May 2009 outing

The outing to Baynesfield Estate is on on Saturday morning. We are due to meet there at 9am and you are advised to bring refreshments because there may be nothing available at the venue.

The Oaks at Byrne suggests itself as possible lunch venue for people wanting to make a day of it.

Directions

• Go on N3 towards Pietermaritzburg
• Take Umlaas Road turn-off (Harry thinks the road's the R56) and head towards Richmond
• Turn left in the direction of Richmond where the road comes to a T-junction
• Shortly after this, you'll come to the Baynesfield T/O on the right
• Follow the road and and it will take you to the gates of the estate and park as close to the house as you can

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Matthew Willman

Be very sorry if you missed last night's meeting because the talk by Matthew Willman was truly inspirational. His website is here and deserves a closer look.

May 2009 first meeting

This is a reminder about our meeting on 5 May 2009 at 7pm at Hillcrest Sports Club. There will be a talk by Matthew Willman who has photographed many celebrities, including Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton and many others.

We will have a very short break for tea and then view and discuss pictures members have brought with them. The set subject this month is Boys and their Toys.

Remember only 3 pictures per member.
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Interesting photo websites

This will be a list of interesting photo-related websites including photo blogs kept up by prominent photographers. Club members are welcome to add their favourites to the page by using the comments facility at the bottom of the page. You don't need a Blogger account, just click the Comment link below, type in your message and select the Anonymous option, but be sure to put you name in the body of the message.

Marc Sibler has a wonderful photo blog crammed with videos in which he explains how to take better pictures. HINT: It isn't about equipment.

Joe McNally: One of my favourite current photographers is Joe McNally, who worked for National Geographic, among many other major clients. He keeps a regular blog of his doings and you can learn a lot from it. He is also one of the lecturers on Kelby training: see entry below.

Scott Kelby: Scott is the guru of Photoshop gurus and a pretty mean photographer as well. He has a regular informative blog, does a free weekly Photoshop show at Photoshop User TV, a free weekly TV show for Nikon owners, and runs Kelby Training, an online training facility that costs a flat $19 per month and will allow you to view an unlimited number of video courses on all aspects of photography, including Photoshop, Lightroom and photographic and flash techniques.
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Our Group at Flickr.com

There are some conspicuous exceptions but some members gave now established online photo albums at Flickr.com. Online albums are good to have to show off your pictures to others and they're free, so why not.

* The first step is create an account at Flickr.com.
* Next, you upload pictures to your album, making sure to say that they are open to viewed by anyone.

Visiting many different members' pages could soon get to be very time-consuming but luckily Flickr provides a way to create Groups (with their own pages) that people can join, and to which they can submit pictures. Our Hillcrest Camera Club Group is at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/hcc/.

To use a group, you have to join it and submit pictures to it.

Joining the group

• Go to your Flickr page.
• Click on the Groups menu option and select Search for a Group from the list.
• Type Hillcrest Camera Club into the search box and click Search.
• Select our Club from the list that comes up.
• Click Join above the rows of picture thumbnails; it might take up to a day or two for the request to be processed

Submitting pictures to the group

• Go to your Flickr page.
• Click the picture you want to share with the group and an enlargement of the picture appears.
• Click the Send to Group button located immediately above the picture.
• Click name of the Group you want to send the picture to.

Your picture will now appear on the Club's Flickr page at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/hcc/.

NOTE: At this time, you can submit one picture per day to the group

Comments

Group members are able to leave comments on any pictures by using the facility at the bottom of the page. You are urged to leave constructive comments on any pictures you like. If you do that, there's a chance that people will do the same for you.

One interesting way of doing this is by using the the Add Note feature which is displayed above most enlarged pictures (unless the photographer has specifically said they don't want notes). Just click the Add Note button at the top of the picture and you will get a dotted box, which you can resize and reposition to cover part of the picture. You also get a space to type in whatever text you want to put in the note. In future, when anyone else looks at the picture, they will be able to read the note. See my picture for an example of what it looks like.

Hint: position the mouse cursor over the picture and the click on the box when it appears.
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Meeting/Outing April 2009

Hi All

This is your friendly reminder of the two Hillcrest Camera Club happenings this week!

Thursday 16th April , 7.00pm at Augusta (see here for directions! ) There will be coffee and tea and you can either bring other drinks or order from the bar before 7pm.

We will be discussing Portraits – the Headshot!

Your “entrance fee” is the following:-

- Your monochrome print (homework from March’s Thursday night meeting)

- A print or digital file of an image by Yousuf Karsh.

Obviously if you are coming along for the first time to a Thursday session, then you don’t have to bring your monochrome homework, but you still need to find an image by Yousuf Karsh!

On Thursday we will look at and discuss your monochrome prints/images. Then Geoff Purnell will give a 5min presentation on Yousuf Karsh, and by way of a counterpoint Allan Jackson will give a 5min presentation of images by Annabel Williams.

We will then look at and discuss your images that you brought by Yousuf Karsh. The purpose of this session is to be exposed to portraiture by a “master”, and gain an understanding on why their images work so well and are highly regarded. This can only help one develop one’s own style!

April Outing

Saturday 18th April, 6.00am onwards at Steinbank Nature Reserve at Yellowood Park.

There is a small entrance fee payable at the gate – it is an Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Reserve.

Unfortunately we can not get entrance to the Steinbank Castle, but we can walk around the gardens outside! The wildlife in the Reserve is very tame (zebras in particular), and the scenery is spectacular. There are patches of open grassland between Coastal Dune Forest, and even a little dam, so wildlife, landscape and architecture photographic opportunities abound!. There are a few roads to drive on, and one is encouraged to walk…….

Geoff will bring the ingredients for an egg and bacon (and coffee!) on a roll or plate breakfast, some fruit juice, and organise a few skottels and a braai fire. It suggested that you bring your own cutlery, mug and anything special that you may want for breakfast. Geoff will bring a gas stove and large kettle, and limited quantities of real coffee and a plunger, so if you really want coffee maybe bring your own flask or instant coffee!

The idea is that you get to the main gate as soon after 6.00am as possible to capture the magic early morning autumn light. Maybe drive around along the two available roads and then park up at the boma. Wonder around to your heart’s content, and then meet back at the boma at about 9.30. We will then cook and consume breakfast there.

To get to Steinbank – look at your map or GPS! Once through the main gate, you have 3 options. The road going to the right goes down to a picnic site. The road straight ahead goes up to the castle (it says private road, but we are allowed to go up it to the castle, which is on your right about 1km up the road). The road to the left goes to the main car park, which is a nice place to start a few walks from. To get to the boma, you turn left off this road a short distance after leaving the main gate. You then follow this road upwards for approximately 1km – it is pretty, going through forest and along the edge of a grassland. It then turns 90 degrees to the right, by now you are in the forest! Keep your eyes open for a turn off to the left which takes you straight into the boma area. If you carry on straight, you drive along a very beautiful road that is completely covered over by the forest! This road eventually takes you to the castle.

As we cannot book the boma I will try and go straight there and occupy it!

See you there!!

Geoff Purnell
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Cool photo site

Check out the Life magazine website. It's got pictures from many of the great photographers from the past and new photos too. There are also many Life photos on display at Google; see here.
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Photo sites

Check out some of Ansell Adams' pictures at the Library of Congress. The tremendously interesting thing about them is that you can download files in various sizes up to 100Mb. Just think of the print you could make from those! Another page at the LOC is the contents page for their other collections.
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SECOND MEETING: March 2009

The next second meeting of Hillcrest Camera Club will take place at the clubhouse of Augusta Golf Estate at 7p.m. on 19 March 2009.

Directions can be downloaded here.

ASSIGMENTS FOR THIS MEETING

1) To find a picture by Ansel Adams and bring it along in electronic or hard copy format for us to view.

2) To manipulate an image using any image manipulation program and to bring it along (hopefully with a 'before' example) in electronic or hard copy format for us to view.

TALK

Mile Loveridge will give a short demo on how to convert an image into black and white.

NEXT SECOND MEETING

You assignments will be to look for a picture by Yousuf Karsh and to shoot (and convert if necessary) a black and white picture on any subject.

NOTE: Your picture should ideally be taken especially for the assignment not be one from your archives.
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Outing reminder: March 2009

Hi All

First, check out an incredible photograph. Hint: Try zooming in.

Then, you are reminded about our outing to photograph the architecture of the Point area this coming Saturday morning.

Date: Saturday, March 14, 2008.

Time: 05H30 a.m.

Download a map

Go down Point Road until you get almost to the end. You'll have the blue-roofed Dredging Services on your left as the road takes a sharp left turn at the Cheese Wedge building. We'll meet at the small fenced car park on the left immediately after the turn.

We will go for breakfast eventually but you might like to bring to bring coffee and/or a snack to tide you over.
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Meetings - March 2009

NOTE ABOUT SECOND MONTHLY MEETINGS

Our first second meeting of the month has come and gone and hopefully these will go from strength to strength. The assignment for the next second meeting (19 March) is to find and bring an Ansel Adams picture to show. Just to remind you that the balance of the assignment is to bring in a picture that you have altered in an image manipulation program - a before and after would be great.

MEETING ON 3 MARCH 2008

This is a reminder about our meeting on 3 March 2009 at 7pm at Hillcrest Sports Club. There will be a talk by commercial photographer Patrick McGee.

We will have a very short break for tea and then view and discuss pictures members have brought with them. The set subject this month is Birds, Bees and Butterfies.

Remember only 3 pictures per member.
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Photo Masters

Here's a discussion on the Strobist online forum which mentions many famous photographers and provides links to further information about them. Among the links on the page are this excellent one for stuff on Yousuf Karsh and this one which covers many of the great photographers.
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Press photo awards

Here's a link to a slideshow of the winning photos in the 2008 World Press Awards.
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February 2009 - Harry's talk

The following are the photographers mentioned in Harry's talk on photo manipulation at the February 2009 meeting. More information about each can be found on the Internet.

• Gustave le Gray-19th Century Combination Prints
• Reijlander-19th Century Elaborate montage printer
• Henry Peach Robinson-19th Century Combination Prints
• Alvin Langdon Coburn-19th Century ‘Art’ photographer
• Edward Steichen-19th & 20th Century photographer
• John Heartfield-Anti-Nazi collage printer
• Art Wolfe-Wildlife Photographer
• Galen Rowell-Landscape Photographer
• Adnan Hajj-Fired for manipulating news photographs
• Brian Walski-Fired for manipulating news photographs
• Allan Detrich-Fired for manipulating news photographs
• Henri Cartier-Bresson-Great Photojournalist
• Dorothea Lange-‘Migrant Mother’ series
• Arno Rafael Minkkinen-Photographs himself in the landscape
• Jerry Uelsmann-Combination prints
• Gregory Crewdson-Photographs elaborate set-up scenes
• Loretta Lux-Strange portraits of children
• Robert & Shana Park-Harrison-Fantasy scenes of man and elaborate ‘machines’
• Joel-Peter Witken-Photographs of human subjects that are heavily worked on.

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SECOND MEETING: FEBRUARY 2009

Our very first second monthly meeting is being held in the clubhouse at the Augusta Golf Estate on 19 February 2009 at 7pm.

The bar next door closes at 7pm and you can order until then. Otherwise, the authorities aren't too fussed if you bring a cooler bag with you or even crockery and the makings for tea or coffee. There is an urn available.

Directions
The estate is right next door to the Emberton Driving Range on Ashley Road, which is to the left at the last robot on Old Main Road when you're heading out of Hillcrest towards the M13 and Gillits. The guard will be expecting us and you can find the clubhouse by turning left immediately you pass through the gate and taking the first right at the postboxes. Park in the little parking lot there and go down the path past the nearest building, it's the next one.

Proceedings
1) We are feeling our way a bit with these second meetings but we will have a suggested program to discuss.
2) I will very briefly explain the reciprocal relationship between shutter speed and aperture.
3) We will spend the rest of the time doing a Photoshop clinic. You will be more than welcome to ask questions like: “How do I do X, Y, or Z.” You are asked to bring a sample picture on CD or memory stick to use when we try and answer your question.
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