Monday, November 01, 2010

New club website

Hillcrest Camera Club has established a new website which has all the current details including activities, directions to the venue, and all of that. See:

Monday, August 02, 2010

August Meeting

Hi All

We have a fantastic speaker lined up for this month's meeting! There will be an announcement about the format change of the club meetings, as well as details given about the new website. The new committee will be introduced to us all. Be sure to be at the meeting!

Speaker - SEAN LAURENZ

Sean, based in Durban, is one of South Africa's foremost fashion and beauty photographers. His client list boasts some of the biggest names in the fashion business. He will be showing a selection of his work and will be happy to answer any questions. He shoots in and around Durban, and some of his venues will be familiar to us!See more of Sean's work on www.seanlaurenz.com

Outing - 21 Aug 2010 - African Bird of Prey Sanctuary

OverviewThe African Bird of Prey Sanctuary is dedicated to the conservation of indigenous raptors and is the base to ongoing research, breeding and rehabilitation projects for birds of prey. The majority of these projects run ‘behind the scenes’ to ensure that the integrity of the wild birds is not compromised, and that a high release success rate is achieved. The sanctuary is, however, also home to a wide selection of captive-bred or ‘non-releasable rehabilitation’ birds. These raptors can be viewed in their ‘micro-environment’ enclosures by anyone who wishes to visit and learn about South Africa’s magnificent aerial predators.

More info : www.africanraptor.co.za 031 785 2981 or cell 082 925 3023

We will meet between 9h30-10h00, take some photos of the birds, and then will proceed to the bird show at 10h30. The Vulture Feeding is at 12pm, so we will continue taking photos in between. There is a restaurant for something to eat either before or after the shows.

Date: 21 Aug 2010
Time: 9h30 - 10h00
Bird Show: 10h30
Vulture Feeding: 12pm

Set Subject for September"We Own The Night" - The movie is about the conflict between a gangster brother and his police brother and father, set in New York. For our purposes, this set subject can be interpreted as night photography, or street photography, or whatever you want it to be. Be creative, and stretch your imagination!

See you all at the meeting!
Vanessa

Friday, July 16, 2010

Summerveld outing - Saturday 17 July

Hi everyone

Summerveld Outing

1. For those of you who have not taken photos of horses before, care has to be taken when being around the horses.

Horses don't like to be spooked or alarmed, and can react quite badly if they are upset. They don't like crouching forms or creatures, and either want to throw their riders off, or stamp on the offending 'creature'. As such, they won't like us crouching or bending down, which is what we do when we take low angled shots. Try to remain upright, as they recognise that form to be a human, and shouldn't spook.
Do not use your flash.
Don't make sudden movements.

As these horses are highly strung race horses, we need to respect that and not jeopardise their race winning ability!

2. Directions from Durban.
N3 from Durban. After the toll, take the Shongweni turnoff, Exit 32. Turn left into Kassier Road. Pass the t/o to Shongweni Dam. Continue along the road and take the Summerveld t/o to the right, and go up the road a bit. You’ll go through a set of gates and, soon after that, you’ll see a not-very-obvious turn off to the left through the trees (if you go under a bridge, you’ve gone too far). Follow that road and park in the car park.

See you between 5.30am and 6.00am. Bring thermos flasks and coffee if you like, to warm you up, or wake you up!

See you soon.
Vanessa

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

July 2010: Outing and 2nd Meeting

Two things:
1) A reminder about our outing to Summerveld on 17 July 2010. We will meet at the car park any time from 5h30am-6h00am and will have breakfast at the nearby club when we've had enough photography. Directions to get there are as follows:
Drive out of Hillcrest along Kassier Road, cross the N3, and pass the t/o to Shongweni Dam. Take the Summerveld t/o and go up the road a bit. You’ll go through a set of gates and, soon after that, you’ll see a not-very-obvious turn off to the left through the trees (if you go under a bridge, you’ve gone too far) follow that road and park in the car park.
2) The next meeting will be held at the Hillcrest Sports Club at 7pm on 20 July, 2010, and is very important because we have got to the stage where we really need a proper committee. The idea is NOT to pick a couple of people and give them all the work but, instead, to share things out so that everyone only has a little bit to do. You are urged not to do the usual 'club' thing and avoid the meeting like the plague. We'll chat and have a few drinks and it should even be fun. We can take the club on into the future as a valuable resource for us all, but only if everyone pulls together. Ideas will most welcome but actions are also needed
&&&&&& IMPORTANT: WILL EVERYONE PLEASE BRING A PLATE OF SNACKS. &&&&&&&&&&&&

More Photo Competitions

N3 Toll Concession - details and entry form from here.


Thanks Mandy.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Vega Photography Club

Hi all
I recieved an interesting email from Delaine Pillay at Vega Photography School.

They are setting up a Vega Photography Club. They invite all interested photographers to email them to put on their mailing list.

What they say the club will do:
"Our expert lecturer, Lanel Janse Van Vuuren, will spend 30 minutes on a specific topic each month. Thereafter we will have an opportunity to interact, chat and mix, whilst we share our passions around photography. "

When: Every 3rd Thursday of each month
Where: Vega Durban Campus
Time: 5.30pm - 7.30pm
Meetings are free to members.

Please email Delaine at dpillay@vegaschool.com or call her on (031) 266 2595 to book your seat!

It sounds interesting, and as it doesn't clash with our Tuesday meetings, should be well attended by all HCC members! Put your name on the list asap!

Regards
Vanessa

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Develop a New Angle on Concrete - NPC Photographic Competition

NPC are running a fantastic photographic competition.

"Develop a New Angle on Concrete.

Using your photographic skills, to capture futuristic images of buildings or structures that feature concrete predominantly in their design, and you could be a winner is a flash!

Amazing cash prizes : 1st - R20 000, 2nd - R10 000, 3rd - R5000.

Get more info and enter online, on www.npcfocus.co.za "

Check it out, it looks like a fun competition. Lets see who can produce the best concrete photo, and do HCC proud!





Wednesday, June 30, 2010

July Meeting

Hi all

July Meeting - Tuesday 6 July 2010, 7pm

1. Speaker

Dennis Guichard - Fine Art Architectural Photographer

I have managed to secure a fantastic speaker for July's meeting. He is Dennis Guichard - one of the featured photographers in the FIFA Fine Art Exhibition 2010. Dennis is an architectural photographer, and has been involved with works in SA, the UK and Abu Dhabi, UAE.



Dennis will discuss his work for the FIFA Fine Art Exhibition, which is a series of 30 shots of the stadiums throughout South Africa. You will see Moses Mabhida look stunning, along with other fine art photos of the other stadiums. His work is on display at the art gallery at Suncoast Casino. I strongly recommend that you go and have a look at his work, as this is where you will see the grand detail in the full size prints. Dennis will also discuss his other work, most recent of which was in Abu Dhabi, where he was Senior Architectural Design Manager on one of the mega projects there.


Dennis has also been featured in the June/July Pix Magazine. Thats his photo on the fold out cover!




Look here for more of Dennis's architectural work.
Look here for info on the FIFA Fine Art Exhibition at Suncoast Casino and Kizo, Gateway.

2. Outings for July

There are TWO outings this month!

Summerveld
-Saturday, 17 July 2010
-Between 5.30am and 6.30am
(The horses are out at 5.30am, but arrive whenever you want to. Sunrise is at 6.50am)

The Durban July is being held on 31st July, so all the trainers will be bringing their horses to Summerveld in the prceeding weeks. There is opportunity to get moody shots of the horses training, as well shots of Summerveld. Lots of beautiful trees, grassy fields and hopefully some morning mist. Breakfast somewhere afterwards.

Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk
-Point, Durban
-Saturday 24 July 2010
-3pm - 5pm

This is the third year that this photowalk is being held. The idea is to meet up and take photos for two hours, in the specified area. Submit your best photo, and you could stand a chance of being chosen as the best photo worldwide, as determined by Scott Kelby. Allan Jackson won the best photo of the Durban group last year, so the challenge is on to have another Hillcrest Camera Club member win!

Club member Andrew Roos is organising this year's photowalk. The after-walk gathering and supper will be held at Moyo.
See here for details about the walk.

3. Photo Sharing at the meeting

Sharing your photos and hearing other members' tips and advice is a huge part of growing as a photographer. Participation in this part of the meeting is very important. We had a poor show last month, so please all bring your photos! One photo per catergory.

Set Subject - June is "Step-Up. The Streets". This is an interesting topic as it provides for all kinds of interpretations.
Open catergory - In keeping with the architectural theme of the meeting, please bring your shots of architecture, or buildings, particularly if they have a fine art feel to them. Dennis has said he will comment on them.

Don't forget to stop by the Fine Art Exhibition at Suncoast and view Dennis's work! Its amazing and well worth a visit!



See you the meeting.
Cheers
Vanessa





Thursday, June 17, 2010

Meeting Fail!

Your committee has just noticed that we had an incorrect date in the meeting schedule published on the blog. According to the schedule, the date of the the second meeting this month was 22 June which is the fourth Tuesday of the month.
The meeting took place on the third Tuesday, 15 June, but it seems that some members did not come out because they assumed that it had been postponed. We apologise to anyone who was affected.

The schedule, linked from the right-hand side of the page, has been updated.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Worldwide Photowalk

Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk is on again on July 24, 2010. Club member Andrew Roos has registered as a walk organiser and full details on his walk will be available at the following website:
There are are great prizes on offer and Andrew has apparently organised an after-walk function at Moyo restaurant. Sign up on the web page, only the first 50 will be lucky....

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Outing: June 2010

An unexpected snag came up with our outing this month when the hotel was found to be unsuitable and the original date was found to be too close to a match at the stadium with possible road closures. Instead, it has been decided is to meet in front of the hotel as planned on (but on 12 June) and go on a photo walk along the new promenade.
Directions: The best access would be approach from the N3, go down Dr AB Xuma Street (old Commercial Rd), until it joins Pine Street. Cross over Sylvester Ntuli Road (old Brickhill Rd) into Boscombe Road. The Checkers is on your right. Boscombe Road runs behind all the hotels. Turn right into Serridge Square, then right into OR Thambo Parade (old Marine Parade) and park in front of the hotel. None of these roads were closed yesterday, and the hotel staff say that they don't expect them to be closed at all.
Meet at 5h45 am on 12 June in front of large white Holiday Inn Garden Court.
Walk. // Photos
Breakfast. Wimpt, the Deck or whatever.
I will check that all is still in order on Friday evening and will update the blog if anything else crops up. Please visit the blog at http://hillcrestcameraclub.blogspot.com/ before going to bed on friday night, just in case there are any changes.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Tuesday Meeting - 1 June 2010

Hi all

We had an excellent outing on Saturday to the top of the Old Mutual Building in Durban! There was a stunning sunset, lovely city lights and the full moon made a stunning appearance. We had been waiting for the moon to appear, but low lying clouds delayed it for quite a while. Suddenly it popped out of the clouds, and there was silence as everyone quickly took their shot of the moon in all its glory. Probably one of the few times that we will get everyone in the club to stop talking!

A big thank you to Garry for organising access for the club!

Allen Schultz will be speaking on Tuesday. He was the lucky winner of the Vega Intermediate Course, which he completed a few weeks ago. He will be sharing some of the tips and information he learnt on the course. It should be very interesting, and will give us all an insight into the Vega course.

We will have the usual photo sharing opportunity in the 2nd half of the meeting. The set subject is "Are We There Yet?" - quite a challenging topic this month. Outing photos, and open topic will also be viewed. Three photos per person, one per category, please.

See you at the meeting tomorrow!

Regards
Vanessa

Monday, May 24, 2010

Change of venue for May Outing

Hi everyone

HCC OUTING - VENUE CHANGE

We have to change the venue for the "Tall Building" outing on Saturday. The lifts are being shut down and worked on at Durban Bay House, which means we can't get to the top.

Thanks to Garry, we can however use the Old Mutual Building. This building is also in Smith Street, and has views of both Smith and West Street, as well sea and inland views.

The only drawback to this venue is that the access to the viewing area on the roof is not that easy. You will be required to crawl under a concrete wall to get to the vantage points. This will mean getting down on your butt, or knees and scooting yourself across to the other side. Its about a half meter scoot. I'm not sure whether everyone can manage this? It was for this reason that we decided to use the other building, which has easier access. Rather than cancelling the shoot altogether, I think we should take advantage of Garry's offer to use the Old Mutual Building, and see how we go. If need be, Garry says we can organise another shoot at Durban Bay House for those who can't, or chose not to, attend this shoot. On the whole, I think most of us will cope fine.

Details:

Venue: Old Mutual Building, Smith Street, Durban. (In the block between Gardiner and Field Street) (Sorry, I don't now the new names.)
Time: 4pm - whenever we all finish

Meetup directions:
* Meet at the entrance to the PARKING GARAGE, in Smith Street, which is after the Gardiner Street intersection, on the right hand side, before the 1st pedestrian crossing.
* Look for the metal roller door.
* Park in the street - we will go in together at 4pm sharp.
* We will park in the parking garage and all enter the building itself from there.
Your car should be safe, there will be no parking or walking in the streets of Durban at all.

Please bring a torch, wear jeans and provide for rain, wind and cold weather.

IMPORTANT : Please remember that this is a fairly dangerous outing, as we will be very high up. The Old Mutual Building has a steel railing around the edge, not a wall, so we advise that you apply caution and be careful. Judge for yourself whether it is safe and secure enough to go close to the edge. Please be careful and responsible.

Bring all your lenses, as you will get varied photographic opportunities. Hold thumbs that the full moon is visible, and that it isn't too cloudy!

If you have any queries, please email Vanessa - sweetd@iafrica.com. If you have any problems on the day, call Vanessa - 083 679 4716.

See you all there!

Regards
Vanessa

Friday, May 14, 2010

Tuesday Meeting - 18 May 2010

Hi all

1. Art Deco outing. This outing has unfortunately been postponed to another time, possibly June. We'll keep you updated.

2. Second meeting, 18 May. Harry will be giving us a talk - An Introduction to Flash Photography. Should be informative! There will be a demonstration as well.

3. The 2nd Tallest Building in Durban outing is still happening. Saturday 29th May, at 4pm. Please check here for meetup details and directions.

See you on Tuesday!

Vanessa

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Monday, May 03, 2010

May Meeting and Outings

May 1st Meeting

Hi all

The Speaker
Xavier Vahed, young, up and coming Durban photographer will be speaking this Tuesday. He will discuss the work he undertook for his recent exhibition, "Portrait of the People". He will discuss the work in general, and the strobism lighting techniques he used in particular. Not be missed!

Club photos - Please bring one photo for each category:
1. Outing - Rocky Bay
2. Set Subject - "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly"
3. Open

May Outings
We are excited to announce that there will be TWO outings this month. They are both architecturally focused, but each outing will offer completely different view points.

Durban's Art Deco Buildings :
Sat 15 May - We've been granted access to some of Durban's Art Deco buildings. We plan to move from building to building, capturing the glory of these beautiful works. We are hoping to end at Surrey Mansions in Currie Road, where we will have a rooftop sunset picnic to end off the day.

You will be required to submit your best photos for the Art Deco Association to make use of, so enjoy the day but also do your best!

If there is enough interest, we will look at hiring a Mynah bus to transport us around, Otherwise, we'll provide a shoot list and directions to each building but that won't be so interesting because it will be harder for the Art Deco people to give us the background to this great architectural style.

Durban Bay House:
Sat 29 May, 4pm. The club has never before done such an outing - a TALL building! We've been allowed access to the very top of one of Durban's tallest building - Durban Bay House. Club member Garry Bodil has very kindly offered to allow us exclusive access into the building.

We will arrive late in the afternoon for the autumn sunset, then move onto shooting the night lights and the city streets. The cherry on the top will be shooting the full moon rising over the city, which is stunning, provided there isn't too much cloud cover! There will be a full moon on the night of our outing.


Clouds and more clouds

Tripods, torches and jeans and takkies essential. Please be aware that we will be 32 stories high, so vertigo sufferers may not cope. There is some climbing of stairs to get to the top floor, as well climbing over aircon pipes, so please be prepared for some exercise.

Safety is important. Torches are required to light your way. Please bring rain gear for yourselves and your cameras. We will cancel if there is strong wind and heavy rain, but will attempt to shoot in drizzle.

Meetup details:
Time: 4pm
Date: Sat, 29 May 2010
Place: Durban Bay House
Meet in the side road off Smith Street - Durban Bay Passage. 2nd road to the left, after the Gardiner and Smith Street intersections. Pass the ABSA and Nedbank buildings on your left.
Once we have all arrived, Garry will allow us access into the building's parking, where will have secure parking.
Garry will assemble us together, and take us up to the roof. For security purposes we have to enter and exit the building and the parking together, so the shoot will end when we've all taken our last photos.
For those who are keen, it has been suggested that we meet at Charlie Croft's for dinner, or drinks afterwards.

This opportunity to capture Durban at night is not to be missed!

See you all the meeting.

Regards

Vanessa

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Welcome to all the new members! We have had quite a few new people join the club since January. We hope you will enjoy yourselves!

Please make sure that you have paid your membership fees. R150 per person, R250 per family.

The banking details can be found on the MEMBERSHIP PAGE, for those who promised to pay by EFT. Please email Vanessa with proof of payment at sweetd@iafrica.com.

Please use your full name as the reference.

Thanks to everyone who has paid, and welcome once again to the newbies!

Vanessa

Sunday, March 21, 2010

April 2010: Outing

Click on image to view enlargement.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

2nd Meeting - Lenses: Focal Lengths and Their Uses. Tuesday 16 March

A Note From Vanessa:

Not to be missed!

Have you ever wondered what lens to use? And wondered what effect focal length has on the photo?

Harry Lock, our own pro photographer, will be speaking at Tuesday's meeting!

He will be giving an illustrated talk on the use of lenses, and the effect focal length has on the final image. He will be discussing how to choose which lens to use, and will show us examples of the results.

Harry's presentation promises to be informative, and help us all to get to know lenses and their uses better.

See you all at 7pm, at the Clubhouse.

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

March 2010 Outing

You're reminded about the outing this weekend to the butterfly farm in Pietermaritzburg on this Saturday, 13 March 2010. It has been suggested that we get there at 09h15.
Anton has been kind enough to put together the following details and directions:

Admission fees are:

Adults R30

Children (2-16 years) R19

Pensioners R19

Directions:

Butterflies for Africa is located at 37 Willowton Road, just off the N3 in Pietermaritzburg. Those arriving from the coast take the Ohrtmann Road turnoff (exit 79) and turn right (going over the highway) then turn left into Willowton Rd just after the Innoxa factory.

The paths inside the enclosure have been made wheelchair friendly, so anyone can attend.

The Monkey House:

On certain days, between 11:30 and 13:30, there are guided tours of The Monkey House. It costs R11 (all age groups) to enter, but they didn’t specify on the website when this is.

The Painted Lady Coffee Bar:

After the utter frustration of getting the butterflies to sit still (no pins/deep freezers allowed), we can all have something to drink and eat before the long drive home. There is seating inside, or even outside for those whose love to bask in the sun or hunker under an umbrella in the rain.

Please e-mail Anton at d4rkhorse@webafrica.org.za if you are coming to the outing. We just need to see who will be attending.



Saturday, February 27, 2010

March 2008 - First Meeting

The first meeting this month is going to held at the Hillcrest Sports Club on 2 March 2010 at 7pm.

We are having a talk from freelance sports shooter Rory Armstrong, who is is going to do a show and tell. He regularly flies around the country to photograph rugby matches and sells images to newspapers, magazines etc. He was going to speak last year but was called at short notice to shoot a wedding overseas. After the talk, we will view members' pictures as usual.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Meeting: February 2010

We kick off our year with the first meeting which will be at 7pm on February 2, 2010, at the Hillcrest Sports Club. We will be having a talk on exposure and will then look at members' pictures as usual.

Remember to bring only three pictures. You're encouraged to bring 1 each of set subject, outing and general, but there's no rule about it; suit yourself.

Set subject: On the waterfront.

The year full planner is online. See the link on the righthand side of the page:

Membership fees are due and you will not be eligible to participate in the lucky draw for the Vega photography course if you haven't paid by 14 Feb.

The following points from Vanessa

1. Membership fees - R150 per person, R250 per family
2. Please pay into the BANK ACCOUNT - Standard Bank, Kingsmead, Acc name - Sweet Deal cc, Acc. no.# 050146556. Branch code: 0026
3. Make sure to state you name as reference.
3. Deadline for payment - 14 Feb 2010.
4. Payment can be made at the Feb meeting.

The draw for the Vega course will happen in March, at the meeting on the 2nd and Vanessa has arranged for the Vega representative to give a short talk.

See you there
.