two Silver and two measly Bronze awards! Oh well, I suppose one can't win them all! At least I wasn't the only one - it was a poor evening results-wise for the majority of club members.

The Set subject for the month was Monochrome. Again, please click on the images for larger versions.

My entry for the Set Print section was a photo taken of one of the hundreds of anemones we were blessed with after Jacqui's hard work this Spring (the colour version will be posted next month). I specifically wanted to focus on the centre section of the flower, and tried to blend the petals into the white background. Well, the judge apparently didn't like the concept and wanted to see the petals in more detail, so I gathered my first Bronze of the evening!

For the Set Digital entry I used a photo taken at an organised "Pokemon Go!" event (my Blog post on the subject can be viewed here). The whole object of the image was to show a diversity of people all mesmerised by their cell phones and catching Pokemons, but the judge said there were "obviously" no persons catching Pokemons there! And so the second Bronze arrived.









My Open print entry was taken during the holiday Jacqui and I had earlier this year. It was taken while on an evening cruise on the beautiful Knysna lagoon, and I thought (still think) it has a nice tranquil feel about it. There are apparently some technical issues with the image (unfortunately I couldn't hear exactly what the judge said and have been unable to spot them, but accept his judgement), but at least it received a silver rating.

My final image for the evening was take a while ago during a visit to a Blacksmith factory. I really liked the vibrancy of the sparks and the feel of the photo. The image was judged as being a "record shot", but thankfully also at least received a Silver rating. Let's hope tomorrow night brings some better results!

Macro image stacking

Introduction

I make use of this technique for many of my macro images, and have been asked by my Photographic Society to do a short talk on the subject. These are my notes for the talk. Any suggestions for improvements, or comments on any corrections that need to be made will be most appreciated.

Please click on the images for a large view.

This is an essential technique for macro images where one needs more depth of field than a single normal macro image can deliver. It is also a technique that can be used in landscape photography, where the use of the hyperfocal distance method does not give an acceptable result.

There are also different methods and software that can be utilised, but these notes are based on the following equipment and software, namely:

• Photoshop CS6 as the software
• Canon 6D as the camera
• Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM as the macro lens
• Manual focus
• Shoot in RAW
• In Adobe Camera RAW, I use the following settings:

o   Colour space:          sRGB

o   Depth:                     16 Bits/Channel

o   Resize to fit:            Default

o   Resolution:              300 ppi

o   Sharpen for:             Screen

o   Amount:                   Standard

• If the initial image needs RAW adjustments, those settings can be saved as a Preset, and the same Preset applied to all images that will be stacked. The workflow illustrated below differs slightly from this, but is quicker and achieves the same result. After applying the Preset to all images, I just click on the Done button, i.e. I do not open the image into Photoshop at this stage.

Setup essentials (in addition to camera and lens)

• Tripod
• Remote shutter release or cable release
• If lens has stabiliser, turn it OFF
• Select aperture priority, ISO at 100 or smallest number camera will accept, shutter speed will then be automatic
• No air movement, i.e. studio setup desirable

Method

Generally speaking, one can use trial and error to determine the number of images that need to be taken for the stacking process. Technically, it’s reasonably (in my case – very) complicated! There is an excellent article on macro photography, explaining these intricacies, and it can be found here:  http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/macro-lenses.htm. Good luck! Note: The magnification factor calculator provided there should be ignored as it doesn't cover all situations. Instead, to calculate the magnification factor, simply take the height (or length if you are doing a portrait shot) of your sensor (in the case of a full-frame camera the sensor size is 36mm x 24mm), and divide that by the height (or length if you are doing a portrait shot) of the subject.

Here is an extract from the website, showing a calculation for the effective depth of field for a full-frame camera with a sensor size of 36mm x 24mm, using an aperture of f/8, and for an object which is 48mm high (twice the height of the sensor, giving a magnification factor of 24mm divided by 48mm = 0.5). You will see that the DOF is minimal at just over 3mm!!! So if an image had a depth of 30mm, and you wanted to capture all the detail, you would need at least 10 images for the stack.

Stacking Procedure

Prepare for shooting and set up subject, lighting, tripod and camera. It’s important at this stage to test the setup to ensure that when focusing both at the front and back of the subject, that the full subject is in the frame and that no edges are cut off. Move the camera further away from the subject until this has been achieved.

The images below illustrate the procedure for photographing a watch, with an actual required depth of field of 48mm, an aperture of f/11, and a magnification factor of 0.3 (24mm divided by 80mm). The DOF as per the http://cambridgeincolour.com calculator is approximately 10mm, so at least 5 images will have to be shot.

Take the required number of photographs, making sure that all sections of the object have been captured in focus. There are different ways of taking the photos to be stacked. One way is to use a rack – they can be extremely sophisticated (and expensive), or very simple (and cheap), like this one:

For my personal tastes, though, I just prefer to focus on selected areas along the subject. I make use of the LiveView option on the camera, use the magnification option to zoom in to the particular area, focus and shoot.

Load the images into Bridge and select the images for the stack.

Double-clicking on one of the images opens them up in Camera Raw (if they are Jpeg images, then hold down the Ctrl button on Windows (cmd button on Mac) and press “r” to open in Camera Raw. Click on the Select all button as indicated, make adjustments as required, and then press the Done button.

Back to Bridge and from the menu, select Tools, Photoshop, Load Files into Photoshop Layers.

Photoshop will open and stack the images one on top of the other in different layers. Select all layers.

From the Photoshop menu, select Edit, Auto-Align Layers, and click Auto. After the processing has been completed, from the Photoshop menu, select Edit, Auto-Blend Layers, and click Stack Images and Seamless Tones and Colours. Photoshop after Auto-Align and Auto-Blend:

Check stacked image and crop as required, merge layers (Layer, Flatten Image), and then do any final adjustments.  Final image: